was allowed by every body, that so foul-mouthed a witness never appeared in any cause. Seeing several persons of great eminence, who had maintained the cause of Goodman Fact, he called them ideots, blockheads, villains, knaves, infidels, atheists, apostates, fiends, and devils; never did man show so much eloquence in ribaldry. The court was, at length, so justly provoked with this fellow's behaviour, who spared no age, nor sex, nor profession, which had shown any friendship or inclination for the plaintiff, that several began to whisper to one another, it was high time to bring him to punishment. But the witness overhearing the word Pillory repeated twice or thrice, slunk away privately, and hid himself among the people.

After a full hearing on both sides, Count Tariff was cast, and Goodman Fact got his cause; but the court, sitting late, did not think it fit, at that time, to give him costs, or, indeed, to enter into that matter. The honest man immediately retired, after having assured his friends, that at any time, when the Count should appear on the like occasion, he would undertake their defence, and come to their assistance, if they would be at the pains to find him out.

It is incredible, how general a joy Goodman Fact's success created in the city of London; there was nothing to be seen or heard the next day, but shaking of hands, congratulations, reflections on the danger they had escaped; and gratitude to those who had delivered them from it.

The night concluded with balls, bonfires, ringing of bells, and the like public demonstrations of joy.

THE WHIG-EXAMINER.

[The notes marked N. are taken from Nichols' edition of 1789.]

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

"EVERY reader of every party, since personal malice is past, and the Papers which once inflamed the nation are read only as effusions of Wit, must wish for more of The Whig Examiners; for on no occasion was the genius of Addison more vigorously exerted, and on none did the superior ity of his Wit more evidently appear." DR. JOHNSON.

"Soon after the first appearance of the Examiner a came out a paper from the other side, called The Whig Examiner,b written with so much fire, and in so excellent a' style, as put the Tories in no small pain for their favourite hero: every one cried, Bickerstaff must be the author; and people were the more confirmed in this opinion, upon its being so soon laid down, which seemed to show that it was only written to bind the

* On the 3d of August, 1710, appeared the first number of "The Examiner," the abiest vindication of the measures of the queen and her new ministry. "About a dozen of these papers," Dr Swift tells us, "written with much spirit and sharpness, some by Secretary St. John, since lord Bolingbroke; others by Dr. Atterbury, since Bishop of Rochester; and others again by Mr. Prior, Dr. Freind, &c., were published with great applause. But these gentlemen being grown weary of the work, or other wise employed, the determination was, that I should continue it, which I did accordingly eight months. But, my style being soon discovered. and naving contracted a great number of enemies, I let it fall into other hands, who held it up in some manner until her majesty's death." Dr. Swift began with No. 13, and ended by writing a part of No. 46; when Mrs. Manley took it up, and finished the first volume; it was afterwards resumed by Mr. Oldisworth, who completed four volumes more, and published nineteen numbers of a sixth volume, when the queen's death put an end to the whole.-N.

b In this work Mr. Addison was assisted by Maynwaring. Mr. Old mixon, indeed, from the circumstance of its being laid down to make roon for The Medley, apprehended it to have been principally the production of Mr. Maynwaring. See the notes on No. III.-N.

Examiners to their good behaviour, and was never designed to be a weekly paper." GAY's Present State of Wit, 1711.

“Addison wrote, as different exigencies required, in 1707, "The present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation;' which, however judicious, being written on temporary topics, and exhibiting no peculiar powers, has naturally sunk, by its own weight, into neglect. This cannot be said of the few papers intituled, 'The Whig Examiner,' in which is exhibited all the force of gay malevolence and humorous satire. Of this paper, which just appeared and expired, Swift remarks with exultation, that it is now down among the dead men.' He might well rejoice at the death of that which he could not have killed."

DR. JOHNSON.

No. 1. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1710.

Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futuræ,
Et servare modum, rebus sublata secundis !
Turno tempus erit, magno cum optaverit emptum
Intactum Pallanta, and cum folia ista diemque
Oderit

VIRG. En. x. 501

"O mortals! blind in fate, who never know
To bear high fortune, or endure the low!
The time shall come, when Turnus, but in vain,
Shall wish untouch'd the trophies of the slain;

Shall wish the fatal belt were far away,

And curse the dire remembrance of the day.'-DRYDEN.

THE design of this work is to censure the writings of others, and to give all persons a rehearing, who have suffered under any unjust sentence of the Examiner. As that author has bitherto proceeded, his paper would have been more properly entitled the Executioner.a At least, his examination is like that which is made by the rack and wheel. wheel. I have always admired a critic that has discovered the beauties of an author, and never knew

a We are to impute to this provocation, the peculiar keenness of our author's reproof, in these papers. But one is surprised to observe how much of that keenness is directed against the style of his antagonist. The reason is, that the good taste of that time would not endure a want of con rect and just composition, even in a party-winter.

one who made it his business to lash the faults of other writers, that was not guilty of greater himself; as the hangman is generally a worse malefactor, than the criminal that suffers by his hand. To prove what I say, there needs no more, than to read the annotations which this author has made upon Dr. Garth's poem, with the preface in the front, and a riddle at the end of them. To begin with the first: did ever an advocate for a party open with such an unfortunate assertion? The collective body of the whigs have already engrossed our riches' That is, in plain English, the whigs are possessed of all the riches of the nation. Is not this giving up all he has been contending for these six weeks? Is there any thing more reasonable, than that those who have all the riches of the nation in their possession, or, if he likes his own phrase better, as indeed I think it is stronger, that those who have already engrossed our riches, should have the management of our public treasure, and the direction of our fleets and armies? But let us proceed: 'Their representative, the Kit-Cat, have pretended to make a monopoly of our sense.' a Well, but what does all this end in? If the author means any thing, it is this; that, to prevent such a monopoly of sense, he is resolved to deal in it himself by retail, and sell a pennyworth of it every week. In what follows, there is such a shocking familiarity, both in his railleries and civilities, that one cannot long be in doubt who is the author. The remaining part of the preface has so much of the pedant, and so little of the conversation of men in it, that I shall pass it over, and hasten to the riddles, which are as follows.

a Prior was the author of the number and annotations animadverted upon in this Paper. About this time he had deserted the Whig party, to join the Tory administration. About the time of his apostacy he was expelled from the Kit-Cat Club; and he alludes, in the words here quoted, to his expulsion. He seems to have been the first person fixed upon for the management of the Examiner, which devolved ultimately on Dr. Swift. The drubbing he received here from Addison probably sickened Prior, and disabled him for his new honourable employment. See TAT 12mo. 6 vols. Notes on the Examiner, No. 210 & No. 229.—N.

THE RIDDLE.

SPHINX was a monster, that would eat
Whatever stranger she could get:
Unless his ready wit disclos'd
The subtle riddle she propos'd.

Edipus was resolv'd to go,

And try what strength of parts could do:
Says Sphinx, on this depends your fate;
Tell me what animal is that,

Which has four feet at morning bright?
Has two at noon, and three at night?
"Tis man, said he, who weak by nature,
At first creeps, like his fellow-creature,
Upon all four: as years accrue,
With sturdy steps, he walks on two;
In age, at length, grown weak and sick,
For his third leg adopts the stick.
Now in your turn, 'tis just, methinks,
You should resolve me, Madam Sphinx,

What stranger creature yet is he,

Who has four legs then two, then three;

Then loses one, then gets two more,

And runs away at last on four.

The rid

The first part of this little mystical poem is an old riddı, which we could have told the meaning of, had not the author given himself the trouble of explaining it; but as for the exposi tion of the second, he leaves us altogether in the dark. dle runs thus: 'What creature is it that walks upon four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs at night?' This he solves, as our forefathers have done for these two thousand years; and not according to Rabelais, who gives another reason why a man is said to be a creature with three legs at night. Then follows the second riddle: 'What creature, (says he,) is it that first uses four legs, then two legs, then three legs: then loses one leg, then gets two legs, and at last runs away upon four legs?' Were I disposed to be splenetic, I should ask if there was any thing in the New Garland of Riddles so wild, su