peregrinum vicinia rauca reclamat.'

Hor.

_SIR_,

As you are Spectator-General, you may with Authority censure
whatsoever looks ill, and is offensive to the Sight; the worst Nusance
of which kind, methinks, is the scandalous Appearance of Poor in all
Parts of this wealthy City. Such miserable Objects affect the
compassionate Beholder with dismal Ideas, discompose the Chearfulness
of his Mind, and deprive him of the Pleasure that he might otherwise
take in surveying the Grandeur of our Metropolis. Who can without
Remorse see a disabled Sailor, the Purveyor of our Luxury, destitute
of Necessaries? Who can behold an honest Soldier, that bravely
withstood the Enemy, prostrate and in Want amongst his Friends? It
were endless to mention all the Variety of Wretchedness, and the
numberless Poor, that not only singly, but in Companies, implore your
Charity. Spectacles of this Nature every where occur; and it is
unaccountable, that amongst the many lamentable Cries that infest this
Town, your Comptroller-General should not take notice of the most
shocking, _viz_. those of the Needy and Afflicted. I can't but think
he wav'd it meerly out of good Breeding, chusing rather to stifle his
Resentment, than upbraid his Countrymen with Inhumanity; however, let
not Charity be sacrificed to Popularity, and if his Ears were deaf to
their Complaints, let not your Eyes overlook their Persons. There are,
I know, many Impostors among them. Lameness and Blindness are
certainly very often acted; but can those that have their Sight and
Limbs, employ them better than in knowing whether they are
counterfeited or not? I know not which of the two misapplies his
Senses most, he who pretends himself blind to move Compassion, or he
who beholds a miserable Object without pitying it. But in order to
remove such Impediments, I wish, Mr. SPECTATOR, you would give us a
Discourse upon Beggars, that we may not pass by true Objects of
Charity, or give to Impostors. I looked out of my Window the other
Morning earlier than ordinary, and saw a blind Beggar, an Hour before
the Passage he stands in is frequented, with a Needle and Thread,
thriftily mending his Stockings: My Astonishment was still greater,
when I beheld a lame Fellow, whose Legs were too big to walk within an
Hour after, bring him a Pot of Ale. I will not mention the Shakings,
Distortions, and Convulsions which many of t