uthor of Good, as a Trial of our Virtue, to see if it is real
and constant to the Touch, as the Goldsmith does his Metal by passing
it thro' the Fire, but I cou'd even think Malice, is also a sort of
Reward to Virtue.

SWIFT. Bless us all, _Tom!_ Malice a Reward to Virtue! that is
something new indeed, _Tom_.

PRIOR. It may be absurd also, but I am sometimes inclined to think it
so, because it generally encreases and exalts our Worth, and also as it
frequently serves to make it appear with the greater Dignity and Glory,
when the Malice of Envyers is vanquish'd or silenced. Besides we often
see it a direct Spur to noble Actions, and find it stimulates our
Ardour to new advances; and when our Souls are firm enough, to smile at
and even wish well to our Detractors, it swells the Heart with a nobler
Joy, and an higher Delight, than even Virtue in any other Situation can
give. But however that may be, I am sure it is the chief Reward of
Virtue in this World, and this Age. But to dismiss that Point, I must
observe that it has often amaz'd me, to see how few Gentlemen I cou'd
persuade to exert themselves, by proper Donations or Subscriptions, to
assist a Society that is so eminently useful to their Country.

SWIFT. I think you have accounted for it pretty well already, I will
only add this plain Truth, that Men love their Money better than their
Health, or their dear Bodies, to say nothing of their Souls. For this
Reason it is, that they don't Care for giving it to Schemes of Notions,
and airy Views of Industry, and Improving of Nations; but they keep it
for solid Substantial Things, their Racing and Gaming, their Hawks and
their Hounds, their Cloaths and their Coaches, their Houses and their
Equipages, their Kitchens and Cellars, their Amours and Amusements.
They are so far from giving their Money to such Projects and Views,
that they will not even give their Thoughts or their Time to them, lest
they shou'd be mislead, into the Plague of reading, and thinking, and
reasoning; of contriving the best Methods, of punishing the Idle,
reclaiming the Vicious, or employing the Poor. Such troublesome
Methods, may prove the overthrow of Electioneering and Borough-buying,
and their embosom'd Thirst for the poorest Power, the meanest Places,
and the basest Gain; and in a Word it wou'd be the Destruction, of all
those dirty Jobbs, that enrich private Rogues and beggar Nations. How,
dear _Tom_, cou'd you expect such dissipated Minds, suc