Page:Poems on Several Occasions - Broome (1739, 2nd edition).djvu/22

 censures, it is Inhumanity to trample upon their Ashes with Insolence; that it is Cruelty to summon, implead and condemn them with Rigour and Animosity, when they are not in a capacity to answer his unjust Allegations: If the Authors be alive, the common Laws of Society oblige us not to commit any outrage against another's Reputation; we ought modestly to convince, not injuriously insult; and contend for Truth, not Victory: and yet the envious Critic is like the Tyrants of old, who thought it not enough to conquer, unless their Enemies were made a public Spectacle, and dragg'd in triumph at their Chariot-Wheels: But what is such a Triumph but a barbarous insult over the Calamities of their Fellow-Creatures? the Noise of a Day, purchased with the Misery of Nations? However, I would not be thought to be pleading for an exemption from Criticism; I would only have it circumscrib'd within the Rules of Candour and Humanity: Writers may be told of their Errors, provided it be with the Decency and Tenderness of a Friend, not