Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 3.djvu/58

50

Sunt quibus in satira videar nimis acer, et ultra Legem tendere opus: sine nervis altera quicquid Composui pars esse putat There are to whom too poignant I appear, Beyond the laws of satire too severe. My lines are weak, unsinewed, others say, A man may spin a thousand such a day.

HEN the printer came last week for his copy, he brought along with him a bundle of those papers, which, in the phrase of whig coffee houses, have swinged off the Examiner; most of which I had never seen or heard of before. I remember some time ago, in one of the Tatlers, to have read a letter, wherein several reasons are assigned for the present corruption and degeneracy of our taste; but I think the writer has omitted the principal one, which I take to be the prejudice of parties. Neither can I excuse either side of this infirmity: I have heard the arrantest drivellers pro and con, commended for their shrewdness, even by men of tolerable judgement; and the best performances exploded as nonsense and stupidity. This indeed may partly be imputed to policy and prudence; but it is chiefly owing