The Works of Henry Fielding, Esq., Vol. 10 of 10

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Excerpt from The Works of Henry Fielding, Esq., Vol. 10 of 10: With the Life of the Author This immense encrease is, I believe, to be no otherwise accounted for, than from the very blameable negligence of the late censors, who have, indeed, converted their office into a mere sinecure, no inquisition, as I can find, having been taken since the censorship of Isaac Bickerstaffe, Esq, in the latter end of the reign of queen Anne. To the fame neglect are owing many encroachments on all the other orders of the society. That of gentlemen in particular, I observe to have greatly increased, and that of sharpers to have decreased in the same proportion within these few years. All these irregularities it is my firm purpose to endeavour at reforming, and to restore the high office with which I am invested to its antient use and dignity. This, however, must be attempted with prudence and by slow degrees, for habitual and inveterate evils are to be cured by slow alteratives, and not by violent remedies. Of this the good emperor Pertinax will be a lasting example. "This worthy man, " says Dion Cassius, "perished "by endeavouring too hastily to reform all the evils "which infested his country. He knew not, it "seems, though otherwise a man of very great "knowledge, that it is not safe, nor indeed possible, "to effect a reformation in too many matters at "once. A rules which, if it holds true in private "life, is much more so when it is applied to those "evils that affect the public." I thought it, therefore, not prudent, in the hurry of my above inquisition to make any exceptions, but admitted all who offered to be enrolled. This is a method which I shall not pursue hereafter, being fully resolved to enquire into the qualifications of every pretender. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.