THE 



MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



OF 



HB sortorr <v 

 POLITICS, LITERATURE, AND THE BELLES LETTRES. 



VOL. XV.] NOVEMBER, 1832. [No. 83. 



A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE EXAMINER.* 

 SIR. You take higher ground of pretension to impartiality and can- 

 dour, than perhaps any other Journalist ; and must therefore not wince 

 at the pertinacity, with which a sincere admirer of your talents, one 

 who is anxious to give you full credit for good intention, applies him- 

 self to the detection of what he deems your weakness, where you think 

 yourself most strong. 



The motto at the head of your paper,, you will allow, to constitute 

 a current profession to the public, that its contents shall exhibit strict 

 fairness towards all parties. The hackneyed quotations, " Tros Rutu- 

 lusue fual nullo discrimine habelor" " Nothing extenuate, nor set down 

 aught in malice," are, I presume, adequate exponests of the sentiment 

 implied in your motto. You will, no doubt, allow me to understand, 

 " Party is the madness of many for the gain of a few," to mean, as coming 

 from the Examiner, "We will not praise or censure, to promote the 

 views of any set of men. Other papers may deem it justifiable to use 

 disingenuous means for the promotion of laudable ends : we are far 

 wiser, in this respect, than other Journalists. Our innate candour, 

 moreover, shrinks with instinctive sensitiveness from the coarse illiber- 

 ality of common politicians. We are too high-minded for such dirty 

 work as theirs. We will examine before we conclude; having examined, 

 though the result should falsify our expectations, and be unacceptable to 

 our political friends, down shall our sincere convictions be written, nor 

 shall any love of approbation, or fear of censure, deter us from pub- 

 lishing them." You see, Sir, I am resolved upon a thorough under- 

 standing with you. If you mean less honourably and candidly than I 

 suppose you to mean by your motto, as a high spirited man and 

 gentleman, you will afford an admirer of your powers a hint, (only a 

 hint,} towards disabusing his simplicity of its mistake concerning your 

 principles. 



Pray do not suppose I mean to affront you. Were you and I dis- 

 cussing a question in private, I should not presume to catechize you 

 thus. But, Sir, you are a public writer, and may exercise great 

 influence for good or bad, upon public interests ; and I have a right 

 to consider myself towards you, as one of the public, and to sift your 

 pretensions accordingly. You are yourself, you know, a most strenuous 



* The character of our Correspondent, and the character of the admirable writer 

 whom he addresses, furnish a double reason why we should not hesitate to depart 

 from the common practice, and give insertion to this letter. ED. 



