&6 



in vitium fiecti/' before he has yet hh the paternal inansionj 

 is fully initiated into the manners and language of liostlcrgj 

 rakes, bullies, gaming tables, &c. &c. — in short, he is made 

 to " see with the eyes" of Fielding and Smollet, many tbinga 

 which his own shallow observation would never perhaps have 

 noted. The parting advice, and waraing voice of affec- 

 tionate parents, cannot be supposed to produce any great 

 effects upon one who has already learned, that vice is not, 

 either in itself, or its consequences, what their prejudices have 

 taught them to believe: on the contrary, he is cer/«/« that a 

 man's being a spendthrift, a gamester, and a debauchee, does 

 not prevent him from being well received in society, or frouj 

 obtaining the beauteous and virtuous object of bis affections, 

 and he is prepared to regard sedate manners, and cautious 

 conduct, only as the mask which is to conceal the hypocrisy 

 and villainy of a Blifil, 



Every candid person must acknowledge, that this is the 

 view of things presented by the perusal of Tom Jones ; 

 which, as it unquestionably holds the highest place amongst 

 this species of composition, is not improperly noticed here. 



The biographer of Pielding, in his observations upon that 

 author's principal work, in the ^e.\\ words which he uses to 

 describe the character of the hero, happens to point out the 

 moral of the book, as plainly, as if he had done so inten- 

 tionally. " Tom Jones," says he, "as much a libertine as 

 he is, engages all sensible hearts, by his candour, generosity, 

 humanity, his gratitude to his benefactor, his tender compos- 



