CHAPTER FIFTEEN THE CHARACTER OF OUR HERO, AND THE CONCLUSION OF THIS HISTORY.
We will now endeavour to draw the character of this great man;and, by bringing together those several features as it were of hismind which lie scattered up and down in this history, to presentour readers with a perfect picture of greatness.
Jonathan Wild had every qualification necessary to form a greatman. As his most powerful and predominant passion was ambition, sonature had, with consummate propriety, adapted all his facultiesto the attaining those glorious ends to which this passiondirected him. He was extremely ingenious in inventing designs,artful in contriving the means to accomplish his purposes, andresolute in executing them: for as the most exquisite cunning andmost undaunted boldness qualified him for any undertaking, so washe not restrained by any of those weaknesses which disappoint theviews of mean and vulgar souls, and which are comprehended in onegeneral term of honesty, which is a corruption of HONOSTY, a wordderived from what the Greeks call an ass. He was entirely freefrom those low vices of modesty and good-nature, which, as hesaid, implied a total negation of human greatness, and were theonly qualities which absolutely rendered a man incapable of makinga considerable figure in the world. His lust was inferior only tohis ambition; but, as for what simple people call love, he knewnot what it was. His avarice was immense, but it was of therapacious, not of the tenacious kind; his rapaciousness was indeedso violent, that nothing ever contented him but the whole; for,however considerable the share was which his coadjutors allowedhim of a booty, he was restless in inventing means to make himselfmaster of the smallest pittance reserved by them. He said lawswere made for the use of prigs only, and to secure their property;they were never therefore more perverted than when their edge wasturned against these; but that this generally happened throughtheir want of sufficient dexterity. The character which he mostvalued himself upon, and which he principally honoured in others,was that of hypocrisy. His opinion was, that no one could carrypriggism very far without it; for which reason, he said, there waslittle greatness to be expected in a man who acknowledged hisvices, but always much to be hoped from him who professed greatvirtues: wherefore, though he would always shun the person whom hediscovered guilty of a good action, yet he was never deterred by agood character, which was more commonly the effect of professionthan of action: for which reason, he himself was always veryliberal of honest professions, and had as much virtue and goodnessin his mouth as a saint; never in the least scrupling to swear byhis honour, even to those who knew him the best; nay, though heheld good-nature and modesty in the highest contempt, heconstantly practised the affectation of both, and recommended thisto others, whose welfare, on his own account, he wished well to.He laid down several maxims as the certain methods of attaininggreatness, to which, in his own pursuit of it, he constantlyadhered. As--
1. Never to do more mischief to another than was necessary to theeffecting his purpose; for that mischief was too precious a thingto be thrown away.
2. To know no distinction of men from affection; but to sacrificeall with equal readiness to his interest.