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Page 59
Wild's party at length prevailed, and he succeeded to the place
and power of Johnson, whom he presently stripped of all his
finery; but, when it was proposed that he should sell it and
divide the money for the good of the whole, he waved that motion,
saying it was not yet time, that he should find a better
opportunity, that the cloathes wanted cleaning, with many other
pretences, and within two days, to the surprize of many, he
appeared in them himself; for which he vouchsafed no other apology
than that they fitted him much better than they did Johnson, and
that they became him in a much more elegant manner.
This behaviour of Wild greatly incensed the debtors, particularly
those by whose means he had been promoted. They grumbled
extremely, and vented great indignation against Wild; when one day
a very grave man, and one of much authority among them, bespake
them as follows:
"Nothing sure can be more justly ridiculous than the conduct of
those who should lay the lamb in the wolfs way, and then should
lament his being devoured. What a wolf is in a sheep-fold, a great
man is in society. Now, when one wolf is in possession of a sheep-
fold, how little would it avail the simple flock to expel him and
place another in his stead! Of the same benefit to us is the
overthrowing one prig in favour of another. And for what other
advantage was your struggle? Did you not all know that Wild and
his followers were prigs, as well as Johnson and his? What then
could the contention be among such but that which you have now
discovered it to have been? Perhaps some would say, Is it then our
duty tamely to submit to the rapine of the prig who now plunders
us for fear of an exchange? Surely no: but I answer, It is better
to shake the plunder off than to exchange the plunderer. And by
what means can we effect this but by a total change in our
manners? Every prig is a slave. His own priggish desires, which
enslave him, themselves betray him to the tyranny of others. To
preserve, therefore, the liberty of Newgate is to change the
manners of Newgate. Let us, therefore, who are confined here for
debt only, separate ourselves entirely from the prigs; neither
drink with them nor converse with them. Let us at the same time
separate ourselves farther from priggism itself. Instead of being
ready, on every opportunity, to pillage each other, let us be
content with our honest share of the common bounty, and with the
acquisition of our own industry. When we separate from the prigs,
let us enter into a closer alliance with one another. Let us
consider ourselves all as members of one community, to the public
good of which we are to sacrifice our private views; not to give
up the interest of the whole for every little pleasure or profit
which shall accrue to ourselves. Liberty is consistent with no
degree of honesty inferior to this, and the community where this
abounds no prig will have the impudence or audaciousness to
endeavour to enslave; or if he should, his own destruction would
be the only consequence of his attempt. But while one man pursues
his ambition, another his interest, another his safety; while one
hath a roguery (a priggism they here call it) to commit, and
another a roguery to defend; they must naturally fly to the favour
and protection of those who have power to give them what they
desire, and to defend them from what they fear; nay, in this view
it becomes their interest to promote this power in their patrons.
Now, gentlemen, when we are no longer prigs, we shall no longer
have these fears or these desires. What remains, therefore, for us
but to resolve bravely to lay aside our priggism, our roguery, in
plainer words, and preserve our liberty, or to give up the latter
in the preservation and preference of the former?"
This speech was received with much applause; however, Wild
continued as before to levy contributions among the prisoners, to
apply the garnish to his own use, and to strut openly in the
ornaments which he had stripped from Johnson. To speak sincerely,
there was more bravado than real use or advantage in these
trappings. As for the nightgown, its outside indeed made a
glittering tinsel appearance, but it kept him not warm, nor could
the finery of it do him much honour, since every one knew it did
not properly belong to him; as to the waistcoat, it fitted him
very ill, being infinitely too big for him; and the cap was so
heavy that it made his head ache. Thus these cloathes, which
perhaps (as they presented the idea of their misery more sensibly
to the people's eyes) brought him more envy, hatred, and
detraction, than all his deeper impositions and more real
advantages, afforded very little use or honour to the wearer; nay,
could scarce serve to amuse his own vanity when this was cool
enough to reflect with the least seriousness. And, should I speak
in the language of a man who estimated human happiness without
regard to that greatness, which we have so laboriously endeavoured
to paint in this history, it is probable he never took (i.e.
robbed the prisoners of) a shilling, which he himself did not pay
too dear for.
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