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Page 78
Nor had he any of those flaws in his character which, though they
have been commended by weak writers, have (as I hinted in the
beginning of this history) by the judicious reader been censured
and despised. Such was the clemency of Alexander and Caesar, which
nature had so grossly erred in giving them, as a painter would who
should dress a peasant in robes of state or give the nose or any
other feature of a Venus to a satyr. What had the destroyers of
mankind, that glorious pair, one of whom came into the world to
usurp the dominion and abolish the constitution of his own
country; the other to conquer, enslave, and rule over the whole
world, at least as much as was well known to him, and the
shortness of his life would give him leave to visit; what had, I
say, such as these to do with clemency? Who cannot see the
absurdity and contradiction of mixing such an ingredient with
those noble and great qualities I have before mentioned? Now, in
Wild everything was truly great, almost without alloy, as his
imperfections (for surely some small ones he had) were only such
as served to denominate him a human creature, of which kind none
ever arrived at consummate excellence. But surely his whole
behaviour to his friend Heartfree is a convincing proof that the
true iron or steel greatness of his heart was not debased by any
softer metal. Indeed, while greatness consists in power, pride,
insolence, and doing mischief to mankind--to speak out--while a
great man and a great rogue are synonymous terms, so long shall
Wild stand unrivalled on the pinnacle of GREATNESS. Nor must we
omit here, as the finishing of his character, what indeed ought to
be remembered on his tomb or his statue, the conformity above
mentioned of his death to his life; and that Jonathan Wild the
Great, after all his mighty exploits, was, what so few GREAT men
can accomplish--hanged by the neck till he was dead.
Having thus brought our hero to his conclusion, it may be
satisfactory to some readers (for many, I doubt not, carry their
concern no farther than his fate) to know what became of
Heartfree. We shall acquaint them, therefore, that his sufferings
were now at an end; that the good magistrate easily prevailed for
his pardon, nor was contented till he had made him all the
reparation he could for his troubles, though the share he had in
bringing these upon him was not only innocent but from its motive
laudable. He procured the restoration of the jewels from the man-
of-war at her return to England, and, above all, omitted no labour
to restore Heartfree to his reputation, and to persuade his
neighbours, acquaintance, and customers, of his innocence. When
the commission of bankruptcy was satisfied, Heartfree had a
considerable sum remaining; for the diamond presented to his wife
was of prodigious value, and infinitely recompensed the loss of
those jewels which Miss Straddle had disposed of. He now set up
again in his trade: compassion for his unmerited misfortunes
brought him many customers among those who had any regard to
humanity; and he hath, by industry joined with parsimony, amassed
a considerable fortune. His wife and he are now grown old in the
purest love and friendship, but never had another child. Friendly
married his elder daughter at the age of nineteen, and became his
partner in trade. As to the younger, she never would listen to the
addresses of any lover, not even of a young nobleman, who offered
to take her with two thousand pounds, which her father would have
willingly produced, and indeed did his utmost to persuade her to
the match; but she refused absolutely, nor would give any other
reason, when Heartfree pressed her, than that she had dedicated
her days to his service, and was resolved no other duty should
interfere with that which she owed the best of fathers, nor
prevent her from being the nurse of his old age.
Thus Heartfree, his wife, his two daughters, his son-in-law, and
his grandchildren, of which he hath several, live all together in
one house; and that with such amity and affection towards each
other, that they are in the neighbourhood called the family of
love.
As to all the other persons mentioned in this history in the light
of greatness, they had all the fate adapted to it, being every one
hanged by the neck, save two, viz., Miss Theodosia Snap, who was
transported to America, where she was pretty well married,
reformed, and made a good wife; and the count, who recovered of
the wound he had received from the hermit and made his escape into
France, where he committed a robbery, was taken, and broke on the
wheel.
Indeed, whoever considers the common fate of great men must allow
they well deserve and hardly earn that applause which is given
them by the world; for, when we reflect on the labours and pains,
the cares, disquietudes, and dangers which attend their road to
greatness, we may say with the divine that a man may go to heaven
with half the pains which it costs him to purchase hell. To say
the truth, the world have this reason at least to honour such
characters as that of Wild: that, while it is in the power of
every man to be perfectly honest, not one in a thousand is capable
of being a complete rogue; and few indeed there are who, if they
were inspired with the vanity of imitating our hero, would not
after much fruitless pains be obliged to own themselves inferior
to MR. JONATHAN WILD THE GREAT.
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