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but found the reſt of my Friends ſo little diſpoſed to jeſt upon this important Queſtion, that he was forced to reſtrain his Mirth, and content himſelf with a ſullen and contemptuous Silence.
Another of my Friends, whom I had aſſembled on this Occaſion, having owned the Solidity of my Anſwer to the firſt Objection, offered a ſecond, which in his Opinion could not be ſo eaſily defeated.
“I have obſerved,” ſays he, “that the Eſſays in the Gazetteer, though written on very important Subjects, by the ableſt Hands which Ambition can incite, Friendſhip engage, or Money procure, have never, though circulated through the Kingdom with the utmoſt Application, had any remarkable Influence upon the People. I know many Perſons of no common Capacity, that hold it ſufficient to peruſe theſe Papers Four Times a year; and others who receive them regularly, and without looking upon them, treaſure them under Ground
“for
