There’s Nothing more Common in the World than these _Wolvish
Back-Friends_, in all our Pretensions; whether it be in Law, in
Government, or in a Hundred other sorts of Clayme and Competition;
Especially for the running down of a Man that’s Declining in his Credit
already. Calumny is Base at best; though Pleasant enough sometimes,
where it falls out, that One Rascal is Countermining Another. But let
the Reproche be never so True, it can hardly be Honest, Where the Office
is done in Hugger-Mugger; and where the Intention is not Guided by a
Conscience of the Duty. It is a way to Confound the Good and the Bad,
where Knaves have Credit enough to be Believ’d, to the Wrong of Honest
Men, and the Innocent left without Means of Defence.
He that would live Clear of the Envy and Hatred of Potent Calumniators,
must lay his Finger upon his Mouth, and Keep his Hand out of the Ink-Pot;
for to do a Good Office upon the Point of Opinion, Intelligence, Brains,
or Conscience, where this _Wolvish_ Humour prevails, is little better
then a _Scandalum Magnatum_, or a Libel upon his Superiors: But where it
happens that there’s a _Fox_ and a _Wolfe_ in the Case; and One Sharper
to Encounter Another, the Scene is Diverting enough.