 Book 4, Chapter 14, of the late Mr. Jonathan Wilde the Great. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, read by Dennis Sayers. The late Mr. Jonathan Wilde the Great. By Henry Fielding. Book 4, Chapter 14. World proceeds to the highest consummation of human greatness. The day now drew nigh when our great man was to exemplify the last and noblest act of greatness by which any hero can signalize himself. This was the day of execution, or consummation, or apotheosis, for it is called by many different names, which was to give our hero an opportunity of facing death and damnation without any fear in his heart, or at least without betraying any sentence of it in his countenance. A completion of greatness which is heartily to be wished to every great man, nothing being more worthy of lamentation than when fortune, like a lazy poet, winds up her catastrophe awkwardly and bestowing too little care on her fifth act dismisses the hero with a sneaking and private exit, who had in the former part of the drama before such notable exploits as must promise to every good judge among the spectators a noble, public, and exalted end. But she was resolved to commit no such error in this instance. Our hero was too much and too deservedly her favorite to be neglected by her in his last moments. Accordingly all efforts for a reprieve were vain, and the name of Wilde stood at the head of those who were ordered for execution. From the time he gave over all hopes of life, his conduct was truly great and admirable. Instead of showing any marks of dejection or contrition, he rather infused more confidence and assurance into his looks. He spent most of his hours in drinking with his friends and with the good man above commemorated in one of those compotations, being asked whether he was afraid to die. He answered, D. blank blank in me, it is only a dance without music. Another time, when one expressed some sorrow for his misfortune, as he termed it, he said with great fierceness, a man can die but once. Again when one of his intimate acquaintance hinted his hopes that he would die like a man, he cocked his hat in defiance and cried out greatly, Zounds, who's afraid? Happy would it have been for posterity could we have retrieved any entire conversation which passed at this season, especially between our hero and his learned comforter. And we have searched many pace-board records in vain. On the eve of his apotheosis, Wilde's lady desired to see him, to which he consented. This meeting was at first very tender on both sides, but it could not continue so for unluckily, some hints of former miscarriages intervening, as particularly when she asked him how he could have used her so barbarously once as calling her B. blank blank, and whether such language became a man, much less a gentleman, Wilde, flew into a violent passion and swore she was the vilest of B. blank blank S's to up braid him at such a season with an unguarded word spoke long ago. She replied with many tears, she was well enough served for her folly in visiting such a brute, but she had one comfort, however, that it would be the last time he could ever treat her so, that indeed she had some obligation to him, for that his cruelty to her would reconcile her to the fate he was tomorrow to suffer. And indeed nothing but such brutality could have made the consideration of his shameful death, so this weak woman called Hain, which was now inevitable to be borne even without madness. She then proceeded to a recapitulation of his faults in an exacter order and with much more perfect memory than one would have imagined her capable of, and it is probable would have rehearsed a complete catalogue had not our hero's patience failed him, so that with the utmost fury and violence he caught her by the hair and kicked her as hardly as his chains would suffer him out of the room. At length the morning came, which fortune at his birth had resolutely ordained for the consummation of our hero's greatness. He had himself, indeed modestly declined the public honor she intended him, and had taken a quantity of lotinum in order to retire quietly off the stage. But we have already observed in the course of our wonderful history that to struggle against this lady's decrees is vain and impotent, and whether she had determined you shall be hanged or be a prime minister, it is in either case lost labor to resist. Lotinum, therefore, being unable to stop the breath of our hero, which the fruit of hemp seed, and not the spirit of poppy seed, was to overcome, he was at the usual hour attended by the proper gentleman appointed for that purpose, and acquainted that the cart was ready. On this occasion he exerted that greatness of courage which hath been so much celebrated in other heroes, and knowing it was impossible to resist, he gravely declared he would attend them. He then descended to that room where the fetters of great men are knocked off in a most solemn and ceremonious manner, then shaking hands with his friends, to those who were conducting him to the tree, and drinking their health in a bumper of brandy. He ascended the cart where he was no sooner seated, then he received the acclamations of the multitude who were highly ravished with his greatness. The cart now moved slowly on, being preceded by a troop of horse guards bearing javelins in their hands, through streets lined with crowds all admiring the great behavior of our hero, who rode on sometimes sighing, sometimes swearing, sometimes singing or whistling as his humor buried. When he came to the tree of glory, he was welcomed with a universal shout of the people who were there assembled in prodigious numbers to behold a sight much more rare in populous cities than one would reasonably imagine it should be, vis the proper catastrophe of a great man. But though envy was, through fear, obliged to join the general voice and applause on this occasion, there were not wanting some who maligned this completion of glory, which was now about to be fulfilled to our hero and endeavored to prevent it by knocking him on the head as he stood under the tree while the ordinary was performing his last office. They therefore began to batter the cart with stones, brickbats, dirt, and all manner of mischievous weapons, some of which, erroneously playing on the robes of the Ecclesiastic, made him so expeditious in his repetition that, with wonderful alacrity, he had ended almost in an instant and conveyed himself into a place of safety in a hackney coach, where he waded the compulsion with a temper of mind described in these verses. Suave marimanno, turbantibus aegora ventis, etera alterius magnum spettare laborum. We must not, however, omit one circumstance as it serves to show the most admirable conservation of character in our hero to his last moment, which was that whilst the ordinary was busy in his ejaculations, wild in the midst of the shower of stones, etera, which played upon him, applied his hands to the parson's pocket, and emptied it of his bottle screw, which he carried out of the world in his hand. The ordinary being now descended from the cart, wild had just opportunity to cast his eyes around the crowd and to give them a hearty curse, when immediately the horses moved on, and with universal applause, our hero swung out of this world. Thus fell Jonathan Wilde, the great, by a death as glorious as his life had been, and which was so truly agreeable to it that the latter must have been deplorably maimed and imperfect without the former, a death which hath been alone wanting to complete the characters of several ancient and modern heroes whose histories would then have been read with much greater pleasure by the wisest in all ages. Indeed, we could almost wish that whenever fortune seems wantonly to deviate from her purpose and leaves her work imperfect in this particular, the historian would indulge himself in the license of poetry and romance, and even do a violence to truth to oblige his reader with a page which must be the most delightful in all his history and which could never fail of producing an instructive moral. Narrow minds may, possibly, have some reason to be ashamed of going this way out of the world if their consciences can fly in their faces and assure them they have not merited such an honor. But he must be a fool who is ashamed of being hanged, who is not weak enough to be ashamed of having deserved it. And of Book 4, Chapter 14, read by Dennis Sayers in Modesto, California, for LibriVox. Book 4, Chapter 15 of the late Mr. Jonathan Wilde the Great. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, read by Dennis Sayers. The late Mr. Jonathan Wilde the Great by Henry Fielding. Book 4, Chapter 15, the character of our hero and the conclusion of this history. We will now endeavor to draw the character of this great man, and by bringing together those several features, as it were, of his mind which lies scattered up and down in this history, to present our readers with a perfect picture of greatness. Jonathan Wilde had every qualification necessary to form a great man. As his most powerful and predominant passion was ambition, so nature had, with consummate propriety, adapted all his faculties to the attaining those glorious ends to which this passion directed him. He was extremely ingenious in inventing designs, thoughtful in contriving the means to accomplish his purposes, and resolute in executing them. For as the most exquisite cunning and most undaunted boldness qualified him for any undertaking, so was he not restrained by any of those weaknesses which disappoint the views of mean and vulgar souls, and which are comprehended in one general term of honesty. Which is a corruption of honesty, a word derived from what the Greeks call an ass. He was entirely free from those lovices of modesty and good nature, which, as he said, implied a total negation of human greatness, and were the only qualities which absolutely rendered a man incapable of making a considerable figure in the world. His lust was inferior only to his ambition, but as for what simple people call love, he knew not what it was. His avarice was immense, but it was of the rapacious, not of the tenacious kind. His rapaciousness was indeed so violent that nothing ever contented him but the whole. For, however considerable the share was which his co-agitors allowed him of the booty, he was restless in inventing means to make himself master of the smallest pittance reserved by them. He said laws were made for the use of prigs only and to secure their property. They were never therefore more perverted than when their edge was turned against these, but that this generally happened through their want of sufficient dexterity. The character which he most valued himself upon, and which he principally honored in others, was that of hypocrisy. His opinion was that no one could carry prigism very far without it, for which reason he said there was little greatness to be expected in a man who acknowledged his vices, but always much to be hoped from him who professed great virtues. Wherefore, though he would always shun the person whom he discovered guilty of a good action, yet he was never deterred by a good character, which was more commonly the effect of profession than of action. For which reason he himself was always varied liberal of honest professions, and had as much virtue and goodness in his mouth as a saint, never in the least scrupling to swear by his honor, even to those who knew him the best. Nay, though he held good nature and modesty in the highest contempt, he constantly practiced the effectation of both, and recommended this to others, whose welfare on his own account he wished well to. He laid down several maxims as the certain methods of attaining greatness, to which in his own pursuit of it he constantly adhered, as, number one, never to do more mischief to another than was necessary to the effecting his purpose, for that mischief was too precious a thing to be thrown away. Number two, to know no distinction of men from affection, but to sacrifice all with equal readiness to his interest. Number three, never to communicate more of an affair than was necessary to the person who was to execute it. Number four, not to trust him who hath deceived you, nor who knows he hath been deceived by you. Number five, to forgive no enemy, but to be cautious and often dilatory in revenge. Number six, to shun poverty and distress, and to ally himself as close as possible to power and riches. Number seven, to maintain a constant gravity in his countenance and behavior, and to affect wisdom on all occasions. Number eight, to foment eternal jealousies in his gang, one of another. Number nine, never to reward anyone equal to his merit, but always to insinuate that the reward was above it. Number ten, that all men were naves or fools, and much the greater number of composition of both. Number 11, that a good name like money must be parted with or at least greatly risked in order to bring the owner any advantage. Number 12, that virtues like precious stones were easily counterfeited, that the counterfeits in both cases adorned the wearer equally, and that very few had knowledge or discernment sufficient to distinguish the counterfeit jewel from the real. Number 13, that many men were undone by not going deep enough in roguery, as in gaming any man may be a loser who doth not play the whole game. And 14, that men proclaimed their own virtues as shopkeepers exposed their goods in order to profit by them. Number 15, that the heart was the proper seat of hatred and the countenance of affection and friendship. He had many more of the same kind, all equally good with these, and which were after his decease found in his study, as the twelve excellent and celebrated rules were in that of King Charles the first. For he never promulgated them in his lifetime, not having them constantly in his mouth, as some grave persons have the rules of virtue and morality, without paying the least regard to them in their actions, whereas our hero by a constant and steady adherence to his rules in conforming everything he did to them acquired at length, a settled habit of walking by them. Till at last he was in no danger of inadvertently going out of the way, and by these means he arrived at that degree of greatness, which few have equaled. None, we may say, have exceeded, for though it must be allowed, that there have been some few heroes who have done greater mischiefs to mankind, such as those who have betrayed the liberty of their country to others, or have undermined and overpowered it themselves, or conquerors who have impoverished pillaged, sacked, burnt, and destroyed the countries and cities of their fellow creatures, from no other provocation than that of glory. That is, as the tragic poet calls it, a privilege to kill, a strong temptation to do bravely ill. Yet, if we consider it in the light wherein actions are placed in this line, laishis est kotjes magno tibi konstat onestim. When we see our hero without the least assistance or pretense, setting himself at the head of a gang, which he had not any shadow of right to govern, if we view him maintaining absolute power and exercising tyranny over a lawless crew, contrary to all law, but that of his own will, if we consider him setting up an open trade publicly in defiance not only of the laws of his country, but of the common sense of his countrymen, if we see him first contriving the robbery of others, and again the defrauding the very robbers of that booty which they had ventured their necks to acquire, and which without any hazard they might have retained. Here, sure he must appear admirable, and we may challenge not only the truth of history, but also the latitude of fiction to equal his glory, 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 aired 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 serve to denominate him a human creature, of which kind none ever arrived at consummate excellence. But surely his whole behavior to his friend heart free 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 unrivaled 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 Wilde the great after all his mighty exploits was what so few great men can accomplish, hang 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 heart free. 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 labor to restore heart free to his reputation and to persuade his neighbors, acquaintance, and customers of his innocence. When the commission of bankruptcy was satisfied, heart free 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 Strattle 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 heart free 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 heart free his wife, his two daughters, his son-in-law, and his grandchildren, of which he hath several, live altogether in one house, and that with such amity and affection towards each other, that they are in the neighborhood 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 everyone hanged by the neck, save too. 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 deserved, and hardly earn, that applause which is given them by the world, for when we reflect on the labors 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 honor 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 Wilde, the great, the end.