In this particular, he seemed to confound the ideas of virtue and
vice; for he did good, as other people do evil, by stealth; and was
so capricious in point of behaviour, that frequently, in public,
he wagged his tongue in satirical animadversions upon that poverty
which his hand had in private relieved. Yet, far from shunning the
acquaintance, or discouraging the solicitation of those who, he
thought, wanted his assistance, he was always accessible, open, and
complaisant to them, even when the haughtiness of his temper kept
his superiors at a distance; and often saved a modest man the
anguish and confusion of declaring himself, by penetrating into
his necessity, and anticipating his request, in a frank offer of
his purse and friendship. Not that he practised this beneficence
to all the needy of his acquaintance without distinction; there
is always a set of idle profligate fellows, who, having squandered
away their own fortunes, and conquered all sense of honour and
shame, maintain themselves by borrowing from those who have not
yet finished the same career, and want resolution to resist their
importunate demands.
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