Slanders against Mr. Home.

In certain individuals malevolence knows no limits; slander always has venom for whoever rises above the multitude. The adversaries of Mr. Home found the weapon of ridicule too feeble; in effect, it was bound to turn against the respectable names that cover him with their protection. No longer able to amuse themselves at his expense, they wanted to denigrate him. The rumor was spread, one may guess with what object, and the malicious tongues to repeat it, that Mr. Home had not left for Italy, as had been announced, but that he was incarcerated in the prison of Mazas, under the weight of the gravest accusations, narrated as anecdotes, for which the idle and the lovers of scandal are always avid. We can guarantee that there is nothing true in all these infernal machinations. Before our eyes, we have several letters from Mr. Home, dated from Pisa, Rome, and Naples, where he finds himself at this moment, and we are in a position to prove what we affirm. The Spirits are quite right when they say that the true demons are among men. [1] This title of the Miscellany section does not exist in the original; it was placed here out of simple necessity required by the indexing. — (Compiler's Note.)