his Admiration, he replyed, For that very Reafon I will not fee her, left, if by thy Perfuafion, I fhould fee her but once, fhe berSelf might perfuade me to fee her often, and fpend more Time with her, than would be for the Advantage of my own Affairs. So Alexander, upon a like Confideration, would not truft his Eyes in the Prefence of the beauteous Queen of Perfia, but kept himfelf out of the Reach of her Charms, and treated only with her aged Mother. These, as they were peculiar Acts of Continence, fo were they as abfolute Checks of Curiofity; which never fleeps in youthful Breafts, when Beauty gives the Alarm to the Blood.

The Exceffes of our Curiofity will yet more easily be cured, if instead of enquiring into what concerns other Men, we can prevail with ourselves fo far, as not to fee or hear all that is done in our own Houfes, nor to listen to every Thing that may be told us, concerning our felves or our private Affairs. Human Nature is fo eafily difcompos'd, our Tempers ruffled, and Paffions roufed, that we should be cautious of feeking Occafions of Difquiet. There are Circumftances enough of Vexation in every one's Affairs, which cannot be disguis'd or kept fecret And only Fools and Madmen can be excufed for labouring to ftir up frefh

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fresh Afflictions, and add an Increase to Sorrow and Uneafinefs. If it were but for this one Reason, 'tis plain, we ought to regulate our Curiofity, and contend against an Humour of Impertinence, whofe Confequences are not trivial: And if this one Vice be not corrected, 'twill be fruitlefs to fubdue our other Paffions: For while we indulge ourfelves in enquiring, fifting, and canvafing every Trifle, we shall be under a Neceffity of employing our Anger and Sufpicions; be drawn into Jealoufies of being made Properties; and ufe bafe and ungenerous Subtleties to do ourselves Juftice.

PRI D E.

T

HERE is no Paffion which steals into the Heart more imperceptibly, and covers itfelf under more Difguifes, than Pride: So that the best Way to know whether we are guilty of this Vice, or not, and to prevent our charging this odious Imputation upon others unjustly, is, to state the Nature of Pride, and enquire into the Grounds of it.

Pride is originally founded on Self-Love; which is the most intimate and infepaparable Paffion of Human Nature. The Kindness Men have for themselves, is apt to put them upon over-valuing their own. Things; which Humour, unlefs check'd in Time, will make them take moft Delight in thofe Circumftances and Actions which distinguish them from their Neighbours, and place their fuppofed Advantages in the beft Light. By this Self-Love, we are to understand the Exceffa Man not to be us impollible for a proud,

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proud, becaufe 'tis impoffible for a Man not to love himself: But we certainly do love ourfelves too well, as often as we fet an overproportion'd and unufual Value upon any Thing becaufe 'tis our own; as if our Fondnefs and Partiality were the true Standards of Worth, and we had the Faculty of turning every Thing we touch'd into Gold. This is an Argument that a Man does not delight in an Advantage fo much for itfelf, as for the Comparison; not so much for its own respective Goodness, as because others want it.

Pride, to define it in the plaineft Words, is too high an Opinion of our own Excellency. We may be affured, we have this Disease, when we value any Perfon chiefly because his Advantages are of the fame Nature with thofe we enjoy; neglecting others who have an equal Right to Regard, only because their Privileges are of a different Kind from our own. We may as certainly conclude ourselves infected with this Vice, when we invade the Rights of our Neighbour, not upon the Account of Covetoufnefs, but of Dominion; only that we may have it in our Power to create Dependencies, and to give another that which is already his own. And another infallible Symptom is, when Men love to make themfelves the Subject of Difcourfe; to con over

their Pedigrees, and obtrude the Blazon of their Exploits upon the Company: This is an Argument they are over-grown with Conceit, and very much fmitten with themfelves.

There is no Affection of the Mind fo much blended in Human Nature, and wrought into our very Conftitution, as Pride. It appears under Multitude of Difguifes, and breaks out in ten thousand different Symptoms. Every one feels it in himfelf, and yet wonders to fee it in his Neighbour. There is no Temptation to it from the Reflection of our Being in general, or upon any Comparative Perfection, whereby one Man may excel another. The greater a Man's Knowledge is, the greater Motive he may feem to have for Pride; but in the fame Proportion as the one rifes, the other finks, it being the chief Office of Wisdom to discover to us our Weaknefs and Imperfections.

There is an admirable Sentence in Holv Writ, which fays that Pride was not made for Man. There is not indeed any fingle View of Human Nature, under its prefent Condition, which is not fufficient to extinguifh in us all the fecret Seeds of Pride; and on the contrary, to fink the Soul into the lowest State of Humility; and what the School-Men call Self-Annihilation. There is