silk garter pleases more; and, like trouts, we love to be tickled to death.

8. The soldiers say they fight for honor, when the truth is they have their honor in their pocket; and they mean the same thing that pretend to fight for religion. Just as a parson goes to law with his parishioners: he says, for the good of his successors, that the church may not lose its right; when the meaning is to get the tithes into his own pocket.

9. We govern this war as an unskilful man does a casting-net: if he has not the right trick to cast the net off his shoulder, the leads will pull him into the river. I am afraid we shall pull ourselves into destruction.

10. We look after the particulars of a battle, because we live in the very time of war; whereas of battles past we hear nothing but the number slain. Just as for the death of a man when he is sick, we talk how he slept this night and that night, when he eat, and what he drank; but when he is dead, we only say, he died of a fever, or name his disease, and there's an end.

11. Boccaline has this passage of soldiers. They came to Apollo to have their profession made the eighth liberal science, which he granted. As soon as it was noised up and down, it came to the butchers, and they de

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sired their profession might be made the ninth : for," say they, "the soldiers have this honor for the killing of men; now we kill as well as they; but we kill beasts for the preserving of men, and why should we not have honor likewise done unto us?" Apollo could not answer their reasons, so he reversed his sentence, and made the soldiers' trade a mystery, as the butchers' is.

WITCHES.

THE law against witches does not prove there be any; but it punishes the malice of those people that use such means to take away men's lives. If one should profess, that by turning his hat thrice, and crying "buz," he could take away a man's life, though in truth he could do no such thing, yet this were a just law made by the state, that whosoever should turn his hat thrice, and cry "buz," with an intention to take away a man's life, shall be put to death.*

* The justice of such a law seems to be very questionable. The intention and the act of murder may be equal sins, but they cannot be considered as equal crimes; for human laws must have a reference, not to internal purposes, but to external actions. But he who

WIFE.

1. HE that hath a handsome wife, by other men is thought happy; 't is a pleasure to look upon her, and be in her company; but the husband is cloyed with her. We are never

content with what we have.

2. You shall see a monkey sometimes, that has been playing up and down the garden, at length leap up to the top of the wall, but his clog hangs a great way below on this side. The bishop's wife is like that monkey's clog ; himself is got up very high, takes place of the temporal barons, but his wife comes a great way behind.

3. 'Tis reason a man that will have a wife should be at the charge of her trinkets, and pay all the scores she sets on him. He that will keep a monkey, 't is fit he should pay for the glasses he breaks.

intends to commit murder, and in consequence of that intention is guilty of wounding and maiming, may justly be subjected to severe punishment; not however on account of his mere intention, but on account of his inflicting an atrocious injury.

WISDOM.

1. A WISE man should never resolve upon any thing, at least never let the world know his resolution, for if he cannot arrive at that, he is ashamed. How many things did the king resolve in his declaration concerning Scotland, never to do, and yet did them all! A man must do according to accidents and emergencies.

2. Never tell your resolution beforehand; but when the cast is thrown, play it as well as you can to win the game you are at. 'T is but folly to study how to play size-ace, when you know not whether you shall throw it or no.

3. Wise men say nothing in dangerous times. The lion, you know, called the sheep, to ask her if his breath smelled: she said, "Ay"; he bit off her head for a fool. He called the wolf, and asked him: he said, "No"; he tore him in pieces for a flatterer. At last he called the fox, and asked him: "Truly he had got a cold, and could not smell." King James was pic

tured, &c.

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WIT.

1. WIT and wisdom differ: wit is upon the sudden turn, wisdom is in bringing about ends. 2. Nature must be the groundwork of wit and art; otherwise whatever is done will prove but Jack-pudding's work.

3. Wit must grow like fingers. If it be taken from others, 't is like plums stuck upon black thorns; there they are for a while, but they come to nothing.

4. He that will give himself to all manner of ways to get money, may be rich so he that lets fly all he knows or thinks, may by chance be satirically witty. Honesty sometimes keeps a man from growing rich, and civility from being witty.

5. Women ought not to know their own wit, because they will still be showing it, and so spoil it; like a child that will continually be showing its fine new coat, till at length it all bedaubs it with its pah hands.

6. Fine wits destroy themselves with their own plots, in meddling with great affairs of state. They commonly do as the ape that saw the gunner put bullets in the cannon, and was pleased with it, and he would be doing so too: at last he puts himself into the piece, and so both ape and bullet were shot away together.