the greater and the prefent fwallow up the leffer and the past. Our terrors are real evils; our expectations look forward into improbabilities.

Fools, to dread as mortals, and to defire as if immortal!

What part of life is it that we would wish to remain with us? Is it youth? can we be in love with outrage, licentioufnefs, and temerity? Is it age? then we are fond of infirmities.

It is faid, grey hairs are revered, and in length of days is honour. Virtue can add reverence to the bloom of youth; and without it age plants more wrinkles in the foul than on the forehead.

Is age refpected because it hateth riot? What juftice is in this, when it is not age that defpifeth pleasure, but pleasure that defpifeth age.

Be virtuous while thou art young, so fhall thine age be honoured.

Man confidered in regard to his Infirmities,

and their Effects. § 272. VANITY. Inconftancy is powerful in the heart of man; intemperance fwayeth it whither it will; defpair engroffeth much of it; and fear proclaimeth, Behold, I fit unrivalled therein! but vanity is beyond them all.

Weep not therefore at the calamities of the human ftate; rather laugh at its follies. In the hands of the man addicted to vanity, life is but the fhadow of a dream.

The hero, the most renowned of human characters, what is he but the bubble of this weaknefs! the public is unftable and ungrateful; why should the man of wifdom endanger himself for fools?

The man who neglecteth his prefent concerns, to revolve how he will behave when greater, feedeth himself with wind, while his bread is eaten by another.

A&t as becometh thee in thy prefent ftation; and in more exalted ones thy face hall not be ashamed.

What blindeth the eye, or what hideth the heart of a man from himself like vanity? Lo! when thou feeft not thyfelf, then others difover thee moft plainly.

As the tulip that is gaudy without fmell, confpicuous without ufe; fo is the man who fetteth himself up on high, and hath not merit.

The heart of the vain is troubled while it feemeth content; his cares are greater than his pleasures.

His folicitude cannot reft with his bones; the grave is not deep enough to hide it; he extendeth his thoughts beyond his being: he befpeaketh praife to be paid when he is gone: but whofo promifeth it, deceiveth him.

As the man that engageth his wife to remain in widowhood, that the difturb not his foul; fo is he who expefteth that praile fhall reach his ears beneath the earth, or cherish his heart in its shroud.

Do well while thou liveft; but regard not what is faid of it. Content thyfelf with deferving praife, and thy pofterity fhall rejoice in hearing it.

As the butterfly, who feeth not her own colours; as the jeffamine, which feeleth not the fcent it cafteth around; fo is the man who appeareth gay, and biddeth others. to take notice of it.

To what purpofe, faith he, is my vefture of gold? to what end are my tables filled with dainties, if no eye gaze upon them? if the world know it not? Give thy raiment to the naked, and thy food unto the hungry; fo fhalt thou be pra:fed, and feel

that thou defervest it.

Why bestoweft thou on every man the flattery of unmeaning words! Thou knoweft when returned thee, thou regardest it

not. He knoweth he lieth unto thee; yet he knoweth thou wilt thank him for it. Speak in fincerity, and thou fhalt hear with inftruction.

The vain delighteth to fpeak of himfelf; but he feeth not that others like not to hear him.

If he have done any thing worth praife, if he poffefs that which is worthy admiration, his joy is to proclaim it, his pride is to hear it reported. The defire of fuch a man defeateth itfelf. Men fay not, Behold, he hath done it: or, See, he poffefleth it: but, mark how proud he is of it!

The heart of man cannot attend at once to many things. He who fixeth his foul on fhew, lofeth reality. He purfueth bubbles which break in their flight, while he treads to earth what would do him ho

Thofe who gave thee a body, furnished it with weaknefs; but he who gave thee a foul, armed thee with refolution. Employ it, and thou art wife; be wife, and thou art happy.

Let him who doeth well, beware how he boafteth of it; for rarely it is of his own will.

Is it not the event of an impulfe from without, born of uncertainty, enforced by accident, d pendert on fomewhat else? To these men, and to accident, is due the praife.

beware of irrefolution in the intent of thy actions, beware of inftability in the execution; fo fhalt thou triumph over two great failings of thy nature.

What reproache h rea on more than to act contrarieties? What can fupprefs the tendencies to there, but famnefs of mind? The inconftant fecleth that he changeth, but he knoweth not why; he feeth that he efcapeth from himself, but he perceiveth not how. Be thou incapable of change in that which is right, and men will rely upon

thee.

Eftab'ih unto thyfelf principles of action, and fee that thou ever act according to them.

First know that thy principles are juft, and then be thou inflexible in the path of them.

So fhall thy paffions have no rule over thee; fo fhal! th conftancy enfure thee the good thou poffeffeft, and drive from thy door mis ortune. Anxiety and difappointment fhall be ftrangers to thy gates.

Sufpect not evil in any one, until thou feeft it: when thou feeft it, forget it not. Whofo hath been an enemy, cannot be a friend; for man mendeth not of his faults.

How fhould his actions be right who hath no rule of life? Nothing can be juft which procedeth not from reafon.

The inconflant hath no peace in his foul; neither can any be at eafe whom he concerneth himfelf with.

His life is unequal; his motions are irregular; his soul ch ingeth with the weather.

To day he loveth thee, to morrow thou art detailed by him: and why? himfelf knoweth not wherefore he loved, or wherefore he now hateth.

To-day he is the tyrant; to-morrow thy ferv nt is lefs humbie: and why? he who is arrogant without power, will be fervile where there is no fubjection.

To-day he is profufe, to-morrow he grudgeth unto his mouth that which it

fhould eat. Thus it is with him who knoweth not moderation.

Who thall lay of the camelion, he is black, when the iroment after, the verdure of the grafs overspreadeth him!

Who fhall fay of the inconftant, he is joyful, when his next breath shall be spent in fighing.

What is the life of fuch a man but the phantom of a dream? In the morning he rifeth happy, at noon he is on the rack: this hour he is a god, the next below a worm: one moment he laugheth, the next he weepeth; he now willeth, in an inftant he willeth not, and in another he knoweth not whether he willeth or no.

Yet neither cafe or pain have fixed themfelves on him; neither is he waxed greater, or become lefs; neither hath be had caufe for laughter, nor reason for his forrow: therefore shall none of them abide with him.

The happinefs of the inconftant is as a palace built on the furface of the fand: the blowing of the wind carrieth away its foundation: what wonder then that it falleth?

But what exalted form is this, that hitherwards directs its even, its uninterrupted courfe? whofe foot is on the earth, whofe head is above the clouds?

On his brow fitteth majefty; fteadiness is in his port; and in his heart reigneth tranquillity.

Though obftacles appear in the way, he deigneth not to look down upon them; though heaven and earth oppofe his paí fage, he proceedeth.

The mountains fink beneath his tread; the waters of the ocean are dried up under the fole of his foot.

The tyger throweth herself across his way in vain; the fpots of the leopard glow against him unregarded.

He marcheth through the embattled legions; with his hand he putteth afide the

terrors of death.

Storms roar against his fhoulders, but are not able to fhake them; the thunder burfteth over his head in vain; the lightning ferveth but to fhew the glories of his countenance.

His name is RESOLUTION! He cometh from the utmoft parts of the earth; te feeth happinefs afar off before him; his eye difcovereth her temple beyond the limits of the pole.

He walketh up to it, he entereth boldly, and he remaineth there for ever.

Etablifh

Etablish thy heart, O man! in that which is right; and then know the greatest of human praife is to be immutable.

§ 274. WEAKNESS.

Vain and inconftant as thou art, O child of impertection! how can't thou but be weak? Is not inconftancy connected with fra Ity? Can there be vanity without infrmity? avoid the danger of the one, and thou shalt efcape the mi chiefs of the other. Wherein art thou moft weak? in that wherein thou feemeft mot strong; in that wherein most thou glorieft: ev n in poffefing the things which thou haft: in ufing the good that is about thee.

Wherefore lofe:h the pleasure that is before thee its relish? and why appeareth that which is yet to come the sweeter? Becaufe thou art wearied with the good of this, because thou knoweft not the evil of that which is not with thee, Know that to be content is to be happy.

Couldeft thou chufe for thyfelf, would thy Creator lay before thee all that thine heart could ask for? would happiness then remain with thee? or would joy dwell always in thy gates?

Alas! thy weakness forbiddeth it; thy infirmity declareth against it. Variety is to thee in the place of pleafure; but that which permanently delighteth must be per

manent.

When it is gone, thou repenteft the lofs of it, though, while it was with thee, thou defpitelt it.

That which fucceedeth it, hath no more pleasure for thee: and thou afterwards quarrelet with thyfelf for preferring it; behold the only circumitance in which thou eret not!

Is there any thing in which thy weaknefs appeareth more than in defining tings? It is in the poffeffing and in the uf.ng them.

Good things ceafe to be good in our enjoyment of them. What nature meant pure fweets, are fources of bitterness to us; from our delights arife pain; from our joys, forrow.

Be moderate in the enjoyment, and it ful remain in thy poffeffion; let thy joy be founded on reafon; and to its end shall forrow be a stranger.

The delights of love are ufhered in by fighs, and they terminate in languishment and dejection. The object thou burnest for, naufeates with fatiety: and no fooner haft thou poffefled it, but thou art weary of its prefence.

Join efteem to thy admiration, unite friendship with thy love; fo fhalt thou find in the end, content fo abfolute, that it furpaffeth raptures, tranquillity more worth than ecftafy.

God hath given thee no good without its admixture of evil; but he hath given thee alfo the means of throwing off the evil from it.

As joy is not without the alloy of pain, fo neither is forrow without its portion of pleasure. Joy and grief, though unlike, are united. Our own choice only can give them us entire.

Melancholy itself often giveth delight, and the extremity of joy is mingled with tears.

The best things in the hands of a fool may be turned to his deftruction; and out of the worft the wife will find the means of good.

So blended is weakness in thy nature, O man; that thou haft not ftrength either to be good, or to be evil entirely. Rejoice that thou canst not excel in evil, and let the good that is within thy reach content thee.

The virtues are allotted to various ftations. Seek not after impoffibilities, nor grieve that thou ca ft not poffefs them at all.

Wouldit thou at once have the liberality of the rich, and the contentment of the poor? or fhall the wife of thy bofom be despised, because the fheweth not the vir tues of the widow?

If thy father fink before thee in the divifions of thy country, can at once thy juftice deftroy him, and thy duty fave his life!

If thou beholdeft thy brother in the agonies of a flow death, is it not mercy to put a period to his life, and is it not alfo death to be his murderer?

Truth is but one; thy doubts are of thine own raifing. He who made virtues what they are, planted alfo in thee a knowledge of their pre-eminence. Act as thy foul dictates to thee, and the end shall be always right.

§ 275. Of the INSUFFICIENCY of KNOWLEDGE.

If there is any thing lovely, if there is any thing delirable, if there is any thing Bb 3 within

within the reach of man that is worthy of praife, is it not knowledge? and yet who is he that attaineth unto it?

The ftatefnan proclaimeth that he hath it; the ruler of the people claimeth the praife of it; but findeth the fubject that he poffeffeth it?

Evil is not requifite to man; neither can vice be neceffary to be tolerated: yet how many evils are permitted by the connivance of the laws? how many climes committed by the decrees of the council?

But be wife, O ruler! and learn, O thou that art to comniand the nations! One crime authorized by thee, is worse than the elcape of ten from punishment.

When thy people are numerous, when thy fons incrcafe about thy table; fendeft thou them not out to lay the innocent, and to fall before the word of him whom they have not offended?

If the object of thy defires demandeth the lives of a thoufand, fayeft thou not, I will have it? Surely thou forgetteft that he who created thee, created alo thefe; and that their blood is as rich as thine.

Sayeft thou, that justice cannot be executed without wrong! furely thine own words condemn thee.

Thou who flattereft with falfe hopes the criminal, that he may confefs his guilt; art thou not unto him a criminal? or is thy guilt the lefs, because he cannot punish it?

When thou commandeft to the torture him who is but fufpected of ill, dareft thou to remember, that thou mayeft rack the innocent?

Is thy purpose anfwered by the event? is thy foul fatisfied with his confeflion? Pain will enforce him to fay what is not, as eafy as what is; and anguish hath caufed innocence to accufe herself.

That thou mayet not kill him without caufe, thou doft worfe than kill him: that thou mayet prove if he be guilty, thou deftroye him innocent.

O blindness to all truth! O infufficiency of the wifdom of the wife! know when thy judge fhall bid the account for this, theu fhalt with ten thousand guilty to have gone free, rather than one innocent then to ftand forth against thee.

Infuficient as thou art to the maintenance of juftice, how fhalt thou arrive at the knowledge of truth? how fhalt thou afcend to the footstep of her throne?

As the owl is blinded by the radiance of the un, fo fhall the brightneís of her

countenance dazzle thee in thy approaches. If thou wouldst mount up into her throne, first bow thyself at her footstool: If thou wouldst arrive at the knowledge of her, first inform thyfelf of thine own ignorance.

More worth is the than pearls, therefore feek her carefully: the emerald, and the fapphire, and the ruby, are as dirt beneath her feet; therefore purfue her manfully.

The way to her is labour; attention is the pilot that must conduct thee into her ports. But weary not in the way; for when thou art arrived at her, the toil fhall be to thee for pleasure.

Say not unto thyself, Behold, truth breedeth hatred, and I will avoid it; diffimulation raifeth friends, and I will follow it. Are not the enemies made by truth, better than the friends obtained by flattery?

Naturally doth man defire the truth, yet when it is before him, he will not appre hend it; and if it force itfelf upon him, is he not offended at it?

The fault is not in truth, for that is amiable; but the weakness of men beareth not its splendour.

Wouldst thou fee thine own infufficiency more plainly? view thyself at thy devo tions! To what end was religion inftitut ed, but to teach thee thine infirmities, to remind thee of thy weakness, to fhew thee that from heaven alone thou art to hope for good?

Doth it not remind thee that thou art duft! doth it not tell thee that thou art afhes? And behold repentance is not built on frailty?

When thou giveft an oath, when thou fweareft thou wilt not deceive; behold it Spreadeth fhame upon thy face, and upon the face of him that receiveth it. Learn to be juft, and repentance may be forgotten; learn to be honest, and oaths are unneceffary.

The fhorter follies are, the better: say not therefore to thyfelf, I will not play the fool by halves.

He that heareth his own faults with patience, fhall reprove another with bold

nefs.

He that giveth a denial with reason, shall fuffer a repulfe with moderation.

If thou art fufpected, answer with freedom: whom fhould fufpicion affright, except the guilty?

The tender of heart is turned from his purpofe

perpofe by fupplications, the proud is rendered more obftinate by entreaty, the fenfe of thine infufficiency commanded thee to hear; but to be juft, thou must har without thy pallions.

$276. MISERY,

Feeble and infufficiet as thou art, O mar, in good; frail and inconftant as thou art in pleasure; yet there is a thing in which thou art strong and unfhaken. Its name is Mifery.

It is the character of thy being, the prerogative of thy nature; in thy breaft alone it refideth; without thee there is nothing of it. And behold, what is its fource, but Line own paffions?

He who gave thee thefe, save thee alfo reason to fubdue them; exert it, and thou fhalt trample them under thy feet.

Thine entrance into the world, is it not fhameful? thy destruction is it not glorious? Lo! men adorn the intuments of death with gold and gems, and wear them above their garments.

He who begetteth a man, hideth his face; but he who killeth a thousand is hocured.

Know thou, notwithstanding, that in this is error. Custom cannot alter the nature of truth; neither can the opinion of men defroy juftice; the glory and the fhame are mi placed.

There is but one way for man to be produced: there are a thoufand by which he may be destroyed.

There is no praife, or honour, to him who giveth being to another; but triumphs and empire are the rewards of murder.

Yet he who hath many children, hath as many beings; and he who hath taken away the life of another, fhall not enjoy

his own.

While the favage curfeth the birth of His fon, and blefleth the death of his father, doth he not call himself a monfter? Enoaga of evil is allotted unto man; but be maketh it more while he lamenteth it.

The greatest of all human ills is forrow; too much of this thou art born unto; add Lot unto it by thy own perverfenefs.

Grief is natural to thee, and is always about thee; pleasure is a franger, and vifiteth thee but by times: ufe well thy reafon, and forrow fhall be caft behind thee; be prudent, and the vifits of joy shall remain long with thee.

Every part of thy frame is capable of

forrow; but few and narrow are the paths that lead to delight.

Pleasures can be admitted only fimply; but pains rush in a thousand at a time.

As the blaze of ftraw fadeth as foon as it is kindled; fo paffeth away the brightnefs of joy, and thou knoweft not what is become of it.

Sorrow is frequent; pleafure is rare; pain cometh of itfelf; delight must be purchafed: grief is unmixed; but joy wanteth not its alloy of bitterness.

As the foundest health is lefs perceived than the flightest malady, fo the highest joy toucheth us lefs deep than the smallest forrow.

We are in love with anguifh; we often fly from pleafure; when we purchase it, cofleth it not more than it is worth?

Reflection is the bufinefs of man: a fenfe of his ftate is his first duty; but who remembereth himself in joy. Is it not in mercy, then, that forrow is allotted unto us?

Man forefeeth the evil that is to come; he remembereth it when it is paft: he confidereth not that the thought of affliction woundeth deeper than the affliction itfelf. Think not of thy pain, but when it is upon thee, and thou fhalt avoid what moft would hurt thee.

He who weepeth before he needeth, weepeth more than he needeth: and why, but that he loveth weeping?

The tag weepeth not till the fpear is lifted up against him; nor do the tears of the beaver fall, till the hound is ready to feize him: man anticipateth death, by the apprehenfions of it; and the fear is greater milery than the event itself.

Be always prepared to give an account of thine actions; and the best death is that which is leaft premeditated.

277. Of JUDGMENT.

The greatest bounties given to man, are judgment and will; happy is he who mifapplieth them not.

As the torrent that rolleth down the mountains, deftroyeth all that is borne away by it; fo doth common opinion overwhelm reafon in him who fubmitteth to it, without faying, What is thy foundation?

See that what thou receiveft as truth be not the fhadow of it; what thou acknowledget as convincing, is often but plaufible. Be firm, be conftant, determine for thyfelf; fo fhalt thou be anfwerable only for thine own weakness.

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