by praising heroes or princes for conquering countries, have incited other princes to imitate them.-Hutchinson's Confusion of Tongues.

CCX.

Character of the Virtuous Man.-The virtuous, the truly wise man, distinguishes himself, not by a peculiar dress, not by singular actions, words, and gestures, but by his whole conduct. One view must appear in all his actions-the view to do as much good by his existence as possible.

He is not merely a good citizen, a faithful husband, and a serviceable friend; he is a philanthropist.

Foresight and prudence, in the whole of his conduct, keeps him equally distant from enthusiasm, which clouds the judgment, as from levity.

He studies his duties, in order to execute them.

He will not be without fault, because he is a man; but he will never be indifferent about his faults. He will not indulge, let take root, or be governed by, bad passions or inclinations, under the name of weaknesses; but he will be active against indulging them; he will hasten to mend his committed errors; they will redouble his ardour; they I will render him more attentive to himself. The consciousness of his own imperfections will render him modest and indulgent with regard to others, but hard and severe against himself.

After a good action, which had cost him some trouble, he will not be negligent for a long time, as if he had done enough; neither will he lose his spirits if, perhaps, his good intentions are now and then not crowned with success. He examines and inquires into the principles which he follows in his conduct; they are good and just, and he

is constant to them. He is satisfied with the good intentions of his actions, though their utility is not always conspicuous or publicly acknowledged.—Fedur.

CCXI.

The Value of Affections.-The tender affections, comprehending all the different modifications of love, appear in various forms and degrees, from the transient goodwill we feel for a common stranger, to the fondness with which the mother watches over her child in distress, or which unites the hearts of absent lovers. They may be accompanied with disappointment or other circumstances productive of pain, but that they are in themselves delightful requires neither proof nor illustration. But the affections are never so engaging as when they improve the character. This, indeed, is their natural tendency, inasmuch as they prevent our attention from being confined to ourselves, and create both an interest in the welfare of others, and also an anxiety to recommend ourselves to their esteem. And it is wonderful how far, in many instances, they have subdued the ferocity and selfishness of human nature, and roused its timidity and indolence to indefatigable exertions and heroic exploits. The power of love to support the affectionate, in the most trying situations, is so great, that the very consciousness of being beloved by the object of our attachment, will disarm of its terrors even death itself. As the tender affections may be exhibited in such various forms, to contribute at once to our improvement and delight, it is a pity that men of genius should sometimes degrade themselves to win our attachment to worthless characters, or to allure us to a vicious, indolent, or effeminate life. And although it is, indeed, meritorious employment to warn the inex

perienced against the arts of the profligate, and to represent the errors and crimes into which the most amiable dispositions are apt to be betrayed; it is also of the highest importance, sometimes to exhibit our fellow-creatures in a more favourable point of view, to rouse our emulation by characters who unite the respectable to the amiable qualities, and to show, what is not unfrequently exemplified in the world, how the tender affections, when properly directed, are productive of the most generous and heroic virtues.-D'Israeli-Essays on Literary Plea

sure.

CCXII.

Candour of greater Worth than Prudence.-Simplicity and gentleness are more beneficial to the human race, than the prudence of all its individuals; for nobody has ever described the golden age as composed of prudent, but of candid men. If it be objected, that much of that which is called simplicity in women is thoughtlessness or inattention, I reply, that much of that which is called prudence in men, is fallacy, duplicity and treachery, which are much worse qualities. Even that very discreet frankness, with which they sometimes incautiously unbosom themselves, is a token considered as a symptom. No person is ignorant of his vices; and whoever finds himself loaded with them to a large amount, is very careful to shut the crevices of his heart to prevent the pryings of curiosity. Whoever commits criminal disorders within his house, does not leave his doors open at all hours, and by that means expose himself to be detected. Reserve is the inseparable companion of a bad heart; and you may conclude that those who familiarly and with ease unbosom themselves, have little about them that they are anxious

of concealing. Considered then in this light, the simplicity or candour of women is always a valuable quality; but when conducted with good sense, it approaches to perfection, and when it is not, it may always be looked upon as a favourable symptom.-From the Spanish— Feyjoo's Discourse on the most refined policy.

CCXIII.

Despotism. And why have mankind groaned so long under so terrible a system as that of arbitrary rule? Because over the greater part of the world they have not had it in their power to make use of their intelligence, or to communicate it; they have been kept in ignorance by their governors, in order to make them labour for their profit and pleasure, or to fight in wars in which they were in nowise interested; and where the chosen few who could enlighten mankind as to their condition, have been willing so to do, they have been prevented, by restrictions having been put upon their circulating or publishing their writings.-Maltravers.

CCXIV.

Forgiveness of Injuries.-It is the mild and quiet halt of the world, who are generally outraged and borne down by the other half of it; but in this they have the advantage; whatever be the sense of their wrongs, that pride stands not so watchful a sentinel over their forgiveness, as it does in the fierce and froward; we should, all of us, I believe, be more forgiving than we are, would the world but give us leave, but it is apt to interpose its ill offices in remissions, especially of this kind: the truth is, it has its laws, to which the heart is not always a party; and acts VOL. I. 11

so like an unfeeling engine in all cases without distinction, that it requires all the firmness of the most settled humanity to bear up against it.-Sterne's Sermons.

CCXV.

Public and Private Education.-It is an observation sanctioned by the almost unanimous testimony of those whose opinion is founded upon experience, that the vices of a public school are of a nature to be easily detected and to be corrected by discipline: while those of private education creep on in concealment, and frequently arrive at a remediless degree of maturity before they are discovered. The remark of the judicious Dr. Barrow on this head is at once striking and just. "The perpetual restraints under which the private pupil lives, and the constant presence of those much older than himself, do not suffer his propensities and passions to appear in their true colours; and consequently their course cannot be sufficiently regulated, nor their excesses restrained. He does not grow open and ingenuous by unreserved communication with his equals; but artful and designing, by watching the sentiments of those more advanced in age; and the self-command which he appears to possess, is often policy, not principle-hypocrisy, not virtue.”—Shepherd. and Joyce's Systematic Education.

CCXVI.

Religion. When temporal advantages are annexed to any religious profession, they will be sure to call in all those who have no religion at all: knaves will embrace it for the sake of interest, fools will follow them for the sake of fashion; and when once it is in such hands, omnipotence itself can never preserve its purity.-Jenyns' Works.