Virtues and vices, indeed, seem to be named by persons who know neither; as the chamæpericlymenum was called the dwarf-honeysuckle by those who, seeing the fruit, had never seen the flower.

XXIX.

WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE BEST KNOWN BY THEIR

CONDUCT AT HOME.

Not so

'MEN,' said Napoleon, are known by their con'duct to their wives, children, and servants.' always. He was himself an instance to the contrary. There was a monarch, too, once reigning in Europe, who as a husband, father, and friend, was, I believe, inestimable he was also a kind, indulgent, and faithful master. Yet he seemed to have been seldom more at his pleasure than when fettered with warlike engagements. Had he served mankind as faithfully as he served his passions; had he read Sallust's letter to Cæsar with the same appetite that he devoured the details of a battle, in which his person was never at hazard; he had saved to his country and his successor many millions in money, and a multitude of sons and brothers, husbands and fathers.

XXX.

WHO AFFECT IMPARTIALITY.

SOME men affect impartiality for the purpose of condemning their adversaries with the greater certainty. These are the most insidious and most dangerous of enemies. Others turn all the injuries a man may have

received from persons as base-minded as themselves into accusations. These, however, become weary of their own calumnies, when they find they are no longer believed and there are some blockheads who reproach others with their eminence, merely with the hope of persuading them they think nothing of their deserts.

Madam! be still; with reverence may I say it,
For every word you speak in his behalf,

Is slander to his royal dignity.'-Hen. VI. act iii. sc. 2. Men, I say, for the most part, measure others by their own standards. But in what manner are virtue and birth esteemed, unsupported by riches? In the same manner as farmers, for a long time, valued sea-weed. In fact, virtue would be totally banished even from the temples; were it not for the pleasure itself excites, impregnates, and enjoys. What, then, constitutes this valuable friend?-the disposition; the knowledge; the deliberation and preference; the pureness; and the immoveability of purpose.

Polybius lays it down as a rule, that, when a man has taken upon him the office of an historian, his affections are no longer his own, and his duty imperatively leads to the divestment of every passion. It had been well for the fame of Polybius, as well as of Livy, had they written in the spirit of this truly philosophical canon; but they have not. Neither have Tacitus, Guiccardini, Davila, Hume, or any other historian, that any

one can mention.

XXXI.

WHOSE CHARACTERS ARE PREDICTED.

The man, that, in the forehead of his fortune,
Bears figures of renowne and miracle.'

Marlowe-Tamberlaine.

SOME youths show great signs of capacity and judgment; and, on this account, we augur well of their future fortunes. Deformaux asserts, that Cardinal de Richelieu, having conversed with the great Condé, then not more than twenty years of age, prophesied to M. de Chavigni, that he would be the greatest general in Europe, and the first man of his age. He became so.

To predicate of men, however, is a dangerous folly. The Baron de Pollnitz*, speaking of Frederic the Great, when Prince Royal, asserted of him that his sentiments, behaviour, and actions, made it probable, that, if he ever came to the crown, his reign would be one of those mild and peaceful ones which procure kings the love of their people and of mankind in general. How this prediction was verified, the afflictions of Europe, for many a woeful and afflicting year, amply but too mournfully testify.

Vasari had a very high opinion of Catherine de' Medicis. She was of a playful humour when young, 'but always in mischief,' said he, in a letter to Carlo Guasonit; but I adore her as if she were a saint in 'paradise. Her sweetness of temper cannot be painted; nor can I make a memorial of it with any pencil!' How does all this harmonize with the massacre on St. Bartholomew's day?

*Letter, June 6, 1729.

Florence, 1533.

XXXII.

WHO EXEMPLIFY THE MAXIM, THAT SLIGHT TOUCHES ARE DEEP STROKES.

THIS may be illustrated by what Lord Waldegrave says of the conduct of the ministry in 1755. The Duke of Cumberland desired to strike a first blow at once. The Duke of Newcastle was of opinion that Admiral Hawke should take an idle turn in the Channel to exercise the fleet. The Lord Chancellor (Hardwicke) was against bringing matters to an immediate issue; and Lord Anson thought it right to show spirit.

Here we have the characters of the men at once. The Duke of Cumberland was irascible and a soldier; the Duke of Newcastle was timid and a politician; Lord Hardwicke was hesitating and a lawyer; Lord Anson brave and a sailor.

• The

The mention of Lord Hardwicke reminds me of a passage in one of his letters to Dr. Birch. 'foibles and vices of great men, celebrated for their 'parts and actions, too much exposed to view, only confirm and comfort the vulgar; without teaching that ' vulgar the imitation of their virtues *.' Aye-this is indeed but too true!

XXXIII.

IMPARTIAL APPRECIATORS.

HARMODIUS laid claim to one merit,-a strict impartiality of judgment. No one ever heard him allude to the failings even of his adversaries without having also to listen to some of their virtues. But to hear men ac*Addit. MSS., Brit. Mus., No. 4325, p. 68.

cuse others of the same faults of which they are guilty themselves, has frequently been above his philosophy.

The world loves impartiality, however seldom it may practise it, even to the nicest points of gradation; yet truth requires some caution. It is, indeed, from this consideration that some have asserted that there are no such qualities, or quantities, as vice, virtue, or truth. But

If white and black blend, soften, and unite,
A thousand ways, is there no black or white?
Ask your own heart, and nothing is so plain;

'Tis to mistake them costs the time and pain.'-Pope.

Truth, however, is obvious only to few men: men, who resemble the horned-owl, which, having the faculty of dilating and contracting its pupil at pleasure, can see not only in the day but also in the night. Franklin has a curious passage: 'I do not find that I have gained any point in either country, except that of rendering myself suspected by my impartiality; in England, of being too much an American; and, in America, ' of being too much an Englishman*.'

Impartiality in a judge is the most essential of qualilies without it, ability is the worst of serpents. This impartiality, however, must be exercised, not according to times and postures of affairs; judges having nothing to do with times or postures; these belonging to legislative powers; but according to the strictest of all possible regimens. When an arbitrator pleases both parties, it is well; but since he cannot often do that, it is a sufficient indication of impartiality that he pleases neither. *Nov. 28, 1768.