; Likewise unequal were her handes twain How she might overthrow the things that Concord wrought. MLXXVIII. Spenser. Such is the destiny of great men, that their superior genius always exposes them to be the butt of the envenomed darts of calumny and envy.-Voltaire. MLXXIX. Done the tales, to bed we creep, And the busy hum of men, Where throngs of knights and barons bold In saffron robe, with taper clear, H. H Or sweetest Shakspeare, Fancy's child, Such as the meeting soul may pierce The hidden soul of harmony; That Orpheus' self may heave his head Of heap'd Elysian flowers, and hear MLXXX. i Milton. Sharpness of style does for the most part naturally flow from the humour of the writer; and therefore, 'tis observable, that few are guilty of it, but either those that write too young (when it resembles the acidity of juices strained from the fruits before they be matured), or else those that write too old (and then 'tis like the sourness of liquors, which being near corrupting, turn eager); and both these are generally disrelished or if men do admit them for sauce, yet he must be very thirsty that will take a draught of them; whereas the generousest wine drops from the grape naturally, without pressing, and though piquant, has its sweetness. - Marvell. MLXXXI. If Satire charms, strike faults, but spare the man; Satire recoils whenever charg'd too high; MLXXXII. Young. China is sometimes purchased for little less than its weight in gold, only because it is old, though neither less brittle, nor better painted than the modern; and brown china is caught up with ecstasy, though no reason can be imagined for which it should be preferred to common vessels of common clay.—Johnson. MLXXXIII. When gods and goddesses come down To vulgar eyes, too cheap it grows; Churchill. MLXXXIV, The greater part of those whom the kindness of fortune has left to their own direction, and whom want does not keep chained to the counter or the plough, play throughout life with the shadows of business, and know not at last what they have been doing. — Johnson. MLXXXV. Would I had trod the humble path: the shrub All governments and societies of men do in process of long time gather an irregularity; and wear away much of their primitive institution. And therefore the true wisdom of all ages hath been to review at fit periods those errors, defects, or excesses, that have insensibly crept into the public administration; to brush the dust off the wheels, and oil them again, or, if it be found advisable, to choose a set of new ones. And this reformation is most easily, and with least disturbance, to be effected by the society itself, no single men being forbidden by any magistrate to amend their own manners, and much more, all societies having the liberty to bring themselves within compass.—Marvell. END OF PART VI. INDEX. ABUSES, 107 Activity, 489, 969, 1067, 1084 Advice, 207, 350, 414, 524, 984, Affectation, 374, 901 Age, 229, 262, 513, 539, 624, 628 Ambition, 81, 101, 151, 204, American War, 97, 161, 205, |