himself and the world, and he had a heart as liberal and compaffionate as it was fincere and open; this great estate was then out of fight; it must be this eftate then, which has wrought the unhappy change in his manners and difpofition; and if riches operate thus upon a nature like his, where is the wonder if we meet fo many wretches, who derive their wants from their abundance? How beautiful is the maxim of Menander!— Yuxnv exeiv dei πrovolav-enrich your mind! Riches, Ψυχὴν ἔχειν πλουσιαν-enrich fays the fame elegant and moral dramatist, are no better than an actor's wardrobe, the paltry tinfel, that enables him to glitter for a few minutes in a counterfeited character To fret and ftrut his hour upon the stage, In another place he fays, they transform a man into a different kind of being from what he was originally Εις ἕτερον ἦθος, ἐκ ἐν ὦ τὸ πρόσθεν ἦν· and then concludes with that Attic fimplicity, fo neatly turned and elegantly expreffed as to diftance all translation. Κρείττον Κρεῖττον γάρ ἐστιν, ἄν σκοπῆ τὶς κατὰ λόγον, Μὴ πολλ ̓ ἀηδῶς, ὀλίγα δ ̓ ἡδεώς ἔχειν. "Better to choofe, if you would choose the best, "A chearful poverty, than wealth unbleft." N° XCVII. Ω τρισάλθιοι Αιταντες οι φυσῶντες ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς μέχα, (MENANDER. Gubernatoribus.) "Oh wretched mortals! by false pride betray'd, "Ye know not of what nature man is made.' HOUGH I think our nation can never The of I be accused of want of charity, yet I have obferved with much concern a poor unhappy fet of men amongst us, whose case is not commiferated as it ought to be ;-and as I would gladly contribute any thing in my power towards their relief, the best proof I can give them of my good will is by endeavouring to convince them of a certain truth, which all the world except themD 2 felves felves has difcovered long ago, viz.-That a proud man is the most contemptible being in nature. -Now if thefe proud men, to whom I addrefs myself and for whose miserable fituation I have fuch compaffion, fhall once find a friend to convince them, that they are truly the most contemptible beings in nature, it can never be fuppofed they will perfift to entertain a companion in their bofoms, who affords them fo little pleasure, and yet involves them in fo much difgrace. I muft confider them therefore as miftaken rather than obftinate, and treat them accordingly; for how can I fuppofe there would be fuch an abfurdity in the world as a proud man, if the poor creature was not behind hand with the rest of mankind in a discovery that concerns himself so materially? I admit indeed that pride is a very foolish thing, but I contend that wife men are fometimes furprized into very foolish things, and if a little friendly hint can refcue them, it would be an ill-natured action to withhold the information: "If you are proud, you are a fool”. fays an old Greek author called SotadesΑν ̓ ἀλαζονῆς, τότ ̓ ἀνοίας ἐστὶ φρύαγμα- but I hope a little plain English, without the help of Sotades, will serve to open the eyes of a plain Englishman, and prevent him from strutting about the world world merely to make fport for his neighbours; for I declare in truth, that so far from being annoyed and made fplenetic as some folks are, when I fall into company with a proud fellow creature, I feel no other impulse than of pity, with now and then a small propenfity to titter, for it would be downright rudeness to laugh in a man's face on fuch an occafion, and it hurts me to fee an honeft gentleman, who may have many more natural good qualities, than he himself is aware of, run about from houfe to houfe only to make sport for the fcoffers, and take a world of pains and put on an air of gravity and importance for no better purpose than to provoke ridicule and contempt-Why is earth and ashes proud? says the Son of Sirach; Pride was not made for men. As I am determined to put these poor men upon their guard in all points, I shall remind them of another error they are in, which fadly aggravates their misfortunes, and which arises from a circumftance of a mere local nature, viz. That England is the worst country a proud man can exhibit himself in.-I do really wish they would well confider the land they live in; if they do not know, they ought to be told, that we are a free people; that freedom tends to make us independant of one another, fearless in our per fons, warm in our refentments, bold of tongue and vindictive against infult; England is the place upon earth, where a proud ftomach finds the leaft to feed upon; indeed it is the only ftomach, that can here complain of its entertainment: if the proud man thinks it will be fufficient to pay his fine of affability to his neighbours once in feven years upon a parliamentary canvass, he is cruelly mistaken; the common people in this country have fuch a fhare of intuition, underftand their own ftrength fo well, and scrutinize into the weakneffes of their fuperiors fo acutely, that they are neither to be deceived nor intimidated; and on that account, (as the proud man's character is compounded of the impoftor and the bully) they are the very worst people he can deal with. A man may ftrut in Spain, vapour in France, or kick and cuff the vulgar as he likes in Ruffia; he may fit erect in his palanquin in India without dropping his eyes upon the earth he moves over; but if he carries his head in the air here, and expects the crowd to make way for him, he will foon run foul of somebody that will make him repent of his ftateliness. Pride then, it feems, not only expofes a man to contempt, but puts him in danger; it is also a very expenfive frolick, if he keeps it up as it should be kept, for |