RICHARDSONIANA: 
 OR, OCCASIONAL REFLECTIONS 
 ON THE MORAL NATURE 
 
 OF MAN 
 Jonathan Richardson 
 
 Published on demand by 
 
 UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS 
 
 University Microfilms Limited, High Wycomb, England 
 
 A Xerox Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan, US. A. 
 
* * * 
 
 an authorized facsimile of the original book, and was 
 ed in 1969 by microfilm-xerography by University 
 1ms. A Xerox Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. 
 
kiCHARDSONIANAr 
 
 ,-- V I 
 
 OCCASIONAL REFLECTIONS^} 
 6 it rut Vv''. 
 
 < 
 
 NATURE of 
 
 Suggefted by various Authors, ancient and modern, and 
 exemplified from tbofe Authon . 
 
 p . 
 
 SEVERAL ANECDOTES INTEkSPERSED, ' J- 
 
 6y the late JONATHAN RICHARDSON, jun. Efy 
 
 fitr tf ptr fractpta, Irevt ft efficax (if txtmpta, 
 SZNICA, JF/. 
 
 Homintm faglna nojlra fapit. 
 
 MAUTIAL. x. 44 
 
 L O N D O N i 
 
 ^Printed for J. DOD8LEY, 
 MDCCJLXXVJ. 
 
/: 
 
 <" 
 
 J 
 
 LOAN STACK 
 
- 
 
 ' i 
 
 -7774-*- 
 
 " How many (lories have 1 Scattered up niu! t!o\vn 
 in this book, that I only touch upon, which, mould 
 any one more curioufly fenrch into, thev would find 
 matter enough to produce infinite cflays : neither thofc 
 /lories, nor my allegations, do always ferve, fimply, 
 -for example, authority, or ornament. I do not only 
 ^regard them for the ufc I make of them ; they cany 
 fomctimcs, befidcs what I apply them to, the feed of 
 a more rich and bolder matter ; and fomctimcs, col- 
 laterally, a more delicate found, both to me myfelf, 
 who will exprefs no more in this place, and to others 
 who (hall happen to be of my ear. Like Longinufi 
 fublime, a great deal more is left the reader to fupply 
 (by the path of thought it leads him into) than is ex* 
 prcficd." 
 
 Mo*to/*e 9 Effay I. 39. p. 
 
 The Arabian* have a colleftion of this fort, which . 
 is entitled Rail Alabrar^ or Printemps da juftes 9 as 
 fHerbelot tranflates it, whofe words arc thefe: " Cet 
 wvragt ?i eft rempli que Jet fentencks^ d'exemflcs, et 
 4* bijlciru agreables t qui rijoiiijfent le Icfteur ; et, fa un 
 1*ot> ftft un antbclogle la plus amph tt }a plus rttbtrcbe* 
 qttilft trouw dan$ la litter at urt Arabiqut* . 
 
 N. B. Tbe following are taken from a much larger 
 ber % *wbicb are intended for publication* . 
 
 eoo 
 
( Hi ) 
 
 P R E F A; C E. 
 
 JP/vtf //// in gen I urn ad eliciendos ex relut fermonet. 
 
 Diog. Laert. de Socrates 
 
 / * , 
 
 Adnotalati excerfetatqiie ; nibil enim Itgit quod non f* 
 ctrpcret* 
 
 Plin, Ep. IIL ^. 
 
 / ' ' 
 
 CA T O the Ccnfor faid, that " he 
 thought himfelf as accountable for 1 
 his private leifure, as for his public em* 
 ployments." Cic. fro Plane. 2 7 * 
 
 As reading is the uhiverfal cxefcife and 
 atnufement of people of elegant leifure, and 
 ingenuous minds, nothing can be of more 
 importance, than to give this noble occu- 
 pation a right bias, and diredt it to more , 
 th^n mere amufement, which is only idling 
 time away, or keeping us out of mifchief; 
 and fo apply it, as to become ufeful at the 
 fame time, and make both thefe advantages 
 of polite ftudy mutually affift and advance 
 a 2 one 
 
( iv .) 
 
 one another. Reading will thus be made 
 much more delightful, by perpetually kin- 
 dling, as it were, new lights in the imagi- 
 nation, for the judgment to work upon, 
 and, at the fame time, all its difcovcrics 
 will be fixed and rooted in the memory, * 
 and turned to advantage, and ever ready as 
 ule (hall call them forth. Juft as my dear 
 father ufed to do by his travelling , every 
 now and then, in his yearly progrefs on 
 horfeback, for about a fortnight, to recruit 
 himfelf from his continual application for 
 all the reft of the year, as occafions pre- 
 fcnted themfelvcs to his fine imagination, 
 and nice diftinguifhing choice, taking ele- 
 gant (ketches and remembrances of the moft 
 beautiful profpcfts , whereas I, who, by 
 his indulgence, faw and travcrfcd a far 
 greater extent and variety of country, and 
 much finer than ever he had the opportunity ' 
 of feeing, for want of his art and delicate 
 application, like common readers, made no 
 colle&ions in this way, to ferve for future 
 pleafure and profit, and retain only a gene- 
 ral and confufed, though pleafing, image 
 of fo many delightful views. Even fo, 
 reading a vaft deal, of the moft excellent 
 matter, however it may amufe and charm 
 
 for 
 
C v ) 
 
 the prefent, and, withal, perhaps, in- 
 creafe a flight and almoft ufelefs knowledge, 
 yet will very little improve the under- 
 ftanding, which alone deferves the attention 
 of a mind worth cultivating, whofe capacity, 
 however large, will be flill poor and indi- 
 gent in the midft of riches, and ftarve in 
 plenty, if it does not appropriate to itfelf, - 
 and take poflefiioji of the more folid and 
 fipurifhing fubftance of its ftudies, and flill 
 turn this, by 3, wholefome and temperate 
 digeftion, into its own proper ftrengjth and 
 vigour. The mind demands this, juft as 
 much as the body ; and will alike fuffer, 
 . either from want of its natural diet, or 
 from fwallowing more than it gives itfelf 
 time to digeft : now, this will be the cafe 
 even of the moft learned, and thofe who 
 have read with the moft retired diligence, 
 and anxious fludy, in their own fcveral 
 languages, Herodotus^ Thucydides, Polylius, 
 Plutarch^ Livy^ Tacitus, Philip de Comines,. 
 Guicciardiny and all thofe other noble wri- 
 ters who perpetually prefent, to a curious 
 iobferver, fuch rich and 'fplendid views, as 
 it would be great lofs to pafs curforily by ; 
 if they do not fix thofe precious materials, 
 and turn them to their own pleafure and 
 a 3 advan- 
 
.( vl ) 
 
 Advantage , trcafuring them up, as they rifb| 
 fry prpcr reflections and applications. 
 
 For, as to the hiflories thcmfelvcs, as 
 hiftories only of fafts, fuppofing them to be 
 ever fo certain and genuine, they arc, ab- 
 folutely, no more to us than romances, and 
 have been of no more fcrvice in the reading, 
 than if we had been diverting ourfelves any 
 other innocent and ingenious way , and a 
 game at chefs, finely played and imagined, 
 would have been as ufeful an amufement; 
 nay, of lefs ufe, if the other, as it generally 
 dees to them who thus read, puffed us up 
 with wind, inftead of nourilhment, and 
 with empty vanity and prcfumption, inftead 
 of fober fcnfe and adtive worth and virtue, 
 
 The true and only ufe of the ftudy of 
 hiftory, and of all other ftudies, after pro-* 
 viding for the necefiaries and conveniences 
 of life, is to eftablifh a fet 6f principles for 
 the prudent and virtuous conduft of that 
 life-, which can no way be accompliflied 
 with fo much fafety and plcafure, as by 
 obfervation of what others have done (dill 
 mixed with the polite and generous corn- 
 pierce of the great world) and applying 
 
 this 
 
f ^ 
 
 { Vll ) 
 
 this to like cafes and occurrences, and 
 learning,, by experience and obfervation f 
 how to change as circumftances change in 
 the companion*, thus ftill uniting former 
 events with prefent, fpecqlation with prac- 
 tice, and fo profiting from the right or wrong 
 conduit of others. This is obtaining ex- 
 perience at a reafonable price, and ever ac- 
 companied with delight in the acquifition, 
 without danger , withal, accuftoming the 
 mind more and more to refleftion, and em- 
 ploying its faculties properly, fo as to nou- 
 rilh and ftrengthen it to a folid and lafting 
 health. 
 
 If fables have always been efteemed * 
 fine and ufeful mode of inftruftion, from 
 the pleafingnefs of the fubjcdt, and their 
 fuggefting matter for reflexions, for the 
 condudt of life, there cannot, furely, be 
 lefs, either of pleafantnefs or materials for 
 thought, in real occurrences. And why 
 fhould we not make the fame ufe, at leaft, 
 of thefe,. as of fidtion ? with the important 
 advantage of our opinion of them as real 
 fads , which will certainly add more weight 
 to them, and confequently carry a greater 
 energy in perfuading, where they arc them- 
 a 4 felvcs 
 
'( viii ) 
 
 felvcs to be applied to, and compared with 
 what is alfo pafllng before us in atftual life,* 
 in which we are only treading over again 
 the very fame paths which they, from whofc 
 examples we are making our inferences, 
 trod before us, with the very fame paflions, 
 powers, and qualities, and liable to tha 
 very fame accidents and events, 
 
 But, if thefe obfervations and reflection* 
 are of xmfpeakable ufe to conduft us in 
 particular occurrences, they will of courfe 
 greatly conduce to the obtaining this fyflem 
 of moral principles, thus gradually built 
 on the true foundation of our own experi- 
 ence, and our obfervations on that of others ; 
 on which to reft, and to which dircft all 
 our aftions, and all we have to defirc, or to 
 avoid ; in fhort, a right concerted purpofc 
 of life, on which always to keep our eyes 
 in all our particular views, as occurrences 
 flow in with the great tide of things. 
 
 I fuppofe the one fixed universal bias of 
 
 undifciplined mankind to be unconditional 
 
 felf-love, regarding nothing elfe, nor any 
 
 other perfon whatfoever, but as thefe con- 
 
 tribute, or are fubfervient to this one oh- 
 
*je&, that this .is the one ever-afting motivcr 
 
 "(even when we do . not attend to it, or 
 would even ojiirfclves believe it often) of 
 all in all things, which fets out from the 
 very dawnings of choice, nay, and before, 
 by inllindl, and ends only with life : and 
 that immediate pleafure, or apparent hap- 
 pinefs, are the fole end and conftant fcope 
 of felf-love ; but which felf-hvC) like all 
 other things, with fuch fallible creatures, 
 is liable to endlels miftakes and errors in its 
 
 . judgment of this pleafure or happinefs, 
 which is, iftdeed, its only true good , but 
 which, rightly underftood and direfted, ftill 
 becomes focial from the very courfe itfelf 
 of things, and the unalterable dilpofitions 
 of all-impartial providence ; and equally 
 ferves the individual anjl tjie fociety. Be- 
 jcaufe, every one of this whole, fingly pur- 
 fuing its own particular views of happinefs, 
 they do all of courfe diredt, and, as it were, 
 hitch one another into focial happinefs, and ' 
 a general convenience, by the various 
 
 . ichemes and interefts of all, alike drawing 
 fingly to themfelves, making each, necefia? 
 rily, find his feveral account, in giving up 
 fomcthing, to obtain or preferve the reft; 
 
 thus 
 
thus reducing them into a certain mean* ^F 
 which" is the true place of continued happi^ 
 nefs, and which equally ferves individuals 
 and the whole j thus compelling felf-lavt 
 andfocialto unite in one. Thus it brings 
 the total amount of human happinefs to 
 that ftandard, which providence (whofe de- 
 crees, by the apt union of the end and 
 means, arc fure to etf^cute themfelves) hath 
 allotted it, here and now ; and which is fo 
 poiled and fhared, that a lefs degree would 
 make life irkfome, and a greater, fo fwect 
 as to be intolerable to part with. 
 
 Self-love fecms to be the very fame in the ' 
 moral oeconomy of providence, that attrac- 
 tion* is in the natural, and is kept in its due 
 bounds by the very fame counter-attradlion 
 all around it; every particular body, in 
 both alike, drawing fingly to itfclf; by 
 which means the whole is reduced into that 
 due and perfeft order which the Creator 
 defigned, and which created things can pof- 
 fefs but in various degrees ; abfolute perfec- 
 tion being the incommunicable attribute of 
 Himfelf alone, 
 
 Stlfi 
 
Q- 
 
 t^-*** ajl 
 
 'Self-love then all our own experience, and 
 our obfervation and reading of that of 
 others, will prove to be then only well-di* 
 refted, for our own fakes, when it is alfo 
 focial. This is lb true, that it will be found 
 to be the very fum of the gofpel fyftem of 
 morals; for we are commanded nothing, 
 either to do or to forbear, but as it con- 
 duces to our own good , and all the chari- 
 ties towards our neighbour, into which this 
 noble and divine plan is branched and va- 
 ried, are recommended to us, only as they 
 tend to, and ultimately terminate in, our 
 own real advantage , and which is fo con- 
 nefted with that of others, that we cannot 
 break into one, without making, in conic- 
 quence, a proportionable breach into the 
 other, 
 
 And it will be found a no lefs pleafing 
 
 fpeculation, than it will prove an infinitely 
 
 ufeful one, to inveftigate the gofpel fyftem 
 
 with this clue ; for " the ways of Wijdom 
 
 '(which is virtue) are ways of pleafantnefs, 
 
 . and all her paths are peace." And the not 
 
 feeing this, and a&ing accordingly, is only 
 
 one of thofe perpetual and innumerable in- 
 
 ftances 
 
( % 
 xn ) 
 
 ftanccs of mi&aken felf-Iove, that arc conti-/ 
 nually bewildering us. Virtue is no othcr* 11 ^ 
 than Jclf-Iovc andfocial united, which is the 
 gofpel and word of God; and vice is no 
 other than ignorance and mi (taken Jelf-love^ 
 which not feeing its neccflary connexion 
 withyir/W, runs riot into all intemperance, 
 and fo finks and lofes itfclf. 
 
 This teft, occafionally applied to by the 
 fa&s which hiftory furnifhes, (which is 
 " philofophy teaching, by example," how 
 to conduft ourfelves in all the fituations of 
 public and private life-, and, therefore, 
 fhould be attended to, and inveftigated with 
 a philofophical fpirit) befides the ever-en- 
 gaging perpetual variety, they will mutually 
 afiiil one another-, one (VH fupplying mate- 
 rials, and the other as conftantly directing 
 in what manner we are to make ufe of them. 
 
 Bur, indeed, the gofpel does itfelf fupply, 
 in an emphatical degree, both the examples 
 
 ,and their application, by its manner of 
 inculcating its own divine dodtrine, by a 
 continued hiflorical relation of occurrences 
 
 which it applies, or leaves the reader to ap- 
 
^ C xi" ) 
 
 together with certain appofite and aft 
 feCting parables, fprinkled here and there, 
 occafionally to ufe * which, furely, is the 
 mod ready method imaginable to accom- 
 modate divine truths and important leflbns 
 to human conception. Humanly familiar, 
 with divine dignity ! The gracious Author 
 uniting both his natures to the great all- 
 merciful purpofe of our inftruCtion; fo 
 warming and kindling the right fpirit of 
 reading hiftory , and making philofophy 
 more philofophy. The gofpel being indeed 
 a collection and finifhed fyftem of moral 
 and focial duties, which, alone, contains 
 all that the mod wife and renowned law- 
 givers and philofophers had advanced, (all 
 xinknown, as feem;, cO n,o!l of thtfc inrpi- 
 red writers) and yet far more * and their 
 fcattered hints united into one complete 
 body, that fhines with more intcnfe glow 
 and fplendor, as from collected and united 
 beams. All the former philofophy and 
 moral doCtrine of the ancient fages, being 
 like Afilton's new-created light, as it were, 
 " fphered in a radiant cloud, for yet the fun 
 was not." This refplcndent and confum- 
 jnate body of the gofpel, is the fun, full- 
 formed 
 
formed' and Completed j into which all for-^ 
 mer light was tranfplantcd from her cloudy 
 fhrine, 
 
 Grtat falaft nvw *f liglt t 
 
 JONATHAN RICHARDSON. 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 1. f\N euflom* and ctrintoniti 
 
 ii. vy o/r/4 - * ^ 3 y 
 
 JIL Virtue i are often only 'vices difguifed 45 
 
 IV. Prof per ity and power good friends t but bad 
 
 counsellors - - 48 
 
 V. JiPV fc'v^ /^ treafont but bate the traitor 51 
 VI Every man makes bi$ God after bis o<wn likenefe 5 7 
 
 VII. Running abroad after diver/ions is often not 
 
 from receiving any pleafure in tbem, tut 
 from baying none at borne - ^8 
 
 VIII. Heaven is peopled wuitb good doers > and bell 
 
 *witb goodfayers - * - 59. 
 
 IX. Anger is not to be oppofed in its frft fury - 6a 
 
 X. T'be perfon obliged is often lefs llamcable for bis 
 
 own ingratitude than bis benefaflor * 6 1 
 
 XI. We do nothing for nothing - 63 
 
 XII. Tbe motive alone is the true meafure of virtue 66 . 
 
 XIII. Examples of the great and ajlonijhing power 
 
 of eloquence - - - - Jpj 
 
 XIV. Several injlances of tbe awe with ivbicb a 
 great and numerous audience Jlrikes tbe wi- 
 fe/? and left-prepared fpeakers - . - 83 
 
 XV. On nick-names of princes - - 90 
 
 XVI. Every one has his fcivoarite fafllon % and tbe 
 force of Self in reafo/ting * - . - .9* 
 
 XVII, U/t 
 
xv 
 
 XVII. Ufe And propriety alone can give real merit & a* 
 
 to- tc.lents and tbcir application r 90 
 
 XVIII. Propriety if the only tejl of <wbat if right I o I 
 
 XIX. // ii danger out to make free <witb greatnefs In 
 jtft - - - - 103 
 
 XX. Tie force of cuftonl - . , 108 
 
 XXI. // // ahfurd to take afatirt to onifclf, or ft 
 
 tbc cap to our onv/i head - HO. 
 
 XXII. We never love God fo much at when <we 
 *vant kirn * - lit 
 
 XXIII. God dots not give courage and undcrjland- 
 ing* but onfy lendt tbem - - . 1 1 6 
 
 XXIV. We are commonly tie dupet of other people* t 
 views - - - - 119 
 
 XXV. Wi can make no very certain judgment oftbi 
 happinrfs of others - 1 2J 
 
 XXVI. Nothing impoftsfo much as a grave andfo- 
 lemn demeanour - - 1 3 
 
 XXVII. We cun never get rid of ourf elves - - 136 
 
 XXVIII. Few can bear the Icifure that all covet 138 
 
 XXIX. V be negle fling or forgiving of injuries //, 
 iudted 9 ftcuring the tranquillity, and, <witbal, 
 eifferthtg the dignity of our perfons - 141 
 
 XXX. dnecdtile concerning an intercepted letter of 
 king Charles I. to the queen ' *IJ1 
 
 XXXI. Ptoplt had rather net die at all - * 134 
 
 XXXII. Man dijj'tn more from man than man from 
 beaft - - "138 
 
 XXXIII. We often err from fupfoftng others to aft 
 confifltntly - - *J4* 
 
 XXXIV. Clean dtftrve to be cheated ^ 148 
 
 XXXV. A critical enquiry into the feveral degrees 
 of merit of various laiites who have fcic rificed 
 tbem fclves for their cbajiitj 149 
 
 XXXVI. A 
 
m c 
 
 Page 
 
 XXXVL ArepMee of the tar/ofDorkt to king 
 
 Cha. II. and another in the Saracen hi ft. 158 
 
 XXXVII. The i<f!t bujlle of men. A trutjlory 160 
 
 XXXVIII. The honours that art paid to thofe who 
 
 do not deferve them art affronts - 161 
 
 XXXIX. Suptrjlition it the weak part of mankind 165 
 XL. Three *vilims to conjugal virtue 170 
 XLI. We are all the perpetual dupes of prtfent on- 
 
 venientt - 174 
 
 XLI I. Every one has bit prlet .' 178 
 
 XLI II. Vanity never quits ut 1 80 
 
 XLIV, % be fame continued - j8l 
 
 XLV. Good-nature *wins all - 184 
 
 XL VI. Know your company before jwfpeak - 188 
 XL VII. Our enemies are a better looking-glafs than 
 
 our friends - - - j^O 
 
 (XLVIII. AVov and unejlalliflxd merit has the pre- 
 judices, the timoroufnefs, and the malignity 
 
 of the world to encounter - 194 
 
 XLIX. Vanity is the great focial principle that con* 
 ; . neflt mankind <witb, and makes them dt '}tn- 
 
 dfnt on, each other - - - 1OI 
 
 L. We arc* in general, more obliged to our infenfi- 
 
 bility, than to our pbllofopby - *OO 
 
 LI. Lawyers differ - - '. 21 6 
 
 LII. Wit and prudence fcldom go together - 217 
 
 LIII. On pojl humous fame - - 219 
 
 'J-.IV. Inftances of avarice - L;V ! 2 20 
 
 LV. A curious offer from a queen g/'Syria to Abdalla, 
 
 and from an old lady to bifoop Gibfon - 221 
 LVI. Story of a cavalier phyficiaiit prefcription to 
 
 bis puritan patient - - 22 X 
 
 b LVIL /* 
 
.;:. : ( xviii ) 
 
 Page 
 LVII. Interpolations of a bible, printed fy authority 
 
 in France - . :; V'J 22 y 
 
 LVII1. Hypocrijy is fome times a virtu* 224 
 
 L1X. IV* often fuffer mart from txcefs than from 
 
 want - ' . 227 
 
 LX. Every man bas bit firing if you can fnd it, 
 
 and know how 1o full it 219 
 
 LXI. All virtue or vlte bean tbe feedi of its own 
 
 reward or punijhmcnt in the natural confc- 
 
 f uencei oftbings 23 1 
 
 LXI I* Puffers always lay them/elves open to ridicule 234 
 JLXJ1I. Story of an ehphant at Achin . 235 
 
 JLXIV. Two anecdotes of lord Stair . 236 
 
 JLXV. People are often governed ly tbofi whom 
 
 they defpife * . 237 
 
 LXVI. *lbofc who bide can fnd . 239 
 
 LXVII. Th* ufe tffilcnce ' . 240 
 
 LXVII'I. Put water in tbe pump - 244 
 
 LXIX. Nature will always make its 'way 246 
 LXX. We Jhould contrive to be always good for 
 
 fomt thing * 248 
 
 LXXI. Dotlors differ - 249 
 
 LXX II. A word to tbe *w ! ft . 251 
 
 LXXI11. On the fnferjlition and malignity of tb$ 
 
 .ignorant - - 2J2 
 
 LXX IV. We are ferpttually deceived by appearances 254 
 LXXV. When we turf elves are concerned the cafe 
 
 is altered , ' 259 
 
 LXXVI. [Omitted.-] 
 LXX VI I. Study tbe Graces both when you confer 
 
 and receive favours 261 
 
 LXX VIII. On ajfetlcd criticifm . 2 6 
 
 LXXIX. Dt* 
 
Page 
 
 LXXIX. Decency fiould attend on all our qualities, 
 
 * to make them amiable and ref peeled 267 
 LXXX. Nature and uje will dijcover tbemfelvtt 
 
 , through all difguifes . . 273 
 
 LXXXI. Heroic gallantry - 279 
 
 LXXXII. Qntbe idle fondnefs of life - ' 281 
 
 LXXXI1I. Secrets are often dangerous both to tbt ^ 
 
 teller and hearer - 284 
 
 LXXXIV. Every one for blmfelf - i. 286 
 LXXXV. We Jhould keep to our own condition 287 
 LXXX VI. Beauty the frfl and loft concern of a 
 
 woman - 288 
 
 LXXXVII. Events come upon us unexpectedly 290 
 
 LXXX VIII. Mercy it often a falft virtu*, and a 
 
 difguifed vice - - - 291 
 
 LXXXIX. Ybejboulder is fitted to the burden 294 
 
 XC. Keep your 'tongue between your teeth - 296 
 XCI. Men offenfe differ left than they feem to do 300 
 XCII. We can judge only from what we fee - 302 
 XCIII. All unnecejfary noifes in pullic affemblitt 
 
 fasvour of bur bar ifm or impiety 303 
 
 XCIV. IVcfiouldbe mitt upon errors and faults in 
 
 favour of ejfential and preponderating good 307 
 XCV. A decent pride is the guarantee of virtue -310 
 XCVL Ihofe who, will give jejls ought to taki 
 
 them - - - 31! 
 
 XCVII. Ruling paffion, and lucky application of 
 
 lyords - -314 
 
 XCVIII. Good rules muft give way to better 316 
 
 XCIX. We atone for the vices we indulge by our 
 
 feverity on thofe for which we havt 
 
 notajle - ' - 318 
 
 C. Ptr. 
 
Page 
 
 C. Perfwere and conquer ^ ^.fo, 3 2 
 
 CI. We call believing what is not * . 321 
 
 CII. We fiould imitate merit in/lead of envying it 323 
 
 GUI. We art often the better for our enemies 326 
 
 CIV. Privileges arefotnetimes affronts - 327 
 
 CV. Anecdote of Central GuiCe - .328 
 
 CVI Once a rogue and always a rogue 3 2 9 
 
 CVII. On the rational idea of God - 332 
 
 Additional notes - - 336 
 
 tLXITI. LXIV. WLXV. are market wrong, 
 LXXVI. // omitted. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 10, 1. 5, for nitur* read nature.' 
 
 13, 1. 13, for ' two* read too.* 
 II, ' ' ' imperil.* 
 
 41, 1. 15, -virtu. 9 
 
 5f, note, i . ' Guevara." 
 
 i 85, ). I, for ' ingenious* read ' ingenuous.* 
 
 - 125, 1. the !af>, for remarks it* read ' remark H.' 
 
 - 1461 1. 1^ for txjx/.'it' read ' e*f<//ti.' 
 
 RICHARD- 
 
RICHARDSON I AN A, 
 
 V-'- : v<-- 
 
 CUSTOMS and 
 
 Man dijfert wrtfrom man than man from leap. 
 
 ROCHESTER* 4 
 
 PERHAPS nothing is more proper to 
 give a/ummary idea of mankind, and 
 of their general levity and inconfiftency, and 
 
 , the prejudices of What they call their re^fon, 
 than a fhort furvey of fome of their cuftoms ; 
 becaufe .thefe are not the caprices of fingle 
 men, but the, feqfe of a whole people $ and 
 that too, not of one particular time, but 
 xvhat have been gradually embraced, ap- 
 proved, and acquiefced in> by whole gene* 
 
 rations and ages* ' 
 
 J . ..y ->-J 
 
 B By 
 
( * ) 
 
 By thcfe it will appear, that the fpecies 
 have agreed fo little in their opinion of right 
 and wrong, that it would almoft incline us 
 to doubt whether thefe have any fixed point 
 in the nature itfclf of things, and do not 
 almoft depend on accidental convenience *, 
 and the various circumftances of time and 
 place i or at Icaft that we have not the pro- 
 per qualifications to enable us to determine \ 
 except pcradventure in extreme cafes. For, 
 what criterion can we have ? and who (hall 
 be the judge ? if every age and nation 
 comes to plead its own caufe, and produce 
 its cuftoms, which ever of the other con- 
 demns it, muft withal prove why its own 
 opinion is preferable to that of the age or 
 nation at the bar. -f- They muft all theit 
 feverally bring their particular cuftoms and 
 opinions of right and wrong before the tri- 
 bunal of the whole world. This is, and 
 muft be, the laft refort , except in cafes of 
 immediate revelation -, but then the fame 
 queftion will again recur, and with equal 
 
 * * Ipfa utilitasjitfli prope mater W <rqui. Hor. 
 Sat. I. 3. 98. 
 
 t Nil agit txtmfhtm f lit em quid lite rtfitvit* Id. 
 Sat. II. 3. 103. 
 
 force ; 
 
force v for they vary as much in their fe-* 
 veral revelations as in their cuftoms. SQ 
 then we can have no decifiori ; but every 
 one muft go on, as they have done from 
 the beginning, each abounding in his own 
 ienfe and very fure that he is right, and 
 all the reft wrong. 
 
 . They have been pleafant in relation to 
 the difpofal of their dead. Teixtira, in his 
 Relations of the Kings of Perjia 9 fays, " that 
 the Parfis, the remainder of the old Igni- 
 col*) Hill very numerous in fome of the 
 provinces, have a certain place in their 
 mountains, near Yard, the chief city of their 
 religion, about forty leagues eaft of Ifpahan y 
 where they have preierved, they pretend, 
 their perpetual fire, without having once fuf- 
 fered it to go out, for full 3500 years; 
 which place they alfo call, in their language, 
 the houfe of the fire. Near this, in holes, 
 among the rocks, they bring their ancient 
 people, often from very diftant parts, and 
 placing them upright in one of thefe, leave 
 them in this pofture, jammed up, without 
 any nourifliment, till they expire ; for they 
 think it a fhame, or rather a crime, to die 
 B 2 in 
 
(4 >' 
 
 in their beds*. Here, as the air is extremely- 
 pure and dry, they* remain in the fame 
 jX)fture, entire and uncorrupted for ages ;' 
 and their families and defendants come,' 
 from time to time, in great devotion, to 
 offer them flowers and fweet fmclling herbs ; 
 worlhipping thus, as it were, prelent and in 
 perfon, the faints and tutelar fpirits of their 
 houfe." Pedto Teixeira Relaciones de los Reyes 
 de Perfia & Harmuz, p. 4. 
 
 41 Thefe fame people have a quaint me- 
 thod to find whether a perfon who dies 
 younger in his bed will be faved, or not. It 
 is no matter how he lived f They faften his 
 corps on -a horfe, which they drive before 
 them, anointing firft the head and eyes 
 of their departed friend. The crows do 
 not fail to light upon him prefently, and 
 at once attack his eyes. Now, if they peck 
 his right eye firft, which their wife faces- 
 are very intent to obferve, they conclude 
 him fate, and they preferve him, and ho- 
 nour his memory accordingly ; but if they 
 
 This notion was very ancient among them, for- 
 Curtlut fays (VIII. 9. 32.) " Nee ullut corforibus qu<e 
 * fencftus fohit honor rtdditurS 9 
 
 fatten 
 
( * ) 
 
 faften firft on the left, there is no chance 
 for him, Jie is, damned eternally, and his 
 carcafs flung to the dogs/' Super/lidon 
 Graciofa, p. 7* ; 
 
 * * i. 
 
 , So " P/JW/J Hyperboreans^ if they could 
 get drunk, and leap into the fea from a 
 rock, were fare of being favedV* It is 
 no wonder goodnefs of life has never been 
 confidered as equal to foundnefs of faith ; 
 fince priefts, who are the only arbiters of 
 thefe matters, were undone by the people's 
 infidelity, but lived very comfortably on 
 'their fins. 
 
 The Per/tans of the magiary fed, as 
 late as the time of JuJKnian,. according to 
 jiis hiftorian dgathias, had an ordeal. (as one 
 might very well call it) of this kind , and 
 . as abfurd. And, to fee the inconfiftency 
 of mankind, that is, in one view, - a little 
 lower than angels, and in another, hardly 
 a little higher "than brutes -, after he had 
 given an account of Mermeroez,. a Per- 
 
 * " Mors no ft vifi fatletatc <vit& epitlatis -deli but oque 
 Jenlo luxu, ex quadam rupe in mare falientibus. Hoc 
 genus fepukura beatijjimum." H. N. (IV.) 12. p. 212. 
 
 t, :-, Bj fan 
 
pan general, as one of the greateft men and 
 fined geniufes in the world, which was ap- 
 proved by the ajmoft conflant fuccefs of his 
 wife fchemes ; he goes on to fay, " that on 
 his death, his nearefl relations carried his 
 body out of the city, andexppfed it, naked, 
 to be devoured by the dogs. Then is the 
 time to know for certain, bow it fares with 
 "him in the other world; for if the dogs let 
 him alone, or devour him flowly and by 
 halves, they take it for granted that he 
 is condemned to fuffer the moft horrible 
 tortures ; and his family and friends make 
 dreadful moan and weep bitterly for his 
 fad cafe." Jlgntbias Jujlinian, II. 10. 
 
 " In another place, near the gulph of 
 JBengaly the Gentoo Indians take their pa- 
 rents, when they come to an age that their 
 children judge proper for it, to the top 
 of a tree, and bid them hold fait; and 
 then, -coming down, thefc dutiful fons take 
 the trunk with both their hands, and fliake 
 it with all their might. If the old people 
 Hick till they are tired out with rocking 
 it, they fay they are not yet quite ripe, and 
 help them down , but if they drop, they eat 
 them," Id. Ib. The fame famous author, 
 
 who 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 who was himfelf a long time in the parts 
 he dcfcribes, and affirms, " he lets down 
 nothing but what he was either an eye-wit r 
 nefs of, or received from perfons who had 
 been fo; and whom he thought he had 
 as much reafon to credit as if he had a&ually 
 feen himfelf what they related to him," fays, 
 that, " as he pafled through the city and 
 fortrefs of Diu 9 he >vas prefent at the mar- 
 riage of a bull and a cow, celebrated by a 
 rich Banian> or merchant among the Gen* 
 too Indians^ which cod him ten or twelve 
 thoufand ducats." Yet, if he is applied 
 to by the grcateft objeft of charity, he will 
 tell him coldly, God bath done you barm and 
 me too. It is no wonder, if, when a man's 
 zeal is mifapplied, and exhaufted on im- 
 proper fubjefts, it is proportionably de- 
 fedive on right and worthy ones ; and ac- 
 cordingly one commonly fees that fanatick 
 and fuperftitious people are little lurking 
 low dealers in iniquity. 
 
 Thefc are F.aft Indians. Don Pedro 
 de Leon^ an author who was prefent at the 
 firft difcovery and conqueft of Pm/, writes 
 
 thus : 
 
 B 4 ? Before 
 
j; "J&''*.- . .' A, M ' 
 
 rt? ' w Before I go any farther, i will here 
 let down a ftrange thing, and that will 
 cloubtlefs aftonifh the reader. The fe- 
 icond time that I pafled through thefe val- 
 leys (10 the north and richeft part of 
 Pern) when we built and peopled the city 
 of Antlocha, in the mountains that fur- 
 round them, 1 was informed that the go* 
 vernors, or caciqnes^ of thofc parts were 
 accuftomed to make incurfions into their 
 fcnemy's territories, in order to take their 
 women. Thefe they ufed according tq 
 their pleafure, and after having brought 
 up the children they had by them till 
 they were twelve or thirteen years old, 
 they fatted them with great care, and eat 
 them; which piece of horrid luxury was 
 indeed their chief motive to thefe inroads. 
 This, I was aflured, was a cuftomary thing 
 
 . among them ; and that which makes me 
 not to doubt of it, is, what I myfelf faw 
 
 ' pf one 'of thefe caciques, in company with 
 the licentiate Juan de Vadillo, who is now 
 in Spain, and will confirm it to be fadl to 
 any that (hall afk him, and it is this : 
 
 *' The firft time we Spaniards entered into 
 
 thefe valleys, which were myfelf and com- 
 
 -; ':;. pany. 
 
,'/;; ( 9- i' : ',>-.; --4 
 
 pany,'one of the caciques , whom they caU 
 Jed Nabonitcoj came to us in peace, and 
 brought three women with him. When 
 night came, two of thefe laid themfelves 
 at their length upon a mat, and the third 
 acrols, by way of pillow* and then- his .peo* 
 pie 'brought in a fourth, who was very 
 handfome, ancj which he took hold of, to 
 draw 'her to him. The licentiate Juan de 
 Vadillo nikcd him, what he was going to 
 do with that girl ? (which- feems an odd 
 .queftion ; one would think he might have 
 gnefied, though he would have guefled 
 v/rongO The cacique looked him in the 
 face, and faid very calmly, To tat 'her. Va- 
 dillo, hearing this, 'was amazed, as we all 
 were, and afked him, //oce; be could tbink of 
 eating her, being as feemed too, hi$ wife ? 
 The wcique, raifmg his voice, anfweted : I 
 have eat her children, and I will eat ber* t 
 Ciefa de Leon* c. 12. 
 
 ''.V ; \ ; f * -:*^--' 
 
 ^ * This Ciefa dt Leon is an author of credit. Rfiyk hath 
 given this flory, but in part only, in his article ; buC, 
 as he could never procure any but an Italian tranfla- 
 tion, there is a miitakc in what he hath given. This %. 
 is entire, and directly from the Spmijb. 
 
 ,'.," J4S i .But 
 
( io 
 
 But (till thcfe, whofe cuftoms we have 
 quoted, arc ' barbarians, Jftatlcs and Ame- 
 rican* \ regions where fciencc hath never 
 made any great progrefs. It is in Europe 
 only that human nature hath exerted itfelf ; 
 and here, without doubt, by far the molt 
 eminently, among the Greeks and Romans \ 
 yet thefe have had cuftoms fo univerfal and 
 lading, as to prove that they were the fenfe 
 of thofc nations, even in their higheil point 
 of glory and knowledge ; and yet as re- 
 pugnant to reafon \ at lead to our fenfe, 
 (which every man, for himfclf, calls reafon) 
 as any of the other, and infinitely more 
 mifchievous. 
 
 The combats of gladiators were a darling 
 diverfion of the Romans^ for fix hundred 
 years ; but they are fo horrid and offcnlive 
 to our manners, and fo repugnant, one 
 would think, to human nature, that fuch a 
 praftice ? fo long continued, would be ut- 
 terly incredible, if all hiftory did not .teftify 
 the truth of it. But, as it is undeniable 
 that it appeared othcrwife to a noble and 
 polite people, it is almoft prefumptuous to 
 pronounce in our own cauie, and from 
 
 whence 
 
( II ) 
 
 whence there is now no appeal, that our 
 fenfe is better than their feme. 
 
 Upon a fuppofition of a future ftate, 
 which even the nioft rude and remote an- 
 cients believed ; and that, with the fame 
 paflions, the dead would want the fame 
 conveniences as when alive, they not only 
 buried or burned, with their bodies, all 
 thofe utenfils and animals in which they had 
 luoft delighted, but even facrificcd to their 
 future fcrvice or friendfliip the men and 
 women they had moft loved. 
 
 It was a cuftom in Spain *, that thofe who 
 were the higheft and neareft in the fervice 
 of the prince, devoted themfelves to die 
 with him, whenever his death Ihould hap- , 
 pen. The prince found his account in 
 this, efpecially in war ; becaufe it was the 
 immediate intereft of thefe to fecure his 
 life, at all events. Sertorius had fome thou- 
 fands who had thus devoted themfelves to 
 him , and accordingly, when he was once 
 jn a moft imminent danger, they all crow- 
 
 * Plutarch, Scrtonus % (V.) p. 208. 
 
 ded 
 
dcd about him, and delivered him over 
 their heads, from one to another, till they 
 had put him in a place of fecurity, and 
 then every one took care of himfelf, which 
 might othcrwife have been done probably 
 before. 
 
 At firft, in the univerfal darknefs of 
 mankind, when they were plunged in ig- 
 norance and barbarifm, they facrificed thefe 
 without ceremony, by cutting their throats 
 ' like other vi6tims, on the funeral piles 
 themfelves; and placed them round the 
 dead body ; juft as * Homer defcribes 
 the (laughter of the twelve noble Trojan 
 youths on that of Patroclus^ with his fa- 
 vourite horfes and dogs. But afterwards, as 
 the times polifhcd a little, they changed 
 this into the victims fighting and killing 
 one another, at leaft, and with a chance 
 of fome of them efcaping. Yet,' in forae 
 cafes, . the firft barbarity was executed 
 to the rigour, even in the moft polite 
 and learned times of the heathen world. 
 Even when Virgil and Horace wrote, " Au- 
 gujliis Csfar, after having reduced the poor 
 
 % 
 //. xxiii. 175. 
 
 city 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 city of Perugia, (fo ncaif to Rome itfelf ) 
 which had been declared an enemy to the 
 Roman people by the fenate, (only becaufe 
 thefe wanted their lands to divide among 
 the foldiers who had enflaved them, and 
 who began to be mutinous,) reduced them, 
 with all the blood and mifery that human 
 nature is capable of fuffering, fo that Pe~- 
 rugian famine became a proverb ever after; 
 and thofe few who had efcapcd in fuch a 
 populous city, and flung themfelves on the 
 mercy of sluguftus every where, as he patted 
 among the ftarved and rotten bodies through 
 the ftreets, had only this anfwer from him, 
 Te muft die ; he chofe out three hundred * of 
 the chief and moft noble youths who had 
 fin-rendered to him, after the moft brave 
 defence of their own and their wives and 
 children's lives and liberties, and cut all 
 their throats, on an altar raifed for that pur- 
 pofe to Julius C<efar-," (becaufe that hero 
 had not had blood enough in his life-time !) 
 Could any thing but the perpetual and daily 
 ufe of feeing blood even in their diverfions, 
 bring a man of fcnfe and parts, to fuch an 
 
 '* Suet on, <uif* c. 15* Dion fays 400. 
 
 unfeeling 
 
unfrtling favagcnefs of temper ! wfiom even 
 the being highly inftrufted in the arts that 
 polilh human nature, could not foften from 
 fuch a ferocity of manners ! A nation fliould 
 above all things watch over its cuftoms, as 
 a private man over his habits. The general 
 mind of a nation is made and moulded to 
 its cuftoms, as thofeof particular people are 
 to the company they happen ro keep ; there- 
 fore fome one faid very well, Cbufe the thing 
 that is ntojl expedient, cujlom will make it the 
 fitoft agreeable. 
 
 The <Tuf<ans, the moft polifhed people of 
 the country at that time, were the firft who 
 introduced this horrid cuftom into Italy ^ but 
 it muft be confidered, that even this was a 
 foftcning of a more horrid one. There are 
 ftill innumerable proofs pf this in the paint- 
 ings on their vafes, and fculptures on their 
 farcophagi, that I have feen in the Great 
 Duke*s collection*, and arc dug up everyday 
 about Artzzo^ and the ruins of their ancient 
 cities -, and thde fo ancient as to be mod of 
 them before the building of Rome, which did 
 
 See Dtm/jtcr 9 * Hctruria Rtgia, publifhcd by Lord 
 Lticejlcr* 
 
 not 
 
not receive it till about five hundred year* 
 after ; fo that it was not the effed of rude 
 barbarifm in them, but of the wealth and 
 luxury of the times , and continued through 
 all the mod flourifhing and polifhed em- 
 pire, till Chriftianity abolifhed it, with the 
 other cruel and favage rights that would 
 have continued as long as their power, if 
 this religion of reafon and humanity had 
 not, happily for mankind, intervened. 
 
 This, which was at firft very rare, and 
 only for the funerals of thofe of extreme 
 rank, grew afterwards to be common for 
 all of any confidcration. The people be- 
 came fo fond of thefe cruel fpeftacles, that 
 they would not fufFer eminent men to be 
 burned without them. Even the funerals 
 of women were polluted with this favage- 
 nefs. Julius C<efar* was the firft that did 
 this, for his daughter Julia, the wife of 
 Pompey. Afterwards this too became fre- 
 quent. Hadrian-^ for his mother-in-law, &c. 
 \ , 
 
 But as the Romans grew ftill more weal- 
 thy and wanton with luxury, they were ex- 
 
 * Sneton* <vit* c. 26. Dion* 40, f Sfartian, <uit. c. 9. 
 
 hibited 
 
bibitfcd on tU occafions, of ajl kinds, wKera 
 the people were to be highly entertained, 
 and their favour courted. This was dona 
 in the amphitheatre, where not only the 
 emperor, the fenate, and the equeftrian order 
 had their proper places, but even the ladies, 
 nay, and the veftal virgins, were prefent at' 
 thefe butcheries *, where decency was no 
 snore regarded than humanity ; as they 
 fought ftark naked ^nd pampered up a long 
 time before to the mod fleek and mufcular 
 force and elegance that the mafculinc form 
 was capable of attaining by art. . , 
 
 Not contented with the public exhibition 
 of thefe cruel fpe&acles, they were intro- 
 duced into fcafts and grand fuppers. They 
 fought round the table during the repaft, 
 and the genial board was fprinkled with the 
 blood of dying gladiators ; nay the gucfls 
 were invited, not fo much to a luxurious 
 entertainment, for that was trite and vul- 
 gar, as to be treated with thefe fpetacles r 
 and the gay debauchee fat encouraging 
 
 them- not to fpare one another, or them* 
 
 1 
 
 . PruJfntim gives a lively dcfcription of this, with 
 a proper indignation. 
 
 fclves, 
 
felvcs, and clapped as they murdered their 
 adverfarics. Stilus ltd. XI. 41. JMV; Da- 
 mafctnus. 
 
 Thefe conquerors of the world, thefe maf- 
 ters of the fpoils of innumerable nations, 
 that they had been civilifmg with their 
 blood, feem to have put the laft refinement 
 upon luxury, by adding the contraft of 
 others mifery to their own enjoyment , like 
 " the old Tufcans, who, as Plutarch tells 
 us, ufed to have their (laves fcourged and 
 tortured before them at their folemn feafts, 
 while the mufic was playing, to enhance 
 their own jollity by their fufferings." Dt 
 
 y from Ariftotle. 
 
 It was the conftant opinion of the an- 
 cients, both Greeks and Romans^ who afted 
 and wrote as we fee, (what inequalities in 
 human nature !) that the Gods, in the midft 
 of their own perfect blifs, were very en- 
 vious if they faw us a little more happy 
 than ordinary, and particularly that ill-na- 
 Xured goddefs Nemejts^ whofe whole buli- 
 nefs was, to dafli our fmcereft joys ; fo 
 that they had fet forms on extraordinary oc- 
 cafions, and particularly triumphs and other 
 C f inferior 
 
I is ;) 
 
 infcriQr public rejoicings, of appcafmg 
 their jealoufy, and atoning, for their pre- 
 fent happinefs. See Fit. Livius y V. 21, and 
 Pint. CamilluS) p. 96, and not. Dacier. 
 
 , No wonder if they encouraged in them- 
 felves what they conceived as inculcated to 
 them by the example and praftice of the 
 Gods. O the moft fatal fure of all er- 
 rors, an unworthy idea of the divine na 
 cure ! 
 
 This might probably have been one ori- 
 ginal occafion of thefe butcheries (though 
 afterwards ufed for delight) as it was, for 
 the conful's exhibiting gladiators before 
 he fet out againft the enemy. " It is the 
 general opinion", fays one of their hifto- 
 rians, u that our ancients praflifed this de- 
 votion in going out of Rome againft an ene- 
 my ; that Netnejts being thus appeafed by 
 the blood of citizens, in this fort of mock- 
 battle, might be, in fome degree, fatiated, 
 and fo induced to fpare it the more, when 
 the true one Ihould happen." Capito Lin. 
 Maxim. 6? Ralbin. 8. 
 
 Thefc 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 cc Thefc viftims to the public divcrfions 
 of thofe times, were fed with rich meats to 
 make them (leek and plump as well as ner- 
 vous, fo that they might bleed the freer, 
 and die more fiercely. If they fought with 
 any degree of fhynefs or timidity, there 
 were officers ready, on thp people's cla- 
 mours, to fcourge them, or burn them with 
 torches pufhed on their backs, to enrage 
 them with the fmart of the fcalding pitch."* 
 St. Cyprian, Ep. 2. ad Donat. 
 
 At laft after having behaved themfelves 
 gallantly, and when they were covered with 
 wounds and galhes, and foaked in their own 
 and advcrfaries blood, and now juft faint- 
 ing, they ftretched out their hands and fup- 
 pliant faces, to the innumerable aflembly 
 of all ranks of both fexes, begging their 
 lives, f and hoping, for a plea, that they 
 had contented them with their behaviour 5 
 
 * Hominum, inclyte Thtfeu> 
 
 Sanguis eranf, homines, eademque in Jidera % eofdcm 
 
 Sortitu; animarum> alimtntaque <veftra crcati. 
 
 Stat.Thcb. XII. S g S . 
 
 f See this painted from the life, as himfelf had often 
 feen it, by S<n<ca Ep* VII. and Cictro Oraf. pro A. 
 
 Mi lone 34, 
 
 Ca. if 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 if not$ they declared themfelves ready to 
 undergo their fentence. If the people were 
 in good humour with them, they were fept 
 away for that time ; if not, they cried out 
 receive the fword, recipe ferrum: on which, 
 without hefitation, they held their fide for 
 their adverfary to plunge his fword into, or 
 if they could ftand no longer, their throat. 
 Yet even here, in this uttermoft diftrefs 
 and contempt, there was room for vanity 
 (for where will not vanity find a place, or 
 into what dirty hole will it not wriggle it- 
 felf!) Thefe buts of the public pride, and 
 wanton fcorn of their cruelty, ftill ex- 
 ulted in the critical nicencfs of their 
 poftures for the wound of their opponent ; 
 and when all over blood and gafhcs, far 
 from being feen to fuffer, if refufcd their 
 petition, and bade to die, held their fide or 
 throat in a graceful pofture, to fatisfy the 
 expectation of the amphitheatre, and gain the, 
 pofthumous applaufe of thofe that confi- 
 dered them in no other light, than as they 
 diverted them with their death. Nay, 
 fometimes the people were fo eager when 
 they thought they had not behaved with 
 fufficient animofity againft one another, that 
 they would make them be cut to pieces be- 
 fore 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 fore them,* for fear of foul play, or that 
 their adverfary favoured them, and they 
 might come to life again, thefe wretches 
 who had been diverting them all this while 
 with their blood and mifery ! and it was 
 not uncommon for them to come out of 
 their places, and thruft their hands into the 
 wound and rummage it about, to fee if it 
 were deep enough and fairly mortal. 
 
 u The emperor Commodus himfelf did 
 this-, but, as it was commoh, it is not 
 taken notice of by the hiflorian upon this 
 account, but for his wiping his bloody hand 
 on his hair , nor even for the favagenefs of 
 this filthy circumftancc, but becaufe it was 
 confidered as an omen, (being but a little 
 before he was murdered) and the moving 
 his hand from a dead body to his head was, 
 that he had thus devoted himfelf to death , 
 as if he had ufed the form of imprecation, 
 and faid, let it fa on my own bead" Lampri- 
 dius> vit. c. 1 6. 
 
 What a drift and perpetual alliance be- 
 tween ignorance, fupcrftition, and cruelty , 
 
 * Laflantitti. 
 
 C 3 which 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 which -arc a Icafh of hell-hounds that con* 
 Aantly hunt together ! : i 
 
 They would fight thus for fixty or fc* 
 venty pairs at one (how ; when exhibited to 
 gain the people's fuffrages for the greater 
 magiflracies. Julius Cxfar gave three hun- 
 dred and twenty pairs in his axlilefhip, 
 
 As foon as difpatched, the dead bodies 
 were*draggecl out of the Arena with a hook, 
 and flung one after another into a great hole 
 for that purpofe ; the place new funded, and 
 a frefli pair brought in. 
 
 At length the religion of humanity and 
 mercy aboliflicd all this, but not till three 
 hundred years after CbriJI^ in the reign of 
 Con/fan tine the Great. Sub ctijus huniano im- 
 ferio immanitatem dim exult orbis Romanus, * 
 fays PetifcitSi on his reft raining -the favagc- 
 nefs of matters to their (laves. Cbtifti* 
 writy may well be faid to have brought life 
 and immortality to light f , fince it hath en- 
 
 * Pet ifc. Lex. dntiq. T. II. p. 776. 
 f II Tim. I) 10. 
 
 lightened 
 
lightened this life, as much as it hath fecu-* 
 red to us another. Before, qualibusin tcnc* 
 bris vita ! * 
 
 One would think human nature could 
 hardly find out, or fall into a cuftom more 
 barbarous, irrational, and more abhorrent 
 to itfelf. But I am afraid we make our na- 
 ture too great a compliment, in fuppofing 
 vice and folly fo abhorrent to it. Ifweex- 
 amine the civil and religious conduft of the 
 fpecies through ages and countries, which 
 is the faireft teft, it will furely appear, 
 that it fympathifes but too much with thefe 
 qualities. An abridgment of the hiftory of 
 that one, and all paffions in one, fclf-love, 
 would abundantly account for all , and 
 at the fame time give fentence againft us f 
 But it would alfo appear perhaps, that this 
 univerfal quality hath not done more harm 
 to others, than it hath done to itfelf. 
 " Alicno imperio felicior quam fuo /" facit. 
 H. I. 49. 
 
 Mankind have actually, fallen into a cu- 
 ftom more barbarous, far more irrational, 
 
 Lucrct.ll. 15. 
 
 4 and 
 
( 24* > 
 
 and more cxtcnfivc. For gladiators were 
 only among the Romans \ the Greeks (a 
 number of fmall common- wealths) not be- 
 ing able to afford the expence , and bcfides, 
 thcfe ruffians were the fcum and offal of 
 human nature, and the fink and very com- 
 mon fewer of all vice and brutality; but 
 parents expofing their own children, their 
 new-born infants, to death, to ftarve with 
 hunger and cold in a lone place, the blof- 
 fom and beauty of fimple innocent nature ! 
 becaufe they would not be at the expence 
 of nourifhing them, and this often of peo- 
 ple who lived in cafe and plenty,* was not 
 more horrid and unnatural than it was fre- 
 quent, and for ages, both with Greeks and 
 Romans.*^ 
 
 * Ingenuot Jt exponantur in fervilem tr*n/ire condi- 
 tionem. Seneca V. Controv. 33. 
 
 t Expofitio infant um omnium fere gentium fuit t fed 
 V Gracorum plerorumquc % except is Ybehaniii apud auoi 
 lege <vetitum infantes exponere. Lacedttmoniit diftiplina 
 <fteris rigidiores, ab bac exponfndi tonfuetudinc no* 
 abborruerunt '. Petifcus Lex. Antiq. 
 
 Damna*vit parent, 
 
 t in alt a r.emora pabulum mifit feris 
 
 j4<vidis 9 aisibufquc quat Cytb&ron noxiut 
 
 Mit. Seneca in OEdifo. 
 
 As 
 
- As foon as the babe was born, it was 
 brought to the father by the midwife, and 
 laid on the ground before him; and the, 
 father either took it up, and put it a mo- 
 ment in his bofom, and then it was to be 
 nouriflied ; or elfe ordered it to be expofed. 
 They feldom murdered it them felves, though 
 this they did fometimes ; and Chremes^ in 
 Terence 9 s Heautontimorumenos*^ gravely re- 
 proaches his wife for having delivered his 
 infant daughter to another to be expofed, 
 inftead of killing her herfelf, as he had or- 
 dered before fhe was brought to bed, in 
 cafe it fhould prove a girl. 
 
 Tot p ecc at a in lac re ojicnd'n ; namjampnmum^Jinuum 
 Jmpcrium exeqiii *voluij/es, inttremptam oportuit ; 
 Nonjimulare mortem verbh, reipfafpem <vit* darei , ' 
 
 and accordingly (he owns her' fault, 
 
 Mi Chremty peccavi, fateor ; vine or. Nor 
 does he at all appear to aft any way extra- 
 
 VI. I. 21. This play of Terence is taken from 
 the Greek one of Menander* who wrote at the rery time 
 of the utmoft flower of the Greek politenefs and gran- 
 deur ; and every one knows that comedies are the ' 
 authentic repre fen cations of the times, and their 
 manners. 
 
 ordinarily 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 ordinarily in this, but rather perfifts in 
 abufmg her for not knowing what was 
 good, and right, and juft, 
 
 >ni</ cum ill is agas qui neque Jus, neque lonum, atqut 
 itquom/fiunt*. . Ib. V. 29. 
 
 .: Different nations have not only different 
 languages, that are not underftood by one 
 another; and different provinces or coun- 
 tries of the fame, different dia'efts and 
 phrafes, that appear abfurd and ridiculous, . 
 or harlh and diflbnant to thofe of another ; 
 buti vary as much in their ideas and notions 
 of religious and civil truth and juftice. 
 
 When it was determined that the infant 
 fhould be expofcd, a flave, or other perfon 
 employed, carried it, and laid it in a defert 
 place, to die unfeen and unheard, with 
 hunger and colcl; while the parents could 
 go calmly to their own meals \ or what was 
 
 The fixed and fettled cuflom of expofing their 
 children, even in families of condition, is proved, be- 
 yond all controvcrfy, by the very laws themfelves, 
 both of the Greek and the Roman emperors, now ex- 
 tant, that were made to decide upon what is to be done 
 with thofe that happened to be afterwards known again 
 when grown up. See Paullus /, C. L. IV. Dt ffgno* 
 V /V liber it. 
 
 more 
 
(C 47- ); 
 
 more common, the poor little inn6cent babel 
 was placed in -a road where ^there was corui 
 courie * , that if any pafienger Ihould think 
 fit to take care of it, he might ; though 
 the ufe thefe children were, for the moft 
 part, made of in thefe cafes, was thought < 
 among them to be a misfortune to them ; 
 and that it had been better for them to have 
 periflied at firft, as their parents had de-. % 
 figned. This ufe will be mentioned by and 
 by. 
 
 . On fending them to be expofed, the mo-/ 
 ther commonly put . a ring or piece of 
 money -f into the bafket with them, be- 
 caufe, forfooth, they had a fcruple of de- 
 
 * The old fcholiaft of Juvenal, who, (peaking of 
 this cuftom, which, he fays, was fo common that he 
 fhall not expatiate upon it, acquaints us, that they 
 were frequently laid on the fide of the great common 
 fewer. Juvenal, VI. 602. 
 
 Artftopkanes fpeaks of a mother who expofed her - 
 child the moment it was born, in an open vefTel of 
 earthen ware, in the midfl of winter. Arijiopb. 
 
 t Helioaoruj, in his ^Ethiopia, - " Now (hew 
 me, fays a lady, the rich mantle, and the other jew- 
 els, which you tell me you found with my poor daugh-r 
 ter, which I ordered to be expofed." -, 
 
 So far were they from being afhamed of this, that 
 they often engraved the names of the father and mo- 
 ther on a rich buckle that fattened the child's mantle, 
 
6 t 28 } 
 
 frauding them of their natural right to a 
 (hare of their parents goods: 
 
 Cum txptncndam do //// , dt digit* annulum 
 Dttraho, W turn di<9 ut una cum -puelld txpo*trtt t 
 Si mortrttur, nt txpert partit t/<t dt ttoflrit bonil. ' 
 
 n. v. J7 . 
 
 This wife precaution was of a piece with 
 another cuftom they had. On burying a 
 criminal alive, they were very careful to 
 leave him a loaf of bread, and a cup of 
 water, that they might not feem to be fo 
 cruel as to defign to ftarvc him to death. 
 So too with us ; fuch is the corruption of 
 the mildeft and moft humane of all difpen- 
 fations ! The inquifitors, when they deliver 
 a heretic into the fecular hands, adjure 
 them, by the bowels of Jefus, not to do him 
 any barm. It is thus that thefe rafcals avoid 
 having to do with blood. What farce and 
 blafphcmy ! to enhance the moft unfeeling 
 and favage inhumanity, with the hypocri- 
 tical mafk of compaflion ! ' . 
 
 that if any took it up, they might find fome fort of 
 reward for their trouble ; and if it died, there fhould 
 be wherewithal to bury it. Hcliodorus. 
 
 ' Thefe 
 
Thefe fort of tokens, as they happened 
 to turn out, were often the occafion of pa* 
 rents difcovering their children again that 
 had been thus expofed ; and were a frequent 
 fubjed of their comedies; as of this of 
 ference^ and fome others that are ftill left. 
 But would not thefc valuable gifts, often, 
 to children that were to' be heard no more 
 of, be liable to be ftolen away, and the in. 
 fant left, by the fervant to whom it was 
 delivered, or by paflengers, wflo had no 
 more compaflion for it than the parents 
 themfelves ? 
 
 Let us place ourfelves for a moment in 
 Athens, in thofe times that we fo much ad- 
 mire, and almoft adore, La belle Grece! 
 and fee thefe innocent and pretty human 
 creatures lying helplefs in by-places, or on 
 highways, ftarving by degrees, and perifh- 
 ing; while innumerable pitilefs men and 
 women pafled by, and took .no notice of 
 them ; and the parents themfelves patiently 
 bearing the refle&ion of what they were 
 fuffering, or quite forgetting them ! And 
 (moft aftonifhing !) the public laws of this 
 great nation allowing it. 
 
t 30 ) 
 
 i Seneca the father, in one of his Contro* 
 ver/ies, hath reckoned up innumerable 
 miferies to which thefe unfortunate out-cafts 
 were liable. The fubjedt of the Controverfy 
 is, 1 " A perfon who made it his bufincfs, 
 whofe trade it was, to maim expofed chil- 
 dren." In the courfe of which it appears, 
 how frequent it was for them to have their 
 eyes put out, or limbs diflocated, or broken, 
 in order to fit them the better for objefts of 
 compaffion to beg with. If boys, they were 
 caftrated, fold for (laves, or exercifed for 
 gladiators : If girls, brought up by bawds 
 for proftitutes. Seneca, Controv. 33. 
 
 Fufcus Arelliu* faid, " We compaflionate 
 thefe wretched out-cafts for their being ex- 
 pofed to wild beads, to ferpents, as well as 
 cold and famine ; we forget to dread what 
 is more horrible for them, their being in 
 danger of being prefervcd." Ib. 
 
 Yet thefe were often the children of peo- 
 ple in good circumftances ; always of free 
 and generous blood ; for flaves were not 
 permitted to expofe theirs, as being a part 
 of their matter's eftate. 
 
Q*o d genus toe lominttm, qtuevc lunc tarn barlara monm 
 ftrmittit f atria f Virg.Jn*l, 
 
 ',.;. -'-v^.- 07 . 
 
 <c The emperor CbnuKus, after having re 7 
 ceived and nourifhed his daughter Claudia^ 
 of which his wife Urgulanilla was brought 
 to bed but five months after her divorce, , 
 on a fudden caufed-it to be hung naked at 
 its mother's door." Suetonius Claud. 27. 
 
 " Epiftetus's only attendant was a wo- 
 man, whom he took in his advanced years, 
 to nurfe a child, which otherwile one of his 
 friends would have expofed to perifh. An 
 amiable proof of the poor old man's good- 
 nature and .difapprobation, it is to be ho- 
 ped, of that fhocking, yet common in- 
 ftance of heathen blindnefs and barbarity.'* 
 Mrs. Eliz. Carter's Introduction to the worki 
 of Epiftcius, p. xxix. 
 
 Yet Ariftotit approves this cuftom, in hi$ 
 Politics , and fome of the greatefl Greek and 
 Roman writers, in defcribing the manner^ 
 of fome nations, remark on their not expo- 
 fing their children, as a piece of Angularity 
 and a fort of barbarifm. And " Cbito, the 
 Lacedemonian philofopher, veiy gravely ad- 
 
 vifes 
 
( 3* ) 
 
 Vifes Hippocrates* who had met with what 
 they took for a prodigy in facrificing, never 
 to marry , or, if he married, to divorce his 
 wife immediately , or at leaft to deftroy 
 whatever children he ftiould have of her." 
 Arifi. Polit. VII. c. 16. Strabo XVII: of 
 the Egyptians. Tacitus, of the Jews* H. V. 
 Dion. Hal. of the Aborigines I. init. Diog. 
 Laert. 
 
 Does it not feem as if mankind differed 
 even in the firft principles of reafoning ; 
 and that what is a felf-evident truth in one 
 nation, and one age, is the very reverfe, di- 
 ametrically contrary in another ! 
 
 Perhaps, if more ftriftly examined than 
 hath yet been done, (taking always expe- 
 rience and hiftorical fadts along with us) it 
 will appear, that what we call our reafon, 
 is little elfe than the cuftoms we have al- 
 ways been ufed to, and the ftrong but un- 
 ' heeded bias that the firft impreflions from the 1 
 arbitrary appearances of things on our firft 
 and earljeft perceptions have given to our 
 faculties, and by degrees rooted and incor- 
 porated into our minds, before we were in 
 any condition to feaj-ch into their truth and 
 
 right- 
 
1 ( 33 ) 
 
 rightnefs. Magni eft ingenii revocare menlem 
 afenjtbus, 6? cogitationem a confuetudine. Cic. . 
 Tuf. & 
 
 Certainly, in cafes, of religion, thofe 
 things with whofe truth we are in the high- 
 eft degree fatisfied and mofl highly venerate, 
 happening to be born in Italy ^ for inftance, 
 we fhould as implicitly be fatisfied were ut- 
 terly falfe, abfurd, and criminal, if we had 
 happened to have been dropped in Con/tan- 
 tinople , and why fhould it not be the fame, 
 in degree, in other fpeculative points ? 
 
 The Romans continued this monftrous 
 pradlice during all that great confular time 
 we fo much admire, and admire with reafon 
 in many cafes , but it is with nations as with 
 particular pcrfons, that the nearer you look 
 into them often, the lefs you like them : 
 " Nobody hath fo little an opinion of a 
 great man," lays Rochcfaucauld, " as his 
 valet de chambre." " A prophet, in fine, 
 is not honoured in his own country, and 
 among his own kin, and in his own houfe." 
 The domeflic life is a very different thing 
 from the public and open fccne. The Car* 
 D Ibaginians 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 tbaginians facrificed their children to 
 kd\ now and then, on extraordinary occa- 
 lions of public calamity; the thing was 
 done pompoufly ; and they are infamous for 
 it to this day. The Rowans put theirs to 
 a more cruel death, becaufe more linger- 
 ing, daily ; and the commonnefs of it, with- 
 out ceremony, made it difrcgardcd for above 
 a thoufand years, quite down to the reign 
 of Valentiman. At length the mildncfs and 
 benevolence of the Chriftian religion put a 
 final end to, and utterly aboliflied this dire 
 practice , and took away from parents the 
 power of murdering their own children. 
 , Good God ! that this power fhould ever 
 have been given them, or that it fhould 
 ever have needed to be taken away from 
 them ! 
 
 Perhaps we fee nothing as it is, and all 
 our ideas of truth depend on cuflom ; what 
 we happen to have been u fed to. Certainly 
 the fame things arc feen very differently, by 
 people in the highcft life, thofc in the mid- 
 dling, and by the dregs of the populace ; 
 as, though they fpeak the fame language, 
 they hardly ufc any of one anothers words 
 and phrafes. Whole nations fee things 
 
 much 
 
C 35 ) 
 
 much in the fame grofs light with one ano- 
 ther, and quite different from that in which 
 other whole nations fee them; not only in 
 religion and politics, (into which they are 
 in a manner compelled) but in the common 
 occurrences and fafliions in the general 
 commerce of the world. When our cars 
 are familiarifcd to a certain repetition of 
 verfcs or words, we cannot abide to change 
 them often, though found to be wrong. -Ufe 
 makes that appear to be reafon, at which, 
 ' on the firft hearing, in our mature years, we 
 fhould have fcoflfed, but now will difpute 
 and wrangle for ; and if very abfurd, or 
 altogether unintelligible, we will fuffer per- 
 fecution, and even death, in the fupport of 
 it. We may fay, that every national religion 
 is a factitious one,. and all are furc of the 
 rightncfs of it in its own little or large 
 dillrift, though contradidled, abhorred, or 
 defpiled every where elfe, all around it, with 
 like afiurance. That theil, one fliould 
 think, fccms to bid the faireft for being the 
 firft beft, which every other* agrees to be 
 the next bed to itfelf -, and .this is that of 
 nature and reafon, whofe only articles are 
 all the focial virtues. 
 
 D 2 The 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 44 The author of the Religion of Nature 
 Delineated aflced a bigot, " How many reli- 
 gions and fefts he thought there' might be 
 in the world?" "Why, fays he, I can 
 make no judgment ; I never confidcred that 
 queftion." " Do you think, faid Wolla- 
 Jton y there may be an hundred ?" " Oh, 
 yes fure, replied he, at lead." " Why then, 
 laid he, it is .ninety-nine to one you are in 
 the wrong." 
 
 " As to that fpirit of toleration in reli- 
 gion, for which the Gentoos are fo Angularly 
 diftinguifhed, it is doubtlefs owing to that 
 fundamental tenet of it,, of which the pur- 
 port is, that the diverfity of modes of 
 worfhip is apparently agreeable to the God 
 of the univerfe ; that all prayers put up to 
 him from man arc equally acceptable ; and 
 fanftified to him by the finccrity of the in- 
 tention; that the true univcrfal religion is 
 no other ' than the religion of the heart ; 
 .that the various outward forms of it are 
 only acceflbries, indifferent in themfelvcs, 
 and merely accidents of time, place, edu- 
 cation, or birth.*' Grofe, Voyage to-the Eajt 
 Indies, 291. 
 
 Whether 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 , Whether thefe are the notions of this 
 fimple, good, and altogether harmlefs fet of 
 people, I know not , or whether the au- 
 thor hath rather given us his own ; they 
 are wife, humane, and worthy of the pa- 
 rent of the univcrfe, and of all thofe infi- 
 nite varieties of all kinds that this all bene- 
 ficent father hath ordained for the delights, 
 as well as neceflities, of his children. And 
 the compulfion to an uniformity of faith 
 and articles, is the intcreftcd roguery of 
 every fhop driving to keep all the trade to 
 it (elf, and bring in as much more as po 
 fible. 
 
 II. 
 
 PR I D E. 
 
 7 be proper lujlnefi of mankind it man. 
 
 POPE'S En AY* 
 
 MAN is an animal that hath two legs 
 only, without wings, and is proud. 
 I believe this laft may be juftly added to 
 Plato's definition, as being peculiar to man. 
 Other animals have mettle, which is no 
 D 3 othej* 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 other than high fpirits, well fed. And 
 many men have this, who have Jio great 
 degree of pride, as others that are very 
 proud, have abfolutely no mettle. They 
 are two very dillinft qualities, one of which 
 is pure natural fpirit, kept up or improved 
 by accident ; and the other is upon princU . 
 pie. Pride arifcs from comparing ourfelves 
 with others, while we plead the caufe of 
 both before the tribunal of our own fclf-love. 
 'This fort of ccmparifon, I believe, no other 
 animal makes, in any degree whatfoever *. 
 Man proceeds, like the reft, from an egg, 
 a worm, an embrio, to a thing that feels, 
 to a thing that refle&s , and then it is 
 frond. It looks about, and fees how every 
 other thing is inferior to it; and then it 
 laugh \ which is only a quality given it to 
 exprels its other quality, Pride ; and as 
 other animals have not the one, they have 
 no occafion for the other. 
 
 Now this animal that hath got thus far, 
 it knows not at all how, comes in a little 
 
 * Ncc m ; fcrius quMjuam hcmine ant /uferl/us. Plin. 
 H. N. II. 7. Hsu dementi am ab his i nit its exijliman- 
 ftum ad fupsrbiam fe genilos ! Id. VII. I. 
 
 time* 
 
t 39 ) 
 
 time, to know all about God, and how he 
 a<5ts ; and finds even that he himfelf hath a 
 power of controuling him, making that 
 providence which hath placed him here 
 and thus, fufpend his decrees, till he finds 
 wliat this new felf-creature purpofes. Now, 
 the operations of both are blended toge- 
 ther ; and, though he does not quite come 
 to be angry with God, (of that he is afraid) 
 yet 'he is fo far on a level, that God is an- 
 gry with him ; and enters into fuch friend- 
 fhips and enmities as take up the whole at- 
 tention of his providence. 
 
 
 
 And why not ? If all things were made 
 for him, and the folc point alfo of the evil 
 principle was to win him, and of the good 
 to regain him ? And yet, (what a mortify- 
 ing circumftance!) upon this all-important 
 
 creature, in fpeculation non fult indig- 
 
 numfuperis! his maker hath thought pro- 
 per, in fa6t, to quarter fleas, lice, and 
 bugs. 
 
 Well, but then we are a great prince, an 
 emperor ! We are his fubftitute here, and 
 perhaps himfelf. 
 
 D 4 <c PbiUf 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 "Philip of Macedon, after having de- 
 feated- the Athenians at Charonea^ was yet fo 
 moderate as to own that he was not a God ; 
 and, for fear he fhould not be able to con- 
 tain himfelf in this modeft mood, or that 
 his people fhould not believe him, (and in 
 all likelihood he found it a little difficult to 
 perfuade his courtiers of it) he had one 
 to call aloud to him every morning, Philip, 
 tbou art a wan" >niniilian 9 VIII. 15, 
 
 Here the ridicule was in the proud hu- 
 mility of the puny being -, and yet, as ab- 
 furd as was the vanity of this aftcfted mo- 
 defty, it was more than his fon, fome time 
 After, could keep within the bounds of. 
 
 " The Scyibian ambafladors replied not 
 like barbarians to this ; when after having 
 fubdued Darius he would have invaded their 
 country : * We are informed that you are 
 a God; if you ^re a God, give us of your 
 good things, and dg not take away ours, 
 which you cannot want ; but if you are a 
 man, remember that you are fo, and that 
 we allb are men." Curt. VII. 8, 26, 
 
 But 
 
But afterwards the Reman emperors made 
 no fcruple of profefllng their rank; and 
 had al ars and temples raifed to them.- 
 jlugujlus himfelf, fo wife and moderate ! 
 fnu tied up the incenfe with wide hoftrils, 
 and could gravely hear Pirgil invoking his 
 inspiration for his Georgics, * with that of 
 Ceres, Neptune, Pan, and the reft of them ; 
 and perhaps loved him for this more than 
 for the divine work. 
 
 Yet even this was decent to what was 
 commonly pradlifed afterwards , and Lucan, 
 Statius, Martial, Claudian, ftifled, every one 
 of them, his God with the grofleft and 
 greafieft vapours , and Nero and Domitian, 
 whom no crime could fhame, were no more 
 ailiamed of fuch praifes ; fo fteady and te- 
 nacious is human pride ! 
 
 Yet ftill thefe were poets : Val. Maxlmus, 
 a moral hiftorian, invokes the divinity of 
 ttberiusi and tells him, that 4< He hath the 
 advantage of other writers who have im- 
 
 * So Horace, 
 Pr&fenti ttbl maturos larglmur honor w, 
 
 ue tunm per numen ponimus aras, 
 
 In the cpiille to Aug*Jlu$ himfelf. 
 
 plored 
 
( 42 ) 
 
 plored the afllftance of Jupiter^ and the 
 other gods; for, their godhead, fays he, 
 we only believe, and take upon truft ; thine 
 we behold, prefent, and know ; the .other 
 gods we have received ; thee, thy father 
 and grandfather (Augujlus and Julhii) we 
 have given to heaven." 
 
 I have never met with any mortals who 
 have been more than divine, except in one 
 finglc inftancc ; and that was, for our glory, 
 king James the I.'s queen, Anne of IV/MHtfrJ, 
 who is regaled with this title in Flow's Ton- 
 net, (he was one of the gentlemen of her 
 bedchamber) prefixed to his tranflation of 
 Montaigne's EJJliys. Di magnan\m\ta y virtt> 
 lei t ade \ incornparabik) fopra divlna! 
 
 The Per/ian kings were anciently adored 
 in form, and fome of the naked or ragged 
 kings of * Africa have been gods. As for the 
 honeft Hottentots they have not as yet found 
 out that they were gods, but only the top 
 of mankind. 
 
 But, it is not the 'moft eminent alone; 
 all other orders are proud in proportion ; 
 there is no fubjeft fo mean and contemp- 
 tible 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 \ 
 
 tible into whicli pride will not find fome pre- 
 tence or other to fneak, and -nettle itfelf. 
 And apropos to fheaking; thofe v/ho have 
 it are generally moft afhamcd of it, and 
 endeavour to mafk it under any other ap- 
 pearance they can. It is indeed a contradic- 
 tion to itfelf-, for, purfue it but into its 
 haunts, and you will find, that nothing is 
 fo humble as pride. 
 
 Yet, with all this, man hath fome char- 
 ming qualities, that make him a truly ami- 
 able creature. Nay, this very pride, when 
 properly exerted, is the bed guarantee of a 
 gcn'crous and worthy behaviour ; as it in- 
 Ipires him with an honed bravery of fpirit, 
 a noble jealoufy of his conduft, and an ab- 
 horrence of any thing that may hurt and 
 contrcidift his due felfrefteem. Nay, va- 
 nity, that other univerfal quality in him, 
 (fo like pride, and fo unlike it) is a moft 
 ibcial virtue, as it courts mankind, whereas 
 pride difdains them. But thcfc will appear 
 in their natural colours, as occafion fliall 
 prclent them hereafter in the courfe of thefc 
 c flays , as alfo the bow and ivly, from ex- 
 amples themfelves -, which, I think, will 
 introduce human nature to fome advantage; 
 
 their 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 their good qualities far preponderating their 
 bad , neither of them extreme, in any one 
 inftance; nor ever can be, in our prefcnt 
 ftate ; for nothing is fo \vholly good, but 
 that it hath, in itfelf or confequences, fome 
 bad ; and nothing fo wholly bad, but that 
 it hathfome good. All is in a certain, fixed, 
 and fore-determined degree of imperfection 
 with us, here and now, according to the 
 great univerfal ceconomy of order and fu- 
 -bordination , and this very imperfe&ion fo 
 juflly balanced by laws that execute them- 
 felves, as to be all of a piece. And this 
 juft degree of imperfection, precifely what 
 is allotted this our place in the gradation of 
 beings, fo as to fill up that univerfal har- 
 mony which conllitutcs the all-perfcdt or- 
 der of the whole ; every degree fitted for 
 its rank, and confident with itfelf, and all 
 the feveral degrees around it, fo as to be 
 each and every one the happidl for the 
 feveral allotments, as diftributed by their 
 all- wife, all-powerful, and all-good provi- 
 der , which three divine attributes fccm to 
 contain all that can concern us. 
 
 But the grcatefl of thefe, in regard 
 fo man, is his goodnefs, as in men, cha- 
 rity. 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 rity. Yet it hath been the conftant and 
 invariable endeavour of the interefted and 
 artful, in order to govern and plunder the 
 reft, to reprefent the univerful Father as a 
 fcvere mafter , a tyrant, who is to be feared 
 and dreaded , and, as fuch, he hath been 
 ever an inftrument in their hands to apply,' 
 they found occafion, to the terrified pafii- 
 ons of thofe of whom they were to make a 
 property. This hath varied in form and 
 fafliion, according to times and places, but 
 the fcheme itfclf hath been ftill the fame ; 
 and accordingly hath always governed man- 
 kind, and ever will , for fuperftition is 
 weak place of human nature. 
 
 in. 
 
 Virtues an often only <vitfj dlfguifd. 
 
 ROCHKFAUCAULD. 
 
 E cannot be a greater mark of 
 JL true magnanimity of heart, certainly 
 rightnefs of head, than that of honouring 
 virtue even in an enemy , but princes are fo 
 rarely found to facritice any part of their 
 
 fafety, 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 fafety, of / ambition, to their reverence for 
 this quality, that we muft be upon our 
 guard, if we would not be the dupes of ap- 
 pearances, i 
 
 " After the great emperor Henry the IV, 
 who had the courage firft to oppofc the in- 
 folcnce and encroachments of the Roman fee, 
 had at length fubducd the ufurpcr Rodolpb 
 duke of Sualiaj whom the pope had fet up, 
 on excomunicating him ; he fuffered him to 
 be buried magnificently, and even with all 
 the imperial honours and enfigns; and 
 faid, c He (hould be glad to fee all his ene- 
 mies interred with the like pomp." 
 
 This gcnerofity could not hurt him then; 
 but it added to his courage and fortune, by 
 way of gleaning; a new fubjcft of glory ! 
 
 As when the duke of Lmrain, after the 
 battle of N<inc)\ wherein he killed Cbarln 
 the /fo/</, clukc of /?;//;? KJ//V, went in proccfllon 
 to vifit the body, clothed in deep mourn- 
 ing, with a golden beard fixed on, that 
 reached down to his waill, (after the man- 
 ner of the old heroes that were knighted for 
 their prpwefs, who, gn a fignal victory over 
 
 an 
 
( 47 >; i 
 
 an enemy, were honoured . with fiich a 
 beard) and taking him by the hand, faid {o t 
 him : * Thou haft done us much mifchief 
 during thy life, but thou waft brave, and 
 now thou art dead may the good and great 
 God take thy foul to himfelf ! f Befides, 
 this enhanced his own bravery; for as 
 &ri/>io faid to Hannibal^ who was boafting to 
 him of his exploits: 4 What would you have 
 been if you had conquered me ?' .\ 
 
 So C<efar wept over the head 
 from whom he was now fecure. 
 
 " tutumque putavit 
 
 / / 
 
 " Jam bonus ejje focer" 
 
 Luc an IX, 1037. 
 
 C Stephen Baltori, king of Poland^ as foon 
 as he was chofen, gave one of the richeft 
 palatinates of the kingdom to Staniflaus 
 Pekojlawjki) who had withftood him the moft 
 violently of all at the diet, and conftantly to 
 the laft voted againft his eledlion , faying, 
 * he was a very bad eleftor, but a very 
 good foldier." Piafeci Cronic Pol. 
 
 The cafe was, he could no longer hurt 
 him as an elcftor, but he could do him 
 
 great 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 great fcrvice, now that he was a fnbjeflr, 
 
 as a foldier, 
 
 ':.. i 
 
 
 
 .'.., ' .V,,'i\ IV. . ; ''..'r^;:' '.) 
 
 Property and fewer art excellent fritnd$, tut tbg art 
 
 bad counfcllori. , 
 
 ANTONIO PEREZ, 'the famous fe- 
 cretary and favourite of Philip the 
 lid of Sfain, has publifhed the moll wife 
 and prudent maxims, not only in politics, 
 but for common life too, perhaps, that are 
 extant ; yet after he had caufed the fccre- 
 tary Don Juan de Efcovedo to be affafllnated, 
 whilft the wife and children of the deceafed 
 were aftually claiming juftice of the king, 
 and the public fecondcd their demands, he 
 was fo imprudent as to brave them and the 
 world, with his ft ill more than ufual fplcn- 
 dour and magnificence ; frequentif. initium 
 calami fatis fecuritas - 9 fo that his mailer (by 
 whofe order he had committed the rnur- ' 
 dcr) was forced to yield to the torrent, and 
 abandon him ; he fled to France, where 
 he lived a few years, a penfioned exile. In 
 one of his letters from Paris to a friend in 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 Spain, he makes the fame pathetic 
 plaint that cardinal Wolfey does in Shake-, 
 fpeare : . , ( . 
 
 " Had 1 but ferrfdmy God with half the zeal 
 I few V my king, he would not In mint age 
 Have left me naked to mine enemies *." 
 
 Henry VIII, Aft III, ad fit. 
 
 But indeed Perez had no juft pretence to 
 complain of the king for betraying him, 
 fince he was only guilty of a bafe aftion 
 ' againft him, as he himfelf had been for the 
 king. One of the hardeft circumftances of 
 guilt is, that a bad man cannot complain of 
 the injuries that are done him! or, if he 
 does, it is the fevereft kind of rebuke on 
 himfelf, as it comes with his own confeffion 
 and authority, He had already declared, 
 by his own example, that he played all the 
 game ; fo that no impofition was foul play. 
 
 A rafcal who hath done an 1 eflcntial fcr- 
 vice to his prince, by a villainous a<5Uon, 
 owes him another eflcntial fervice, of which 
 
 * Mon xelc ctoit fi grand cnvcrS ccs benignes puif- 
 fanccs (la cour <le Turin) que fi j'cn cufTe cu autant pour 
 Dieu, je nc doute point i]u*il ne m'cut deja recompenfe 
 de Ton paradis, D'dfiuci, Bajle, Not. Margin. 43. 
 
 1 E he 
 
( 50 > 
 
 he is commonly compelled to fhort pay- 
 ment, which is the j iift chaftifemcnt of his 
 'crime; in order to vindicate his prince's 
 honour, and reconcile the world to him. 
 A prince finds his account every way in 
 getting rid of the rogue. All obligations 
 are paid , himfelf hath performed an ufeful 
 act of juftice, and hath the advantage, clear 
 gain, befidcs. 
 
 However Perez faid one very jufl thing of 
 princes, (in regard to his own misfortune) 
 " that they eftablifhed a council of (late, 
 only that they might have where to cafl the 
 blame of any ill fuccefles." I believe be 
 might have extended his remark to private 
 perfons, who generally afk your advice, 
 either to have your approbation of what 
 they had already determined, fo to divide 
 the fault with you, if it docs not fuccced ; 
 or, in cafe of your being of another opinion, 
 flinging themfelves wholly upon you for 
 the milcarriage. At leaft, this is oftencr the 
 caie than where the fole honeft end is pure 
 and modcft information. 
 
 V. Wctt. 
 
V. 
 
 Yicit tamen gratlam merit i fcelerlt atrocitai. \K\ 
 
 Curt. VlH. 3. IJ* 
 
 He that linretb iniquity 9 Jhall reap vanity* 
 
 Frov. XXII. 8. 
 
 HOWEVER well pleafed David might 
 be with the deaths of 5W,and Abner^ 
 and Ijh-bojlxtb, he thought fit to remove tha 
 lufpicion from him, of having had any hand . 
 in them, by putting to death the meflen- 
 gers, or thofe that had executed the fafts ; 
 by which he loft none of the eflential ad- 
 vantages the events brought him, but glean* 
 ed many others, and made the rafcals pay 
 for them. 2 Sam. I. 15. III. 33. IV. 12. 
 
 The governor of Giula, a fortrefs of Him* 
 gary, betrayed it to Solyman the Magnificent^ 
 in 1566. He, for his pains, ordered him 
 to be thruft into a hogfhead, ftuck full of 
 nails, and bade him receive thejuft reward 
 of his avarice and treafon ; " If thou haft 
 E 2 nbc 
 
not been faithfpl to Maximilian, thy natu- 
 ral maftcr, neither wilt thou be fo to me." 
 
 The Spaniards executed Jcnnaro Anneff, 
 who had excited the revolt in Naples, 1648, 
 though he had afterwards faved them that 
 kingdom from the French,' by calling them 
 in again, and had 'made the mod Iblcmn 
 conditions with them for his own fafety and 
 preferment; according to that maxim of 
 Mariana on a like occafion : La traycion te 
 fagan lien, fer tray dor te pagan mal. Moite- 
 uille Mem. Anne d'Autricbe, torn II. p. 288. 
 
 This was a fort of repeating the treachery 
 of the Salines, who buried farpeia under, 
 their fliields, fo pretending to keep their 
 prom ife with her, for the Tarpeian citadel*, 
 flie betrayed ; having (lipulated with them 
 for what they wore on their left arms -, fhe 
 meaning their bracelets. 
 
 When Gravejlon, who had betrayed the 
 Spaniard*, in the affair of Bergen op Zoom, to 
 queen Elizabeth, came over to England to 
 give her an' account of his fuccefs, ftic gave 
 him a thoufand crowns, but laid to him at 
 the fame time : " Get you gone hpme, that 
 
 I may 
 
ijj ( 53 ) 
 
 1 may know where to fend when I fh^ll have . 
 occafion again for a thorough-paced vil- 
 lain. 1 '* 
 
 King William went farther on another oc- 
 cafion, with a like reprimand , for in one 
 of his battles, which he was on the point of 
 lofing, a trooper flying by him, he cut him 
 crofs the face with his fword, and faid, 
 " There, you raical, now I fiiall know where 
 to find a coward," 
 
 When LaftheneS) who had betrayed Ofyri- 
 thus, which fort the Athenians had trufted him 
 with, to Philip of Maccdon^ complained tD 
 him that one of his Courtiers had called him 
 a traitor, he anfwered him coldly : " My 
 Macedonians are rude and unbred, and want , 
 that addrefs and polite way of expreffing 
 themfelves that you . Athenians have , they 
 call a boat a boat" Plutarch's Jlpotheofis. 
 
 This was handfome in Elizabeth^ and de- 
 cent in Philip, though ready enough to 
 
 * See how the emperor Charles IV. fcrved the three 
 traitors lie had employed agaiuft Philip of Burgundy* 
 ffieatt'tcal fli/tory, p. 990. 
 
 E 3 com? 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 come -into ufeful mcafures , but when fuch 
 " a wretch as Lewis the Xlth prefumes to 
 aft like Fabriclus^ and fend an account to 
 his enemy of the traitor that offered to kill 
 him, or deliver him up alive, under pre- 
 tence of not being able to bear the wicked- 
 nefs of the adion,"* [?/>/'/:> dt Comities, ch, 
 lV. ult. and V. 6.] one has an indignation to 
 fee virtue in fuch hands. Quern Us terve 
 Itcr.um cum rifu niiror I I lor. 4. P. 358. 
 However we may be cnfy, for it comes outi 
 fome time after, that the good king did not 
 well know what to make of three ways he 
 |iad propofcd, and fufpedled fome trick, -j- 
 
 The duke of Burgundy as much fufpefted 
 a trick in the king's generality, and that it 
 was only to ruin the credit of one that he 
 took for a moil faithful and ufeful minifter, 
 and fo went on trufling him, till he really 
 
 Quottts aliquiJ <te moribus audcnt 
 
 $>MJ Curias ftmuLvit, faf Bacchanalia <u fount. 
 
 ju<u. Sat. II. 2. 
 
 t Le Roi etit la maiwaiftie tie <ctt hcmme en grand 
 , ft qu'il nej;a<voit point dc trots pointfs a qtullefm 
 
 betrayed 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 betrayed him to his death. Infomuch thit 
 thefe two arch rogues both loft the moft ef- 
 fential opportunities, by being too cunning 
 for themfelves. 
 
 At the beft, where princes have actually 
 . employed thofe they afterwards hate (Qyipp* 
 proditorcS) etiam Us quos anteponunt^ invifi 
 flint. Tacit. An. L 58.) or pretend to hate, 
 certainly defpife \, they "do but as other 
 men, who love and honour the virtue they 
 have not, and hate and defpife the vice they 
 have ; and in fo doing become felf-accufed 
 and felf-conviled in the perfon of another. 
 For however they may palliate aftions iri 
 themfelves, they are drawn in to deal fairly 
 at fecond hand. And, if the traitors are the 
 thieves, they are the receivers. Befides, they 
 have a double advantage in thus behaving: 
 they give themfelves a falfe air of genero- 
 fity and deteftation of the crime they are 
 aftually enjoying the fruits of; and they 
 .at the fame time make fome' amends (that 
 cofls them nothing) to the injured, in fa- 
 crificing, * in fome manner, the immediate 
 
 * Sec the conduft of Tilenut in regard to the mmk 
 ilcrs of his tyranpy. Tacit. An. IV. 71. 
 
 E 4 author 
 
( 5f > 
 
 authof of the injury to their revenge. Like 
 the eaftern monarchs (and fome of our own) 
 who fqueeze the governors of provinces, 
 not to return their extortions to the wrctchecl 
 people, but to appropriate them to them-* 
 ielves. Punitfurtafaciilcgus. Sencc. dc Ira, 
 11.28.' 
 
 ' But what rafcals muft they be, whofc 
 friends that do them the moft fervice, de- 
 ferve moft to be hanged by their own 
 judgment! Oftentimes too, traitors are 
 not only hated or dcfpifcd, by thofc they 
 have ferved, (as Herac!anuuon 9 .v/ho betrayed 
 7)YMi/i to Atrelian^ <vid. Vopifc, vit. c. 23.) 
 but become dangerous to them from, that 
 quality ; as the fcoundrelof a laufage-fellcr, 
 BarguSj who, at the inftigation of Eutropitts^ 
 \yho governed all in the court of Arcad'uis, 
 by calumnies and perjury got Timafius ba- 
 niihed into an unhabitable defcrt, (it is a 
 pretty long (lory, and a fine one) was re- . 
 warded with' a confiderable poll, and kept 
 in hand, with the hopes of greater ; not , 
 knowing that his trcafon againft llmafius^ 
 who had done him kindncflcs, was but too 
 lure 'a warrant of . what he was capable qf 
 floing in regard of his new bencfaftor: 
 
 'J here- ' 
 
C 57 ) 
 
 Therefore Eutropius foon found pretexts tor 
 get rid of him, and all apprehenfions from 
 him, 
 
 VI. 
 
 ' / 
 
 Every man makes bis God after bis won likenffs. 
 
 A Fool ,of Lewis the Xlth, to whom he 
 did not attend, as not thinking him 
 capable of making obfervations, overheard 
 him making this pleafant propbfal to our 
 lady of CIeri, at the great altar, when no- 
 body elle was in the church: "Ah! my 
 dear lady ! my little miftrefs ! my beft 
 friend ! my only comforter ! I beg you to 
 be my advocate, and to importune God to 
 pardon me the death of my brother, whom 
 I poifoncd by the hands of that rajcal, the 
 abbot of St. Join. I confefs this to you, 
 as to my good patronefs and miftrefs; I 
 know it is hard, but it will be the more 
 glorious for you if you obtain it, and I 
 know what prelent I will make you bcfide.** 
 Brantomts Life of 'Charles VIII. The king 
 judged right, that the fool would not make 
 uny obfervations, but he judged wrong, in 
 
 not 
 
not confidering that children and fools are 
 like 1 looking-glafles, that refledt objects 
 from their vacant and empty imaginations, 
 without knowing it. The fool repeated all, 
 word for word, when the king was at din- 
 ner, before the whole court. Now the 
 fame vilenefs of heart that made this wretch 
 demean his greatnefs to the fchemes of a 
 pick pocket and a murderer, made him 
 deal with the Virgin Mary as with a little 
 court-favourite, who fold her intereft, and 
 chaffered her bribe; and with God as a 
 weak prince, who was to be cajoled and 
 tricked out of his jultice. Every man, in- 
 deed, forms to himfelf a god, according to 
 his own talents, temper, and views ; fo 
 , that if we are made after the image of God 
 in orie fenfe, we are made according to our 
 Own in another. 
 
 ', VII. 
 
 Tecum labita. Pet. IV. ult. 
 
 \ , 
 
 VERY often the tafte of running per- 
 petually after diverfions is not a mark 
 of any pleafure taken in them, but of none 
 taken in ourfelves, This fallying abroad is 
 
 only 
 
( 59 ; 
 
 only from uneafmcfs at home, which is in 
 every one's fclf. u Like a gentleman 
 who overlooking them at WPbitfs at piquet 
 'till three or four in the morning; on a dill 
 pute, tliey referred to him ; when he pro- 
 tefted, " he knew nothing of the game."- 
 " Z- s" fay they, " and fit here till this' 
 time !" " Gentlemen, I am married." " Oh! 
 Sir, we beg pardon." 
 
 The Duke of Buckingham, in his charac- 
 rafter of Charles II. fays, that. " his amufe- 
 ments with women were not for any great 
 pleafurc he took in them, but from pure 
 idlenefs, and not knowing what to do with 
 Jumfelf r " , 
 
 f VIII. 
 
 flcquctm illud verlutn eft> bent vulf, nifi qui lent fecit. 
 
 Plant. Trinum. II.. 4. 
 
 THE bifliop of Mondonncdo fays, that 
 " hraven is filled with thofe that have 
 done good works, and hell with thofe that 
 have dcfincd to do them*." 
 
 
 * Don dntowo Je Gncwtra % bifhop of Ctidiz, and 
 afcerwarcli of Jt/w^**ft/* f houfchold preuhcr and hif- 
 
 torio- 
 
IX. 
 
 ViJi tpjaffatai motufnct 
 
 Et ntidi nullo (oncutitntc inori* . \ 
 
 TT is dangerous for a man to prefent him-' 
 JL felf before an injured perfon (cfpecially if 
 he is above giving an account of his ac- 
 tions) in the firft heat and turtiult of his 
 pafllon. It is purpofcly coming within the 
 impetuous and fudden path of an hurricane, 
 which will the fooncr fpcnd itfclf, the more 
 it is now lavifli, if you give it way. 
 
 Vtntui ut amlttit vires % ni/i robora dtnf<t 
 O^currant J)'lv<e, f patio dijfiijul inani* 
 
 III* 362. 
 
 Don ' Garcia^ fon of Cofimo I. duke of 
 Florence^ killed his brother, the cardinal, 
 Don Giovanni de Medici^ in a quarrel 
 that happened between them, as they were 
 hunting together. The dutchefs Eleonora 
 their mother, as foon as flic heard of it, 
 impatient for the fafety of Garcia, (who 
 
 toriogrnphcr to the emperor darks V. in his /I/. 4u 
 and Click of Prints* 
 
 Was 
 
( 61 ) 
 
 was her favourite) advifed him to fling 
 hhnfelf inftantly at his father's feet, and afk 
 his pardon. Cqfimo killed him on the fpot * 
 and Ekonorti) befides her fondnefs, confi- 
 dering that her precipitate counfcl had been 
 the occafion of his death, died lierfelf of 
 grief the fame day. The mother and her 
 two ions were -carried together to their fu- 
 neral V 
 
 Mir aril 
 
 / netnofr<rftcti quern non mercarit amorem t 
 
 HOR. SAT. I. 86. 
 
 THE mortal enmity between the prince 
 of Condi and cardinal Mazarine^ who 
 had fuch great obligations to him, arofe and 
 fwelled from a caufe which is frequent, 
 among the great cfpecially. For he that 
 hath laid obligations on another, begins to 
 confider himfelf in a certain flate of fupe- 
 
 * Sec this related in lord Ccrke's Letters from Italy, 
 2d. edit. p. 184., 
 
 riority 
 
. t 62 ) . 
 
 friority over him, and to a6V, or at leaft ap. 
 pear, accordingly ; which becomes fo bur* 
 denfomc to the pcrfon obliged, that at 
 length, weary of dependence (which, felt- 
 love eafily thinks, overpays all on his fide, 
 and a tyranny on the other) he is glad to 
 catch at any opportunity to fhake off the 
 yoke, fo as in fome fort to fave his honour. 
 
 Ingratitude is often owing to the indif- 
 creet manner of conferring benefits. Either 
 they arc too general, or you are fo lavifh of 
 them, that they feem, to the pcrfon obliged, 
 to coft you nothing ; or, what is very fre- 
 quent, you do them with fo ill a grace, that 
 they rather become affronts : 
 
 ' Hacffgu ingratoi tulit \3 ftrct omnibus annis. 
 
 The French fay, " fuch a one flings his 
 fcrvice in your face." In fine, delaying 
 too long lofes the grace of a favour. * He 
 that gives foon, gives twice, and that fa- 
 vour is without grace that flicks to the 
 hands of the giver." Bis dtit qiti tito dat. 
 In^ratuvi cjl ienefuium qitcd dm inter manus 
 dantis ha:fit. 
 
 Bcfidcs, you rifle the lofing the oppor- 
 tunity of ferving a friend who you think 
 
 has 
 
(, ^ ' ) , 
 
 Jias a right to ypur fervicc, which very 
 rifk is injuftice. Pyrrbus was unmeafura- 
 bly aflli<5led for the lofs of a friend , not 
 (fuid he) fo much that he is dead, he has 
 paid nature her debt, but that my dilatori* 
 nefs has let him die before I have paid him 
 the debt I owed his merit. 
 
 'XL 
 
 _>-. $! quid ego Ect^uld erit pr*mii f ' v 
 
 ENNIUS* 
 
 TJEOPLE are always ready to condemn 
 JL what Ihocks their own common ufe 
 and cuftoms, without giving themfelves the 
 trouble to enquire into the caufe, when per- 
 haps a word, or a hint, would clear up all, 
 and the blame would ceafe with the wonder. 
 
 " When Btt/lequius was ambaflador from 
 Ferdinand 1. then king of the Romans, to the 
 JV/<% among other things abhorrent from, 
 the German and Flemijh manners, he ob- 
 fervcd every where bits and fcraps of paper 
 ftuck into crevices of the walls ; of which 
 'when he enquired into the meaning, fince 
 
 they 
 
they appeared to be of no fort of ufc, he 
 . was anfwered only with a Mujfulman gravity, 
 and filent refpedt. At lad, when he fcemed 
 to have fome honour himfelf -for thefe my- 
 fterious colle&ions, he was informed, that 
 they might poflibly have the name of God 
 written upon them, or at lead were capable 
 of having it writ." Bujbeq. Ep. I. p. 49. 
 What an exalted fpirit of jud awe ! What 
 noble veneration for the All-venerable ! In 
 fine, what a difintereded love of God! 
 This, indeed, gives us an idea of human 
 nature that charms. But is it, indeed, dif- 
 intereded ? Why fiiould you quedion it ? 
 Uncharitable ! At lad came out the truth. 
 
 " When, at the day of judgment, the 
 prophet fliall receive the true believers into 
 blifs ; to which, however, they can by no 
 means come to him, otherwife than ftand- 
 ing, as they mount, on a red-hot iron grate, 
 thefe papers will all come, and prefs them- 
 felves under their feet, and keep them cool, 
 in proportion as they have, during their 
 lives, vindicated them from the infult of 
 being trampled upon." Id. il. 
 
 Thefe 
 
Thefe philofophers have made fo ood a 
 bargain with God, and are fo convinced 
 that nothing is to be done for nothing, but 
 that he is to reward the moft trifling of our 
 regards for him, en grand prince, that they 
 fay, " a cat, having had the good fortune 
 to pleafe the prophet, without any defign 
 of her's, (and which, by the way, h,e was 
 fo fond of, that once when the hour of 
 prayer came, and he muft rife from his 
 feat, he ordered his fleeve to be cut off, on 
 which (he fat afleep, rather than difturb 
 her) God had granted to all cats to come, 
 the privilege to know the Akoran by heart; 
 and that, when they purred, they were re-> 
 peating fome verfes of.it." Id. Ep.UL 
 p. 178. 
 
 Mahomet was Qoubtlds a man of parts^ 
 and great fenfe, end, as Longinus fays of 
 MofeSy " no ordinary perfon ," he was to 
 " go out, and to come in, before a great 
 people -," and confi^dered, that a veneration 
 for God was a firft principle, without which 
 his meflage would make no impreffion upon 
 them. But how to give it to ftich brutes ? 
 who rather dared at an. idea of God, than 
 were capable of having any ! He was for* 
 F ced 
 
to attack the fenfelefs multitude where 
 only they had feeling. He terrified them, 
 firft with his gridiron ; a fair foundation ta 
 build any thing upon, this of terror, and 
 confequently has been that of all religions !, 
 Prims in orle Decs fecit timor. Then 'tells 
 them, that God took great delight in being 
 praifed and honoured by them,' which was 
 charming for their pride; and moreover, 
 that he would pay them for it generoufly. 
 This was feizing them by the two fureft 
 holds, vanity and intercft. Then came what 
 trumpery he pleafed, and all went down 
 together. 
 
 XII. 
 
 if on eft quod exiftlmes magnis tan turn <vtris hoc roburfuffi. 
 Afc* ejl quodjudiccs hoc fieri niji a Catont non poffe. 
 
 SEN. Ep. 70. 
 
 Plus nim a ff quifque exigft^ Ji *viderit bane rcm etiam 
 a contempt ijjfimis pojft contemni. Ib.' 
 
 BUSBEQUIUS, in his return into 
 -many from his *urkifo embafly, was 
 received out of the gates of Buda y from the 
 bafhaw, by an odd cavalcade of young 
 
sj with' * their heads fhaved,' iand' 
 flefh new-cut in a line to the fcull, into 
 which were ftuck a great number of quilli 
 of various-coloured feathers, whilft they 
 all- running down with blood, came gaily 
 prancing on, appearing quite unconcerned, 
 to receive him. There were others on foot, 
 one of whom walked gravely with his arms 
 naked, and a kembo, like two handles, ia 
 the flcfhy parts of which, above the elbow, 
 % were ftuck, through and through, two .great 
 butcher's knives. Another, naked from the 
 navel upwards, came on, with his fkirt 
 gaflied above and below the loins, and a 
 thong inferted, by which hung a club as 
 from a girdle. A third had a horfe-fhoe 
 fattened on the top of his fcull, with many 
 nails. This had been done long before, the 
 horfe-nails being fo overgrown and united 
 with the flefh, -that the whole was as if 
 grown there. 
 
 What will not the defire of praife induce 
 men to do ? No matter how ridiculous and 
 abfurd the fubjeft ! or rather, this will pufh 
 it to more violent effefts, becaufe the more 
 wrong-headed, the more pofuive and enthu- . 
 fiaftic. ^ It is twenty to pne if thefe fellows 
 F 2 were 
 
( 68 ) 
 
 were not the vcrieft fcoundrcls in the world | 
 bccaufe, thofe that could value themfelves 
 on a quality that had no true merit in it, 
 nor connexion with it, and that, with fucK 
 Tallies of excefs, would, moft probably, be 
 negligent in proportion, and untouched 
 with what was real and worthy: as the 
 Banians who are compafTion-mad to animals, 
 but utterly infenfible to the fufferings of 
 
 men.* 
 
 feeing a malefa&or endure the 
 greateft torments with prodigious conftancy, 
 cried out with indignation, " what an au- 
 dacious villain is this, that dares employ 
 patience, courage, and magnanimity in fuch 
 an impious and difhoncft caufe'l" 
 
 But what would not fuch extraordinary 
 qualities, fuch ftubborn courage and con- 
 Itancy, be capable of, if they had a right 
 bias given them ? as rank ground, that is 
 
 * ' The inhabitants of Zant (fays Santfys, p. 6.) make 
 more confcience to break a faft, than to commit mur- 
 der. He is weary of his life that hath a difference 
 with any of them, and will walk abroad after day- 
 light. But cowardice is joined with their cruelty.' 9 
 
 clogged 
 
clogged and perplexed with thorns, and 
 thirties, would be proportionally rich and 
 excellent with careful and judicious culture. 
 Quod ergo ? quod animi ferditi noxlojia babent\ 
 non babebunt illi quos ad-uerfus bos cafns injlruxit 
 longa meditatiGj f? magiftra rerum omnium 
 ratio ? Sen. Ep. 70. ut fttp. 
 
 In like manner, the dread of blame, 
 which in itfelf is a noble and ufeful prin- 
 ciple, is, in refpe6t of us, juft as it is turned 
 and dire&ed ;- and as it will deter men from 
 doing ill actions, it will equally deter them 
 from executing the moft realbnable and 
 praife-worthy, if it is over ruled by a cer- 
 tain falfe modefty and want of conftancy, 
 that turns afide its regular and fteady cur* 
 rent. Therefore the mod part of mankind 
 are perpetually doing what themfclves dif- 
 approve, or kept from doing what they 
 judge to be right, for fear of the opinions 
 $nd tongues of thofe whom they neither love 
 nor cfteem. If they do efteem and honour 
 them, they are ftill the more embarralFed, 
 
 " You defire to know if I have feen an 
 
 Indian wife burn with her hufband ; in an- 
 
 fwer to which, I fay not : I could not pre- 
 
 !' 3 vuil 
 
( 70 ) 
 
 vail with myfelf to fee fuch 'a fight, or I 
 might have fcen fome twenties fincc J came; 
 The flory is .too true to nuke a jeft on* 
 and but, about fix days fincc, a fervnnt 
 pf my o\vn .>vho. died, his wife, burned with 
 frim. They, grc not allowed to do it within 
 our bounds, or we fiiould never be free 
 from one or other. This is among the 
 GentooS) thef ancient mafters of the country; 
 before the Moon took it from them. The 
 Moors all bury, and the. Gcntoos all burn, 
 f heir dead ^ but it is not every caft whofe 
 wives burn with them, but thofe who do, 
 are greatly revered by the reft. It is very 
 frequent to fee a pretty young creature of 
 fifteen or fixtccn, jump voluntarily into the 
 pile of an old ill-natured hufband ; and 
 very few hours are allowed, or one would 
 think they muft be intoxicated ; but the 
 man who dies in the morning, muft burn 
 before night ; .fometimes thev have not two 
 hours allowed but it is all prieft-craft ; 
 and the woman whofe call it is to burn with 
 her hulband, cannot live but as an out-law ; 
 fhe is not fullered to wafb, or eat the fame 
 meat as the reft, nor allowed any one to clrels 
 her rice for her, and 'befules lives in per- 
 petual flume among her kin. Some years 
 888 ago, 
 
< 7' ) 
 
 fcgo, one of our chiefs at 
 a young creature by force from the fire'* 
 when he touched her flic could not burn, 
 but was held unworthy of it. He carried 
 her home to the fort, and had leveral chil- 
 dren by her, from whence has fprung a 
 numerous iflue ; half -the families in Ma- 
 drafs and this place have fprung from her ; 
 governor Benyorfs firft and fecohd wife were 
 great grandchildren from this Gentoo girl. 
 Not three months fince, lady Ru]fil> whofe 
 huiband is chief of CoJ/imbuzar^ in going 
 up thither, faw a beautiful young creature 
 wafhing in the river, in order to burn with 
 the dead body of her hufband,- who was 
 laid upon the banks. My lady went out 
 of her boat to talk to her, and pcrfuade her 
 to live , and offered her protection to her f 
 and that (he would carry her home and 
 maintain her. She could eafily have car- 
 ried her off, as (he had with- her feveral 
 gentlemen * and twenty fbldiers; but the 
 girl rejefted her offer with all the fcorn 
 and refcntment imaginable, and before their 
 /faces herfelf fet fire to the pile fhe was laid 
 on, clafping the dead body in her arms, I 
 could give you fifty inftances of the like 
 nature, but thefe will fufficej not -that I 
 F 4 wouki 
 
( 7* ) 
 
 would truft this account with any one who 
 I believed had not fo good opinion of my 
 veracity \ as I might pafs for one of thofe 
 fafhionable tatlcrs of the prcfent age, fo 
 addi&cd to fajfliood ; 01 , as travellers have 
 gone far for their accounts, have 3, large 
 latitude given them, 
 
 " Every 2$th day of March you may fee 
 hundreds with a large flclh hook run thro* 
 their back, and fwinging by it a vaft height 
 in the air for fome minutes , others with a 
 fpit run through their tongue - ? fome are 
 lluck full of needles ; as many more fling 
 themfelves from ftages, built for the pur- 
 pofe, a great height from the ground down 
 upon naked fwprds and plow-fhares; others 
 you fee with their hands grown clofe fliut 
 up, and the nails made their way through 
 to the back ; and fome with their two arms 
 bolt upright above their head, and grown 
 to that pofture ; with a hundred others too 
 tedious to name. And thefc are all among 
 a fet of religious who are kept by the pub- 
 lic, and are perhaps in themfelves a fet of 
 the greateft villains in the world, and com- 
 all 'kinds of outrages, for which none 
 dare 
 
( 73 ) 
 
 dare punifh them.*' Mrs. JVilllamfon's Letter 
 to Mrs. Sheppard, from Calcutta, Jan. 25, 
 
 Ext raft of a letter of Mr. Matthew Collet, 
 dated at Coflimbuzar, Nov. 25, 1744. 
 
 " I mvifl now relate to you an affair I 
 was an eye witnefs of, which was the burn- 
 ing of a woman with her hufband's corpfe. 
 Clofe by the river's fide was erefted a little 
 hut, compofed of dry wood and combufli- 
 ble fluff, which was left open only to the 
 river, yet the fides were not fo clofe but 
 one might fee through them very well , my- 
 fclf and two or three gentlemen flood to 
 the windward of the hut, fo that we could 
 fee very plain into it, as the wind fent the 
 fire and imoke from us. The woman, after 
 wafliing in the river, and feveral fuperfli- 
 tious ceremonies, took a lighted torch in 
 each hand, and then afking her friends very 
 calmly, ( while they were bathed in tears,) if 
 they had any tokens for their relations in 
 the next world, went into the hut, feated 
 herfelf by her hufband's corpfe, and then 
 fet fire to the hut herfelf, which was pre- 
 fently in a blaze. I faw her all the time till 
 
 (he 
 
. (74 ) 
 
 fhc was dead; fhe fat upright, with .her 
 back againft fome of the (takes which com- 
 pofed the hut, and never once fcreamed or 
 ftirrcd a limb, but fat till the ftakcs (he 
 leaned her body againft broke down, by 
 which time fhe was dead. After the thing 
 was over, it appeared like a dream to. me, I 
 could fcarce believe what I had but a mi- 
 nute before been an eyc-witnefs -of. I am 
 furprifed (he never once (lirunk. when the 
 devouring flames were round her, or cried 
 oh ! but you may be aflured the thing is 
 
 fad." 
 
 * 
 
 Extr aft from another letter oftbefame date. 
 
 " I have wrote my father an account of 
 the burning of a woman with her dead huf- 
 band, which I think a very extraordinary 
 affair. Pray let me know if you think your 
 rigid European ladies would bear the fire 
 with as much refolution as this Indian did -, 
 perhaps you will fay, (lie had been fo much 
 tifed to the fun's burning rays in this torrid 
 zone, that the fire had no effeft upon her 
 fcnfes." 
 
 xiii. 
 
( 75 > 
 
 *W f utt *o*Jtt!entSfrmoHli mtlla fot/tl, > v : * I r r 
 
 Defer at Orfhtos blanda tcjfudine carrfn f / a. : { : 
 
 Claud. Conf. Mai. Thcod. 25 1. 
 
 t . *' " ' 'Vr ' '. % .<,"; 
 
 f f T 7[ 7E have more poets than judges and 
 V V interpreters of poetry, (fays a writer 
 of quick and elegant tafte,). It is eafier to 
 write an indifferent poem, than to under- 
 ftand a good one. There is indeed a, cer- 
 tain low ar\d moderate fort of poetry that a 
 man may well enough judge of by certain 
 rules of art ; but the true, fupreme, and di- 
 vine poefy, is equally above all rules and 
 reafon. And whoever difcerns the beauty 
 of it with the mod aflured and mod fteady 
 fight, fees no more than the quick refleftion 
 of a .flafh of lightning. This is a fort of 
 poefy that does not exercife, but ravifhes 
 and overwhelms our judgment. The fury 
 that poflcflcs him who is able to penetrate 
 into it, wounds yet a, third man, by hear- 
 ing him repeat it. Like a loadftone, that 
 pot only attracts the needle, but alfo in- 
 i ' fufes 
 
( 7* ) '& 
 
 fufcs into it the virtue to attract others." 
 Montaigne, I. 36. p. 325. 
 
 This is an idea of poetry from poetry it- 
 felf, and a true genuine feeling of that di- 
 vine extravagance which fools ridicule, and 
 men of parts adore. 
 
 Virgil pronounced his own verfes with 
 fuch an enticing fweetnefs, and enchanting 
 grace, that, according to Seneca, (Ep. 122) 
 Julius Montanus, a poet (famous for the 
 friendfliip of Tiberius, and afterwards for his 
 flight) who had often heard him, ufed to 
 fay, thar " he could deal yirgifs verfes, if he 
 could fteal his voice, exprcffion, and gefture ; 
 for the fame verfes that founded to rapture 
 when he read them, were in a manner harfh 
 and mute in the mouth of another/* 
 
 " Mr. Hook* read fome fpeeches of his 
 Roman Hi/lory to the Speaker, (Onflow, who 
 piqued himfelf too upon readingVand beg- 
 ged him to give his opinion of the work \ 
 the Speaker anfwered, as in a pafiion, " he 
 could not tell what to think of it ; it might 
 be nonfenfe, for ought he knew , for that 
 his manner of reading had bewitched him \" 
 
 which 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 which was literally the cafe of thofe that 
 heard the orations which the philofopher 
 Favorinus made at Rome, in the time of 
 Hadrian-, of thofe that underftood not 
 Greek; who yet were delighted and char- 
 med with the tone of his voice, the various 
 modulation of his periods, and the efficacy 
 of his look and gcfture. Philoftratus, in his 
 Life, p. 491. This was the cafe of Sene/ino, 
 with thofe who neither underftood Italian, 
 nor even had a taftc for mulic, of which I 
 myfelf faw proofs on many occafions. 
 
 Aftfius inpone hgcns. DiftinQio fenfum 
 Augct, fcf ignavis dant intervalla *vigorem. 
 
 Aufon. Eidyl. IV. 49. 
 
 Mrs. OUfieU ufed to fay, <c the beft 
 fchool flic had ever known, was only hear- 
 ing Rowe read her part in his tragedies.'* 
 Mr. Hawkins Browne had never felt Milton^ 
 before hearing Sheridan pronounce his exor- 
 dium , and, I am perfuaded, fuch readers 
 as the above, are by far the beft commen- 
 tators on a great poet, fuch as Montaigne^ 
 defcribed juft now. 
 
 A friend of mine aflured me, that Booth 
 
 had told him, that he had afted the Gbojt 
 
 ; - whea 
 
when Better ton played the part of tiamlet $ 
 and that the firft time he attempted it, Bet* 
 terton's look at him ftnick him with a dread 
 and horror, which dilconcerted him to that 
 degree, that he could not Ipeak his part* 
 Droll enough, however, that he fhould 
 frighten the Gkoft ! 
 
 " When the orator jEfchints, who had 
 been banifhed Athens, pronounced, before 
 the general aflembly of the Rbodians, the 
 oration that he had before pronounced at 
 At kens \ to accufe Ctcfipbon of feditious de- 
 figns ; and the next day that of Demq/lhenes 
 in his defence, which had occafioned his 
 own exile , feeing how greatly they were 
 moved, chiefly by this laft ; What, faid 
 he, if you had heard the lion himfelf roar !'* 
 What an idea of oratory ! fince ^Efcblnes^ 
 who read this of Dwiojlbenes, fays in his 
 own, that his antagoniit ufcd to compare 
 the nervous flexibility, and the liquid 
 fplendour of his voice, to the fongs of the 
 Sirens ; but as Valerius Maximus goes on, 
 * his wounds were yet frelh, and he but too 
 
 t 
 
 
 T* 3* u uvr* TC Sniv awlm*. Pliu. Epift. II. 3. 
 Ji audijfe tit belluam illam. St. Jcrom t Efijl* Jeltft* 
 2. 
 
 fcyerely 
 
feverely felt the fierce vigour of his eyes, 
 the terrible weight of his look, the found 
 of his voice ftill echoing in his ears accom- 
 modated to every word and period, and that 
 efficacy which accompanied every motion 
 and gefture.' Therefore, though nothing 
 could be added to the perfeft elegance of 
 the oration itfelf, yet when it was rather read 
 than heard (tho 1 JEJchines read it!) a great 
 part of Demojlhenes was wanting in Demofi 
 fbenes.** . 
 
 It muft be confidered, that 
 reading was all art, and wanted the fove- 
 reign energy of being in earneft, as Demof- 
 tbenes was, who, therefore, truly 
 
 Addidit y <vuhum <uerlh. Ovid. Fajl. W - 
 
 Enforced his words with looks. 
 
 * ' '- 
 
 Pyrrbus faid of Cyneas, a difciple of Del 
 woftbeneS) whom he employed as his amba 
 fador to the different people of Greece ; that 
 u he liad gained more cities by liis mini- 
 fter's eloquence than by his own arms ;'* 
 and yet Plutarch only fays of him, that 
 " he was the fingle one of all the orators 
 that were left, who could recall in the 
 minds" of his hearers, as it were, an image 
 
 and 
 
; ( so.) 
 
 i. 
 
 tftd fhadoW of the power .and eloquence of 
 Demoflbencs" Plutarch's Pyrrbus. 
 
 " When this fame great prince of fpeak* 
 ing was once afked what he thought the firft 
 quality of an orator ? he anfwercd, ptonun* 
 nation^ (wo*^) ; and which the fecond ? 
 pronunciation \ and the third ? he ftill an- 
 fwered, pronunciation ; by which he gave to 
 underftand, that he did not fo much judge 
 it to be the chief quality, as the only one." 
 Quiniil. XI. 3. i;i/7. By pronunciation y lie 
 meant the whold appearance and found of 
 an orator, as above in the paflage of Vale- 
 ritis MaxitntiSi and which Pliny the orator 
 calls the pronunciation of the countenance, 
 habit, and gefture. In fhort, all that the 
 fpeaker himfelf can add of weight to the 
 intrinfic force of the argument, pr what 
 the oration would be in fimple reading. 
 
 And, indeed, this is but a fpeaker's 
 fceming what he fays ! which is fprinkling, 
 as it were, the pcrluafive quality of fmce- 
 rity over all the reft of the difcourfe, which 
 only can give arguments .weight, 
 
Si wit me fere % ddtndum eft 'ify-./'i 
 Primum ipfi tibi Hor. A. P. 102* : % 
 
 and the more this- is thrown with' full 
 hands, the more moving. 
 
 When Alexander was in defpair at the 
 defire his army had to return home, all his 
 friends begged him to take courage, that 
 they would aflift him. They befought him 
 to impofe all difficulties on them, -and pro- 
 milcd to bring back the foldiers, if he 
 would but himfclf footh their apprehen- 
 fions . with a mild but fpirited oration ; 
 that they had never gone away terrified and 
 abjeft, whatever the danger, when they 
 could drink large draughts of comfort from 
 his own alacrity, and the inexhauftible fpi- 
 rits of that vaft felf- dependent foul. ^. 
 Curt. VI. 2. 
 
 HortenfittSj the famous Roman orator, 
 whom Cicero fo highly commends, was fo 
 convinced of this, that' he laid him- 
 felf almoft all out here, and took little 
 pains in the -arguments themfelves ; fo that 
 ^uintilian^ -in whole time they were extant, 
 fays, ".that you find, nothing in reading 
 G his 
 
( 82 ) 
 
 his orations that anfwers to his great fame ,* 
 and the crowded Forum was rather to fee 
 Hortenjius than to hear him/* Val. Maximus, 
 VIII. 10. The fame thing Tacitus (Jin. IV. 
 61.) fays of the orator <^, Hateriiu* and 
 Gregorlo Lett of the fermons of Sixtus V. 
 (Sec his life, part I. L. 2.) 
 
 " The orator Lypas gave a criminal an 
 oration he had made for him to read. He 
 read it feveral times over, and when Ly/ias 
 came, he returned it, very much dcjefted, 
 and told him, that * at his firft reading it, 
 he was tranfported with hopes of being ac- 
 quitted; but that the oftener he read it, 
 the Ids he found the argument was like to 
 bring him oft.' * And how many times do 
 you think, (replied Lyjlas) I am to pro- 
 nounce it before the judges ?" Plutarch d{ 
 garmlitate. 
 
 " The famous Boifiolcrt, who had for 
 happy a talent in telling a ftory, and ufed 
 to divert cardinal Richelieu from his public 
 fatigues, when his friends advifed him to 
 
 * Nequt enim tarn rffert qunlla Jinf* qu<t tntra not* 
 , meiipfos compoj'uhnus, quam qu9 modo cj)'er*ntur ; nam ila. 
 ut audit, wwetur, Quintil. XL J. iait. 
 
 , publifh, 
 
publifh, allured them they would find no-* 
 thing of that engaging agreeablenefs on pa- 
 per, that he had the happy fkill to fpread 
 over his living chat ; and that it was a mere 
 cheat put upon their ears. 
 
 En re fit ant % dew at ^ fe fan me 
 Jefuis % Conrart % un grand dupeur d'oreillesf* 
 UAbb'e <t'01i<vtt, Hijl. de FAcad. Fran. p. 65. 
 
 Such a Siren is pronunciation j or the 
 tone, expreffion, and gefture. Pliny the 
 younger, writing to a friend who intreated 
 him carefully to examine his poem, if it 
 was worthy to be publifhed, fays, " before he 
 opens .it, that he can decide already th^t it 
 is beautiful, and not to be fupprefled, by 
 what he had heard him read; if your pro- 
 nunciation hath not impofcd upon me, (he 
 goes on,) for you do indeed read with ex- 
 quifite fwcetncfs and art ; yet I truft I am 
 not fo far led afide by my ears, that the 
 wanton flattery hath entirely blunted the 
 edge of my judgment." Pliny, Ep. III. 15. 
 to Proculus. 
 
 Gi XIV. -A 
 
k XIV. 
 
 jln quijquam fluhiut quant, quos fnguht ccntemnes, tot 
 aliquid fat art tjfi itnivtr/oi f 
 
 VARKO. 
 
 TH E famous orator L, Crafltts> the 
 greatcft of his time, fays of him- 
 fclf in Cicero de Orotore, that u he frequently 
 turned pale,. and was in the utmofl confu- 
 fign, trembling every limb at the beginning 
 of his oration ; and that in his youth and 
 earlier appearance at the bar, he was oftea 
 fo terrified as to be utterly loft, and unable. 
 to proceed ; and that he remembered ftill^ 
 with the utmoft gratitude, the patience and 
 humanity of ^. Faliiu Maximus on thofc 
 dreadful occafions of his difmay and broken 
 fpirit."c. 28. And Cicero^m his oration for 
 CtuenthtSt fays of himfelf : Semper cquidem 
 txagno cum wetu incipw die ere. And in his 
 Divination, againft Verres : Ita Deos mibi 
 <velim propitioS) lit cum illiits temporis mihi 
 Twit in wentcm, quo die, citato reo 9 tnibi di- 
 ccndtm f;ti non folilm cvwmoveor aninio, feJ 
 eliam tola corpore perborrefco, ffr. .13. 
 
 This 
 
( 5 . )' 
 
 This ingemous concern and anxiety for 
 u reputation that was not yet formed in one, 
 or completed in the other, was the efFeft 
 of a genuine and authentic confcioufneft 
 (that was vindicated by the effefts after- 
 wards) of fometliing within, certain latent , 
 or flowering feeds of glory, that were well 
 worth their jculoufy , and Crtiffits's thus, in 
 fuch a manner, deprecating, was in fomfc 
 fort extorting the protcftion.of his judges, 
 and audience. How mud it have affedled 
 them who were prefent, and parties, when 
 this general refpcdl for the eftcem and opi- 
 nion of mankind, makes us love and em- 
 . brace them at this day, and roufcs our in* 
 mod fondnefs to wilh them fuccefs ! and 
 makes us enjoy the knowledge, to what a 
 degree, beyond our and their own warmeij: 
 Jiopes, they obtained it J 
 
 How fine, (but dangerous) how engaging 
 a compliment to Alexander^ that of u the 
 celebrated .Indian archer, whom he had taken 
 prifoner, and who, he was tojd, was fo 
 expert at his bow, that he could flioot 
 through a fmall ring without touching it : 
 This his conqueror ordered him to perform 
 before him, which he refufed ; and that fo 
 63 , perenip- 
 
peremptorily, and with fuch obftinate per- 
 feverance, that he ordered him to be imme- 
 diately put to death for contumacy, and ac- 
 cordingly he was led out to execution ; but 
 being afked by thofe who were conducting 
 him, ' what he could mean, to die rather 
 than comply with fo reafonable a rcqueft ?' 
 4 Why, I'll tell you, 1 faid he > * I have been 
 out of practice fince my confinement, and 
 fhould be under fuch a concern, withal, in 
 fuch a prcfence and expectation, that I had 
 rather die than run the rifle of Alexander's 
 finding me Icfs than he hath been informed \ 
 which being told to Alexander ', he took it as 
 it defervcd ; and not only forgave him, but 
 rewarded him like a prince, for that generous 
 efteem of him, and jcaloufy of his own re- 
 putation," Plutarch. Apofb, 
 
 Fear and concern for another's judg- 
 ment, 'and the opinion of the world, has 
 a furprifing effeft, if it is accompanied 
 with dignity (which is only a reafonable and 
 juft regard for a man's felf) otherwife, if 
 we go into the other extreme, and give up 
 too much, we (hall make ourfelves flighted 
 
 and overlooked. Modefty flatters our 
 
 friend's felf-love, and a certain generous de- 
 
 fire 
 
C 87 ) 
 
 'fire themfelves have of appearing well, and 
 being fomething ; whereas, impudence can. 
 fucceed only with daftard minds, that have 
 no pretenfions of their own. Then, fuch a 
 rnodeft man, a man fo willing to aflbciate 
 others in his merit, will find' others ready 
 to fupport his pretenfions, of which thenv 
 lelves are fliarers ; whereas they will as na*' 
 turally fall into an alliance to pull down 
 overbearing felfiflinefs. Dicendi artem aptcl 
 trepidatione occultans, atque eo validior, militls . 
 animiim mitigavit. T<ic. II. I. 
 
 44 The famous duke of Rochefaucault 
 could never be a member of the royal 
 academy, though greatly defired both by 
 them and himfelf, from the neceflity of 
 making a fpeech of jthanks on the day of ad- 
 mifllon : with all the courage he had fhewn 
 on fo many eminent occafions, and with all . 
 the fuperiority, that birth, and fuch prodigi- 
 ous parts as all the world allowed, gave hirr^, 
 he was not able to bear the look of an au- 
 dience, nor could pronounce four lines in 
 public without fainting." Able d'Olivet* 
 Hijt. de I'Acad. p. 118. v 
 
 G 3 Stnefmo 
 
( 88 ) 
 
 * Scnefino has told me. that he never fame 
 forward upon .the ftage to fing, the firft 
 time of a feafon, but he was feized with 
 fuch an anxiety at the appearance of the 
 pit, (fo different from ^hat it is in Italy^ 
 where all the beft company is Ihut up in 
 their curtained boxes) though he "knew them 
 to be partial to him, and had not the lead 
 apprehenfion of any one (ingle critic amongft 
 them, that he trembled, and his voice faul- 
 tered, fo as to be hardly fufficient to ex- 
 prefs the beginning of the air ; which made ' 
 him always endeavour to ftudy that part 
 more particularly, and make himfelf fo 
 thoroughly mafter of it, that he could hard- 
 ly be difconcerted ; and which had, withal, 
 put him often upon obfervations on the. 
 genius of an air, which probably he would 
 not otherwife have thought on. 
 
 " Refpeft, fliame, and fear, are judicious 
 counfellors," fays Pliny the orator, in a 
 letter, to a great and learned friend, himfelf 
 too an orator. " I only afk you, (he goes 
 on) if you arc to fpeak the fame things 
 before any one perfon, whatever opinion 
 you may have of his judgment and learn-' 
 
ing, arc you not in lefs anxiety than when 
 you fpeak before a number, though un- 
 learned ? Do not ybu find a certain concern 
 and diffidence in yourfelf when* you firft 
 rife to fpeak ? Do not you then wifh many 
 things altered in what you have prepared? 
 nay, are you quite eafy about any ? Is not 
 this diffidence the greater, in proportion 
 as the aflcmbly is larger ? I am fure I find 
 it fo, and hare a dread even of the com- 
 mon rout, and cannot help being affected, 
 as if the number itfelf became judicious, 
 and that all together had that in a great de- 
 gree, which any one of them had in none 
 
 at all." Ptin. Ep. VII. 17. to Nonius Celer. 
 
 
 
 King Charles II. afked Stilllngfieet^ " How 
 it came about, that he always read his fer- 
 mons before him, when, he was informed, 
 he always preached without book elfe^ 
 where ?" He told the king, that u the awe 
 of fo noble an audience, where he faw no- 
 thing thai was not greatly fuperior to 'him ; 
 but chiefly, the feeing before him fo great 
 and wife a prince, made him afraid to truft 
 himfelf." With which anfwer the king was 
 yery well contented. cc But pray," fays Stil- 
 lingfleet, " will your majefty give me leave 
 
 to 
 
( 90 ) 
 
 to aflc you a qucftion too ? Why you read 
 your fpeeches, when you can have none of 
 the fame reafons ?" " Why truly, doftor," 
 fays the king, u your queftion is a very per- 
 tinent one, and fo will be my anfwer. I 
 have afked them fo often, and for fo much 
 money, that I am afhamed to look them in 
 the face." 
 
 PRINCES, and great men, have had 
 nick-names fometimes given them, 
 of which pofterity loft all traces of the 
 meaning or the occafion ; as king Charles II. 
 being called Rowley, and the famous Ferdi- 
 nand of Arragon y Jean Gipon, as Brantome 
 fays, in his little memoir of that king, the 
 French called him in derifion, but he could 
 never learn why ; and Lewis X. of France, 
 Iliittn. I have been told, by an old gentle- 
 man of that time, the true occafion of king 
 Charles's ; " That there was an old goat 
 that ufed to run about the privy-garden, 
 
 that 
 
( 9* ) 
 
 that they had given this name to, a rank 
 lecherous devil, that every body knew and 
 ufed to ftroke, becaufe he was good- 
 humoured and familiar*, and fo they ap- 
 plied this name to the other." This gen- 
 tleman, who was grandfon to a fecretary of 
 Hate, (Mr. Nicholas} affirmed this, as hav- 
 ing known all the perfons concerned, king, 
 garden and 'goat. 
 
 So probably, that John Glpon was fomc 
 fhrewd rafcal of an attorney, very oppref- 
 five to his neighbours, without the leaft 
 regard to his word, who loved God and 
 man alike, except one, whom he preferred 
 to both, and who was ready to turn his 
 hand to any thing ; for juft fuch was the 
 charadter of Ferdinand only in high life. 
 
 Thefe fort of fliort farcafms or enco- 
 miums on the great, in their life-times, like 
 proverbial exprefllons, commonly give the 
 fenfe of the people ; and are jufter re* 
 prefentations than all the laboured cha- 
 rafters of their friends or hiftorians. 
 
 XVI. In 
 
t 9* ) 
 
 XVI, |l'|J 
 
 In i If is tbing the Lord par don thy /truant, that when fry 
 mafter cometh into the boufe of Rimmon to <worjbip 
 there > and he leanetb on my band, and I l>o*iv myftlf 
 in the boufe of Rimmon ; <wbert I bow myfelf in the 
 boufe of Rimmon 9 the Lord pardon thy fcrvant in this 
 thing. 2 Kings t V. 1 8. 
 
 EVery one has a certain favourite paflion, 
 which is properly and always his own f 
 'the great boy f s hobby-horfe for life ! like Sir 
 /^. Batematfs country-houfe at , that 
 when making his will, he had given away 
 all the other articles, and his lawyer told him 
 he had forgot, he anfwered with warmth, 
 
 " Net that i 1 cannot part <witb tbat> and ditd" 
 
 Pope. 
 
 It was a pleafant mummery of a de- 
 vout lady, in the civil wars of Caftile^ 
 againft the emperor Charles V. in the be- 
 ginning of his reign, as Brantome 'tells it. 
 " Donna Maria de Padilla^ one of the moft 
 noble and virtuous ladies in Spain^ and 
 of the moft zealous in the rebellion, to 
 which fhe alfo inftigated her noble hufband, 
 being at the end of her great wealth in this 
 cnterprize, and not having wherewith to 
 
 keep 
 
(93 ) 
 
 keep the foldicrs from deferring, took all 
 the gold and filver of the relics of the great 
 church of Toledo'; but it was with a holy, and 
 devout ceremony, and which favoured no-* 
 thing of profanenefs. Entering the church 
 on her knees, with her hands joined, and co* 
 vered with a black veil ; with a fad and whin- 
 ing accent, beating her bread, and fighing 
 piteoufiy and weeping, with two great flam* 
 beaus carried (lowly before her ; and when 
 Ihe had decently pillaged the Hirine* and an. 
 cient facred repofitqry, returned with the 
 fu:;ic folemn procefiion and ceremony, "#~ 
 Brantome Vie d'Ant. de Ceva. What faint 
 would not have been bit with this devout fa* 
 crilege ? or could have been upon his guard, 
 and imagined all this apparatus (in his own 
 way) was to pick.his pocket and plunder him! 
 
 This is a perfon of great quality and 
 fenfe, who braves heaven and earth, while 
 her fond fuperftition ridiculoufly thinks to 
 reconcile them with her private intereft and 
 paflions-, but a poor curate, on the fame 
 occafion, fhewed what human nature is, 
 
 Compare Livy's defcription of the removing the 
 facred riches of the temples of /V/7 to Rome, by Camil* 
 
 ////, V* 22. 
 
 without 
 
( 94 ) 
 
 without dcfigning it. " He had taken it 
 into his head to efpoufe this caufe to that 
 degree, that he never failed on the Sunday 
 to recommend to his parifhioners, from his 
 pulpit, a Pater-nojler and an Ave-Maria for 
 Don John de Padilla^ and his noble wife, and 
 another of each for the koly fedition and re- 
 volt ; 'till after fome weeks, fortune would 
 have it that the troops of Padilla, 'pafling 
 through his village, eat up all his whole fa- 
 mily of poultry, with all his provifion of ba- 
 con , and, worft of all ! carried off his fa- 
 vourite houfe-keeper. The Sunday after 
 he made his complaint from the pulpit, and 
 related at length all the damage his old 
 friends had done him, and, above all, that 
 they had inveigled away poor Catherine, 
 whom he named without ceremony, giving 
 to the Devil, and defiring his parifhioners 
 to do fo too, all thefe feditious rebels againft 
 their lawful fovereign, whom God himfelf 
 had put over them." Brantome and Gue- 
 vara's Golden EpiJlleSj L. I. p. 173. 
 
 At the time that Hannibal was in the 
 height of his fucccfs and conquefls in Italy ; 
 ah exprefs came to him from Carthage^ that 
 the lot had fallen on his only fon to be fa- 
 
 crificcd 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 crificed to Mokch : his wife, Himilci^ Had 
 fent it, with the confent of the fenate, that 
 fhe had flown to, with her face torn, and 
 diftradted-with her fright, and threatened 
 them if they, put it in execution. They 
 v/ere divided between the fear of fo horrid 
 
 ^ god, and of Hannibal^ [ Expenfa fu+ 
 
 perorum & C/efaris ird. Lucan III. 439.] and 
 determined to wait his anfwer ; who imme- 
 diately infifted on his not being offered, but 
 faved for the fervice of his country, and 
 promifed to make Moloch ample amends, 
 with more and more blood of the Romans." 
 Sil. ltd. IV. 765. Probably neither Han- 
 nibal nor Himilcc had ever reflefted on the 
 horrible enormity of this cuftom, 'till it came 
 to be their own cafe, though it was fo fre- 
 quent, that doubtlefs there were none in 
 the fenate that had not Teen their own, or 
 family's children, thus burnt, in thofe nu- 
 merous annual offerings, in which all alike 
 took their chance. But felf-love, as it is 
 inflexible itfelf, fo, if it is once put upon 
 its mettle, it makes every thing elfe fupplc 
 and bend to it, always finding out Tome lit- 
 tle plitufible rcafon or other, that, in fome 
 
 fort, 
 
( .9* ) 
 
 fort, fatisfies, or at lead ftuns, the cla 
 mours of confciencc. ; 
 
 41 lieu prim* /eelerum eauf<f mortal! but itgrii 
 Naturam non/cirt Dtum ! jttfta itt prtcati 
 Vttre pio, c*dumqu feros avert itt ritut : 
 Mitt y (Ognatum tjl bo mini Dtut *' 
 
 Sil. Ital. IV, 794* 
 
 XVII. 
 
 fbat if it M/e avd propriety 9nly tknt can givf rtal /ntrit 
 to talent i % and their application* 
 
 44 T)LATO feeing one drive a chariot fo 
 JL cxa(5tly $ that, in a great number of 
 circles, he itill kept the wheels precifely in 
 the fame track, when every one applauded 
 his wondrous art and excellence, made 
 himfelf no account of the matter, faying, 
 that he who laid out all his talents and in* 
 duftry. in the acquiring fo infignificant a 
 fkill, however wonderful, muft be altoge* 
 ther wanting in all great and ufeful perfec- 
 tion, and deferved far more blame, for 
 having neglefted thofe things that were' 
 ' really worthy of admiration." /Elian*ll. 27. 
 
 " I have 
 
(97 ) 
 
 c ' c I have feen (fays Montaigne) a man 
 ride with both his feet upon the faddle, 
 then take it off the horfe, riding full fpeed 
 all the wh'ile, and fling it on the ground ; 
 wheel round, and take it up again, place 
 it on the back, fit it, and fatten it, ftill 
 keeping his full fpeed. Having gallopped 
 over a cap that was flung down, he would 
 make very good fhoots at it backward with his 
 bow; take up any thing from the ground, 
 fetting one foot down, and the other on , 
 the ftirrup ; with twenty other ape's tricks, 
 which he got his living by." j/liys 9 B. I. 
 c. 48. 
 
 How little are the greateft difficulties 
 cfteemed, when they are not accompanied 
 with fomething ufeful, and of real merit ! 
 Such is what he fays immediately after of 
 u one at Conjlantinople, who bridled and fad- 
 died his horfe with nothing but his teeth." 
 Like that virftiofo, who painted a picture 
 with his fingers. " Why, faid Michael An* 
 gelo, did not the fool take pencils* ?" 
 
 * Sec a like (lory of Lttca Giordan*'* painting a St. 
 StftfJMt half length* with his fingers, not having pa- 
 tience till his pencil* were brought. 
 
 H Pojlkumius 
 
( 98 ) 
 
 Poflbumius Albinus> having written his 
 hiftory in Greek, afked pardon of his rea- 
 ders for any want of accuracy in theftyle, 
 or even folecifms, that not being his native 
 language, " Doubtlefs, he ought to be 
 pardoned, (faid Cato the cenfor) if he was 
 compelled, by the Antpbiftions> to write it 
 in that language." Plutar. vit. Caton. Cenf. 
 439. (III.) Aulus Gellius tells the fiory 
 better. " Truly, (faid Cato^ when he read 
 it) AlbinuSt you are a great trifler, who had 
 rather afk pardon for a fault, than not 
 commit it , for we cxcufe ourfelves to 
 others when we have done a wrong thing, 
 cither by miftake or compulfion : but pray 
 who obliged you to do what you knew you 
 were to make an apology for before you did 
 it.?" Aul Gel. XL 8. 
 
 This is fomething like what Lucan ac-i 
 cufes the gods of , " that they take more 
 pleaiure to punilh crimes, than to hinder 
 them from being committed, which they 
 could as eafily have done." Lucan IV. 807. 
 
 : ; " Another, who, between two horfes, one 
 fopt upon one laddie, and another on the 
 other, would ride full career, carrying, at 
 
 the 
 
r 99 ) 
 
 \ 
 
 the fdme time, another man oft his flioul- 
 ders, who, (landing bolt upright, would 
 fhoot all the while at different marks as 
 they pafied, with excellent aim, was more to 
 be blamed for the wrong application of 
 extraordinary talents, than to be commen- 
 ded for the poffefiion of them! There- 
 fore, that perfon did wifely, who, having a 
 man brought before him, that had learned 
 to throw a grain of millet with fuch dexte- 
 rity and aflurance, as never to mifs the eye 
 of a needle ; and being afterwards intreated 
 to give Ibmething for the reward of fo rare 
 a performance, ordered a certain num- 
 ber of bufhels of the fame grain to be dc^ 
 livered to him, that " he might not want,, 
 he faid, wherewith to exercife fo famous 
 an art." I. think I have read this fome- 
 where . of Auguftus. Our Charles II. did 
 fomething of the lame fort, when he faw a 
 fellow climb to the top of the flag-Haft" on 
 the very pinnacle viSaliflury flceple , " Odds 
 filh, fays Rowley, * this man (hall have a 
 patent^ that, nobody fhall go up there but 
 himfclf." 
 
 *' See page 90. 
 
 ':. II 2 What 
 
( ioo ; 
 
 What degree of fame and efteem is ow- 
 ing to him, that Montaigne tells us, Ef. I. 20. 
 (from Vive* on St. Auftiri) could modulate 
 his farts ? or to him that, I have heard, could 
 " fmoke out of his nofe, ears, and even 
 his eyes ; and, withal, vary the forms of 
 his cloud at pleafure?" Thefe arc excel- 
 lencies that carry with them fure indica- 
 tions of fihgular worthleffnefs, and a plen- 
 tiful want of merit. 
 
 Philip afked h'is fon Alexander^ (for why. 
 fhould not heroes come in with thefe gen- 
 tlemen ? they are all alike candidates for 
 fame , but that one is only ridiculous, and 
 the other mifchievous !) " if he was not 
 afhamed to play on mufic fo well ?" Be- 
 caufe this fuppolcd, even by its merit, 
 that he muft have mif-fpent his time, by 
 negle<5ling morel itnportant ftudies, and 
 more worthy of his character. 
 
 Burnett in his character of Charles II, 
 fap, " He knew the architecture of fhips 
 fo perfedly, that, in that refpeft, he was 
 exaCt rather more than became a prince.'' 
 Vol. I. p. 94. 
 
 Yet 
 
Yet it would have been happy for thou- 
 fands, and ten thoufands, if Alexander had 
 fquandered away his mighty qualities in the 
 fame manner, and that his high place and 
 fortunes had not put him upon a much 
 worfe mifapplication of them, and fent him 
 about, depopulating one half of the world, 
 that the other half might fpeak well of 
 him. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Per/ante convenient ia cul^ite. 
 
 HORAT. 
 
 T)ROPRIETY is the tcft of all virtue 
 JL and excellence. " Darius^ after repeated 
 lofles, and being much weakened, fent Alex- 
 ander a pompous embafTy, with large and 
 fplendid propofals of peace and alliance, 
 offering him, among other vaft advantages, 
 ten- thoufand talents, and his daughter in 
 Carriage, with all the countries between the 
 Euphrates and the Hellefpont for her portion. 
 Alexander catted a great council, and pro- 
 poled to them* thefe conditions. Parmenio 
 was fo dazzled with them, that he cried 
 H 3 our 
 
( 102 ) 
 
 out, * I would accept them, if I were 
 andcrf * and fo would I,* anfwered Alex-. 
 wider warmly, ' if I were Tarmenio :' Shew- 
 ing the immenfe diflance between the fervile' 
 views of a minifter, however exalted by his 
 prince's favour, ftill a minifler and fervant, 
 and, of confequence, a genius unufed to, 
 and incapable of high and fqblime ideas of 
 independent power, and thofe of a great 
 king, born to majefly, who comprehended 
 the empire of the univcrfe in his boundlcfs 
 reach !" Pint. Alex. p. 67. 
 
 Tier i is a myjlery* with wbicb relation 
 
 Durjl never meddle, in tbffonl of ft ate." 
 
 Shake. 7r. 
 
 * c When Epaminondas had confined a 
 young man for certain debauches, and 
 Pclopidas begged his liberty of him as a 
 friend, he flatly refufed him, notwithlhnd- 
 ing their cordial friendfhip ; but when at- 
 terwards avcourtezan afked him the fame fa- 
 vour, he granted it immediately ;* aye,' fays 
 he, 4 this is a compliment fit to make 
 but not to Pdopidas.' 
 
 Anothef 
 
Another inftance, lefs heroic! "When 
 king Charles the lid came to fee the hunting 
 palace which Sir Cbrijlopher Wren had built 
 him at Newmarket ; lie told him, * he ' 
 thought the rooms too low.' Sir Cbriftopher, 
 who was a little man, walked round them, 
 and looking up, -and about him, faid, 4 1 
 think, and it plealc your majefty, they are 
 high enough.' The king fquatted down to 
 his height, and creeping about in this 
 whimfical pofture, cried, c Aye, Sir Cbrifto- 
 pher, I think they are high enough." 
 
 XIX, 
 
 Perltulofa plenum of us alea* * 
 
 Ho RAT. 
 
 IT is -very neceflary to obferve time and 
 place in making free with gteatnefs, 
 ic Alexander y who 'killed his old and be- 
 loved friend Clitus, for ridiculing him on . 
 the title that he afiumed of fan of Jupiter ," 
 (Q. Curt. VIII. i.) when, before that time, 
 " the philofopher Anaxarcbus^ oi) occafion 
 of a thundering and lightning that afton- 
 and terrified the whole army, faid to 
 H hhp ; 
 
him : ' Well, fon ofyupiter, and can you 
 do as much ?' only anfwered, with a fmile f 
 * Yes, fure, but that I will not frighten my 
 friends, as you would have me do, in ferv- 
 ing up at my table the heads of princes and 
 governors inftcad of thofc of filh." P/tf/. 
 dltx. p. 64. 
 
 " Sonic domeftics of the cardinal of Ar 
 ragon^ whofe fitter the great Matthias Corvi- 
 nits, king of Hungary 9 had married, having 
 had a jell put upon them, of cutting off 
 the (kirts of their garments behind, without 
 their perceiving it, the king afked his bar* 
 her, (a perfon in great favour with him for 
 a man in his poll) if he had ever heard who 
 had done it? The barber, thinking the 
 king afked it .in order to divert himfelf, 
 faid, jt was himfelf that had done it, and, 
 with a great deal of laughter, told all the 
 manner from the beginning to the end. 
 The kirtg heard the ftory, and ordered the 
 barber's nofe and lips to be cut off, for a 
 warning to all others, how they diverted 
 themfelves with their betters." Don Juan 
 Vitrian Comment on PL\ dc Comities, c. 36.' 
 
 The 
 
The poet Philemon was better off with 
 s, king of Cyrene y whom he had ridi- 
 culed upon the ftage, by name ; for being 
 afterwards thrown on his coafls by a ftorm, 
 the king learning whom he had got, fent a 
 foldier with orders that he fhould draw his 
 fword, as to ftrike off his head for his in- 
 folence, but only touch his neck lightly, 
 and go off without faying' a word. And 
 then fending him a parcel of children's 
 play-things, as to an empty trifler, let him 
 depart." Pint. 
 
 I do not find this fright had the fame ef- 
 fe& upon the poet, (who by no means 
 wanted for imagination) as it had upon " a 
 SwediJJ} gentleman, (I think) who having 
 committed a vile murder, the king, though 
 great intercefllons were made for him, as 
 being the lad of a noble family, could not 
 be induced to pardon him -, yet at laft he 
 was over ruled ; but ftill infifted, he (hould 
 undergo the fliame and terror of 3 public 
 execution, and the headfman had orders 
 only to ftrike him, blindfolded, with a 
 fwitch, yet he was dead with the conceit." 
 
 " I do 
 
c< I do not know which is mod to be ad- 
 mired, the (prefent) candour of the prince, 
 or the courage of the minifter, when M*- 
 ctnas feeing Augujlus condemning criminal 
 after criminal, cried out to him from the 
 court, 'come down executioner \ and the 
 emperor came down." Dion. Aug. u So when 
 the philofophcr////wW0n/,r, having obfcrvcd 
 the danger Augtrfttu ran, by admitting In- 
 dies in private (for he was extremely 
 amorous, but very decent, which was in- 
 deed having tafte) he caufed himfelf to be 
 brought into the emperor's chamber in a 
 clofe chair, as if a lady, and when the em- 
 peror expefted quite another vifit, rufhcd 
 out upon him with a drawn dagger, and 
 faid to him, * oh ! my dear emperor, if this 
 had been a traitor! 1 The good prince ac* 
 knowlcdged his friend's warm zeal j" 
 {Ibid.) but it might have admitted another 
 interpretation, if he had happened to have 
 been in- another humour, or had lefs friend., 
 fhip for Athcnodorus. 
 
 " '". \ 
 
 " Our Charles. II. was once told by his 
 over-officious trifler of a barber, as he was 
 (having him, c he thought that none of his 
 majefty's officers had a greater trufl than 
 
 he. 1 
 
( '37 ) 
 
 he.' c Oy f f faid Rowley, < how Co, friend? 1 
 * Why,' faid he, 4 I could cut your majefty's 
 throat when I would. The king ftarted up, 
 $nd faid, f odd's fifh, that- very thought is 
 trcafon -, thou flialt (have me nb more. "* 
 My father, 
 
 Alexander fuffcrcd' dpcllcs to tell him very 
 freely, that ' he had better not talk of 
 painting, for that the very boy who ground 
 his colours would laugh at him ,' and ano- 
 ther time, Bucephalus neighing at a horfe 
 he had painted, when Alexander fecmed.not 
 at all affcftcd with the pidture itfclf, he told 
 him that * his horle underflood painting 
 better than he. f 
 
 There arc certai^moments when the great 
 will bear fevere jok^s, and even inlults ; but 
 then it is mere humour, and you can hardly 
 ever tell how to judge when they will do 
 it, and if you mils, you put your hand into 
 a lion's mouth. 
 
 Plutarch tells a ftory juft like this, of Dlonyfuf* 
 barber, who hearing fome talk of the tyranny of this . 
 prince being fo eftabliflicd and fecure, that he. had no- 
 thing to fear from any man : You fay this,' faid he, 
 * before a man who can put an end to it every day of 
 his life, as he has his razor daily at his throat.' He 
 >va$ not fo well off with 1m untimely jclt, as honefl 
 
Perhaps, take all together, the beft way 
 would be to have as little to do with them 
 as you can. The Turks fay, * no grafs can 
 grow on the fpot where the grand fignor's 
 horfc has once trod.' 
 
 XX. 
 
 T Hough cuftom hath an infmuating, un- 
 heeded influence on almoft all men, in 
 fome degree, from its humouring our natural 
 lazinefs with " her glib and cafy method, 
 in fome manner like to that vifion of Eze* 
 JhW, rolling up her fudden book of impli- 
 cit knowledge ;" (Milton to the parliament of 
 England) with bis doll, and difcipl. of divorce.) 
 yet it afts mod on the mod empty and in- 
 Itgnificanc minds, cxcrciling on thcfc a fore 
 of irrcfiilible tyranny. 
 
 A friend of mine who had lived long in 
 Mufco'vy gave this inftance. " The butchers 
 there carry their meat to people's houfes in 
 panniers on each fide their horfe. He ob- 
 fervcd one of thefe, who had fold a joint at 
 a houfe where he happened to be, flinging, 
 
 Rowley's ; for Dionyjlut being infgrmed of it, ordered 
 him to be crucified. "Pint, w garrulity (IV.) p. 232. 
 
 a par- 
 
a parcel of ftoncs out of the other pannier: 
 So he afked the fellow, >vhy he did that f 
 He told him, with a little fort of triumph 
 over his ignorance, that if he did not lighten 
 that fide, it would pull over the other 
 where the meat was ; for that they filled one 
 pannier with meat,' and the other with ftones, 
 to poife it. c- Why, 5 faid the gentleman, 
 
 * had not you better put half the meat on 
 one fide, and half on the other, and then 
 the horfe will carry double the quantity ?' 
 
 * Oy,' fays he,. 4 Sir, that is true, I never 
 thought of it ;^ but my father and grand- 
 father did fo before me; and every body 
 
 'crlfc does as I do, fo I won't go and change.*' 
 
 fays, " lie remembers, that, 
 in the beginning of queen Elizabeth's time, 
 an Irijb rebel condemned carneftly be- 
 fought the deputy, that he might be hanged 
 in a wythe, and not in a halter, becaufe it 
 had been fo ufed with former rebels." EJJay 
 on Guft. and Educ. This was probably for 
 the fame reafon that the Roman foldiers, hav- 
 ing a right of being fcourged \vith vines 
 'only, added a fort of dignity to their pu- 
 niflimcnt, which made them bear it chcar- 
 fulljr. 
 
 !! The 
 
( no ) 
 
 " The gotten tots j the moft lazy of a 
 pie, have the fame anfwer for every thing 
 you tell them. They will agree with you, 
 that what you fay is right, and that it would 
 be better to change it, but it is Hottentot 
 cuftom. That is an anfwer for, and folu- 
 tion of all, and you (hall never get them 
 any farther than Hottentot cuftom.*' Kolbcn's 
 Prefentjtate of the Cape of Good Hope, p 124. 
 
 In matters of religion, all the world hath 
 ever been the fame ; nay, it has been every 
 particular religion's fundamental to believe 
 as their fathers had believed, without pre- 
 tending to examine. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Wt fKfi/atef/ne* art o/wlt. 
 
 And make our chat hi for <wbom tltyft* 
 
 Hl!D!0. 
 
 QECRETARY Crtgg* brought Dick Eft* 
 O court once to Sir Godjrey Kneller'si 
 where he mimicked feveral perfons whom 
 
 he 
 
( III ) . 
 
 he knew ; as lords Godolphin, Sowers, Hali- 
 fax, &c. Sir Godfrey was highly delighted, 
 took the joke, and laughed heartily : then, 
 they gave him the wink, and he mimicked 
 Sir Godfrey himfelf ; who cried, * Nay, now 
 you are out, man , by G d that is not 
 me;" and thus proved it was he. /?- 
 court produced the cap ; but it was he him- 
 felf that put it on. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 . / 
 
 The devil *wat Jickt tbe devil a monk would le ; 
 The devil wai well, tht devil a monk wai bt* 
 
 Wt love bim % tecaufe befirjl loved us. 
 
 i JOHN IV. 19. 
 
 WE are very humble and afllduous 
 with God, when we want to obtaia 
 or avoid any thing; as lord Carteret, (when 
 he was lieutenant of Ireland) faid to Swift : 
 
 My very good dean, none ever comes bere> 
 
 But who batb fometbiug to hope, or fometblng to fear*. 
 
 * My lord wrote this on a window in the Caftle, 
 under two other lines of S-juift> in which his pride af- 
 fefted an abfolute independence. 
 
 The 
 
The Per/tan Magi befought the afllftance 
 of the Gods in private, with various rites 
 x and ceremonies, among themlelves, or each 
 alone, but denied their power of interpofi- 
 tkm publicly, that they might not (hare 
 with themfelves the credit of what wonders 
 they performed before the people , or, in- 
 deed, have the whole, and themfelves feem 4 
 but their miniflcrs in cures and miracles; 
 for, as they concluded rightly, the gods 
 would certainly run away with all the 
 glory, if the people thought they had any 
 hand in their operations at all ;" (Pbiloflra- 
 tus Soph. <uit. Apo. Tya. VIII. 7.) " as . 
 lady Maty Wortley Montagu^ when fhe 
 fhewed Pope a paper of verfes of hers, 
 and he would make fome little altera- 
 tions, c No, faid (lie, Pope, no touching, 
 for then whatever is good for any thing 
 will pafs for yours, and the reft for 
 mine." We good chriftians, on the con- 
 trary, very'candidly give all the. merit of 
 what we do to God-, but fo as to infinu- 
 ate, by thofe very means, that our works 
 dclervc applaufc, only that our religion and 
 modefty wave the claim of it ; but that 
 our great talents, (which the reader is to be 
 very fcnfible of,) arc made the inftrument 
 
 of 
 
tf fuch extraordinary produftions , for 
 benefit or inftru&ion of mankind. . 
 
 I wonder Jiow thefe rafcals of Magi md- 
 haged to draw the Gods in to be fu.ch dupes ; 
 for, to be fure, they made them believe 
 they were to have all the glory, or, at 
 leaft, this was underftood ; for all religions 
 have agreed, that their Gods were extremely 
 greedy of our praifes* and very jealous of 
 one another's encroaching upon their rights 
 to our good opinions and fervices* Poor im- 
 potent human pride ! 
 
 The Per/tans have not left off their old 
 tricks of making their Gods believe what 
 they pleafe , but as thofe ancient ones 
 cheated them, by concealing their wit, the 
 modern do fo, by making theirs believe 
 they are poorer than they are ; " for the 
 rich and noble Perftan^ when they have 
 any particular favour to afk, on which oc- 
 cafions they are remarkably devout, (for 
 4C we never love God fo well as when we 
 Want .him*") firft take off their rings, and 
 other jewels, and are lure to have no fort of 
 
 * Marianne* 
 
 I gold 
 
( "4 ) 
 
 gold about them, that God may have the 
 more compaflion on them for being fo 
 poor." Cbardin Voy. de Perfe. 
 
 No prince was ever more devout than 
 Alexander^ before his aftonifhing profperity ; 
 but 3s foon as he thought he could do 
 without the Gods, he had nothing more to 
 do with them ; and finding that he was as 
 good as they, neglefted facrificing to them 
 for many years, and at laft would be one 
 himfelf. But upon the firft fright, on the 
 general revolt of the Scytbians y he turned 
 again to his old fuperftition, (Rtirfus adfu- 
 pcrjlitionem, bumanarum gentium ludibria, rc- 
 volutus) the mock and very feamy wrong 
 fide of human nature ! <. Curt. VII. 7. 8. 
 
 <c 
 
 The Carthaginians had been accu- 
 ftomed, for many ages after their founda- 
 tion, to fend the tithe of their revenues to 
 the temple of Hercules at Tyre, the mother- 
 city. But after they were grown very 
 wealthy' and powerful, they began to flacken 
 in their devotion, and fent every year but 
 a trifle, as keeping up an appearance of 
 the old form. In fhoft, they found the 
 Gods eafy, and were for buying them as 
 
 cheap 
 
cheap as they could ; but upon the ruinous 
 defeat of their army by Agathoclts^ tyrant of 
 Syracufe^ and his laying fiege to Carthage 
 itfelf, they not only paid Hercules their old 
 debts with intereft, but fent prefents to all 
 the other Gods of tyre. And, in their 
 fright, confidering how ill they had ufed 
 their own God, Saturn, too, in having de- 
 frauded him of the principal and choice of 
 their children , the nobility, for a long 
 while, having bought poor people's, to 
 facrificc inftead of their own; they at once 
 offered a public facrifice of two hundred 
 noble infants , and three hundred more fa- 
 milies voluntarily brought theirs, to be 
 laid on the hands of the God's brazen fta- 
 tue, that were ftretched out for that pur- 
 pofe, Hoping downwards, fo that the boy 
 rolled off into a furnace that was juft 
 under." With fuch a pang of fuperftition 
 were they feized ! Diodor. Sic. XX. i. 
 Humanitatem dira fuperflitio vicit. Curt. IV. 
 
 I 2 XXIIL Nam 
 
fcur-:;ja J)/^ fb 
 
 *i fc-fcv/* .-*fc^ : - ^ <fe^; i-v ^,V 
 
 ,x c ; XXIIL 
 
 Afa f W Ai^r to*traxtf> quiet to/lit. Mquando enlm 
 experiment um animi fumpfi fubitum ; hoc enim eft Jtm- 
 pliciut 13 'veriut ; *am, ubife pr<eparavit> & indixit 
 Jibi patientiam, non <tqne apparet* quantum kabeat 
 
 *ver<e frmltath* Ilia funt certij/ima argument a, qit<* 
 ex temfore dedit* Ji non tantum <rquut molefta^ fed 
 H placid ut^ atffpexit ; fi no#excanduit 9 non litigawt ; 
 Ji, quod dart deberet, ip/e Jibi, non dejide ra ndo fup- 
 ple<vit t t? cogitavit, alt quid tonfuetudinifn<e 9 Jibi ;// 
 bildec/e. Seneca t Ep. 123. 
 
 C< T^\ON GARCIAS III, king of Na+ 
 JL/ varrt, was furnamed the Trembler, 
 from a certain ardour (his friends faid) in 
 going into battle. Some new courtier, who 
 underftood it fimply for a temporary fear 
 and apprehenfion (for he gave in his life 
 fufficient proofs of a genuine courage) took 
 pains to reprefent the danger as lefs than he 
 might imagine it. The king faid, c Sir, 
 my limbs tremble at the danger they know 
 by experience my courage will carry them 
 
 into." 
 
 I have heard of a colonel that was taken 
 with a panick juft as he was going to charge 
 
 at 
 
( M7 )' 
 
 at the head of his regiment $ he' made his 
 utmoft efforts to recover, and poflefs him- 
 felf, but all in vain, he was fubdued by a 
 mortal and fenfelefs horror; he took out 
 one of his piftols, and fhot it through his 
 head. Like Fannius> who had confpired 
 againft Auguftus^ -and, finding his execu- 
 tioners in clofe purfuit of him, killed him- 
 
 felf. 
 
 . 
 
 Hoftem cum fu gent) .ft Fanniut ipfe pertmit, 
 
 Hic 9 rogo % non furor eft* ne moriare^ mori ? , 
 Martial* Epig. II. 30, 
 
 i And a great prince in Trance of un- 
 doubted courage and refolution, yet never 
 joined battle, which he did many, and fuc- 
 cefsfully, but an odious accident made it as 
 offenfive for his friends to follow him, as 
 -it was dangerous for his enemies to face 
 him f . 
 
 This gentleman's conftitution was cow- 
 &rdice, but which he corrected, as Socrates 
 did the natural malignity of his, by the true 
 bravery of his realbn. The fuddcn attack 
 of his natural temper he was not prepared 
 for, but inftantly rallied and put his fearS 
 to flight, 
 
 I' ^ Theodore 
 
" fbtodorf dgrippa (TAubignii than whom 
 no man was lefs acquainted with fear, and 
 who, as he fays, c found nothing too hot, 
 nor too cold for him,' relates, in his me- 
 moirs, that two or three days after the 
 news of themaflacrc of St. Bartholomew, (he 
 was a Huguenot) as he was walking out with 
 fourfcore dragoons of his company, deter- 
 mined fellows, thinking of nothing; on 
 hearing fomebody call out, not to them, nor 
 any thing relating to them, all on a fudden 
 they fet a running like a flock of fheep, and 
 never (lopped 'till they were out of breath ; 
 when, taking one another by the hand, 
 three or four together, and flaring, 
 
 each in other's countenance beheld 
 Hit vwn difmay aftonijb'd 
 
 ' then, blufhing, concluded that ' God did 
 not give courage and underftanding, but 
 only lent it." Memoirs, p. 38* 
 
 XXIV. not. 
 
XXIV. 
 
 I 
 
 That we are commonly tbe dupes ofotber feof/e 9 * views. 
 
 Suam qui/que fortunam in conjilio balct, quum de 
 
 ali end deliberate 
 H. Curt. V. 5. 12. 
 
 fTpHE Athenians often put their fuccefs* 
 JL ful generals to death, out of jealoufy 
 of their power. The Carthaginians carried 
 this timorous and ungrateful policy fo far, 
 that Swift obferves, " It was at laft grown 
 into an eftablifhed cuftom among them ;'* 
 [which he has from DioJorus.] " They 
 advance," fays this hiftorian, " the moft 
 eminent perfons to be generals in their 
 wars, becaufe they conclude they will fight 
 with more refolution than others, when all 
 lies at flake : but after the wars are ended, 
 and peace concluded, they bring falfe acciN. 
 fations againft them, and moft unjuftly, 
 through envy, put them to death , and 
 therefore fome generals, out of fear of thofe 
 unjuft fentences, have either given up their 
 command, or have laid fchemes to make 
 themielves matters of the common-wealth, 
 as the only means to fcreen themfelves from 
 J 4 fadtion.". 
 
( 120 ) 
 
 faction." Diod. Sic. XX. i. This is what 
 ntilcar did in that fajngus battle againft 
 Modes, the tyrant of Syracufc> in Africa ; for 
 when HannO) the other general, was killed, 
 and he might probably have gained the vie? 
 tory, he confidered that in that cafe his citi- 
 zens would be too ftrong for him ; but if 
 they were beat, he would become neceflary 
 to them, and by that means might poflcfs 
 himfelf of the fovereignty \ he fo managed, 
 that Agatboclcs gained fo complete a victory, 
 that Carthage did not recover rtfelf from it 
 for a very long time. Id. ib. I wonder no- 
 body has ever thought of thus accounting ' 
 for Hannibar* not going direftly to Rome 
 after the battle of Cann^ and finifhing the 
 war at once. 
 
 It has often been obferved, that foldiers 
 3re never fo little regarded, as when by thein 
 .bravery they have procured their mafters 
 feme fignal advantages ; becaule their own 
 viftories ferve to render them ufelefs, or even 
 dangerous, or at lead fufpcdled to be fo, fo 
 they muft take their meafures accordingly. 
 
 " The famous marflial Biron, when his 
 fon pulhed on a certain fiege (I forget what) 
 
 >vith 
 
(121 ) 
 
 with vigour, and was near taking the city, 
 which would probably have put an end to 
 the war, reprimanded him for it, and lent 
 him orders, to manage matters fo, that by 
 all means the enemy fhould raife the liege ; 
 the fon a#ed accordingly, but when he 
 came to his father, aflked him, what he could 
 mean by a conduct that appeared to him fo 
 unacountable ? f Would you have us,* faid 
 the marfhal, 4 be fent to Biron to fow cab- 
 bages ?" See the ftory in Mezerai, II. IV. 
 en. 1592.^. 72. Doubtlcfs the court, Paris* 
 and the country, had other reafons given 
 them. And whatever might have been the 
 plaufible ones Hannibal gave at that time, 
 j(though they did not feem very convincing, 
 to judge by what Barca faid to him *J this 
 was in all likelihood the true one. Si vis 
 mihi equitatum dare> die quinti Rom<c in Capi- 
 tolium curabo tibi cccna fit cofta. M. Cato in 
 Originib. ap. Aid. Cell. X. .24. vel pot. C<e~ 
 fius, ex illo. See Plut. Fab. Max. p. 339. 
 (V.lL)and J&riw II. 6. 
 
 Sincere fcis % Ilftnnibul, *vi florid oti nefdi. Li<vy 
 XXII. 51. who fays, it was Mahtrbal> matter of the 
 Jiorfc. See J)acitr at . Plutarch Fab. Max. note 75, 
 >vho unites both. 
 
 " When 
 
<c When GabiniuSj on his arrival in 
 had taken Archelaus> who had married 
 Ptolemy's eldeft daughter, prifoner, he could 
 have placed Ptolemy on the throne again, 
 (which he had been compelled to abdicate) 
 at once, but that would have put an end to 
 the war too foon, and of confequence to his 
 importance, and would have given Ptolemy 
 a pretext not to pay him the remainder of 
 the fum that was ftipulated : fo he gave Ar- 
 chtlaus an opportunity to make his efcape, 
 for a vaft ranfom (fo much clear gain) and 
 then beat him again in another battle, and 
 killed him. This nicety colt thoufands of 
 lives, but that was nothing to heroes and 
 ftatefmen ! 
 
 the fon-in-law of Honorius, and 
 his general, did the fame by Alaric the Gotb^ 
 whom he had fo completely overcome in a 
 decilivc battle, that he might have eafily 
 prevented his efcape ; but by ftill keeping 
 the war on foot, he continued and increased 
 his own power from the occafion the (late 
 had for him \ which had in its conlcquenccs 
 the fume fatal eflcft on the Roman affairs, 
 that Hannilats fclfifh policy had on the Car* 
 tlaginians. 
 
 The 
 
The duke of Marlborough (I have heard) 
 contended with all his power, in the coun* 
 cil of war,, to fight the, French at Hocb? 
 Jledt, but could not perfuade prince Eugene, 
 who argued as flrongly again ft it, 'till the 
 duke, calling him alidc, fliewcd him a letter 
 from lord Codolphin^ in which the treafurer 
 afiured him, that if he did not fight, he 
 would lofe his head when, he came home. 
 No wonder the prince was not fatisficd with 
 his arguments ; he did not know the fecret 
 of the duke's declamation. 
 
 " When TV/. Quint. Flamininus endea- 
 voured to perfuade the Grecian allies againft 
 befieging Lacedtttnon, and to make peace 
 with the tyrant Nabis, they were all averfe * 
 to it, and gave flrong reafons for their opi- 
 nion, fo that he was obliged to come over to 
 them ; yet, even in fo doing, brought them 
 all over to his. For he fo well reprelented, 
 how much, what they were fatisfied was the 
 public good, was their own private harm, 
 that without ceremony they came round 
 about again. They underftood that the 
 war was to be carried on, and their own 
 piques and animofities revenged by the Ro- 
 mans , but when they found they were to 
 
 bear 
 
bear the expence, and moftly out of their 
 own private purfes, all was changed, 11 [71 
 XXXIV, 33, 34.] and 
 
 ivorfe apftar'Jtbf ttfttr r ea/ott, 
 
 Their general's advice had been on ac* 
 count of his fear " left another proconful 
 fhould be fent to relieve him, and fliould 
 have the honour of putting an end to the 
 war, which he had fuccefsfully begun/' - 
 This he kept to himfclf ; and gave them 
 reafons for his purpofe, but however they 
 would not ferve ; common fenfe, unbiafled, 
 generally fees well enough what is right j 
 and fo they did, 'till he let them into ano* 
 ther fecret, in which themfclves were con* 
 cerned. When we fee a wife man do what 
 we take to be very abfurd, we are aftonifh^ 
 cd ; the cafe is oftentimes, only, that we 
 fee the public reafon of the thing, and he 
 fees the private one. 
 
 The public are the fpeftators in a thea- 
 tre ; they fee juft fo much of the adtors as 
 thefe think fit to fhew them ; glitter and 
 tinfcl all, and falfe, aided by "an artful 
 
 glare 
 
( MS ) 
 
 glare of candles*, all the J dirty work i* 
 behind the fcenes. And yet they talk as 
 learnedly, and reafon as ferioufly and grave* 
 ly, upon what thefe ftatefmen are pleafed to 
 prefent them, as if they were actually the 
 miniftering devils, that 
 
 Ride In the whirlwind 'and dirt 8 the ft of m. 
 
 Addifon* 
 
 XXV. 
 
 e 
 
 *Tbat we can tnake no wry ajffured judgment of 
 people's bappinefii but tbat Jocial good feems to be tb$ 
 truefource of the pureft and moft lajting enjoyment* 
 
 Brevior duxi fecuriut <f<vum* 
 
 Ipfa nocet moles , utinam remeare liter et 
 Ad vttertJ Jinei 9 y macnia pauper it AncL 
 
 Claudiah. Gildonic* <ver. io8 
 
 " ]\/r NTAiGNE knew dean f St * 
 
 JL V JL Hilary of Poitiers , who had been 
 two and twenty years in one room, without 
 ftirring a foot out of it , fuffering a fervant 
 only to bring him food once a day, and re- 
 tire immediately, and about once a week 
 would admit a friend to corpe and fee him. 
 All this while in pcrfeft health." EJpys, 
 
 L. II. 
 
( 126 ) 
 
 L. II. c. 6. " As extraordinary as Clau* 
 dian's Old Man of Verona^ if .he could be 
 called even that, properly, who never went 
 out of the fuburbs of that city, even into 
 the city itfelf." Claud. Efig. II. r 
 
 "An old malfter is our politician, and 
 that at fccond or third hand, for I never 
 faw him. Another, indeed, we have in the 
 houfc, who has lived up in the garret thefe 
 fifty years ; I cannot get to the fpeech of 
 him neither -, he is as earned after the news- 
 papers He was a little rake, about four 
 feet high; and when he had raked away 
 all his little money upon the ladies, his 
 father made him (lay above, for punifh- 
 ment, and becaufc he would not fee him ; 
 and fo, at laft, he never would come down 
 again, but now and then to fetch a little 
 beer, or fo ; fpends his time reading Rapin, 
 and looking out at window with a fpying- 
 glafs, to lee people go along the ftreet. 
 His bed is made every other night, for he 
 cliufes it fhould lerve two, one night for 
 each fide ; eats very heartily, and, they fay, 
 is always chearful, and is always well, 
 though fourfcore. What need has any one 
 of money, or exercife, or any of the other 
 
 things 
 
, ( "7 ) 
 
 things which people think fo neceffaiy and 
 eflential ?" Letter from Reading , 1745. 
 
 Were not thefe contented ? or had they 
 no paffions to gratify ? One of the allego- 
 rical drawings Holbein made for the duke 
 of Norfolk^ is a man lying along upon a 
 rock, with a calm, but chearlefs counte- j 
 nance, and bound hand and foot, written 
 under, CONTENTED What then ! (hall 
 we fay the Old Man of Verona^ or Mw- 
 taigne's Dean, or the Reading Politician, were 
 happier than C*far or Genghizkban ? By no 
 means. Or that Gengbizkban or Cffar 
 were happier than thofe ? By no means nei- 
 ther. How do we know if a fhark is hap- 
 pier than an oyfter ? 
 
 > 
 
 " When Gyges 9 king of Lydia y in the 
 height of that famous kingdom's wealth 
 and fplendor, enquired of the oracle of 
 Delphi, in the vanity of his heart, * Who 
 was the happieft man on earth ?' Secure of 
 having his pride complimented by the God ; 
 he had the mortification of being anfwered, 
 4 that it was one dglaus, a poor drcadtan , 
 cottager, who had ploughed a little field, 
 during all his long life, and had never had a 
 
 wilh 
 
Vrilh that had oricc called hiih from it.'*. 
 Valmm Max. VII. i, 
 
 I 
 
 Diodejian and Maximian both retired af! 
 1 once from empire into a private ftation, and 
 rural retreat, but both were foon fick of it* 
 and would gladly have returned to their 
 power, (as the emperor Charles V. in after 
 times, and Victor dniadeuS) king of Sardinia) 
 though the firft affcdted to like it; and 
 when Maximian prefled him to refume the 
 government, he, a wife and prudent prince, 
 who had already tried to do fo underhand, 
 and found he could not, only anfwered his 
 letters, * that he wifhed he could come to 
 him at Salon*, and fee his kitchen-garden, 
 planted and watered with his own hands, 
 and then he would know how little likely he 
 was tofucceed in fuch a propofal." Aurel. 
 VtRor. in vit. Philip V. of Spain, in our 
 days, is the only prince that ever refigned 
 the crown, and afterwards received it again. 
 
 Well but certainly that man who is en- 
 tirely his own mafter, to do whatever fhall 
 c<jme into his heart, with all the powers and 
 means of gratifying all his defires, is happier 
 than a flave, or one who is in a perpetual 
 
 ' dependent 
 
t "9 ) 
 
 dependent ftate. We do not know. " Befure . 
 there is a great anxiety in a ftate of uncer- 
 tainty and balancing, which is often, and 
 very frequently, the cafe of thofe who can 
 do whatever they will. The fort of difap-> 
 pointment is only changed -, and inftead of 
 not being allowed to have what you will, 
 you are not allowed to know what you will 
 have, from the variety of choice that is 
 continually prefenting itfelf ; one pleafure 
 flill endeavouring to fupplant another. Add f 
 that fuch an one is the butt, and very mark, 
 of all the paflions ; which if he is not ever 
 parrying, in a perpetual ftate of war with him- 
 felf, he becomes the place, the receptacle, the 
 hofpital, of all forts of difeafes, crammed and 
 glutted with taftelefs fatiety ! and whether 
 is preferable, to be controuled by another, 
 and free from all difpute and wavering, and 
 from temptation ; or by one's felf, whole 
 granting or denial is often equally unealy 
 or pernicious ? If we want inclination or 
 tafte to enjoy our offered blifs, it is a load ; 
 if we have too much, a fnare, 
 
 Of a St. Francis wallowing in fnow, or a' 
 St. Jerome thumping himfelf nakecl in a 
 cave with ftone$, one faid, " if fuch Ihould 
 K be 
 
be miftak'en, they were finely bit" Perhaps 
 not. Who knows what fatisfadtion, what 
 tranfport they may feel in the aflured opi- 
 nion of a certain inwardnefs with God ! and 
 that they aVe laying out their (lock of 
 pleafure to more than Jewijh intereft ! For 
 there is no fort of virtue exercifcd by man- 
 kind fo far for virtue's fake only, that the 
 virtuous do not cxpeft, fome way or other, 
 to be ,the better for it , and whoever ab- 
 (tains from, and denies himfclf the enjoy, 
 ment of a prefent pleafure, does not this 
 becaufe he pretends never to enjoy any plea- 
 fure, but becauie he judges, that the con- 
 tinence he enjoins himfelf now, will be, 
 fome time after, amply recompenfed. And 
 this is underftood on both fides. 
 
 Such enthufiaftic felf-deniers generally 
 give themfelves credit with heaven for much 
 ' more .than they lent it ; imagining they 
 have facriliced much more than they really 
 have, in quitting the world. Like Cn. 
 LcntultiSi a man of a poor and barren ge- 
 nius, who owing all his vaft fortune to y/#- 
 guftuSy to whom he had brought nothing 
 but poverty, and nobility, which made that 
 poverty more grievous, yet ufed often to 
 
 com- 
 
C '3' ) 
 
 complain to him, that " he had allured 
 him from his ftudies, and that all he had 
 given him was nothing to what he had taken 
 from him, by making him abandon the 
 purfuit of eloquence." Yet, in truth, Au- 
 gttjtits had the additional merit with him, of 
 having faved him from a fruitlefs labour, 
 and the public derifion. Seneca^ Benef. II. 
 
 7- 
 
 \ But if we can make no judgment of our 
 own, furcly we can make none of another's 
 happincfs. We do not know, and we need 
 not ; if we had needed, we fiiould have 
 known. Our bufinefs is at home ; what have 
 we to do to compare ourfelves with others ? 
 Only, as for the oracle (if we may venture 
 to criticife Apollo^ as I believe we may now) 
 he went too far, in faying that jfglaiis 9 be- 
 ing the mod contented man, was, therefore, 
 the moft happy ; I believe one can only fay, 
 'with certainty, from thence, that he was 
 the lead unhappy ! 
 
 Seneca pafling by the fumptuous villa of 
 a man, famous for nothing but his rich 
 idlenefs, and, for this only, thought (by 
 the thovghtlcfs !) to have found out the 
 true fecret of living, and to be alone happy ; 
 K 2 (aid, 
 
fa5d, Htfe lies &wirj r<i//*. His fcU 
 ence f fays Seneca^ was how to fkulk, not 
 how-to live \ for there is a wide difference 
 between living an idle, flothful life, and a' 
 life of leifure; The vulgar think that man 
 wife and happy, -who, in fafe obfcurity, 
 lives contented, and for himfelf. Yet fuch, 
 often, flics bufinefs and men, becaufe he 
 is tired of enjoyment, or envy or diiappoint- 
 mcnt having baniflied him from fociety, 
 hiding himfelf like a fearful and fluggifh 
 animal, [lives, as Swift fays, a poifoned rat in x 
 a hole] or plugged in gluttony, luft, and 
 flecp. In fine, it does not immediately 
 follow, that he who lives for nobody clfc, 
 lives for himfclf." Stneca, Ep. 55. 
 
 Who then (hall make a judgment of other 
 men's happinefs ? only, in general, it feems 
 moft rational to fuppofe, that as we can 
 know the moft happy of all beings, and the 
 only truly and ever happy, no otherwifc 
 than by the cffcfts we furely fee, and fhare* 
 of perpetual and unbounded beneficence ; 
 fo thofc men mud approach the ncareft to 
 happintrfSj whofc divine qualities the ncareft 
 rcfcmble this glad attribute, in whofe moft 
 beloved and grateful .cffcds we live, and 
 
 move, 
 
t 133 ) 
 
 move, and !have our being ; and hence owe 
 to thofe in our power and dependence the 
 exerting of the like quality, which he hath " 
 furnifhed us all with the means of doing, 
 in our feveral fpheres, to the afliftance of 
 others, and fo procuring our own pureft 
 happinefs. This is fociai love, our beft 
 fclf-love, Charity! 
 
 Wbofs ways are nutty* 
 
 Of phafantntft) and all her folks arc peace. 
 
 III. 17, 
 
 Cato the cenfor a&cd not like thofe who 
 perform great exploits for glory, and not 
 for virtue \ who after they have obtained, 
 and gone through the firft dignities, arc 
 above all other fociai concerns, andpafs the 
 reft of their lives in floth and pleafure. 
 He, whofe fole view was the good of man- 
 kind, after having been conful and tri 
 umphed, did not difdain to fcrve his citi- 
 zens ; to plead the caufc of the oppreflcd \ 
 nnd to fight the battles of his country, 4 
 fimple tribune, under another conful the 
 very next year! with more true glory de- 
 grading himfclf, than he could be exalted 
 by others ! Plutarch in bis life, p. 437. 
 
 K 3 The 
 
'( '34 ) 
 
 . The great Scipio Africans did the fame; 
 after having destroyed Carthage, he went as 
 lieutenant to his brother, who was coniul, 
 againft jtntiocbus, king of Syria + and affifted 
 him to obtain the firname of 4/iaticus. 
 Florus, L. II. c. 8, 
 
 " He only truly lives," fays Sallufi, " and 
 may be faid, indeed, to enjoy his foul'; 
 who, ftill employing his faculties, endea- 
 vours to recommend himfelf by fome ufe- 
 ful aft ion, or noble art." Sell. Jugurth. in 
 init. This is otium cum dignitate* 
 
 *Tu dai ingenu&jus mihi plgrltitt* 
 
 Martial, Epig .XII. 4. 
 
 " Such was the bufy leifurc of the great 
 Diocleftan in a glorious retreat, which his 
 new and unheard of virtue had infpired to 
 him, who alone, of all the Roman empe- 
 rors, had voluntarily exchanged the pin- 
 nacle of human grandeur, for a private life ; 
 and, in return, he was alone the one exam- 
 pie of a private man, who on his death was 
 made a god." Prxclaro otiofcnuit. Entro* 
 y IX, ad fin. , 
 
 XXVI. 
 
t '35 ) 
 
 " -f *-j 7 j-*;.' .. ; v ^ . - \ .-*' . :? . f-"0< i*^''*/ *' 
 
 : - i.'-- . . 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 ' ,'.".' . ^ f * ." 
 
 i vj - **" * ? '. * <'' ' .,| 5- 
 
 Nothing impofes/o much at 'a grave andfolemn demeanour, 
 
 THE virtue of Portiuj, the fon 
 almoft appears fomething more ad- 
 mirable than that of his father. Thy both 
 difdained to furvive the enflaving of their 
 country : one killed himfelf when driven 
 from the laft retreat of Roman liberty ; the 
 other, in the honed endeavour to re-kindle 
 the hardly glowing embers, was killed on 
 heaps pf flain, at the battle of Pbilippi^ 
 againd Offavius and M. Antony. But the 
 fon was a man of pleafure ;* and virtue with 
 him v/as without ceremony, and truly ge- 
 
 I do not' find him reproached for any one vice* 
 but that, (like Sir John Faljlaff) " the devil would 
 have him about women." Plutarch fays, " that when 
 he was in Cnppadocia he lodged with Mapbradattit 
 a prince of the blood, whofe wife and Portius lived fo 
 well together, that it was faid, ' Portius arid Mapbra* 
 dates were fuch good friendi, they had but one bOUL 
 between them.' (The lady's name was PSYCHF, 
 which is sou i, in Creek.) Portltts and fhe weic better 
 friends, for there was no SOUL between them," Tbt 
 atljin* 
 
 K 4 nerous j 
 
ncrous ; it was in fomc fort the Stoic father's 
 bufinefs, 
 
 As once queen 'Elizabeth feeing one dance 
 finely, prailtd his (kill and judgment, and 
 enquired who he was ? when fhe was told 
 he was a dancing-mafter, flie turned away, 
 and faid, he was a pedant. 
 
 Yet I am far from underftanding Cato to 
 be one of Balzac's Fanfarons de virtu. \ his 
 great qualities and fincere worth defervc 
 all praife and rdpeft, 
 
 XXVII, 
 
 Jtafuam quifque fortunam I'M con/ilio baltt, cum Je *lit*A 
 deliberate 
 
 CURT. V. 5, 12, 
 
 IT is next to impoflible to get rid of our- 
 felves in our imagination. Self will 
 ftill intrude at all times, and all places ; 
 and however we have occafion to confider 
 other people's circumftances, ourfclves and 
 our concerns will be ever uppermofl:, and 
 infinuate infenfibly, till all becomes Self: 
 
 which 
 
( '37 ) 
 
 which is the perpetual fource of error m 
 our own judgments of the virtues ana vices, 
 the happinefs and miferics, of others. Nay,, 
 we often catch our imagination at hiixing 
 our living felves with our dead felves, and 
 feeling for our unfeeling coarfe ; as may be 
 . frequently obferved from criminals, who are 
 often more afraid of being cut up and man- 
 gled by the furgeons, than being hanged. 
 
 That was good fenfe of Diogenes, and 
 fine humour, who faid to thofe that afked 
 1 Jiim, " how he would be buried ?" " He 
 did not defire them to bury him at all, but 
 throw him out into the fields/' u That," 
 they told him, " was the way to be devou- 
 red by the birds and beads." " No," fays 
 he, " you may put a cudgel by my fide." 
 *' A cudgel ! how fhould you make ufe of 
 it, when you have no fenfe nor feeling ?*' 
 *< 'Tis there," faid he, " that I wanted you : 
 what need I to care what -is done with* me ? 
 yrhen I haye neither fenfe j\or feeling ?" . 
 
 When Buchanan was dying in a poor 
 lodging, they came up, and afked him 
 ** what money he had ?" He told them " he 
 
 had 
 
t -138 ) 
 
 had none>' " None!" fay they, " why 
 how. do you think to be buried ?" "He 
 lik to lig here," fays honeft Buchanan. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Mibi nemfe <va!cre 9 fcf vivert 
 
 SIMILIS, pnefcft of the Prttorian co- 
 horts, a man of great virtue and probi- 
 ty, having at length obtained his difmifllon, 
 lived the reft of his days, which were feven 
 years, retired in the country, and ordered 
 this infcription to be put on his momiment : 
 
 Here lies Simllis, who died at a great age, hav- 
 ing yet lived but feven years. In feceflu quam 
 infronte beatlor. Vol. Max. VII. 2. 
 
 As Strada fays of Charles V, " He died at 
 the age of fifty-eight years, of which he 
 lived two. Annorum ofJo f? quinquaginta^ ex 
 qmlus dues ipfe vixerat" Meaning thole he 
 had lived in the monaftery of St, Jujlus after 
 his abdication [In judgment of others we 
 commonly give them our own fentiments ! 
 Strada fpoke like a monk, as he was] tho* 
 
 it 
 
r 129 > 
 
 it feems he foon grew public-fpirited again, 
 repenting of his abdication the very day 5 
 .at' lead, " fo,his fon thought; for fome 
 years after, cardinal Granville, compliment- 
 ing Philip II. on the anniverfary of his fa- 
 'ther's abdication ; yes, fays Philip^ and of 
 his repentance of it. Strada B.Bdgic. L. I. pp. 
 9. fcf 13. And yet no man knew better than 
 Charles^ what plagues belonged to rbyal life ; 
 and he was ibmetimes fenfibie of it/ Faffing 
 once by a village of Arragon^ on Eqfttr-day 9 
 a perfon met him, who, according to the 
 cuftom of the country, was crowned Pafcal 
 'Jtingi and faid gravely, to him, " Sir, it is 
 I that am king." u Much good may do you ! 
 friend, (fays the emperor, as gravely) you 
 have chofen a troublcfome employment."- 
 D. Juan Vitrian^Wi Ph. de Com. c. 53. let. C. 
 
 That honelt gentleman * feems to have 
 been in earneft in his love of eafe, and pro- 
 bably had not the good fortune to enjoy it 
 much, who lies buried in one of our abbey 
 church- yards, under a fimple tomb altar- 
 wife, which (all covered over with 
 
 * Mr. Fellows : I think he lived fomewhere in Hun- 
 tin*donjkire> where he was chofen knight of the Ihire. 
 
 Ihrubsj 
 
'( '40 ) 
 
 flirubs, and weeds, and not to be got at 
 but by a little blind path, nor fcen but with 
 a torch) has no name or circumftance en- 
 graved, but only this one word, SNUG. 
 
 > < Lord Craven^ in the time of king 
 Charles the Second, was a conftant man at a 
 fire* for which purpofe he always had a 
 horfe ready faddled in the (table, and re. 
 warded the firft that gave him notice of fuch 
 an accident. It was a good-natured fancy, 
 and he did a great deal of fervice j but in 
 that reign every thing was turned to a joke. 
 The king being told of a terrible fire that 
 was broke out, afked, if lord Craven was 
 there yet ? c Oh !* fays fomebody by ; c an't 
 pleafe your majefty, he was there before it 
 began, waiting for it -, he has had two horfes 
 burnt under him already ." Rev. Mr. Haw* 
 
 ' 
 
 XXIX. Magn't 
 
t4i 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Itiagni animi ffl injuria$ Jefpicert. Ultionh contumfliofif- 
 Jimum genus efl, tion fffe <vifum dignum etc quo ptteretur 
 
 ultio. 
 
 -< uI Seneca de Iri, II. 32. 
 
 * c TNtemperate and paffioriate reproaches^' 
 
 JL although they are juft, yet afFeft 
 
 even thofe that make them with a certain 
 
 degree of ignominy ; and thofe fophi(ls who 
 
 called the philofopher Pbavorinus, in deri- 
 
 fion, a fophift, proved their aflertion, fays 
 
 PhiloftratuSj by bringing him down, thus 
 
 provoked, to quarrel and wrangle with. 
 
 * them." Philoftratus invitflPhavorini,^. 49 1, 
 
 Rheni mibi Cafar in undis 
 
 Dux erat % bic foetus ; f acinus quosinquinat aquat. 
 
 Lucan. V. 28. ' 
 
 The obfervation is curious, but juft ; 
 for we do indeed, in part, degrade our- 
 felves to their pitch, and, in part, raife them* 
 to ours, by making them confiderable, with 
 whom we thus condefcend, as it were, to 
 match ourfclves, to ufe the ancient Roman 
 
 term, 
 
% 
 
 term, for their pairs of gladiators. " Be- 
 coming, for the time, their like and fellow, 
 with whom we think fit to exchange ill 
 words or ill deeds/' See AuL Gellius VI. c. 
 n. yincere ing lorium^ atteri fordidum. lac* 
 yit. Agric. 9. 
 
 The duke of Marllorough riding out once 
 with commifiary Marrlotj near the commif- " 
 fary's houfe in the country, it began tp rain, 
 and the duke called for his cloak ; Marriot 
 having his put on by his fervant immedi- 
 ately. The duke's fervant not bringing the 
 cloak, he called for it again, but he was 
 ftill puzzling about the llraps and buckles ; 
 at laft, it raining now very hard, the duke 
 called again, and afked him " what he was 
 about, that he did not bring his cloak ?" 
 44 You mud day," grumbles the fellow,, 
 if it rains cats and dogs, 'till I can get 
 at it." The duke only turned to Marriot % 
 and fald, " I would not be of that^ fellow's 
 temper.' 1 * The duke of Marlborottgb did, 
 by nature and conftitution, what Seneca 
 judged, by philofophy, ought to be done. 
 Quid eft quare ego fcrvi inn bilarius rcfponfum^ 
 
 * This I had from counfcllor Harriot, his Ton. 
 
 &? contu- 
 
& contumaciorem vultum, fiagettis &? cmpcdilnti 
 Stnec. de.Ircl III. 24. 
 
 - 
 
 S) king of ynVf heard fome of 
 
 his foldiers making free "with his conduft. 
 He put by the curtain of his tent, and look- 
 ing out, faid, c Friends, go a little farther 
 off*; elfeyfo/ffflwwwill hear you." P/w/. ^ 
 
 People of this rank cannot affront prin- 
 ces, a;s there is no degree nor fort of com- 
 petition between them ; their words and, 
 adlions cannot affeft them, and if they do, 
 thclc degrade themfelves by fuffering them 
 to do fo. They are like the noxious va- 
 pour of the Lago de'Cani, at Pozzuoli, that 
 never rifes high enough to affeft a man 
 who ftands upright ; if he will Hoop to it, 
 it is his own fault. 
 
 " A ftranger that was at Rome, feeing 
 Caligula fitting in (late on his throne, drefled 
 like Jupiter^ and with that Good's infignia, 
 and perfonated attributes, receiving the ado- 
 ration of the fenate, and anfwering their 
 petitions, burft out a laughing ; which the 
 emperor noting, caufed the man to be 
 
 brought 
 
( 144 ) V 
 
 brought before him, and aflced him c what 
 he meant, and what he took him for ? f 
 The man anfwerecl at once, (probably 
 fmitten with religious zeal) that * he took 
 him for a miOdman.' The fellow, on en- 
 quiry, appeared to be a taylor, and the . 
 emperor let him alone.' 1 Xipbilin. in Cajo % 
 JL; LIX. p. 254. 
 
 <c Catherine of Mcdicis, (though (he was of 
 a country where they fay, Diett s'e/l refervee 
 la vengeance four foi* farceque ftft U morceau 
 friandj looking one evening from a ground 
 window, with the king of Navarre, they 
 heard fomc common foldiers, who ..were 
 roafting a goofe on a wooden fpit, fay all 
 , the vilenefs imaginable, and in the mpft 
 offenfivc terms, of the queen-mother ; the 
 king of Navarre was for going away imme- 
 diately, and ordering them to be hanged 
 up. * Well/ fays Catherine, calling out to ' 
 them,, ' and what has the queen-mother 
 done to you ? {he lets you go on, and roaft 
 your goofe!* And turning to the king, 
 laughed, and faid, * Let them alone, coufin f 
 thde poor devils are not our garrie." 
 jyAullg. Hijt. Univcrf. torn I. 1, 3. c. 5. 
 p. 198. 
 
 The 
 
s 
 
 The fame gfeatnefs of mind, and jiiflhcfs 
 of thinking, had Oliver Cromwell, but which 
 he cxprefied in a ruder manner, fit fof the 
 fubjedt, and for himfelf. 
 
 u A zealous officer of This came to him, 
 and told him he had fallen into bad com^ 
 pany, where he had had the mortification 
 to hear his highncfs fpoken of in a very 
 icandalous manner. * Oy, fays he, 4 man, 
 what did tliey lay ?' % I am afhamed, an't 
 pleafe your highnefs, to repeat it.' 4 Tell, 
 tell/ fays Oliver. c Why, an't pleafe your 
 highncfs; a rafcat had the impudence to fay 
 your highneft might ki/s his a->.* ' How, 
 how ! what was he for a man ?' Oh,' fays 
 the officer, * he was but a poor beggarly fel- 
 low.' c Oho !' fays the protedtor, * when 
 you fee him again, tell him be may kifs mine' 9 
 
 " Cardinal Richflietf, when an officious 
 informer came to tell his eminence of cer- 
 tain free exprefilons ^and very free ones 
 they were) that fome considerable perfons 
 he named had ufcd in fpealiing of liim, in 
 his hearing v * Why how now, you rafcal,* 
 fays he, * do you dare to come and call me 
 all thcfe names to my face, under pretence 
 of their having been faid by honeil gentle- 
 JU men, 
 
men, whom I know to have a due rcfpcft 
 for me? 1 and ringing his bell, faid to the 
 page in waiting, 4 kick that fellow down 
 flairs. % 
 
 It was an extraordinary, and almoft un- 
 hcaid of, piece of moderation in Auguflus 
 not only to pardon the hiftorian 
 ies his inveftives, that he had both 
 written and fpoken abundantly againft him- 
 fclf and all his family ; and, on his ftill 
 perfifting after repeated admonitions, only 
 forbidding him the palace ; but living in the 
 fame friendfhip with Pollto, and others who 
 received and honoured him ; for I think a 
 man can hardly have a very fincere friend- 
 fliip for another, when he cheriflies his de- 
 clared enemy. But then this moderation 
 gave a greater dignity to his perfon and 
 character, from this exalted quality of. his 
 mind (which was alone intrinfic) and a 
 greater and more juft fuperiority over the 
 reft of mankind, than his fublime fortunes. 
 See Seneca dt Ira L. III. c. 23. 
 
 For indeed, what was this, but, in a 
 manner, poflcfllng himfclf of an attribute 
 of the Gods, by placing his perfon thus out 
 
 of 
 
< 13* ) 
 
 of the reach of human infolcncc, or injury ? 
 And, if any thing could excite their envy 
 (which thefe times fo much apprehended) 
 I think fo divine a quality would do it. 
 {This was the peculiar and charafteriftic . 
 quality of Socrates.} Mlian. V. H. IX. 7. 
 
 *' Non place afommi Dfi, U haver ctmpagnl in terra | 
 
 " AV place lor> nclla <virtute ancora % Tanta ahfrezza." 
 
 Pajl. Fi<io. A. IV. Sc. 9. 
 
 How different that of our tyrant and 
 ufurper, Richard III, who hung a poor man 
 that kept the Crtnvn ale-houfe, for faying 
 " he would make his fon heir to the 
 Crown !" To (hew his daftard villainy was 
 afraid of fuch fcoundrcls ! 
 
 Yet this is only good where it comes 
 from a natural greatnefs of mind and fu- 
 periority of temper that fcorns to be aped. 
 For where it is forced and aftedted, it only 
 broils inwardly, and becomes the more 
 grievpus to the perfon, and often more dan- 
 gerous to the objeft. For a man as it were 
 incorporates his anger by concealing it; as 
 Diogenes told Demojlhenes^ who for fear of 
 Jus feeing him come out of a tavern, rc- 
 JL 2 tired 
 
( 13* ) 
 
 tired back ; " Oho, DemoJIbcnes^ the more 
 you retire, the more you enter in," Only 
 when the pccvifh failles are conflrained, 
 without colling too much, it is well worth 
 while for a man to endeavour to fettle him- 
 fclf by cuftom into a temper that may con* 
 ducc alike to his eafe and honour. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 LORD Eolhigbrokc told us (June it, 
 1742) that lord Oxford had often told 
 him, that he had fcen, and had in his hand, 
 an original letter that K. Charles I. wrote to 
 the queen, in anfwer to one of her's that 
 had been intercepted, and then forwarded 
 to him ; wherein fhe reproached him for 
 <c having made thofe villains too great con- 
 ceflions," (viz. that Cromwell fhould be 
 Jord lieutenant of Ireland for life without 
 account, that that kingdom fhould be in 
 the hands of the party, with an army there 
 kept, which fliould know no head but the 
 lieutenant; that Cromwell fliould have a 
 garter, &c.) that-in this letter of the king's, 
 
 o 
 
 it 
 
it was faid, " That Ihe fliould leave him to 
 manage, who was better informed of all 
 circumftances than (he could be ; but that 
 Ihe might be entirely eafy as to whatever 
 concefiions he Ihould make them, for that 
 he fhould know in due time how to deal 
 with the rogues, who, inftead of a filken 
 garter, fliould be fitted with an hempen 
 cord.'* So the letter ended ; which anfwer, 
 as they waited for, fo they intercepted ac-. 
 cordingly, and it determined his fate, This 
 letter lord Oxford laid he had offered 500!, 
 for. Lord Bollnglroke, lord Mfirchmont^ 
 
 #nd Mr. P *, all believed that the ftory 
 
 I had heard or read to this purppfe, (and 
 which occafioned lord Bolingbroke's telling 
 the above) had its origin no higher thai) 
 this ftpry of lord Oxjord, 
 
ft '34 ) 
 
 ,,: oV ; XXXI. 
 
 T 7ESPASIAN faid, " a prince ought to 
 V die (landing, and died as he was ma- 
 king an effort to rife and drcfs &" and Ha- 
 drian faid, that " a prince fliould die in 
 perfect health, and not languifh," (Stteton. 
 in *vit. c. i///.) Sanum principem tnori dcbcre^ 
 wn dcbiUm. " The great Condi could not 
 bear the thoughts of dying in his bed, and 
 was quite in a paflion that he fliould not 
 be killed in the field." Spartiau. in Mlio Vero+ 
 c. 6. I believe the cafe was, when it came 
 to the point, he was vexed that he was to 
 die at all ; as Sir Godfrey Kneller faid to Mr. 
 Pope, who was fitting by his bed-fide, and 
 feeing him fo impatient at the thoughts of 
 going, had told him " he had been a very 
 good man, and no doubt would go to a 
 much better place :" " Ah, my good friend 
 Mr. Pope, I wilh God would let me flay at 
 Wkitton" which was his country feat that he 
 was very fond of. He was not for making 
 the fame error as the gentleman in Miffou, 
 who died of taking phyfic ; and had put 
 
 on 
 
( 135- > 
 
 on his monument, Stavo ben, ma, per far 
 meglio,Jlo qu). Sir Godfrey was for keeping 
 well when he was fo : and fo are mod peo- 
 ple, I find, however affured of the other's 
 being better. 
 
 " Some German prince *, I think, Bran- 
 tome fays, when hewasjuft expiring, caufed 
 himfelf to be taken up, and placed at the 
 upper end of his hall, with all his arms on, 
 and accoutrements about him, with a trun- 
 cheon in his hand, and fo died." 
 
 I am not fure I have read this in Bran- 
 tome, or elfewhere , but Milton tells a like 
 ftory of Siward, earl of Northumberland, 
 (the fame who conquered and flew Macbeth, 
 the tyrant-king of Scotland, who died ac 
 Tork the year after) " reported by Hunting* 
 don, of a giant-like flature* and, by his 
 own demeanour at point of death manifefled, 
 of a rough and mere foldierly mind. For 
 much difdaining to die in bed by a difeafe, 
 not in the field fighting with his enemies ; 
 he caufed himfelf, completely armed, and 
 
 * This was the count de Buren. See Brantorng 
 Cafitaincs Ltr anger s^ torn I, p. 27$. 
 
 L 4 weaponed 
 
( 136 ) 
 
 veaponed with battle-axe and Ihield, to be 
 fee in a chair, to meet death in a martial 
 bravery." Milton llift. Eng. VI. p. 291. 
 
 There is another fort of courage required 
 for a man to die, deliberately, by degrees, 
 in cold blood, and al^ne, or furrounded 
 with the folemn apparatus of thofe that are 
 to " fee him out ," thinking, at leifure, of 
 * what he muft lofe, and what he may 
 find ; than fuch as is neceflary to make a 
 man pufh at all adventures, in a flutter of 
 fpirits, with high hopes to counterbalance 
 his fears, and accompanied by fifty or a 
 hundred thoufand, who do the fame that he 
 does. There is a great deal even in this : 
 you will fee a timorous girl, who will fuffer 
 herfelf to be blooded, or have a tooth 
 drawn, if fomebody elfc will undergo the 
 fame operation with her. 
 
 " The great Henry IV. of France, brave as 
 he was in the field, having been foretold by 
 an aftrologer, that 4 he fhouhj die in his 
 coach,' would fcream out at the leaft fhock, 
 as if he faw the grave open to fwallow him 
 Vp." Mezeraij Vie a la fin. Add alfo 
 
( '37 ) 
 
 frv-^ttf neighing feed, and tbt Jhrill trump, 
 
 ybefpirit ftitring drum, tb* ear-piercing ffe 9 
 
 The royal banner , and all quality, 
 
 f ride t pomf, ana cireuMjiattfe of gloriout war. 
 
 , Shakcfp. Otbelh, a# HI, 
 
 Perhaps no one ever died more truly 
 calm and unconcerned than Dr. Pellet^ a 
 good and worthy man, and beloved by all 
 men ! who, expefting every moment would 
 be his laft, fat himftlf in his eafy chair to 
 read Terence, 'till this moment came, and 
 died with the book in his hand. 
 
 If -any did, it was another phyfician, 
 Dr. Harvey, who waking one morning, 
 'called his fervant, and afkcd him, 4 what it 
 was o'clock,* and ' how long it would be 
 Before it was light ?' When his fervant told 
 him 4 it was broad day, 1 he only ordered 
 him to fetch a little vial on fuch a flielf, 
 and drank it off, and, lying down again, 
 went to reft, from which he was never to 
 rife. He found, what he had long appre- 
 hended, that he had loft his fight* and had 
 determined to have done with living when- 
 pver that happened. 
 
 XXXI. Matt 
 
XXXII. 
 
 JAam differ* more from man than man from btajl. 
 
 ROCHESTER. 
 
 IT fares with the mind often as with 
 the body, the firft aflaults of grief make 
 but little impreffion, to rebound often with 
 more violence , as tfye wounds of the body 
 are generally more filent at firft, the ruder 
 and more violent they are, but afterwards 
 ijiake themfelvcs the more feverely attended 
 to. Not always , for I knew an inftancc of 
 4< captain Borret^ a candid, worthy friend ! 
 [from himfelf] who at the battle of Ramil* 
 tcs loft his leg by a cannon ball, yet he was 
 fo little ftruck with the blow, that he won- 
 dered what made him fall down, nor ever 
 f felt the wound till % he was brought to his 
 tent to be dreflfcd, and then but very to- 
 lerably during the amputation, and all the 
 drefiings, nor ever after." Such are fome 
 conftitutions ! either an infenfibility, to a 
 great degree, in the fleili, or a prodigious 
 vigour to repell or bear pain. When the 
 mind ieels the firft attack ftrongly, it ge- 
 nerally 
 
( 139 ) 
 
 herally gets over it more eafily, if let alone,' 
 and not irritated with crude and importunate 
 comfort, to recover itfclf by its own weari- 
 nefs, and felf-fuggefted rcafon, and come 
 back to its true tone. 
 
 " When the Lacedemonians had news 
 brought of their defeat and final overthrow 
 at Leuftra, they were celebrating public 
 games, which the Epbori would not put a 
 Hop to, though they knew this calamity 
 ruined their affairs." Plutar. Ageftl. p. 357. 
 (V.) " King Charles I. did the fame, when 
 he had word brought him, while at prayers, 
 of the murder of the duke of Buckingham.** 
 Clarendon. And " La Ccrda y the hufband of 
 the famous Mary da la Ccrda r when he had 
 word brought him, that his caflle of Agul- 
 lar was taken by the royalifts, the confe- 
 quence of which he knew was his own 
 death, yet flayed without any apparent alte- 
 ration 'till mafs was over.** Mariana Hift.jf 
 Spain, XVI. 17. 
 
 How thefe behaved afterwards, I do not 
 know, and how they bore their misfortunes ; 
 but <c when Sir Thomas More went to be be- 
 headed, his favourite daughter, Roper, took 
 
 her 
 
her teavc of Jkim-whh great conftancy, and 
 bore up with a courage that would have 
 fecmed inlenfibility of fuch a lofs, if her 
 filial virtue had not been too well known to 
 her father and friends.* Yet the moment 
 fhe parted from him, (lie fell into fuch 
 transports of grief, that it was long doubt- 
 ful whether they fliould be able to keep 
 life in her." My father. Cur* Icves loqitup* 
 tor* ingentesjlupent. Sen. Hip. II. ?, 
 
 " Sophocles, who knew human nature fo 
 as to have feen, as one may fay, the paf- 
 fions behind the fcenes, hath wonderfully 
 reprefcnted this motion of the inward mind, 
 in Dejanira, who being told by Uyllus^ the 
 fon of Hercules^ in a moft aftedling dcfcrip- 
 tion, in what grievous and terrible manner 
 his father died, by means of the poifoncd 
 robe flic herfclf had fent him, (unknowing) 
 hears him throughout, filent and motion- 
 lefs ; and then, without anfwering a finglc 
 word, retires ;{- with the indignation and 
 
 Sec the flory of Raifcac in Montaigne 1.2, 
 
 t See a fine image of this inward collc&ed pafllon 
 ef Arijlomcncs in Paufautat Mcjjinic* C. 22. 
 
 curfes 
 
I; (. 141 ) 
 
 -. I "v 
 
 curfes of Hyttus, and all the afliftants, at her 
 calmnefs ; but foon after comes fuch a 
 fcene of her behaviour !" Sophocles Tracbi- 
 w<e from v. 759, Virgil has imitated it in 
 his exquifite defcriptipn of the death of 
 Dido, but very fhort of it furely ! 
 
 I am perfuaded men differ more fronxone 
 another than is generally thought, in their 
 fenfe both of bodily and mental pain ; in 
 one, from the mere conftrudtion of the 
 nerves and fibres, and mechanical frame of 
 the body itfclf; and the other from, who 
 knows what, or can conceive ? doubtlefs, a 
 great deal , and this too from that fame va- 
 riety of conftru&ion ! We more evidently 
 fee this in the powers of imagination,- judg. 
 ment, memory, &c. and fo of all other fa- 
 culties, which the more we confidcr and 
 compare, the more we fliall find to differ 
 between man and man ; and yet in our 
 judgments of the a6tions and pafllons,. en- 
 joyments and fufferings, virtues and vices of 
 others, we make no allowance for, nor the 
 lead attend to, this variety'. But this is 
 the lefs to be wondered at, .fince we fo lit- 
 tle do it even for the differences of cir- 
 
 cumftancc 
 
cumftance and accident, which much more 
 immediately fall under the cognizance of 
 our fenfes. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 JJtrat fortuna, ubi arltt <fef*iffent. 
 
 TACIT. H. V. 
 
 HUMAN prudence builds, at beft, 
 upon a quick-fand, in great and com- 
 plicated affairs efpecially, as it is necefli- 
 tated to proceed on a fuppofition that men 
 a6l confidently ; if they do not, in the 
 main, take this for granted, they build on 
 no foundation at all. 
 
 Don Carlos Coloma^ a great foldier arid 
 ftatefman, and a noble writer of the wars in 
 . Flanders for twelve years, in which he himfclf 
 was prefent, fays, " The ill fuccefs of the 
 Spanifi Armada was, in a great mcafure, 
 owing to the duke of Parma's not having 
 his tranfports ready for the forces he had 
 in Flanders^ occafioned by his judging, but 
 too rightly, of what ought to have been 
 the condudt of the admiral, duke of Me- 
 
 dina. 
 
( us ) 
 
 dhta, and the Spantjh fleet; who, certainty^' 
 fliould not have precipitated the execution 
 of fo weighty and hazardous an attempt^ 
 before he had fecured a port to retire to, in 
 cafe of accident ; and what he knew they 
 ought not to have done, he could not be- 
 lieve, though from the eye-witnefs of cap- 
 tain Morofmo, his own mefienger, that they 
 had done , that they fct fail from Lijbon. 
 We err often in the judgment we make of 
 others aftions, by not believing they will 
 do, or have done, what we judge to be 
 againfl their intereft. Prudence itfelf may 
 be mifchievous in unfortunate events, and 
 virtue, wljfcn unfucceisful, appears vice and 
 error." Coloma Gittrras de Flanders, L. L 
 fol. 6. 
 
 We doubly err ; firft in fuppofing that 
 we muft needs judge rightly of what is for 
 another's intereit, or that they themfclvcs 
 muft needs judge rightly of it; and, fe- 
 condly, in laying it down as a principle, 
 that we both fee things exaftly in the fame 
 light. Now this, we may be very fure, ne- 
 ver happens, entirely, for the moft part, 
 very widely different; which difference 
 arifes from that of the men's information, 
 
 . . their 
 
( 144 ) 
 
 their talents, and the things thetrifelvresj 
 < This is the (late of the queflion in all 
 the judgments we make of others, at the. 
 bed ; fo far precarious they mud be, be- 
 fides other circumftances that very often 
 come into the account. Yet we are not at 
 all lefs i'ecure of our judgments for that, nor* 
 a<St the Ids fecurely accordingly , whence* 
 wh^t wonder if manifold injultice to others* 
 and error in our own affairs ! " However," 
 lays Colomcij " time, and the duke's great 
 reputation afterwards, made this no more 
 
 thought of." 
 
 ' f \ - ' 
 
 On the other fide, rafh aftions have of< 
 ten fucceeded, bccaufe the enemy had a 
 better opinion of the prudence of their au* 
 thors, (judging, in like manner, by them- 
 felves) than they defer ved. 
 
 The duke of Monmoutl\ drinking . laid 
 one night at the fiege of Maejlricht^ where 
 he commanded, with feme other general- 
 officers, they took it into their heads to go 
 dire&ly, as they were, and ftorm the Devil's 
 Tcwerj a fort fo called, of the utmoft con- 
 fequence, as being the main ftrength of the 
 place, and thought almolt impregnable 1 
 
 1 but 
 
but that was hot a time to doubt of 
 felves in any thing j away they went, with 
 What attendance of their people they thought 
 fit to talce in a hurry* of that happened to * 
 be ready. However, having fome little way* . 
 to go, the duke bethought himfelfj and, 
 (lopping fhort, faid, c Look ye* gentlemen^ 
 we have undertaken an inconfiderate thing, 
 and we cannot do better than go back while 
 we are well ;' they cried, c he had brought 
 them out, and he fhould carry them 
 through, or they would run their fwords 
 into his body.' They came before the 
 place^ and began to make their attack, at 
 the fame time crying, 4 Military execution, 
 and no quarter!' The governor, finding 
 the general was there in perfon, made no 
 doubt but he muft be well attended, and 
 have a greater force with him than he was 
 aware of, and furrendered." So rafhnefs 
 had the effeft of ftratagem, put good fenfe 
 out of its play, and fairly jockeyed pru- 
 dence and right counfeL 
 
 Of the fame kind was the u adventure of 
 
 the InniJkilKng men, a famous headlong 
 
 party of . volunteers in duke Scboml>erg'& 
 
 army for king William, in Ireland. They 
 
 M wers 
 
(14* > . ; 
 
 were at that time before JV*wry, a fort of 
 vaft 'ftrength and importance, Thefe men 
 had been out on a fcour all the night, and at 
 jnorning, when the RevcilUz was beat, none 
 of them appeared ; at lafl, at two or three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, comes one,gallop-r 
 ing, and never flopped 'till at the general's 
 tent, and told him, they had met with the 
 French ; and (inftead of retiring, and only 
 giving an account of the enemy f s motions; 
 as they Ihould have done) had driven them 
 into JVrary, and had fummoned the garrifon 
 to furrender \ and he came to fetch more 
 force. Schomberg laughed out aloud ; but 
 prefently recollefting himfelf, confidered 
 fomcthing might be made, after all, of their 
 wrong-headednefs, and the French pannic, 
 fo fent, and at once took the fort, and all 
 within prisoners of war/'* 
 
 This recoil e<5tion of Scbomberg reminds 
 me of a ftory I have heard my father 
 tell (I do not know whence he had it) 
 of cardinal Richelieu; " There was a 
 faucy pulhing fellow, a decayed gentleman, 
 who would be ever putting himfelf in the 
 
 jv . . . Colo Frccke told this to my father. 
 
 cardinal** 
 
(" ' - 4 VI 
 
 147 ) 
 
 cardinals way, at his levee and other times 
 of public admittance, fo that he was quite 
 tired of the fight of him, notwithftanding 
 he had fhewn him all the flight pofllble ; fo, 
 at laft, lie ordered him never to be admit- 
 ted ; yet ftill he would meet and purfue his ' 
 coach ; the cardinal ordered his attendants 
 to drive him away, and keep him from his 
 fight. One day as his coach came out of the 
 Louvre, he faw him ftart from behind a pil- 
 lar, whofe pedeftal he had climbed, and 
 waited there. c JtfaS faid the cardinal, 
 c what impudence !' but recollecting, 4 this 
 fellow has a talent that may be ufeful, he 
 will go through,* fentfor him and employed 
 him. He ferved the cardinal ufefully, and 
 made his own fortune." " Thofe who con- 
 quer have always honour," fays Philip de 
 Comities > V, 9. Vi&oria rationem non addit. 
 Tacit. H. IV. Chi dura vince. 
 
 ,. XXXIV. Air 
 
143 ) 
 
 xxxiv. p 
 
 ' ' tftt lex efljuflior tilla 
 Quarn necit artifice* arte perirffuti* 
 
 A French gentleman told hie that a rela- 
 tion of his had died at Paris, and left 
 all his eftate from an only fon he had, then 
 abroad, to the Jefuits\ on condition that they 
 fhould give his fon " whatever they fhould 
 chufe, La partie qui leur plalroit" When 
 the fon came home, he went to the con- 
 vent, and they gave him a very fmall fhare 
 indeed. He was ruined, and confulted his 
 friends : All agreed there could be no help ; 
 at laft a counfcllor to whom he happened to 
 mention his cafe, bade him fuc the convent, 
 and that he woyld gain him his caufe ; which 
 he did, upon this plea : the teftator had left 
 his fon the (hare of his eftate which the 
 fathers fhould chufe : " La partie qui leur 
 plalroit" It is plain which they chofe, by 
 that which they had kept for themfelves. 
 A pretty fi&teoffaw-jtfujtifm this, by which 
 they were lurched at their own game ! 
 
 Much 
 
"Much fuch 'another equivoque was that 
 of " Charles V, when he left France, and 
 was reminded by a minifter who attended 
 him from Francis I. of the invefliture of 
 Milan^ which he had promifed for the 
 Dauphin. Jc veux ce que won frere le rot 
 veut. I like as ny brother the king likes ; and 
 forthwith inverted his fon, afterwards Phi* 
 lip II. of Spain, with that duchy." By the 
 way, they were for cheating one another of 
 what neither of them had any. right to. 
 
 xxxv, 
 
 Mi pater f avis oneret catenls 
 Mcmortm fepulcro fcalpe qnerclam. 
 
 HOR. ODE III* ii* 45. 
 
 / 
 
 TO what fmall and trivial accidents arc 
 owing oftentimes the greateft events ! 
 " A quarrel between a meflenger and his 
 wife, about a bridle that was out of the 
 way, narrowly favcd from defeating one of 
 the noblefl enterprifes of all ancient patri-, 
 ptifm ; Pelopidas's freeing his country from 
 her tyrants." Plutarch tells the ftory in his ' 
 life, .p. 184. (III.) TKe thoughtleflfnefs and 
 M 3 
 
want of caution of a flave in bringing home" 
 Pompefs robe, that had by fome chance got 
 blood upon it at the eledtion of an jEdile, 
 being feen on a fudden by Julia, the daugh- 
 ter of Cxfar, and wife of Pompy, (he took 
 fuch a fright that (he inftantly mifcarried, 
 and died ; and fo broke the union that kept 
 the world together ; which upon this fatal 
 breach fell into fierce perturbation, and ci- , 
 vil war. This probably had never hap- 
 pened, if fo wife a woman, and fo beloved 
 both by her father and hufband, had conti- 
 nued between them/ 1 * Plutarch^ Pompey, p. 
 
 493- <V.) 
 
 For the reft, one may venture to affirm 
 (hat this was a great and unaffefted inftance 
 of conjugal love, and could be owing to no 
 other motive, whereas that of Portia is am- 
 biguous. The daughter of Cato, and wife 
 of Brutus^ with ahead turned, as her's was, 
 withy?0iV enthufiafm, is very capable of a 
 lefs amiable interpretation, without want of 
 
 * See a like fatal inftance of conjugal love in the 
 wife of the marquefs dc Cenefe* governor of yalentia % 
 for the emperor Charles V. in 6'WoW/ life of thi$ 
 pmperor, L. 6, wr.fn, EngLf. 94. 
 
 charity 3 
 
charity; and may very well be one of thofe 
 numerous mftances of people's a not being 
 virtuous for the fake of virtue",- according. 
 to Rccbefaucault. See Maxim I. 
 
 There is fomething very fingular in the 
 tondudt of the *wife of Cavadcs, king of 
 Ptrfa, who was taken prifoner by his 
 fubjefts, depofed, and fhut up for life in 
 the caftle of Forget fulnefs, fo called for a 
 reafon that is evident, (as the dungeon of 
 the Baftile, and fome other prifons in France^ 
 are called the Oubliette.) " His wife was 
 very attentive and affiduous to ferve him ; 
 and, in the courfe of fo doing, the gover- 
 nor of the caftle fell in love with her. She 
 immediately told her hufband, who bade 
 her grant him all he afked. She did fo f 
 and by this means made her paflage to and 
 fro fo eafy, and herfclf, by fuch a proof of 
 her afFeftion for her lover, and difregard 
 for her hufband, fo entirely depended on, 
 that (he gained* an opportunity of faving the 
 king by changing cloaths with him, and 
 v flaying in his ftcad to fuffer all that cruelty 
 and revenge could fugged to a faflion that 
 was in theutmoft danger of ruiri and deftruc- 
 M 4 tivc 
 
) 
 
 rive chaftifement by their king's efcape. 
 ?j, in the firft book, of Pfrfian 
 
 
 It is plain, I think, that in both cafes 
 fhc equally devoted herfclf for her hulband, 
 ;is the Ltecii did for their country \ and one 
 cannot doubt, bur that, conlldpring the ufe 
 fhe made of her firft adtion, in acquielcing 
 to his commands, which was' the laving of 
 her hufband, by the deftrudlion of her lo- 
 ver , fo fhe really made him in that a grea r 
 ter facrifice than in the laft; abandoning 
 that chaftity for his fake, which, for his 
 .fake, muft evidently have been, from the 
 pvcnt, fo dear to her. O charming crime ! 
 O fplendid adultery J O glorious profti- 
 tution ! 
 
 What ftill enhances the 
 queen f is that the rebellion of his fubjcdts, 
 and all hi^ n)Ufortuncs ? were owing to a 
 crime, that was more a crime in him with 
 rcfpcft to her, than to the generality ; whicfy 
 was his attempting to make all women 
 common throughout hi$ kingdom, 
 
 Biana of Poitiers, dutchefs of 
 is faid to have made a like facrifice, to fave 
 
 her 
 
( 153 ) 
 
 her father's life, whom Francis I. of France,'. 
 had condemned p death, for confpiring 
 with the conftable of Bourbon againft him. 
 
 The fine ftory St. duftin tells, in his 
 * c difcourfe on the fermon on the Mount" 
 of " a man whom Acindynu^ governor of 
 rfntioch, imprifoned for not having paid 
 his tax, threatening, moreover, death, if he 
 did not find the money at a certain time," , 
 is much of this kind : " His wife, who 
 was extremely beautiful, was follicited by. 
 a very rich man, who promifed her the fum 
 for one night with her. This woman, in- 
 ftrufted by fcripture, (fays St. Auftin) that 
 her body was not her own, but her huf- 
 band's, informed the prifoner of the offer 
 that had been made her ; faying, at the 
 fame time, that (he was ready to confent, 
 provided he ordered it, who was the only 
 lawful poflcflbr of her chaftity. He thanked 
 her, and ordered her to comply j flic did 
 fo, and received her money; as had been 
 promifed, but was bafcly defrauded of it, 
 before flie got out of his houfe ; for, when 
 flie came home, flie found that, inltead of 
 the gold flie had told, they had changed the 
 
 purfe upon her, and given her one that 
 
 i 
 had 
 
had nothing but fome earth in it. Thd 
 good woman went diredlly to the governor, 
 and told the whole matter. The governor 
 was fo ingenuous as to declare, that he was 
 the only one who was guilty of the adul- 
 tery, by the rigour he had ufed to forc 
 an honed nun to fuch extremes, con- 
 demned himfelf to pay the emperor's tax, 
 and adjudged to the injured woman that 
 eftate of the rich man, out of which the 
 earth was taken which had been put jnto 
 her purfe for the gold.". See alfo Jiayb 
 dclndynus (Sept.) 
 
 \ 
 
 The good St. Aujlin by no means blames 
 this adtion, but rather feems to think it 
 
 may be righteous. Quanqttam nonnull* 
 
 cauf* pojfint exiftere^ ubi &? uxorj mariti con- 
 fcnfu, pro ipfo marito hoc facere debere videa- 
 tur. This is, however, doing evil, that 
 good may come of it. 
 
 Befides, in fo brilliant a virtue, there fecms 
 to be a flaw *, fmcc it can never be put in 
 
 The (lory of the lady that Oliver, the barber df 
 , Lewis XI. defrauded of her honour, under pretence 
 of faving her hufband, has not this flaw. See Prcuvcs 
 on Phil* de Com. torn V. p. 55, 
 
 execution 
 
r 
 
 execution but with fomc impropriety ; for 
 a hufband who could make fuch a ufe of a 
 wife's affe&ion and conftancy, can by no 
 means deferve it. What a poltroon was 
 /idmetus to faffer-dlccflcs to die in his Head ! 
 yet he had not put her upon proftituting 
 herfelf to fave his life. So far as the great 
 and brave Mary Reigerjbergen^ the wife of 
 the famous Grotius, did, was in every view 
 fenfible and praife- worthy , fincc (he neither 
 abandoned her honour .for a man who 
 would not have deferved it, even' by ma- 
 king the requcft ; nor hazarded her life at 
 his defire for his own, but at moft was to 
 remain for life in the caftle of Louveflein % 
 herfelf ufclefs to the commonwealth, for a \ 
 man who was eflentially necefiary to his and 
 her country, and whole conjugal worth de- 
 ferved every return from her. Du Manner 
 de Hollande, p. 404. 
 
 Valerius Maxintus mentions u certain wives 
 who came as to take their lad leave of their 
 hufbands, brave men, who were to be exe- 
 cuted that night in prifon for rebellion, and 
 chainging cloaths with them, thus favoured 
 their efcape, which they the more eafily 
 eftefted, by covering their heads with a 
 
 veil, 
 
'C 
 
 vcil f as was the cuftom in excefllve grief v * 
 and, thus remaining, were all executed for 
 their hiifbands. What," adds Valerius 
 Maximus, " can one fay of thefe but that 
 they were worthy to be the wives of fuch 
 men !" He might ftill have added, " But 
 were fuch men worthy to be the hufbands 
 of fuch women ? fl 
 
 But it may be faid, they could not have 
 imagined they would have fuffcred; and, 
 indeed, thefe were very unlucky ; for the 
 wife of GrotiuS) who did the fame, came to 
 
 jio harm, . , 
 
 " 1 do not know which behaved moft 
 nobly, the hufband or the wife, a count 
 and countefs, in the court of Otho III. (cal- 
 led Carrots and the World's Wonder ; a good 
 jumble of epithets !) emperor of Germany , 
 in the tenth century. The emprefs, Mary 
 of Arragon^ fell in love with the fount, a 
 young and handfome nobleman, who with- 
 flood her follicitations ; at which fhe was fo 
 enraged, that (the old way) fhe accufed 
 him to the emperor of attempting on her 
 what fhe had attempted on him. Otho (ac- 
 cording to cuftom in thefe cafes) believed 
 
 all; 
 
C '57 ) 
 
 all ; and, without hearing him, (or rather 
 he himfelf refilling to plead his innocence, 
 in order to fave the honour of the emprefs,' 
 as fome fay) ordered him to be beheaded. 
 Vet he allured his countefs, as he was, 
 ft retching out his neck to the executioner, 
 that he was innocent, and withal told her 
 the whole truth. She went ftrait to the 
 emperor, who was hearing caufes in public, 
 as was the way of thofe times, in the open 
 plain of Placentia, and aloud called for 
 4 juftice on the murderer of her hufband/ 
 Qtbo was drawn in ; he promifed it in the 
 face of the world , when fhe, taking her 
 hufband's head from a fervant who brought 
 it concealed, held it up, and cried, 4 it isr 
 you yourfelf who have murdered the 
 good count my hufband, by rafhly taking 
 the word of an infamous wife , and, proving 
 it to his fatisfadtion and that of all pre- 
 fent, boldly dernanded his own head, ac- 
 cording to his folemn and public promife. 
 The emperor confefled the guilt and for- 
 feit, but demurred as to the payment; at 
 length, after many and long contefts, 
 the countefs contented herfelf with the 
 death of the emprefs, whom the emperor 
 generoufly gave her up, (hufband or wife, it 
 
 was 
 
( 15* ) 
 
 was the fame thing to juftice) and to make 
 her fome amends for the lofs of her hufband, 
 Ordered his emprefs, inftead of being only- 
 beheaded, to be burnt alive. This was ex- 
 ecuted at Modena^ a'nn. 998." Maimlourg 
 Hi/}, dt la Decadence del* Empire. See alfo 
 Moreri art. Marie f Arragon. 
 
 XXXVJ. 
 
 Li Jtjlv 4* merittr Ut louangts JU'OM noui donnt fortif* 
 % notn virtue. 
 
 RoCfflPAUCAULT. 
 
 * rr^HE very defire of a good name is 
 JL a genuine child of virtue," fays 
 Gracian\ and Cato, the cenfor, faid, that 
 '* no one would be virtuous, if glory was 
 once feparated from virtue." 
 
 The carl of Dorfet coming to court 
 one queen Elizabeth's birth-day, the king 
 (Charles II,) afked him, c what the bells 
 rung for ?' which having anfwercd, the king 
 farther aflccd him, c how it came to pafs, 
 that her holiday was ftill kept, whilft thofe 
 of his father and grand-father were no more 
 
 thought 
 
t '59 ) 
 
 thought of thai\ William the Conqueror's ? 
 4 Becaufe,' faid the frank peer to the frank 
 king, * fhe, being a woman, chofe men for 
 her counfellors ; and men^ when they reign, 
 ufually chufe women/' What a fevere far- 
 cafm on the lewd king himfelf ! whofe fa* 
 ther, though otherwile a virtuous prince, 
 was governed by an imperious and bi- 
 gotted French- woman of a wife j and his 
 grandfather, though he had no miftrefles, 
 had little matters who governed him, and 
 them he chofe for no other merit but being 
 as like women as men could be J 
 
 It was " a repartee of this fort that All 
 made to fome of his turbulent officers, who 
 afked him, 4 how it happened that the reigns 
 of his predeceffors, Abubccr and Omar, were 
 fo calm and peaceable, and his immediate 
 predeceflbr, Oilman's, and his own, fo full 
 of troubles and divifions ?' ' The reafon,*, 
 ^nfwered the good Galipb, ' is plain : Qtb* 
 man and I ferved Abubeer and Omar ; Otb* 
 wan was ferved, and I am ferved, by you 
 your fellows," OcMey 9 Hiftory of the Sa* 
 t V. II. p. 85. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
166 J 
 
 ^; I;;;';', xxxvii, 
 
 >V ? t-'j;;.' /;1 Pis inertia-! 
 
 Sffravit magna laudi fen. 
 
 Hot. SAT. II. 3. 9$. 
 
 Is no one fo low and con- 
 JL temptible, but who (by the courtefy 
 of felf-love) finds fomc one ftill more lo\y 
 for him to triumph over, or to triumpfl 
 over him, for it is all one. 
 
 " The duke of Montagu and Jack Spencef 
 knocked one night at the next door (in St. 
 Afizr/;Vs lane) to Dr. Mifaubin's (a (landing 
 butt of this kind of wit, and of this kind of 
 wits) and the maid opening, defired to come 
 in, and at the fame time puflied forward * 
 nobody happening to be at home, Ihe was 
 frightened out of her fenfcs, but they af- 
 fured her, that they only \vanted to go into 
 the garden to look over Mifaubin's wall ; in 
 the mean time fhe oblerved the ftar. Pre- 
 fently afterwards one of their -footmen came 
 
 with 
 
C 
 
 With a couple of great earthen pots they had 
 fent him to buy, with which they them^ 
 felves emptied the houfe of office, and flung 
 it over the wall on a feat in the Dn's garden, 
 on which he ufed frequently to fit and read : 
 Their fcheme w^s. that he Ihould come and 
 fit down there as ufual ; he fmelt the joke, 
 and never came there, and. they had their* 
 trouble for their pains." The idle buftle 
 of poor human creatures! but thefe were 
 the choice fpirits, the very fait and feafon- 
 ing of the times. 
 
 
 
 What a. compliment thefe great people 
 made the dofitor, whom they were playing 
 upon in the mere . infolencc of their fupe* 
 riority of quality and fortune,, to fuppofe, 
 as a firft principle, that the chance of Jlink- 
 ing him was worth the realjlinking tbemfehes ! 
 Thefe ingenious men did this, becaufe he 
 was a very wrong-headed fellow. Uter eft 
 infanior horwn. ? 
 
 N XXXVIIL Falfut 
 
XXXVJII,; .1..- 
 
 Falfus bettor j*vat 9 ' '$ 
 
 Ho*. 
 
 Mtdio Jefontt lefrrum 
 Surgit amafi *///*/, f W /* ifjtr for tint angat. 
 
 Luc RET. IV. 1127. 
 
 c . c Qi OME young gentlemen of Claz&mcne, 
 O (Bucks ^ as we fhould call them now) 
 coming to Sparta^ took it into their heads 
 for a frolic, to fmear the fquare ftones 
 that the Epbori fat on, with greafc and foot, 
 which had the effefl that thofe people of 
 bodily wit and humour dcfired, and fmut* 
 ted the robes of thefe magiftratcs -, the thing 
 was enquired into, and the authors detected ; 
 on which this grave and wife nation treated 
 them as the nature of their fault deferred, 
 without condefcending to make a ferious af- 
 fair of it ; and ordered the public herald to 
 proclaim, that c the Spartans gave the Clazo- 
 yicnians leave to play the fool when, and 
 liow t they thought fit." Plut. 
 
 Perhaps 
 
Perhaps our 'fianddlum* tuagnatim may bt 
 fomething of a like fort of courtefy of the 
 public, in refpcft of a noble order. 
 
 " i ;' v ' ' '.-. . . ?v||l 
 
 As there may be, and often are, fome 
 circumftances, in the goods of fortune, and 
 even the abundance itfelf, that are incon- 
 venient, nay pernicious ; fo, in regard to 
 the point of honour, there are certain pri* 
 vileges that degrade, and others which 
 are only marks of fubje&ion, and a Ibrt 
 of annual, or other periodical conceflion. 
 of another's fuperiority, and but a plau- 
 fible renewal of homage. Such were in 
 ancient times the Saturnalian feafts; a 
 yearly vacation to mirth and jollity, like 
 Our Chriftmas, and at the fame feafon, 
 to divert cold and darknefs; where they 
 had feveral of our cuftoms, and, amongft 
 the others, that of chufmg a mock king of 
 the revels. In this feftival the mafters 
 waited at table on their flaves. " There 
 was one certain day every year, in which, on 
 occafion of an extraordinary exploit the fex 
 had performed in an imminent danger of 
 their country, the women of drgos wore the 
 N 9 breeches; 
 
J 
 
 - thofc.M* they/ dfceflfcd themielves 
 in men's cloaths,, and the hlen were obliged 
 to drcfs themf^ly^ iajtheirs.'/' [-P/*/. Virtue* 
 ef Women) Ex. 4.] which law,, doubtlcfs, 
 muft have occafioned infinite diverfion, on 
 this burlefque holiday^ and would now 
 make a very fruitful fubjeft for a mafic or 
 entertainment. I fuppofe thofe drgives had 
 an odd turn to whfm ; for they had another 
 law, " that the bride fliould always go to 
 bed to her hufband, the firft night, with a 
 beard on." PIxt. ib. It would be curious tt> 
 
 know die occafion of this droll cuftom ? 
 
 , * 
 
 If this was a prerogative that thefe Ar* 
 give ladies aflerted as a mark of their fupe 
 riority for the time, they fecm to have con* 
 fulted very ill for themfelvc3, on fo critH 
 cal an occafion. " An ancient painter waar 
 defired to paint a fubje6l,that was left to him- 
 fclf to chufe, only that it Ihould have no- 
 thing that could excite lewd ideas, to which 
 he had naturally a great propenfity ; fo he 
 drew a moft lovely woman naked, and in 
 the moft luxurious attitude, but with a* 
 beard on." 
 
 For 
 
j >Fof ; 
 
 4eem to have [beten /like the ''Sitiiians) a fbi* 
 of G0/&r ^7ri?/^ beinig never 'famous for 
 any of thofe fine qualities of N the mind for 
 which we admire that nation-, *but f inftead, 
 3iad thofe fort of merry conceits that : our 
 airceftors have left us feveral quaint Yamples 
 
 bf, and made good Pope** observation, t&3t 
 
 , ^ < r ' * / 
 
 Gentle du!nf/j wer low -a joke. . ^, , ' v P 
 
 Dunciad* 
 
 Sed fg> tnjtyletitfor quam till ipfi qut ifta 
 v f quid? xi contra iffot tarn diu dlfpuUm* 
 
 Cic.de Diy^.IL 
 
 NSWER not a fool according to 
 his folly, left thou alfo be like 
 iinto him/* fays Wifim itfelf. A man 
 who difputes with one who is incapable 
 of reafoning, or on a, fubjeft which, in 
 its nature, admits not of reafoni-ng, puts 
 himfclf upon a level with him; as 4C the 
 viftor ,at the Olympic games, who, being 
 Accidentally kicked by an afs, kicked 
 him again, on which the judges who had 
 juft allotted him the crown, took ii away 
 from him -again. Mlian^ 11. V* 
 
 NS Diogenes, 
 
jt 
 
 v* Diogtnts, I. think it was, "feeing- two ea* 
 
 gcrly difputing on a trifling fubjcft, and 
 that neither, of them knew any thing of f 
 faid, "one of thofc fe)lows is milking a 
 he-goat, and the other is holding the pail." 
 Moft of the great contrpverfics on religious 
 fubjefts, both thofe which have happily 
 gone no farther than idle wrangling, and 
 thofe truly falfe ones, that have engaged 
 whole nations in the rood furious and inhiir 
 man animofities, and drenched the world in 
 blood, have been altogether of this kind, 
 in which neither fide underftood, or ever 
 could undcrftand, any thing of the matter ; 
 and have been merely one fliop contending 
 with another for cuftom : both fides agree- 
 ing in this only j to fubftitute fomething 
 clfe, I know not >vhat, nor they neither, in 
 the room of morality, and the focial virtues ; 
 which bring the trade nothing ; but, on the 
 contrary, it fubfifts on the compounding for 
 the want of them, and whofe credit and in? 
 terefts are always fure to fink, in juft pro- 
 portion as the others rife. And how can it 
 be otherwife, when we bwild on falfe princi, 
 pies ? " Can we ferye God and Mammon ?" 
 
 Mr, 
 
Mr. Pope, who loved to talk of fltcm} 
 (one who ufed tp be of the party with him, 
 Gay, Swiff, Or eggs, and Addifon, and that 
 fet, in his youth) told us, that Gay went to 
 fee him as he was dying, and afked him, 
 . *Mf he would have a prieft ?" (for he was 
 a papifb) " No," faid he, * what ftiould I 
 do with them ? But I.would rather have 
 one of them, than one of yours, of the two. 
 Our fools, 1 ' continued he, " write great 
 books to prove that Bread is God; but 
 your booby (he meant Tillotfon,) has wrote 
 a Jong argument to prove thap Bread i$ 
 Bread: 9 
 
 " As George Vtlllers, duke of Buckingham^ 
 was dying, which he did at an inn, the 
 duke of Queen/bury, going down to Scotland, 
 heard of it when he was within a few miles 
 of the place, and went to make him a vifit. 
 Seeing him in this condition, he afked hinn 
 * if he would not have a clergyman ?' f I look 
 upon them,' faid the duke, * to be a parcel 
 of very filly fellows, who don't trouble them- 
 felves about what they teach/ So Queenjbury 
 afked him, * if he would have his chap- 
 lain ?' for he was a difienter. - c No,' fays 
 Bucks, ' thofe fellows always made me fick 
 N 4 with 
 
vrith'thdr whine ^ind caht/ // ThcUukc T of 
 Siyeenjlury^ taking it for granted he muft 
 be of fome religion or other, then fuppofed 
 undoubtedly it jnuft be the catholic, and 
 told him, 4 there was a ;popifh lord in the 
 neighbourhood,' named him, and afked, 
 4 if he fhould not fend for his prieft ?' 
 * No,' fays he, ' thofe rafcals eat God , but 
 if you know of any fct of fellows that eat 
 the devil, I Ihould be obliged to you if you 
 would fend for one of them." Dr. Twcrcd 
 itobinfon. All of a piece ! fo ended 
 
 That life off/tfi/urt, and that foul of <wbim. 
 
 Pofe> Ef. Ill, 306; 
 
 Which reminds me of another ftory I 
 heard profeflbr Halley tell Mr. Trenchant, 
 at the Grecian coffee- houfe, when I ,was a, 
 boy, of c * a proteflant gentleman,, who, 
 being in company with feveral zealous 
 ./?0wjH-catholic$, and quite tired with their 
 faints miracles, and other fluff they had 
 got upon, was fallen fafl afleep , when one 
 of them, giving an account < how Chrijt 
 came in at a window, where fome of their 
 people were at mafs, in the form of a clove, 
 and was feen apparently to flutter about the 
 room for fome time, and then flew out 
 
 aeain 
 
 * 
 
C 
 
 the ' dozing proteftant, mailing 
 his .'head, faid, 4 he knew what 'he 'did.* 
 
 * What do you mean by that, fir ?' faid they* 
 
 * Becaufe he knew, if he had flayed, they 
 would have eaten him." 
 
 Mankind have, at all times, and in all 
 places, as it were, (hewn away in this affair 
 of religion. Here they have been pompous 
 in their talent of nonfenfe, and made a pa- 
 rade of their whole powers of folly. This 
 has been their weak fide, but ftill boafted 
 with ftate and fplendor, as generally all 
 weak fides are. This is their one point of fo 
 far the greateft importance, that.it is, in- 
 deed, in cbmparifon of all others, of the 
 only importance; the reft being merely 
 temporary, this eternal ! The others but as 
 the clouds that pafs without the -leaft foot- 
 fteps remaining; and this the firmament it* 
 fclf, built upon its everlafting pillars ! Yet, 
 in all the reft, they are curious and inqui- 
 fitivc. This they are ever ready to take 
 on truft, at the firft word, from every one 
 who will but give themfelves the trouble to 
 deceive them. Cautious in this only, not 
 to believe them dire&ly from themfelves in 
 
 the 
 
the thing itfelf f but they will honeftly tak 
 their own words, however interefted, that 
 what they tell them is from heaven. 
 
 XL; 
 
 V'faflall faldt <wltn Mori A/agree t 
 
 Pope, EfTay on Mm. 
 
 it tfl. Hor. 
 
 ' ^TICOLA CALAVRESE, an ItaTian 
 JL\ painter and architeft, confiderable 
 in his profcfllon, and a worthy man, had 
 married a young lady of jlfcoli^ where ho 
 always dwelt, of great beauty, with whom 
 he lived in extreme concord and happinefs , 
 but troubles rifing in that city, (which was 
 fplit into parties in the time of pope Paul 
 III) he was forced to fly, and his beloved 
 wife with him. They were purfued by 
 their enemies, who, it appeared, were more 
 fo for love of- her, than any confideration 
 of party ; which when (he perceived, and 
 there fecmed no likelihood of efcaping, fhe 
 took a generous, resolution, (perhaps more 
 generous than Lucrctia's after-game, which 
 
 was 
 
( '7* > 
 
 rather like Shutting the ftable 
 after the fteed was ftolen.) . This beautiful 
 Creature, finding the play was for her ho- 
 nour, and her hulband's life, confulted 
 both, by throwing herfelf headlong from a 
 #eep bank into a river that was in their 
 way, and would have ftppped them till the 
 perfecutor came up, and was there drown- 
 ed, to the endlefs regret of her hulband, 
 who lived the reft of his days in forrow, 
 and the difappointment of her ruffian, who 
 no longer troubled himfelf with the purfuit, 
 but returned with his followers." Sandraart 
 ) p. 133, 4. VafariyVit.diM.Calavreft 
 
 For the reft, however, as to Lucretla and 
 this modern vi&im of conjugal chaftity, 
 the degree of their merit is perhaps the 
 fame, the kind is very different. This fa- 
 crificed her life to her chaftity; that, her 
 chaftity to her fame. She could have fa- 
 yed her honour, if, with her life, Ihe had 
 given up her reputation ; but then the vir- 
 tuous wife of Afcoli was not reduced to the 
 horrid dilemma of Lucretla \ fo that one 
 went down a pure viftim to virtue alone ; 
 the other a polluted one to calumny , like 
 
 the 
 
( '7* V 
 
 the children of the 4mritu 9 ' through fire 
 and fmoke, to Molocb. 
 
 ;]: .tity tells the following ftory of a barba* 
 rian woman, whofe virtue had no draw- 
 back, and .was another Judith^ fo far as 
 t depended on her. 
 
 " When the conful Gn. Manlius made war 
 3gairtft the pofterity of thofe Gauls who had 
 invaded Greece under Brennus^ Chiomara, the 
 wife of Ortiagon, king of the Ttftofag*, a 
 
 i beautiful young princefs, was taken pri- 
 foner. The officer into whofe care Ihe, 
 with other captives, was committed, fought, 
 by all arts, to corrupt her virtue ; but 
 not being able to fucceed, he forced her \ 
 and then, to pacify her, propofed to give 
 her her liberty, for a certain liim of money 
 (he was privately to obtain of her hufband, 
 who was to fend the fum ftipulated by two 
 perlons . only, to prevent fufpicion, and 
 he himfelf was to meet them at a place ap- 
 pointed to deliver her up. All this was 
 performed accordingly ; but as he was ta- 
 king his leave of her, {he had given them a 
 private intimation to murder him, wh : ch 
 
 , they did j and cutting off his head, gave 
 
 it 
 
it to her; who; wrapping itrin.lidr robe; 
 carried it tocher hufband ; and, prefenting it 
 to him, faid, 4 that there was now no man 
 living but himfelf who had pofieffed her * 
 perfon." Livy 38, 24, Plutarch fays,, that 
 44 Polybiits, a long time after this, converted 
 with her at Sardis,. and. found her fenfe and 
 behaviour entirely anfwerable to her virtue.*" 
 
 c< There is a place in Spain, in the king- 
 dom of Granada, which has its name from an 
 occafion like that of the beautiful and virtu- 
 ous wife of Afcoli. The king of Granada, in 
 his wars with the Cbriftians, had taken, among 
 other prifoners, a young gentleman of fa 
 amiable an air and behaviour, and fuch en- 
 tertaining wit, that he not only gave him 
 his liberty, but made a friend and compa* 
 nion of him ; but the confequnce of thrs 
 was, that an accident happened which was 
 very natural. The king's daughter fell if* 
 love with him, agreed to be baptized, an^l 
 married him at the firft Cbriftian place of 
 fecurity they fhould come to, and went off 
 with him. But they were purfued, and over- '< 
 taken ; on which, wrapping themfelves in 
 
 * See the fame ftory told by Plutarch, 7irtue$ of Wo? 
 men t ex. 22. 
 
 one 
 

 
 one another's arms, they flung themfelvei 
 down together from a precipice, and, at 
 leaft> died together. The place is ftill caU 
 led Penna de los EnamoraJos, the Lovers 
 Rock) and a crofs fet on the vefy fpot 
 on which they laft flood." Udal ap Rhyi 
 3*our through Spain and Portugal, p. 164, 
 
 XLI. 
 
 Kitimur In iHtltum ftmptr cupimufque ttegata. 
 
 OVID; 
 
 Fix cndert poffit 
 
 i nonft ami c us. 
 
 HOR.SAT,I.II, 19. 
 
 <f T7 RANCIS Ia of France oncc 
 
 JL fate a good while in a thoughtful 
 pofture, with his elbow on the table, and 
 leaning his head on his wrift, fomebody 
 afked what it was made his majefty fo pen- 
 Jive ? He took no notice for fome time, 
 but at laft, ftarting up, he cried, * We kings 
 are a parcel of rafcals/ and fo walked off.'* 
 
 " The 
 
( '75 ) 
 
 ., The kings of Arem in the EajMndie* 
 feem to be of. the fame mind ; for as, a<* 
 cording to Tavernier, thefe idolaters are per- 
 fuaded, that, after their death here, they 
 {hall revive in another world, where the 
 good lhall enjoy all forts of blifs, without 
 any care of their own, from the mere free 
 bounty of God, who will provide all things 
 for their pleafure, in recompence of their 
 well-fpent lives ; but that the bad fhall fuf- 
 fer great wants and miferies ; which fhall 
 however be, in fome meafure, relieved by 
 what they can get to carry out of this world 
 with them ; in confequence of this dodtrine, 1 
 the great bufmefs of their lives is, to build 
 themfelves large chapels in their royal pa-' 
 god, and therein a monument ; all which; 
 and great cellars underground, they are per- 
 petually cramming with gold and filver, and 
 all forts of fine houfhold furniture, with 
 thofe gold and filver idols, that they had 
 had the moft veneration for in their lives, 
 befides an elephant, twelve camels, fix hor-> 
 fes, and a pack of hounds, that are buried 
 alive at their funeral, for the fame purpofe." 
 -Not to mention the friends and miftreflcs 
 they had been particularly fond of, who 
 were obliged to poifon themfelves, that they 
 
 migh t 
 
? g<V and know, r whafcttn* 
 maids, they had for thenu" *Fawrniir. Tiyil 
 -:. \ :M 
 
 I.fuppofe/itwas on the fame foot, that; 
 among the Huns, " the people of quality 
 picked out a certain number^ 20 or more,; 
 of their chief favourites, with whom they 
 made all things in common ; but, whenever 
 they fhould' happen to die, all thefe were 
 to be buried- alive with them." Procopiusi 
 
 Theft people do, as the world generally 
 does in their whole conduft; employ ten 
 times more pains and talents to do wrong, 
 with: great inconvenience and bad confe* 
 quences to themfelves, than, it would cofl; 
 them to do the thing that is right, and by 
 far the moft obvious and natural, and with 
 evident convenience and advantage; nay f 
 and thefe too, fecure and unenvied \ yet all 
 this is done on a fincere motive of felf-love ! 
 The cafe is, they are cheated by every pre* 
 fent appearance, and are the ever- ready 
 dupes of the next hour. One would think 
 it would be the mod likely (but that expe- 
 rience (hews,, that nothing is fo unlikely to 
 happen as. the. thing we think moft likely )* 
 
 that 
 
'< '77') ; . 
 
 that thefe kings, inftead of the mortal pains 
 they take all their lives to fecure a mean 
 and precarious fubfiftence, and, at the beft, 
 that could not laft long, though defigned 
 for all eternity, would alone have taken tfye 
 plain and fimpleft way of fecuring an inex- 
 hauftible fund of all they could defire, to 
 enjoy for the whole endlefs courfe of their 
 cxiftence. This choice learned to meet them- 
 full in their path, and to cover and take up 
 the whole way, fo that it was almoft im~ 
 pofiible to flip by it, into any little narrow 
 dark dirty alley, yet they all did jt \ and 
 we all do it perpetually, mod of us all 
 our lives, but all in various occurrences of 
 them. All u felling our birthright fpr a 
 mefs of pottage/* 
 
 Perhaps Rocfafaucault is right, that " felfr 
 Jove, as well, or ill, understood, produces all 
 the virtues or vices," and with them the 
 happinefs and misfortunes of life. . How 
 many fellows, that end their lives at tyburn, 
 might have lived plentifully and with repu- 
 tation, on half the induftry and talents that 
 they have employed to bring them to the 
 gallows ! 
 
 O Men 
 
'( '78 ) 
 
 Men , have been for the molt: part per* 
 verfe and wicked f in proportion to their 
 powers ; and when Don Quevedo wondered 
 he faw no kings in hell \ the Devil bade 
 him c look down a (linking well/ that he 
 brought him to , 4 why/ faid he; holding his 
 nofe, ' I think here are but few/ 4 1 .don f t 
 know what you call few/ laid the Devil, 
 J am fure there are all." 
 
 XLII. 
 
 DoJtcorum prttiofut emptor. 
 
 HOR. ODE III. 6. j; 
 
 Nemo adttferui tfl 9 *t non mitefctrt poffit. 
 
 HOR. EPIST. 1. 1. 39* 
 
 j f "A Certain great minifter faid of the peo- 
 JLJL pie he had to do with, that ' there 
 was not one, how patriot focver he might 
 feem, of whom he did not know. the price." I 
 fuppofe the fame may be faid of mankind in 
 general, and that Sir Robert did not juft 
 happen upon the only relenting fet of men 
 in the world. The true upright man is he 
 t who has not had a load great enough laid 
 
 upon 
 
ypon him to make him ftoop. " A duke of 
 Orleans^ who was a little mad, in one of his 
 freaks came in to the queen (as they were 
 taking to pieces a few reputations of the 
 court, for want of other difcourfe) and aflccd 
 her ferioufly, * whether fhe thought there" 
 was nothing in the world could be found 
 out that would induce her herfelf to do* the 
 fame trick ?' c Lord, your highnefs, what 
 do you mean ?' 4 What not your own image x 
 at full length at full length! madam, in 
 folicl gold ?' * No, nor yours together.' 
 4 What not the fine-It drefs that ever woman 
 wore ; not that, for inftance, in which Clt~ 
 cpatra firft met Antony ?' 4 Pugh, I have as 
 fine my fclf as that could be/ * What not 
 for a diamond as big as a coach-wheel ? f 
 * Why, my lord, there is no fuch in the 
 world/ c Zounds/ cried the duke, c what a 
 whore have I loft for want of a diamond as 
 big as a coach- wheel !" tyfy father, 
 
 " In a part of the Eaft-Indies" Montaigne 
 fays, " where however chaftky is of fingu- 
 lar reputation,' yet cuftom permitted a mar- 
 ried woman to proftitutc herfelf to any one * 
 who prcfented her with an elephant, and 
 O z * that 
 
that witK glory too y to have been valued at 
 ib high a rate/' Montaigne III., 5. v 
 
 <c Penelope" herfelf, fays Horace^ " was 
 .chaftey becaufc her lovers did not offer 
 enough, nor went the right way to work." 
 
 Venit enlm magnum donandl farca juwntuSi 
 Me tantum Fetter is % quantum Jludiof a culin*. 
 
 Hor.Sat.lL 5. 79, 8c t 
 
 XLIII, ..: 
 
 levavit ho no re. 
 
 OVID. MET. III. 4. 
 
 tfontft vanity meyer Jtftrts **, *i*ber in our 
 
 - ? or adwrjtty. 
 
 cc TT 'was with great difficulty, and much . 
 JL management, that Mr. Nelfon, and 
 the others in friendfhip with thofe in the - 
 aflafllnation-plot, kept Sir 7- Fenwlck from 
 fqueaking, and making difcoveries , but at 
 length they bethought themfelves of mak- 
 ing intereft to get him beheaded inftead of 
 '-^hanged j and that did it j fecurcd him and 
 
 them-, 
 
them,' (but very differently) It was ft> un* 
 like a .gentleman, to fwing, that he could 
 not bear the thoughts of it; but he was 
 quite proud of being beheaded." Much 
 the fame thing was faid' of Mr.' Ratdiff in 
 
 the laft rebellion. 
 
 '.*, !. ; ^;% 
 
 '' ;! - XLIV 
 
 VAnity, like a Proteus, appears in a thoiu 
 fand different forms, but is ftill very 
 vanity. The emperor Maximinus* the fa- 
 ther, would cat 60 pounds of meat in a day, 
 and drink 24 quarts of wine ; and, the great 
 booby (for he was eight feqt and an half v 
 high, and had, proportionably with all the 
 reft, a thumb fo large, that his wife's brace- 
 let juft fcrved him for a ring, as courage- 
 ous a woman as her hufband was a man ! ) 
 would fweat three pints a day, which he 
 .would caufe to be collected into veflels, and * 
 fliew with oftentation." Jul. Capitol, vil. 4. . 
 <c However, he was outdone by the caliph 
 Soliman.ben Ab^almaleck^ who, after having 
 breakfafted on three roafted lambs, fairly 
 eaten for his own (hare, would fit down to 
 dinner, in public, with credit to his fto-. 
 
 ' 03 
 
rnach, fo as to make out in the whole daf 
 a round hundred pounds of flefh." JD'/fcr- 
 hlot. p. 822. 
 
 " A * friend of mine knew a gentleman 
 who would drink on, as long as one compa- 
 ny after another woujd', without ever being 
 affefted with the liquor; he would only re- 
 tire for a minute every quarter of an hour. 
 It pa(Ted through him, as through a pipe. 
 He is fure he has known him difpofe of 20 
 quarts while he has been in company." 
 When Cbrijlopber duke of Albemarle went 
 governor to Jamaica, in 1687,^5 he was 
 a monftrous drinker himfclf, he carried 
 over with him a couple of gentlemen, only 
 for their fingular talent in that quality. 
 Sir Hans Shane told this |] friend of mine, that 
 thcfc two had challenged one another one 
 night to drink half-pint glafles by turns, as 
 fad as they could well be given them ; they 
 had done fo for fome confiderable time, 
 when he retired, (for he went over with the 
 duke) but after about two hours he was cal- 
 led up : one was on the ground, dead to 
 appearance, and as Sir Hans himfelf thought ; 
 
 Mr. Palmer, July z+, 1748. l| The fame. 
 
 but 
 
t .'83 ) 
 
 but by bleeding, and an oil vomit, he came 
 to himfelf, and next day was able to rife and 
 walk about, but talked like a drunken man 
 for three weeks, though otherwife perfectly 
 recovered in appearance, and then died, al- 
 moft fuddenly. The other, who was a pro- 
 digious fat man, and of vaft perfpiration, re- 
 covered, and lived till 1715, when he had 
 a commiffion againft the rebels in Scotland, 
 and on fome advantage gained by a party 
 of theirs, when the reft of the king's troops 
 ran away, he loft his life from his exceffivc 
 fatnefs ; for his horfe being killed^ or fal- 
 ling, he could not ftir, like Sir John Falftaff^ 
 c three foot of uneven ground a foot,* and 
 was killed when all the reft efcaped." 
 
 One can hardly conceive how it fhould 
 ever come to be a thing to boaft of, that of 
 being able to bear great quantities of drink, 
 except that vanity, (which is never at a lofs) 
 when it finds no other food, will, like luft, 
 feed on garbage. 
 
 O 4 XLV. 
 
'$j& *;$ XLV. ; -V; 
 
 Nibil eft torn populare quam lonitas. 
 
 Cic. /ro LICAR. ' .' 
 
 X TOUSCHIRVAN, or Ci*/nw I. king 
 JL il of Perfidy (in whofe reign Mahomet 
 was born) was fo good-natured a prince, 
 that his people, by varying his name a very 
 little, called him a foul preferued in boney.~ 
 C One of his officers having offended him 
 he took away his pbft, and banifhed him, 
 the court ; neverthelefs on a certain annual 
 folemnity and feaft, he came again, and 
 waited as ufual on the great men whom the 
 king treated on that occafion, who all of 
 courfe fuppofed that he was reinftated, and 
 received him accordingly : during the enter- 
 tainment, he took an opportunity to make 
 off with a gold plate ; the king obferved it, 
 but took no notice, and when afterwards it 
 was miffed by the proper officer, and great 
 enquiry made after it, faid, 4 It was very 
 well, aod that the perlbn who had taken it 
 would probably never reftore it, nor he who 
 faw it taken difcover the thief.* The next 
 
 year 
 
C 185 ) '-. 
 
 year the fame officer returned to his poft int.; 
 * the fame manner (it looks as if their annual 
 feafl was 3, fort of Saturnal, where there was 
 univerfal freedom, and all were in a manner 
 on a level) and as he palled near the king, his 
 majefty reached over to his late officer, and 
 whjfpering, afked c if the money he had fold* 
 his gold plate for was quite gone ? and gave 
 him joy of his new cloaths, which he fup- 
 pofed were the laft of it/ c No/ fays he, lift- 
 ing up his robe, c I had this fine veft bcfides.* 
 The good king laughed at his afiurance, and 
 faid, 4 people that will live, muft live,' and 
 gave him his place again." D'Herbelotj p. 
 682. A jeft, luckily timed, according to 
 the humour in which the great then happen 
 to be, by which they are governed far more 
 than by rcafon, which is too troublefome 
 for them, is generally a much better fecurity 
 to a poor man than the juftice of his caufe ; 
 the fame king, in another mood, would have 
 ordered him to be baftinadoed, or impaled 
 alive. . , 
 
 " Edivard the Confeffbr one day being laid 
 down on his bed, one of his domeftics, 
 who did not know he was in the room, dole 
 fome money out of a chefl he found open, 
 
 which 
 
( 186 )- 
 
 which the king let him, cany off without 
 faying a word. Quickly after the boy re* 
 turning to make a fecond attempt, the king 
 called to him, without the leaft pafllon, 
 * Sirrah, you had bed be fatisfied with what 
 you have 'got, for if my chamberlain comes 
 and catches you, he'll not only take away 
 all you have ftolen, but whip you feverely/ 
 The chamberlain coming in after the boy 
 was gone, and milling the money, fell into 
 a great rage, but the king calmly faid to 
 him, 'Be contented, perhaps, the poor 
 rogue who has it, wants it more than we 
 do -, there is enough left for us." Rapln 
 y. I. p. 137. A humane and reafonable 
 reflection ! 
 
 *' Cardinal Mazarine had a glimpfe of a 
 gentleman's taking out a bag of gold from 
 a drawer, when he thought himfelf unob- 
 ferved, and after fome time was going off; 
 when his eminence called him back, and 
 told him, * he had fomcthing to fay to him j' 
 and carrying him into another room, turned 
 to him, and calmly letting him know he 
 noted his theft, told him, that ' as he fup- 
 pofed he might have fome prefent occafion 
 for money, he was welcome to what he had 
 
 got 
 
t >*7 > 
 
 got, and that he would even double it,* 
 which he immediately did, but bade him 
 4 never come into his prefence- again. I can 
 pardon a friend,' faid 'the cardinal, c who 
 has abufed me, but I cannot truft him." 
 V. III. L. 23. 
 
 " Honed Rowley faw a rafcal of a pick- 
 
 pocket, who had got into the drawing-room. 
 
 drefied like a gentleman, 'on his birth-day, 
 
 take a gold fnuff-box out of a man of qua* 
 
 lity's pocket , the rogue, catching the king's 
 
 eye upon him, had the impudence to put 
 
 his finger up to his nofe, and make him a 
 
 fign, with a wink, to fay nothing : the king, 
 
 with a like prefence of mind, took the hint, 
 
 and enjoyed the earl's feeling about foon 
 
 after in one pocket and another, and look- 
 
 ing at all round him ; and then calling to 
 
 him, faid, c You need not give yourfelf any 
 
 more trouble about it, my lord, your box is 
 
 gone, and I own myfelf an accomplice ; % 
 
 could not help it, I was made a confident.* 
 
 My father. 
 
v t 188 
 
 . ..'; -a?;-'' 
 
 Quid dc pttfu* vim* ft *i die at, f<ffg 
 
 HoiuEff. I. 1 8; 68, 
 
 -^Vif mox 
 
 Incut i ant ali f *a tiki fectala pudortm* ' ,' ? , ' -* 
 
 HOR. EP. I. 18. 77. 
 
 * p- had killed a man very 
 
 bafeljr, and judge Dormer (whofe 
 daughter or fiftcr f I think, he had married) 
 went to king George I. to petition for him j 
 owning however that there was nothing to 
 i be urged in alleviation of his crime ; but 
 that he hoped his majefty would fave him 
 and his family from the infamy his execu-r 
 tion would bring upon them. ' So, Mr. 
 Juftice/ faid.the king, c what you propofe 
 to. me is, that I Ihould transfer the infamy 
 from you, and your family, to me and my 
 family." Mr. Carter. 
 
 What occafioncd this ftory to be told, 
 was a gentleman's having juft before men- 
 tioned fomething of it, when the fon of this 
 
 man 
 
, * . 
 
 man was prefent, without knowing him ; 
 |but the converfation was happily changed 
 by the prefence ofVmind of this fame, who, 
 
 on Mr. P 's going away, told him 
 
 the reafon of his having thus flopped him 
 fliort ; for which the gentleman heartily 
 .thanked him, and faid withall, c it was 
 very proper a man fhould know which of 
 his friend's fathers had been hanged.' 
 
 The want of being attentive to fome fuch 
 maxim as this, has often occafioned good- 
 natured and well-bred men to put fome one 
 N perfon of the company, and with him all 
 . the reft in confequence, and himfelf, into 
 the utmoft confufion. ; ; j 
 
 As to any particular family accidents, 
 people can never be upon their guard, and 
 they can happen but very rarely ; but na- 
 tional reflections, or perfonal deformities, 
 jas they may almoft always affeft fome one 
 of a large company, fo they are always un- 
 juft andabfurd. 
 
 XLVII. Left 
 
I * 9 ) 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 Lift wife I am not iftlty ceafurt me. 
 Tit my vwn fault if I not <wifer It ; 
 Or tbat (orrtfl <wbieb they, in m*Iict t tell \ 
 Or, innocent > rfjcicc in tearing well. 
 
 Fath. Mom. Tbotgbtt, 236* 
 
 CRiticifm on our writings, and fcandal 
 en our aft ions, are of great ufe, however 
 unjufl ; we fhould fink into indolence, and 
 both our genius and virtue would at length 
 ftagnate, if not excited and ruffled by oppo* 
 fition : It is true, this has difcouraged mid* 
 ling capacities, and ordinary worth ; and 
 has made one ceafe from producing, and the 
 other has been deterred from the aftion his 
 heart approved, by cenfure and calumny * 
 but this has never been the cafe of extraor- 
 dinary merit in either way ; it ftrengthens 
 by the druggie that others force it upon, 
 and has nothing to fear but from too much 
 repofe ; this it always wifhes, but either 
 the noble emulation of equals, or the daft- 
 ard envy qf impotent fclf- love, will ever be 
 pouring down the naufeous, but falutary, 
 
 draught. 
 
draught. Sec Boikau, Ep. VIL 45, 8cc^ and 
 Sal. IX. 230. , *i| 
 
 " We fhould have both friends and ene- 
 mies," fays Plutarch, 4< one to advifc us 
 what is our duty, and the other to force us 
 to do it." Plutarch, Ilow to improve by our 
 enemies. But I believe, if we muft have but 
 one, we had better have only enemies, be- _ 
 caufe thefe will ferve for both. 
 
 <c Tu, king of China* had a Calao who 
 never failed to tell him his faults with the 
 
 . freedom of a friend-, whenever he commit- 
 ted them, and in whatever company ; which, 
 in time gave the king fuch a difguft to him, 
 that he determined to rid himlelf of fuch 
 an importunate counfellor at once, and 
 
 gave orders to take off his head. The 
 
 queen-mother, being informed of it, in- 
 ftantly prefented herlelf to him in the habit. 
 
 / of a gaudy day, and gave him joy. 4 Joy !*' 
 faid the king, < of what ? f < Why/ faid fiie r 
 ' my fon, of an event that has hardly ever 
 happened to any monarch upon earth ; it is 
 being in poflefilon of a fubjcft who has the 
 courage to admonifh you of your faults ; 
 and. who, in that very quality, is the fined 
 
 courtier, 
 
c 
 
 eburticr, and moft artful flatterer \ fince 
 he, by this boldncfs, infinuatcs, th^t he 
 fcrvcs a prince who has the virtue and 
 greatnefs of foul to bear it. lf Alvarez Hi/I. 
 Cbina, P. I. c. 24, p. 120. 
 
 The Spanijh proverb fays ; " There is no 
 better looking-glafs than an old friend ;"*J 
 but, I believe, an old enemy, or a new one, 
 is itill a better ; becaufe fuch has neither 
 prejudice, nor complaifance, and does not 
 even fo much as pretend to our gratitude 
 for the important fcrvices he does us, if we 
 have but ourfelves the addrefs to receive 
 them, by a little facrifice of our fclf-love ; 
 nay offers an ample amends for this facri- , 
 fice, in the moft noble of all triumphs over 
 himfclf, by giving us a power of compel- 
 ling him to the flavifli drudgery of doing 
 ftill more and more good to the man he 
 more and more hates. , 
 
 " Arch-deacon Reeves, of Norwich, told 
 Mr. Pitt, that making a vifit once to 
 archbifhop Tilktfon, he obferved in his li- 
 brary one Ihelf of books of various forms 
 
 * No ay mejor t/ptJ9 9 
 
 - Queelamigo vitjo. 
 
 IS 
 
f > '93 3 
 
 and fizes, all richly bound, and finely gilt 
 and lettered ; fo he afked, * what extraor- 
 dinary authors they were who were fo re- 
 markably diftinguifhed by his grace ?'- 
 * Thofe, faid the archbifhop, 4 arc my own 
 perfonal friends ; and, which is more, whom 
 I have myfelf made fuch (for they meant 
 to be my enemies) by the ufe I have made 
 of thofe hints whir^ their malice hath fug- 
 gefted to me, and IK m which I have re- , 
 ceived more profit than from the advice of 
 my bcft and moft cordial friends ; and there- 
 fore you fee I have rewarded them accord- 
 ingly .*" Mr. Pitt. 
 
 * " Upon a bundle of libels found amongr his pa 
 pcrs after his death, he put no other infcription thuu 
 this, ' Thcfe are libels, I pray God forgive the au- 
 thors, I do." Dean SfyrkcP* fcrmori at the 
 Dec, 39, 
 
 XLVIIL Uiit 
 
( 94 9 
 
 w (* . * t /I' 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 fJr/V tnim futyrg fuo qui prtrgrnvat *rtt* 
 
 Hor. Ep. II. I, 13. 
 
 ACelebrateji work, that every one reads, 
 is a terrible obftacle to the reception 
 of a new one, that is at all of the fame 
 kind, or has any thing common with it. Peo- 
 ple are ufed to the manner, and even found,, 
 of Paradlfe Loft, and the Tatlers and Spcfla- 
 tors, for inftance , and every attempt at dan- 
 gerous blank-vcrfe, or oft-hand moral eflays, 
 fcts out with a fcornful prejudice againft the 
 author's felf-fufficicncy and fcrvility, two 
 qualities, which, together, make a ridicu- 
 lous compofition ; and has a hard and al- 
 rnoft infupcrable tafk, to make its way up- 
 hill, in the very mouth and level of the 
 eftablilhed reputation of fuch formidable 
 works, which yet have probably paflccl the 
 fame fevere probation before us. 
 
 Bcfides 
 
Befides the real merit, (which* few per r 
 ceive, and tbofe few are fenfible of the di 
 ficulties, and are ttarefore candid) the va- 
 nity of affe&ing to tafte thefe, a lazy indo- 
 lence in acquiefcing with what we have 
 been .ufed to, and the envy and malignity 
 .of unfocial felf-love, oppofe themfelves, and- 
 far more violently than the former juft rea* 
 fon-, and withal, people's prejudices and tafte$ 
 are in reality formed to relifh, and have made 
 themfelves a certain habitude of the very 
 faults and weaknefies of over-bearing worth, 
 Thofe who have been all their lives accufto- 
 med to even the abfurd found of mumpfimuSj 
 cannot bring their tongues to fumpjimus. 
 Nay, a work that has had a great vogue, and 
 which is afterwards altered by the author 
 himfelf, is generally thought, at firft, to be 
 altered for the worfe -, as was the cafe with 
 G'<H7//s Difpenfay. People had been fo nc- 
 cuftomed to read it over and over, and 
 even to repeat whole pafiTages by heart of 
 the firft edition, that their ear could not - 
 bear the change, and they thought it was 
 their judgment. We now fee fairly, that 
 
 every edition was for the. better** Old 
 
 j 
 
 * Mr. Pope told me fcimfclf, that ' tliere was liardly- 
 ^n alteration of the innumerable ones through every 
 P 2 edition, 
 
I i9 ) 
 
 people who have lived long in a fet of 
 thinking expreflions, have acquired a cer- 
 tain extemporary animofity againft all new 
 writers, as againft new falhions. 
 
 Not but that authors themfelves are 
 frequently tired and jaded with overmuch 
 thought and application to a firft work, and 
 prefer a fecond that they have hurried up, 
 as Milton did his Paradifc Regained, and 
 his fecond Jerufalem. 
 
 We judge by imagination, prejudice, 
 yogue, accidental temper, any thing, rather 
 than by judgment itfelf , though all agree 
 for their own felves in their judging by 
 this ; it is for others to take all th reft. 
 
 A reader of parts and a lively imagina* 
 tion, will often difcover, in other men's 
 writings, beauties of fenfe and exprefilon, 
 that the -authors never dreamed of; and 
 thefe that have merit enough to have once 
 eftablifhed a reputation, will have as much 
 fame crowd in upon them more than they 
 
 edition, that was not for the better ; and tliat he took 
 J)r. Garth to be one of the few truly judicious authors.* 
 
 defer vc, 
 
( '97 ) 
 
 deferve, as a quite new one, or who is uri* 
 der ftandard, though with good qualities* 
 will have lefs* 
 
 The reafon why moft Authors of merit 
 are a long time before they get an eftablilhed 
 reputation, is people's timoroufnefs in de- 
 claring their opinions, which is a furc 
 proof of their want of an authentic teft in 
 themfelves of what is good and bad ; but . 
 the very fame people will fpeak with all the 
 pofitivenefs in the world of an author^ 
 whole character is determined ; and are as 
 
 proud of their fenfelefs judgments, now 
 that they have the world to ftand by them> 
 as they were before afraid tp fpeak out. 
 Yet they have acquired no new lights ; and* 
 if they were brought to explain the motives 
 of this approbation, they would appear to 
 have no other, than the 'general one, and 
 
 . none from the work itfelf* 
 
 . When two or more commend fome great 
 author with admiration and tranfport, do 
 not imagine prefcntly, that they both, or 
 all, praife and fee the fame beauties. No 
 fuch thing : they muft have in them fome- 
 thing very like his genius^ that fee his 
 P 3 . thoughts 
 
thoughts in the fame light he favr and 
 meant them ; they muft have themfelves a 
 fample of that facred inftinft, that divine 
 farticitlam aura^ which infpired the author 
 himfclf; elfe they admire often trifling 
 beauties, or real defefts,. which if the au- 
 thor meant as they undcrftand, he would 
 t>e an obfcure or a contemptible writer. We 
 wonder to fee fo many good judges, and fo 
 few good writers ; if we were to fee upon 
 ,what they found their judgment, as we do 
 their writings, we fhould fee there were as 
 few of one as the other ; and, indeed, the 
 very fame number, if all that judge were to 
 write; for, be lure, whoever conceives 
 well, will exprefs himfelf fo, and in exaft 
 proportion to his conceptions ; tpfa res ver- 
 fra raplnr.t. And when a man fays he has 
 a clear idea of fomething, but cannot give 
 you a clear ,idea of what he means, depend 
 .upon it, he is confufecL 
 
 * If thefe were to come to a free confe- 
 rence, and explain themfelves on the beau- 
 ties for which they admire the author, how 
 they would flare at one another, and def- 
 pife.each other's wrong- headednefs, anddif- 
 agree about their fevcral taftes, even people 
 
 of 
 
( *99 
 
 of fenfe and reading, For inftance, that 
 one book which is every body's bufinefs, 
 how many different views and lights does 
 every particular part of it appear in, to dif- 
 ferent people ! 
 
 Hie liber eft in quo qurit fua dogmata 
 Et in quo^ refer it dogmata quifquefua* 
 
 Written on the (pare leaf of a MS. bible* 
 
 Let any one compare Voltaire** tranfla* 
 tion of Hamlet's foliloquy, (Voltaire^ Let. 
 XVIII. p. 173.) and fee if that excellent 
 writer admired precifely the fame beauties 
 that he admires. Voltaite alfo quotes with 
 applaufe the archnefs of an epigram. that he 
 found in high reputation when he was in 
 England^ but he underftood the thing other* 
 wife -, and, as he gives it, I fee no caufe 
 to admire it. He quotes it thus : (it was 
 made on Sir John anbrugh y as an archi- 
 tet as thick, and clumfy, as he was fprightly 
 in his writings.) 
 
 Earth lie light on him> far if 
 Laid many a heavy toad on thee. 
 
 > foltairt, Ltt. XIX. p. I87 
 
 : P, Was 
 
( 200 ) 
 
 Was this a reafon why earth fhoiuld lie ' 
 light on him? The epigram is, indeed, 
 .thus : 
 
 Lie heavy on llm earth, for It 
 Laid many a heavy load on tbet. 
 
 Here the for comes in with fome fcnfe ; 
 but I cannot imagine what Voltaire admired 
 in the other. 
 
 As a reader of fplrit and tafle will often 
 difcover new and unintended beauties in a 
 celebrated author, and of what he himfelf 
 thinks plagiarifm he is really the fair au- 
 thor, and i$ only copying his own idea ; 
 To indifferent and affefted writers will imi- 
 tate the defefts : 
 
 Decipit extmplar vitiig Imitalile, 
 
 Hor. Ep. I. 19. 17. 
 
 ( , The reputation of the work is a trap for 
 them. " How many<bad painters will this 
 Jaft judgment of mine make !" faid Michael 
 dngelo. There is a pretty ftory of this in 
 the Menagiana. u The famous Racan went 
 one day to vifit Mademoifelle de Gournai) 
 who lived to fourfcore, without chufing 
 any other hulband than her honour, en- 
 riched 
 
( 201 ) 
 
 riched with the reading of books df wit. 
 As they were intimate, fhe fhewed him 
 fome epigrams fhe had made, and afked his 
 1 opinion. Monfieur de Racan told her, 
 4 they were good for nothing, as having 
 no point/ * Oh,' fays Mademoifelle de 
 Gournai, ' you are not to look for a point in 
 thefe ; they are made after the manner of 
 the Greek epigrams.' They went afterwards 
 to dine together at a friend's. A very bad 
 foup was ferved up ; Mademoifelle de Gour- 
 nai turned to Racan, and whifpered, c a very 
 infipid foup this !' Racan whifpered again, 
 * a Greek foup, Mademoifelle." Menagiana^ 
 p. 138. Bayle, art. Gournai, G. Pafquier, Let. 
 V.H. 1 8. 
 
 \ 
 XLIX. 
 
 ' ' Whatever it i$ right. 
 
 POPE. 
 
 " Largiare plufculum. 
 
 Cic. p. FAM. V. 12. 
 
 TXEMOSTHENES owned that hear- 
 JL/ ing a poor woman who was carry- 
 ing a pail of water, turn to another, as he 
 pafled, and tell her, c that is the famous 
 
 LewoftheneSy* 
 
( 201 ) 
 
 DemoJlbenesJ gave him a very fenfiblc plot* 
 furc. 4 Can any thing (fays Cicero} be vainer* 
 and more pitiful than this ? and, yet, what 
 a truly great man ! but (he continues to ob- 
 ferve) the cafe was, he had applied him- 
 fclf wholly to fpcak to others, and not with 
 himfelf." Cic. Tufc. V. And Cicero, who 
 makes this reflc&ion, would have been (with 
 all his philofophical felf-converfations) as 
 likely as any man ever was, to be delighted 
 with overhearing fuch a whifpcr, and hug* 
 ging himfelf, cry foftly : 
 
 Puhlrum eft d/'gito mot/Iran^ 
 
 M< eft. -- - ferf. I. 28* 
 
 In all other things we arc fatisfied with 
 enough, or cloyed with too much , only 
 of praife there is 'never too much, never 
 enough ; vanity has ftomach and digeftion 
 for all you can give, and more. He/e we 
 are all beggars, and receive all, from all ; 
 and whatever they beftow upon us, we ftill 
 cry, 4 for the love of God, a little more !*' 
 
 " When Pericles was on his death-bed, 
 andjuft going to expire, his friends, who 
 were in his chamber recapitulating all his 
 great aftions amongft themfelvcs, luppofing 
 
 him 
 
him to be paft alt attention to what they 
 faid, which wanted not the utmoft cfFufion 
 of praifes ; yet he had not enough even in 
 the mortifying ftate he then was, for he? 
 had liftened to the whole, and furprifed 
 them, when rifing on his elbow, as he could, 
 in that weak condition, he told them, all 
 they had faid was very well, but he won- 
 dered they had forgot one thing, that dur- 
 ing his long adminiftration of the public, 
 never any one citizen had put on mourning 
 on his account/' It is true, the very va- 
 nity in this cafe was an enhancement of 
 his glory. Plut. Pericles, p. 279. (II.) 
 
 " And fo when Cimon, at a banquet he 
 gave his friends, heard them commend with , 
 the higheft applaufes, (the applaufes of 
 gnefts!) fo many great adtions that he had 
 performed, and let them go through the long 
 lift of his atchievements, finding they had 
 ' done, he faid, that * for his part he owned 
 there was nothing he more valued himfelf 
 upon than for one thing, which was the 
 ftratagem by which he had outwitted his 
 allies in the Per/fan war/ 1 Plutarch, Gmon, 
 
 p. 407. (iv.) ' 
 
 It 
 
C 204. ) 
 
 It was not that Cimon or Periclts 
 boaft was othcrwifc truly noble) did indeed 
 think thefe were the moft praife- worthy of 
 all they had done, or could come in com* 
 petition with moft of thofe which theif 
 friends had praifed, but they were fome* 
 thing more. 
 
 The above are great and fcrious ; the fol* 
 'lowing is a ridiculous inftance of the fame 
 kind : 
 
 " Gay read a copy of verfes he had made 
 on Sir Godfrey Knelkr* to him, in which, as 
 he faid (for, I do not know how it happened, 
 I never faw the verfes) he had puflied his 
 flattery fo far, that he was all the while in 
 great apprehenfion that Sir Godfrey would 
 think himfclf bantered. When he had heard 
 it through, he faid, in his foreign ilyle and 
 .accent, 4 -Aye, Mr. Gay\ all what you have 
 laid is very line, and very true ; but you 
 have forgot one thing, my good friend, by 
 G , I fliould have been a general of an 
 army ; for when I was at Venice^ there was a 
 Girandole y and all the Place St. Mark was 
 in a fmoke of gunpowder, and I did like 
 the fmell, Mr. Gay ; I fhould have been a 
 great general, Mr. Gay /" 
 
 The 
 
( 205 ) 
 
 / 
 
 The love of praife being our one great' 
 focial principle, as it makes us, in propor- 
 tion, dependent on the good will of others, 
 which we can only obtain by our beha- 
 viour, providence has furnilhed us with an 
 almoft boundlefs lhare of a quality that is 
 fo highly ufeful to us in every ftate and 
 condition, and in every occafion of life. 
 And I believe, it will always hold, that 
 whatever quality or pafllons are univcrfal, 
 arealfo proportionably ufeful, whatever the 
 firft appearance. It is plain we are fo in 
 regard to our powers of knowledge. |^ 
 
 .. ' ' An grift qui wife reeufet 
 
 O/ pop nli mcruijje f 
 
 And fo, vanity, which we ridicule and 
 defpife in one another, becomes in the 
 hands of providence, as accommodated to 
 our fpherc, a general inftrument of good to 
 ourfelves, and all about us. 
 
 \ 
 
 Who knows whether our weaknefles, nay 
 our vices, and our very misfortunes are not 
 purely for our fervice, as here and now ; 
 and whether, upon nice and impartial exa- 
 mination, {the nqbleft and ufefulleft of all 
 
 enquiries!) 
 
( 206 ) 
 
 enquiries !) we fhould not even be able to 
 penetrate, in fome competent degree, the 
 wifdom and goodnefs of providence, even 
 in thefe j and by degrees, ftill comparing 
 them with one another, and their events, 
 find out the fecret purpofes of heaven, (fo 
 far as they regard us, and which is all we 
 truly want) and trace fome glimpfe of the- 
 ways and paths of its goodnefs and pater- 
 nal dealings with us, in the things which 
 we moft lament, both in ourfclyes and 
 others, in our own misfortunes, and other's 
 perverfenefs ! 
 
 To make a little eflay on the oppofu 
 tions, and difappointments of life, 
 
 . " The chief argument that Cimon ufed in 
 his famous fpcech to the JJtbcnianS) to per- 
 fuade them to fupport the Lacedemonians in 
 their uttermoft diltrcfs, when they were in- 
 vaded all round by their enemies, immedN 
 ately on an earthquake that had deflroyed 
 their whole city, and put all things into the 
 lalt confufion (a juft and reafonable caufe 
 to attack a country, fays Swift in Gulliver) 
 was, that * they might have a rival in Greece, 
 who might ftill keep them in awe, and be as 
 
 a 
 
(. 207 ) 
 
 fi "bridle to keep their own mutinous ir 
 Jence and luxury, from ' their prefent fuc*. 
 cefles and grandeur, within fome bounds, 
 fo as not to do themfelves mifchief." Plut. 
 Clmon p. 427. (IV.) And this argument . 
 weighed with that wife ftate, and carried the 
 queftion for keeping Sparta on foot. || 
 
 " When Cato the Cenfor moft urged the, 
 deftrudtion of Carthage, ever ending all his 
 debates in the fenate, however foreign, with> 
 this advice, as with the burden of a fong, 
 the great Sctplo Najlca as conftantly oppofed 
 it, declaring he was of opinion, that * Car- 
 thage fhould ftand,' for the fame reafons (as 
 Plutarch fupppfes)" Plut. Cato Cenf. p. 473. 
 (III.) and accordingly when they, had no 
 longer this curb, they drove on headlong . 
 to all manner of exceffes, and became too. 
 much for themfelves. 
 
 Certainly the difappointments that from 
 time to time put fome flop to, and check 
 our career, however grievous they feem to 
 us at prefent, are often found, on farther 
 opening our profpeft afterwards, and when 
 we are in a condition to think them over 
 Agreeably and impartially, to have been for- 
 
 our 
 
( 208 ) 
 
 our advantage, and clear benefit in the end ; 
 as having hindered us from running our- 
 fclves out of breath , fo providence afts 
 kindly by us, where we mod complain ; and 
 ftill more kindly, in negledting our fenfelefs 
 murmurs, and going on to fcrve us, whe- 
 ther we will or no. Tantum bonorum atque 
 cfum in me cumulafli 9 tit nihil felldtati we<c 
 defit nifi moderatio ejus, faid Seneca to Nero ; 
 and fo the great may often, and perhaps 
 commonly, fay to providence. 
 
 I have learned (to fpeak in M. Antoninus's 
 ftyle) to be entirely refigned, or at leaft that 
 I fhould be fo, from a conftant reflcftion oa 
 this maxim (as I hold it for fure) that thefc 
 three attributes, infinite goodnefs, infinite 
 wifdom, and infinite power, united, muft 
 have fo contrived, that what is beft for the 
 whole, is alfo beft for every individual, (in 
 the feveral places and degrees they were to be, 
 to complete the infinitely perfeft order of the 
 xmivcrfe) that is to fay, that every thing is, 
 in all fenfcs, beft, as being contrived by in- 
 finite pcrfeftion ; and not, as in man's 
 bounded faculties, by one part's convenience 
 to make amends for another's defeats, fo as 
 to be forced to chufe the leaft ofawo evils. 
 
 Si 
 
( 209 ) 
 
 Si wit am in f pi etas homlnnm,.fi dtniqut morn ; 
 ^ <i)im, fraudem cunQaputes ttgtre* 
 usfpeflcSi For tuna tft arbitra rerum ; 
 Nefcis qitam dicat^ fef tamen effe vidcs. 
 At penitutji introfpicias, atque ultima primit 
 Conntfias, -tantum eft reflor in orb* Deus. 
 
 Mtttti ex toariif caujts iJemfafluri* 
 
 . dc IRA. lit. 
 
 AN anceftor of lord Oxford * was cxc-* 
 cuted for treafon, and died not only 
 with intrepidity, but chearfulnefs. " Do 
 not imagine," faid my lord, " it was the 
 good caufe he died for> or his own religi- 
 ous or philofophical reflections, or even his 
 natural conftancy. No, he was a merry 
 fellow, and a man of wit and humour of. 
 that time, fo had good fpirits -," [no fmall 
 matter, this fame conftitution, in what 
 feems often force of reafon !] " but then he 
 had a thing to fay, which, at that time, * 
 (king James Fs.) was exquifite ; and which^ 
 I make no doubt, (continued my lord) but 
 the thoughts of, made death not only eafy to 
 . him, but it is not improbable that he was 
 Q^ ' impatient 
 
(.210 ) 
 
 impatient for the time he was to come on 
 the fcaffold, to let off his conceit, and tell 
 the people, * My friends and countrymen, 
 I come here to fuffer for a plot plotted, but 
 not adted ; and an adt afted, but not plot- 
 ted." Lord Treafurcr Oxford to my father. 
 
 Do you think Mrs. Oilfield's cares and 
 management, in her laft hours, concerning 
 the drefs of hercorpfe, and having the la- 
 ced head, and fine filks, pafs in review be- 
 fore her at her bed's feet, to chufe the moft 
 becoming, did not cafe and remove the 
 horrors of the circumftance itfelf, and of 
 her particular cafe in refpedt to futurity, 
 more than all that philofophy or religious 
 confolations could have done for her turn 
 and temper, or, perhaps, are ufed to do for 
 the heroes themfelves of conftahcy and 
 piety ? 
 
 We are little people, and made for little 
 things. Philofophy rather loads and en- 
 cumbers us often in bur fmall concerns ; 
 inftead of curing our afflictions, as it pre- 
 tends, generally ferves only to fhew them 
 in a llronger light; and, inftead of thinking 
 them through, (my dear father's exprcflion, 
 
 who 
 
( Vu ) 
 
 who had virtue and abilities for it) ancj 
 probing them, we had better, for the moft 
 part,, follow jfkibiades's advice to P cricks > 
 concerning the public accounts, of which 
 he was puzzled to make out the ftate, for 
 the people's paffing, " only think as little 
 of them as we can, and endeavour to avoid 
 dating them at all." Plutarch>Pericles, adfinl 
 
 Believe me, and if you will not believe 
 me, examine yourfelf impartially, at leaft, 
 look all about you, and you will be con- 
 vinced, that * vanity, trifling, and nonfenfe 
 fuit human nature, are more fitted to it, 
 and are more its true affair, than thofe fhi- 
 ning qualities that we aflume, for gaudy 
 days and ceremony, but that we are gene* 
 rally glad to unrobe and lay alide, when 
 we do not fee company, and enjoy our little 
 amufements (which we love at the bottom, 
 but do not care to own) with fhugnefs. 
 
 Mrs. OldfieldTs expedient was fimple and 
 natural ; moft of theirs are only buftling 
 refuges for their fears, and coaxing the ter- 
 
 * See Fonftnel/e's Dialogues of tbt Dead, j/of and 
 Homer. 
 
 O 2 tors 
 
 ^^- * 
 
frors that fliame their former profefllons i 
 Plura de extremis loqid par 3 ignavi* eft ; (Tac. 
 Hift. II.) or often, juft like Mrs. Oldfald\ 
 vanity of another kind, but more difguifed, 
 and therefore lefs generous ! 
 
 Now; is it to be wondered at, or grieved, 
 or any other way refcnted, that Mrs. Old- 
 feldj St. Francis, and Seneca, do not make 
 the fame end of a life, which conftitution, 
 accident, and circumftances have contri- 
 buted to the fpcnding in fo different a man- 
 ner ? Could fuch poffibly fee the fame thing 
 in the fame light ? and could her prodigious 
 fpirits and wanton gaiety, and, as it were, 
 overflow of temper, aft in the fame man- 
 ner as the furly vanity and proud perfeve- 
 rance of the one, and the calm refignatioa 
 of the other ? It is not the thing itfelf, 
 (that is almoft the lead to be confidered, or, 
 at mod, but half ) but as it is received, and 
 it is received according to the veflel. 
 
 - Vitlunt <uat ejjicete ipfum, 
 
 Omnia^ue illi*s *vitit (orrumpicr intu/ 
 . Luc ret. VI. 16. 
 
 fc What we have to do then is, to take care 
 to keep, or put, this veficl in order. Let 
 
 us 
 
us begin , this Is half 5 let us have refolu* 
 tion to fearch and fcour, arid not be afha* 
 pied to own it wants it. But what (hall we 
 fay of thofe, who perhaps do not, or can- 
 not, fee that their veflel is not in order ? 
 And if they think it is, and you think it is 
 not, who lhall be the judge and decider 
 which is in the right ? You, certainly, are 
 not likely to fee fo far into it as the owner ; 
 but then, on the other fide, it is the owner's 
 own, and he is partial. We can only judge 
 by appearances, and feeming ; and, there- 
 fore, ought to judge with candour and dif- 
 fidence. We are perpetually confidering 
 things as in their properties, (which, by 
 the way, is no other than the view in which 
 they appear to us ; the fame have quite 
 other properties in another view, fuch as 
 another fees them in,) whereas, indeed, they, 
 with all their buftle of properties, qualities, 
 and accidents, are merely relative, and a$ 
 we ourfclves make them, by our reception. 
 Whatever their own qualities, the imprefllon 
 they make on us, is in proportion to ours ; 
 or is rather a mechapical combination of 
 their own, and thofe they meet with in us; 
 See only what work thofe, whofe profefllon 
 has been to determine the properties of 
 Qj things, 
 
things, have made of it. In what one fin-' 
 glc property of what one thing have they 
 agreed ? Have they come yet to an iflue, 
 what is happinefs, and what virtue ? Points 
 in which we are moft of all, and in fine, 
 totally concerned ! Plato fees thefe propo- 
 fitions in one light, Zeno in another, Epi- 
 curus in another. Thefe, and more, differ 
 from centre to circumference ; all in part, 
 and fubdiyidc their fcvcral degrees of re- 
 1 . ccption ; but all alike furc to be in the 
 right ; in this only agreeing, where almoll 
 all mud neceflarily err. Except we will 
 fay, that providence hath been all-bounte- 
 ous, and hath given every one, for himfelf, 
 (with due relation to fociety) his proper 
 (hare ; and that, however wrong they may 
 be, in refpeft to the eflential and conftitu- 
 tiye properties of things, (if thefe have, in- 
 deed, any .fixed and pofitive qualities in- 
 dependent of the immediate happinefs of, and 
 relation to, the beings they concern) they 
 are equally right in refpeft of themfelves, 
 *nd their own proper fatisfaftion, which is 
 all they want ; and a more acute and keen 
 infight, a more accurate knowledge, would 
 pnly hurt their powers of enjoyment, and 
 be too much for them. And thus, it will 
 
 appear 
 
appear probable, that all forts of human 
 creatures, however cjifferently endowed with 
 talents, fortune, or any other way circunw 
 itanced, whatever the appearances at firft 
 fight, or even after the drifted examination 
 we are capable of, meet pretty nearly in the 
 one effential point, that of happinefs^ (which 
 can hardly be faid to have any abfolut^ 
 property in its own nature, fo varioufly it 
 offers itfclf, in fome degree, to all) though 
 by infinitely different ways, thofe in one, 
 thinking thofc they fee in another, going 
 quite wrong, and to have miffed the road , 
 yef they come into it, and wonder how 
 they meet , and when they think or find 
 themfclves out of it, are as fairly on their 
 journey, as thofe whom they think in the 
 ftraiteft pathj judging equally wrong of 
 themfelves and others, but all do fo, much 
 alike, of one another ; fo they meet in this 
 too. Uterque ad glonam^ part cupldltate^ di- 
 verfo itinert contendit ; alter dum cxpetit debitos 
 tltuloS) alter dum mavult widen contempJ!JJe % 
 fays Pliny of two of his friends. Ep. 9. 19, 
 
 CL4 
 
LI. ;; 
 *' A NT INE de R V FFI was 
 
 JLX of a very particular ftamp \ he 
 apprehended he had contributed to the lofs 
 of a poor woman's caufe, in which he was 
 concerned, by forne inattention and negledt 
 of his, and returned her the whole cftate 
 out of his own." Moreri. 
 
 44 My father once fat on the bcnch,when Sir 
 Sartbolomtw Shore pleaded in the caufe that 
 was tried, and came home with him in his 
 chariot. As foon as they got in, my father 
 faid, * Sure, 1 Sir Bartholomew, c if you had 
 made fuch a plea, that poor woman mud 
 have gained her caufe/ * Why, it is very 
 true, Mr. RichardfonJ replied he, * I never 
 thought of it.' c I expefted,' faid my fa- 
 ther, 4 every minute you would lay your 
 finger there.' * Why, I'll tell you, Mr. 
 Ricbardfon, when a caufe is not of confe- 
 quence, and only between obfcure people, 
 we never much trouble our heads, but fay 
 juft what comes uppermoft/ Oy,' faid my 
 
 father, 
 
father, c but this was that poor creature's 
 all, perhaps, who may ftarve, or break her 
 heart.* * Ah ! my good friend, you are not 
 ufed to thefe courts.*' 
 
 LII. 
 
 . .,. ' 
 
 Jvjuriam facile pat tor, contumtliam ntfai. 
 
 \ 
 
 WHEN I firft heard that famous joke . 
 which was faid to be lord Chefter- 
 fold's, and even in a debate in the houfe, 
 turning to the lord next to him, that " he 
 could put them in a way to be never more 
 in fear of the Pretender's fucceeding to the 
 crown, viz. by making him eleftor of Ha- 
 nover, for that we fhould be fure never to 
 fend for any body over from thence again ;*' 
 I faid, that " though I thought it had as 
 much wit as any Ion mot I had ever heard, 
 yet, I believed, that nobleman had more 
 wit than to fay it,** 
 
 A piece of mere wit is dearly paid for, 
 when it is paid for at all ^ and it is very 
 common for the laugh to change fides. 
 
( 218 ) 
 
 . Wit is a fort of a two-edged fword, which 
 has withal fo fhort a handle, that it muft 
 be taken hold of with more caution than 
 generally falls to the (hare of that quality, 
 to hinder it from cutting and mangling the 
 hand, and often with fuch a gafh, as will 
 leave a fear after it is healed, if it ever is. 
 
 LIII. 
 
 KJf UJUttt tutafltnti* 
 Mercti. Ho*. O. III. a. 25* 
 
 ST. JobnNtpomucene is defervcdly ranked x 
 among the greateft heroes of faintfhip, 
 by his countrymen, (and probably his coun- 
 trywomen, who never yield to us in piety 
 and holy credulity, are not ungrateful for 
 his conftancy and fortitude in their caufe.) 
 .This martyr for female fecrets perfifted in 
 his generous refolution to fuffer death, ra- 
 ther than reveal to the king of Bohemia the 
 confeffion that the queen had made to him, 
 'as her ghoftly father ; (one may pretty well 
 guefs at the fubjeft in which the king fuf- 
 pe&ed himfelf to be fo nearly concerned) and 
 accordingly he was thrown headlong from 
 
 the 
 
( "9 ) 
 
 the great (lone bridge over the 
 that divides the old and new Prague* ; and, 
 doubtlefs^ the good queen was very glad to 
 fee her champion's laft heels well covered 
 with the tide. . This new faint's ftatue is 
 fet up on this bridge, as it is in every pub- 
 lic place and fquare all over the kingdom, 
 and throughout Germany^ particularly on 
 every bridge in Vienna , a glorious reward 
 and grateful return for a merit fo important 
 to the ladies ! Chijlull, p. 137. 
 
 The infcription on the bridge, at 
 is as follows : Divo Joanni Nepomuceno an. 
 13831 ab Me ponte dejefto, crexit Matthias 
 L, B. de fPunefwitfy an. 1683. 
 
 \ . 
 
 '* Such a pofthumous fame is what the - 
 great prince of Orange thought it well worth 
 even the animal's parting with this empty 
 life for, fince he kindly killed feven pid- 
 geons, who had been of mod important 
 fervice to him, as carriers, in the famous 
 ficge of Leyden, in order to embalm and 
 preferve them, in the town-houfe, as a per- 
 
 He docs not fce'm to have been provided with Pa- 
 ' fpccific for keeping a fccrct. 
 
 pctual 
 
( 220 ) 
 
 pctual memorial to poftcrity of their ufeful 
 fervices." Strada. And accordingly they 
 have had the pleafure of being fcen by me f 
 and many more there. 
 
 Probably the poor pidgeons, (whofe ma- 
 terial fouls had lefs fublimity and delicacy 
 of fentiment) if they had been left to their 
 own choice, would have even lived out their 
 time, and left jpofterity to admire them or 
 not, as they fhould find convenient* 
 
 LIV. 
 
 ////' morbo qui pcrmanat in vfnar, If inhxrct in *vi/ctrl+ 
 tut, ncc inwttratut wtlli fottft, nomen eft avaritia* 
 
 Cic. Tuic. IV. z. 
 
 ii" One majler-faj/ion in tie breaft, 
 
 Like Auorfs/trpent 9 /luaJ/owj up the reft. 
 
 T ARKHAM,theapothecary,of/J/V^ 
 ' ^ tnond, told Mr. Henry Floyd^ that 
 his patient, Mr. Watfon % a man of a very 
 large fortune, and uncle to lord Rockingbam, 
 juft before he died, defired him to give him 
 a fhirt out of a drawer he pointed to. 
 
 * Lord, 
 
( "I ) 
 
 c Lord, Sir,' faid Larkharn, what do you 
 mean, to think of putting on another fhirt 
 now ?' ' Why/ faid ffotfo*, c I underftand 
 it is the cuftom for the fliirt I have on to 
 be the perquifite of thofe who fhall lay me 
 out, and that is an old ragged one, and 
 good enough for them." 
 
 I remember Mr. Pope's repeating to my 
 father and me, in his library at Twickenham* 
 four verfcs, defigned for his epiftle on Riches, 
 which were an exquifite " dcfcription of an 
 old lady dying, and juft raifing herfelf up 
 and blowing out a little end of a candle 
 that flood by her bed fide, with her laft* 
 breath." [Thefe verfes are not in the prin- 
 ted edition.] 
 
 LV. 
 
 f * A Queen of Syria, having learned fronS 
 JLJL her aftrologers, that a fon fhould 
 be born to dbdalla^ (Mahomet's father after- 
 wards) who Ihould conquer the greateft part 
 of the world, wrote to him, to defire fhe 
 might be her part. 1 } D'Herbelot. 
 
 There 
 
( 222 ) 
 
 ' " There was a good old lady here, a 
 years ago, who had a vifion, that a fon 
 fhould come of her body, who fhould put 
 a final end to the power of Satan upon 
 earth ; and flie fent to the bilhop of London^ 
 (Gib/on) to offer him the refufal of a half 
 fhare; but he would not club his part/' 
 My father. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 MOSES having obliged the childrert 
 of Ifrael to fwallow the idol they 
 had worfhipped, reduced to powder, and 
 thrown into the water, brings to my 
 remembrance a cavalier phyfician, who 
 made his puritan patient, who had been 
 forced to fend for him in a flubborn 
 bloody flux, drink up the Common-Prayer* 
 Book, boiled to a pulp, which he had found 
 torn to pieces, and fcattered about the' 
 hall, as he came in , fwearing he would not 
 prefcribe for him, 'till he had done fo; 
 when, indeed, he would otherwife have pre- 
 fcribed him boiled paper/' My father. 
 
 LVII. IS 
 
LVII. 
 
 IS it to be wondered at, that authors of all 
 times fhould be interpolated, and other- 4 
 wife corrupted; when the Bible itfelf, pub- 
 lifhed at Paris, 1538, (a French tranflation) 
 by authority and the exprefs order of the 
 king, (Charles VIII.) fhould have two fuch 
 ftrange texts as thefe, without the leaft co- 
 lour from the original, foifted into one 
 chaper (xxxii Exod.) in relation to the gol- 
 den calf! One of them that " the duft of 
 the golden calf, which Mofes burnt, and 
 ground, and ftrewed upon the water, of 
 which he obliged the children of Ifrael to 
 drink, foaked into the beards of thofe of 
 them who had really worfhipped it, and' 
 gilded them, which remained upon them a 
 fpecial mark of their idolatry." The other,' 
 that " the children of IJrael fpate upon Hur 9 
 who had refufed to make them Gods, in 
 fuch abundance, that they ftifled him with 
 their flaver," 
 
 If the firft of thefe texts were genuine, it 
 would account for the horrible apoftacy of 
 
 Judas, 
 
( "4 ) 
 
 Judas Ifcariot) 'as being dcfccndcd from a 
 family that promifed no better ; fince it is 
 probable, that the fame reproachful mark 
 would continue to ftigmatife the race down- 
 wards, as a fign hung out to avoid the 
 bearer ; Cave canem. It was fomc fuch Jc?v 9 
 probably, turned heathen, of and to whom 
 Martial fpeaks, in his time : 
 
 Lefi~banded, beetle bro*w'd t And bead onfre ! 
 Sir, if jon'rt boneft, jou're a turj'sd liar. 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 i ne/cit dijffimulart, nt/cit <vi<vtrt. 
 
 HYpocrify may fometimes become a 
 virtue, but is certainly an ugly one, 
 for it is always of vice's making ; a vicious 
 man owes the good and virtuous the refpeft 
 of not becoming an example of vice to 
 them, if he no longer eiteems himfelf wor- 
 thy of keeping up the fhadow, at lead, of 
 charafter, upon his own account. There 
 is a certain decency in regard to the world, 
 that the world expefts ; and, if rcfufcd, will 
 always know how to chaftifc the delinquent, 
 ,who fhall have the bad courage to dare its 
 fefcntment. Let not a jakes overflow. 
 
 " When 
 
" When parfon Ford, an infamous fellow, 
 but of much off-hand and converfation wit/ 
 befought lord Chejlerficld to carry him over 
 with him as his chaplain, when he went 
 ambaflador to Holland ; he faid to him, * I 
 would certainly take you, if you had one 
 vice more than you already have.* * My 
 'lord,' faid Ford, c I thought I fhould never 
 be reproached for my deficiency that way.' 
 'True,' replied the earl, 'but if you had 
 ftill one more, almofl worfe than all the 
 reft put together, it would hinder thefe 
 from giving fcandal."* 
 
 " The author of the life of Don John of 
 duflria, printed at Amfterdam 1690, fays, 
 " This good prince would never avow his 
 amour with Donna Mendoza, nor own the 
 daughter he had by her, becaufe he was 
 perfuaded, that the openly profefling one 
 crime, was committing another." Boyle, in 
 bis article, remark &. 
 
 [* In perfect conformity to this opinion, his lordfhip, 
 in his letters, has taken the utmoft care to arm his foa 
 with tills adamantine fhicld of all the other vices.] 
 
 LIX. Mttis 
 
(426 ) 
 
 LIX. . 
 
 . . % 
 
 Mtlt it 'Vina mill ; mihi t Pamphilc t vina fuferfunt ; 
 Fi$ mage quod place at mittere T mittefitim* 
 
 . PoLITJAN. 
 
 To* fend me meat and drink ; ivttb tbefe Pm burft ; 
 JVLen next you fend 9 Ob ! hunger f end 9 and tblrjl. 
 
 NUMBERS of people have more of the 
 gifts of fortune than they know what 
 to do with ; and I do not know whether 
 there arc not more, in proportion, who fuf- 
 fer from abundance than from want ; there 
 requires a degree of rightnels of mind, a cer- 
 tain kind of genius, iuited to the enjoying 
 an ample fortune,* which is, as it were, 
 clogged with fuperfluity ; that is, to the real 
 enjoying it, with propriety and a due dif- 
 pofal of its parts, fo as to tafte it all, and 
 not be at all opprefled by it , which per- 
 haps is as rare as that which I heard earl 
 Stanhope fay of the duke of Marlborough ; that 
 44 he fought an army of an hundred thou- 
 fand men, againft an equal number of the 
 French, and fo difpofed the whole, as to 
 
 * Such a gentleman Teems to have been Z. Tlorlut 
 Balbus, in C/V. A Fin:b* U, wid PctronJut. 
 
 employ 
 
employ every company. " Accordingly we 
 perpetually fee, by experience, that either 
 the paflions, having a conftant fatisfadlion, 
 overfct the conftitution ; or, for want of 
 fuch to gratify, the fortune becomes a load 
 and reproach. And yet mod people, efpe- 
 cially the laft, are their whole lives confi- 
 dering how to get more of what they have 
 already too much, like princes, who are 
 ever intent on new conquefts, but never 
 once think of governing well what they 
 have. Ad regm admimfirationem cum accejfif- 
 fet, Jlatini non de regendo^ fed de augendo regm 
 cogitavit. Jujlinj XXXVII. 3. de Mithri- 
 date. 
 
 
 
 " Alexander wept becaufe there was not' 
 
 another world for him to conquer : Auguftu* 
 wondered, he could want to know * what 
 to do with his time, when he had this to 
 adminiftcr, and make good laws for, and 
 order with prudence and humanity, for the 
 happinefs of mankind; and when he had 
 ftill left on his hands, to endeavour to dou- 
 ble the number of thefe* by the arts of 
 peace, the only way to make amends and 
 atone for the devaluations he had made in 
 conquering them, inftead of thinning ano- 
 R 2 ther 
 
( 228 ) 
 
 , \ 
 
 thcr, race in order to conquer that." Plut. 
 dpotb. Double your people, you blind 
 brute ! inftead of doubling your country. 
 
 So, in private life, there have been a 
 thoufand who have known how to get a 
 great eftate, to one who has known how 
 to fpend it ! 
 
 Give me neither poverty nor riches \ feed me 
 with food convenient for me. Prov. XXX. 8. 
 
 It is not only fit that every man fliould 
 have a check on him, and his actions, for 
 the fake of others, but as much for his own. 
 41 Tiberius was not only a rcalbnable prince, 
 but a much more happy man, before the 
 death of Gcrmanicus* which took off all rc- 
 ftraint from him." Dion, LVII. The fame 
 is the cafe of numbers ; and occurs perpe- 
 tually in private life, as well as in power 
 (which is almoft conftantly found to be 
 too much for mankind.) Few men are 
 ftrong enough for their own paffions, which 
 not only advife, but force ; they want af- 
 fiftance, though they hate to be aflifted ; the 
 bcft and fureft afliftance is generally want 
 itfcif. 
 
 LX. 
 
XX. : v ; gjp 
 
 n T* fxXuJ'i o'o> Trt/'xa frif fpn&rrtM.' 
 
 ll. S. 217. 
 
 " ripHERE is fome one firing in 'molt 
 A men's paflions, more apt to jar than 
 the others may be," fays the learned doftor ' 
 Slare y my godfather, a right honeft man, in 
 a letter to my father. [July 27, 1700.] 
 
 <c Solon's ftrift and rigid virtgemade him 
 oppofe himfelf .to the yfurpation of Pijijtra- 
 tus with vigour, and to the utmoft danger 
 of his life, infbmuch thaf his friends afked ' 
 him, c What he could mean by fuch down- 
 right rafhnefs; or what it was h,e could 
 truft to ? f * To my old age,' faid he ; mean- 
 ing, that fuch dregs of life \yere no.t worth 
 taking much cautipi} about. -Finer far was 
 that ot the prince of Orange (William III.) 
 when almoft a boy-fladtholder, he withftood 
 the dreadful French irruption in 1672 , and 
 the oppofite faftioh, and even his friends 
 aficcd, c what he pretended to ? f c To defend 
 country,' faid he, * to the laft ditch, and 
 R 3 dip 
 
die there.* Yet this very old man (Solon) 
 of fourfcore, the young PifiJIrattts (who knew 
 his popularity, and the opinion the whole 
 city had of his virtue, and was therefore too 
 wife to take him off) found the way to ap- 
 peafe and cajole (as young Oftavius after- 
 wards did Cicero, and the duke of Wbarton 
 
 lord C , and Sir Robert Walpole Sir 
 
 Jofepb Jetyl) by his extreme refpedt, and 
 Jhewing him all forts of benevolence and 
 honour ; "upon all important occafions alk- 
 ing his advice and counicl; fo that inftead of 
 the odium and indignation his death would 
 have loaded him with, he brought him by 
 degrees to approve, and give his function to 
 all his a&ions ; for PiJ!Jlratus aflcftcd a reli- 
 gious obfcrvance of the laws of Solon, and 
 obliged others to fubmic to them, and that 
 joo, by his own example ; for when a per- 
 fon had the old republican courage to ac- 
 cufe him of a crime, and cite him before 
 the rigid court of the Areopagus, he came 
 (though he \v;is abfolute matter of all) and, 
 *\vith the niodeft reverence of a private man, 
 prefented himfelf to his country's determi- 
 nation : but the accuicr did not appear." 
 Solon, p. 483. As probably he 
 
 had 
 
had before taken care to be pretty fure he 
 would not. 
 
 Auguftus Cajar did much the fame thing 
 when he was emperor. Thefe little ftrokes 
 of policy fcrve the purpofe with the mul- 
 titude; the others, they know, fee through 
 it; and they laugh on both fides, like Ca+ 
 /0's augurs.* 
 
 LXL 
 
 Yield ing fruit afitr bis kind, wboftfttdi* In itfelf. 
 
 GEN. I. II. 
 
 EVery virtue and every vice, however cir- 
 cumftanced.in regard to us and our 
 apprehenfions, will, in the end, prove its 
 own rewarder, or puniflier, in its fure and 
 necefTary confequences, to vindicate the per- 
 feftion of all things (in their degrees) as the 
 author is perfeft. We plainly can fee it is 
 fo in innumerable inftances of common life, 
 as well as in hiflory -, and fhall find it more 
 and more fo, in proportion as we examine 
 
 Vetnt illud Catonis admoilum fcltum eft* qui mlrctri 
 Je aif&at, quod non ridtret bat'u/ftx 9 hvrufpictm cum 
 Cic, Div. 2, 
 
 R4 and 
 
and look a little deeper, and more inward 
 into things, with the common juftice, in 
 their regard, of diverting ourfelves of the 
 prejudices of their firft appearances of hap- 
 pinefs or mifery , and taking in the whole 
 circle of what even we can penetrate, here 
 and now \ at lead enough to give us good 
 grounds to infer more and more, and all. 
 The fovereign juftice of thofe eternal laws, 
 that execute themfelves, fcems to demand 
 this. 
 
 In reading the hiftory of the great, how 
 frequently does one find by the event, that 
 it was a misfortune to them to have ob- 
 tained the things they wifhcd, and which 
 were the objeft of their ftrugglings, and 
 utmoft contention ; for as this was gene- 
 rally more and more power, it only let them 
 into new occcafions of fchcming what end- 
 ed in their difadvantage, or deftruftion. 
 Their own power fornctimes became too 
 ftrong for themfelves, and turned their heads, 
 or raifed an oppofition of jealoufy that was 
 too ftrong for them ; and the fame happens 
 in proportion, juft the fame, in private life , 
 fince, confidering mankind's very fliort views 
 forward, and their utter want of the means 
 
 of 
 
of judging with any tolerable degree of cer- 
 tainty of future contingences (to them, for 
 there are none fuch) and the conftant wrong 
 bias of poor felf-love , their power, riches, 
 relations, intereft, their very health, become 
 moft frequently a fnare to them. 
 
 What an unhappy fuccefs was that to 
 the Borgia family, the chilling Alexander ' 
 VI. for pope! which became fun, water, 
 ' and air to the horrible qualities within him, 
 that would have died, or but juft fprung 
 up, if they had wanted nourifhment. 
 
 Who would have thought, in dugnjtus's 
 time, that the 'eternal empire'* was in 300 
 years to become chriftian, from an obfcure 
 infant then born in a dcfpifed and hated 
 corner of the world ! and in 600 to be put 
 to a final end, by a little Arabian time, \ Yet 
 nature and providence were working at the 
 '" root for this, from the very firft planting of 
 this great politico-moral vegetable , and the 
 feeds were gradually ripening, 'till the ful- 
 nefs of time, when, while the emperor 
 Heradius was fitting contentedly amongft 
 priefts and monks difputing ferioufly about 
 
 * Imptr i urn fine fne dedi< Virg. 
 
 tri- 
 
( 234 ) 
 
 trifling punctilios of dodlrine and faith, 
 lometj at the head of a victorious army, was 
 making vaft ftrides towards annihilating the 
 Roman empire and power, and tearing the 
 better half of the world from Chriltianity 
 
 itfelf. 
 
 
 
 This was, with a vengeance, * catching 
 at the lhadow, and dropping the fubftance.' 
 
 'LXII. 
 
 Si mibi pcrgit qiutwlt diccre, la qu* non volt avefift. 
 
 TER. AND. V. 4, 17^ 
 
 <c OOME French gentlemen, at fort St. 
 O Georgtj were one day after dinner talk- 
 ing away very uppifh, and, as ufual, puffing 
 1 themfelves and their king ; which they had 
 gone on with for an hour or two, without 
 controul of our Englijh^ to whom they were 
 guefls, when Pinky^ a rich black merchant, 
 very well known and knowing amongft us, 
 only afked them, c Youfavy John duke of 
 Marllorcugh ? Surely he havy beaty for you 
 very well." Mr. Hugh Campbell. 
 
 This 
 
This is fomething like " the conversation 
 
 between Hannibal and Scipio at Epbefus, when 
 
 the laft aflcing him, 4 Whom he judged to 
 
 ' be the grcateft general that had ever been ?' 
 
 He faicl, * Alexander.' 4 Who the next ? f 
 
 4 Why/ faid he, < Pyrrbus, doubtlefs.' 
 
 Well/ faid SciptOj (probably thinking it 
 was almoft time for himfclf to come in) 
 4 who may be the third, in your opinion ?' 
 4 Myfelf,' faid Hannibal. , < But what if I 
 had not beatyforyouT 4 Oh, then, Scipio* 
 faid Hannibal, 4 1 had named myfclf the firft 
 of all." Plutarch, Hamin. ad fa. (III.) 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 44 A T ACHIN an elephant, carrying 
 JLJL fome burthen, pafled by the market- 
 place, and feeing fome plantain fruit, of 
 which they are very fond, took up a bunch 
 with his trunk , the feller catching him at 
 it> gave him fome fevere Blows, and made 
 him drop his prize. As the elephant came 
 back, obfcrving a great veffel full of water, 
 he fucked it all up with his trunk, and 
 fquirted it out into the feller's face ; and fo 
 
 having 
 
having embarraflcd him for a while, carried 
 off the plantains in triumph, with the loud 
 laughter and exclamation of all the by- 
 ftanders, of whom my author was one." 
 Mr. Hugh CampMl. ^ 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 " T ORD Stair had uncontrouled accefs 
 * ^ to the duke of Orleans, at all times ; 
 on fome important occafion, probably, he 
 came into his chamber when the duke was 
 drunk, and in bed with Mademoifelle de 
 UJlej and the cardinal Dubois fitting by the 
 bed-fide. * You fee, my lord,' faid the re- 
 gent, to him, 4 how France is governed, by 
 a bougre fwrognc^ un tnaqucreau, & unc 
 futaine" Ditto. 
 
 " In the time of the rebellion, 1715, he 
 demanded an audience of JLewis XIV. an4 
 told him, *'he had certain intelligence of 
 fuch a number of forces that were then 
 ready at St. Malfs to be embarked for Eng- 
 land. 9 The king told him ' it was falfe, and 
 he was abufed.' Stair perfifted, and took a 
 paper out of his pocket, in which was a lift 
 of the different regiments and companies 
 
 that 
 
C m ) 
 
 that compofed this embarkation ; and all 
 the officers names. The king, fo urged, 
 put on his hat, and was turning away j 
 Stair clapped on his hat. The king imme- 
 diately uncovered himfelf again, and faid f 
 Milord, vous ffavez micux wire devoir que 
 moi." Ditto. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 i 
 
 TMTHER^for want of refolution to rc- 
 -TV/ fift folicitations, or dread of reproach, 
 or defire of being fpoken well of, or idle- 
 nefs in perfifting againft fturdy beggars, 
 every man is governed, on a thoufand occa- 
 fions in his life, by thole he defpifes : Bur, 
 do well,' fays the SpaniJI} proverb, * and 
 you fhall be hated and derided , go on to do 
 well, and you fhall be loved and admired/ 
 
 " Lord Or ford (the minifter) declared, a 
 little before his death, that he had never in 
 all his life broken through the rule, oftruft- 
 ing to bimfelf in the laft reibrt, and being in- 
 fluenced by no importunities or authorities 
 whatever, againft the voice of his own de- ' 
 
 liberate 
 
berate and mature reafon/till now, for which 
 he was paying fo feverely ; and at lad paid 
 all. He was himfelf convinced that he was 
 not of a time of life to try practices (for his 
 diforder, which was the gravel in the kid- 
 neys) and folicit and fhoclc a conflitution 
 that was yet tolerable *, but he was fo be let 
 on every fide to take the lees, (piefcri- 
 bcd by doftor Jurhi) that he had not re- 
 folution enough, in that late time of day, 
 to (land againft the multitude." 
 
 Ci Pericles, who, during a long, aftive, life 
 had been ma/ier of bimfelf, and by that 
 means, of all others ; and, above all, eman- 
 cipated from that flavery, fuperftition ; now 
 weak and dying, fhewed a friend who came 
 in, a charm that he had on his bread : * The 
 women,* faid he, 4 have made me put on 
 this ; fee what I am come to !" Plutarch, 
 Pericles, p. 278. (II.) 
 
 LXVI. 
 
LXVL 
 
 Ttoft wh bi<!t (an /Intl. 
 
 " /^ATO propofcd the making Pompty 
 \^JL general of the fenate's army for 
 reftoring the commonwealth, and oppofed 
 him to the inundation of Csfar's ambition ; 
 4 becaufe,' faid he, * his own hath been the 
 occafion of all their prefent calamities'; he, 
 therefore,' continued Cato, * will the beft 
 know how to remedy them / and accor 
 dingly, all the hopes and fortunes of the 
 commonwealth were trufted to his manage- 
 ment." Plutarch, Pompey, p. 510. (V.) 
 
 A very precarious way of judging, in my 
 opinion, of fo great and grave a perfon ; or 
 rather jefting in earned on fo important an 
 occafion ! 
 
 He that has run out his own patrimony,- 
 is, furely ,a very improper perfon to be relied 
 on for the faving or retrieving that of the 
 public. It was faid of the emperor Charles 
 IV. that '* as he ruined his own houfe to 
 
 obtain 
 
obtain the empire ; fo, in return, he after- 
 wards ruined the empire, to re-cftablilh his 
 own houfe." Morcri* Emp. Cba. IV. 
 
 As he bought it, he thought he had a 
 right to fell it again , as a certain * member 
 of the houfe of commons faid to his con- 
 ftituents, who fcnt inftruftions to him, to aft 
 in conformity to what they thought was for 
 their intcreft : u I bought you, ye fcoun 
 drels, and, by G , I'll fell you.'* ' 
 
 LXVII. 
 
 Tact mode. TEH. ADELP. II. 4. \6. 
 
 /TTMiE next to being wife, is to keep 
 X our folly a fecret. He plays a good 
 faving game, who has juft fenfe enough to 
 keep his nonfcnfe to himfelf. 
 
 ** When I was a boy, the good old f bi- 
 fliop of Ptttrborougb, a particular frfend of 
 
 "my father, ufed to fet me between his 
 
 i 
 
 Antbonv Henley, cfq; of the Grange, father of the 
 late carl of Kortbiigton. 
 
 t Dr. Cumberland, who died in 1718, aged 86. 
 
 knees, 
 
knees, and tell me (lories , and, as I grew 
 'up a little, made me write them down, as 
 I could, from his dictating, in a paper- 
 book, he gave me for that purpofe, and 
 .bade me repeat them the next time I 
 faw him; aiding me >vhat I thought of 
 therii ? and what remarks I had inadp on 
 them ? 
 
 " I remember, among others, he bade 
 pie always hold my tongue, 'till I hac} 
 .confidered whether what I had to fay would 
 do me credit j and told ir>e this (lory : 
 
 " A lady of his acquaintance had thq 
 misfortune to have a fon, who was a natu- 
 ral fool. She was to carry him one day to 
 a relation's, where there was to be a great 
 deal of company, at a particular entertain- 
 ment. So flic bade him be furc not to talk, 
 but liften to others, and then perhaps they 
 would not find him out. He did fo, and 
 parted very well ; 'till, at latl, Ibmebody 
 who did not know him, obferving his dri- 
 velling looks, like Cymon in the fable, whif- 
 pcred, c furely, is not that young fellow a 
 fool .?* ' Mother, mother,' faid the fon, 
 $ ' may 
 
c may not I talk now ? They have found 
 
 me out." 
 
 But men of fenfe, in other refpedts, will 
 often be the trumpeters of their own folly, 
 cither from a blind fclf-love, or mere gaiety 
 of heart. 
 
 Gratlan fays, that cardinal Madruccio did 
 not call him a fool who committed a folly, 
 but him who told of it afterwards ; not one 
 who mifcarried of a folly, but who did not 
 ftrangle it as foon as born." Gratian^ Hero^ 
 c. 2. I think, for a very good reafon , at firft 
 a perfon may be furprifed into a weaknefs ; 
 there are moments when a wife man may be 
 off his guard ; but, for the other, he had 
 time to think, and recall fenfe, if there was 
 any. The Lacedemonians did not confider 
 the theft itfclf as the crime, but the want v 
 of addrels or courage to conceal it. 
 
 Yet this fecond folly of telling a firft, at 
 the fame time confelTing it ta be fucfy, 
 and to be fo under flood by the company, 
 is very frequently committed voluntarily ; 
 and that too, in order to introduce a third, 
 ftiH greater, fome filly prerogative of for- 
 tune 
 
tune or quality, which you arc to infer 
 from thefe filly round-about ways; and 
 which, at the fame time that they are to ap- 
 pear modeft and open confefllons of weak- 
 nefles in themfelves, are really infults on 
 the perfons prefent, and generally taken as 
 fuch fi (for their felf-love is at work as well 
 as your's) being indeed no more nor lefs 
 than fweetly intimating, that their fuperior 
 birth or eftate let them into thofe band/owe 
 illsf' and allowable follies, in them, fo cir* 
 cumftanccd, which .would be inexcufable 
 jn the reft of the company. 
 
 ^ Me a 
 
 Stultitiam patiuntur ofet. 
 
 Hor. Ep. I. 1 8. 29. 
 
 This is like borrowing money at four^r 
 cent, to pay off a mortgage at three. A 
 trim reckoning this ! A man commits a 
 firft folly, and fells that into a fecond, iiji 
 Order to introduce a third. 
 
 S a LXVIII. 
 
LXVIII. 
 
 Ha nut mannmfricat. E R A s .vf . A D A Q ^ 
 Put water In the pump. 
 
 IF you want to gain fomcthing of ano* 
 ther, firft of all think of fomething you 
 can make him want to gain of you ; if yoij 
 would be tickled, tickle firft, 
 
 " By G , I] love you, Mr. Cock, (faid 
 - Sir Godfrey Kneller to Cock the au&ioneerj 
 and I will do you good ; but you muft da 
 Ibmething for me too, Mr. Cock j one 
 hand can wafh the face, but two hands 
 walh one another," Pope, 
 
 " Old Jacob Tcnfon got a great many fine 
 pi&ures, and two of himfelf, from Sir God- 
 frey Kneller, by this means. Sir Godfrey 
 was very covetoiis, but then he was very 
 yain, and a great glutton ; fo he played 
 thefe paffions againft the other ; befides tel- 
 , ling him he was the greatefl mafter that 
 ever was, fending him, every now and then, 
 
 a haunch 
 
( 445 ) 
 
 a haunch of venifon, and dozens of excel- 
 lent claret. * O my G , man/ faid he 
 once to Vander Gucht, 4 this old Jacob loves 
 me ; he is a very good man j you fee he 
 loves me, he fends me good things , the ve- 
 nifon was fat.' 1 .Ditto. 
 
 " Old Gettie, the furgeon, got feveral 
 fine pictures of him too, and an excellent 
 one of himfclf ; but he had them cheaper, 
 for he gave nothing but praifes ; but then, 
 his praifes were as fat as Jacob's venifon ; 
 neither could be too fat for Sir Godfrey*" 
 Ditto. ' 
 
 [ One of the fons of this Mr. G*fo, the late a- 
 nriable Dr. William Gcekie, (firft an officer in general 
 Pepper's regiment of dragoons, when fellow of Queen's . 
 College, Cambridge* and afterwards, taking orders, 
 chaplain td archbifhop Wake, and prebendary of Can* 
 if r bury) had' fome fhare in thcfc praifes, by the fol- 
 lowing epigram ; which, however, far from being fat 
 and fulfome, is equally delicate and jufl : 
 
 i .-> 
 
 While meaner artifts labour hard to tract 
 *The outward lines and features of a face, 
 Tour magic pencil, Kneller, takes the foul \ 
 And <wbcn you paint the man, you paint him whole. 
 
 On reading it, " Send the young man to me," 
 faid Sir Godfrey " I'll give him his pitture." The 
 pi&ures above-mentioned are now at lady Head**, at 
 Canterbury, the doctor's filler.] 
 
 S 3 LXIX. 
 
LXIX. 
 
 Naturam cxptllts furca, tamen ufqut rtcurrtt. 
 
 HOR. EP. I. 10* 24. 
 
 " \A7 HEN " Zm * xm * was at thc cvc 
 
 V V of his end, and had parted through 
 all the ceremonies, and finifhed his accounts 
 with God and the world, he caft his eye on 
 the duke of Beaufort, whom he had not 
 obferved before, at the feet of his bed ; he 
 knew he faw his prefent ftate with joy, and 
 was impatient till he faw him dead , which 
 fo provoked him, that he forgot all his re- 
 fignation and charity, and cried, c Thefe 
 fellows come to fee when I fhall die ; ah ! 
 if I can but recover, I'll make them pay 
 dear for their longing for my death." Mot- 
 teviJle y Mem. PAnne d'dutricbe> C T. I. p> 121. 
 
 Which reminds me of what I heard a 
 French officer, when I was Abroad, tell of a 
 common foldier of his regiment, who was 
 mortally wounded, to whom the good ca- 
 
 puchin, 
 
puchiri, who performed thofe offices, ad- 
 miniftered the facrament , but firft he told 
 him, " he muft forgive all the world." 
 " Yes," fays the poor fellow, c I do for- 
 give all the world, but fuch a rafcal," 
 whom he named. " Ah !" fays the capu- . 
 chin, " but you muft make no exceptions, 
 and the more he hath injured you, the more 
 meritorious it .will be, to pardon him." 
 The fellow could not relifh this doftrine ; 
 but, at lad, being prefled by the good fa- 
 ther, and told he might die before he had 
 made his peace, he faid, " Ha ! mon reve- 
 rend pere, je lui pardonne done de tout mon 
 cceur^Ji je dols mourir -, mats fi le Ion Dieu me 
 fait la grace de revenir, je jure de par tous les 
 
 faints^ queje lui couperal la gorge'* 
 
 \ 
 
 " Handel fpoke out, when the prince of 
 Wales told him c he muft infift on his for* 
 giving Goupee ; he begged his royal highnefs 
 would fay no more on that fubje<5t ; for that 
 c he was a rafcal, who had abufed his friencl- 
 fhip, and, above all, had endeavoured to 
 give his royal highnefs an ill impreffion of 
 him , and that he would never forgive him, 
 even on his. death-bed/ c Come, Mr. Han- 
 ddj faid the princefs, ' I muft interpofe ; 
 84 lafk 
 
( 248 ) 
 
 I aflc it, as a favour, that you would for- 
 give him.' * Madam/ fays the honeft Saxon, 
 fince you command it, I will do it, but, 
 by G , it is impoflible/' 
 
 Human nature is always the fame, and 
 differs not, in efTentials, between the grea- 
 tcft and the meaneft, the learned and the 
 ignorant, the wife and fools. 
 
 LXX. 
 
 ome/*// an hour lefort in time t 
 
 ADDISON, CATO. 
 
 * c /^\NE of the ancient philofophers or- 
 \^/ dered, by his will, that his body 
 fhould be given to wild beads to devour, 
 that he might ftill be good for fomething to 
 the beads, as he had endeavoured in his life 
 to be to men." 
 
 " A bifhop of this age, in a difeafe from 
 which he did not expeft to recover, at Pa- 
 dua, ordered his body to be delivered to the 
 furgeons of that famous univerfity, to dif- 
 feft, for the fame reafon, that he might be 
 
 good 
 
C 
 
 good for fomething arf long as he could/* 
 St. Real, Critiq. c. 2. This is ftill better, but 
 the ancients did not allow of human dif; 
 feftions. 
 
 Lxxt. 
 
 ; - Vii .1 ' - ' ..' J_ ' ' 
 
 Doflors differ. 
 
 f< TOHN V, duke of Britanfc marrying 
 J his fon to Ifabella of Scotland^ ana 
 enquiring concerning her qualities, was af- 
 fured that Ihe did not want for beauty, and 
 was well made, fo as to be likely to have 
 children, .but that Ihe had not much learn- 
 ing, nor even knowledge of the world. 
 c So much the better/ faid the duke, c I do 
 not dcfire more fenfe in a wife, than juft to 
 know the difference between her hufband's 
 waillcoat and fhirt." Boucbet, Annal. fAyii- 
 tame. 
 
 ct The duke of Newc<ijllt y whofe wife was 
 that famous learned dutchefs, was much of 
 the duke of Britarrfs mind , for when a 
 friend complimented him on the * great 
 wifdom of his wife / * Sir,' faid the duke, 
 
 * a very 
 
( 250 ' > 
 
 a very wife woman is a very foolilh thing.'* 
 Mr. Fellows. 
 
 Learning, and parts, and all fine quali- 
 ties whatfoever, are only inftruments, and 
 according as they are applied by prudence 
 and the common fcnfe of the poflcfibr, be- 
 come ufcful or mifchicvous to himiclf or 
 others. 
 
 " The raarchionefs of Sevigni, writing to 
 the count de Buffi Rabutin, praifcs him for 
 giving his daughters learning, and not edu- 
 cating them in that grofs ignorance to which 
 others are accuftomed , for, in fine, * fay 
 what they will of the great book of the 
 world, we mud read others, to know how 
 to read that." Let. 98. 
 
 LXXII. A 
 
LXXIL 
 
 , A word in /cafe*. . Ii A I. o. 4* 
 
 etpiti cornuafera mto* . 
 
 OVID. AMOR, III. u. 6. 
 
 *' A Gentleman pretty much advanced 
 JL\ in years had been in to Dolor$ 
 Commons for a licence, and coming out full 
 of the joys this magical fcrawl, this philac- 
 tery, was to procure him , and with " his 
 brains'* (as the Eajlerns fay) " embalmed'* 
 with the foothing idea, an unlucky parrot,' 
 that hung out at one of the windows of 
 thofe chambers, cried, as he paflcd ; * Go, 
 you cuckold !' The omen fo confounded 
 thefe gay contemplations, and fo humbled 
 them at once to a calm but dufky thought- 
 fulnefs, that he determined, in the end, to' 
 make no farther life of his new acquifition.*' 
 
 What indifcretion ! to teach parrots fuch 
 foul-mouthed language in Doftors Commons 
 pf all the places in the world ! 
 
 LXXIII. Keep 
 
( =52 
 
 t 
 Keef tlem fortify in a pavilion from tie Jlrije of tongue)* 
 
 20. 
 
 * a ^rmcr ofBletfo, had his 
 eldeft fon taken violently ill of a 
 fever, which he had got by lying alohg to 
 weed on the wet ground ; unluckily for the 
 poor young fellow, there came, as in rainy 
 weather too, a great number of crows and 
 ravens about their farm-yard, which all the 
 family took for fo fure a fign that he was to 
 die, by their crying, * pork ! pork !' (which 
 thefe country people have a notion is the 
 mod like human flefh of any animal's) that 
 they faid, c it was to no manner of purpofe 
 to fend for the apothecary (to Bedford, fcven 
 miles off) to a dead man j* and fo let thfe 
 poor wretch lie * 'till it flionld pleafe God 
 to take him/ as they pioufly waited, with- 
 out any mariner of help or affiftance. At 
 lad a neighbouring clergyman riding by 
 called in : and feeing how things were, made 
 them inftantly fend away ; the apothecary 
 came ; c Good God,' faid he, ' the lad is 
 
 delirious ! 
 
delirious ! how long has he been taken ? f * 
 They very innocently informed him. * Why,' 
 faid he, < did not you have him bled ? he 
 would have done well enough.' He died. 
 This was talked of; that Lord of Bletfo's 
 eldeft fon was dead, and that he had had no 
 care taken of him, from fo abfurd a notion. 
 ' Lord' of Bletfo \ why that muft be Lord 
 St. John of Klelfo j there is no other Lord of 
 that title.* So it ran all over the country , 
 that Mr. St. John was dead, and how. 
 * Aye/ faid one, the gentiy will belie /e 
 fuch foolifli (lories often more than the 
 Icripture.' The next faid, * What a repro- 
 bate Lord St. John was, he did not believe 
 in God, and had been fo barbarous as to 
 let his eldeft fon die of a raging fever, for* 
 want of help, he that was fo rich ! f And 
 fo, the beft father, and the' beft-natured 
 man living, and who never once had the 
 leaft doubt but that every thing he had ever 
 heard of drift and the gofpel was mod in- 
 fallible truth, was traduced without his fo 
 much as ever hearing of it, as a brute of 
 unnatural cruelty, and a hardened atheift." 
 Mr. fFqlker* at Bfrtfo, July 9, 1752.. 
 
 The 
 
The moral of this ridiculous (but true) 
 ftory is, that as abfurd and unjuft as it ap- 
 pears, it is the very cafe of every fcandal, 
 that a whole room hears with attention 'and 
 complacency, and then propagates, propa- 
 gates irrevocably! the very cafe both as to 
 blunder and malice ; all the various kinds 
 and inftances have their elements ; and only 
 differ in the degrees and proportions of 
 thefe precious ingredients, with which this 
 dark (lilctto (in the hands often of not ill- 
 meaning people, but only unreflecting and 
 thoughtlefs) is poifoned. 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 \ 
 
 Decipimurfpccie. Hon. 
 
 f 4 TT is a fad (fays Si. Real) well known 
 JL in hiftory, that the Grand Signer of- 
 fered his afllftance to Henry- IV. of France^ 
 at the time he was moft prefled by the 
 league. Politicians have not been wanting 
 to themfelves, in afTigning their good rea- 
 fons for this voluntary propofal. Some 
 have attributed it to the ancient alliance of 
 France with the Ottoman empire ; others to 
 the Turks refcntment, then frefli againft 
 
 the 
 
( *55 7 
 
 the Spaniards^ for their late defeat at !/ 
 panto \ others, .again, that the king being 
 at that time a Huguenot^ he was an enemy 
 to the Pope as well as they. There was no 
 truth in all this plaufible reafoning. The 
 minifter himfelf, who fent this offer to his 
 court from Conftantinople^ declares the mo- 
 tive to have been no other, than * that 
 prince's particular averfion to the word 
 league " St. Real, Difc. i. 
 
 Thefe are the ambafiador's own words. 
 He had an idea, probably, of a certain 
 kind of combination of the great againft 
 their prince, which is what the Turkijh go- 
 vernment has moft to fear. 
 
 We fee men aft inconfiftently every day f 
 and even the wife and good do a thoufand 
 things from mere idlenefs or caprice ; and 
 yet we conftantly reafon on their aftions, as 
 if we were fure they always afted confif- 
 tently. 
 
 "'I do not kno\y what prince that was, 
 who, feeing a prieft faft afleep in a church, 
 through which he was accidentally paffing, 
 gave him a canonry, which happened to 
 
 be 
 
be then vacant, one of the moft confidera* 
 blc of that church for dignity and revenue ; 
 * that it may be faid,' (faid the king) c that 
 fortune came to him in his fleep." St. 
 Real, ib. It would have been full as well 
 if he had done it, " that he might, for the 
 future, have a warm flail to flecp in." 
 This would alfo have been a joke upon the 
 clergy, which is, ipfo faflo, wit by prcfcrip- 
 tion. However, either of thefc was a 
 jfhorter way than examining into merit. 
 
 " As a friend of mine who was in Rujfia 
 in the time of czar Peter tbc Great, and who 
 knew him very well, and was, with other 
 Eiiglifi merchants, frequently in his parties 
 of diverfion,was accompanying him through 
 the apartments, after a debauch of drinking, 
 a poor wretch happening to lie afleep in one 
 of the lobbies, the czar, in gaiety of heart, 
 drew his fabre, and, cutting off his head, 
 turned to them, and, laughing, faid, * I 
 cannot but think how that fellow will ftar 
 when he wakes, and finds his head gone." 
 
 Merit is a good pretext for approbation 
 and encouragement, but thefe are generally 
 beftowed on other qualities, that happen to 
 
 tally 
 
( . 
 
 tally With 6iif hurhours, or interefti 
 prefent accidental view, better. And fo too* 
 what appears to us to be virtue or vice in 
 another, (nay, and often in ourfelves) and* 
 perhaps, is fo ; it is not in the manner, nor 
 iirthe degree, that it appears, We are per- 
 petually liable to miftake in thefe* and 
 'what feem great virtues, if traced back to* 
 their fburces, are often only plaufible ; and " 
 great vices would admit of ftrange and 
 very great alleviations, to any that could 
 poffibly put themfelves in the very fame 
 fituation with thofe who committed them, 
 and be themfelves the criminal * 
 
 * c Can any thing be more plaufible than 
 the magnanimity of Fulvia, the wife of 
 Marc Antony y who, forgetting all her huf- 
 band's injuries and irtfults with Cleopatra* 
 in Egypt, efpoufed his caufe fo vigoroufly 
 againft Auguftus $ only that we learn, from 
 fome other cirdumftances, very authenti- 
 cally, and from an undoubted epigram of 
 
 * The fecret hiftory of Zoflntus is a perpetual lam* 
 poon on the plauilblc appearances of great adtious. 
 
 T . dugujlus 
 
Jugujlu* himfclf, * which happens unluckily 
 to be prefer vcd by Martial, that the whole 
 of this heroic zeal was not conjugal ufFec- 
 tion, conftancy, and duty, but revenge for 
 jiugujtus's having flighted her advances 
 Ibme time before, and declined paying, with 
 his perfon, in aflifting her to revenge thofc 
 infults in kind. 
 
 [ Inftead of the *//*, take it much more de- 
 cently cxprefled in 
 
 While from Us e onf or t falfe Antoniui^/V/, 
 And doatt on * Glaphyra'//<ir brighter eyet 9 
 Ful via provoked her female arti prepares, 
 Reprifaljfeekt, and fpread* for me her fnarts 
 *' Tbe bujband* s falfe /" But <why mujl I tndurt 
 *Tbh naufeous pi ague * or her revenge procure T 
 What tbo 9 Jhe ajk ! Ho*w bapty were my doom 9 
 Should all the fit/contented wi'ves of Rome 
 Jtepair to me in tro*wdsi *wbtn fcorn*d at home , 
 . , *' 'TV/ <warj' Jbe fayii *' if I refufe her charms :" 
 Let's tbinkJkii ugly trumpet t, found to arms. 
 
 Hughes.] 
 
 The poetical name for Cirkcrh, an aclrefs, of whom Antony 
 wat enamoured. Virgil confolcs Gallui for her infidelity, in the 
 IXth eclogue, uodtr the name of Lycor'u, 
 
 LXXV. Fas 
 
<t ' 
 
 ~~ Fat atqut tufa* txiguofnt tikiJitum 
 HOR.ODB I. 18. . 
 
 pcx>r never fairly forgive the rich 
 JL their conveniences and fuperiority* 
 but are fure, on every occafion where acci- 
 dent, or the prefent want thcfe may have 
 -of their more important fervice, gives them 
 an opportunity, to feize on the advantage,. 
 and exert their own pride and little tem- 
 porary boaft of power. * Lord Carpenter* 
 at a Wejlntinjler election, where both par- 
 -ties puttied and were pufhed vehemently, 
 could not prevail on four fturdy butch- 
 ers to poll as he would have them, but 
 by letting them ride in his coach, andhim- 
 felf walk at the horfes heads and lead them/ 
 Our refentmcnts do not arife from the faults 
 themfelves, but from the manner in which 
 they aflfeft us. We conceive the mofl bit- 
 ter and irreconcileable hatred, againft a man 
 who hath only put a contemptuous flight 
 upon us, though attended with no fort of 
 crime, and yet can fee a friend, whom we 
 T * fliall v 
 
( *6o ) 
 
 (hall at the fame time call our fecond -felf f 
 abufed in a moft eflential manner by a vil- 
 lain, with great coolnefs and indifference, 
 and perhaps compliment ourfelves over and 
 above with our chriftian charity and for- 
 givencfs. There is a vaft difference between 
 our fecond-felves and our firft : Proximus y 
 longo fed proximus intervallo. 
 
 " I remember going by one evening, as 
 a gentleman was difputing with a faucy fel- 
 low of a hackney coachman who demanded 
 evidently more than his fare ; people crowd- 
 ed about, and as they were prefently con- 
 vinced that the gentleman was wronged, 
 called the coachman a rafcal, and bade him 
 ' take what the gentleman offered him.' 
 c Look you there," faid the gentleman to 
 the coachman, * the very mob take my part/ 
 
 c Mob ! f cried the people, 4 d n you !' 
 
 and gave him a great blow on the head, and 
 bade the* coachman * not bate him a farthing 
 of his demand, for that it was no more than 
 his due." Mr. Ralph* 
 
 LXXVIL r/// 
 
LXXVII; 
 
 ' in Ft (turn eaufa decerh tr*l* ""/^ 
 
 r^ v.n* OVID. Awrot. III. ! iOt ' 
 
 AS fome people have the happy art of 
 repairing a fault, fo as to be more be- 
 loved than if they had never committed it* 
 fo others have as ungracious a manner even 
 of conferring or receiving civilities. 
 
 " King Charles I.'s queen had a great 
 fancy for a fine diamond, but too much mo- 
 ney being afked, fhe refufed it. The king, 
 fome time after, hearing of her liking it, 
 bought it, and coming into her dreflang- 
 room, with the fondnefs of a good-natured 
 hufband, put it down her bofom : it felt 
 cold, which made her fhrinkj on which it '' 
 fell down lower, and fo hurt her , the king 
 feeing her out of humour, told her what it 
 was. * You have done it like a fool,' faid 
 flie, as ypu do every thing elje/' Rev. 
 Mr. Maunder, 
 
 T 3 LXXVIIL Proprio 
 
f ffe > 
 
 LXXVIII. ^ 
 
 Prof no quo/am intelligent, / mtafcrtopinio, em tit** 
 , . : QjflNT, XII. 10* 
 
 * TNftead of Jnvcftigatlng the poet's own 
 JL refle&ions (fays Hurd on Horace's 4rt 
 of Poetry} the method which common fenfe 
 and common criticifm would prefcribe, the 
 \vorld hath been naufeated with infipid lee*, 
 tures on Arijlotle and Pbalareus, wliofe folid 
 fcnfe hath ^in their remarks on Horace} been 
 fo attenuated and fubtilifed by the delicate 
 operation of French critique^ as hath even 
 gone fome way towards bringing the art it- 
 fblf into dilrepute." llurd, introd, Ef. ad 
 Pifones, 
 
 This is the very thing which Warburton, 
 and this imitator of him, are doing. They 
 have introduced a new kind of criticifm, in 
 which they difcover views and purpofcs the 
 authors never had, and they themfelves ne- 
 ver believed they had, nay that they do not 
 defirr you fhould believe they had ; but. 
 confider them as the refinements of their 
 
 own 
 
own delicate conceptions 5 only taking hint* 
 from thefe authors, to fhew how much 
 higher they themfelves would have carried 
 the fame ideas, which Jthofe had ftruck out 
 indeed, but did not know how to make the 
 molt u.fe of, 
 
 Bentley began this in Afilton, and, like what 
 is faid of fome of the great writers among 
 the ancients, both began and perfected the 
 art. Warburton's difcovering ** the regula- 
 rity" of Pope's Effhy on Criticifm, ind " the 
 whole fcheme" of his Effay on Man> I happen 
 to know to be mere abfurd refinement ia 
 creating conformities, and that, from Pope 
 himfelf, though he thought fit to sdopf 
 them afterwards. 
 
 By this method of overlooking the plaint 
 and fimple meaning, which prefents itlelf at 
 firft fight (as that of good authors always 
 does, and is the end of writing, and of 
 words themfelves, only that there is no cre- 
 dit to be gained in difcovering what any 
 one elfe could difcoverV with proper talents, 
 a good deal of imagination, and more vani- 
 ty, it might clearly be (hewn that Pope's 
 of Grititifm is, indeed, an Effay on Man, 
 T4 and 
 
and his Effay pn Man was, really, defigned, , 
 by the deep author, for an.^r/ of Crjticifni, 
 I know that thefe jvould not be more f^lfe; 
 than the afiertion and fophiftry in proving 
 " the regularity" pf his Art of Critlcifm, . 
 fmce he ? when often fpeaking of it, (before. 
 he fo much as knew Warburton) fpoke of 
 it always, as an *' irregular colleftion of 
 thoughts, thrown together as they offere4 
 themfelves, as Horafe's Art pf Poetry was," 
 he faid, " and written in imitation of that 
 irregularity," which I)e even admired, and 
 faid was beautiful. 
 
 As for his Effay on Man> as I was wit- 
 nefs to tf>e whole conduft of it in writing, 
 and aftually have his original MSS. for ir, 
 from the firft fcratches of the four books, 
 to the feveral finifhed copies, (of his own 
 neat and elegant writing thcfe lalt) all which, 
 with the MS. of his Effay on Criticifm, an4 ; 
 feveral of his other yrork?, he gave ir)e him- 
 felf, for the pains I took in collating the- 
 whole with the printed editions, at his re- 
 quell, on my having propofed to 'him the 
 ! making an edition of his works in the 
 manner of Eoileatfs j" as to this noblcft of 
 his works, I know that he never dreamed 
 
of the fchcme he afterwards adopted, per- 
 haps for good reafons, for he had taken . 
 terror about the clergy, and Warlurton him* 
 felf, at the general alarm of its fatalifm, and 
 deiftical tendency, of which however we 
 talked with him (my father and I) fre- 
 quently at Twcktnbamt without his appear- 
 ing to underftand it otherwife, or ever think- 
 ing to alter thofe pafiages, which we fug- 
 gefted as what might leem the moft ex- 
 ceptionable. 
 
 Hurd's introducing his conje&ure, (far-, 
 fetched furely, and without all grounds) 
 on 'the opening of the ^fhirdGeorglc^ and the 
 ^Temple of the Mufes, which he tranfports 
 from Greece to Mantua, and his criticilm of 
 the three verfes, are a mere mimickry of 
 IVarlurton and Bentley. 
 
 What muft thefe great writers have been 
 in point of clearnefs, the firft virtue of writ- 
 ing, 'and its only end! if they have not 
 been underftood, with the attention of all 
 the men of tatye and learning, for feventeen 
 hundred years ! 
 
 Yet thefe new critics only do by prophane 
 authors, what the Romijh clergy began to 
 
 do 
 
( 266 ) 
 
 do very early by the facrcd * introducing for- 1 
 ced and far-fetched interpretations to ferve 
 their fchcmes of bigotry and power, and 
 cftablifh an hierarchy, gradually founded on 
 thefe doftrines that they afterwards did not 
 fo much as pretend were there, but boldly 
 aflerted the church's own authority and ar- 
 bitrary right .to impofe, 'till it hath at length 
 grafted, or rather entirely new-founded, the 
 mod ambitious and perfecuting fyftcm of 
 public worlhip that ever exifted, on the 
 mod fimple and humane of all religions, 
 vrtiofe corncr-ftones are humility and cha* 
 rity, and that with the text itfelf flaring 
 them in the face ! 
 
 ^ vh'WU : t 
 
 LXXIX. Fair 
 
hsV:u:t>r v , .-;>,.?:- \S^iih 
 
 LXXIX. 
 
 /Wr Decency, 
 
 Dffceudfrom keav'n to beauty** MiJ% 
 Tho* beauty may beget dejire* 
 'Tis tkou muftfan the lover's fin ; :. * ^ 
 
 For beauty^ like fuprtme dominion^ 
 
 , *c;, It beft fupported by opinion ; |t* Vf 
 
 If Decency //*/ nojupplies 9 
 Opinion failt % and beauty dies. 
 
 SWIFT, Strephon and Chloe* 
 
 **T ' > V v ( , 
 
 DECENCY fhould ever attend on all 
 'our other qualities, however excel- 
 lent, to make them amiable and refpefted, 
 as the decent Graces always waited onfenjts. 
 Uor. O. I. 4. 6. 
 
 There is in every thing (or ought to be^ 
 for every thing is capable of it) a certain 
 elegance, a delicacy, a neatnefs, a polifli, that 
 can alone make it agreeable , and cannot 
 fubfift, or be preferved, without a certain 
 degree of attention , which, far from a con- 
 ftraint, for this would defeat its own pur- 
 pofe, toi'tholc whofe lucky form of mind" 
 
 v > and 
 
and perfon is meant by nature to engage, 
 will be unfought and cafy. 
 
 The fame is above all in love, and mod , 
 in decent married love, in friendfhip, in 
 relations, from mailer to fervant, in all 
 connexions between man and man. 
 
 But we arc liable, from the very lazinefs 
 and indolence of our nature, to fall into a 
 certain careleflhefs, and habitual inatten- 
 tion, which,' by degrees, degenerates into a 
 familiarity, and treating thofe we are per- 
 petually with as ourfclves, which never 
 fails of producing a difregard that borders 
 very nearly on contempt ; not that we de- 
 fpifc ourfclves for \vhat we arc fo over-well 
 acquainted with, but we fliall infallibly 
 lofe our refpeft for others for the fame, 
 and fhall as furely lofe that of others for 
 us. 
 
 Do not we fee, that a muzzy fellow, who 
 has nothing in him, fhall conftantly gain a 
 fort of refpeft, and an opinion of wifdom, 
 only from his miftaking himfelf firft to be 
 wife ; and then, in confequence of that opi- 
 nion of his, by aifefting a grave and folemn 
 ;><*.." deportment 
 

 
 deportment and micrt, (which is the more 
 impofing, as it. comes from the heart, and 
 is the effeft of his own conviftion firft) fe- 
 duce others to fuppofe there is fomething 
 more than they fee, and, in time, begin to 
 fee fomething more than there is, that war* 
 rants his own, and the opinion he hath, by 
 this flow and fure method, cajoled others 
 into. 
 
 <c Juft fuch a one was Hugh Hoivard, 
 who, by means of his name, and affefting 
 to be of the Norfolk family, a fmall eftate 
 of a' gentleman, a folemn air, and flow dif- 
 courfe, with a very moderate fmattering of 
 polite knowledge, covered fo well an ex- 
 treme ignorance and illiteracy, that he ea- 
 fily pafled for a leading virtuofo with the 
 nobility, and was even enough confidered 
 as a fcholar by Benthy himfelf, to make ufe 
 of his negociation with Tonfon, which pro- 
 duced that precious edition of his of 
 Mlton.". 
 
 f But was not Bentley himfelf a glaring 
 inftance of the effcft of a fteady fupercilious 
 air of learning, that, affuming all to itfelf, 
 received all from others ? which could ne- 
 ver 
 
vcr have been effcftually brought about, 
 but from being firft himfelf perfuaded of 
 what he would perfuade them-, and would 
 have carried it all his life, if he had kept 
 to his Greek and Latin ; but, unhappily, 
 his emptinefs, wantonly becoming familiar, 
 in EngHJb, courted the contempt " it met 
 with , and even though many of thofe who 
 had been fo long feduced, flickered them- 
 felves under the ftilUimpofing mafk of 
 
 . learned dulnefs, and grave foppery, the 
 .mod nauleous of all foppery ! as Dr. M 
 told me, c he muft needs confefs, his old 
 friend had failed in A////0tf, but was an ex- 
 cellent critic in the learned languages. 
 c Such/ faid I, c doftor, as I always told 
 you I thought him there y and you now find . 
 .him here \ and, depend upon it, doftor, a 
 man that is a fool in EngliJI^ will never be 
 
 .a wit in Creek and Latin" But 
 
 Dulnefs is f acred in a grave divine 
 
 Pope. 
 
 
 
 
 and, in proportion, in all other grave charac- 
 crs. To gain rcfpeft, be grave. A merry 
 fellow, let him have what qualities lie will, 
 may be loved, but never relpeded ; whereas 
 -a grave fellow, without one valuable quality, 
 
 and 
 
and who even poflcfles the leaft what he moft 
 pretends to, provided he is in carneft him* 
 felf, (for 
 
 Si vis mtflere, dohndum tft 
 
 Prlmum ifjt tibi-* ffor.J 
 
 will certainly pick up fools enough that, 
 will refpedt him, and his good fober empty 
 fehfe , and thofe who fee through him will 
 be borne down by numbers, and their pro- 
 teft appear envy. Be grave, if your point 
 be refpelt. Do not we fee, that even the 
 men of the greateft real abilities, and em- 
 ployed in the mod important affairs,- nay, 
 and who are the mod ftraitencd for time, 
 are yet obliged to the farce of gravity, and 
 to be conveyed to Weftminjler as flowly as 
 their horfes can drag them ? Confider how 
 few people dare truft themfelves, or are ca- 
 pable of thinking for themfelves ; and, of 
 . thofe few, how very few have'refolution to 
 oppofe or contradift the torrent of opinion, 
 or are not really lulled by that moft epide-* 
 mical diftemper, even to human nature it> 
 felf, lazhiefs. 
 
 Appearance bribes the imagination, which 
 hath a itrange influence on, and violently 
 
 prepof- 
 
prcpoflcfles the judgment. Gravity is wif- 
 dom's appearance, and very ftage-drcfsi and 
 if it has juft fenfe enough to keep its own 
 counfel, and not become wanton with fuc- 
 cefs, will maintain its firft hold a long time ; 
 and, without much merit, will mutter with 
 what it reprefcnts ; whereas the moil learned 
 and upright judge' would obtain no refped 
 to his perlon and qualities, if he was to fit 
 on the bench in his waiftcoat and night-cap. 
 But if gravity alone, which is a baftard de- 
 cency, can acquire, and for fome time fup- 
 port, refpect, what will the true, when the 
 genuine eflfcft of fenfe and virtue ! 
 
 And if this is found in the perfon and real 
 and unblcmilhed worth of a fincere chri* 
 ftian, on principle and felf-eftablifhed con- 
 viftion, void of fuperfticion ; with the mi/is 
 fapicntia of that charming charafter ; fuch 
 is the height of what human nature can 
 at prefent attain ; and fuch can no more fail 
 of refpedl, nay, a fhadow of the only au- 
 thentic relpect we feel for God himfelf, than 
 the real body can do of its lhadow ; as fuch 
 would be a godlike man. 
 
 LXXX. Dt* 
 
LXXX. I 
 
 Dttraltrt W pdlem, nitidtu qua quifqut per tr* 
 Cedtret.* 
 
 Ho R. SAT. II. i. 
 
 RE AT atchievements and rich robes 
 VJT cover the man, but do not lofe him, 
 either to himfelf, or his own natural qua- 
 lities. 
 
 They are not always the moft important, 
 and the moft ufeful fervices, that are the 
 moft acceptable, and the beft rewarded; 
 thofe which humour the little but intimate 
 paflions, which are indeed the man, are 
 more grateful often than thofe which ho- 
 nour, and aggrandife the king; for let a 
 king be as much king as lie will, he is ftill 
 more a man. Befides that thefe are accom- 
 panied with, and are encumbered by, no jea- 
 loufies, either in point of glory or lafety. 
 Thofe great and confpicuous actions (hew 
 fair and glaring on the great ftage, the kfler 
 commonly move the firings behind the 
 fcenes. 
 
 U In 
 
I 74 ) 
 
 In like manner, we arc hot to judge 
 of the man by the moft confiderable ac- 
 tions*; in thefe he is in his ftage-drefs, 
 ?ind confiders the world as obferving every 
 word and gefture ; but they are thofe words 
 and aftions he thinks none fee or hear, ?md 
 when he is gone behind the fcene ; and for 
 the fame reafon they are no more the moft 
 important people who are the judges of the 
 man, bvit his fervants, and thofe \yho note 
 him when he fuppofes none obfervc, an4 
 therefore is quite off his guard ; 
 
 JVbofee, when he isfeen leaft wife. 
 
 Milton, P. L. VIII. 578. 
 
 Thcfe, if they have fkill and obfervation,fee 
 the greateft perfonagcs, and thofe whom the 
 world moft confiders, undrettcd and 'making 
 ducks and drakes.' Hor.S. II. i. 71. Roche- 
 faucault fays, fomewhcre^ that a c gre^t mai) 
 has nobody to fear fo much, for his charac- 
 ter, as his valet-de-chambrc. 1 The more he 
 winds himfclf up and (trains the chords for 
 the public, the more he lets himfelf down ; 
 as I have been allured that " Prior, after 
 
 * Unt bought 9f frailties cleat us in ihewfe. 
 
 Pofe> Ef. to lord Colham, I a8. 
 
 having 
 
( 2 75 
 
 having fpcht the evening with Oxford^ BoKng- 
 h'oktt Pope, and Swift, would go and fmoke 
 a pipe, and drink a bottle of ale, with a 
 common foldier and his wife in Long-Acre^ 
 before he went to bed;' 1 not from any re- 
 mains of the lo.wnefs of his original, as one 
 faid j but, I fuppofe, that his faculties 
 
 Strain'J to 
 In that celejlial colloquy fublime, 
 pazzlcd andfptnt) funk down and fought repair* 
 
 Milton, P. L. VIII. 454. 
 
 for men cannot hold always on the flretrh ; 
 and I have heard that " Turenne^ after his 
 great fatigues >nd hurry of fpirits in thofc 
 vaft affairs he had the condudt of, would 
 fettle himfclf to reft by the interpofition of 
 the trifling and empty amufemcnt of a filly 
 novel before he got into bed, or elfe h$ 
 coujd not fleep. >? ". . 
 
 < I have often heard my father Scavola 
 tell, (fays the orator Crqflus in Ci$ero) that 
 his father-in-law L*Iius ufed commonly to 
 go into the country with Scipio ; and that 
 there thefe great men would become as it 
 were children again, in thofe recefles to 
 which they had made their cfcape from the 
 U 2 city 
 
city as from a prifon, I dare not fay it of 
 fuch men, byt yet Sctvola affirmed, that they 
 would ramble on the Baian Ihore, and gather. 
 ing flates and oyftcr-fhclls, would .unbend in 
 plays that credulity itfelf would hardly be- 
 Jieve," Cicero dt Oratore, II, 
 
 " I have heard the like of Oliver Crom* 
 ivellj who, when proteftor of the common- 
 wealth of England, would play .at romps with 
 his guelts, and, that in the fullies of their bot 
 dily wit, they would fling cufhions and car- 
 pets at one another." Sir Tbowas. Franklan^ 
 and Mrs. Hendyjj^ liis grand-daughter"^, 
 
 Men love to be idle, or to have it in their 
 power to be fo when they will, without ret 
 proaching themfclves, or being reproached 
 by others, Idl^ncfs is a firft principle iq 
 our very nature , we never quit it but by 
 feme force or other, ^nd are contented to 
 fubmlt to fome uneafinefs to avoid a greater, 
 Thcfe great characters, and thofe peopl? 
 \vhom we honour, and are even obliged to, 
 are a fort of bufinefs to us, and the heavier^ 
 as they degrade us with ourfelves. \Ve ne- 
 
 . [ Sec her charaflcr, by Mr. Say, in Hughft Ctr* 
 > acne f 9 vol. II.] 
 
 vcr 
 
vcf cdn quite like thofc who da fo, though 
 we are afhamed to own it, often even to our- 
 fclvcs, bccaufe this dill degrades us more 
 in our own opinion, which felf-love will 
 either keep up, or be out pf humour with 
 that merit which will not fuffer it. Whatevef 
 we may think ourfclves, we never finccrcly 
 forgive others their fuperiority over us, in 
 any kind ; and occafion will always fhew it 
 to thofe who can fee. 
 
 Other people's virtues of accomplifh* 
 ments may make us admire and even efteeni 
 and honour them; but our good will and 
 affedtion will be more likely obtained by 
 fome weak aftiori or misfortune of fuch. 
 We are charmed with thofc little involun* 
 tary compliments our friends make our va* 
 nity or envy , for we have great refolution 
 In bearing our friends follies and fu(Ferings f 
 and we are not forry to fee thofe we mod 
 value come down to us a little now and 
 then. The general opinion of Ariflidef* pro 
 bity hurt thofe very people who mod ad- 
 mired it, and moil enjoyed the good effedls 
 of it. Whatever other conveniences, the 
 pride, which we, never defert,' or its rights, 
 fuffercd more in proportion. 
 
 ,U, When 
 
( 278 ) 
 
 When a great man, who hath been long 
 envied, and thence hated, though admired, 
 happens to fuffer fome fevere afflifbion, it at 
 once reconciles his very enemies, by mov- 
 ing their companion, which is a fort of re- 
 Ipeftful contempt. " Pericles, whofe great* 
 nefs the Athenians hated, only becaufe it put 
 in evidence the littlends of every one of 
 them, though it was all applied to their be- 
 nefit, became their darling on the death of 
 his laft fon ; at whofe funeral he loft all his 
 former fuperiority of foul, and appeared to 
 them with the fame weaknefs and paflionj 
 as thcmfelves." Plutarch^ Pericles. 
 
 Our mutual wants and misfortunes, to 
 which all conditions arc liable, keep us in 
 humour pretty tolerably with one another. 
 
 mutuo t/emut miferi t dim alii* alii fotutffemut 
 ^ Curt. V. 5. 12. 
 
 LXXXI. r/> 
 
C 
 
 i,xxXi. 
 
 ;v x Fix cn&rt pofft* 
 fill wnjtt amicm* ^ > 
 
 HOR. S. I. 2. 29. 
 
 HENRY d* la tour frOliergM^ vifcount 
 TurennCy marlhal of France^ married, by 
 Henry IV.'s procurement, Charlotte de la 
 A/flr,dutchefsof Bottitlon^nd fovereigh prin- 
 * cefs of Sedan, iii whofe right thefc titles and 
 fovereignties entered into his family, though 
 he had no children by her ; and, indeed, he 
 feems, by the ftory, to have been more con.' 
 cerned for glory than pofterity, fince he 
 chofe to celebrate his wedding-night, by 
 taking the fortrefs of Stenai by ftorm^ having 
 before made his difpofitions, afid prepared 
 every thing for this purpofe, he privily, 
 quitted the bride and all the company, 
 who, with great anxiety, waited his return, 
 aftonifhed at fo ftrange an accident, and ab- 
 folutely at a lofs to know what was become 
 of him , 'till they were informed, by the 
 fuccefs of a moft furious aflfault and fire, 
 U 4 that 
 
\ 
 
 that he had been where they would leaft 
 have thought to have looked for him." 
 Voltaire^ not. Henriad. cant. VIII. v. 99. 
 
 Heroes aft in a fuperior fphere to the 
 reft of the world ; their reafon is not like 
 the reafon of others, and their conceptions 
 1 are above the flight of ordinary men. Such 
 alfo was thr^t of the Brandenburg worthy, 
 recorded by the king of PruJ/ia, in his 
 c< Memoirs of his own family ;" who, be- 
 ing famous for his military atchievements > 
 fcorned the foft and over-effeminate cuflom 
 of the generality of mankind, who are 
 wont to plod on in the common track, and 
 do juft as their fathers had done ; but he, 
 having married the moft beautiful princefs 
 of the age, went to bed to her, on his 
 wedding-night, armed completely in fteel, 
 Memoirs of Brandenburg. 
 
 Sir Thomas Hamner's wearing a pair of 
 white gloves, on the like occafion, was but 
 a faint copy of this heroic politenefs. Sec 
 Hcrvtfs Letter." 
 
 LXXXIL for 
 
( 281 ) 
 
 LXXXII. : V. : \^i 
 
 ,-'-.- J. 9 ,-V5_' 
 
 For who would hfe, 
 
 Vhoughfull of pain, this intelleflual Icing, 
 *Thofe thoughts that wander through eternity ) -, 
 70 perijh rather ', t /kvalto e w'a t up and loft 
 In the wide womb of uncreated night t 
 Devoid offenfe and motion f ' 
 
 MILT. P. L. II. 1461 
 
 S Elf-love, and idle fondnefs of life, (with 
 whofe enjoyments, however^ we are per- 
 petually quarrelling, and all along hurrying 
 away, and fhuffling off, as faft as poflible, 
 and by all the means we can invent, in or- 
 der to get at the next impatient moment) 
 has not only fuggefted a future ftate, in 
 thofe whofe darknefs> for want of revelation, 
 made it not only entirely precarious, but 
 abfolutely void of all proof-, but has ac- 
 cordingly put thofe of them, who had 
 power, upon fchemcs of lengthening out 
 their date of tyranny, - and feizing upon 
 goods and fervants for this pretended pofl> 
 humous world, and making provifion, in 
 their own manner, for a life of their own 
 
 creating. 
 
 As 
 
( 282 ) 
 
 As they took it for granted that they 
 fhould have the fame paflions and enjoy* 
 ments in this new world to which they had 
 been ufed in the old, they took care be- 
 times to prepare wherewithall not only to fa- 
 tisfy thele , and at their burial had all forts 
 of provifions and houfliold furniture, that 
 they had been the moft fond of, flung into 
 their grave, or on their funeral pile, after 
 them -, but even their wives, fervants, and 
 friends. Virg. &n. VI. 653. 
 
 Julius Cafar fays, " The Gauls, their kings 
 and chiefs, had a chofen number of thofe 
 whom they, from the occafion, called their 
 devoted friends, to whom they communicated 
 all their own advantages and fuperiority in 
 life, fo as that they enjoyed all in common 
 .with themfclves, on the condition of de- 
 fending them from all misfortunes, or fuf- 
 fering them together ; and at their deaths 
 to accompany them on the fame terms into 
 die other world/* C*far, B. Gal. III. 22. 
 
 Vol. Maximus fays the fame of the C*///-. 
 lerians y and Plutarch of " the Spaniards, 
 among whom this pofthumous fidelity was 
 called ' making themfelves a libation/ which 
 
 they 
 
I 283 ) 
 
 they thus poured on the facrifice, of which 
 their royal friend was the viftim;" Plutarch, 
 Sertorius, (V.) p. 208. 
 
 " Sextus Pacuvius devoted himfelf, in this 
 manner, to Auguflu* in full fenate, and cal- 
 led upon all the reft to do the fame ; which 
 piece of fervile flattery adtually took with ' - 
 fo great a man as Auguftus" Dion. jL.LJII v 
 This cuftom is pradifed at this day in ma* 
 ny parts of the Eaft and Wtjt Indies. 
 
 " St. Paul, by a fine allufion, calls him- ' 
 felf fuch, in regard of his great mafter, 
 when he zealoufly exhorts Timothy, and the 
 reft of the teachers, to purfue what he 
 had hitherto fo ardently perfifted in : For 
 my part/ fays the apoftle, c I am become 
 a libation, and am aftiially pouring out on 
 the facrifice, of which my mafter was the 
 viftim. 1 'y -yap S&i ffTrbfopeU) that is to fay, his 
 miniftry was drawing near an end with his 
 life." II Tim. 4. 6. This is the beautiful 
 meaning of that fine text of which the fu- 
 preme eleganceand juftnefs are utterly loft - 
 to thofe who cannot fee the image and 
 beautiful allufion, for want of knowing this 
 ancient cuftom, which, at the time St. Paul 
 wrote, was familiar to every one. 
 
 LXXXIII. DuMs 
 
LXXXIIL 
 
 Outfit intxptrti* *ltur* p*tentit amiti j 
 
 Expert us mttuit. :.*l-;\\*'' >1 
 
 HOR. EP. I. 18. 86, 
 
 " T YSIMACHUS being in high good 
 JLy humour with the comedian Philip- 
 fides, afked him, c What prefent he fhould 
 make him ? What, of all that was in his 
 power, hie fhould beftow on him ? f c Any 
 -thing your majefty pleafes,' faid Philip- 
 fides, c but your fecret." Pint, dpoth. 
 
 It is a dreadful thing for a little man to 
 have a great one in his power, becaufe it is 
 a dreadful thing for a great man to be in 
 the power of a little one. " Cardinal 
 Richelieu having remarked, after Boijrolert 
 (a gentleman of wit, who ufed to divert 
 him after his fatigues) was gone from his 
 cabinet, that there had laii) open on the 
 table a certain treaty of great importance, 
 fent immediately after him, had him ar- 
 refted, and clapped up in the Bajlile for fe- 
 veral months, without feeing a human crea- 
 ture, 
 
tare, 'till this affair was concluded, and then 
 feht for him, and made him his excufes: 
 Bolfrobert protefted ' he had never feen the 
 paper.' ' I believed fo,' faid the minifter, 
 * and was even pretty fure of it, but I was 
 not quite fure." My father. 
 
 u Hero* king of Syracufe^ faid, c It was 
 
 doing a friend an injury, to reveal his fecret 
 
 to him, for he put him in great danger of 
 
 being, fome time or other, either hated, or 
 
 feared, or both, for it." Plut.Apotb. A per- 
 
 fon lets himfelf into this fecret, who offici- 
 
 pufly acquaints us of a calumny he has 
 
 heard of us. We naturally diflike thofe 
 
 who tell us bad news, but befides we con- 
 
 fidcr fuch for the future as confcious of this 
 
 Reproach, and perhaps believing and fo 
 
 fpreading it, efpecially if we do not take 
 
 care to keep well with them. 
 
 LXXXIV. 
 
286 ) 
 
 .IXXX1V. 
 
 * c /TpHEODORIC, king of the OJlro- 
 JL gotbs, in Italy y cut off a poor fel- 
 low's head, for coming over to his own 
 perfuafion, which was Avian ; c for,' faid he,' 
 * if you do not keep your faith with God, 
 how can I expedt you Ihould keep it with 
 me ?' Perhaps he was only Arian as king, 
 as Henry IV. of France was a papift, who, 
 when one of his party turned papift too, 
 afked him, * what made him turn ?' * I 
 could not follow a better example,' faid 
 thtf courtier, c than your majefty.' Fool ! f 
 faid the king, ' have you a crown for it ?" 
 Mtnreri. 
 
 William' Rufus forced fome Jews, who 
 had been converted, to turn Jwvs again ; 
 but he did this to keep his word, like an 
 honeft man, with the reft of the Jews, 
 whom he had promifed to make their bre- 
 thren return to them, for a fum of money." 
 Rapin> from Eadmcr^ a contemporary author. 
 
 B 7 
 
By the way, Henry reafoned well enough 
 for a king, perhaps, in what he faid to his 
 lord ; but, in efteft, this lord might have 
 35 ample a reward for his convcrfion as his 
 king, in proportion to his fphcre ; and fa 
 too of thofe in whatever rank, who venture 
 their lives in the quarrels of kings ; in re- 
 ality, they no more facrifice themfelves to 
 the ambition of thefe, than the kings facri- 
 fice themfelves to the liberties, or glory, of 
 their fubjefts. Both alike ferve themfelves ; 
 .they equally and mutually ftand in need of 
 the other's afliftance; they each find their 
 p>yn account, and have no other view. 
 
 LXXXV, 
 
 TGI KOTO. crwrl* fact. 
 
 CALLIMACH, Epig. I, 
 
 * 
 
 ing <witb grea tlj inferiors is IHt/uing a beggar. 
 
 great earl of Peterborough, who 
 had much fenfe, much wit, and 
 much whim, leaped out of his chariot one 
 day,- on feeing a dancing-mafter, with 
 jpearl-coloured filk ftockings, lightly ftep- 
 
 ping 
 
^>lng ovef the broad (tones, and picking his 
 way in extreme dirty weather, and ran after 
 him, (who foon took to his heels) with his 
 drawn fword, in order to drive him into 
 the mud ; but into which he, of courfe, 
 followed him himfelf." The dancing- ma- 
 fter (whofe (tage-drefs was this fprucenefs) 
 had, indeed, (hewn as much good judg- 
 ment in his (tation, in avoiding the mud, 
 as my lord did a bad one in his, in running 
 into it. On the contrary, difputing with a 
 vaftly fuperior, is as imprudent in another 
 light; as " he well (aw, who gave up his 
 rigbtncfs in the argument to duguftus's 
 wrongnefs, c becaufe,* fays he, c I will not 
 contend with a man who can call forty le- 
 gions to prove him in the right." 
 
 LXXXVL 
 
 O*/ iu6i<I</ rtDf,/urf> be frightful when nt's Jeait. 
 
 POPE. 
 
 ** A Lady's beauty is dear to her in 
 
 jtJL whatever fituation,' fays St. Evre- 
 
 monJ y 'even in ficknefs ; and if her', fickncfs 
 
 is fuch as to occafion her death, her lad 
 
 groan 
 
I 289, ) 
 
 groan will not be fo much for the lofing her 
 life as her beauty." 
 
 " Mrs. Burnti, daughter of dean Stan- 
 lope J 1 ' was a lovely woman : when fhe died, 
 worn out with a long and .painful ficknefs, 
 in .her laft faintings, as they rubbed her 
 temples with Hungary water 9 Hie begged 
 them not; for c that it would make her hair 
 grey." Lady Lucy. 
 
 * Mifs Stanhope* equally diflinguiflied for her beauty, 
 wit, good-humour, finging, &c. ufed to be frequently 
 at lady Lucy's, when my father flipped, for many 
 years, every Friday with Sir Berkeley* at which time 
 lie paid her a tranfitory poetical compliment, entitled 
 Jiy a married man. She afterwards married bilhop 
 Jlurnef's cldeil fon, who fell in love with her. It was 
 a very advantageous match for her, and he a molt 
 agreeable and worthy man ; but fhe, having a prior 
 attachment, which could by no means take place, 
 pined in thought, and died. 
 
 X LXXXVII. 
 
LXXXVII. 
 
 Jftkt Lord wtrt flenfed to kill uj, hi *wou!tl not lav* 
 . rtcti'vtd a turnt offering and a meat-offering at our 
 ' bandi.' JUDGES, 13.23. 
 
 AS di'd that foolifh tyrant, James II, 
 who had the unfeeling cruelty to re* 
 ccive his nephew, the poor duke of Mon- 
 mouthy at his feet, when condemned to death ; 
 and then, after hearing his fubmiffion and 
 'Applications, to fend him away to be be- 
 headed: which barbarous abfurdity, per- 
 haps, coft him his crown; for if Monmoutb 
 had been living, there would have been a 
 party, which could never have been flrong 
 enough to have hurt Jatues 9 but would have. 
 fo divided the intereft of William, that he 
 could not have made any confiderable fi- 
 gure, nor would probably have attempted 
 an invafion. 
 
 LXXXVIII. 
 
LXXXVIII, 
 
 ' Prokfovior enft 
 Parcendi rabitt /> 
 
 CLAUD* in RUF!N, I. 
 
 < TY THEN felons, in queen Anne** war; 
 V V were pardoned for tranfportation, 
 ancl fent to Flanders for recrijits, the duke 
 of Marlborough ufed to fay, c Why did they 
 not hang them at home ? They only give 
 me the trouble to do it here." 
 
 I do not know whether lord chief jufticef 
 Raymond's maxim (and he was a very good* 
 natured man) was not the bell, * Never {o 
 pardon a firft offence at all/ for rogues cer* 
 tainly never correft themfelvesj partly be* 
 caufe it is their natural bent ; and becaufe in- 
 deed when they are once in this courfe, they 
 cannot get out, as having now no other em* 
 ployment, nor being able to get into any* 
 as they have loft their character, and what 
 is, if poflible, ftill more irrecoverable, be- 
 X 2 ing 
 
t 19* ) 
 
 ing out of the train of induftry, and the fet 
 of people who could bring them into it 
 again. But then mercy, as it is called, hath 
 this cruel effeft, that the almoft certain 
 hope of being pardoned the firft crime, 
 draws in numbers of the unwary to com- 
 mit fuch, as promifing themfelves fecurity 
 for that ; whereas, without this decoy they 
 Plight have been terrified from the approach 
 to a wretched crooked-lane, a culde fac^ that 
 has a tempting entrance, but no exit at all. 
 
 Perhaps this moft plaufible cfuality, that 
 we call mercy, might, upon a drift and 
 accurate fcrutiny, come out a fplendid vice ; 
 and would be found to be only the turning 
 loofe a parcel of rafcals to prey a little 
 longer on the innocent and induftrious. 
 All that can be indeed reafonable in this 
 dazzling notion of mercy, which is the par* 
 doning a criminal, and giving him an oppor- 
 tunity 'to repent and become an ufeful mem- 
 ber of the fociety, inftead of cutting him 
 off at once, is, and can be, only built on 
 fome favourable circumflances that make 
 fuch his future condudt likely ; but this is 
 not mercy, it is jufticc, it is what he has 
 a right to ; if there are no fuch, what we 
 
 are 
 
are pleafed to give out for mercy, is a mere 
 ungrounded and arbitrary partiality, and an 
 unwarrantable indulgence of our own child- % 
 Sfh compaffion ; or fife of our vanity, to 
 obtain a character of good-nature and hu- 
 manity, at the expence of the public, whom 
 we expofe to a fort of decimation, and to 
 take their chance wherever the criminal's 
 next malignity or want may happen to 
 light; fuch mercy is on the fame footing 
 and principle as the fparing a mad dog, 
 which it is the intereft, and right, of a whole 
 village or town to have knocked on the 
 head. : v. 
 
 
 
 " King Charles II. pardoned a man of 
 quality, who had killed his antagonift 
 in a duel, bafely , this was the aftion of a 
 mild and merciful prince, and he was 
 praifed accordingly for this ' mod Ihining 
 jewel in his crown.' Some time after, this 
 fame perfon having murdered another, lord 
 Rocbefter faid to him , 4 It was not my 
 lord , but your majtfty, that killed thi^ 
 man." My father. 'V 
 
 i X 3 LXXXIX. 
 
J.XXXIX, '; ; 
 
 f7/<* w* rfdifle priori, 
 
 HOR, Ep.'L y. 
 
 f< T\/T R ' ** w ^ -palling' by one day, 4 
 iVJL porter refting himfelf, with his 
 load by him, groaned aloud, and c wifhed 
 he had five hundred pounds.' * Why,' fays 
 fempeft) f I will give you five hundred 
 pounds, and now what will you do with it? 1 
 f Oh,' fays the porter, * I will foon tell you 
 what I will do with it : pirft, I will have a 
 pint of ale, and a foaft and nutmeg, every 
 morning for my breakfaft.' ' Well, and 
 what time will you get up ?' c Oh, I have 
 been ufed to be up at five or fix o'clock, fo 
 I will do that now,' * Well, what will you 
 do after breakfaft ?' '* Why, I will fetch a 
 walk till dinner.' * And what will you have 
 for dinner?' * Why, I will have a good 
 dinner-, I will have good roaft and boiled 
 beef, and feme carrots and greens and I 
 will have a full pot every day and then I 
 will fmoke a pipe/ * Well, and then, per- 
 haps you will take a nap.' * May be I 
 
 may 
 
I will not take a nap'; I will 
 fetch another walk 'till fupper/ 'Well, 
 and what wilL you have for fupper?' c -Why, 
 I do not know I will have more beef, if 
 I am a hungry ; or elfe I will have a /PcIJb 
 rabbit, and another full pot of beer/ 
 4 Well, and then ?' .' Why then I will go 
 to bed, to be lure.'- * Well, but will not you 
 
 have a wife too ? f * Oh, d n it, mafter, 
 
 I have got one.' * Pray how much now 
 may you earn a week by your bufmefs ?' 
 * Why, matter, I can make you eighteen 
 fhillings a week/ 4 Why, will not you be 
 tired now, do you think, after a little while, 
 in xloing nothing every day ?' * Why, I do 
 not know, mafter, I have been thinking 
 fo/ 4 Well then, let me propofe a fcheme 
 to you/ * With all my heart, mafter/ 
 c ,Why, you can do all this every day, as 
 you are, and employ your time into the 
 bargain. * Why, really fo I can, mafter, 
 I think, and fo take your 500!. again, and 
 thank you/' 
 
 This honeft fellow (who was much wifer 
 
 .than Pyrrhus on a like occafion) determined^ 
 
 as I believe would for the moft part b6 
 
 done, if people were carefully and unbi- 
 
 X 4 affed 
 
afled to weigh on both fid^s. They would 
 find that providence was their beift friend, 
 in not ciirfing their fhort-fighted fchemes 
 with compliance; as Jupiter, in that fine 
 fable, did Semele, who faw Jier wifh in onq 
 view only, but did not confider that thq 
 f bright inflamed embrace* which was only 
 the c glow of divine pafllon' for a goddefs, 
 (which her fond lover tempered as much as 
 poflible to her bearing) would fcorch up 
 A mortal to a cinder. Ovid. Met. 
 
 XC. 
 
 Quid dc quo jut <viro 9 et cut dica*if<epe <uideto* ", '; 
 HOR, EP, I. 18'. 68. 
 
 OLOMON advifes us, c Not;, to curfcr 
 the king in the hearing of the fowls of 
 the air-/ (Ecclef. X. 20.) and Marcus An- 
 toninus fays, 4 We Ihould not blr^me the 
 adtions of the great, even in our own hear* 
 ing/ (Rcflett. VIII.) Thefeto beflire; but 
 ' it is ridiculous to make an enemy, at any 
 rate, wantonly, and in gaiety of heart, be. 
 caufe there is no man fo infignlficant at pre- 
 fcnt, but may come, by the frequent rota- 
 
tion, and tofs of things, to be a moft ufe* 
 ful friend, or pernicious ehcmy , none ever 
 repented the not having made a fevere joke 
 on another, but thoqfands and thoufands 
 have, and bitterly, the having made fuch, 
 where they little dreamed, at the time, of 
 ever hearing of it again. They often hap-4 
 pen unluckily too in a private party, as one 
 may call it, of raillery ; for want of know- 
 ing the whole of the company, efpccially if 
 a large one, and what connexions may hap- 
 pen to be among them. 
 
 
 
 *! When the famous Grotius was ambaf* 
 fador .in France, from Cbriftina queen of 
 Sweden, his lady, who was a woman of in- 
 finite merit,* happening to be very large of 
 perfon, a young fellow of quality feeing her 
 in the circle, and not knowing her, turned 
 to another young gentleman who ftood next 
 him, and afked him, c If he knew w}io that 
 great Flanders mare was ?' * Yes, Sir,* faid 
 he, 4 it is madame the ambafladrefs of Swe- 
 den, and my mother." My father. The 
 
 ftory of Sir Samuel Garth's blunder upon 
 blunder of this kind is well kaown. 
 
 * Seep. 155. 
 
c A famous Sfanifh preacher, making the 
 clogy of St. Rocb on his feftival, at this 
 faint's great church at Cadiz, in prefence of 
 a great number of French officers, as well as 
 the conful and merchants of that nation, af- 
 ter having laid himfelf out in the moft ex* 
 travagant and romantic praifes of his fub- 
 jedt, to a crowded audience of the firft dif- 
 tindtion, as well natives as foreigners, and 
 quite exhaufted all his eloquence, clofed thd 
 whole with this apoftrophe to his hearers; 
 * Yes, gentlemen, all that I have been fay- 
 ing to you in honour of this great faint, 
 and whatever I could ft ill add, is fo infi- 
 nitely beneath his merits, that I could not 
 hefitate a moment to place him at the left 
 hand (the place of honour in Spain) of the . 
 incomparable St. Jago, our glorious apoftle 
 and patron (that is to fay, above all the 
 other faints in paradife) but that, by a mis- 
 fortune that is altogether irreparable, he 
 was born igavaclo* (that is, a fcoundrel) of 
 a Frenchman. Let us humbly thank God, 
 that he hath vouchfafed us the honour to be . 
 born Spaniards." UAtoat. Voy. T. 1. p. 378. 
 
 Of the contemptuous import of this word, fee 
 'fj's Spanijb Ditfionarj, and UAbbat. Voy. T. !./ ; 
 
 * 33 ' St. Rocb 
 
. St. Jto&, was only fon of the lord of 
 
 jMontpellitr and many other ample fovereign- 
 ties, all which, on his father's death, he 
 fold, and gave to the poor. 
 
 This learned orator was of the opinion of 
 <4 a great lady, who told the bilhop of Oxford 
 (Seeker) in a vifit he made her as his parifh- 
 ioner, how much flie had been fcandalifed 
 at an exprefilon in his laft fermon, by 
 which he feemed -to intimate, as if * the 
 pooreft wretches would be admitted to as 
 high and exalted a place in paradiie as peo- 
 ple of quality , nay, and even on certain 
 conditions, might rank above them ,' which 
 he infifting ftill upon, her grace told him, 
 ' he might e'en keep his places to himfelf 
 and t his friends, for her." 
 
 By the way, this " St. Rocb was born by 
 a particular grace and favour of heaven ; 
 for. his noble parents, not having been fo 
 happy as to obtain an heir, after many 
 prayers and pilgrimages , his good mother 
 came one day to his father, who, it feems, 
 had given over all thoughts of this kind, 
 though (he had not, (as men are often over- 
 impatient if things do not anfwer juft to 
 
 their 
 
( 300 ) 
 
 their mind, and as foon as they p xpeft) and 
 told him 4 She had herde the yois of ?n 
 angell, fayeng, O Libcra (that was her name) 
 God hath herde thy prayers, and thou fhalt 
 receive of him grace of thy pety tion ; and 
 anone Hie went to her hufbande, and told 
 him as fhe had herde of the angell, and 
 thene they hereof joyfully accomplyfhicj 
 th* aft of matrymony, and fhe concey vid." 
 Saints Lives, Caxton, folio, 135. 
 
 XCI. 
 
 DoBort dl/er. 
 
 TWO great critics, Plutarch and Cicero, 
 differ diametrically in their judgments 
 of that celebrated thought of Hcgejlas accor- 
 ding to one, and Viw*eus according to the 
 other, on the accident of Diana's famous 
 temple at Ephefus being burnt the fame 
 night in which Alexander was born ; " that 
 it was no wonder, fince this Goddefs was 
 abftrnt from home at the labour of Olym- ' 
 pias" Cicero fays, that " this thought is 
 extremely genteel and delicate," and PIu- 
 tarcb, that " it is cold enough to have X- 
 
 tinguifhed 
 
tinguiflied the fire ; Alex. p. 6. (VI.) which! 
 reflection of Plutarch himfelf is, in my opi- 
 nion, as cold as the other could poflibly 
 be. However, men of .fenfe do not fo 
 much differ from one another often, as they, 
 at firft feem to do, and rather take their 
 view of the fame objedl from a different * 
 ftand. The thought is pretty, and rather 
 quaint, as Cicero fays, Concinn^ ut multa> 
 im*ttS, qui cum in hijlorid dixijjet, &c. and 
 \vould have been very agreeable and proper, 
 if faid off-hand in company, and fo made 
 no more of. 
 
 . Sed nun: non erat lit locus. 
 
 Hor. A. P. 19. 
 
 It was certainly altogether out of its 
 place, and, as Plutarch, I fuppofe, meant, 
 very judicioufly, unworthy of a writer of 
 hiftory ; furely he betrayed and degraded 
 the grave and fevere majefty of his fubjeft.- 
 <c Sdplo and L<eKus 9 making ducks and 
 drakes alone in the country, once in their 
 lives, was delightful , it would have been 
 ridiculous and odious in the fenate-houfe.'* 
 Clc. dcOrat,ll. ., ; 
 
 XCIL 
 
XCII. ; , 
 
 TAN engaging appearance is a .'letter of 
 JLX recommendation/ faid queen Ija- 
 letta. We mud have an indifferent opi- 
 nion of the friends we do not know of 
 that man^ whofe friends we do know we 
 have a bad opinion of. We (hall certainly 
 form our judgment of a man, and his com* 
 pany too, by that part of it that we know. 
 
 " Cardinal BeJJhrlon^ aflifting at fome ca- 
 nonizations at Rome of fome perfons, whofe 
 lives and charafters he had been acquainted 
 with, and knew that they were altogether 
 unworthy of the high honour of this fpiri* 
 tual knighthood > and, if they had had their 
 deferts, would have been fent to another 
 place, cried out, ' that thefe new faints 
 made him doubt of the old ones/ * Affe che 
 que/li fanti moderm mi fovno affai dubitar delli 
 fajjati." Eodln Mttb. Htft. c. 4; Applica- 
 ble to thofc, I think, very indifcreet divines, 
 if fmcere, who iare fo angry at Middletorfs 
 Letter from Rome, and other works; in 
 which he endeavours to pare away fome of 
 
 the 
 
the new grafts and fuckers that weaken the 
 genuine tree, and might, in time, go a great 
 way towards withering it. Such are not 
 very bad papifts, but very good proteftanu 
 pn their principles. 
 
 Is there not rcafon to believe, that thefc 
 fcrupulous people are in the fituation of 
 their predeceflbrs, who " reproached TiV* 
 lotfon, for whipping, the protejlants on the pa- 
 pijls backs ? What had they to do there ?' 
 faid the divine prelate/' 
 
 XCIII. t 
 
 Sacro dignafiltntlo. 
 
 Hot. ODE II. 13. 29* 
 
 
 
 is nothing more ill-bred, not 
 JL to fay barbarous and brutifli, than 
 thofe unneceflary noifes of all kinds in pub* 
 lie audiences, that diflipate the general at- 
 tention, and obftrudt the fpeaker; which 
 nuifance is above all remarkable in chur- 
 ches, chiefly during fermon, and moftly by 
 far in the city, where it never fails to tear 
 the thread of reafoning in the mod ferious. 
 and important enquiries, 
 
 -Fit 
 
304 ) 
 
 a, though few, jj 
 
 I But thrive far of the barbarous dijjonance. 
 
 , Milton P. L. VII. IJ. 
 
 Stra lo fays, that " the ancient Bracbmans 
 demanded fo fevere an attention of their 
 difciples, that if any one not only fpokc, 
 but even hawked, nay but fpate, he was 
 obliged to retire from the aflembly for that 
 day, as a loofe and intemperate perfon." 
 
 " St. Martin faying mafs, as he was turn- 
 ing himfelf toward the people to pronounce 
 the Dominusvobifcum) burft out a laughing ; 
 the congregation were all aftonifhed at fo 
 ftrange an indecency in fo holy a perfon ; 
 and crowded about the faint, that he might 
 fatisfy them, who anfwered them in this 
 manner : 4 As I was intent, faid the good 
 man, on the facrifice, my eyes were forci- 
 bly called off* for fome time by obfcrving 
 the devil writing down the tittle tattle of 
 the women during the fervice on a large 
 fkin of parchment, and how, when he had 
 filled it all, and came to the bottom, he 
 took it between his teeth and flretched it 
 out; but the women flill going on, be 
 'could not make room enough, and fo pul- 
 ling with all his ftrength, the parchment 
 
 tore 
 
tore in half,- and he Jknocked his htfad againli 
 the pillar he leaned on ;' and when he faw 
 this he. could not forbear burfting out into! 
 a loud laugh.' 1 Du Chat^ note On Rabelais? 
 
 Gargant. I. 6. 
 
 i '..*., 
 
 . This is one of thofe pious frauds that 
 torere very much in fafhion in the early : 
 church^ and Ihows withal the tafte of 
 thole dark ages. " Much more bold was 
 that of St. Jerome, who 1 , writes a -long 
 letter to a certain Euftocbiuw 9 a lady of qua- 
 lity, whom he had long endeavoured^ by 
 all the arguments he could think of, to de- 
 ter from reading the prophane authors, and 
 apply herfclf wholly to that of the fcrip-' 
 ture, and the writings of the chriftian bi* 
 fliops , that he himfelf had been greatly in " 
 that tafte, and had read with infinite pleafurS 
 the noble poets, hiftorians, and orators of 
 antiquity , but that he had received di- 
 vers warnings in his deep againft this 
 pradlicc To unworthy of a chriftian man^ 
 without having given due attention to 
 thefe heavenly impulfes, 'till at length he 
 dreamed that an angel threatened him, with 
 a terrible look and angry voice, if he 
 ftill perfifted in his difobedience, and that 
 Y even 
 
evfen mm he gaVt hhn a tnoft fevcre fcowg* 
 
 ing, and that he had but too fenfible proo& 
 
 that this was not a mere illufion of his fao* 
 
 cy, fincc when he awaked in the morning 
 
 he was all over full of ftripes, and the bed 
 
 i warn- with blood," This he calls God to 
 
 witnefs the drift truth of, as he fhall an- 
 
 fwer any the leaft prevarication on fo fo- 
 
 lemn an appeal, when he (hall (land before 
 
 him at the day of judgment/* A copy of 
 
 this letter he fends to another friend, and 
 
 defires him to read it attentively, as one of 
 
 the fined indances of dyle and oratory that 
 
 he had produced, and which had its defired 
 
 effedt upon the perfon for whom it was com- 
 
 pofed. Thefe letters are both publifhed at 
 
 length in Daily's Ufe of the Fathers* afcd 
 
 which I only quote by memory after mor 
 
 than twenty years. I rememberDr. Fleetwood* 
 
 bifhop of Ely* feeing this book at our houfe 
 
 told my father, c He thought the author 
 
 had pretty fufficiently proved they were of 
 
 no ufe at all/ 
 
 , &# 
 
.::f; U^'Mf. .-"M ih; v c-H <;: ay^ :>%/. : i::iJ*'j. 
 
 . .. . . 
 
 $i't>i ergo kalcat Juos Mores, maximi ciifr * tionui fa* fo\ 
 
 it fever ut> et'/brtis, et reipublic* neceffariui* 
 M. AureL ftp. Vulcat. Galilean. *//>* Avid. Caffl c, i* 
 
 ^rirSHfi great prince of Copde had 
 JL a fellow brought before him and 
 accufed of having been taken in the fa6t o 
 criminal converfatioA with a he-goat. The 
 prince, in the firft tranfport of indigilatiottj 
 ordered him immediately away to the gib- 
 bet ; but, as he was carrying off* bethought 
 himfelf to enquire into his charadter a$ a fol* 
 dier which every one extolled as being very 
 regular and ftrift in point of difcipline, and 
 having behaved well, and even gallantly, ort 
 feveral occafions *, fo the prince put his 
 hand up 'to his forehead, and rubbing his 
 temples for fome time in a fort of mufe* 
 then fuddenly ftarted, and ftroking his 
 whifkers, faid : * If this fellow is a good 
 foldier, and performs the duties of his pro- 
 feflion, and ferves us well, I do not fee 
 Y a what 
 
(303 ) 
 
 what we have to do with his amours,' and 
 fcnt to ftop the execution." My father. 
 
 " There was a foldier of this fort in Alex- 
 ander's army, who got himfelf put into the 
 mufter of old men and invalids that were 
 fent home , but as he was a very ufeful fel- 
 low, and well known in the army, Alexan- 
 der was foon informed of the trick, and that 
 it was only to follow a girl of whom he was . 
 fond, who was alfo returning with others 
 on this occafion * fo Alexander, enquiring 
 firft, what this young woman was, whom 
 he found to be a courtefan, but no flave 5 
 fent for the man, and told him, * Honeft 
 friend, I lhall be very glad to ferve you in 
 this amour, if we can but be put into any 
 way, either by intreaties or prefents, to 
 hinder her from leaving us ; for, as fhe is a 
 free- woman, I cannot force her to ftay ; fo 
 bethink yourfelf, and let me know, that we 
 may confult together.". Plutarch, Alexander* 
 ^.98, (VI.) ; 
 
 i .*: A . f . ' ' - 1 ' I .. 
 
 Alexander ; with that good-nature which is 
 natural to a noble open mind, never thought 
 of the deceit and dcfertion, but of the me- 
 rit and ufcfulnefs, of the man only j whereas 
 
 there 
 
I 309 > 
 
 there is a certain malignity in little minds, 
 that will condemn a Jcfs fault, and per- 
 haps merely private, and overlook more 
 efiential and univerfal qualities. 
 
 The generous fpirit of Alexander reminds 
 me of a- like one, ^ of another ibldier, and^ 
 a brave one too, and an honeft man ; he 
 ftewed me a fine pi&ure that he had bought, 
 he faid, in the fouth of Franu y out of a 
 convent ; and when I Admired it, as I 
 thought it deferved, * How much do you 
 think I gave for it, Mr. Richardfin ? f Nay/ 
 faid I, c general, I do not know, but, to be 
 fure, a good handfome price,' x By G ,' 
 faid he, no more than a bottle of cham- 
 paigne, and a whore for the father-guar- 
 dian.' * You condefcended, then, general, 
 at leaft to pimp for his reverence/ Oy, 
 for the church, Mn Ricbardfon If I can 
 be of feryice to any friend of yours who 
 has that honour, I defire you would recoup 
 me/ 1 General Guifc, 
 
C fto 
 
 III ^i.-.'/.i. 
 
 J?//Ir vf//* *** ftrti J'atHour proprt, qui ne fat 
 ioit fas de 
 
 1-.., c ., .. Sajrs MARIVAUX 
 
 the cenfor faid, -he fliould 
 fer a wife of a noble family to 3 
 t ich one ; bccaufe, though they would both 
 be proud and haughty, yet, the generous 
 , pride of the noble would, more probably, 
 be -a guarantee of her good and worthy 
 conduit, from a decent and all-virtuous 
 fhame of condefcending to any behaviour 
 that was unworthy of her noblenefs of 
 birth and education ; whereas the wealth of 
 the. other would rather be an incitement to 
 3 vile conduit, as it would be a means to 
 brave it out." Plut. Cato Cenf. (Ill,) p. 456, 
 
 I had much rather have to do with a 
 man's pride than his avarice ; one will in- 
 duce him to do a thoufand difhoneft or 
 mean aftions , the other will keep him from 
 doing any, I like >yhat was faid of a very 
 
V "V..-.f 3" '$ 
 
 confiderable 'man in his way, and a very 
 friendly one, Nourfe, the furgeon, that * c he 
 was fo proud a fellow, that he would fee 
 his patients d ^- before he would keep 
 them in hand, or do any little dirty tjicks 
 in his profeffion." One, perhaps, may pro- 
 voke my vanity, but the other will 
 jny pockeL 
 
 XCVI. 
 
 Si mill per g:t qua volt Ji cere, ea qu<e non <vo7t audieU 
 No* tujuum malum aquo animo feres ? 
 
 TEJU AND. V. 4. 17. 
 
 THOSE wlio can give "a ^eft cannot a|* 
 ways take one j and indeed the very 
 <xpertnefs at this weapoi) is a fort of con- 
 fequence of the nice feeling of its (harpnefs. 
 No one was ever more tender and fore to 
 raillery than Paj>e % who was fo great a maf- 
 terofit, nor confequently more refentful; 
 too ftrong a proof of this was his long af- 
 fair with Cvlley Gibber, whom he could ne- 
 ver forgive his treatment of himfclf and 
 friends on occafion of their Three Hours af- 
 ter Marriage^ and which at laft (as his rul- 
 Y 4 ing 
 
''( 3'* ) 
 
 |ng paflion grew proportionately ftrorigcr, 
 as moft of the others which had fhared with 
 it dropped off one by one, and his conftitu- 
 tion was impaired) drew him into great and 
 even fatal indifcretions, which affcfted not 
 only his bodily health, but the reputation 
 of perhaps, his moft excellent work, by the 
 abfurd alteration of the Hero, and rendpr* 
 ing it by that means no more of a piece. 
 
 " The great -Conde irjade it one of his 
 principal diverfions to difcovcr, and play 
 off, other people's ridicule with his t\yp 
 teaux efpritSj the count dc Mioffens and St. 
 Eyremond. This laft happening one day 
 to aflc the firft, in the gaiety of his heart, 
 after parting from the priqce, * Whether 
 he did not believe that his highnefs, who 
 \tfas fo clear-fighted in difcovering the ri- 
 dicule of others, had himfelf his ridicule ?* 
 and diverting themfelves and their friends 
 ' with this ticklilB fubjeft , the prince hear- 
 ing of it (a$ thefe things generally come 
 round) would never forgive pither of them, 
 "but diftancedthe count, and took away the 
 other's captainfliip of his guards." DCS 
 ', f/V de 6V. Evrtmond, p. 16, 
 
 Probably 
 
( 3'3 ) 
 
 Probably the prince did not fupppfc,* 
 from jhis refentment, that he could not 
 take a jeft as well as any other man, but he 
 faw no joke in it. The fame thing has & 
 very different appearance in two feveral per* 
 fons, when I myfelf am one of them, Self- 
 love is an excellent chymift in extra&ing and 
 evaporating all the ridicule here. Somebody 
 faid, * the eye was made to look forward, 
 not backward.' _^ 
 
 
 
 " Father Petre undertook to convert the 
 duke of Buckingham to popery ; arid amorfg 
 Other arguments, that he was prepared with, 
 fet out with this, which thefe cafuifts com- 
 monly urge, and which, attacking the ima- 
 gination in its weakeft part, fear, draws in ' 
 many filly people ; * we,* faid the good Jefuitt 
 i* deny that any one can poflibly be faved, out 
 of our church, your grace allows that our 
 people may be faved.' * No, curfe yc,' faid 
 (the duke, * I make no doubt but you will 
 be all damned to a man.' The reverend 
 father flarted, and faid gravely, 'Sir, I can- 
 'not argue with a perfon fo void of all cha- 
 rity/ ' I did not expedt, my reverend fa- 
 ther,' (aid the duke calmly, 4 fuch a re- 
 proach from you, whofc .whole reafoning 
 
 , with 
 
t 314. ) ' 
 
 %!th me wat founded on the very fame in-' 
 ftance of want of charity in yourfclf/ A 
 man muft be unrcafonable indeed, who re* 
 fufes to take his own money back again in 
 exchange. 
 
 HOR. A. P. 354; 
 
 !? . A friend of mine (Mr. Richard 
 .; JLJL ijw* ) as ^ye were at table (at the 
 Mitre with the Royal Society} had fome con- 
 ceit come into his head on the fubjeft they 
 were upon, and his face beginning to fim* 
 jner with it, the perfon he was going to dif- 
 charge it Upon (Mr. archdeacon Squire ^) 
 'obferved it, and was before-hand with him, 
 and faid the fame thing. * Plague on you,* 
 faid Graham, * you have fmuggled my 
 joke." 
 
 > : " This word was ufed in a like happy 
 -manner by the count de Grammonty who had 
 
 * Surveyor of WeJtminfltr-lriJgt 
 \ Afterwards biihop of St. 
 
 been 
 
been a great libertine, and being now on hii 
 death-bed, as all thought, the king fent the 
 marquis Dangcatti a famous devotee of thofc 
 times, to talk with him of God. The 
 countefs dt Grammont was fitting on the bed- 
 fide, alfo a profeffed devotee, and who had 
 before been perpetually teafing her hufband 
 with repentance. So, after the king's de- 
 vote had been haranguing him for fome 
 time, he turned to his wife, 'and faid,' 
 4 Countefs, if you don't look about you, 
 Dangeau will fmuggle my converfionV* 
 St. Evremondj T. V. p'. 196, The ruling 
 pafllon keeps on to thfc Jaft moment. 
 . f 
 
 /. Evremond (who was a wit by profef* 
 fion) would have been 4 glad to be dead,' 
 he fays, c to have gone off with that bon. 
 wot.* It is a fign he had lived a great 
 while in England^ * where,' he fays, 4 they 
 excell all the world in dying. {* 
 
 *.Cdnteffe, fi vous n'y frentx gar tie 9 Dangtau <vou/ 
 tfcamotera ma con^erjlon^ 
 
 t Let Anglois Jurpaffent toutcs let nations a nourir. 
 Ih out une grande vwacitf a mourir, fays fomebody. ^ 
 *' No people in the world have fuch a vivacity in dying 
 *a the E*gllf*t\ 
 
 V ^: < XCVIIL 
 
XCVJII, 
 
 , Tnrpi tfl Safari cum tut fa rcttarguil ipfumi 
 
 ? I^R. Rtdcli/t told Dr. Mead, < 
 
 JL/ love you, and now I will tell you 
 a fure fecret to make your fortune ; ufe all 
 mankind jll. f And it certainly was his own 
 praftice. He owned he was avaricious even 
 to fpunging, whenever he any way could f 
 at a tavern-reckoning a fix-pence or fliil- 
 ling, among the reft of the company, un- 
 der pretence of * hating (as he ever did) to 
 change a guinea, becaufe, (faid he) it flips 
 away fo faft. f He could never be brought 
 to pay bills without much following and 
 importunity , nor then, if there appeared 
 any chance of wearying them out. A pa- 
 viour, after long and fruitlefs attempts, 
 caught him juft getting out of his chariot 
 at his own door, in Bloomfbtiry-f quart, and 
 fet upon him. c Why you rafcal,' faid the 
 doftor, * do you pretend to be paid for 
 fuch apiece of work ; why you have fpoile4 
 jny pavement, and then covered it over 
 
 with 
 
earth, to hide your bad work/ 
 faid the p'aviour ; mine is not the only bad 
 work that the earth hides.' * You dog you/ 
 faid the do&or, c are you a wit ? You muft 
 be poor, come in j* and paid him. 11 Doffor 
 Mead. -. -<\ . , 
 
 9 i**.?'-- '' . 
 
 As for his maxim of c ufing mankind ill/ 
 he was right. The generality are bullies, 
 and if you do not bully them, they, will 
 bully you and the boldeft bullyer hath the 
 faireft chance of carrying it. I -i 1 
 
 ' i* . ! : r ' .'. ', i ' ) 
 
 ' Yet,' no body ever praftifed this rule 
 lefs than doftor Mead (who told me him- 
 felf the ftory) and who, as I have been inV 
 formed by great phyficians, "got as much 
 again by his pra&ice as doftor Radcliffe did; 
 
 But, it is 'alfo true, that his ufing them 
 fo well, caufed him to be infamoufly ill 
 ufed, by fome who had had the greateft 
 obligations to him, : Cj, f > ?:^\ '^ >rn 
 
o-:'< -oi 
 
 Itcitent tttam pug**lh ambri ? ' 
 VJRO. 
 
 WE are very fevcrc. upon thofe vi-T 
 ccs that we have no tafte for, or 
 are ,not our favourites, and this helps to 
 pay for thofe that are. We make a merit 
 of abftaining from thofe diflies we do not 
 like, or have been Airfeited with, but are 
 very gluttons on what particularly hits our 
 palate. Self-love is never at a lofs. " A 
 poor tame fellow of a German pietift who 
 >vas my firft fchool-mafter, and got drunk 
 every night, was perpetually preaching to 
 us the efficacy of grace. c Do you think/ 
 laid he once, * if it was not for grace, that 
 I would not go to bawdy-houfes, and ravifK 
 my neighbours daughters ?' There were two 
 very pretty girls at the next door, whom, it 
 fliould feem by this little opening, that the 
 poor man had had a muzzy conceit about, 
 in his cups perhaps. 4 No,* faid I, c I be- 
 lieve you would not, whether you had grace 
 
 or 
 
(319 X 
 
 or no, Sir. f I remember even now how I 
 looked over his inQpid perfon. So, in a 
 rage, he took up the poor little boy, and 
 whipped him, ' becaufe,* hefaid, * he fa\? 
 the feeds of atheifm in him.'* 
 
 "Alexander tie Great (for, if he pleafes, tt 
 will join him witK honeft Mr. Weger$> they 
 are much upon a footing now) ordered two 
 of his Macedonians^ who had raviflied fome 
 foldiers wives of his allies, to be executed 
 with the utmoft feverity, * as wild beafts,* 
 faid he, * and born for the dellru&ion of 
 men ; for, as for me', he went on, ' I would 
 not fo much as fee the wife of Darius, nor 
 even fuffered any body to talk of her beauty 
 in my prefence." This noble cafuift could fee 
 the crime of thofe pafiions from which he 
 himfelf was exempt, but made no refle&ion 
 upon his own eradicating a portion of man- 
 kind, and murdering friend and foe, foe 
 ambition and drunkennefs. 
 
 c: 
 
--' " - - ' 
 
 NOTHING is Hke perfiftirigi let your 
 raufe be what it will* " I remem- 
 
 ber Pittf the. journalifl^ being one evening 
 engaged in a r metaphyfical difpute of two 
 or three on : a fide, one of his antagonifts 
 faid, in-the coui'fe of his argument, to one 
 of thofe of his party, c God is omnipotent 
 and omnifcient.* Pin turned, in the warmth 
 ofdijpute, to. his friend, and, holding up 
 * his hand before him, cried, * Don't allow 
 it, don't allow it;' when .every body burft 
 Oiit into a Daughter, and put an end to the 
 queftion, by waking all the difputants to 
 common fenfe." . 
 
 *- 1 t 
 xc ArcUdamas, king of Sparta, once afked 
 
 Yhucydides, the Mleftan, wlio had been for- 
 merly for many years the great concurrent 
 of Pericles, who then governed Athens, head- 
 ing the oppofite faftion, c which of them 
 two Was, in his honeft opinion, the better 
 wreftler ?' He only gave him this anfwcr, 
 
 ' when 
 
( 3*1 ) 
 
 c when I have given him the 'fai reft fall ih 
 the world, he maintains it to all the by- 
 (landers that he is not under me, and in- 
 fids upon it, 'till he has brought them all 
 over to his opinion, though they fee me 
 uppermoft." Pint. Pericles, (II.) p. 109, 
 
 
 
 Therefore, becaufe he would be upper- 
 irioft, he was uppermoft ; out-convifting 
 conviction itfclf by pcrfevcrance. Crtdt 
 quod habcS) & babcs> or if you can, make 
 others believe. A hardy and inflexible 
 pcrfeverance aftonifhes and difconcerts your 
 prey, as the rattlc-fnakc, that keeps faring 
 with his eyes ftedfaftly fixed on the bird. in 
 the tree, with an impudent rattling of his 
 tail, 'till it begins to faulter, then tremble* 
 and at laft drops into his mouth. 
 
 Cl. 
 
 leant elfcuTt fola ful mftc per vmlram. 
 
 rEN. VI. r 
 
 4i TT is better to be in ah error, after fe- 
 
 JL ripus enquiry, than to be right by 
 
 chance/ 1 laid Dr. Herring, afterwards arch- 
 
 Z biibop 
 
 V 
 
( 3" ) 
 
 bifliop of Canterbury, in a fermbrt at* St t 
 James's chapel, that the Rev. Dr. Men 
 heard, and was particularly ftruck with 
 this candid fentiment and expreflion. 
 
 Nothing is more common, than for people 
 to fuppofe they believe what they actually 
 do not *, becaufe, whatever is properly belief 
 is " an aflent given to a propofition, of which 
 we either at once fee, or think we fee, the 
 truth ; or, after having carefully examined 
 into, find Various degrees of reafon to give 
 our aflent to, according as the arguments for 
 it appear to us." But what is commonly cal- 
 led, and only fuppofcd to be, belief, is no- 
 thing more than an indolent or timorous nc- 
 quiefcencc in what we have been told is 
 ^truth from . our infancy, or otherwife ; 
 which falfe and fraudful fenfe of belief is. 
 " merely local and accidental ; and the fame 
 who is a Cbrtftian here, would have been a 
 Mahometan^ born at Conjlantinople. Such 
 do, indeed, like the fuperftitious Athenians^ 
 facrifice.to c an unknown God,* and, flill 
 worle, one whom they do not defire to 
 know, but rather abufc, vilify, and dread 
 thofe who have themfelves taken finccre 
 and righteous pains, (as fuch is, above all 
 
 things, 
 
( 3*3 ) 
 
 i 
 
 things, their duty) to know* and Would, 
 to their power, declare to them * him whom 
 they ignorantly adore and worihip/ . . 
 
 CIL 
 
 
 Uti excellent turn kominum if ir tut em i mi tat tone Ji gharri, 
 ntiH invidia pntarent. 
 
 Cic. PHILIPPIC. XIV* 164 
 
 NO rtian ehvies another ^ha he is not 
 himfelf confcious of wanting^ *nor 
 he neither, if he have the fpirit, inltead of 
 bemoaning himfelf, to put hi? utmoil pow- 
 ers in a&ion to lupply fuch want* 
 
 < Others expefted of thofe who profefled 
 themfelves their friends, that they fhould 
 have no commerce of friendfliip with them 
 whom they took to be their enemies, only 
 Julius Geftr gave all his their free liber- 
 ty." Cic. Ep. Fam. XI. 8. I iuppofe, his 
 vaft and fuperior mafter- genius did not 
 deign to envy, or be jealous of any one 5 
 therefore no man had fuch warm and con- 
 ftant friends, as de nullo minus principe que~ 
 runtur homines^ quani de quo maxims licet. 
 Plin. Pancg. Trajan. 
 
( 3H ) 
 
 " That was exquifitc of Jpeltes, who, 
 feeing the fine works of Protogene* at Rhodes* 
 and finding that (according to cuftom) he 
 was not cfteemcd in his own country, in 
 any proportion to his merit, dcfired to 
 know of him what he would aflc for a pic- 
 ture to which he pointed, which he had 
 juft finiftied ? And on modeft Protogenes's 
 telling him an inconfiderable fum *, he im- 
 mediately purchafed it himfelf, and gave 
 him fifty talents ; and withal took care to 
 'have it induftrioufly given out, that 4 he 
 had bought it, in order to fell again, when 
 he came home, as one of his own painting.'* 
 Plin. XXXV. 10. 
 
 That was a truly brave and independent 
 genius, above envy and jealoufy, which 
 qualities are always accufing themfelves, 
 and betraying the littlenefs of mind to 
 which they are owing, that ipfo fatto defeats 
 its own.purpofe ; as it praifes and compli- 
 ments that very merit it apprehends , and 
 fears, and degrades its own, in the very 
 inftance, while it is impotently ftriving to 
 
 * See a fine ftory of MickatI Angela and 
 of my father's telling, in my account of the pidures, 
 *c. in Iteljt p. 105, and Frwk edit, Vi II. p. i$4 
 
 exalt, 
 
( 3*5 ) 
 
 txalt, or at lead defend its prefent place. 
 But the allowing and honouring another's 
 merit makes the world more carelefs of it* 
 and rather excites its malignity and fcandal i 
 this is the true way to heap coals of fire 
 upon his head > whereas, when we refufe 
 others that honour which is plainly their 
 due, and depreciate them, we only do by 
 them, as by books that are ordered to be 
 burned by the hands of the common hang- 
 man, (the poft we give ourfclves on this 
 pccafion !) which only makes them ten 
 times more bought up and read j and all. 
 this too with a marvellous prejudice in their 
 favour, as having been treated unjuftly ; 
 and undeferved fuffering does itfelf confer a 
 dignity on the perfon, befides the natural ! 
 love we have to contradict and oppofe re. 
 Jftraint of all kinds,, (for all perfecution is 
 fure to roufe the dormant fpirit of zeal an4 
 oppofition) and the juftice with which we 
 compliment our own felf-love, in becoming 
 the defenders of opprefled innocence and 
 worth. 
 
 <c The duke of Marlborougb* at his death, 
 left prince Eugene his fword ; the late lord 
 Qrford, the minifter's fon, was with the? 
 Z 3 
 
(' 326 ) 
 
 jjrince, when this mark of his great rival's 
 final eftcem was brought, and prcfented to 
 him. He immediately drew it, and, ma- 
 king a flourifh with it, faid, < Voiti Fepie 
 que fat fttivie par toutc c<tte lon^ue gume.^ 
 $ir William Brown, . 
 
 . i i) Y ."!'.! 
 
 v ...;< . f -,,,i,' 
 
 cm. ; ;: : 
 
 , *r<Lk aivaw yon dee I, Iff not care a Itnulee for God. i 
 
 SCOTCH PROV. DR. M, 
 
 *' OQME officers drinking, In one of their 
 O tents, with the chaplain of the regi- 
 hient, the chaplain gave them for a toaft 
 * the ''king of France? c What do you 
 mean, dodtor, 1 they all cried, ' our capital 
 enemy !' * No matter for that,' faid the 
 chaplain, .' you live by him. 1 After fome 
 little time, one of the officers drank to the 
 chaplain, * Gome, dodtor, here's your old 
 friend, the devil. 1 4 Dear colonel,' faid the 
 dodtor,' in fome flutter, * do you mean to 
 affront me ?' c No matter for that, my dear 
 dodtor, fiiid the colonel, c you live by him." 
 Dr. Sandylands.^ 
 . * 
 
 < ". CIV, GE- 
 
( 3*7. 
 
 ;civ, 
 
 .' ^ ' 
 
 ENERAL Guife was invited to d'm- 
 ner at P^w, among other perfon^ 
 pf rank, by cardinal Polignac , who, in dif- s 
 courfe, often mentioned his hplinefs with. 
 great encominnis. The honefl refugee ge- 
 neral coyld hold out no longer, and told 
 his eminence, that * the pope w^s a bougrt.'^ 
 The cardinal, as it was at Ijis own table^ 
 pnly rofe and retired ; but another of the 
 gueft^ followed him, and faid, * his emi- 
 nence need take no notice, for that the 
 general was a very well-meaning man, but 
 4 little odd ,' upon which the cardinal re- 
 turned to table, and, bowing to hjm, faid, 
 * Monftcur a permijfion d: dirt, tout cc qu'ii 
 vcut" Dr. Sandylands. , 
 
 " The Athenians once coming in a ri- 
 otous manner into an aflembly at Sparta^ 
 the Ephori ordered the heralds to proclaim, 
 in the theatre itfelf, that c the Athenians^ in 
 regard to the virtues of their anceftors, had 
 the privilege to come into all their aflemblies 
 drunk." Plut. ;! r , /] 
 
 Z 4 CV. "GE- 
 
3*8 
 
 cv. 
 
 C*//v feeing Over one 
 to tiaMn, obftrved ^ 
 y6Uhg rtw office who was it\ the fame Vef, 
 fel* and, with his ufual .humanity, told 
 him * he would take care of h'jm, andi con- 
 dudk him to Antwerp? where they were 
 both gbing ; which he accordingly did, and 
 then took leave of him. The young fellow 
 was foontold, by other arch rogues that -he 
 happened to fall in with, that ' he muft 
 fignalife himfelf by fighting fome man of 
 known courage, or elfe he would be foon 
 dcfpiled in the regiment/ The young gen- 
 tleman faid, 4 he knew nobody but colonel 
 Guife, and he had received great obligations 
 from him.' * It is all one for that,' they 
 faid, c in thefe cafes, the colonel was the 
 fitted man in the world, every body knew 
 his bravery.' Up comes the captain to 
 him, as he was talking about in the coffee- 
 houfe, and began, in an hefitating ftyle, to 
 tell him * how much he had been obliged 
 to him, and how fcnfiblc' * Sir, I have - 
 
 done 
 
( 329 
 
 done my duty, and no more. 1 c But, colo- 
 nel, faid he, faultering, * I am told I mud 
 fight feme gentleman of known rcfolution, 
 and who has killed fcveral perfons, and 
 
 that nobody V * Oh, Sir,' faid the colo* 
 
 nel, interrupting him, * your friends do me 
 too much honour ; but there is one* (poin- 
 ting to a huge fierce-looking black fellow^ 
 that was fitting at one of the tables) c who 
 has killed half the regiment; he is your 
 man.* So, up he goes to him, and tells 
 him, 4 he is well informed of his bravery, 
 but, by G - , he mufi fight him/ c Who 
 I, Sir ! I am Ptal> the apothecary.*' Dr. 
 Sandy lands, -^ - 
 
 ;;; cvi. |p 
 
 Ontt a rogut and filwayi a rogue* 
 
 A UGUSTUS CAESAR, who had 
 JL3L tamed the empire by all the ways he 
 could; who had fcrupled no rapine that 
 could farther his ambition, nor any cruelty 
 that might tend to the fecurity of his per- 
 fon from the moft diftant poflibility of dan-^ 
 ger ; nor even what may be called a fort of 
 
 poft- 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 pofthumous cruelty; of revenge for pafc 
 dangers ; when at length he found himfclf 
 in aftual pofleflion of every thing, with the 
 utmoil fecurity, endeavoured to make man- 
 kind ibme amends, at leaft to obtain him- 
 fclf a new chara&er, now that he could do 
 it without any pbflibility of hurting him- 
 fclf, by juftice and mercy, j 
 
 r. r i 
 
 But, lead us not into temptation !' an 
 unlucky" opportunity (opportunity, the de- 
 vil f s old inflrument, and that will never 
 wear out!) fcnt him back to his original 
 nature, like < JEfop's cat, who forgot flic 
 was a lady, and leaped at a moufe.' JEfop's 
 faMes. 
 
 Sj a freed-man of Julius 
 to whom Auguftu* had given the government 
 of Gaulj being convidted of having pillaged 
 the province, with the moft infatiablc ava- 
 rice, and unfeeling oppreflion, and per- 
 ceiving, from his mailer's new charafter, 
 that he would infallibly be condemned, be^ 
 fought him, by friends, to come to his * 
 houfe -, where, (hewing the emperor his im* 
 menfe treafures, he faid to him, * My lord, 
 I have colle&ed all this with great affiduity 
 
 and 
 
( 33* ) 
 
 arid zeal for you, artd the cotnmon-weilth'j 
 which are the fame; 'left fuch great riches 
 might have tempted the barbarians to an 
 infurredtion." Dion. LIV, p. gpi. The 
 mild prince took the money, and forgave 
 him the injuries he h^d done to the Gauls. 
 
 Which reminds me of a ftory Ficaroni 
 told me at Rome* of himfclf and Sir Andrew 
 Fountaine. > \ 
 
 " A rich old abbot had a noble collect 
 fion of medals, that had been tranfmitted 
 to him from his anceftors ; which, as he un* 
 derftood nothing of them, and was come 
 to that time of life when, having no farther 
 occafion for money, we love nothing elfe, 
 he wanted to part with. Ficaroni, as being 
 the pope's antiquary, was employed to get 
 him a purchafcr; and he brought him Sir 
 Andrnv Fountaine^ who, he had before ac- 
 quainted him, was a young EngHJb caval- 
 lero on his travels, who knew noching of 
 medals himfelf, but had a mind to fhew 
 away, like other raw young fellows of birth 
 and fortune, when he came home, with 
 little bad vertu. This did very well ; but 
 Ficaroni and Sir Andrew (who was one of 
 
 the 
 
( 33* ) 
 
 Ihclcccncft virtuo/t in Europe^ and out-//*; 
 irujrorthe Italians themfelves) had agreed, 
 before they went, on certain terms between 
 them two, to pick out all the rare and va- 
 luable ones, which the abbot was to let him 
 have for low prices, as being in a manner 
 trafh, for fo Ficaroni was to wink at him ; 
 by which means they plundered the poor 
 ecclefiaftic, while he was hugging himfelf 
 on his, and his friend's, duping the young 
 Englijk cully. When they were come down, 
 and got out of the convent, Sir Andrew 
 embraced Ficaroni, and faid to him, as 
 Auguftits and Licinius might have done j 
 " Noifiamo due beccki jututi. We are a 
 pic of precious dogs/' 
 
 CVII. 
 
 ///* prim* /f /If rum tau/4 mortality <fr// t 
 Katitram nt/ftrf Dcum ; jufla ite prtctri, 
 . *Tbure fio 9 cadumyue feros avert ite ritut* 
 Mite y cognatum eft bomini Deus. 
 
 SIL.ITAL. IV. 794. 
 
 f* A RISTOTLE's phyfician prefcribing 
 
 JL\. to him, in a diforder he had, the 
 
 philofopher defired, he would not treat him 
 
 f ' like 
 
( 333 > 
 
 like a hcdger or a hog-driver, but teH him 
 what he would have him fwallow,, and 
 why ; that his reafon being convinced, he 
 might take the potion with the lefs reluc- 
 tance, and it might operate with the grea* 
 ter energy." 
 
 This was like a man who was not ufed to 
 take things on truft, and implicitly; fdr, 
 in all arts and fciences, the genuine truth 
 is open and apparent * where that ends, and 
 myftery begins, all the reft is trade ; and it 
 was a fine chara&er of Garth, that " No 
 phyfician knew his art more, nor his trade 
 Ids." One of our great divines, a moft 
 worthy, as well as reverend, bifhop *, told 
 my father, (in my hearing) who was full of 
 doubts and fcruples then in matters of 
 faith, when I was a boy, that u where my- 
 ftery began, religion ended." It makes 
 wild work where reafon does not govern 
 the raptures which religious enthufiafm in- 
 fpires. 
 
 " The fame excellent and honeft divine 
 advifed my father, at that time, as he was 
 deprefled with doubts, to * make a truce 
 
 * FhetwooJ. 
 
 with 
 
with texts and fathers, and read Don uix* 
 U\* telling him, withal, that, ' in his pre- 
 fent fituation of mind, and weaknefs of 
 fpirits, he was not capable of doing them 
 juftice, nor was equal to fuch high points 
 of fpeculation.' * Ah, doftor,' (aid my fat 
 ther, * but if I fliould be miftaken, and 
 put up with an erroneous faith ?' * Well/ 
 faid the good divine, and conftant friend % 
 (for he loved my father,- for his fincere and 
 warm defire to know his duty, and how he 
 might bed pleafe his Maker ; and, I am 
 morally fure, that he never, in one fmgle 
 inftance in his whole long life, did or laid 
 any one thing that he thought would dif- 
 pleafe him,) 4 well, and if you fliould ?' c If 
 
 [ As fuch, among the pictures of his particular 
 friends, painted by himfelf, Mr. Richardjin had art 
 admirable one of this amiable prelate, of which arch- 
 bilhop Utrring* (who jullly venerated the character of 
 Jii* firft patron) nirJces the following mention, in a let- 
 ter to Mr. Duncvnlt,- dated " slug. 5, 1750." 4< I 
 was the other day at your friend Mr. RicbarJ/o*'t to 
 fee a head of LiHuip Flxt<vMod % of his father's painting. 
 lie was very polite ; and, on mv a(king ' whether Ji 
 would part with it,' lie confented, and we ifcon agreed 
 upon the terms." 
 
 This head, while the archbi/hop lived, graced Latn~ 
 1>tb gallery, .and, by his' Lift will, he bequeathed it to 
 the (late) earl of //<WovAv/, his " ever honoured 
 friencL"] 
 
 I Aiould/ 
 
(.335 ) 
 
 I fhould? 'faid my father, in furprife; * if 
 I fhould be miftaken, after the utmoft dili- 
 gent enquiry I can make, I am fure to make 
 my God my enemy.' * Are you ? faid 
 Fleetwood, warmly, c then he is no God for 
 me :* which expreflion (for they were his 
 very words, as I have often heard my dear 
 father relate them) he proceeded to explain, 
 and foften, by giving him a juft and rea- 
 fonable idea of the common father of man- 
 kind." 
 
 Indeed, as God hath made man after his 
 own image, man may be faid, in one fenfe, 
 to make every one his particular God, after 
 his own image ; for furely this great uni- 
 verfal idea is eflentially different in every in- 
 dividual, according to his own make (as it 
 may be faid) of mind, and powers and man- 
 ner of reception ; in extremes it muft feem 
 evident to all. How different a being is the 
 God of Locke, or Newton, or Anjlotle, from' 
 that of Ins hedger or hog-driver ! Yet all 
 pafs in grofs, and among the grofs, for the 
 fame unanimous reception- of the moft fu- 
 blime idea the human mind can receive, fo 
 infinitely fhort as it can be received, even 
 by the moft exalted. 
 
 AD- 
 
( 33* ) 
 'ADDITIONAL NOTES, ''u&i t, 
 
 Page 204. Sir GoJfry Knilltr, " being at firft defign. 
 ed for a military life, was fcnt to Lcydcn* where 
 he applied to mathematics and fortification." 
 MfitAMtulitujfPaiiaitfi 111. 109. 
 
 This will, in (bine degree, account for his mi* 
 ^ , ' Jitnry tailc, which is alio very confpicuous in his 
 
 pidure (by himfclf ) in the gallery of painters, 
 at FhnM. " Sir GiJ/rty Kmttttr (/;iys lord 
 Corkt) is placed on high. He looks fierce, and* 
 by his dreil and pollute, fcems fitter to hold a 
 truncheon than a pencil. 
 
 Lett (n from Itafy, p. 84.. 
 
 Page 269. " Hugk Howard, (fays Mr. U'alpolc) bet- 
 
 ter known by Prior'* beautiful verfcs to him, 
 than by his own works, was fon of Ralph Ikiuarh 
 M. D. .and was born in Dublin* Feb. 7, 167$, 
 The greatefl and latter pait of his life he fpcnt in 
 Englana\ praclifing painting, at lead, with ap 
 jplaufc; but, having ingratiated hiuifelf, by his 
 fame and knowledge of hands, \\.ith men of the 
 firft rank, particularly the duke of Dcvonfiirc and 
 lord Pembroke* and, by a parfimonious manage- 
 ment of his good fortune, he w.'is enabled to quit 
 
 ' the practical part of his profcffion for the lail 
 
 twcniy years of his life, the latter peer -having 
 
 f . obtaiucd for him the polls of keeper of the llatc 
 
 paper*, and pay-mailer of his majefty's palaces. 
 
 1'jfr JHe died March 17, 1737." 
 
 'INDEX. 
 
E 
 
 It. refers to the notes, and the pages marked thus * 
 arc .repeated by miftakc* 
 
 A. 
 
 , A Bflalmaleck (Sollman ben)<alip!i, htl gluttony - 
 +* Acinclynus, a ftrange Aory of, told by St. Auftin 153 
 /Efchincs, what he 'hid of Demofthenet'4 eloquence - - 7$ 
 Ascfilaus, what he faid to a-magnanimous malefactor - (T5 
 Alexander the Great, what was faid to him by the Scythian 
 
 ambafladori ~ 40 
 
 KB how encju raged by his friends - 81 
 
 .1 i a fine compliment to by an Indian archer 85 
 
 f i in i his juft reproof of Farmenio - loz 
 
 of Anaxarchus 103 
 
 addrcficd the G<)i only when he 
 
 wanted them . 114 
 
 wept for another world inftead of eo- 
 
 joying this * - 217 
 
 inftunce of his clemency and good fenfe 308 
 
 Ali, caliph, his fcvcrc repartee to hit turbulent officers - 1 5$ 
 'Anncfc (Jcnnaro) how rewarded by the Spaniards for his 
 
 treachery 51 
 
 Antigonos, his command of temper 143 
 
 Apelks, his frct4um with Alexander 107 
 
 his noble behaviour to Protogehts 324. 
 Aum (kin^s of) the great buftnefs of their lives 175 
 Argos (women of ) wore men's cloaths once a year 163 
 * < -ii i and a beard on the 
 
 wedding night 164 
 
 - one of them fo painted ib. 
 
 Aijflotlc approved the cxpofmg of children *^ 31 
 
 A a 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Ariftotle dtbrti to know whit he fwal lowed 33* 
 
 Armada (Spani/h) in ill fuccefs how accounted for *f4* 
 Athenodorus (th philofopher) hit warm real for Auguftus 10* 
 Aubigne (Theodore Agrippa d % ) hit accoont of the panic of 
 
 fume dragoons i. __ ufl 
 
 Auguftui Cxfar, hit cruelty to the Peiugtant j 3 
 
 fnulTcd up tho incenfe of Virgil 41 
 
 hit moderation in pardoning Timagenes *ijo 
 
 i his fine reflection on Alexander 127 
 
 epigram by, on Fulvia, translated - , *. 158 
 
 naturally rapacious and cruel . ^29 
 
 ; nfumcd, on occafion, hit original nature 3 jo 
 
 B. 
 
 Barfut hated and defpifed by him whom Ke had fenred 5! 
 
 Bateman (Sir William) a? aricious to the lad - 91 
 
 Bittori (Stephen) king of Poland, hit policy 47 
 
 Bentley (Dr.) introduced a new kind of criticifm 263 
 
 ,. .. gravely foppifh and learnedly dull 270' 
 
 BeflTarion (cardinal) hit mean opinion of fume new faints 301 
 
 Bible (Latin) epigram on 199 
 
 (French) two interpolation! of 223 
 Biron (marshal) his policy lit 
 Btfhop, an Italian, left hit body to the furgeons for direction 248 
 Bletfo (lord St. John of) a Orange miftake concerning 251 
 Boifrobert (M.) cheated the ears of his friends - XA 
 
 impiifuncd by caidinal Richelieu - 1X4 
 Bomilcar, his policy no 
 Booili (Mr.) how difconcerted by Betterton in Hamlet 7! 
 Borgia family of, their unhappy fucccfs 133 
 Borrct (captain) his infcnnbility of a wound 138 
 Bouillon (marAul) (termed a furt on his wedding night 279 
 Brandeaburgh (an clcdtor of) went to bed to his bride in 
 
 armour ' ' i?o 
 
 Britany (John V. duke of) dcfired no fenfc in a wife - 249 
 Browne (Mr. Hawkins) how ft ruck by Sheridan's reading 
 
 Milton 77 
 
 Buchanan very eafy as to his burial 137 
 
 Buckingham 
 
I N D E X, 
 
 Pafi 
 
 Euckingham (duke of) wifhed, when dying, for a prlefl that 
 
 could /eat the devil * 167 
 
 > < hit retort on father Pttrt ,+ 313 
 
 Pull and Cow, fplcndid marriage of, .7 
 
 JJurcs (count de) would die armed and accoutred *J 35 
 Burgundy (duke of) the dupe of Ki own cunning 54 
 Jhnnet (Mn.) her dying vanity 989 
 
 J, how received by the Turki at jBudft * 66 
 
 Cadquet (Indian) cat their captives $ 
 
 i Arange ftory of thli by an eye- wituefi t 9 
 
 C..far (Julius) introduced gladiators at hit daughter*! funeral 15 
 
 i wept over the head of 1'ompcjr ~- 47 
 
 wi fuperior to envy - 313 
 
 CaUvrcfe (Signora) a victim to conjugal chaAity u * 170 
 
 . < much fuperior to Lucrcria 171 
 
 Caligula (emperor) hi forbearance with *n abufive taylor 141 
 Carpenter (lord) his condefcenfion at a Wcitminfter election 159 
 CarthAginiani /acrificcd their children to Moloch 34 
 < - feized with a harbaroui pang of fuperAidon 1 14 
 
 > their timoroui and ungrateful policy - 119 
 Catherine (of Medicis) her cool reply to the infuhi of fome 
 
 foldicri r ^ 144 
 
 Cato (the cenfor) hit noble condeCcenfion 133 
 
 ' hii rcafon /or preferring $ /loble wife to i 
 
 rich one - r -310 
 
 C*to (of Utica) inferior to his fon I'ortiut ^ . 135 
 
 -- his wgik argument for making Pompey general 5139 
 Cavadei, king of Pcrfia, heroic adultery tf his wile . jr. i 
 Cerda (La) his prefence of mind * + ' *i^ 
 Charles I. a letter of, which finifljed his ruin 139 
 
 > ' - hi* ungracioufnefs in conferring a favour - 261 
 U. his pertinent r*p)y to Dr. Stillingflcct 90 
 ^ >- why called Rowley ib. 
 * how he rewarded a fteeple-flyer * 99 
 ' his ridicule of Sir Chriftopher Wren's low flature 103 
 " . aJ armed by his officious barber m Jc6 
 "- made a confident by a pick-pockit 1*7 
 
 Aai 
 
I "N D E X. 
 
 * ^ 
 
 CharfetltT. (emperor) a faying of ! . V '' '' - 139 
 
 " ' V: i was Taid to have lived only'twx* years 138 
 i i ' * - ' relented of his abdication the ? cry day 1 3$ 
 
 ' hie reply to a Pafcal king t ib, 
 
 'an equivoque of - 149 
 
 ChefterftcJd (lord) reflection on a fuppofed hn mot of 117 
 ' his rcafon for refuting par ion Ford hit chap- 
 
 v - lainfliip -. - - - - 115 
 
 Chilo (the philofopher) hit Arange advice to Hippocrates 31 
 
 Chiomara (queen) her conjugal virtue - 1721 
 
 Christianity, its wonderful rife aod progrefl - 233 
 
 Cicero, hit diead in fpcaking '. 84 
 
 Cimon, how he put in for a little more praife - toj 
 
 his prevailing argument in favour of Sparta lofl 
 Claudius (emperor) hi* erpofure of hit daughter * 3! 
 Clazomemani, an idle frolic of, - i6i 
 
 .- allowed by the Spartans to play the foot - ib, 
 Collet (Mr.) his account of an Indian wife's horning 7^ 
 Colonel (a) (hoots himfclf in a panic - 117 
 Commodus (emperor) his ill-omened favagenefs - - af 
 Conde (prince of) could not bear to die in his bed '134; 
 
 his consideration of the effcntial quality of 
 tfoldier ..... 307 
 
 never forgave the jefts of two bt<i\<x tfprltt 3 1 a 
 
 Content, Holbeln*s Wei of 
 
 Cofimo r. killed his fon Garcia 60 
 
 Craffus (L.) hit terror at the bar , ' }84 
 
 Craven ('ord) a conftcnt man at a Art 146 
 
 j what wat faL' to Charles IT. An that occifion ib. 
 
 Cromwell (Oliver) an inftjnre of his fuperior temper 
 
 j would romp with his gucfti 276* 
 
 Cumberland (bifhop) a ftory told by - * 14! 
 
 D. 
 
 David (king) his policy - . >' - 5f 
 
 Dc-jairra, an excellent fcene of, in Sophoclet * : - *f4<y 
 DcmoAhcncs, what he thought the firO quality of An orator 8(7 
 f i pleafed with the notice of an old woman tor 
 
 i. blamed for it by Cicero * ' 207 
 
 J Mlftrintetl 83* 
 
 pioclefia* 
 
Pagt 
 
 Dioclefian fick of retirement, but declined returning hit power 128 
 y his bufy lei fare, and glorious retreat 1-4 
 
 piogencs, his repartee on the. manner of his burial . I# 
 
 r . i i what he faidtoDernofl-h-cnescomingoutof a tare la '131 
 to two trifling difputanti . 166 
 
 pionyfiui crucified his barber fur a jcft - n, 107 
 
 porfci (lord) his raillery on Qbarlci 1J. to him&Jf 1^3 
 
 Edward (the confeflbr) hit humane apology for a thief 1$ j 
 
 ^lephant, fagacity of, - > ...... ** 
 
 Elizabeth (queen) how (he rewarded and reproached the trai- 
 tor Gravefton ' . * 
 
 i w.hat (he faidof a fine dancer 136 
 
 Epaminondas granted to a courtezan- what he refofcd to a. 
 
 friend - - , - . . . 103 
 
 pic*Vetus 9 an inflame of his good-nature and humanity " 31 
 Eugene (prince) his fine testimony to the merit of the duke 
 
 of Marlborough 33* 
 
 Fcllowi (Mr.) h!f conclfe epitaph 9 159 
 
 Fenwlck (Sir John] how prevented from fqueaklnf - ijfo 
 
 Ferdinand (of Arragon) why, perhaps, called John O!p9fi 91 
 
 Flaminiuv (T. Q.. ) how he influenced his Grecian allies 223 
 
 Fleet wood (biiliop) what he fuid of Da 5 lea's Ufe of tie Fatbtn 306 
 
 i ' whnt he fiid of myrtciy and of Lit God 333 
 
 florio, hii profane adulaiion of James I.'k queen 4% 
 Foumainc (Sir Andrew) an inrtancc of his out-Italianing an 
 
 Italian abbot - 331 
 
 Francis I. his bad opinion of kings m general 274 
 
 Fright, cftecl of, on a Swedifh gentleman . 105 
 
 ?ulvia, her plca&nt reafon for making war on Augu/los 25$ 
 
 C. G.. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 > ./ 
 
 o. 
 
 Fagft 
 
 Catln'ui, hil policy ' - 111 
 
 Garciaelll. (king of Navarre) why furnimed the Trembler lit 
 
 Canh (Dr.) altered bis Difpenftry for the better 195 
 
 i. fine character of - 333 
 
 Cauli had their devoted friends a$r 
 Ceckie (Dr.) epigram by, on Sir Godfrey Kneller n. 245 
 
 Grntooi, thrtr fpii it of toleration 36 
 
 .George I, hi> fine rsply to judge Dormer - iS 
 
 Cibfon (biOiop) a ft range offer made to, by to eld lady 221 
 
 Gladiator*, cum ban of, at burials and banquets 15 
 
 i their maoneri and lawi * 19 
 j . abul.fhcd by ChriAiaoIty * ^ 11 
 
 Grammont (cf>unt de) his joke on his death-bed 315 
 
 Crotiui laved by the virtue of his wife - 155 
 
 hit wife's perfon unluckily ridiculed to their fon 197 
 Guife (general) pimped, by conr cHion, for a fine picture ' 309 
 
 abufed the pope at cardinal Polignac's table 317 
 
 challenged by a young raw officer - 328 
 how the oracle bumbled his fanity 117 
 
 H. 
 
 Halley (Dr.) a ftory told by * * 1 65 
 
 Handel (Mr.) would never forgive Couple - 247 
 
 . what he faid on that occafion to the prince and 
 
 princefs of Walei * ib 
 
 Hanmer (Sir Thomas) a faint copier of fome heroic bride* 
 
 grooms . 280 
 
 Hannibal favcd his* fan from Moloch ' 95 
 
 > reafon of his not going directly to Rome from 
 
 Cann - - - jxo 
 
 how he parried a rebuke of Scipio . , 235 
 
 Harvey (Dr.) would not furvive the loft of fi^ht * 137 
 
 Henley (Anthony) his blunt anfwer to his condiment. 240 
 
 Henry IV* (emperor) his generofity to the remains of his 
 
 CAemy - .46 
 
 Henry 
 
I N D E ** 
 
 Henry JV. (of Fnnce) terrified by tn ailrologer - 
 
 a papift only at king * aS6 
 Herring (archbithop) a fine proteftant fentiment of - 321 
 
 Hookc (Mr.) his bewitching manner of reading *' 76 
 Hortcnfiut (the orator) rather feen than heard - 8x 
 
 Hottentots, their anfvver for, and folution of all -no 
 
 Howard (Hugh) hit character 269 
 ,. ,. ,~-^ Mr. Walpole'a account ef * - i. 336 
 
 Huns, 4i ftrange cuftom of their people of quality - 176 
 
 Hurd (Dr.) hit reflexion on affected crititifm 162 
 
 a reflection on him on this occafion - ' ib* 
 
 J and I. 
 
 Jamet I7< ruined probably by his unfeeling cruelty *9 
 
 .Jerome (Si.) a piotu fraud of . 305 
 
 Jefuits in France lurched at their own game - 148 
 
 John (Don) of Aultria, hit reafon for concealing to amour 225 
 
 Irifh rebel petitioned to be hangtd in a wythe - 109 
 
 Julia, wife of Pompcy, died of apprehenfion for hit danger 159 
 
 K. ; 
 
 Kingi, in Don Queredo, all in hell . - lyf 
 
 Koeller (Sir Godfrey) fitted Dick Eftcourt's cap to bit own 
 
 head - - - - - HO 
 
 what he faid, when dying, to Pope '134 
 
 . "i hi i military vanity - 204 n. 336 
 
 what he /aid to Cock the auctioneer 244 
 . . " how flattered and cajoled by Mtfiri, 
 
 Tonfon and Geekit . . 145 
 
 L. 
 
 Lacliui and Scipio, their relaxation at Bai* - - 275 
 
 Lentului (Cn.) an odd inftance of his vanity 13! 
 Lewis XI. the dupe of his own cunning . 54 
 
 - Ilis pleafant propofcl to the Virgin Mary - 57 
 
 Lewis 
 
' \ N DUX 
 
 Pgt 
 
 I, orerheArd and di/covm-ed <by hit fool . >\ *' -r 3 
 
 - XIJI. his. impatience when dying - --. 446 
 Lorrain (duke of) his geoerofity to {he jemiias of Charlci 
 
 the Bold 46 
 
 Lorcr't Rock* in Granada, -why ib called - . 174 
 
 X.tcretia Sacrificed bar cruftity to her fame - 171 
 
 - a^olluted.viclim lo calumny ik t 
 
 JLyfia*, whai he Cud to A cximtiul -< - 8s 
 
 Madruccio (cardinal) hit definition of a fool 241 
 
 Maecenas, how he checked Augutua*! cruelty - 106 
 Magai, king of Cyrene, his lenity to the poet Philemon 105 
 jMahomet^ hii regard /or hi* cat - 5 
 
 * i hi* fen fc and policy ~ Sb 
 
 Alan defined as the only proud animal 37 
 
 JJailboiough (duke of) his Kafon for riflcing the battle of . 
 
 Hochftedt * 12) 
 
 ^ i i an i nftanc e of hts command of temper 144 
 
 i \vhat he fatd on felons being fent him 
 
 for recruits ... lot 
 
 bequeathed his fword to prince Eugene 325 
 
 Martin (St.) a pious fraud of 
 
 Idatthias (Corvinus) king of Hungary, how he punifhed his 
 
 barber - - - 104 
 
 Maximinus (emperor) his oOtntatioirs gluttony iSl 
 
 Jtfaz.irii.e (cavdifljl) what he faid t^ a detected thief - lS6 
 Mea^ (Dr.) the revtrfe of Dr. Radcliffe - - 317 
 
 WiG bin (Dr.) how played upon by two great men - 166 
 JVlob, their refentmcut of feentg fo called - 26* 
 
 M*ndonnedo (bi(hopt>f ) a firrc faying of "59 
 
 Monmouth (duke of) fucceeded at Maeflricht hy his rafhncfs * 144, 
 Montagu (lady M. W.) her reafon for not fufTering Pope to 
 
 corrc ft her verfes . - lit 
 
 (duke of) his bodily wit - 160 
 
 Jtfontaigne, hrs account of fomc forprifing feats in horfe- 
 
 rrranfijip - - - .97 
 
 Muscovite butQhers, their abfurdhy - - ioS 
 
 V * " i 
 
 KM . N. Kt* 
 
N D E X< 
 
 N. 
 
 Nemefis envious of our happlnefs * ' . 17 
 
 appeafed by blood - iS 
 
 Nepomucene (St. John) a martyr for female fecrets - 219 
 
 ' ' his futue at Prague, infcription on 220 
 
 Newcaftle (duke of ) thought his wife's wifdom folly 249 
 
 Newry fort taken by fncccfsful rafhnefs 145 
 Noufchirvan (Icing of Perfia) his good-natured forgivenefs 
 
 of a thief - - ..;' *;V 184 
 
 Nourfe (MY.) furgeon, his honed pride 311 
 
 d. 
 
 Old field (Mrs.) her bed fchool was hearing Howe read 77 
 
 . her confelation on her death- bed - 210 
 
 Onflow (Mr. Speaker) what he faid of Mr. Hooke's reading 76 
 Orange (prince of) killed fome carrier pigeons out of kind- 
 
 nefs - 319 
 
 . his noble reply in 1672 , - . 229 
 
 Orford (lord) never but oace gave up his own opinion 237 
 
 Orleans (duke of) found out the price of a queen of France 179 
 
 , regent, took fliamc to himfelf - - 236 
 
 Otho III. (emperor) gave up his emprefs to an injured woman 156 
 Oxford (lord treafurer) what comforted an anccftor of, on 
 
 the fcaffuld - 209 
 
 P. 
 
 Padilla (Manade) a pleafant inftance of her devout facrilege 9* 
 ruirrom to a poor curate - 94 
 
 Parents expoftng their children, manner of - - 25 , 
 
 *" fome inftances of -. 31 
 
 continued by the Romans 33; 
 
 - -. abolifhed by Chriftianity 34 
 
 Parma (duke of) fed into an error by counting too much on > 
 others pru-Jence - - *I4 
 
 B b Parrot, 
 
I N D E X, 
 
 Pg 
 
 Parrot, in unlucky one, in Dollars Commons . 251 
 
 Pariis, or Jgni;oU, how they difpofe of their old people 3 
 ' " how they di '.cover whether thofe wh die 
 
 young will be faved or not 4 
 
 Paul (St.) a beautiful allufion of not generally underftood ( 283 
 
 Pellet (Or.) his calmnefs in dying 1-57 
 
 Pelopidas freed his country by a trivial accident - . 149 
 
 Perez (Antonio) his bafenefs and exile 48 
 
 what he faid of princes 50 
 Peril les, hit noble boaft on his dc.nh-bed tea 
 
 wai pcifu.uUJ to put on ih,um when dying tjfl 
 * iti'oiuilcJ hit cncmlcl by hit ulllkliuii 178 
 Pcrfuni (Magtary) their abfurd ordeal 6 
 < denied publicly the interpolation of the Gods ill 
 Peter the Great, an anecdote of his cruelty - - - 256 
 Peterborough (lord) his frolic with a dancing-matter 287 
 Phavorinus demeaned himfclf by wrangling wilh one whom 
 
 he dcfpifcd . . - 141 
 
 Philip (of Macedon) owned he was not a Cod * 40 
 
 his reply to a complaint of Lafthenei 55 
 
 reproved Alexander fr his /kill in mufic ico 
 Philippides, his reply to L)fimachus 284 
 Phyfician (a cavalier) ftrange prescription cf - - 222 
 Pigeons, feven, embalmed and preferred at Leyden - 2*9 
 
 _ would probablv have excufcd this honour 220 
 
 Pinky (a black merchant) his odd rebuke of fome pert 
 
 Frenchmen / . - 234 
 Pififtratus found means to cajole So)on*s rigour. 230 
 . force of his anfacring an accufation in the Ar- 
 eopagus - ... ib. 
 Pitt (the journali/l) (lory of a difpufe with 310 
 Plato, hit rebuke of a dexterous charioteer 96 
 Pliny, his concvrn at fpcaking in public 89 
 Plutarch and Cicero, their different opinions of a certain 
 
 exprcfllon - . - 300 
 
 Poitiers (a dean of) lived in one room by Choice - 125 
 
 Pope, his opinion of Dr. Garth n, 19$ 
 
 t had an exquifite dcfcription of an old lady dying 211 
 
 Pope, 
 
I N D E X. 
 
 Page 
 
 Pone, anecdotes of his own tlefigni in the T.Jfiyi on Crhicifm 
 
 and Man " - - - 1*4 
 
 could not take Cibber*s jeft - - * 311 
 
 Portia, her death heroic vanity - ^ - 150 
 
 Portias (the Ton of Cato) his generous death - 135 
 
 his gallantry - w. ib. 
 
 Pofthumius (Albinus) bis excufc for writing in Greek inid- 
 
 miflible ..... 98 
 
 Preacher (Spanish) his abufc of the French 298 
 Prior, how he unbent hir faculties a;5 
 
 Py rhui, the lesson of hit grieving for i fiUnd 6) 
 
 ,,.,-.. hl frying of C>t\cAi . . 79 
 
 Queen-mother (of China) fine faying of .^ . 191 
 
 Queen/bury (duke of) his advice to the duke of Bucking- 
 ham when dying - ? 167 
 
 R. 
 
 Racan ( M. de) his arch reply to Mademoifelle de Gournai ao 
 Radclifte (Dr.) his maxim of ufing mankind ill fuccccded well 316 
 
 * (Mr.) proud of being beheaded - 181 
 
 Raymond (lord chief jurticc) a good maxim of - 291 
 
 Reading, a politician of, lived .forty years in a garret 126 
 
 Richard 111. hanged a man for punning - ^131 
 
 Richelieu (cardinal) how he ufcd an informer - "129 
 how he availed htmfclf of a fellow's 
 
 impudence - - - - 14$ 
 
 . Roch (St.) hisclogy - - - - 298 
 
 .- born by a particular favour of heaven 299 
 
 Rochefaucault (duke of) his diead of fpeaking in public 87 
 
 Rochefler (lord) hi* juft reproof of Charles II. - 293 
 
 Roper (M.) how affected by her father's death 
 
 B b a 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Fowlejr, tht occafion of that name to Charlei II. | V 90 
 
 Ruffi (Aatony de) to feoneit lawyer - ' at 6 
 
 St. EvrcmonH, hit witty character . 315 
 
 Scipio (Africanus) hii condefcenflon , - 134 
 
 hii fma rebuke of Hannibal 235 
 
 Nafica, hit rcafont fur faying Carthage 107 
 Seeker (bifliop) how he offended a certain dutchefi - 299 
 Scncia, hii furcjfm on a rich fluggard 131 
 Senefmo wat (hocked at fir ft coming on the ftage every 
 
 feafon S8 
 
 Sertorius, how fecured from an imminent danger I f 
 
 Scvlgnc (marchioncfh of ) no friend to ignorance in women 250 
 
 Shore (Sir Bartholomew) an anecdote of - 216 
 Signer (Grand) offered hit affiftance to Henry IV. of France 254 
 
 * true mutive of ihif offer 255 
 
 Similis, hit retirement * itf 
 5iward (carl) his martial natural death . **35 
 
 Slare (Dr.) the author's godfather, an obfervation of 229 
 
 Sloane (Sir Hans) his account of two great drinkers 181 
 
 Soldier (a Trench) anecdote of - . . 24! 
 
 Solon, his nohlc reafon for oppofing Pififtratua 229 
 
 how appc.ifcd nd cajoled by him 230 
 Solyman (the Magnificent) how he rewarded a traitor 51 
 Spencer (Jack) fee Mifaubin (Dr.) 
 
 Squire (archdeacon) Tmupglcd a joke - 314 
 
 Stair (lorJ) hi* fpiritcd treatment of Lewis XIV. - 336 
 
 Stanhope (lord) \lut he faid of the duke of Mwilborough 226 
 
 Stilicho, his felfilh policy I2X 
 
 StiUin^tlcet (Dr.) a fine compliment he made Charlei JI. 89 
 
 Strabo, what he relates of the ancient Brachmant 304 
 
 Syria (a queen of ) defircd to give birth to Mahomet 221 
 
 T. Tern- 
 
INDEX.' 
 
 Ptge 
 
 Tempeft (Mr.) his dialogue with i porter . ' - 194 
 Theodoric (king) how he treated one who embraced hit 
 
 /irianifm 286 
 Thucydidti. (the Milefvan) hit anfwer to king Archidamat 
 
 concerning I'criclei - 320 
 
 Tillotfun (archbilhop) the good ufe he made of his enemies 192 ' 
 
 i his fine anfwer to Tome objc&ort 303 
 
 Titcum (Mr,) what he faid, when dying, to Cay 167 
 
 Turcnnc (m.iriK'il) how he fettled himfelf to raft 275 
 
 Turki, their reverence for firapi of (>4pcr 63 
 
 the rufon of it ' 64 
 
 Tufcani intrc'ductd into Italy human facrificei - 14 
 
 . had their iiAvck fcourgcd and tot lured at feads j/> 
 
 Valentmoli (dutchefi of) facrificed her chaflity to fave her 
 
 father - - - -151 
 
 Valerius Maximuf invokes the divinity of Tiberius 41 
 
 his account of the courage and virtue of 
 
 certaui wives - - . j^j 
 
 Vanbrugh (a famous epigram of) mifundcrflood by Voltaire 199 
 Victor, (an Olympic) loft Mis ciown for kicking an afs 165 
 
 Virgil, Jus enchanting pronunciation - 76 
 
 w. 
 
 Wajpole* (Sir Robert) what he f-iid of his parliament 178 
 Warburton (bifhop) his ciiticifm on Fope abfunl refinement 263 
 Watfon (hon. Mr.) would change his ihirt when dying, 
 
 and why - , - - 220 
 
 Wife (Indian) burns with her hu/band - - 71 
 
 Wcgers (Mr.) the author's fchuolmafter, compared with 
 
 Alexander the Great - 319 
 
 See Orf crd (lord.) William 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Pigt 
 
 Wil 1 Urn (Rufui) forced fome converted Jewi to turn Jew i 
 
 again - ' t86 
 
 m JII. how he treated a coward 51 
 
 Williamfon (Mrs.) her account of the Centooi - 69 
 
 WolUrton (Mr.) what he faid to a bigot . 36 
 
 

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