II. Purity of heart, and purity of life, are two qualities without which a man cannot enjoy his own heart, look up with confidence to his Maker, nor spend his days on earth with usefulness to others. "Our fathers, where are they?" Millions of our species, since a hundred years, have appeared on this globe, and are now no more! mortifying reflection to human pride; animating to piety and virtue. AN ambitious man is the greatest enemy to himself of any in the world besides; he is continually tormented in the disappointment of his own unreasonable desires. Avarice and ambition are the two elements that enter into the composition of all crimes. Ambition is boundless, and avarice insatiable. Sound not the vain trumpet of self-commendation, and forget not to remember your own imperfections. Stupendous are the works of Providence! Is thy curiosity at labour to search them out? Suppress the fruitless enquiry-except the present page, the volume of futurities is kindly sealed from your inspection. YOU feel conscious of life, and if you cast contemplation around you, you cannot resist the evidence of a Supreme Being. This conviction is not the work of reason onlyit is natural to the mind of virtue, and is its most comforting reflection. Restrict your conduct to the rules and limitations of virtue and religion; your prospects beyond the grave will then be glorious, and the herald of your dissolution will be welcomed as the messenger of your bliss. Love even what is honest, as most lovely; and detest what is the contrary, as the most detestable. No man hath a thorough taste of prosperity, to whom adversity never happened. LESSON XVI. MONEY, like manure, does no good till it is spread. There is no real use of riches, except in the distribution ; the rest is all conceit. Many mistake the means of good for the end of it; of what use is gold in the coffers of a miser? Covetousness is a green eyed vice-it infuses vinegar into its own cup of comfort, and would convert the cordial drops of others into gall. Tantalus, 'tis said, was ready to perish with thirst, though up to the chin in water. Change but the name, and every rich miser is Tantalus in the fable. The philosopher Bion said pleasantly of the king, who by handfuls pulled his hair off of his head, for sorrow- -Does this man think that baldness is a remedy for grief? NO man was ever cast down with the injuries of fortune, unless he had before suffered himself to be deceived by her favours. A good and generous man is happy within himself, and independent of fortune; kind to his friend; temperate to his enemy; religiously just; indefatigably laborious; and, discharges every duty with a constancy and congruity of actions. II. It happens to men of learning, as to ears of corn; they shoot up, and raise their heads high, while they are empty; but when full and swelled with grain, they begin to flag and drop. There cannot be a greater treachery, than first to raise a confidence, and then deceive it. Real honour is "the noble mind's distinguishing perfection:" False honour is a figure on a barn door, to be shot at with a pistol. LESSON XVIII. SENECA observes well, That it is the constant fault and inseparable ill quality of ambition, never to look be hind it. Emulation, when founded on virtue, and limited to her bounds, will perform deeds that will be praised in heaven. Death can never prematurely happen to a good man: whenever it takes place, it is the close of his sufferings, the commencement of his happiness. II. Favours are not always gratefully returned; the sun that melts the wax, hardens the clay. Soft persuasion will oftener draw, than rough measures will drive, the mind to conviction. There is an elastick quality in the heart, which resists compression. Nothing can impair perfect friendship, because truth is the only bond of it. DIOGENES being asked, How one should be revenged of his enemy; answered, by being a virtuous and honest man. To be able to bear provocation, is an argument of great wisdom; and to forgive it, of a great mind. It would be meanness, patiently to endure intentional injuries; and baseness to continuc offended at unintentional. II. It is better that a man's own works, than that another man's words, should praise him. Know thyself, then shall no flatterer deceive thee. King Alphonsus used to say, That his dead counsellors, meaning his books, were to him far better than the living; for they, without flattery or fear, presented to him truth. It is a part of justice never to do violence; a mark of modesty never to commit offence. ENVY is fixed only on merit; and, like a sore eye, is offended with every thing bright. Detraction is so insatiable, that it would find picking in a piece of composition, faultless but for the omission of a single comma. C Perfection is excluded by the condition of our nature; this should teach us forbearance in our censures of others; and humility in the estimation of ourselves. II. The failings of good men are commonly more published in the world than their good deeds; and one fault of a deserving man shall meet with more reproaches, than all his virtues, praise: Such is the force of ill will and ill nature. Virtue should be considered as a part of taste; and we should as much avoid deceit, or sinister meanings in discourse, as we would puns, bad language, or false gram mär. LESSON XXI. THE eye is generally faithful in the expression of chara acter: He that avoids your direct open look, has a foulness in his soul, which he fears you will discover. Employ no arguments with the obstinately perverse. Could you, with a dish of dainties, entice the tiger from his love of blood? common sense. II. Fine sense and exalted sense are not half so useful as There are forty men of wit, for one man of sense; and he that will carry nothing about him but gold, will be every day at a loss for want of ready change. There is a time when thou mayest say nothing, and a time when thou mayest say something, but there never will be a time when thou shouldst say all things. It is the excellency of a great mind to triumph over all misfortunes and infelicities. LESSON XXII. EPICURUS recommends temperance to us, if it were for nothing else but the very pleasure of it; 'tis the glory of a man that hath abundance, to live as reason, not as appetite, directs. The temperate man's pleasures are durable, because they are regular; and all his life is calm and serene, because it is innocent. The intemperate man puts diseases into his own veins, and disesteem of him in the hearts of others. II. He that is his own foe, will certainly be destroyed; when the guard leaves the citadel, it will soon be beaten down. A good conscience seats the mind on a rich throne of lasting quiet; but horror waits upon a guilty soul. I fear unruly passions more than the arrows of an enemy, and the slavery of them, more than the fetters of a conqueror. TO pursue worthy ends, by wise means, is the whole of active prudence. And this must be done with resolution, diligence and perseverance, till the point is gained, or ap. pears impracticable. To retort an injury is to be almost as bad as the aggres When two throw dirt at each other, can either keep himself clean? sor. II. He whom common, gross, or stale objects allure, and when obtained, content, is a vulgar being, incapable of greatness in thought or action. To endure present evils with patience, and wait for expected good with long suffering, is equally the part of the christian and the here. Adversity overcome is the highest glory; and willingly undergone, the greatest virtue; sufferings are but the trial of gallant spirits. ACTION and contemplation are no way inconsistent, but rather reliefs to each other. When you are engaged in study, throw business out of your thoughts. When in business, think of your business only. Calmness of will, is a sign of grandeur. The vulgar, far from hiding their will, blab their wishes. |