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II. He that forecasts what may happen, shall never be surprised; 'tis too late to begin to arm when the enemy is in our quarters.

Good actions, once resolved on, like fixed stars, should hold one and the same station of firmness, and should not be subject to irregular and retrograde motions.

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LET no condition surprise you, and then you cannot be afflicted in any: A noble spirit must not vary with his fortune. There is no condition so low, but may have hopes; nor any so high, that it is out of the reach of

fears.

Stilpon, the philosopher, when his city was destroyed, with his wife and children, and he alone escaped from the fire, being asked, whether he had lost any thing? replied, All my treasures are with me; justice, virtue, temperance, prudence, and this inviolable principle, not to esteem any thing as my proper good, that can be ravished from me.

II. Have not to do with any man in his passion, for men are not like iron, to be wrought upon when they are hot. Insult not another for his want of a talent you possess ; he may have others which you want.

Let all your jokes be truly jokes. ends in sad earnest.

Jesting sometimes

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YOU need not tell all the truth, unless to those who have a right to know it all. But let all you tell be truth. All great purposes should be substantially founded: A house raised on a sandy foundation will be swept away. Justice is the foundation of an everlasting fame, and there can be nothing commendable without it.

II. Other passions have objects to flatter them, and seemingly to content and satisfy them for a while; there is power in ambition, and pleasure in luxury, and pelf in covetousness, but envy can bring nothing but vexation.

Whatever pretensions people may make to learning, politeness, or civilization, we will venture to affirm, that while they neglect cleanliness, they are in a state of barbarity.

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NEVER employ yourself to discern the faults of others, but be careful to mend and prevent your own.

The devil has lent an eye to him, who will discover noth. ing but the imperfections of another.

He that has descried his own failings, and resolved on amendment, has examined himself in a mirror sent from Heaven; and looks forward through a medium which will lead him thither.

II. Nothing is more unmanerly, than to reflect on any man's profession, sect, or natural infirmity. He who stirs up against himself another's self-love, provokes the strongest passions in human nature.

There is no greater instance of a weak and pusillanimous temper, than for a man to pass his whole life in opposition to his own sentiments, and not dare to be what he thinks. he ought to be.

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WHAT good morals are to society in general, good manners are to particular ones; their band and security. Of all actions, next to that of performing a good one, the consciousness of rendering a civility is the most grateful

Void of good breeding, every other qualification will be imperfect, unadorned, and, to a certain degree, unavailing. II. Never think to entertain people with what lies out of their way, be it ever so curious in its kind. Who would think of regaling a circle of ladies with the beauties of Homer's Greek, or a company of country squires with Sir Isaac Newton's discoveries ?

To offer advice to an angry man, is like blowing against

a tempest.

Bid farewell to all grandeur, if envy stir within thee.

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A WISE man, said Seneca, is provided for occurrences of any kind; the good he manages, the bad he vanquishes; in prosperity he betrays no presumption, in adversity he feels no despondency.

He, who in your face smiles, and absent from you calumniates, is like a serpent, with an eye to entice, and a heart to devour.

The tale-bearer, and he who speaks to the disadvantage of another with an injunction of secresy, is but a little distant in rank from the prince of darkness.

II. The meanest spirit may bear a slight affliction; but in bearing a great calamity, there is great glory and a great reward.

An unjust acquisition is like a barbed arrow, that must be drawn backward with horrible anguish; else it will be your destruction.

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MALEVOLENCE to the clergy is seldom at a great distance from irreverence to religion.

Never ridicule sacred things, or what others may esteem such, however absurd they may appear to you. The scoffer carries in his bosom a live coal from that eternal fire denounced on the wicked.

Levity should not be indulged in any place where the people are professedly engaged in acts of devotion.

II. Never think the worse of another on account of his honest difference from you in political or religious opinions; the freedom of the mind is not the smallest blessing of free. dom.

An honest man is believed without an oath, for his rep utation swears for him.

LESSON XXXI.

YOUTH should enterprise nothing without the advice of age; for though youth is fittest for action, yet age is best for counsel.

He who, under pressing temptations to lie, adheres to truth, nor to the profane betrays aught of a sacred trust, is near the summit of wisdom and virtue.

II. He that will take no advice, but be always his own counsellor, is sure to have a fool often for his client.

Set about nothing, without first thinking it over carefully. To say, " 1 did not think of that"—is much the same as saying, “You must know, I am a simpleton."

The vanity of human life is like a river, constantly passing away, and yet constantly coming on.

All affectation is the mean and ridiculous attempt of poverty to appear rich.

LESSON XXXII.

SWEARING and obscenity are offences not only against all that is sacred, but against all that is polite. They are sins without temptation, without alleviation, and without reward.

The most contemptible of those that ever were, or ever can be despised by the wise, is he who, with opportunities of being acquainted with what is noble, pure, grand, gives himself airs of despising it.

II. A truly great mind, from mere reverence for itself, would not descend to think a base thought, if it was never to be known to God or man.

The time is near, when the great and the rich must leave his land and his well built house; and of all the trees of his orchards and woods, nothing shall attend him to his grave, but oak for his coffin, and cypress for his funeral.

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IF in company I would disuse my segar, because its whiffs might offend, would I indulge in oaths and obscenity

when they are equally a breach of the rules of politeness, and offensive to Him who gave the power of utterance ?

As the stalk which rises in a garden will become unalterably crooked, if permitted to grow in a wrong direction; so the minds of youth will become incurably vicious, if suffered to retain a wrong inclination.

II. To have a portion in the world, is a mercy; to have the world for a portion, is a misery.

By suffering we may often avoid sinning; but by sinning we can never avoid suffering.

He that is not content in any state, will be content in no state; for the fault is not in the thing, but the mind.

Adversity does not take from us our true friends; it only disperses those who pretended to be such.

LESSON XXXIV.

IF you would not have affliction visit you twice, listen at once to what it teaches.

Of all felicities, how charming is that of a firm and gentle friendship. It sweetens our cares, softens our sorrows, and assists us in extremities: It is a sovereign antidote against calamities.

There are two requisite qualities in the choice of a friend; he must be both a sensible man and an honest man: for fools and vicious men are incapable of friendship.

Every man is capable of being an enemy, but not a friend; few are in a condition of doing good, but almost all of doing mischief.

II. Remember your bottle companions will not bear you company at your death; nor lighten your sentence at the dreadful day of judgement. Let the vicious, therefore, go alone at present; since their company may heighten, but will not abate your punishment.

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IF you think twice before you speak once, you will speak twice the better for it.

Vile and debauched expressions are the sure marks of an abject and grovelling mind, and the overflowings of a vicious heart.

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