This one, this easy charge, of all the trees
In Paradise that bear delicious fruit

So various, not to taste that only tree

Of Knowledge, planted by the tree of Life;
So near grows death to life, whate'er death is,
Some dreadful thing, no doubt; for well thou know'st
God hath pronounc'd it death to taste that tree,
The only sign of our obedience left
Among so many signs of power and rule
Conferred upon us, and dominion given
Over all other creatures that possess

Earth, air, and sea.

Then let us not think hard

One easy prohibition, who enjoy

Free leave so large to all things else, and choice
Unlimited of manifold delights:

But let us ever praise him, and extol

His bounty, following our delightful task

To prune these growing plants; and tend these flowers, Which were it toilsome, yet with thee were sweet.

DCCCXLI.

Milton.

There is a kind of sympathy in souls, that fits them for each other; and we may be assured when we see two persons engaged in the warmths of a mutual affection, that there are certain qualities in both their minds which bear a resemblance to one another. A generous and constant passion in an agreeable lover, where there is not too great a disparity in other circumstances, is the greatest blessing that can befal the person beloved, and if overlooked in one, may perhaps never be found in another. Steele.

DCCCXLII.

A Rich Man, what is he? Has he a frame
Distinct from others? Or a better name?

Has he more legs, more arms, more eyes, more brains?
Has he less care, less crosses, or less pains?

Can riches keep the mortal wretch from death?
Or can new treasures purchase a new breath?

Or does heaven send its love and mercy more
To Mammon's pamper'd sons than to the poor?
If not, why should the fool take so much state
Exalt himself and others under-rate?
"Tis senseless ignorance, that soothes his pride,
And makes him laugh at all the world beside.
But when excesses bring on gout or stone,
All his vain mirth and gaity are gone.
Then to make any truce with his disease,
And purchase the least interval of ease,
He'd all his ill-got magazines resign,
And at health's altar sacrifice his coin;
And when he dies, for all he looks so high,
He'll make as vile a skeleton as I.

DCCCXLIII.

Tom Brown.

Every man is the maker of his own Fortune; and what is very odd to consider, he must in some measure be the trumpeter of his own fame: not that men are to be tolerated who directly praise themselves; but they are to be endued with a sort of defensive eloquence, by which they shall be always capable of expressing the rules and arts whereby they govern themselves.-Tatler. DCCCXLIV.

How wisely nature did decree,

With the same Eyes to weep and see!
That, having view'd the object vain,
They might be ready to complain.
And, since the self-deluding sight
In a false angle takes each height,
These tears, which better measure all,
Like wat❜ry lines and plummets fall.
Two tears, which sorrow long did weigh
Within the scales of either eye;
And then paid out in equal poise,
Are the true price of all my joys.
What in the world most fair appears,
Yea, even laughter, turns to tears;
And all the jewels which we prize,
Melt in these pendants of the eyes.

Marvell.

DCCCXLV.

Some people are all Quality; you would think they were made up of nothing but title and genealogy: the stamp of dignity defaces in them the very character of humanity, and transports them to such a degree of haughtiness, that they reckon it below them either to exercise good-nature or good manners.-Sir R. L'Estrange.

DCCCXLVI.

History tells of illustrious villains; but there never was an illustrious miser in nature.-St. Evremond.

DCCCXLVII.

What ambitious fools are more to blame
Than those who thunder in the Critic's name?
Good authors damn'd, have their revenge in this,
To see what wretches gain the praise they miss.
Ye doctors sage, who through Parnassus teach,
Or quit the tub, or practise what you preach.
One judges as the weather dictates; right
at noon, and wrong at night:

The poem

Another judges by a surer gage,

An author's principles, or parentage;

Since his great ancestors in Flanders fell,

The poem, doubtless, must be written well.
Another judges by the writer's look;

Another judges, for he bought the book;

Some judge, their knack of judging wrong to keep;
Some judge, because it is too soon to sleep.
Thus all will judge, and with one single aim,
To gain themselves, not give the writer, fame.
The very best ambitiously advise,

Half to serve you, and half to pass for wise.
Critics on verse, as squibs on triumphs wait,
Proclaim the glory, and augment the state;
Hot, envious, noisy, proud, the scribbling fry
Burn, hiss, and bounce, waste paper, ink, and die.
Young.

'DCCCXLVIII.

Take away God and religion, and men live to no pur

pose, without proposing any worthy and considerable end of life to themselves.-Tillotson.

DCCCXLIX.

It would be of great use if we had an exact history of the successes of every great Shop within the city walls, what tracts of land have been purchased by a constant attendance within a walk of thirty foot. If it could also be noted in the equipage of those who are ascended from the successful trade of their ancestors into figure and equipage, such accounts would quicken industry in the pursuit of such acquisitions, and discountenance luxury in the enjoyment of them.-Steele.

DCCCL.

The hour

Of Night, and all things now retir'd to rest,
Mind us of like repose, since God hath set
Labour and rest, as day and night to men
Successive; and the timely dew of sleep
Now falling with soft slumbrous weight inclines
Our eye-lids; other creatures all day long
Rove idle unemploy'd, and less need rest;
Man hath his daily work of body or mind
Appointed, which declares his dignity,
And the regard of heaven on all his ways;
While other animals unactive range,

And of their doings God takes no account.
To-morrow, ere fresh morning streak the east
With fresh approach of light, we must be risen,
And at our pleasant labour, to reform
Yon flowery arbours, yonder alleys green,
Our walk at noon, with branches overgrown,
That mock our scant manuring, and require
More hands than ours to lop their wanton growth
Those blossoms also, and those dropping gums,
That lie bestrown unsightly and unsmooth,
Ask riddance, if we mean to tread with ease;
Mean while, as Nature wills, Night bids us rest.
Adam to Eve-Milton.

DCCCLI.

If Money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him.Charron.

DCCCLII.

A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill, requires only our silence, which costs us nothing.— Tillotson.

DCCCLIII.

When men will not be reasoned out of a Vanity, they must be ridiculed out of it.-Sir R. L'Estrange.

DCCCLIV.

The soul refin'd

Is most inclin'd

To every moral excellence;
All vice is dull,

A Knave's a Fool;

And virtue is the child of sense

The virtuous mind,

Nor wave, nor wind,

Nor civil rage, nor tyrant's frown,

The shaken ball,

Nor planet's fall,

From its firm basis can dethrone.

DCCCLV.

Young.

The most difficult province in Friendship is the letting a man see his faults and errors, which should, if possible, be so contrived, that he may perceive our advice is given him not so much to please ourselves as for his own advantage. The reproaches therefore of a friend should always be strictly just, and not too frequent.Budgell.

DCCCLVI.

Truth and Understanding are not such wares as to be monopolized and traded in by tickets, and statutes, and standards. We must not think to make a staple commodity of all the knowledge in the land, to mark and license