lady's chamber, und tell her, let her paint an inch thick; to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that. Shakspeare. CCCXI. All jealousy Must still be strangled in its birth; or time Sir William Davenant. CCCXII. A vein which has entered, and helped to corrupt our modern poesy, is that of ridicule; as if nothing pleased but what made one laugh, which yet comes from two very different affections of the mind; for, as men have no disposition to laugh at things they are most pleased with, so they are very little pleased with many things they laugh at.-Sir W. Temple. CCCXIII. In days of old, when Arthur fill'd the throne, Gambol'd on heaths, and danc'd on ev'ry green: More solemnly they kept their sabbaths here, And made more spacious rings, and revell'd half the year. I speak of ancient times, for now the swain The dairy-maid expects no fairy guest, To skim the bowls, and after pay the feast. CCCXIV. Dryden. When I was young, and in some idle company, it was proposed that every one should tell what their three wishes should be, if they were sure to be granted: some were very pleasant, and some very extravagant; mine were health, and peace, and fair weather; which, though out of the way among young men, yet perhaps might pass well enough among old: they are all of a strain; for health in the body is like peace in the state, and serenity in the air: the sun, in our climate at least, has something so reviving, that a fair day is a kind of sensual pleasure, and of all others the most innocent.Sir W. Temple. CCCXV. K. Rich. I have been studying how I may compare This prison, where I live, unto the world: And, for because the world is populous, And here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it:-Yet, I'll hammer it out. My brain I'll prove the female to my soul; My soul, the father: and these two beget A generation of still-breeding thoughts, And these same thoughts people this little world In humours, like the people of this world: For no thought is contented. * * Thoughts tending to ambition, they do plot That many have, and others must sit there: With nothing shall be pleased, till he be eased CCCXVI. There are two capital faults in our law with relation to civil debts. One is, that every man is presumed solvent; a presumption in innumerable cases, directly against truth. Therefore the debtor, is ordered, on a supposition of ability and fraud, to be coerced his liberty until he makes payment. By this means, in all cases of civil insolvency, without a pardon from his creditor, he is to be imprisoned for life:-and thus, a miserable mistaken invention of artificial science, operates to change a civil into a criminal judgment, and to Scourge misfortune or indiscretion with a punishment which the law does not inflict on the greatest crimes. The next fault is, that the inflicting of that punishment is not on the opinion of an equal and public judge, but is referred to the arbitrary discretion of a private, nay interested and irritated individual. He, who formally is, and substantially ought to be, the judge, is in reality no more than ministerial, a mere executive instrument of a private man, who is at once judge and party. Every idea of judicial order is subverted by this procedure. If the insolvency be no crime, why is it punished with arbitrary imprisonment? If it be a crime, why is it delivered into private hands, to pardon without discretion, or to punish without mercy and without measure.-Burke. CCCXVII. There is something so attractive in riches, that the large heap generally collects from the smaller; and the poor find as much pleasure in increasing the enormous mass, as the miser, who owns it, sees happiness in its increase. Nor is there in this any thing repugnant to the laws of true morality. Seneca himself allows, that in conferring benefits, the present should always be suited to the dignity of the receiver. Thus the rich receive large presents, and are thanked for accepting them. Men of middling stations are obliged to be content with presents something less; while the beggar, who may be truly said to want indeed, is well paid if a farthing rewards his warmest solicitations.-Goldsmith. CCCXVIII. Life is a weary interlude Which doth short joys, long woes include: The scene shuts up with loss of breath, And leave no epilogue but death!-H. King. CCCXIX. Let thy love be to the best, so long as they do well; but take heed that thou love God, thy country, thy prince, and thine own estate, before all others; for the fancies of men change, and he that loves to day, hateth to-morrow; but let reason be thy school-mistress, which shall ever guide thee aright.-Sir W. Raleighto his Son. CCCXX. Confidence in one's self, is the chief nurse of magnanimity. Which confidence, notwithstanding, doth not leave the care of necessary furniture for it, and therefore, of all the Grecians, Homer doth ever make Achilles the best armed.-Sir P. Sidney. CCCXXI. A promise may be broke; Nay, start not at it-'tis an hourly practice: "Tis the wise man's freedom, and the fool's restraint; Who rigs it with the tackle of his conscience, And sails with ev'ry wind. Havard's King Charles I. CCCXXII. As Gardening has been the inclination of kings and the choice of philosophers, so it has been the common favourite of public and private men; a pleasure of the greatest, and the care of the meanest; and, indeed, an employment and a possession, for which no man is too high nor too low.-Sir W. Temple. CCCXXIII. There is need of a sprightly and vigilant soul to discern and to lay hold on favourable junctures; a man must look before him, descry opportunities at a distance, keep his eye constantly upon them, observe all the motions they make towards him, make himself ready for their approach, and when he sees his time, lay fast hold, and not let go again, till he has done his business.-Charron. CCCXXIV. A good traveller is something at the latter end of a dinner; but one that lies three thirds, and uses a known truth to pass a thousand nothings with, should be once heard, and thrice beaten.-Shakspeare. |