him above the want of hourly affistance, or to extinguish the defire of fond endearments, and tender officioufnefs; and therefore no one fhould think it unnecessary to learn thofe arts by which friendship may be gained. Kindness is preserved by a conftant reciprocation of benefits or interchange of pleasures; but fuch benefits only can be beflowed, as others are capable of receiving, and such pleafures only imparted, as others are qualified to enjoy.

By this defcent from the pinnacles of art no honour will be loft: for the condefcenfions of learning are always overpaid by gratitude. An elevated genius employed in little things, appears, to use the fimile of Longinus, like the fun in his evening declination; he remits his fplendor but retains his magnitude; and pleases more though he dazzles less. RAMBLER.

CHAP. VII.

ON THE ADVANTAGES OF UNITING GENTLENESS OF MANNERS WITH FIRMNESS

OF MIND.

གར་ཟླ

I MENTIONED to you, fome time ago, as fentence, which I would moft earnestly wish you always to retain in your thoughts, and obferve in your conduct; it is fuaviter: in modo, fortitèr in re. I do not know any one rule fo unexceptionably useful and neceffary in every part of life.

THE fuaviter in modo alone would degenerate and fink into a mean, timid complaifance, and paffiveness, if not supported and dignified by the fortitèr in res which would also run into impetuofity and brutality, if not tempered and foftened by the fuavitèr in modo: however, they are seldom united. The warm choleric man, with ftrong animal spirits, defpifes the fuavitèr in mode, and thinks to carry all before him by the fortiter in re. He may poffibly by great accident, now and then fucceed, when he has only weak

and

and timid people to deal with; but his general fate will be, to fhock, offend, be hated, and fail. On the other hand, the cunning crafty man thinks to gain all his ends by the fuaviter in modo only; he becomes all things to all men; he feems to have no opinion of his own, and fervilely adopts the present opinion of the present person; he infinuates hinfelf only into the esteem of fools, but is foon detected, and furely defpifed by every body elfe. The wife man (who differs as much from the cunning, as from the choleric man) alone joins the suavitèr in modo with the fortiter in re.

If you are in authority, and have a right to command, your commands delivered fuavitèr in modo will be willingly, cheerfully, and confequently well obeyed: whereas if given only fortiter, that is brutally, they will rather, as Tacitus fays, be interpreted than executed. For my own part, if I bade my footman bring me a glass of wine, in a rough infulting manner, I fhould expect, that in obeying me, he would contrive to fpill fome of it upon me; and I am fure I fhould deferve it. A cool fteady refolution should fhew, that where you have a right to command, you will be obeyed; but at the fame time, a gentleness in the manner of enforcing that obedience, fhould make it a cheerful one, and foften as much as poffible, the mortifying consciousnefs of inferiority. If you are to ask a favour, or even to folicit your due, you must do it fuavitèr in modo, or you will give thofe, who have a mind to refuse you either, a pretence to do it, by refenting the manner; but, on the other hand, you must, by a fleady perfeverance and decent tenaciousness, fhew the fortitèr in re. In short, this precept is the only way I know in the world, of being loved without being defpifed, and feared without being hated. It conftitutes the dignity of character, which every wife man must endeavour to establish.

If therefore you find that you have a hastiness in your temper, which unguardedly breaks out into indiscreet fallies, or rough expreffions, to either your fuperiors, your equals, or your inferiors, watch it narrowly, check it carefully, and call the suavitèr in mode to your affistance: at the first impulfe of paffion be filent, till you can be foft. Labour even to get the command of your countenance fo well, that those emotions may not be read in it: a most unspeakable advantage in business! On the other hand, let no complaisance, no gentleness of temper, no weak defire of pleasing on your part, no wheedling, coaxing, nor flattery, on other people's, make you recede one jot from any point that reason and prudence have bid you pursue; but return to the charge, perfift, perfevere, and you will find most things attainable that are poffible. A yielding, timid meekness is always abufed and infulted by the unjuft and the unfeeling; but meeknefs, when fuftained by the fortitèr in re, is always refpected, commonly fuccefsful. In your friendships and connections, as well as in your enmities, this rule is particularly useful let your firmness and vigour preferve and invite attachments to you; but, at the fame time, let your manner hinder the enemies of your friends and dependents from becoming yours; let your enemies be disarmed by the gentleness of your manner, but let them feel, at the fame time, the steadiness of your just refentment; for there is a great difference between bearing malice, which is always ungenerous, and a refolute self-defence, which is always prudent and juftifiable.

:

I CONCLUDE with this observation, That gentleness of manners, with firmness of mind, is a short, but full defcription of human perfection, on this fide of religious and moral duties.

CHAP. VIII.

ON GOOD SENSE.

WERE I to explain what I understand by good fense, I should call it right reason; but right reason that arises not from formal and logical deductions, but from a fort of intuitive faculty in the foul, which diftinguishes by immediate perception: a kind of innate fagacity, that in many of its properties feems very much to resemble inftinct. It would be improper, therefore, to fay, that Sir Ifaac Newton fhewed his good fenfe, by thofe amazing difcoveries which he made in natural philofophy; the operations of this gift of Heaven are rather inftantaneous than the refult of any tedious procefs. Like Diomed, after Minerva had indued him with the power of difcerning gods from mortals, the man of good fense discovers at once the truth of those objects he is most concerned to distinguish; and conducts himself with fuitable caution and security.

Ir is for this reafon, poffibly, that this quality of the mind is not fo often found united with learning as one could wish; for good sense being accustomed to receive her difcoveries without labour or study, fhe cannot fo easily wait for those truths, which being placed at a distance, and lying concealed under numberless covers, require much pains and application to unfold.

BUT though good fenfe is not in the number, nor always, it must be owned, in the company of the sciences; yet is it as the most fenfible of poets as juftly obferved) fairly worth the seven.'

Rectitude of understanding is indeed the most useful, as well as the most noble of human endowments, as it is the fovereign guide and director in every branch of civil and focial intercourse.

UPON whatever occafion this enlightening faculty is ex

erted,

erted, it is always fure to act with distinguished eminence; but its chief and peculiar province feems to lie in the commerce of the world. Accordingly we may obferve that those who have converfed more with men than with books; whose wisdom is derived rather from experience than contemplation; generally poffefs this happy talent with fuperior perfection. For good fenfe, though it cannot be acquired, may be improved; and the world, I believe, will ever be found to afford the most kindly foil for its cultivation.

PRATT.

STUDIES ferve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. The chief ufe for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and difpofition of bufinefs. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars one by one; but the general counfels, and the plots, and marshalling of affairs, come beft from thofe that are learned. To spend too much time in ftudies is floth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humour of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience; for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by duty, and ftudies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn ftudies, fimple men admire them, and wife men use them: for they teach not their own ufe, but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by obfervation. Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and confider. Some books are to be tafted, others to be fwallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, fome

books