As full as perfect in vile man that mourns, And spite of pride, in erring reason's spite, 27. Cowards die many times before their death; The valiant never taste of death but once. 28. Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears; If it were so, it was a grievous fault; 29. Before I speak the message of the Greeks, Permit me, sir, to glory in the title Of their ambassador; since I behold Have you so soon forgot the mighty Hector? M THE SERIES, OR ENUMERATION OF PARTICULARS. 1. I consider a human soul without education like marble in the quarry; which shows none of its inherent beauties till the skill of the polisher fetches out the colours, makes the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot, and vein that runs through the body of it. 2. Sincerity is to speak as we think, to do as we pretend and profess, to perform and make good what we promise, and really to be what we would seem and appear to be. 3. The brightness of the sky, the lengthening of the days, the increasing verdure of the spring, the arrival of any little piece of good news, or whatever carries with it the most distant glimpse of joy, is frequently the parent of a social and happy conversation. 4. He who resigns the world has no temptation to envy, hatred, malice, or anger, but is in constant possession of a serene mind: he who follows the pleasures of it—which are in their very nature disappointing-is in constant search of care, solicitude, remorse, and confusion. 5. If we suppose that there are superior beings who look into the ways of men (as it is highly probable there are, both from reason and revelation), how different must be their notions of us from those which we are apt to form of one another!—A contemplation of God's work, a voluntary act of justice to our own detriment, a generous concern for the good of mankind, tears shed in silence for the misery of others, a private desire of resentment broken and subdued, an unfeigned exercise of humility or any other virtue, are such actions as are glorious in their sight, and denominate men great and reputable. The most famous among us are often looked upon with pity and contempt, or with indig 1 For an explanation of the several kinds of SERIES, the learner should refer to the Introduction, page 58. Note b, under Rule II., page 52. will furnish him with a good general rule in all such cases. nation; while those who are more obscure are regarded 6. In fair weather, when my heart is cheered, and I feel that exaltation of spirits which results from light and warmth, joined with a beautiful prospect of nature, I regard myself as one placed by the hand of God in the midst of an ample theatre, in which the sun, moon, and stars, the fruits also and vegetables of the earth, perpetually changing their positions or their aspects, exhibit an elegant entertainment to the understanding, as well as to the eye. Thunder and lightning, rain and hail, the painted bow, and the glaring comets, are decorations of this mighty theatre; and the sable hemisphere, studded with spangles, the blue vault at noon, the glorious gildings and rich colours in the horizon, I look on as so many successive scenes. 7. Complaisance renders a superior amiable, an equal agreeable, and an inferior acceptable. It smoothes distinction, sweetens conversation, and makes every one in the company pleased with himself. It produces good-nature and mutual benevolence, encourages the timorous, soothes the turbulent, humanizes the fierce, and distinguishes a society of civilized persons from a party of savages. In a word, complaisance is a virtue that blends all orders of men together in a friendly intercourse of words and actions, and is suited to that equality in human nature which every one ought to consider so far as is consistent with the order and economy of the world. 8. Should the greater part of people sit down and draw up a particular account of their time, what a shameful bill it would be! So much in eating, drinking, and sleeping, beyond what nature requires; so much in revelling and wantonness; so much for the recovery of last night's intemperance; so much in gaming, plays, and masquerades; so much in paying and receiving formal and impertinent visits; so much in idle and foolish prating; so much in censuring and reviling of our neighbours; so much in dressing out our bodies and in talking of fashions; and so much wasted and lost in doing nothing at all. 9. If we would have the kindness of others, we must endure their follies. He who cannot persuade himself to withdraw from society, must be content to pay a tribute of his time to a multitude of tyrants; to the loiterer, who makes appointments he never keeps; to the consulter, who asks advice he never takes; to the boaster, who blusters only to be praised; to the complainer, who whines only to be pitied; to the projector, whose happiness is to entertain his friends with expectations which all but himself know to be vain; to the economist, who tells of bargains and settlements; to the politician, who predicts the consequence of deaths, battles, and alliances; to the usurer, who compares the state of the different funds; and to the talker, who talks only because he loves to be talking. 10. Vice is the cruel enemy which renders men destructive to men; which racks the body with pain, and the mind with remorse; which produces strife, faction, revenge, oppression, and sedition; which embroils society, kindles the flames of war, takes away peace from life, and hope from death; which brought forth death at first, and has ever since clothed it in all its terrors; which arms Nature and the God of Nature against us; and against which it has been the business of all ages to find out provisions and securities, by various institutions, laws, and forms of government. 11. It pleases me to think that I, who know so small a portion of the works of the Creator, and with slow and painful steps, creep up and down on the surface of this globe, shall, ere long, shoot away with the swiftness of imagination; trace out the hidden springs of nature's operations; be able to keep pace with the heavenly bodies in the rapidity of their career; be a spectator of the long chain of events in the natural and moral worlds; visit the several apartments of creation; know how they are furnished and how inhabited; comprehend the order and measure, the magnitude and distances of those orbs, which, to us, seemed disposed without any regular design, and set all in the same circle; observe the dependents of the parts of each system; and (if our minds are big enough) grasp the theory of the several systems upon one another, from whence results the harmony of the universe. 12. Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, 13. Dread o'er the scene the ghost of Hamlet stalks ' Othello rages; poor Monimia mourns ; And Belvidera pours her soul in love. Terror alarms the breast: the comely tear Steals o'er the cheek. Or else, the comic muse And raises, sly, the fair impartial laugh. 15. Then Commerce brought into the public walk The busy merchant; the big warehouse built; Rais'd the strong crane; chok'd up the loaded street |