39. O momentary grace of mortal man, Which we more hunt for than the grace of God! Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast, Ready with every nod to tumble down 40. I tell thee what, Antonio, There are sorts of men, whose visages With purpose to be dressed in an opinion As who should say, 66 I am Sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!" That therefore only are reputed well 41. There is no vice so simple, but assumes 42. Ib, Ib. Ib. To be free from desire is money; to be free from the rage of perpetually buying something new, is a certain revenue; to be content with what we possess, constitutes the greatest and most certain of riches.-Cicero. 43. I never looked upon the condition of Regulus_as either miserable, to be pitied, or calamitous. For the torments, inflicted on him by the Carthagenians, were of no effect on the magnanimity of the man, on his wisdom, on his probity, on his conscience; nor on any of his virtues, and therefore not on his mind. His enemies seized on his person, and glutted their ferocious hearts with his sufferings, but his mind, fortified and surrounded by such a phalanx of virtues, was beyond their reach.-Ib. 44. That man must be supremely happy, who can rely on himself, and who feels ample resources in himself for any situation.-Ib. 45. The man who is worthy of our friendship must be so from his intrinsic and personal qualities. Such men are rare, as all excellent things are; there is nothing more difficult to be found than that which is perfect in all its parts.-Ib. 46. If a man's ears are closed to truth, and cannot endure it, even from the mouth of a friend, his case is hopeless.-Ib. 47. However pernicious flattery may be, it can injure but those who love it; because we swallow it in proportion to our self-complacency. It is from this that we must defend ourselves.-Ïb. 48. Experience of the world either breaks or petrifies the heart.-Champfort. 49. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honor is a private station. Cato-Addison. 50. The wise and active conquer difficulties Blest are those 51. Rowe. Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled, In 52. True wit is everlasting, like the sun, Shakspeare. Which, tho' sometimes behind a cloud retired, Buckingham on Poet. 53. True wit is nature to advantage dressed 54. Strange as it may sound, I believe few people will, on reflection, deny, what a most remarkable difference exists between a man and what is termed mankind-in fact, the intelligence of the human being and that of the species to which he belongs. Bubbles by an Old Man. 55. If a man of common or of the commonest abilities be watched throughout a day, it is quite delightful to remark how cleverly he adapts his conduct to the various trifling unforeseen circumstances which occur how shrewdly through a labyrinth he pursues his own interests, and with what alacrity he can alter his plans, or, as it is vulgarly termed, change his mind the instant it becomes advisable for him to do so. Appeal to him on any plain subject, and you find him gifted with quick perception, possessed with ready judgment, and with his mind sparkling with intelligence. Now, mix a dozen such men together, and intellect instantly begins to coagulate; in short, by addition, you have produced subtraction. One man means what he cannot clearly explain-another ably expresses what he did not exactly mean-one, while disputing his neighbour's judgment, neglects his own-another indolently reclines his head upon his neighbour's brainone does not care to see another forgets to foresee -in short, though any one pilot could steer the vessel into port, with twelve at the helm, she inevitably runs upon the rocks. Now, instead of a dozen men, if any thing be committed to the care, judgment, or honor of a large body, or as it is not improperly termed, “ a corporation" of men, their torpor, apathy, and sloth, are infinitely increased, and when instead of a corporation it be left to that nonentity, a whole nation-the total neglect it meets with is beyond all remedy. In short, the individuals of a community, compared with the community itself, are like a swarm of bees, compared with bees that have swarmed, or clung together in a lump, and as the countryman stands shaking the dull mass from the bough, one can scarcely believe that it is composed of little, active, intelligent, busy creatures, each armed with a sting as well as with knowledge, and arrangements which one can hardly sufficiently admire. If this theory be correct, it will account at once for our unfortunate system of education in England, which being every body's duty, is therefore nobody's duty, and which, like "The child whom many father's share 56. Ib. In the evening of a long, toilsome life, if a man were to be obliged solemnly to declare what, without any exception, has been the most lovely thing which on the surface of this earth it has been his good fortune to witness, I conceive that, without hesitation, he might reply the mind of a young child. Indeed, if we believe that creation, with all its charms, was beneficently made for inan, it seems almost to follow, that his mind, the mirror in which every minute object is to be reflected, must be gifted with a polish sufficiently high to enable it to receive the lovely and delicate images created for its enjoyment. Accordingly we observe with what delight a child beholds light-colours-flowers— fruit, and every new object that meets his eye; and we all know that before his judgment be permitted to interfere, for many years he feels, or rather suffers, a thirst for information, which is almost insatiable. He desires, and very naturally desires, to know what the moon is?-what are the stars?where the rain, wind, and storm come from? With innocent simplicity he asks, what becomes of the light of a candle when it is blown out? Any story or any history he greedily devours; and so strongly does his youthful mind retain every sort of image impressed upon it, that it is well known his afterlife is often incapable of obliterating the terrors de |