Think not with the fool, that nothing is more valuable; nor believe with the pretended wise, that thou oughtest to contemn it. Love it not for itself, but for the good it may be of to others.

Gold cannot buy it for thee, neither can mines of diamonds purchase back the moments thou hast now lost of it. Employ the succeeding ones in virtue.

Say not, that it were best not to have been born; or if born, that it had been best to die early: neither dare thou to ask of thy Creator, Where had been the evil if I had not existed? Good is in thy power; the want of good is evil; and if the question be just; lo! it condemneth thee.

Would the fish swallow the bait if he knew the hook was hidden therein? would the lion enter the toils if he saw they were prepared for him? so neither, were the soul to perish with this clay, would man wish to live; neither would a merciful God have created him: know hence thou shalt live afterward.

As the bird is inclosed in the cage before he seeth it, yet teareth not his flesh against its sides; so neither labour thou vainly to run from the state thou art in; but know it is allotted thee, and be content with it.

Though its ways are uneven, yet are they not all painful. Accommodate thyself to all; and where there is least appearance of evil, suspect the greatest danger.

When thy bed is straw, thou sleepest in security: but when thou stretchest thyself on roses, beware of the thorns.

A good death is better than an evil life; strive therefore to live as long as thou oughtest; while thy life is to others worth more than thy death, it it is thy duty to preserve it.

Complain not with the fool of the shortness of

thy time: remember that with thy days, thy cares are shortened.

Take from the period of thy life the useless parts of it, and what remaineth? Take off the time of thine infancy, the second infancy of age, thy sleep, thy thoughtless hours, thy days of sickness: and even at the fulness of years how few seasons hast thou truly numbered.

He who gave thee life as a blessing, shortened it to make it more so. To what end would longer life have served thee? Wishest thou to have had an opportunity of more vices? As to the good, will not he who limited thy span, be satisfied with the fruits of it.

To what end, O child of sorrow! wouldst thou live longer; to breathe, to eat, to see the world? All this thou hast done often already. Too frequent repetition, is it not tiresome? or is it not superfluous?

Wouldst thou improve thy wisdom and thy virtue? Alas! what art thou to know? or who is it that shall teach thee? Badly thou employest the little that thou hast, dare not, therefore, to complain that more is not given thee.

Repine not at the want of knowledge; it must perish with thee in the grave. Be honest here, and thou shalt be wise hereafter.

Say not unto the crow, Why numberest thou seven times the age of thy lord? or to the fawn, why are thine eyes to see my offspring to an hundred generations? Are these to be compared with thee in the abuse of life? are they riotous? are they cruel? are they ungrateful? Learn from them rather, that innocence of life and simplicity of manners are the paths to a good old age.

Knowest thou to employ life better than these? then less of it may suffice thee.

Man who dares enslave the world when he knows he can enjoy his tyranny but a moment, what would he not aim at if he were immortal?

Enough hast thou of life, but thou regardest it not: thou art not in want of it, O man! but thou art prodigal thou throwest it lightly away, as if thou hadst more than enough; and yet thou repinest that it is not gathered again unto thee.

:

Know that it it not abundance which maketh rich, but economy.

The wise continueth to live from his first period; the fool is always beginning.

Labour not after riches first, and think thou afterwards wilt enjoy them. He who neglecteth the present moment, throweth away all he hath. As the arrow passeth through the heart, while the warrior knew not that it was coming; so shall his life be taken away before he knoweth that he hath it.

What then is life, that man should desire it? what breathing, that he should covet it?

Is it not a scene of delusion, a series of misad ventures, a pursuit of evils linked on all sides together? In the beginning it is ignorance, pain is in its middle, and its end is sorrow.

As one wave pusheth on another till both are involved in that behind them, even so succeedeth evil to evil in the life of man; the greater and the present swallow up the lesser and the past. Our terrors are real evils: our expectations look forward into improbabilities.

Fools, to dread as mortals, and to desire as if immortal!

It is said, gray hairs are revered, and in length of days is honour. Virtue can add reverence to the bloom of youth; and without it age plants more wrinkles in the soul than on the forehead.

Is age respected because it hateth riot? What justice is in this, when it is not age that despiseth pleasure, but pleasure that despiseth age.

Be virtuous while thou art young, so shall thine age be honoured.

MAN CONSIDERED IN REGARD TO HIS INFIRMITIES, AND THEIR EFFECTS.

VANITY.

INCONSTANCY is powerful in the heart of man; intemperance swayeth it whither it will; despair engrosseth much of it; and fear proclaimeth, Behold, I sit unrivalled therein! but vanity is beyond them all.

Weep not therefore at the calamities of the human state; rather laugh at its follies. In the hands of the man addicted to vanity, life is but the shadow of a dream.

The hero, the most renowned of human characters, what is he but the bubble of this weakness! The public is unstable and ungrateful; why should the man of wisdom endanger himself for fools?

The man who neglecteth his present concerns, to revolve how he will behave when greater, feedeth himself with wind, while his bread is eaten by another.

Act as becometh thee in thy present station; and in more exalted ones thy face shall not be ashamed.

What blindeth the eye, or what hideth the heart of a man from himself, like vanity? Lo! when thou seest not thyself, then others discover thee most plainly.

As the tulip that is gaudy without smell, con

spicuous without use; so is the man who setteth himself up on high, and hath not merit.

The heart of the vain is troubled while it seemeth content; his cares are greater than his pleasures. His solicitude cannot rest with his bones; the grave is not deep enough to hide it; he extendeth his thoughts beyond his being: he bespeaketh praise to be paid when he is gone: but whoso promiseth it, deceiveth him.

As the man that engageth his wife to remain in widowhood, that she disturb not his soul; so is he who expecteth that praise shall reach his ears beneath the earth, or cherish his heart in its shroud.

Do well while thou livest; but regard not what is said of it. Content thyself with deserving praise, and thy posterity shall rejoice in hearing it.

As the butterfly, who seeth not her own colours; as the jessamine which feeleth not the scent it casteth around: so is the man who appeareth gay, and biddeth others to take note of it.

To what purpose, said he, is my vesture of gold? to what end are my tables filled with dainties, if no eye gaze upon them; if the world know it not? Give thy raiment to the naked, and thy food unto the hungry; so shalt thou be praised, and feel that thou deservest it.

Why bestowest thou on every man the flattery of unmeaning words? Thou knowest when returned thee, thou regardest it not. He knoweth he lieth unto thee; yet he knoweth thou wilt thank him for it. Speak in sincerity, and thou shalt hear with instruction.

The vain delighteth to speak of himself; but he seeth not that others like not to hear him.

If we have done any thing worth praise, if he possess that which is worthy of admiration, his joy is to proclaim it, his pride is to hear it reported.