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543. Oppression.-Solomon says, oppression will make a wise man mad.-What will it do then to a tender and ingenious heart, which feels itself neglected.—too full of reverence for the author of its wrongs to complain?-See, it sits down in silence, robbed by discouragements, of all its natural powers to please,-born to see others loaded with caresses-in some uncheery corner it nourishes its discontent, and with a weight upon its spirits, which its little stock of fortitude is not able to withstand it droops and pines away-sad victim of caprice.-Sterne.

544. Reputation.

Good name, in man, and woman, dear my

Is the immediate jewel of their souls;

lord

Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;

But he that filches from me my good name,

Robs me of that, which not enriches him,

And makes me poor indeed.-Shakspeare.

545. Association of Ideas.-A well combined and connected train of ideas, is like a chain, of which, if you draw one link after you, all the others will immediately follow.-Bigland.

546. An Alderman does no public business without eating and drinking, and never meets about matters of importance but the cramming of his inside is the most weighty part of the work of the day. He dispatches no public affair until he has thoroughly dined upon it, and is fully satisfied with pie and custard: for men are wiser, the Italians say, after their bellies are full; and he is very cautious to omit no occasion of improving his parts that way.-Butler

547. Contempt.-There is not in human nature a more odious disposition than a proneness to contempt, which is a mixture of pride and ill nature. Nor is there any which more certainly denotes a bad mind, for in a good and benign temper there can be no room for this sensation. That which constitutes an object of contempt to the malevolent, becomes the object of other passions to a worthy and good-natured man; for in such a person, wickedness and vice must raise hatred and abhorrence, and weakness and folly will be sure to excite compassion; so that he will find no object of his contempt in all the actions of men.-Fielding.

548. Eloquence, when at its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection; but addresses itself entirely to the fancy or the affections, captivates the willing hearers, and subdues their understanding. Happily, this pitch it seldom attains,-Hume.

549. Rules of Life.-We frequently fall into error and folly, not because the true principles of action are not known, but because for a time they are not remembered: he may, therefore, justly be numbered among the benefactors of mankind who contracts the great rules of life into short sentences, that may early be impressed on the memory, and taught by frequent recollection to occur habitually to the mind.

Dr Johnson.

550. On the Excitement of the Passions.—The passions, once excited by an object, may become so associated with it, as to be afterwards roused by its recollection or reappearance, although the disposition or power of influencing the well-being of the percipient no longer exists in it. On this fact depends the beauty and truth of Pope's impassioned epistle of Eloisa to Abelard.—Sir T. C. Morgan.

551. Malthus's Principle of Population. Mr Malthus in the later editions of his work on population, informs his readers that he has softened some of the harsher conclusions of the first essay. The following" harsh conclusion," I believe, has been expunged altogether. How the author of such an absurdity could have received encouragement, can only be accounted for by the extreme paucity of more able and consistent writers, disposed to support the injustice of exclusive possession by the few :

:

"A man who is born into a world already possessed, if he cannot get subsistence from his parents, and if the society do not want his labour, has no claim of right to the smallest portion of food; and, in fact, has no business to be where he is. At Nature's mighty feast there is no vacant cover for him. She tells him to be gone, and will quickly execute her own orders."-Reproof of Brutus.

552. Some Men are like musical glasses; to produce their finest tones, you must keep them wet.-Coleridge.

553. The People.-It is the people which composes the human species. All which is not the people is of so little consequence that it is not worth the trouble of counting.—Rousseau.

554. Talkers.—If you light upon an impertinent talker, that sticks to you like a bur, to the disappointment of your important occasions, deal freely with him, break off the discourse, and pursue your business. These repulses, whereby our resolution and assurance are exercised in matters of less moment, will accustom us to it by degrees on greater occasions. Plutarch.

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555. Ill Health and its Consolations.-It seems to me that when the nerves are somewhat weakened the senses of sympathy are more keen; we are less negligent of our kind; that impetuous and reckless buoyancy of spirit which mostly accompanies a hard and iron frame is not made to enter into the emotions of others. The susceptible frame of women causes each more kindly and generous feeling to vibrate more powerfully on their hearts, and thus also that which in our harsher sex relaxes the nerve, often softens the affection. And this is really the cause of that increased tendency to pity, to charity, to friendship, which comes on with the decline of life, and which Bolingbroke has so touchingly alluded to. There is an excitement in the consciousness of the glorious possession of unshaken health and matured strength which hurries us on the road of that selfish enjoyment, which we are proud of our privilege to command. The passions of the soul are often winged by our capacities, and are fed from the same sources that keep the beating of the heart strong, and the step haughty upon the earth. Thus, when the frame grows slack, and the race of the strong can be run no more, the mind falls gently back upon itself it releases its garments from the grasp of the passions, which have lost their charm-intellectual objects become more precious, and, no longer sufficing to be a world to ourselves, we contract the soft habit of leaning our affections upon others; the ties round our heart are felt with a more close endearment, and every little tenderness we receive from the love of those about us, teaches us the value of love. And this is therefore among the consolations of ill health, that we are more susceptible to all the kindlier emotions, and that we drink a deeper and a sweeter pleasure from the attachment of our friends. Monthly Magazine.

556.

To think well is the way to act rightly.-Paley.

557. Business and Learning,—If any man maintaineth that learning takes up too much time that might otherwise be better employed, I answer, that no man can be so straitened and oppressed with business and an active course of life, but may have many vacant times of leisure, while he expects the returns and tides of business, except he be either of a very dull temper and of no dispatch, or ambitious little to his credit and reputation to meddle and engage himself in employment of all natures and matters above his reach. It remaineth, therefore, to be inquired, in what matter, and how, those spaces and times of leisure should be filled up and spent ; whether in pleasures or study, sensuality or contemplation; as was well answered by Demosthenes to Eschines, a man given to pleasure, when he told him by way of reproach that his orations did smell of the lamp: "Indeed, said Demosthenes, there is great difference between the things that you and I do by lamp-light." Wherefore, let no man fear lest learning should expulse business; nay, rather it will keep and defend the possessions of the mind against idleness and pleasure; which otherwise, at unawares, may enter, to the prejudice both of business and learning.-Bacon.

558. Stability of True Philosophy.-The long reign of error in the world, and the influence it maintains, even in an age of liberal inquiry, far from being favourable to the supposition, that human reason is destined to be for ever the sport of prejudice and absurdity, demonstrates the tendency which there is to permanence in established opinions, and in established institutions; and promises an eternal stability to true philosophy, when it shall once have acquired the ascendant, and when proper means shall be employed to support it, by a more perfect system of education.

Let us suppose, for a moment, that this happy era were arrived, and that all the prepossessions of childhood and youth were directed to support the pure and sublime truths of an enlightened morality:-with what ardour and with what transport would the understanding, when arrived at maturity, proceed in the search of truth, when, instead of being obliged to struggle at every step with early prejudices, its office was merely to add the force of philosophical conviction to impressions which are equally delightful to the imagination and dear to the heart!

Stewart.

559. Crimes.-There are crimes which become innocent, and even glorious, through their splendour, number, and excess : hence it is that public theft is called address; and to seize unjustly on provinces is to make conquests.-Rochefoucault.

560. A Government is inexcusable for employing foolish ministers ; because they may examine a man's head, though they cannot his heart.

Shenstone.

561. Friendship-Our observations on friendship have led us to reflect on those institutions of society which are favourable or unfavourable to the existence or continuance of the social affections.

If friendship frequently meet with interruptions among savages, how much more unfortunate is its fate where the system of appropriation is carried into every department of human affairs; where education, manners, amusements, and, in fine, all the concerns of life, have a direct tendency to encourage and establish the selfish propensities of the human breast; where the first lessons of youth are calculated to brutalize the mind, and extinguish every spark of generous enthusiasm; where every thing is carved out into portions, and meum and tuum meet the eye every where both at home and abroad; where the earth is divided into sections, the water descends by inheritance, and even the use of the air is appropriated to individuals?

If friendship be insecure among savages, where there are none rich and none poor: where the earth, the air, and the water are free; where the whole village assembles at dances and public feasts, and all unite in amusements interesting to all; where every heart is light, and every tongue utters the effusions of the heart; where the joy becomes contagious, and the gladness of the soul is reflected from face to face, until the sick forgets his pain; the afflicted his sorrow; and the aged, the approaches of death; where all join in one dance, and all sit down to one feast; where no invidious preferences are shown, no insulting privileges usurped-if friendship, we repeat it, be insecure under these circumstances, how precarious must its situation be, where nothing gives importance but wealth, and wealth has no connection with individual merit; where the higher and the lower ranks never unite in the same amusement; where men can never forget for a moment the inequality of their situations in life; where sordid ignorant bloated wealth must be fed with continual adulation, and indigent merit must shrink into insignificance, or become the cbject of ridicule and contempt; where every association of individuals is a school of intrigue and a conspiracy against the species at large; where every individual watches his neighbour with an eye of suspicion and distrust; where truth is never heard, except for some malignant purpose; and where men endeavour to wear the semblance of virtue, but lay it down, as a practical rule, not to be encumbered with the substance?

If friendship be insecure among savages, where the spirit of hoarding and the desire of accumulation are unknown, how must it be where every one has his locked coffer which incloses the object of his private adoration?

If benevolent affections meet with frequent interruptions where the institutions of society are such that merit exerts its proper influence, and worth finds its due level in the community, what must be their fate, where there is no merit but wealth, no virtue but cunning!

We are convinced that friendship seldom exists in the civilized world,

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