Fools only make attempts beyond their will
A wise man's pow'r 's the limit of his will.

DCXIV.

Congreve.

Pride destroys all symmetry and grace, and affectation is a more terrible enemy to fine faces than the small-pox.-Hughes.

DCXV.

We of this age have discovered a shorter and more prudent method to become scholars and wits, without the fatigue of reading or thinking. The most accomplished way of using books at present is twofold: either first to serve them as some men do lords, learn their titles exactly, and then brag of their acquaintance; or secondly, which is indeed the choicer, the profounder, and politer method, to get a thorough insight into the index by which the whole book is governed and turned, lik ndshes by the tail. For to enter the palace of learning at the great gate, requires an expense of times and forms; therefore, men of much haste and little ceremony are content to get in by the back-door.-Swift.

DCXVI.

Actors I've seen, and of no vulgar name,
Who being from one part possess'd of fame,
Whether they are to laugh, cry, whine, or bawl,
Still introduce the fav'rite part in all.

DCXVII.

Churchill.

The great slight the men of wit, who have nothing but wit; the men of wit despise the great, who have nothing but greatness: the good man pities them both, if with greatness or wit, they have not virtue.—Bruyere.

DCXVIII.

It is in vain to put wealth within the reach of him who will not stretch out his hand to take it.-Johnson.

They that are against superstition oftentimes run into

it of the wrong side. If I wear all colours but black, then I am superstitious in not wearing black.-Selden.

DCXX.

The most trifling actions that affect a man's credit are to be regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months longer; but if he sees you at a billiard-table, or hears your voice at a tavern, when you should be at work, he sends for his money the next day; demands it before he can receive it in a lump.-Franklin.

DCXXI.

He that is too much in any thing, so that he giveth another occasion of society, maketh himself cheap.― Lord Bacon.

DCXXII.

Str with care, politeness, that must teach
Tmodish forms of gesture and of speech:
In vain formality, with matron mien;
And pertness apes with her familiar grin:
They against nature for applauses strain,
Distort themselves, and give all others pain:
She moves with easy though with measur'd pace,
And shows no part of study but the grace.

DCXXIII.

Stilling fleet.

Lampoons and satires, that are written with wit and spirit, are like poisoned darts, which not only inflict a wound, but make it incurable.-Addison.

DCXXIV.

He that would make a real progress in knowledge must dedicate his age as well as youth, the latter growth as well as the first fruits, at the altar of truth.Berkeley.

DCXXV.

Long-parted friends, that pass through easy voyages of life, receive but common gladness in their meeting; but, from a shipwreck saved, we mingle tears with our embraces. Provoked Husband.

DCXXVI.

What less than fool is man to prog and plot,
And lavish out the cream of all his care,
To gain poor seeming goods; which, being got,
Make firm possession but a thoroughfare;

Or, if they stay, they furrow thoughts the deeper;
And being kept with care, they lose their careful
Qudrles.

keeper.

DCXXVII.

The difference between a rich man and a poor man is this the former eats when he pleases, and the latter when he can get it.-Sir W. Raleigh.

DCXXVIII.

There is no fooling with life, when it is once turned beyond forty: the seeking of a fortune then is but a desperate after-game: it is a hundred to one if a man fling two sixes, and recover all; especially if his hand be no luckier than mine.-Cowley.

DCXXIX.

Where gaming swallows up good part of an income; as gaming debts must be paid first, most other debts will be suffered to stand still too long. The true value of money in trade consists a good deal in the circulation of it; and if tradesmen's debts are of long continuance, there must be an injustice somewhere. Either they charge no more than they should to a quick payer, and then you are unjust to them, in keeping them out of their money so long; or they will charge you more than the proper value of the goods, and then you are the occasion of injustice to yourself.-Beaumont.

DCXXX.

Partiality to ourselves is seen in a variety of instances. The liberty of the press is a blessing, when we are inclined to write against others; and a calamity, when we find ourselves overborne by the multitude of our assailants; as the power of the crown is always thought too great by those who suffer through its influence, and too little by those in whose favour it is exerted.-Johnson.

DCXXXI.

Figure, I own, at first may give offence,
And harshly strike the eye's too curious sense;
But when perfections of the mind break forth,
Humour's chaste sallies, judgment's solid worth;
When the pure genuine flame, by nature taught,
Springs into sense, and every action's thought;
Before such merit all objections fly.

DCXXXII.

Churchill.

The man, who will live above his present circumstances is in great danger of living in a little time much beneath them, or, as the Italian proverb says, "The man who lives by hope will die by danger."Addison.

DCXXXIII.

As Rochefoucault his maxims drew
From nature, I believe them true;
They argue no corrupted mind
In him; the fault is in mankind.

DCXXXIV.

Swift.

How large a portion of chastity is sent out of the world by distant hints,-nodded away and cruelly winked into suspicion, by the envy of those who are past all temptation of it themselves. How often does the reputation of a helpless creature bleed by a report-which the party, who is at the pains to propagate it, beholds with much pity and fellow-feeling,-that she is heartily sorry for it, hopes in God it is not true: however, as Archbishop Tillotson wittily observes upon it, is resolved, in the mean time, to give the report her pass, that at least it may have fair play to take its fortune in the world,-to be believed or not, according to the charity of those into whose hands it shall happen to fall.-Sterne.

DCXXXV.

Longirit of innovation is generally the result of a selfof life, reer and confined views. People will not look but, from a posterity who never look backward to their embraces.Prke,

DCXXXVI.

Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company, and reflection, must finish him.-Locke.

DCXXXVII.

A declared gout is the distemper of a gentleman; whereas, the rheumatism is the distemper of a hackneycoachman or chairman, who are obliged to be out at all weathers, and in all hours.-Chesterfield.

DCXXXVIII.

There are women who do not let their husbands see their faces till they are married.-Not to keep you in suspense, I mean plainly that part of the sex who paint. -Steele.

DCXXXIX.

If a man were only to deal in the world for a day, and should never have occasion to converse more with mankind, never more need their good opinion or good word, it were then no great matter (speaking as to the concernments of this world) if a man spent his reputation all at once, and ventured it at one throw; but if he be to continue in the world, and would have the advantage of conversation while he is in it, let him make use of truth and sincerity in all his words and actions; for nothing but this will last and hold out to the end.-Tillotson.

DCXL.

Unnecessary coinage, as well as unnecessary revival, of words, runs into affectation; a fault to be avoided on either hand.-Dryden.

DCXLI.

So weak are human kind by nature made,
Or to such weakness by their vice betrayed,
Almighty vanity! to thee they owe
Their zest of pleasure, and their balm of wo.
Thou, like the sun, all colours dost contain,
Varying, like rays of light, on drops of rain;
For every soul finds reason to be proud,
Though hiss'd and hooted by the pointing crowd.

Young.