Success, that owns and justifies all quarrels, Turns wreaths of laurel back again to hemp. MCCCXCVII. Butler. No cord or cable can draw so forcibly, or bind so fast, as love can do with only a single thread.-Burton. MCCCXCVIII. A country fellow distinguishes himself as much in the church-yard, as a citizen does upon the 'Change, the whole parish politics being generally discussed in that place either after sermon or before the bell rings.—Addison. MCCCXCIX. By different methods diff'rent men excel; MCCCC. Churchill. The greatest advantage I know of being thought a wit by the world is, that it gives one the greater freedom of playing the fool.-Pope. MCCCCI. A gift-its kind, its value and appearance; the silence or the pomp that attends it; the style in which it reaches you, may decide the dignity or vulgarity of the giver.Lavater. MCCCCII. In the sallies of badinage a polite fool shines; but in gravity he is as awkward as an elephant disporting.— Zimmerman. MCCCCII. We are complicated machines; and though we have one main spring, that gives motion to the whole, we have an infinity of little wheels, which, in their turns, retard, precipitate, and sometimes stop that motion.--Chesterfield. MCCCCIV. If the matter be doubtfull, the good advocate will onely warrant his own diligence. Yet some keep an as surance-office in their chamber, and will warrant any cause brought unto them, as knowing, that if they fail, they lose nothing, but what long since was lost, their credit.-Fuller. MCCCCV. Though with your rhetorick flourishes, From my unletter'd tongue shall show it dust; Massinger's Parliament of Love. MCCCCVI As amber attracts a straw, so does beauty admiration, which only lasts while the warmth continues: but virtue, wisdom, goodness, and real worth, like the loadstone, never lose their power. These are the true graces, which, as Homer feigns, are linked and tied hand in hand, because it is by their influence that human hearts are so firmly united to each other.-Burton. MCCCCVII. The taste of beauty, and the relish of what is decent, just, and amiable, perfects the character of the gentleman and the philosopher. And the study of such a taste or relish will, as we suppose, be ever the great employment and concern of him, who covets, as well to be wise and good, as agreeable and polite.-Shaftesbury, MCCCCVIII. It is wisely ordained by the laws of England, that "the person of the monarch is sacred;" as also that "the king can do no wrong." The meaning of this last maxim I take to be, that if wrong should happen at any VOL. I. Bb .time to be done, the blame is to be laid upon the administration, and not upon the king.-Kett. MCCCCIX. If there were no better reason why a man should not vaunt himself, but because it is robbing the poor mountebanks of their livelihood, methinks it would be reason enough: if he must think aloud upon such occasions, let him lock himself into his closet, and take it out in soliloquy: if he likes the sound of his own praises there, and can reconcile himself to the belief of them, it will then be time enough to try their effect upon other people. Cumberland. MCCCCX. It is an easy matter to stop the fire that is kindled only in hair, wool, candlewick, or a little chaff; but if it once have taken hold of matter that hath solidity and thickness it soon inflames and consumes Advanc'd, the highest timber of the roof; as Eschylus saith; so he that observes anger, while it is in its beginning, and sees it by degrees smoking and taking fire from some speech or chaff-like scurrility, he need take no great pains to extinguish it, but oftentimes puts an end to it only by silence or neglect. For as he that adds no fuel to fire, hath already as good as put it out; so he that doth not feed anger at the first, nor blow the fire in himself, hath prevented and destroyed it.Plutarch. MCCCCXI. The poets may of inspiration boast, Their rage, ill governed, in the clouds is lost. Waller. MCCCCXII. Raillery is the finest part of conversation; but as it is our usual custom to counterfeit and adulterate whatever is too dear for us, so we have done with this, and turned it all into what is generally called repartee, or being smart; just as when an expensive fashion comes up, those who are not able to reach it, content themselves with some paltry imitation.-Swift. MCCCCXIII. The powers exerted in the mechanical part of the art, have been called the language of painters; but we may say, that it is but poor eloquence which only shows that the orator can talk. Words should be employed as the means, not as the end: language is the instrument, conviction is the work.-Sir J. Reynolds. MCCCCXIV. 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. MCCCCXV. An obstinate man does not hold opinions, but they hold him; for when he is once possest with an error, it is like a devil, only cast out with great difficulty. Whatsoever he lays hold on, like a drowning man, he never loses, though it do but help to sink him the sooner. His ignorance is abrupt and inaccessible, impregnable both by art and nature, and will hold out to the last, though it has nothing but rubbish to defend. It is as dark as pitch, and sticks as fast to any thing it lays hold on. His scull is so thick, that it is proof against any reason, and never cracks but on the wrong side, just opposite to that against which the impression is made, which surgeons say does happen very frequently. The slighter and more inconsistent his opinions are, the faster he holds them, otherwise they would fall asunder of themselves: for opinions that are false ought to be held with more strictness and assurance than those that are true, otherwise they will be apt to betray their owners before they are aware. He delights most of all to differ in things indifferent, no matter how frivolous they are, they are weighty enough in proportion to his weak judgment; and he will rather suffer self-martyrdom than part with the least scruple of his freehold, for it is impossible to dye his dark ignorance into a lighter colour. He is resolved to understand no man's reason but his own, because he finds no man can understand his but himself. His wits are like a sack, which the French proverb says is tied faster before it is full than when it is; and his opinions are like plants that grow upon rocks, that stick fast though they have no rooting. His understanding is hardened like Pharoah's heart, and is proof against all sorts of judgments whatsoever.-Butler. MCCCCXVI. Detraction's a bold monster, and fears not MCCCCXVII. Massinger. Horace or Boileau have said such a thing before you. I take your word for it, but I said it as my own, and may not I have the same just thoughts after them, as others may have it after me?-Bruyere. MCCCCXVIII. Alas! if the principles of contentment are not within us,-the height of station and worldly grandeur will as soon add a cubit to a man's stature as to his happiness. -Sterne. MCCCCXIX. Many servants, as if they had learned the nature of the besoms they use, are good for a few days, and afterwards grow unserviceable.-Fuller. MCCCCXX. Death is not sufficient to deter men who make it their glory to despise it; but if every one that fought a duel |