strike the spectator no more than they did himself in the first conception of the story.-Sir J. Reynolds. MCCCCXLII. Men have marble, women waxen minds, And therefore they are form'd as marble will: MCCCCXLIII. When two people compliment each other with the choice of any thing, each of them generally gets that which he likes least.-Pope. MCCCCXLIV. Those who cultivate the memory of our revolution, and those who are attached to the constitution of this kingdom, will take good care how they are involved with persons who, under the pretext of zeal towards the revolution and constitution, too frequently wander from their true principles, and are ready on every occasion to depart from the firm, but cautious, and deliberate spirit which produced the one, and which presides in the other.-Burke. MCCCCXLV. A proud man is a fool in fermentation, that swells and boils over like a porridge-pot. He sets out his feathers like an owl, to swell and seem bigger than he is. He is troubled with a tumour and inflammation of self-conceit, that renders every part of him stiff and uneasy. He has given himself sympathetic love-powder, that works upon him to dotage, and has transformed him into his own mistress. He is his own gallant, and makes most passionate addresses to his own dear perfections. He commits idolatry to himself, and worships his own image; though there is no soul living of his church but himself, yet he believes as the church believes, and maintains his faith with the obstinacy of a fanatic. He is his own favourite, and advances himself not only above his merit, but all mankind; is both Damon and Pythias to his own dear self, and values his crony above his soul. He gives place to no man but himself, and that with very great distance to all others, whom he esteems not worthy to approach him. He believes whatever he has, receives a value in being his; as a horse in a nobleman's stable will bear a greater price than in a common market. He is so proud, that he is as hard to be acquainted with himself as with others; for he is very apt to forget who he is, and knows himself only superficially; therefore he treats himself civilly as a stranger, with ceremony and compliment, but admits of no privacy. He strives to look bigger than himself, as well as others; and is no better than his own parasite and flatterer. A little flood will make a shallow torrent swell above its banks, and rage, and foam, and yield a roaring noise, while a deep silent stream glides quietly on; so a vain-glorious, insolent, proud man, swells with a little frail prosperity, grows big and loud, and overflows his bounds, and when he sinks, leaves mud and dirt behind him. His carriage is as glorious and haughty, as if he were advanced upon men's shoulders, or tumbled over their heads like Knipperdolling. He fancies himself a Colosse; and so he is, for his head holds no proportion to his body, and his foundation is lesser than his upper stories. We can naturally take no view of ourselves unless we look downwards; to teach us what humble admirers we ought to be of our own value. The slighter and less solid his materials are, the more room they take up, and make him swell the bigger; as feathers and cotton will stuff cushions better than things of more close and solid parts.-Butler. MCCCCXLVI. Where love reigns, disturbing jealousy Give false alarms, suggesteth mutiny, And in a peaceful hour doth cry kill, kill. MCCCCXLVII. Shakspeare. He who, when called upon to speak a disagreeable truth, tells it boldly and has done, is both bolder and milder than he who nibbles in a low voice, and never ceases nibbling.-Lavater. MCCCCXLVIII. Anger and the thirst of revenge are a kind of fever; fighting, and law suits, bleeding; at least, an evacuation. The latter occasions a dissipation of money; the former of those fiery spirits which cause a preternatural fermentation.-Shenstone. MCCCCXLIX. A mind, by knowing itself, and its own proper powers and virtues, becomes free and independent. It sees its hinderances and obstructions, and finds they are wholly from itself, and from opinions wrong conceived. The more it conquers in this respect, (be it in the least particular,) the more it is its own master, feels its own`natural liberty, and congratulates with itself on its own advancement and prosperity.-Shaftesbury. MCCCCL. The good wife commandeth her husband, in any equal matter, by constantly obeying him. It was always observed, that what the English gained of the French in battle by valour, the French regained of the English in cunning by treaties. So if the husband should chance by his power in his passion to prejudice his wife's right, she wisely knoweth, by compounding and complying, to recover and rectify it again.-Fuller. MCCCCLI. Nature must be the groundwork of wit and art; otherwise, whatever is done will prove but jackpudding's work.-Selden. MCCCCLII. Of all vanities and fopperies, the vanity of high birth is the greatest. True nobility is derived from virtue, not from birth. Titles, indeed, may be purchased; but virtue is the only coin that makes the bargain valid. -Burton. MCCCCLIII. To philosophize in a just signification, is but to carry good breeding a step higher. For the accomplishment of breeding is, to learn what is decent in company, or beautiful in arts; and the sum of philosophy is, to learn what is just in society, and beautiful in nature and the order of the world.-Shaftesbury. MCCCCLIV. Worthless great men and dull rich rogues avoid a witty man of small fortune. He looks like a writ of inquiry into their titles and estates; and seems commissioned by heaven to seize the better half.-Congreve. MCCCCLV. Opinions generally received and floating in the world, whether true or false, we naturally adopt, and make our own: they may be considered as a kind of inheritance, to which we succeed and are tenants for life, and which we leave to our posterity very nearly in the condition in which we received it; it not being much in any one man's power either to impair or improve it. The greatest part of those opinions, like current coin in its circulation, we are used to take without weighing or examining; but by this inevitable inattention, many adulterated pieces are received, which, when we seriously estimate our wealth, we must throw away.-Sir J. Reynolds. MCCCCLVI. The scorning drunkard, if he does not fight Passing the tedious hours in greater pain A bully cannot sleep without a brawl: Is cautious to avoid the coach and six, And on the lacqueys will no quarrel fix. Poor me he fights, if that be fighting, where He stands, and bids me stand; I must abide; MCCCCLVII. A map does not exhibit a more distinct view of the boundaries and situation of every country, than its news does a picture of the genius and morals of its inhabitants. Goldsmith. MCCCCLVIII. The marches of great princes, Like to the motions of prodigious meteors, Are step by step observed; and loud-tongued Fame The harbinger to prepare their entertainment. MCCCCLIX. Massinger. The theatre has much the same effect on the manners of the age, as the bank on the credit of the nation. Wit and spirit, humour and good sense, can never be revived but under the government of those who are judges of such talents; who know, that whatever is put up in their stead, is but a short and trifling expedient, to support the appearance of them for a season.- -Steele. * * MCCCCLX. * Who shall dispute what the reviewers say? |