Miserable only upon a Weariness to do the same thing so oft over and over Liberality Prodigality I. LIberality is oftentimes nothing else but the Vanity of Giving of which we are more fond than the Things we give II. There goes a great deal of Art and Address to make a Denial go down and by fair and civil Expressions to supply the Kindness we cannot grant III. There are a sort of Persons that say No so very naturally that their No always ushers in whatever they are about to say This renders them so disagreeable that though they be prevail'd upon with much Importunity to grant any Request yet all the Grace and Commendation of such Grants are utterly lost by so very untoward a beginning IV. All things are not to be granted at all times nor all Men to be gratified And it is altogether as commendable to refuse upon Occasion as to give This makes some Peoples No better received than other Peoples Yes A Denial accompanied with Sweetness and Civility pleases more a Man of Understanding than a Courtesie granted coldly and rudely V. We engage others more effectually to serve us by Promises than by Presents for while Men are kept upon the Tenters they endeavour to deserve those Kindnesses they expect from us * VI. He that gives to all without Diseretion will soon stand in need of every Body * VII He that defers Charity till Death is rather Liberal of another Man's than of his own VIII Liberality does not consist so much in giving largely as in giving seasonably IX There is something Heroical in great Liberality as well as in great Valour and there is a great Analogy between those two Virtues the one raises the Soul above the Consideration of Wealth as the other beyond the Management and Desire of Life But with all these Gay and Generous Motives the one becomes Ruinous and the other Fatal X. There are some Men jealous of the Honour of their Motions who refuse all things at the Inspirations of others because they would not be prevented in their Designs and troubled in the order of the good they would do That may proceed sometimes from a good Principle and be met with in very loâ—ty Souls but for the most part they are Dishonest Jealous and â—alse Niceties of Honour which produce a true Repugnancy to the doing of Favours XI Those whom cross Accidents of Fortune have undone are pity'd by all the World because it is a Misfortune the Condition of Humanity submits us to But those who are reduc'd to Misery by Vain Profusion raise more Contempt than Commiseration because it is the issue of a peculiar Folly from which every Man has the good conceit to think himself exempt Love I. IN Friendship we take notice of those Failings that may prejudice our Friends In Love we never see in the Party beloved but those Defects only by which we are offended II. There is but the first Quarrel in Love as the first Fault in Friendship which may turn to good account III. Coldness or Slackness in Friendship has generally a Cause In Love there is most commonly no other reason for People loving no more than their having lov'd too much IV. Both the Beginning and Decay of Love shew themselves by the Uneasiness and Trouble Lovers are in when they are together by themselves V. When a Man has a Passion for an ill-favour'd Woman it must needs be an extraordinary one For either his Love proceeds from his own Weakness or is influenc'd by more secret and irresistible Charms than those of Beauty VI. When a Passion is worn out we often visit a Mistress out of Custom and tell one another that we love still when our Actions testiâ—ie that we love no more VII Being absent from what we love is a Good in comparison of living with that we hate VIII As disinterested as a Man may be either in Friendship or Love he ought sometimes to put a Constraint upon himself and be so generous as to receive IX Love is to the Soul of a Lover what the Soul is to the Body X. It is very hard to give a just Definition of Love the most we can say of it is this That in the Soul it is a greedy Desire to Govern in Spirits it is a Sympathy and in the Body it is only a nice and secret Longing to enjoy the thing beloved after a great deal of Bustle and Formality XI If there be any such thing as Love pure and untained with the Mixture of any other Passion it is that which lurks in the deepest Recesses of our Hearts unknown to our selves XII Love has such peculiar distinguishing Characters that it is as hard to hide it when true as to dissemble it when false XIII Considering how little the Beginning or the Ceasing to love is in our own Power it is equally unreasonable for a Lover no complain of his Mistress's Fickleness as for a Mistress of her Lover's Inconstancy XIV If we judge of Love according to most of its Effects we shall find that it more resembles Hatâ—ed than Friendship XV. Love can no more continue without a constant motion than Fire can and it ceases to be when it ceases either to Hope or Fear XVI It is with true Love as it is with Ghosts and Apparitions a thing that every body talks of and scarce any body has seen XVII We father upon Love several Dealings and Intercourses in which it is no more concern'd than the Doge is in what is done at Venice XVIII When we have loved our selves weary the kindest and most welcome thing that can be is the Infidelity of others which may give us a fair Pretence to disengage our Faithfulness XIX The more passionately a Man loves his Mistress the readier he is to hate her XX. When a Woman has once given her self over to entertain Love Loving is then the least Fault she can be guilty of XXI Some Persons had never been in love had they never been entertain'd with any discourse of it XXII The greatest Pleasure of Love is Loving and a Man is more happy in his own Passion than in that he influences in another XXIII Absence cools moderate Passions and inflames violent ones just as the Wind blows out Candles but kindles Fires XXIV It is much easier to usher in Love into one's Breast than to drive it out when it is once admitted XXV In Love loving but little proves often the best way to be lov'd again XXVI The Sincerity which Lovers and their Mistresses bargain for in agreeing to tell one another when they can love no longer is not ask'd so much out of a Desire to know when their Love is at an end as to be satisfy'd that Love does really continue so long as they are told nothing to the contrary XXVII In Love he that 's first cur'd is best cur'd XXVIII To speak feelingly of Love is as coquetish in a young Woman as 't is ridiculous in an old Man XXIX
* Love is a kind of penurious God very niggard of his Opportunities he must be watch'd like a hard-hearted Treasurer for he bolts out of a sudden and if you take him not in the nick he vanishes in a twinkling XXX * There is no reason in the World to revenge upon a Lover the Deceits of his Love for as in War so in Love Stratagems are always allow'd XXXI * A silly Mistress is like a weak Place soon got soon lost XXXII * Mistresses are like Books if you pore upon them too much they doze you and make you unfit for Company but if us'd discreetly you are the sitter for Conversation by them XXXIII * Some Women pray for Husbands that they may the better love at random XXXIV * Many a Spark that hunts after a Mistress often gets a Wife and stands condemn'd to a Repentance during Life without Redemption except one of the two dies XXXV * Some People fall in love by Contagiâ—n and meerly by conversing with the infected XXXVI * Men do not see or taste or find the thing they love but they create it They fashion an Idol in what Figure or Shape they please set it up worship it dote upon it pursue it and sometimes run mad for it XXXVII * The extravagant Transports of Love and the wonderful Force of Nature are uncontroulable The one carries us out of our selves and the other brings us back again XXXVIII Two passionate Lovers cannot partake of other Pleasures than those which they receive from their Love XXXIX There is no Passion that more excites us to every thing that is Noble and Generous than an honest Love XL. Short absence excites Passions whereas a long one destroys them XLI Women who preserve a Passion for Persons that are absent raise but little in those who see them and the continuation of their Love for the Absent is less an Honour to their Constancy than a Scandal to their Beauty XLII The Love of young People is only an irregular Passion and boiling Desire that has no other Object than Pleasure and which Enjoyment dissipates XLIII Love comes in by the Ears as well as by the Eyes and therefore it is a great Indiscretion in a Man to make a long Descant upon his Mistress's Perfections before his Friend XLIV Love has as it were never well establish'd his Power till he has ruin'd that of Reason XLV Love begins by Love and the greatest Friendship can never influence but a very small Passion XLVI Nothing resembles true Friendship so well as those Engagements which have a secret Love at the bottom XLVII We never love truly but once and that 's the first time we love The following Passions are less involuntary XLVIII That Passion which is rais'd on the sudden is the most difficult to be cur'd XLIX That Love which encreases by degrees is so much like Friendship that it can never be a violent Passion L. As nice as we are in Love we still forgive more Faults in that than in Friendship LI. We tell our Secrets in Friendship but they slip from us in Love LII There are many Remedies to cure Love but never a one of them is infallible LIII The greatest Miracle Love can work is to cure a Coquet Humour LIV. Coquets make it a Pride to be jealous of their Lovers only to conceal their Envy of other Women LV. The reason why Lovers are but seldom uneaâ—ie in one another's Company is because they never talk of any thing but themselves LVI It is a Lover's Fault if he is not sensible when he ceases to be belov'd LVII A Man of Parts may love indiscreetly but not â—ottishly LVIII The Grace of Novelty is to Love what the Blue-mourn or Gloss is to the Fruits it gives them a Lustre which is easily defac'd and when once gone never returns any more LIX A Fever is the properest Simile of Love for in both Cases the Degree and the Continuance of the Disease is out of our own Power LX. 'T is better for a Man sometimes to be deceiv'd in what he loves than to be plainly dealt with LXI It is as hard for a Woman to manage a fond Lover as a cold one LXII Women generally keep the first Lover only for want of a second LXIII Men often go from Love to Ambition but seldom come back again from Ambition to Love LXIV All our Passions engage Men in some Faults but those of Love are the most ridiculous LXV Of all violent Passions Love becomes a Woman best LXVI In the first Passion Women have commonly an Affection for the Lover but afterwards they seldom love but for the Pleasure of Loving LXVII Love tho' never so agreeable a Passion pleases still more by the ways it takes to shew it self than it does upon its own account LXVIII Tho' Love is worn out yet it makes both Lover and Mistress uneasie to part LXIX It is oftentimes much harder to forbear loving an unkind Mistress than to bear with her cruel Usage LXX It is with old Love as with old Age a Man lives to all the Miseries but is dead to all the Pleasures of Life LXXI There is one kind of Love whose excess prevents Iealousie LXXII In Love Cozening always exceeds Distrust LXXIII There are some self-conceited Fops who when they are in Love entertain themselves with their own Passion instead of the Person that causes it Marriage Matrimony Children I. MAny Marriages prove convenient and useful but few delightful II. * 'T is much with Wedlock as with our Elixirs and Antidotes there goes a thousand Ingredients to the making of the Composition but then if they be not tim'd proportion'd and prepar'd according to Art 't is a Clog to us rather than a Relief III. * Marriages are govern'd rather by an over-ruling Fatality than any solemnity of Choice and Judgment tho' 't is a hard matter to â—ind out a Woman even at the best that 's of a just Scantling for her Age Person Humour and Fortune to make a Wife of The one single disparity of Years is of it self sufficient without a more than ordinary Measure of Vertue and Prudence to make a Man ridiculous IV. * A Wife and Children are a kind of Discipline of Humanity and Single Men tho' they be many times more charitable because their Means are less exhausted yet on the other side they are more cruel and hard-hearted because their Tenderness is not so oft call'd upon V. * Grave Natures led by Custom and therefore constant are commonly loving Husbands VI. * Chast Women are often proud and froward as presuming upon the Merit of their Chastity VII * It is one of the best Bonds both of Chastity and Obedience in the Wife if the think her Husband Wise which she will never do if she find him Iealous VIII * Wives are young Men's Mistresses Companions for middle-Age and old Men Nurses IX * The Joys of Parents are secret and so are their Griefs and Fears They cannot utter the
Honour and Preferment procure so great and so universal a Good XIII Cowards can never be â—it for great Undertakings Their easie belief of Dangers suppresses their best form'd Designs and so confounds their Judgments that imaginary Suspicions pass with them for real Obstacles XIV Of all Enemies those of a Cowardly Temper are most to be feared their want of Courage makes them use private Revenges and Treacheries when a Valiant Man attacks you openly and gives you warning that you may stand upon your Guard XV. Cowards are of all Men the most distrustful credulous and cruel Their fearful Constitution makes them apprehensive of imaginary Dangers and Enemies and puts them upon revenging Plots and Conspiracies which have oftentimes no reality but in there wounded Fancy * XVI Courage without the Softness of Humane Courtesie and Candor is but a savage and outrageous Brutality * XVII Let the Numbers be what they will that Army is ever beaten where the fright first enters * XVIII Natural Infirmities are well high insuperable and Men that are Cowards by Complexion are hardly to be made Valiant by Discourse But they are conscious yet of the Scandal of that Weakness and may make a shift perhaps to reason themselves now and then into a kind of temporary Resolution which they have not the power afterwards to go thorough with Constancy Inconstancy I. COnstancy in Love is generally a perpetual Inconstancy which â—ixes our Hearts to all the Accomplishments of the Party beloved successively sometimeâ— admiring one sometimeâ— another So that this Constancy is no better than a â—ickle Humor settled if I may so speak and conâ—in'd within the compass of one Person II. Constancy in Love is of two sorts One proceeds from the discovery of new Perfection in those we Love the other from a point of Honour and a taking a pride in being Constant. III. There is an Inconstancy that proceeds from an unsettled Iudgment a natural Levity and Weakness that Espouses all Opinions as they come and thinks as other People think and there is another much more excusable that arises from a dislike and disapproving of the things themselves IV. The Violence some Men use upon themselves to be Constant to what they Love is little better than Inconstancy V. There is no reason to reproach Inconstancy as a great Crime it is no more in the power of certain Persons to love or not to love than to be in health or out of order All that one can reasonably demand from sickle Persons is ingenuously to acknowledge their Levity and not to add Treachery to Inconstancy VI. It is ordinary withsome to exclaim against Inconstancy and to decry those that desert them when at the same time they are glad to have an Example of Change For it happens but too often that the best establisht Friendships the most strict Confidences insensibly slacken then we seek a Quarrel we seem to be angry to the end of finding some Pretence to set our selves at liberty Constancy Resolution I. THE Constancy of Philosophers is often nothing else but the knack of concealing their secret Resentments and Perturbations II. We often fancy to be Constant and Patient in our Misfortunes when we are truly dejected and cast down We suffer without daring to hold up our Heads just as Cowards let themselves be knockt o' th' Head because they have not Courage enough to strike again III. No Man can be truly good and sweet Natur'd without Constancy and Resolution They that seem to be so have commonly an Easiness that quickly turns pievish and sowre IV. Constancy or Resistance in Misfortunes is only dwelling longer upon our Miseries it appears the most amiable Virtue to those who are under no Afflictions but is truly a new load to such as are Crimes Ills Harm I. SOme Crimes not only pass for innocent but also get Honour and Renown by being committed with more â—omp by a greater Number and in a higher degree of Wickedness than others Thus publick Robberies and Plunderings are styl'd Noble Atchievements and the Usurping whole Countries is dignified with the glorious Title of gaining Conquests II. We easily forget our Faults when no body takes notice of them III. Some Men are so good that one cannot fairly believe any thing ill of them without the Demonstration of seeing it our selves But never any were so good that we should be astonishâ— when we do see it IV. Those that find no Disposition in themselves to be guilty of great Faults are not apt upon slight Grounds to suspect others of them V. Our Repentances are generally not so much a Concern and Remorse for the ills we have done as a dread of those we are in danger of suffering VI. Innocence does not â—ind near so much Protection as Guilt VII The Ill we do never brings so much Hatred and Persecution upon us as our good Qualities VIII Men frequently do good only to get an opportunity of doing ill with greater security IX It is safer to do some Men Hurt than to do them too much good X. No Man can be truly Good but such as are in a Station that gives them the Power of revenging the Wrongs that are done them * XI Reason and Conscience are so Sacred that the greatest Villanies are still countenanced under that Cloak and Colour XII Quarrels would never last long were the Wrong only of one side XIII Some Heroes have been accounted so for being greatly Ill no less than others for being greatly Good XIV We often forgive those that have injur'd us but we can never pardon those we have injur'd XV. There are but few Men wise enough to know all the Mischief they do XVI The Violences we commit upon our selves are oftentimes more painful than those which other People use toward us XVII There are some mischievous Men in the World that would not be able to do half so much hurt if they had no Goodness at all XVIII Nothing more discredits the Violence of Wicked Men than the Moderation of the Good and Perfecutors never become more odious than by the Wisdom of those whom they persecute * XIX Innocence is no Protection against the Arbitrary Cruelty of a Tyrannical Power for accusing is proving where Malice and Force are join'd in the Prosecution Arguments then are but foolish Things nay the very Merits Virtues and good Offices of the Person accus'd are improved to his Condemnation Custom * I. CUstom is the Plague of Wise Men and the Idol of Fools II. There is no Life so regular where particular Actions don't sometimes exceed the general habit and conduct * III. Mens Thoughts are much according to their Inclinations their Discourse and Speeches according to their Learning and inâ—used Opinions but their Deeds are after as they have been accustomed Cunning Tricks Shifts Treachery I. THe subtlest Fetch and Dissimulation is to pretend being caught for a Man is never so easily over-reach'd as when he is thinking to over-reach others II. The most cunning
period but content themselves with a Mediocrity of Success Therefore it is good to compound Employments of both foâ— that will be good for the Present because the Virtues of either Age may correct the Defects of both and good for Succession that Young Men may be Learners while Old Men are Actors Devotion Religion Hypocrisy I. THE Devotion of some Ladies on the turning of their Years is no better than a kind of Decency taken up to shelter themselves from the Shame and the Jest of an antiquate Beauty and to secure in every Change something that may stiâ—l recommend them to the World II. The Professors of strict Devotion who without absolute Necessity engage themselves in the Business and Commerce of the World give us great cause to suspect the reality of their Devotion III. All Devotion which is not grounded upon Christian Humility and the Love of one's Neighbour is no better than Form and Pretence 'T is generally the Pride and Pievishness of Philosophy which thinks by despising the World to revenge it self upon all the Contempt and Dissatisâ—action Men have met with from it IV. True Devotion is a Temper of Mind purely Spiritual and deâ—ives it self from God consequently it is a very nice Thing and ought to be observed very narrowly and with exceeding Caution by those that would keep themselves from being deceived in it V. The Doctrines of Christianity which ought to be derived from the Tâ—uths contain'd in the Gospel are generally deliver'd to us according to the Temper and Complexion of our Teacherâ— Some out of an exceeding Tendeâ—ness and Good-Nature and others from a sowre and rugged Disposition form and employ differently the Mercy and Justice of God VI. There is always under the greatest Devotion a Proportion of self-Self-Love great enough to set Bounds to our Charity VII To consider purely the Repose of this Life it would be well if Religion had more or less influence upon Mankind It compels and does not subject enough like some Politicks that take away the Sweetness of Liberty without bringing the Advantages of Subjection VIII Nothing can be more fickle than the Judgment of Men as to the Religion of others they treat as impious Persons those who forsake the World for God's sake and those as weak and decay'd in their Understanding that sacrifice Fortune to Religion IX I question a little the Perswasion of those Preachers who offering us the Kingdom of Heaven in Publick Sollicit in particular a small Benefice with the utmost importunity * X. There 's no such Masque for the greatest of Impieties as a Veil of Religion * XI Most People Clergy as well as Laity accommodate their Religion to their Profit and reckon that to be the best Church there 's most to be got by * XII Men talk as if they believ'd in God but they Live as if they thought there were none For their very Prayers are often downright Mockeries and their Vows and Promises are no more than Words of Course which they â—ever intend to make good * XIII 'T is a fault which is very incident to Men of Devotion to strive to make themselves and their own Opinions ador'd while they only seem zealous for the Honour of God For wheâ— they have once form'd in themselves a perfect Model of the Will of God and have long confirm'd their Minds by continual thinking upon it they are apt to contemn all others that agree not with them in some Particulars * XIV Presumption leads People to Infidelity in a Trice and so by insensible degrees to Atheism For when Men have once cast off a Reverence for Religion they are come within one step of laughing at it * XV. There never was an Hypocrite so disguis'd but he had some Mark or other yet to be known by * XVI A Religious Hypocrite is only a Devil dress'd up with a Ray about him and transform'd into an Angel of Light Take him in the very Raptures of his Devotions and do but throw a parcel of Church-Lands in his way he shall leap at the Sacrilege from the very Throne of his Glory and Pick your Pocket as a French Poet says of a Iesuit in the middle of his Paternoster * XVII A Man that reposes and assures himself upon Divine Protection and Favour gathers a Force and Faith which Humane Nature in it self could not obtain Therefore as Atheism is in all respects hateful so in this that it deprives Humane Nature of the means to exalt it self above Humane Frailty * XVIII It were better to have no Opinion of God at all than such an one as is unworthy of him For the one is Unbelief and the other Contumely Education I. THE Bâ—eeding we give Young People is oftentimes but an additional Self-Love by which we make them have a better Conceit of themselves * II. Lessons and Precepts ought to be gilt and sweetned as we do Pills and Potions so as to take off the disgust of the Remedy for it holds both in Vâ—rtue and in Health that we love to be instructed as well as Phyâ—sick'd with Pleasure * III. Nothing makes a deeper Impression upon the Minds of Children or comes more lively to their Understanding than those instructive Notices that are convey'd to them by Glances Insinuations and Surpize and under the Cover of some Allegory and Riddle naked Lessons and Precepts have nothing the force that Images and Parables have upon our Minds and Affections Besiâ—e that the very study to unriddle a Mystery fuâ—nishes the Memory with more Tokens to remember it by * IV. The â—oundations of Knowledge and Virtue are laid in our Childhood and without an eaâ—ly Care and Attention we are as good as lost in our very Cradles for the Principles that we imbibe in our Youth we carry commonly to our Graves and it is the the Education that makes the Man To speak all in a few words Children are but Blank Paper ready indifferently for any Impression good or bad for they take all upon credit and it is much in the power of the first comer to write Saint or Devil upon 't which of the two he pleases so that one step out of the way in the Iâ—stitution is enough to poyson the Peace and the Reputation of a whole Life * V. All the Extravagances of the lewdest Life are nothing else but the more consummated Follies and Disorders of either a Misâ—taught or a neglected Youth Nay all the publick Outrages of a destroying Tyranny and Oppression are but Childish Appetites let alone till they are ungovernable Wherefore Children should be moulded while their Tempers are yet pliant and ductile for it is infinitely easier to prevent ill Habits than to Master them as the choaking of the Fountain is the surest way to cut off the Course of the River It should be consider'd too that we have the Seeds of Virtue in us as well as of Vice and whenever we take a wrong Biass 't is not out of a moral Incapacity to do
thing that can render Friendship perfect and sincere IV. The Reconciliation of Enemies is commonly Men's desire to better their Condition a Weariness of Acts of Hostility and a fear of some ill Accident which they are willing to prevent V. 'T is more disgraceful for a Man to distrust his Friends than to be cozen'd by them VI. We oftentimes fancy that we love Persons in Authority when it is nothing but Interest that makes us fond of them And all our Applications and Attendances are not so much upon the account of any good we desire to do them as for what we expect and hope they may do us VII It shews that our Affection is but small when we are not sensible of our Friends Coldness and Indifference VIII Most Friends create a disgust for Friendship and most Religious Hypocrites for Religion IX We often complain of our Friends Fickleness only to justifie before-hand our own Inconstancy X. We are but little concern'd for our Friends disgraces when they give as an occasion of signalizing our â—enderness for them XI When we proclaim and aggravate the Tenderness our Friends have for us 't is not so much out of Gratitude as from a desire to possess other People with a good Opinion of our own Worth XII 'T is not an easie matter to love those for whom we have not a real Esteem but 't is much harder still to love those that we think deserve a great deal more than our selves XIII No Man can continue long in the respect he owes to his Friends and Benefactors that allows himself the liberty to talk of their Faults XIV We may sooner be brought to love those that hate us than those that love us more than we desire they should XV. The boldest Attempt of Friendship is not to discover our Failings to a Friend but to shew him his own XVI The Deceitfulness of our Friends may justifie our Indifference to the Expressions of their Tenderness but in no manner our Insensibility to their Misfortunes XVII The Reason why most Ladies are so little affected by Friendship is because it tastes very flat and insipid after the Relishing of Love XVIII In Friendship as well as Love Ignorance very often contributes more to our Happiness than Knowledge XIX There is a certain Relish in true Friendship above the sensibility of those that are meanly born XX. Time strengthens Friendships and weakens Love XXI As long as Love lasts it subsists by it self nay sometimes by those very things that seem to be most for its Destruction as Caprices Cruelties Absence and Jealousies Friendship on the contrary must have something to support it and faints away for want of mutual Offices Confidences and Complaisance XXII Love and Friendship do reciprocally exclude one another XXIII Hatred is not so far from Friendship as Antipathy is XXIV To live with our Friends as if they were to be one day our Enemies and with our Enemies as with those that may become our Friends is neither according to the Rules of Friendship nor the Nature of Hatred XXV We ought to take Care not to make those our Enemies which if better known we should be glad to count among our Friends And on the other side we ought to chuse Friends so true and so honest that when they cease to be so will scorn to take an Advantage against us of our former Confidence XXVI Men can never go a great way in Friendship without a Disposition to wink mutually at one anothers small Defects * XXVII There 's more hazard in the Succour of a new powerful Friend than in the Hostility of an old dangerous Enemy * XXVIII A principal fruit of Friendship is the ease and discharge of the fulness and swellings of the Heart which are caused by Passions of all kinds We know Diseases of Stoppings and Suffocations are the most dangerous in the Body and it is not much otherwise in the Mind * XXIX We may observe how high a rate Princes do set upon this Fruit of Friendship since they purchase it many times at the hazard of their own Safety and Greatness For Princes by reason of the distance of their Fortune from that of their Subjects and Servants cannot gather this Fruit except they raise some Persons to be as it were Companions and almost equal to themselves which many times proves of dangerous Consequence XXX As uncommon a thing as true-True-Love is it is yet more frequent than True-friendship XXXI True Friendship destroys Envy as true-True-Love breaks a Coquet Humour XXXII Though we ought not to love our Friends only for the good they do us yet it is a plain case they love not us if they do not do us good when they have it in their power XXXIII Though the generality of Friendships contracted in the World do by no means deserve that honourable Name yet a Man may very well make his best of them as he sees occasion as of a Trade that is not fixed upon any sure Fund and where nothing is more usual than to find our selves cheated XXXIV There is in all Sciences some Chimera or other which we eternally pursue in vain As Chymistry has its Philosophers Stone so has Geometry its Quadrature of the Circle Astronomy its Longitudes Mechanicks their perpetual Motion It is impossible to find out all these but it is very useful to search after them by reason of the Discoveries we make by the way Moral have also their Chimera that is Disinterestness or Perfect Friendship No Man will ever come up to it yet it is good that all should pretend to it since by that they attain to many other Virtues XXXV A true Friend is but a pleasing Dream of the Love of our selves which Adversity and Experience dissipate * XXXVI We speak well of our Friends to get the Friendship of others by a shew of Gratitude * XXXVII It is as hard to be a good Friend and a Lover of Women as it is to be a good Friend and a Lover of Mony * XXXVIII He will be much out in his Account who numbers his Friends by the visits that are made him and confounds the Decencies of Ceremony and Commerce with the Offices of United Affections * XXXIX He will find himself in as great a Mistake that either seeks for a Friend in a Court or tries him at a feast * XL. A false Friend is like the Shadow in a Dial it appears in Clear Weather but vanishes assoon as that is Cloudy XLI There are some Friends whose only Prospect is their own Satisfaction provided they have nothing to reproach themselves withal the Misfortune of another does not much affect them nay they would be concern'd that it was ended so soon They continue it sometimes for the Continuance of their own Glory They Rejoice they Triumph in secret for a Disgrace which gives them an occasion of shewing themselves instead of searching the most ready means to assist you they search the most signal ones to make themselves
its Gastly Circumstances The Wisest and Bravest Men are they that take the fairest and most honourable Pretences to keep their View from it But every body that knows it as it really is â—inds it to be a thing full of Horror The Constancy of Philosophers was nothing else but the Necessity of Dying they thought when there was no Remedy but a Man must go it was best to go with a good Grace And since they were not able to make their Lives Eternal they would stick at nothing to make their Names so and secure all that from the Wreck which was capable of being secur'd Let us put the best Face upon the Matter we can content our selves with not speaking all we think and hope more from a happy Constitution than all the feeble Reasonings that gull us with a fancy that we can approach it without concern The Glory of Dying gallantly the Hope of being Lamented when we are gone the desire of leaving a good Name behind us the Assurance of being set free from the Miseries of the present Life and of depending no longer upon a â—ickle and humourfom Fortune are Remedies not altogether to be rejected though they be far from being Sovereign They help no more to put us in Heart than a poor Hedge in an Engagement contributes to encourage the Soldiers that are to march near where the Enemy is firing it appears a good Shelter at a distance but proves a very thin defence at close view We do vainly flatter our selves to think that Death will be the same when near as we fancy it to be when remote and that our Reasonings which in Truth are Weakness it self will prove of so harden'd a Temper as to hold out proof and not yield to the severest of all Tryals Besides it shews we are but little acquainted with self-Self-Love when we imagine that will do us any Service toward the looking upon that very thing as a Trifle which must unavoidably cause its utter Ruin and Reason from which we expect so many Supplies is then too weak to perswade us what we wish to be true Nay Reason it self generally betrays us upon this occasion and instead of animating us with a Contempt of Death gives us a more lively Representation of all its Terror and Gastliness All it is able to do in our behalf is only to advise us to turn our Heads another way and divert the Thought by fixing our Eyes upon some other Objects Cato and Brutus chose noble Ones A Lackey not long ago satisfied himself with dancing upon the Scaffold whither he was brought to be broke upon the Wheel And thus though the Motives be different they produce still the same Effects So true it is that after all the disproportion between Great Men and the Vulgar People of both sorts do often meet Death with the same Face and Disposition But still with this difference that in the Contempt of Death which Great Men express the desire and love of Honour is the thing that keeps Death from their sight and in the Vulgar 't is Ignorance and Stupidity that leaves them at liberty to think upon something else and keeps them from seeing the greatness of the Evil they are to suffer V. Every thing in this Life is Accidental even our Birth that brings us into it Death is the only thing we can be sure of and yet we behave our selves just as if all the rest were certain and Death alone accidental * VI. We are apt to pick Quarrels with the World for every little Foolery or every trivial Cross But our Tongues run quite to another Tune when we come once to parting with it in earnest * VII Nothing but the Conscience of a virtuous Life can make Death easie to us Wherefore there 's no trusting to a Death-bed Repentance When Men come to that last Extremity once by Langor Pain or Sickness and to lye Agonizing betwixt Heaven and Hell under the stroke either of a Divine Judgment or of Humane Frailty they are not commonly so sensible of their Wickedness or so effectually touch'd with the remorse of a true Repentance as they are distracted with the Terrors of Death and the dark Visionary Apprehensions of what 's to come People in that Condition do but discharge themselves of burdensom Reflections as they do of the Cargo of a Ship at Sea that has sprung a Leak Every thing is done in a Hurry and Men only part with their Sins in the one Case as they do with their Goods in the other to fish them up again so soon as the Storm is over Grace must be very strong in these Conflicts wholly to vanquish the Weaknesses of distressed Nature That certainly is none of the Time to make choice of for the great Work of reconciling our selves to Heaven when we are divided and confounded betwixt an Anguish of Body and Mind And the Man is worse than Mad that ventures his Salvation upon that desperate Issue VIII There is not any thing that Men are so prodigal and at the same time so fond of as their Lives IX Death happens but once but the Sense of it renews in all the Moments of our Lives and the fear we have of it is ten times worse than the submitting to it X. That part of Death which is certain is much alleviated by that which is uncertain XI We hope to grow Old and yet we fear Old Age that is to say we love Life and decline Death XII Nature generally makes a long Sickness intermediate betwixt Life and Death with design it seems to make Death it self a kind of Release both to him that Dyes and those that survive him XIII That Death which prevents a crazy Old Age comes in better time than that which terminates it XIV There are but three great Events for us Men Birth Life and Death We are not sensible of our Birth we suffer in Dying and forget to live XV. Most Men spend the first part of their Lives in rendring the other miserable * XVI Men fear Death as Children fear to go in the Dark and as that natural Fear is encreased in Children with Tales so is the other Certainly the Stoicks bestowed too much cost upon Death and by their great Preparations made it appear more fearful It is as natural to die as to be born and to a little Infant perhaps the one is as painful as the other * XVII It is observable that there is no Passion in the Mind of Man but it Masters the Fear of Death And therefore Death is no such terrible Enemy when a Man has so many Friends about him that can gain him the Victory Revenge Triumphs over Death Love â—lights it Honour aspires to it Grief flies to it Fear procures it Nay we read that Pity it self which is the Tenderest of all Affections has provok'd many to die out of meer Compassion Nay Seneca adds Niceness and Satiety A Man says he would die though he were neither Valiant nor
Women by the Favours they receive XXXII When Women cease to Iove their Gallants they forget even the Favours they have granted them XXXIII A Woman that has but one Gallant thinks herself to be no Cocquet she that has several concludes her self no more than a Cocquet XXXIV Many a Woman prevents being thought a Cocquet by her Constancy to one that passes for a Fool for her ill Choice XXXV There are very few Intrigues that are kept secret and a great many Ladies are as well known by their Gallants as by their Husbands XXXVI The Difference betwixt an Amorous Lady and a Cocquet is that the first is for being loved and the other only for passing for handsome and lovely The one has a Mind to ingage us and the other only to please us the intriguing Woman passes from one Ingagement to another sucessively the Cocquet has several Amusements at once Passion and Pleasure are predominant in the first Vanity and Levity in the last Gallantry is a Weakness of the Heart or perhaps a Vice of Constitution A Cocquet Humour is an Irregularity or Debauchery of the Mind To conclude an Amorous Woman makes her self to be feared and a Cocquet to be hated From these two Characters we may frame a third the worst of them all XXXVII A weak Woman is she whom we tell of her Faults who reproaches her self with them whose Inclination is in a perpetual Conflict with her Reason who desires to mend who shall never mend at least but very late XXXVIII A Woman is inconstant when she ceases to love fickle when she begins to love light when she does not know her self whether she loves or no indifferent when she loves nothing XXXIX A great many Ladies conceal their Amours under a great deal of Reserve and Modesty that get often no more by their continued Affectation than to make other People say at last Lord I took her for a Saint XL. There are Women that love their Money better than their Friends and their Lovers better than their Money XLI 'T is strange to find in some Womens Heart something more quick and strong than the Love of Men. I mean Ambition and the Passion of Gaming Such Women make Men chast they have nothing of their Sex but the Petticoat XLII Women run into Extreams and are generally either better or worse than Men. XLIII There is no such thing as Principles in Women they conduct themselves by the Heart and depend for their Manners upon those they love XLIV Women go further in Love than Men but Men outstrip them in Friendship XLV 'T is the Mens Fault that Women hate one another XXVI A Man is more reserved and secret in his Friends Concern than his own a Woman on the contrary keeps her own Secret better than anothers XLVII There is never so strong a Love in a young Ladie 's Breast but what may receive some Addition either from Ambition or Interest XLVIII How many Maids are there in the World that never reaped any other Advantage from a great Beauty than the Hopes of having a great Match XLVIII There is a Time where Maids even those that have the most considerable Fortunes ought seriously to think of bestowing themselves least their Refusal of the first Proffers be attended with a long and bitter Repentance The Reputation of their Riches does generally decrease with that of their Beauty but on the contrary every thing is favourable to a young Lady and Men are content to aggravate all the Advantages that can most stir up their Passion and make her worthy of their Applications and Desires XLIX Handsome Ladies do generally Justice upon themselves for the ill Treatments they have done to some of their Lovers by marrying either ugly old or at least undeserving Husbands L. Most Women judge of the Merit and Personal Accomplishments of Men by the Impression they make upon them and will scarce allow any to that Man whom they can see without Concern LI. When a Man is at a loss to know whether Age has made any considerable Alteration in his Person he may consult the Eyes and Tone of the Voice of those young Women he accosts he will soon learn what he is afraid to know But this is a hard way of learning LII A Woman that is always casting her Eyes upon the same Man or that takes them away continually from him gives us an equal Suspicion of what she feels LIII It is easie for a Woman to say what she does not feel but it is yet more easie for a Man to say what he does LIV. It happens sometimes that while the Woman dissembles a true Passion the Man dissembles a â—alse one LV. A Man may easily impose upon a Woman by a pretended Passion provided he have no real one for another LVI Suppose a Man that is indifferent for all Women have a Mind to pretend a Passion the Question is Whether he will sooner impose upon that Woman that has a Kindness for him than her that has none LVII The greatest Concern of a Woman in Love is not to perswade her own Passion as to be satisfied of that of the Person she loves LVIII Women are cured of their Natural Laziness either by Vanity or Love LIX Laziness on the contrary in Women naturally brisk and aiery is the Forerunner of Love LX. A Man breaks out into a Passion against an unfaithful Mistris and then forgets her a Woman on the contrary makes but little Noise at the Infidelity of her Lover but keeps a long while her Resentments FINIS Books printed for Abel Roper and E. Wilkinson at the Black Boy over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet THE second Volume of Monsieur St. Eremont's Essays The State of Innocence or the Fall of Man By Mr. Dryden Walker of Coins and Medals Officium Eucharisticum or a Preparatory Office for the devout Reception of the holy Communion By Dr. Edward Lake The Works of the Reverend Dr. Hammond in four Volumes The Works of Dr. Cudworth The Rules and Maxims of pleading By Sir Robert Health Ambitious Slave A Play Distressed Innocence A Play Books printed for Roger Clavel at the Peacock over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet THE Life of Christ with Forty Sculptures written in Heroick Verse Ey Mr. Wesley Epictetus in Verse By Mr. Walker Cojugium Conjurgium or some Considerations concerning Marriage Dying and dead Mens living Words By Dr. Lloyd Noy's Compleat Lawyer Dalton's Office of Sheriffs
This is the Image of a Courtier and so much the truer that after many fair steps he often returns to the same point from whence he first set out VIII If Favour places a Man above his Equals his Fall places him below them IX That Man that has seen the Court has seen the fairest and beautifullest part of the World and if he can despise the Court after he has seen it he can as well despise all the World X. The Town makes a Man nauseate the Country the Court creates a disgust for the Town The Court it self puts a Wise Man out of conceit with it and gives him a hankering after Privacy and Retirement XI A Favourite has no Retinue he is without Engagements without Ties He may be surrounded with a crowd of Relations and Creatures but he is contiguous to nothing he stands by himself XII An old Courtier of good Sense and Memory is a Treasure of an inestimable value He is full of Transactions and Maxims in him we find the History of the Times adorned with many curious Circumstances not to be found any where else and of him we may learn Rules for the Conduct of our Affairs and Manners which are so much the surer as they are grounded on Experience XIII It is as hard to define the Court as to give a true Name to changeable Colours XIV The Country is the Place from whence the Court as in its true distance appears a thing full of Charms and worth our Admiration But if a Man come near it its Perfections decrease just as those of a fine Landskip when you behold it at a close view XV. The Court does neither make a Man happy nor suffer him to be so elsewhere XVI As it is good for a Gentleman to Travel so it is to see the Câ—urt When he first comes to it he discovers there as it were a new World where Vice and Politeness have an equal sway and where a Man advantageously improves both good and bad Qualities XVII The Court is like a stately Ediâ—ice of Marble I mean because those that compose it are very hard but very well polisht XVIII Nothing so deforms certain Courtiers as the Presence of the Prince it so alters their Air and debases their Looks that a Man can scarce know them by their Faces Proud infolent Men are the most disfigur'd for they lose most of their own but a modest Man keeps his natural Countenance he has nothing to reform XIX It is oftentimes as dangerous to make the first steps at Court as it is not to make them XX. You are a Good Man you neither Court the Favour nor the Resentments of Favourites You mind your own Business and wholly apply your self to your Prince and Duty Mark my Prophecy You are Undone XXI As difficult as it is to get a considerable Place at Court it is much harder yet to make one's self worthy of it XXII It is hard to determine which of the two is the greater shame either to be deny'd a Place we deserve or granted one we deserve not * XXIII Courtiers generally pay Services with Smoak and fair Words and use a world of unprofitable Ceremony to mortiâ—ie an honest Man Courage Valour Cowardise I. THE Love of Honour and Glory the Fear of Shame the design of promoting an Interest the desire of making Life easie and comfortable and the longing of pulling down others are oftentimes the causes of that Valour so much extoll'd in the World II. Valour in private Soldiers is a hazardous Trade to which they have bound themselves to get a Livelihood III. Perfect Valour and absolute Cowardise are Extreams that few Men fall into The vast middle space contains all the other kinds and degrees of Courage which differ no less from one another than Mens Faces or their Humours Some Men are Valiant even to Temerity in the beginning of the Action that are easily disheartned and dejected if it continue Some satisfie themselves with having done what was necessary to maintain their Honour and Reputation and will hardly be prevail'd upon to do any thing besides Some have the command of their Fears and Master them only by intervals Others are sometimes carry'd away by general Terrors Others throw themselves into the Action not daring to maintain their own Post The Courage of some has been inur'd and harden'd against great Dangers by their habit and familiarity with small ones Some are Valiant with a Sword that fear a Mâ—â—ket-Shot and others are unconcern'd at the discharge of a Musket and frighted at the sight of a naked Sword All these different sorts of Courage agree in this that Night as it encreases the Fear so it conceals both brave and base Actions and gives every body opportunity of saving himself There is still another more general Tenderness of a Man's self for you meet with no body that does as much as he would be capable to do if he was but sure to come off safe So that it is very plain that let a Man be never so Stout yet the fear of Death does certainly give some damp to his Courage IV. True Valour consists in doing without Witnesses what a Man is capable to do before all the World V. Intrepidâ—ty is an extraordinary Strength of Mind which raises us above the Troubles and Perturbations which the Prospect of Dangers is â—pt to produce And by this Strength it is that Heroes remain undisturbed and preserve the free use of their Reason amidst the most amazing and terrible Accidents VI. Intrepidity is requisite to buoy up the Mind in Plots and Conspiracies but Valour is alone sufficient to give a Man Constancy of Mind in honourable Actions and the hazards of War VII Most Men expose themselves enough in an Engagement to secure their Honour but very few are willing to expose themselves so far as the Design they go upon requires to render it successful VIII Men are as â—ond of their Lives as desirous of getting Honour which is the reason why Men of Gallantry use as many dextrous Shiâ—ts and Stratagems to decline Death as your Litigious Knaves do to secure their Estates IX He cannot answer for his own Courage who was never in any danger X. Cowardise is a dangerous Failing to tell those of that we would reclaim from XI Valour was assign'd to Men and Chastity to Women as their principal Virtues because they are the hardest to practise When these Virtues are not sustain'd and kept up either by Constitution or Divine Grace they soon grow faint and fall presently a Sacrâ—fice to the Love of Life and Pleasure XII If a Man would define Victory he must be tempted to call her with the Poets The Daughter of Heaven since her Oâ—iginal is not to be found upon Earth And indeed it is the effect of a thousand Actions which instead of aiming at it have no other Prospect than the particular Interest of each Combatant For all those that make up an Army seeking their own
ought always to be rated by the Methods they employ'd to carry on and accomplish their Designs IV. A Wise Man should order his Designs and set all his Interests in their proper Places This Order is often disturb'd by a foolish Greediness which while it puts us upon pursuing several things at once makes us eager for matters of less Consideration and we let the Main go while we grasp at the Accessories V. There must be a true Proportion of the Actions to the Designs without which it is impossible for a Man to gain his Ends. VI. There are a World of Proceedings that appear odd and ridiculous which yet are grounded upon secret Reasons that are very solid and substantial VII It is hard to determine whether a clear open and honourable Proceeding be the result of good Principles or subtile Craft and Address VIII It is with some Affairs as it is with most Diseases they are rather sowr'd and exasperated than allay'd by untimely Remedies And the height of Skill and Wisdom is to know when they can bear the handling IX There are but very few things impossible in their own Nature and we want not Means to conquer Difficulties so much as Application and Resolution in the use of Means X. The dislike we commonly have of Negotiators or Arbitrators arises from their being generally apt to sacrifice all the Interest of their Friends for the advancing and bringing about their Negotiation which they make their own â—nterest by the Credit of having succeeded in their Undertakings XI It is generally in Matters of no great moment where we venture not to believe Probabilities XII We should desire very few things passionately if we did but perfectly know the Nature of the thing we desire XIII In great Undertakings the improving of Opportunities goes a greater way than the starting of them XIV No Commendations are thought too great for Prudence And yet the highest pitch of it cannot ensure a Man the most inconsiderable Event XV. We should often blush for our best Acâ—ions if the World did but see all the Motives upon which they were grounded XVI Good Success is often owing to want of Judgment for a nice Discretion keeps a Man from venturing upon several Attempts which mere want of Consideration makes frequently turn to good account XVII Our Actions are like the last Syllables of Words which every Man makes Rhime to what he thinks fit XVIII We execute sloâ—ly what we resolve upon unwillingly XIX Any thing that is extraordinary looks great if the Success be favourable as every thing that 's great looks foolish if the Success be contrary XX. There is a critical Point in the 〈◊〉 of all States where their Ruin would be unavoidable if one knew how 〈◊〉 it were to destroy them but for want of fore-sight clear enough or a sufficient Courage Men are content with a little when they might do more making either the Meanness of Spirit or the want of Greatness in the Soul pass for Prudence XXI Whatever we undertake we must propose to our Thoughts some great and extraordinary aim and even such as is above our reach For we could hardly be perswaded to begin our Journey if we were sure to go no farther than we really shall * XXII There is not any thing so small bâ— there goes Art and Application toward the acquiring of it * XXIII 'T is of mighty Use to Men in any great and daring Attempt to have their Followers and others think there is Destiny in their behalf that they are God's Instruments only accomplishing what he has long design'd they should this renders them both most violent in their Motions and incurable either by any Admonitions or even almost by any Unsuccessfulness or Discouragements * XXIV Any thing is a good Reason for a Way to him who before-hand is resolv'd to take it he blames or commends condemns or justifies as a Corrupt Party not as an equal Iudgeâ— self-Self-Love sâ—eers all its Determinations and following all its Windings it is never true to the reality of the thing but to its own conceâ—â— therein which being differently affected by any ways at different Times it accordingly either applauds or decrys them and has a Judgment of them when they are in our own Case and another when they are in our Neighbour's * XXV Experience makes many a Wise Man of a Fool and Security makes many a Fool of a Wise Man * XXVI There 's no forcing Nature against her Biass or inverting the Methods of Providence Irregular Desires and unreasonable Undertakings must expect to meet with Disappointments There is a proper Time for all Things and nothing succeeds well but what 's done in Season * XXVII Hasty Resolutions are seldom Fortunate and it is a piece of necessary Prudence for a Man before he resolves any thing to consider what may be the Consequences of it * XXVIII 'T is matter of Skill and Address when a Man cannot honestly compass what he would be at to appear easie and indifferent upon all Repulses and Disappointments Beside it improves all our Disappointments into Providences when we can let fall the vain desire of any thing without feeling the loss of it * XXIX Improbability and Impossibility are two frightful Words to weaker Minds but by diligent and wise Men they are generally found to be only the Excuses of Idleness and Ignorance For the most part they lie not in the things themselves but in Mens false Opinions concerning them they are raised by Opinions but are soon abolisht by Works Many things that were at first improbable to the Minds of Men are not so to their Eyes many that seem'd unpracticable to their Thoughts are quite otherwise to their Hands Many that are too difficult for their naked Hands may be soon perform'd by the same Hands if they are strengthen'd by Instruments and guided by Methods Many that are unmanageable by a few Hands and a few Instruments are easie to the joint Force of a Multitude Many that fail in one Age may succeed by the renew'd Endeavours of another It is not therefore the conceit or â—ancy of Men alone that is of sufficient Authority to condemn the most unlikely things for impossible unless they have been tempted in vain by many Eyes many Hands many Instruments and many Ages * XXX The Eâ—rors of Young Men are the ruine of Business but the Errors of Aged Men amount but to this that more might have been done or sooner Young Men in the Conduct and Management of Affairs embrace more than they can hold stir more than they can quier â—ly to the end without Consideration of the Means and Degrees pursue some few Principles which they have chanc'd upon absurdly care not to innovate which draws unknown Inconveniences Use extream Remedies at first and that which doubles all Errors will not acknowledge or retract them Men of Age object too much consult too long adventure too little repent too soon and seldom drive Business home to the full
serves but to make us the more ridiculous by adding Arrogance to our first Error XXX We may learn as much by other People's Faults as by their Instructions XXXI It is an ordinary Failing with most Men never to be contented with their Fortune or dissatisfied with their Wit XXXII As Perfumes affect more strongly other People than those that carry 'em so the Failings of others offend us much sooner than our own The continual Commerce we have with our Inclinations disguises them to us Nothing is new in our selves but every thing appears so in others Our Reason contracts a kind of Familiarity and Friendship with our Defaults when at the same time it weighs examines and condemns those of our Neighbours with the utmost Severities XXXIII There is ne'er a Man so perfect and necessary to his Friends but he has some Defect or other that Counterbalances in some measure his good Qualities and renders his loss less sensible to those that out-live him XXXIV Men are not so much asham'd of their Crimes as they are of their Weakness and Vanity He that is openly Unjust Violent Persidious and a Slanderer conceals his Love or his Ambition with no other design than to conceal it only * XXXV Men labour under many Imperfections that no body would take notice of if themselves were not over-sollicitous to conceal them Families Masters Servants I. MOst Masters cry out upon all Servants that they are Rogues and the Plagues of a Family and if Servants ever come to be Masters they will say just the same thing The Reason is because generally it is not the Qualities but the Fortunes of Men that make the difference between them II. Families are often inwardly torn and divided by Distrusts Jealousies and Antipathies while a contented cheerful and smiling Out side imposes upon the World and makes us imagine that there is nothing but Peace and Quietness Within There are few Houses that get any thing by being too nicely look'd into and Visits generally suspend a Domestick Quarrel which will begin afresh as soon as the Company goes off * III. No Men are so strict Exacters of Modesty in a Servant as those that are most prodigal of their own * IV. Age is well-nigh sufficient to deface with some Masters every Letter and Action in the History of a Meritorious Life and old Services are generally bury'd under the Ruins of an old Carcass * V. 'T is a common thing for a Master to sacrifice a Servant to his own Ease and Interest but there 's no medling with Men of that Inhospitable Humour where the Domesticks how faithful soever can never be secure * VI. It is a barbarous Inhumanity in Great Men to their Servants to make their small Failings to be a Crime without allowing their past Services to have been a Virtue and this is found with Masters and Mistresses as well in Courts as in private Families where one sâ—umble is oftentimes enough to deface the Character of an honourable Life Fidelity Insidelity I. SMall Infidelities whereby our selves are Sufferers lessen the Committers of them in our Esteem more than great ones committed against other People II. Fidelity in most Men is nothing else but a Contrivance of self-Self-Love to make our selves trusted It is a Trick to raise our selves above other People and get the most important Matters deposited in our hands Flattery Praise I. FLattery is a False Coyn which our own Vanity has made Current II. Men never would enjoy much Pleasure if they never flatter'd themselves III. If we did not flatter our selves the Flatteries of others could never hurt us IV. No body loves to be upon the Commending Strain and indeed we seldom touch upon it without some By-End Praise is a more ingenious conceal'd and nicer kind of a Flattery which humours and affects severally both the Giver and Receiver the one accepts it as a Reward due to his Merit the other gives it that he may be lookt upon as a just and discreet Person V. We extol and value the Excellencies of other People rather out of the Esteem of our own Opinions than of their Worth and when we pretend to commend other Men's Virtues 't is but a Side-wind to put other Men upon commending ours VI. We often choose to make use of Commendations that carry a Sting in the Tail and by taking Men at the rebound as it were lay open some Defects in the Persons so commended which we dare not venture to expose any other way VII Few Men are so wife as to prefer useful Reproofs to treacherous Praise VIII As there are commending Reproofs so there are abusive Praises IX He that declines Praise the first time it is offer'd does it from a desire of being prais'd over again X. The desire of being worthy the Commendations of the World is a great assistance and strengthning to our Virtues and the extolling of Men's Wit Courage or Beauty goes a great way towards the encrease of them XI We generally pull down one Man's Reputation to set up anothers and sometimes Men would not enlarge so much upon the Praise of the Prince of Conde and Mareschal Turenne if it were not out of a design to lessen them both XII We seldom commend any body in Goodness except those as admire us XIII To commend Princes for Virtues they have not is no better than a safe way to abuse them XIV Nothing so much lessens the Merit of those that have deserv'd great Praises than the trouble they are eternally at to make themselves valued by Trifles XV. When we commend good and noble Actions we make them in some measure our own XVI Nothing ought in Reason to mortifie our Self-Satisfaction more than our applauding and crying up at one time what we blame and run down at another XVII Former Times are sometimes cry'd up only to run down the present and we value what is now no more that we may slight that which is XVIII Men fancy sometimes they have an Aversion to Flattery when it is only to the manner of being flatter'd And that Modesty that would seem to decline Praise is at the bottom only a desire of having it better exprest * XIX There is a kind of Insinuation and Compliance that is far from any servile Baseness or sordid Flattery and may be term'd Discretion rather than Adulation * XX. Whosoever is vext at a Reproach would be Proud if he were commended * XXI 'T is difficult to write justly in any thing but almost impossible in Praise XXII There are some Men greedy of Honour that love Praise even from the meanest sort and are less satisfied to be commended by a few Judicious Persons than to be admired by an ignorant Multitude XXIII To commend the Great Ones is a nice Phrase in its Original and signifies undoubtedly to commend one's Self by publishing all the good a Man rais'd in Honours has done us or that he ever design'd to do us XXIV We generally commend the Great Ones to
one nor will they express the other Children sweeten Labour but they make Misfortunes more bitter They increase the Cares of Life but they mitigate the Remembrance of Death X. * They that are the First Raisers of their Families are most indulgent toward their Children beholding them as the Continuance not only of their Kind but of their Works and so both Children and Creatures XI * He that has Wife and Children has given Hostages to Fortune for they are Impediments to great Enterprises either of Vertue or Mischief The Perpetuity by Generation is common to Beasts but Memory Merit and Noble Works are proper to Men And certainly a Man shall find the Noblest Works and Foundations have always proceeded from Childless Men which have sought to express the Images of their Minds where those of their Bodies have fail'd and both in Aâ—â—ection and Means have married and endow'd the Publick So that the Care of Posterity is most in them that have none XI * The most ordinary cause of a single Life is Liberty especially in certain Self-pleasing and Humourous Minds which are so sensible of every Restraint that they will go near to think their Girdles and Garters to be Bonds and Shackles XII * Unmarried Men are best Friends best Masters best Servants but not always best Subjects for they are light to run away and almost all Fugitives are of that Condition Mind Understanding Wit Memory Heart I. THe Strength and Weakness of a Man's Mind are improper Terms since they are really nothing else but the Organs of our Bodies being well or ill dispos'd II. 'T is a great Errour the making a difference between the Wit and the Iudgment For in truth the Iudgment is nothing else but the Brightness of Wit which penetrates into the very bottom of Things observes all that ought to be observ'd there and descries what seem'd to be imperceptible From whence we must conclude That 't is the Extention and Energy of this Light of Wit that produces all those Effects usually ascrib'd to Iudgment III. All Men may be allow'd to give a good Character of their Hearts or Inclinations but no body dares to speak well of his own Wit IV. Polite Wit consists in nice curious and honest Thoughts V. The Gâ—llantry of Wit consists in Flattery well couch'd VI. It often happens that some things offer themselves to our Wit which are naturally finer and better than is possible for a Man to make them by the Additions of Art and Study VII Wit is always made a Cully to the Heart VIII Many People are acquainted with their own Wit that are not acquainted with their own Heart IX It is not in the power of Wit to act a long while the Part of the Heart X. A Man of Wit would be sometimes miserably at a loss but for the Company of Fools XI A Man of Wit may sometimes be a Coxcomb but a Man of Iudgment never can XII The different Ways or Methods for compassing a Design come not so much from the Quickness and Fertility of an industrious Wit as dim-â—ighted Vnderstanding which makes us pitch upon every fresh Matter that presents it self to our groping Fancy and does not furnish us with Judgment sufficient to discern at first sight which of them is best for our Purpose XIII The Twang of a Man's Native Country sticks by him as much in his Mind and Disposition as it does in his Tone of Speaking XIV Wit serves sometimes to make us play the Fool with greater Considence XV. Shallow Wits are apt to censure every thing above their own Capacity XVI 'T is past the Power of Imagination it self to invent so many distant Contrarieties as there are naturally in the Heart of every Man XVII No body is so well acquainted with himself as to know his own Mind at all times XVIII Every body complains of his Memory but no body of his Iudgment XIX There is a kind of general Revolution not more visible in the turn it gives to the Fortunes of the World than it is in the Change of Men's Vnderstandings and the different Relish of Wit XX. Men often think to conduct and govern themselves when all the while they are led and manag'd and while their Vnderstanding aims at one thing their Heart insensibly draws them into another XXI Great Souls are not distinguish'd by having less Passion and more Virtue but by having nobler and greater Designs than the Vulgar XXII We allow few Men to be either Witty or Reasonable besides those who are of our own Opinion XXIII We are as much pleas'd to discover another Man's Mind as we are discontented to have our own found out XXIV A straight and well-contriv'd Mind finds it easier to yield to a perverse one than to direct and manage it XXV Coxcombs are never so troublesome as when they pretend to Wit XXVI A little Wit with Discretion tires less at long-run than much Wit without Iudgment XXVII Nothing comes amiss to a great Soul and there is as much Wisdom in bearing other People's Defects as in relishing their good Qualities XXVIII It argues a great heighth of Iudgment in a Man to discover what is in another's Breast and to conceal what is in his own XXIX If Poverty be the Mother of Wickedness want of Wit must be the Father XXX * A Mind that has no Ballance in it self turns insolent or abject out of measure with the various Change of Fortune XXXI * Our Memories are frail and treacâ—erous and we think many excellent things which for want of making a deep impression we can never recover afterwards In vain we hunt for the stragling Idea and rummage all the Solitudes and Retirements of our Soul for a lost Thought which has left no Track or Footsteps behind it The swift Offspring of the Mind is gone 't is dead as soon as born nay often proves abortive in the moment it was conceiv'd The only way therefore to retain our Thoughts is to â—asten them in Words and chain them in Writing XXXII * A Man is never so great a Dunce by Nature but Love Malice or Necessity will supply him with some Wit XXXIII * There is a Defect which is almost unavoidable in great Inventors it is the Custom of such earnest and powerful Minds to do wonderful Things in the beginning but shortly after to be over-born by the Multitude and Weight of their own Thoughts then to yield and cool by little and little and at last grow weary and even to loath that upon which they were at first the most eager This is the wonted Constitution of great Wits such tender things are those exalted Actions of the Mind and so hard it is for those Imaginations that can run swift and mighty Races to be able to travel a long and constant Journey The Effects of this Infirmity have been so remarkable that we have certianly lost very many Inventions after they have been in part fashion'd by the meer Languishing and Negligence
imaginary those shew themselves in Fables From whence it comes to pass that the Ancients held themselves oblig'd to some Deity or other either upon the account of descending from it or else because they acknowledg'd a particular Care and Protection from its Tutelary Virtue IX * It is the Saying of a Great Man That if we could trace our Descents we should find all Slaves to come from Princes and all Princes from Slaves But Fortune has turn'd all Things topsie-turvy in a long Story of Revolutions But it matters not whence we come but what we are nor is it any more to our Honour the Glory of our Predecessors than it is to their Shame the Wickedness of their Posterity X. It is a great Advantage for a Man to be Nobly descended but it is still a greater one for him to be such by his own Merit that People never enquire whether he be a Gentleman or no. XI * Nâ—bility of Birth commonly abates Industry and he that is not industrious envies him that is Beside Noble Persons cannot go much higher and he that stands at a stay when others rise can hardly avoid Motions of Envy XII * A Monarchy where there is no Nobility at all is a pure absolute Tyranny for Nobility attempers Soveraignty and draws the Eyes of the People somewhat aside from the Royal Line XIII * Those that are first rais'd to Nobility are commonly more virtuous but less innocent than their Descendants for there is rarely any Rising but by a commixture of good and evil Arts. Obstinacy Contradiction I. STubborness and Obstinacy are the Effects of a shallow Wit for we can never believe what we cannot apprehend II. Men of mean Capacities but especially your half-witted Fellows and pedantick Scholars are most apt to be stiff and peremptory None but Manly Souls can unsay what they have said and forsake an Errour when they find themselves on the wrong side III. Contradiction should awaken our Attention and Care and not our Passion Our Interest ought to be no other than that of Truth and therefore we must rather hear those that oppose it than avoid them which is little better than yielding the Victory IV. There can be no arguing with a Man obstinate in his Opinion for when he has once contradicted his Mind is barr'd up against all Light and better Information Arguments tho' never so well grounded do but provoke him and make him even afraid to be convinc'd of the Truth VI. The generality of Men do not make it their Business to be in the right so much as to be thought so This makes them stickle so stifly for their own Opinions even when they know and are satisfied they are false VII The Obstinacy of some People in contradicting Opinions generally receiv'd is the effect rather of Pride than Ignorance Those that are on the right side have got the upper hand and they scorn to take up with the lower VIII No Men are so often in the wrong as those who pretend to be always in the right Passions I. PAssion often makes a Fool of a witty Man and no less frequently a witty Man of a Fool. II. It is with our Passions as it is with Fire and Water they are good Servants and bad Masters and Sub-minister to the best and worst of Purposes at once III. The continuance of our Passions is no more in our own Power than the Term of our Lives IV. Those great and glittering Actions which dazzle the Eyes of most Men and are represented by Politicians as the Effects of great Wisdom and Design are indeed generally influenc'd by litte Humours and Passions Thus the War of Augustus and Anthony for the purpose which is ascrib'd to the violent Ambition each of them had to get the Mastery of the whole World was occasion'd perhaps by a little rise of Iealousie between them V. Passions are Nature's never-failing Rhetorick and the only Orators that can master our Affections The plainest Man inspir'd by a Passion perswades much better than the most eloquent who is inspir'd by none VI. There is in all Passions a kind of Injustice and Self-interest which makes them very dangerous to be follow'd and we ought not to trust them even when they appear most fair and reasonable VII There is in our Hearts a constant Generation of Passions so that the Destruction of one is generally the Production of another VIII As wary and cautious Men are to conceal their Passions under the specious Dress of Honour and Piety this Disguise is too thin and they seldom fail to break through it at one time or other IX The Passions often give birth to others of a Nature quite contrary to their own Avarice sometimes brings forth Poodigality and Prodigality Avarice Some are Resolute out of Weakness and Bold out of Timorousness and Fear X. All Passions are nothing else but the different degrees of Heat and Cold in the Blood XI The Victory we gain sometimes over our Passions is owing to their Weakness more than our own Strength XII The Health of the Mind is as frail and uncertain as that of the Body And tho' a Man may seem free from all manner of Passions yet is he in so much danger of falling into them as one in a perfect state of Health is of having a fit of Sickness XIII It is one of the greatest Secrets of Nature that Men's Passions are more capable of being rais'd to higher degrees in Companies than in Solitude and that we sooner grieve fear rejoice love admire c. when we behold many others so mov'd than when we are alone XIV No Man can guess in cold Blood what he may do in a Passion XV. While our Heart is ruffled by the remains of a Passion it is more susceptible of a new one than if it was entirely setled XVI Those that have had great Passions find themselves perpetually happy and unhappy in being cur'd of them XVII We are to blame not to distinguish between the several sorts of Anger for there is a Light and as it were a harmless one which results from a warm Complexion and another exceeding vicious which is in strict speaking the Rage and Fierceness of Pride XVIII Nature it seems has treasur'd up in the bottom of our Hearts some secret Talents and Abilities which Passions only have the priviledge to improve and which upon some Exigencies gives us a surer prospect of Things than ever Art could do XIX It is is as unseasonable to recompence in a â—it of Ioy as to punish in a Passion XX. * That Mind is truly happy which can entirely deny some Passions and only unbend it self to some others XXI The Soul is tir'd to be always in the same posture and at a long run it would lose all its Vigour if it were not awaken'd by the Passions Penetration I. PEnetration is so Conjuring like that it flatters our Vanity more than any other Accomplishment of the Mind II. The greatest Fault of a
upon the several Ways of Working of Human Nature that first stored the World with Moral Truths and put Mankind upon forming such Rules of Practice as best suited with these Observations Reputation I. WHat an ill Name soever a Man has got in the World yet it is almost always in his own Power to recover his Reputation II. The great Characters of being Men of Honour and Iustice are very often grounded more upon Forms and a Knack of appearing to be such than any true and solid Worth III. Those that have the Accomplishments essential to the making a good Man supposing they need no Art neglect Formalities act more according to Nature and consequently live more obscure and in the dark For those that judge of them have something else to do than to examine them and so they pronounce Sentence only according to outward Appearances IV. Reputation would not be so highly valu'd if we did but seriously consider how very unjust the generality of Men are both in the giving and taking it away We should content our selves to deserve it by our Good-behaviour and when that Care is taken not be over-anxious about the Success V. The Vulgar value and extol Actions and other Things not only for their Excellence but more generally for the Uncommonness of them And this gives occasion to all the false Methods Men take to gain the Approbation of the World VI. A great Reputation is a great Charge very hard for a Man to acquit himself well of an obscure Life is more natural and more easie VII The first Step that a Man makes in the World generally determines all the rest and is the Foundation of his Reputation and best Presage of his Fortune and from the first Marches that he makes those that have had Experience will tell how far he will advance 'T is then very necessary to make this first Step with a great deal of Caution and to signalize ones Entry by something that is glorious and great VIII A Great Man ought not to suffer the Depth of his Capacity to be founded if he will be always esteem'd by the Vulgar He ought on the contrary to behave himself after such a manner as never to discover all his Ability and that no Man may assign Limits to his Learning For let a Man be never so Learned the Opinion we have of him when we know him but by halves goes always farther than the Idea we conceive of him when we are wholly acquainted with him IX Reputation is a Noise which strikes nothing but the Ear and which cannot make a sensible Impression upon a Noble Soul it depends less upon our selves than Fortune But as it is impossible to acquire a general one so the possession of it would be absolutely unserviceable X. A Man who is sensible of his Force and knows the Advantages of his Mind if he aspires to Glory and will raise his Reputation ought to dread as a Rock his being suspected that he is govâ—rn'd by others XI Some People lose their Reputation by being too eager in their Endeavours to preserve it This foolish Deportment is ordinary with those who being suspected of any ill thing make use of long passionate Speeches for their Apology for tho' they may be guiltless yet the excess of Words they run into cannot but make us think the contrary XII There is no Passion which makes People more unhappy than this which almost all Men entertain for a general Esteem and Reputation for excepting some Persons of truly Heroical Minds who act only for the Satisfaction of their Conscience and perhaps too for the approbation of good Men all the rest do that for Noise which ought to be done for Virtue and suffer themselves to be inchanted with the Shadow and Appearance of a Thing whose real Body does not so much as affect them XIII Industry holds the Placâ— of the greatest Merit and the Art of making himself esteem'd oftner gives more Reputation than the thing it self XIV * No Man can be said to be truly Great that depends for his Reputation upon the Opinion of the Multitude self-Self-Love I. SElf-Love is the love of one's self and of every thing else for one's self It makes Men Idolaters of themselves and would make them Tyrants over others if they could prevail with Fortune to get the Power and Opportunities It never rests out of it self and never dwells upon other Subjects but as Bees do upon Flowers to suck out what it thinks may be for its advantage Nothing is so violent as its Desires nothing so secret as its Intrigues nothing so quick and ingenious as its Managements It s Pliantness is past description its Transformations exceed the Poetical Metamorphosis and its Niceties the refining of Chymistry One can neither fathom its depth nor pierce through the Darkness of its Abyss Here it is quite out of the view of the most penetrating and sagacious Eyes here it turns to and fro in a thousand insensible Shapes here it is oftentimes invisible to it self here it hatches and breeds several Affections and Hatreds unknown to it self and some of these are so strange and monstrous that when they come to the Birth either it does not know them or is asham'd to own them From this gross Mist with which it is over-cast spring the ridiculous Opinions it has of it self hence procced all its Errours Mistakes and Fopperies concerning it self hence it is that it thinks its Inclinations to be quite dead when they are but lull'd asleep that it fancies to have done running when it does but rest and that it believes to have lost its Appetite when it has only fill'd its Stomach for the present And yet this thick and gloomy Darkness which hinders it from seeing it self is no obstruction to its sight of any thing else in which it is like our Eyes which perceive all and yet are blind only with regard to themselves for in its greatest Concerns where the violence of its Desires summon all its Attention it sees feels and hears it imagines suspects penetrates and guesses every thing even to that degree that a Man is apt to think that each of its Passions has a kind of Witchcraft particular to it Nothing is so strong and close as its Tiâ—s which it strives in vain to break off at the view of the impending Calamities nevertheless it â—ffâ—cts sometimes in a moment and without Pains what it could never accomplish with the most powerful and continu'd Endeavours of many Years From whence we may likely conclude That its Desires are kindled by its self rather than by the Worth or Beauty of its Objects and that its own Palate gives them both the Value that makes them precious and the Gloss that sets them off So that it follows its own self when it seems to pursue any thing else Self-love is all made up of Contraries it is Imperious and Dutiful High-flown and Humble Sincere and Counterfeit Merciful and Cruel Timorous and Bold
It has different Inclinations after the diversity of Tempers which turn and devote it sometimes to Riches sometimes to Glory sometimes to Pleasure it alters them according to the variety of our Age Fortune and Experience It never matters whether it has many or but one because it divides it self to many or gathers and collects it self to one when either its Interest or Fancy requires it It is unsteady and besides the Alterations it receives from external Things there are a thousand that spring from it self It is inconstant by Fickleness by Love by Novelty and by Nauseating and Dislike It is capricious and humoursome Sometimes with incredible Hardships it snatches at Things not only unprofitable but even hurtful and offensive which it hankers after only because it has a mind to it It is unaccountable and fantastical it often busies it self about the most vain and frivolous Employments it delights in the most insipid Things and keeps its Loftiness and Pride in the vilest Drudgery It is in all states of Life as in all sorts of Conditions it lives every-where it lives upon every thing sometimes upon nothing It is contented with the Enjoyment of Things and the Want of them It sides with its Foes follows their Designs and which is wonderful it hates it self hatches its own Rnin and pushes on its Overthrow To sum up all All its care is to subsist provided it be it is content to be its own Enemy We ought not therefore to think it strange to see it associate with the roughest Ansterity and hardest Mortification and side with them to destroy it self for it is no sooner cast down in one place but it rises up again in another When it seems to forsake its Pleasure it does but suspend or alter it nay when it is so conquer'd that Men would believe themselves to be rid of it it springs up again and triumphs in its Overthrow This is the true Picture of Self-love of which the whole Life is but a strong and long Agitation The Sea is a sensible and lively Image of it for you may find in the continual Ebbs and Flows of its Waves a faithful Representation of the boisterous and turbulent Succession of Self-love's everlasting and endless Movements II. Self-love is the greatest Flatterer in the World III. self-Self-love bears less patiently the Condemnation of our Tastes or Inclinations than of our Opinions IV. The Fondness or Indifference that Philosopâ—ers express'd for Life was but a particular Tang of the Love of themselves for which there is no more reason to be given than for the variety of Palates or the choice of Colours in some People V. The first motion of Joy that we resent at the Happiness and Preferment of our Friends does seldom proceed either from our Good-nature or the Kindness we have for them but generally from Self-love which flatters us that our Turn of being happy is coming or that we shall reap some Bâ—nefit from their Prosperity VI. As if the Power of transforming it self were small Self-love does frequently transform its Objects too and that after a most wonderful manner for it not only disguises them so artificially as to deceive it self but it perfectly alters the Nature and Condition of the Things themselves Thus when any Person acts in opposition to us when he crosses and persecutes us Self-love passes Sentence upon his Actions with the utmost strictness and severity of Iustice it aggravates all his Imperfections so as to make them look monstrous and horrible and sets his Good Qualities in so ill a Light as to make them appear more disagreeable and nauseous than his very Failings And yet as soon as the same Person ceases to be our Enemy or that any of our Interests brings him to Reconciliation and Favour the Satisfaction we receive presently restores his Merit and allows it that Lustre our Aversion so lately robb'd it of His Ill Qualities vanish out of sight and his Perfections appear in a greater Splendour nay we summon all our Indulgence to excuse and justifiâ— the Quarrel he formerly had against us Tho' this Truth be evidenc'd by every Passion yet none demonstrates it so sensibly as Love For we see a Lover full of Rage and Despair at the Neglect or Infidelity of his Fondling contrive and meditate for his Revenge whatever his violent Passions suggests him Nevertheless no sooner has a kind Smile of his Darling calmed his boisterous Resentments but his Joy and Rapture pronounces this Beauty innocent he accuses himself alone and condemns nothing but his own Condemning her before and by this miraculous Power of Self-love he takes away the Blemish and Odiousness of his Mistress's Proceedings he clears her of the Crime and lays it upon himself VII The love of our selves makes our Friends appear more or less deserving in proportion to the delight we take in them and the Estimate we make of their Worth depends upon the manner of their conversing with us VIII One would think that Self-love were over-reach'd by Good-nature and Liberality and that a Man forgets himself when he promotes the Advantages of others Nevertheless this is the most effectual way to gain our ends 't is lending on Usury under the pretence of giving freely In a word 't is a nice and dexterous Way of winning over the Affections of every body IX There is no Passion wherein Self-love is so predominant as in that of Love And Men are always more disposed to sacrifice all the Ease of them they love than to part with their own X. We feel and resent both our good and ill Fortune in proportion to our Self-love XI Self-love makes more Men Cruel than natural Sternness and a rough Temper XII Self-love is often cheated by its own self for when it considers its own Interests it so wholly overlooks the Interests of others as thereby to lose all the Advantage that might beâ— made by the exchange of Kindnesses and good Offices XIII A Man is but little the better for liking himself when no body else likes him for an immoderate Love of one's self is very often chastifed by Contempt from others XIV Self-love according as it is rightly or otherwise understood and apply'd is the Cause of all the Moral Virtues and Vices in the World XV. That Prudence which is made use of in the good Management of Men's Affairs is only a wise and quick-sighted Self-love whose contrary is Inconsideration and Blindness XVI Tho' according to that Position we may rightly conclude That Men in all their Actions keep still an eye to their own Interest yet does it not follow that there is no such thing left in the World as Iustice and Honesty Men may govern themselves by commendable and honest Interests and 't is the just Discretion of a well-regulated Self-love that makes a Good or an Honest Man XVIII The Love of our selves inclines us to look upon all the Pleasures and Happiness of Life as things that we have a right to call ours