THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD 
 ENDOWMENT FUND
 
 t',/, wt >^-ri// /,K>,<Se // f <r_^' T .//' /X, r /./,:// t ,, f ,s//, fr 
 *,/ //iff fc~<S6-u<,,,r- J'w.-jr.A. J_ /tai* fi,Sivrfy-Jfivv;
 
 A 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
 OF SELECT 
 
 APHORISMS 
 
 AND 
 
 M A X I M S ; 
 
 WITH SEVERAL 
 
 HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS: 
 
 Extracted from the moft 
 
 EMINENT AUTHORS. 
 
 By CHARLES PALMER, 
 
 Deputy Serjeant of the HOUSE of COMMONS. 
 
 SPARS A Co EG i. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by E. CAVE, at ST JOHN'* GATE. 
 M,DCC,XLVIII.
 
 Stack 
 Annex 
 
 5 
 
 52. 
 TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS cm 
 
 PRINCE GEORGE. 
 
 May it pkafe YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 TO grant an early protection to MORALI- 
 TY and VIRTUE, by a favourable re- 
 ception of the following APHORISMS, collected 
 from the greateft PHILOSOPHERS, PRINCES 
 and HEROES of antient and modern ftory, 
 who, if living, would be glad to have their 
 fentiments confirm'd by Your future CHOICE, 
 and illuftrated by Your future EXAMPLE. 
 
 Your BIRTH, Sir, calls upon you to purfue 
 the fame courfe of JUSTICE, PIETY, and 
 TRUTH, which they purfued : The advan- 
 tage of an EDUCATION fuitable to that BIRTH, 
 under the immediate eye of your ROYAL PA- 
 
 RENTS,
 
 ii DEDICATION. 
 
 RENTS, will render the tafk eafy : The pre- 
 fent Age will exult in the Advances you 
 make : The fame Virtues, which conftitute 
 your own Glory and Happinefs, will prove 
 the Admiration of Pofterity : And, that, in the 
 Fulnefs of Time, YOURROYAL HIGHNESS may 
 be numbered among the greateft, wifeft and 
 moft honoured of our PRINCES, is the con- 
 ftant Prayer of 
 
 YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS'* 
 
 Moft Devoted^ and 
 
 Moft Obedient 
 
 Humble Servant y 
 
 Charles Palmer.
 
 THE 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 T Am far from pretending to vindicate this Mif- 
 cellany of APHORISMS from all objeSlion^ tho 
 moft of the Authors ', from whom they are taken^ 
 have already fecured to themfelves fuch a repu- 
 tation^ as time will rather improve^ than impair. 
 I expeEl to be charged with injuftice^ in not 
 affixing the author s name to each ^phorifm^ Sec. 
 *The reafon of this omijjion is, they were original- 
 ly collected for a private^ and not a public ufe \ 
 dejigning them for the perufal only of my own fa- 
 mily ', / was lefs felicitous about that exaStnefs^ 
 which would) without doubt , have procured them a 
 more favourable reception from my friends. Be- 
 fides ^ to many of thefe Maxims // would be diffi- 
 cult to ajfign any particular author ; for meet- 
 ing with the fame fenfe differently expreffed by
 
 72* PREFACE. 
 
 different writer s y I have often taken the liberty 
 to gather from each what I liked bejl^ and form 
 them into one. 
 
 TJjis Collection may be further objeSled to y as 
 confufed, not being regularly digefted under proper 
 heads. To remedy this inconvenience was, in every 
 attempt^ found impracticable; and if it be afault^ 
 it is certainly fuch a one as arifes not from any 
 negleEl of the compiler , but the nature of his 
 performance^ in which the diver fity offubje&s is al- 
 moft equal to the variety of dlphorifms. It is there- 
 fore fubmitted to the candor of the reader ', whe- 
 ther that which is thought afufficient reafonfor the 
 public appearance of this work, the ufe and appli- 
 cation of moral and prudential Maxims , may 
 not be allowed to compenfate for the want of order 
 and method. 
 
 A COL-
 
 COLLECTION 
 
 OF SELECT 
 
 PHORISMS 
 
 $\&r&<& AND -1/&&~ 
 
 MAXIMS, 
 
 I 
 
 i. + m ^HE firft ftep a man makes in the world 
 generally determines all the reft 3 and is 
 the foundation of his reputation, as well 
 as the beft prefage of his future fortune. 
 From the firft meafures he takes, men of 
 experience will tell you, whether he will fucceed or no j 
 it is therefore highly important to take this ftep with a great 
 deal of caution, and to iignalize his entry by fomething 
 glorious and great, 
 
 2. There are but two things that can reafonably deferve 
 the Care of a Wife man ; the firft is the Study of Virtue 
 which makes him honeft ; the fecond the ufe of Life, 
 which makes him content. 
 
 3. Every man has fomething good in his compofition, 
 which may be much improved by cultivation and dili- 
 gence j the generality of men force their genius, and lofe 
 the race by endeavouring to run beyond the poft. 
 
 4. A certain term is required to bring great defigns to ma- 
 
 B turity 5
 
 2 A COLLECTION of 
 
 turity ; thofe that can ftay fo long, are commonly paid 
 
 with intereft for their Patience. Precipitation often ruins 
 
 the beft laid defigns, whereas Patience ripens the mofl 
 
 difficult. 
 
 5. We want as much Moderation not to be corrupted 
 with our good fortune, as Patience not to be dejected with 
 our bad. 
 
 6. A wife Retreat is no lefs glorious than a courageous 
 Attack j and it is the character of a confummate merit to 
 be able to live in a retreat with honour, after one has 
 lived in publick with fplendor. 
 
 7. Rambling wits ought to be indulged, becaufe, by their 
 conjectures on all fubjects, they have in every age farther 
 enrich'd the world, than folider underftandings : Plurali- 
 ty of parts, without order, has a more ftrong operation, 
 becaufe it has a feeming infinity, and fo 'hinders com- 
 prehenfion. 
 
 8. The beft way for a man to prefervehis Reputation, 
 is flill to bring fomething new and furprifing upon the 
 flage, to provide frem matter for the general admiration. 
 A wife man mould not fuffer the depth of his capacity to 
 be founded, if he would always keep up his character ; 
 but mould behave himfelf fo, as never to difcover all he 
 knows, that no man may be able to affign limits to his 
 knowledge ; for let a man be ever fo learned, the idea we 
 have of him, when we know him but by halves, is much 
 greater than that we mall have of him, when we are tho- 
 roughly acquainted with him, 
 
 9. Clearnefs is the rule of fpeaking, as fincerity is the 
 
 rule
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 3 
 
 rule of thinking. Too bright Tallies of Wit, like flafhes 
 of lightning, rather dazzle than illuminate. 
 
 10. To a man of virtue and refolution all things are a-r 
 like 5 he values not the changes of fortune, any more 
 than he does the changes of the moon. 
 
 1 1 . Leffons and precepts ought to be gilt and fweetned, 
 as we do pills and potions, fo as to take off the difguft of 
 the remedy ; for it holds both in virtue and in health, that 
 we love to be inftructed, as well as phyiick'd with pleafure* 
 
 12. Nothing makes a deeper imprej/ion upon the minds 
 of children, or comes more lively to their underftanding, 
 than thofe inftructive notices, that are convey'd to them 
 by glances, infinuations and furprize, and under the co- 
 ver of fome allegory and riddle : Naked leflbns and pre- 
 cepts have nothing the force that images and parables have 
 upon our minds and affections. Betides, that the very ftu- 
 dy to unriddle a myftery, furnifhes the memory with more 
 tokens to remember it by. 
 
 13. Nature is fometimes fo perverfe, that all the gover- 
 nors in the univerfe (hall never make this youth a com- 
 pleat gentleman j others again are of fo ductile a difpofl- 
 tion, that they learn every perfection without a mafter ; 
 and thefe are without doubt the moft accomplim'd perfons. 
 
 14. The foundations of knowledge and virtue are laid in 
 our childhood, and without an early care and attention,, 
 we are as good as loft in our very cradles j for the princi- 
 ples that we imbibe in our youth, we carry commonly to 
 our graves, and it is the education that makes the man. 
 To fpeak all in a few words, children are but blank pa- 
 per, ready indifferently for any impreflion, good or bad, 
 
 B 2 (for
 
 4 A COLLECTION of 
 
 (for they take all upon credit) and it is much in the power 
 of the firft comer to write faint or devil upon it, which 
 of the two he pleafes j fo that one ftep out of the way 
 in the Inftitution, is enough to poifon the peace and the 
 reputation of a whole life. 
 
 15. Good Example is an unfpeakable benefit to man- 
 kind, and has a fecret power and influence upon thofe with 
 whom we converfe, to form them into the fame difpofi- 
 tion and manners ; it is a living rule, that teaches men 
 without trouble, and lets them fee their faults without o- 
 pen reproof and upbraiding. Befides, that it adds great 
 weight to a man's counfel, when we fee that he advifes 
 nothing but what he does, nor exacjs any thing from o- 
 thers, from which he himfelf defires to be excufed. As, 
 on the contrary, nothing is more cold and infignificant 
 from a bad man, one that does not obey his own pre- 
 cepts, nor follow the advice which he is fo forward to give 
 to others. 
 
 1 6. Nothing is of fo much moment to a Prince as Re- 
 putation, and none more than that of being a religious ob- 
 ferver of his word and promifej but efpecially of his 
 Oaths, without which he could never be trufted by his 
 Subjects or neighbours. 
 
 17. No condition of human life is ever perfectly fecure, 
 nor any force of greatnefs, or of prudence, beyond the 
 reach of envy, and the blows of fortune. Princes, as well 
 as private men, are often in moft danger, at thofe times, 
 and in thofe parts, they think themfelves fafeft ; as ftrong 
 towers are fometimes taken on thofe fides that are thought 
 impregnable, and fo left undefended, or little regarded. 
 
 1 8. A Prince
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 5 
 
 1 8. A Prince may be familiar with his Subjects, with- 
 out derogating from his majefty, but not fupercilious with- 
 out danger. 
 
 19, The infelicities of fome Princes may be occafioned 
 only by ill timing their counfels, when to attempt and 
 when to delift, in the jufteft endeavours j and the great - 
 nefs of others may be preferved by unforefeen accidents, 
 where the greateft reach of forefight and conduct might 
 have failed. 
 
 20. When a Prince fails in point of honour and com- 
 mon jujlice^ it is enough to ftagger his people in their faith 
 and allegiance. 
 
 2 1 . Example works a great deal more than Precept ; 
 for words without practice, are but counfels without effect. 
 When we do as we fay, 'tis a confirmation of the rule : 
 But when our lives and doctrines do not agree, it looks as 
 if the leflbn were either too hard for us, or the advice not 
 worth the while to follow. We mould fee to mend our 
 
 - own manners, before we meddle to reform our neigh- 
 bours 3 and not condemn others for what we do ourfelves. 
 
 22. The words and actions of our Superiors have the 
 authority and force of a Recommendation : So that it is 
 morally impoffible to have a fober people under a mad 
 government. For where lewdnefs is the way to prefer- 
 ment, men are wicked by interefl, as well as by inclination. 
 
 23. Nothing is of fo infectious and peftilent a nature 
 as example ; and no man does an exceeding good, or very 
 ill thing, but it produces others of the fame kind. We 
 imitate the good out of emulation, and the bad out of our 
 natural corruption and malignity j which being confin'd 
 
 and
 
 6 A COLLECTION of 
 
 i 
 
 and kept up c\Qkbyft>ame y is unlocked and let loofe by 
 
 example. 
 
 24. Conceitednefs and ignorance are a moft unhappy 
 compofition ; for none are fo invincible as the half-witted, 
 who know juft enough to excite their pride, but not fo 
 much as to cure their ignorance. 
 
 25. We fcarce find in any hiftory a Deferter of a truft or 
 party he once adher'd to, to be long profperous, or in any 
 eminent eftimation with thofe to whom he revolts, tho* 
 in the change there may appear evident arguments of rea- 
 fon and juftice ; neither has it been in the power or pre- 
 rogative of any human authority, to preferve fuch men 
 from ihe reproach, jealoufy and fcandal, that naturally 
 attend on any defection. 
 
 26. Let no price or promifes bribe thee to take part with 
 the enemies of thy Prince j whoever wins, thou art loft ^ 
 if thy prince profper, thou art proclaim'd a rebel, and 
 muft expect the confequence : If the enemy prevail, thou 
 art reckon'd but a meritorious traytor : though he may 
 like and love thy treafon, yet he will hate and defpife thee. 
 
 27. Demean thyfelf in the prefence of thy prince with 
 reverence and chearfulnefs : let thy wifdom gain his o- 
 pinion ; thy loyalty, his confidence ; be not falfe or un- 
 juft in thy words or actions j unreafonable or carelefs in 
 thy fuits or fervices j crofs not his paffion, queftion not his 
 pleafure, prefs not into his fecrets, neither pry into his 
 prerogative. 
 
 28. Upon the well being of the Prince depends the 
 fafety of the People. A gracious Prince is fure of being 
 the darling of his Subjects. 
 
 29. Where
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 7 
 
 29. Where punifhment is neceffary, let it be moderate.* 
 
 30. Cuftom is a great matter, either in good or ill. 
 
 3 1 . We mould check our paffions betimes^ as involuntary 
 motions are invincible. 
 
 32. We are divided in ourielves, and confound good 
 and evil. We are moved at the novelty of things, for 
 want of understanding the reafon of them. 
 
 3 3 . Every man is the artificer of his own fortune. 
 
 34. Flattery is dangerous, though in fome cafes a man 
 may be allowed to commend himfelf. 
 
 35. Hope and Fear are the bane of human life. 
 
 36. It is according to the true or falfe eilimate of things, 
 that we are happy or miferable, 
 
 37. Temperance and moderation are great bleffings. 
 
 3 8 . Conftancy of mind gives a man reputation, and makes 
 him happy in defpite of all misfortunes. 
 
 39. Our happinefs depends, in a great meafure, upon 
 the choice of our. company. 
 
 40. He that would be happy, muft take an account of 
 his time. 
 
 41. Happy is the man that may chufe his own bufinefs. 
 
 42. Anger is againft nature, and only to be found in men. 
 
 43. Anger is a Ihort madnefs, and a deformed vice, 
 2nd is neither warrantable nor ufeful. 
 
 44. Pardon all where there is either lign of repentance, 
 or hopes of amendment. 
 
 45. The fame conceit makes us merry in private, and 
 angry in publick. 
 
 46. Some jefts will never be forgiven. 
 
 47. Patience foftens wrath. 
 
 48. Thofe
 
 8 A COLLECTION of 
 
 48. Thofe injuries go neareft us, that we neither de- 
 ferved nor expelled. 
 
 49. Whoever does an injury is liable to fuller one. 
 
 50. Take nothing ill from another man, till you have 
 made it your own cafe. 
 
 51. Some things cannot hurt us, and others will not. 
 
 52. He that threatens all, fears all. 
 
 53. A tyrannical government is a perpetual ftate of war. 
 
 54. Clemency is profitable for all ; does well in private 
 perfons, but it is more beneficial in princes. 
 
 55. Mercy is the intereft both of prince and people, 
 and gives pleafing reflections to a merciful prince. 
 
 56. Mifchiefs contemn'd lofe their force As the wind 
 kindles a torch inftead of extinguishing it, fo falfe re- 
 ports redouble the luftre of virtue. 
 
 57. Good intentions will never juftify evil actions ; nor 
 will a good action ever juftify an ill intention j both muft 
 be good, or neither will be acceptable. 
 
 58. Never fufTer your courage to exert itfelfin fierce- 
 nefs, your refolution in obftinacy, your wifdom in cun- 
 ning, nor your patience in fullennefs and defpair. 
 
 59. If you refolve to pleafe, never fpeak to gratify any 
 particular vanity or paffion of your own, but always witn 
 a defign cither to divert or inform the company : a man 
 who only aims at one of thefe, is always eafy in his dif- 
 courfe ; he is never out of humour at being interrupted, 
 becaufe he confiders, that thofe who hear him, are the 
 beft judges, whether what he was faying, could either di- 
 vert or inform them. 
 
 60. It is an unpardonable incivility to interrupt a perfon 
 
 that
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 9 
 
 that tells a ftory j it is much better to let him fail in fome 
 circumftance of the hiftory, than to rectify him if he 
 afks not our advice, or to fignify we know long before 
 the news he would acquaint us with. To what purpofe 
 is it to refufe a man the pleafure of believing he inform- 
 ed us of fomething we were ignorant of before ? 
 
 61. Admiration is the moft pleafing paffion that can 
 rife in the mind of man. 
 
 62. We may judge of men by their converfation to- 
 wards God, but never by God's difpenfation towards them. 
 
 63. The law and gofpel, like bond and acquittance, 
 both mention the debt, but to different purpofes ; the one 
 to oblige payment, the other to free from it. 
 
 64. All that one can reafonably demand of fickle per- 
 Ibns, is ingenuouily to acknowledge their levity, and not 
 to add treachery to inconftancy. 
 
 65. Study is the moft folid nourilhment of the mind, 
 and the fource of its moft noble acquifitions. Study in- 
 creafes our natural talent, but it is converfation that fets 
 it on work, and refines it. 
 
 66. If men could but know the happinefs of adhering 
 to the true religion, the voluptuous might there feek and 
 find everlafting pleafures, the covetous man durable and 
 everlafting wealth, the ambitious man glory enough to 
 entertain his large and moft extended defires. 
 
 67. Cloath yourfelf below your eftate, that you may 
 thrive the better j your wife above it, that you may live 
 peaceably ; and your children equal with it, that you may 
 marry them the fooner. 
 
 C '68. To
 
 io A COLLECTION of 
 
 68. To mifcarry in great and glorious attempts, is no 
 reproach. 
 
 69. A noble Simplicity, when properly ufed, makes 
 more impreffion than tropes and figures: a fierce and 
 warlike eloquence fucceeds better with a violent and hafty 
 man, than an eloquence full of infinuation, and wholly 
 pathetick. 
 
 70. A man who always ads in the fe verity of wifdom y 
 or haughtinefs of quality, feems to move in a perfonated 
 part ; it looks too conftrained and theatrical, for a man 
 to be always in the character which diftinguimes him from 
 others : befides, the flacknefs and unbending the mind, on 
 fome occafions, makes it exert itfelf with greater alacrity, 
 when it returns to its proper and natural flate. 
 
 71. It is obferved, fometimes, that men upon the hour 
 of their departure fpeak and reafon above themfelves ; 
 for then the foul, beginning to be free from the ligaments 
 of the body, begins to reafon like herfelf, and to dif- 
 courfe in a ftrain above mortality j for fouls juft quitting 
 life, doubtlefs, have a glimpfe of eternity. 
 
 72. It is a fign of a fublime genius, not to be over 
 eager to difplay your wit, but to talk of trifles with mean 
 people, and fo to propoi tion yourfelf to the humours and 
 characters of thofe you converfe with, as to let them 
 think themfelves upon a level with you j nothing can be 
 more pleafing, they are charm'd with you, and them- 
 felves, when they fee this equality, which infinitely gra- 
 tifies their felf-love. It requires a great deal of fenfe to 
 be able to make thefe condefcending felf-denials, and a 
 
 ' vafl
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. n 
 
 vaft flock of modefty not to define to outfhine others 
 when we can, and make a fhow of our beft talents. 
 
 73. No vaflalage fo ignoble, no fervitude fo miferable, 
 as that of vice : mines and gallies, mills and dungeons, 
 are words of eafe to the fervice of fin ; therefore the 
 bringing finners to repentance, is fo noble, fo tempting 
 a defign, that it drew even God himfelf from heaven to 
 profecute it. 
 
 74. A comfortable old age is the reward of a well 
 fpent youth j therefore, inftead of its introducing difmal 
 and melancholy profpedts of decay, it mould give us 
 hopes of an eternal youth, in a better world ; but to think 
 of pleafing, when the feafon of agreeablenefs is pafl, is 
 want of difcretion ; merit of pleafing belongs only to 
 youth. Frequent difappointments of this kind mould direct 
 a difcreet perfon to retire in time from the gaieties of life, 
 it being as proper for fuch to do fo, as it is for the young, 
 the brifk, the gay, to produce themfelves in the world ; 
 men are to be pitied, who are fond of the world when 
 it is weary of them. 
 
 75. In court we fee good will is fpoken with great 
 warmth, ill will covered with great civility. Men are 
 long in civilities to thofe they hate, and fhort in expref- 
 fions of kindnefs to thofe they love. 
 
 76. Ignorance is the mother of error, and father of 
 impudence. 
 
 77. He that will not hear the admonition of a friend, 
 deferves to feel the correction of an enemy. 
 
 78. There is great difference betwixt a life of virtue, 
 and .a life of pkafure. 
 
 C 2 79. We
 
 12 A COLLECTION of 
 
 79. We abufe God's bleffings, and turn them into miff 
 chiefs. 
 
 80. Death is the fame thing, which way foever it comes, 
 only we are more moved by accidents that we are not 
 ufed to. 
 
 8 1 . A wife and good man is proof againft all accidents 
 of fate. 
 
 82. A wife man {lands firm in all extremities, and bears 
 the lot of his humanity with a divine temper. 
 
 83. He that pafles a fentence haftily, looks as if he did 
 it willingly ; and then there is an injuftice in the excefs. 
 
 84. There can be no peace in human lire, without the 
 contempt of all events. 
 
 85. A warm heart requires a cool head. Courage with- 
 out conduct, is like fancy without judgment, all fail,, 
 and no ballad. 
 
 86. A man of virtue is an honour to his country, a 
 glory to humanity, a fatisfaction to himfelf, and a bene- 
 fadtor to the whole world : he is rich without oppreffion 
 or difhonefty, charitable without oftentation, courteous 
 without deceit, and brave without vice. 
 
 87.. What madnefs is it for a man to ftarve himfelf to 
 enrich his heir, and fo turn a friend into an enemy! for 
 his joy at your death will be proportioned to what you 
 leave him. 
 
 88. The contempt of death makes all the miferies of 
 life eafy to us. 
 
 89. Poverty to a wife man is rather a bleffing than a 
 misfortune. 
 
 90. It is St Augujlinfs obfervation of Seneca, that this 
 
 illuf-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 13 
 
 illuftrious fenator worshipped what he reproved, acted what 
 he difliked, and adored what he condemned. 
 
 91. Human happinefs is founded upon wifdom and 
 virtue. 
 
 92. There can be no happinefs without virtue. 
 
 93. Philofophy is the guide of life. 
 
 94. No felicity like peace of confcience. 
 
 95. A good man can never be miferable, nor a wicked 
 man happy. 
 
 96. The due contemplation of divine providence is the 
 certain cure of all misfortunes. 
 
 97. He that fets up his reft upon contingencies, mall 
 never be at quiet. 
 
 98. A fenfual life is a miserable life. 
 
 99. Avarice and ambition are infatiable and reftlefs. 
 
 100. The original of all men is the fame ; and virtue 
 is the only nobility.. 
 
 10 1. The two bleffings of life are, a found body, and 
 a quiet mind. 
 
 1 02. Man is compounded of foul &K& body, and has na- 
 turally a civil war within himfelf. 
 
 103. As the vexations which men receive from their 
 children haften the approach of age, and double the force 
 of years j fo the comforts which they reap from them, 
 are balm to all other ibrrows, and difappomt the injuries 
 of time. Parents repeat their lives in their offspring, and 
 their concern for them is fo near, that they feel all fuf- 
 ferings, and tafte all enjoyments, as much as if they re- 
 garded their own proper perfons. 
 
 104. Moil men are ambitious to ape, if not exceed, 
 
 their
 
 14 A COLLECTION of 
 
 their fuperiors in wealth and vanity -, they can give them 
 contentedly the preference in virtue, and let them prac- 
 tife it without emulation. 
 
 105. Lord Chief Juftice Hale obferved that, according 
 to his care in obferving the Lord's day, he commonly 
 profpered in his undertakings the Week following. 
 
 1 06. There is no virtue, the honour whereof gets a man 
 more envy, than that of juftice, becaufe it procures great 
 authority among the common people ; they only revere 
 the valiant, and admire the wife, while they truly love 
 juft men 5 for in thefe have they intire truft and confi- 
 dence, but of the former, they always fear one, and 
 miftruft the other. They look on valour, as a certain na- 
 tural ferment of the mind, and wifdom as the efFecl: of a 
 fine conftitution ; but a man has it in his power to be juft, 
 and that is the reafon it is fo difhonourable to be otherwife, 
 as Waller handfomely exprefTes it thus : 
 
 Of all the virtues Juftice is the beft, 
 Valour without it is a common peft ; 
 Pirates and thieves, too oft with courage graced, 
 Shew us how ill that virtue may be placed -, 
 'Tis our complexion makes us chajle and brave y 
 Juftice from reafon and from heav'n we have ; 
 All other virtues dwell but in the blood, 
 'That in the foul, and gives the name of good. 
 
 107. It is not lefs cowardly to fpeak ill of the dead, than 
 it would be to. kill an enemy incapable of making his own 
 defence. 
 
 j 08. Pro-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 15 
 
 1 08. Pronunciation is the life and foul of eloquence j 
 and it is of fuch peculiar importance, that none can neg- 
 led: it without abandoning its greateft ftrength and beauty, 
 and that which contributes fo largely to its force, and 
 compofes mod of the graces that belong to it. The art 
 of Oratory is never fo great and potent by the things that 
 are faid, as by the manner of faying of them ; its leading 
 excellence coniifls in the delivery, and by this it maintains 
 its empire over the hearts of men. 
 
 109. Nobility of foul, and greatnefs of under/landing, 
 are not confin'd to any rank or quality. 
 
 no. It is a kind of cowardice not to defend an opinion 
 when we think it juft, but we mould modeftly propofe 
 our reafons, that they who yield to us may do it undif- 
 turbed. 
 
 in. If you would be free from fin, fly temptation j he that 
 does not endeavour to avoid the one, cannot expect pro- 
 vidence to defend him from the other. If the firfl fparks 
 of ill were quenched, there would be no flame 5 for how 
 can he kill, who dares not be angry j or be an adulterer 
 in act, that does not tranfgrefs in delire ? How can he be 
 perjured, that fears an oath ; or he defraud, that does not 
 allow himfelf to covet ? 
 
 112. True wit confifts in retrenching all ufelefs dif- 
 courfe, and in faying a great deal in a few words. 
 
 113. Love labour 5 if you do not want it for food, you 
 may for phyfick. 
 
 114. Inordinate love is the forerunner of exceffive 
 forrow. 
 
 115. He who fpends moft of his time in vain fportn 
 
 and
 
 16 A COLLECTION of 
 
 and recreations, is like him whofe garments are all made 
 
 of fringes, and his diet nothing but fauce. 
 
 1 1 6. Vain wifhes ferve only to punim us by the in- 
 quietudes they caufe in us ; it is actually to lead an un- 
 quiet life, to be happy only in hopes. 
 
 117. The coming in of people fucceffi vely after divine 
 fervice has begun, diftracts the minds both of the minifter 
 and his audience ; it (hews negligence in thofe that do it, 
 and gives offence to them that fee it. 
 
 1 1 8. A man cannot be agreeable, and good company, 
 unlefs he be able to think nicely, and readily lay up all 
 that is faid in converfation, which he can never do, un- 
 lefs he has a good fund of wit, a faithful memory, and 
 an imagination fuitable. It is requifite likewife to be a 
 matter of one's own mother tongue, and know all the 
 niceties, beauties, and delicacies of it ; without this, 
 though our thoughts were the beft in the world, we can- 
 not expect they fliould pleafe. 
 
 119. It is obfervable that daring and undertaking fel- 
 lows have ever been the darlings of the populace, who are 
 fo credulous as to take men's characters even from them- 
 felves, and believe pretenders in every art to be really what 
 they profefs : Bold ignorance pafTes upon the multitude for 
 fenfe ; confident knaves live upon credulous fools. 
 
 1 20. Unlawful love being an unmannerly gueft, we 
 (hould guard againft it, becaufe we know not how late in 
 the evening of life it may intrude for lodging. 
 
 121. Tranquillity, unlefs we look for it in God, is not 
 to be had ; it is he alone that can give it us ; as foon as 
 you fix your eyes upon him, you will defpife every thing 
 
 you
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 17 
 
 you have feen before ; from that very moment you begin 
 to love him, you will forget everything you loved before; 
 and at the fame time your defires are directed towards 
 him, you will renounce all the pretenfions you ever had 
 to any thing in this world. 
 
 122. Health more to be defired than life is a truth not 
 contradicted by that maxim, 'The end is better than the 
 means ; for I hold not health to be fubordinate to life, 
 but life to health 5 being is the means, and well-being 
 is the end. 
 
 123. Were men as jealous of God's honour, as they pre- 
 tend to be of their own, they would foon fee the folly 
 and madnefs of their wild perfuits of revenge, and learn 
 to forgive as they expect to be forgiven. 
 
 1 24. He who has lived one day has lived a thoufand ; 
 {till the fame fun, the fame earth, the fame world, the 
 fame enjoyments ; nothing more like this day than to- 
 morrow : death only would be new to us, which is but 
 the exchange of this bodily ftate for one that is all fpiritual. 
 But man, tho' fo greedy of novelties, has no curiofity for 
 this ; tho' unfettled in his mind, and ftill growing weary 
 of whatever he enjoys, yet never thinks his life too long, 
 and would perhaps confent to live for ever : what he fees 
 of death makes a deeper impreffion on his mind, than 
 what he knows of it ; the fear of pain and iicknefs, the 
 horror of the grave, makes him lofe the defire of know- 
 ing another world; and the ftrongeft motives of religion 
 can but jull bring him to receive his doom with fub- 
 miffion. 
 
 $25. Could men but make due reflections, that as their 
 D wealth
 
 i8 A COLLECTION of 
 
 wealth and riches may increafe every day, fo their fenfe* 
 which enjoy them decreafe continually, the confideration 
 would make them lefs covetous, and lefs ambitious. 
 
 126. Nothing is fo apt to harden people in their dif- 
 orderly courfes, as to fee the fame praftifed in others j cer- 
 tain actions, which appear abominable to us in our foli- 
 tude, look with a quite different face when we fee them 
 commonly done. 
 
 127. The knowledge of our being we have by intuition, 
 the exiftence of a God, reafon clearly makes known to 
 us. No exiftence of any thing, only of God, can cer- 
 tainly be known, further than our fenfe informs us. 
 
 128. Liberty unfeafonably obtained is commonly intem- 
 perately ufed 
 
 129. Induftrious wifdom often prevents what lazy folly 
 thinks inevitable. Induftry argues an ingenuous, great y 
 and generous difpofition of foul, by unweariedly perfuing 
 things in the faireft light, and difdaining to enjoy the fruit 
 of other men's labours wiahout deferving it. 
 
 130* Knowledge foftened with complacency, and a 
 yielding fweetnefs of temper, make a man equally beloved 
 and admired by all the world that knows him - y but join'd 
 with a fevere, morofe, and affuming behaviour, make^ 
 him not only fhunned, and feared, but mortally hated by 
 every creature. 
 
 131. Emulation is a noble paffion - r it is cnterprizing, 
 but yet juft > for it keeps a man within the terms of ho- 
 nour, and makes his conquefts for glory both fair and ge- 
 nerous i becaufe it ftrives to excel, only by raifmg itfelf, 
 and not by deprefling another. 
 
 132. The
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 19 
 
 132. The refemblance of truth is the utmoft limit of 
 poetick licence. Beyond the actual works of nature a 
 poet may go, but not beyond the conceived poflibility 
 of it. 
 
 133. There is not any benefit ever fo great or glo- 
 rious in itfelf, but it may be exceedingly fweetned and 
 improved by the manner of conferring it. 
 
 134. It is faid that when Ariftotle faw the books of 
 Mofes, he commended them for fuch a majeftick ftile .as 
 might well become a God ; but withal faid, that way of 
 writing was not fit for a philofopher, becaufe there was 
 nothing proved, but matters were delivered as if they 
 would rather command than perfuade belief. 
 
 135. To pretend to have the world in contempt when 
 we have none of it in pofleffion, and to talk fcornfully of 
 it before we know what it is, proceeds rather from little 
 breeding, and kfs manners, than true magnanimity and 
 greatnefs of foul. 
 
 136. The precepts and admonitions of a very good man 
 have in them a great power of perfuafion, and are apt to 
 move ftrongly, and to inflame others to go and do 1 ike- 
 wife : but the good inftrudions of a bad man are lan- 
 guid and faint, and of very little force, becaufe they give 
 no heart or encouragement to follow that counfel which 
 they fee he that gives it, does not think fit to take himfelf. 
 
 137. Thofe women who, by reafon and virtue, have 
 acquired a finnnefs and folidity of foul, are as fure re- 
 pofitories of a fecret as the moft mafculine confident; 
 fuch therefore fhould be cleared of the general accufa- 
 tion, their example mews the reft that nature has put 
 
 D 2 them
 
 20 A COLLECTION of 
 
 them under no fatal neceffity of being thus impotent.- A 
 fecret is no fuch unruly thing, but it may be kept in 9 
 they may take the wife man's word for it : If thou haft 
 heard a word let it die with thee, and be bold it will not 
 burft thee. 
 
 138. I know no duty in religion more generally agreed 
 on, nor more juftly required by God, than a perfect fub- 
 miffion to his will in all things ; nor do I think any difpo- 
 fition of mind can either pleafe him more, or become us 
 better, than that of being fatisfied with all he gives, and 
 content with all he takes away. None, I am fure, can 
 be of more honour to God, nor of more eafe to our- 
 felves ', for if we confider him as our maker, we dare not 
 contend with him; if as our father, we ought not to mif- 
 truft him j fo that we may be confident that whatever he 
 does, is intended for our good, and whatever happens 
 that we interpret otherwife, yet we can get nothing by 
 repining, nor fave any thing by rciifting. 
 
 139. He who lies under the dominion of any one vice, 
 muft expect the common effects of it. If lazy, to be 
 poor j if intemperate, to be difeafed -, if luxurious, to die 
 betimes. 
 
 140. If actions derive their guilt or piety from our in- 
 tentions, then the meaneft foul may be a hero in religion : 
 there can be no bounds fet to holy meanings ; my actions 
 may be confined and fettered by impoflibilities, but my 
 intentions are free as angels. After the refurrection, to all 
 eternity, is time enough to reward pious actions j but 
 therefore that, between death and judgment, the holy foul 
 fliall be fully rewarded for all good intentions : as it did 
 
 often
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 21 
 
 often do its part in piety without the body, fo it (hall re- 
 ceive the glorious crown of righteoufnefs before it. 
 
 141. A Ikilful aftrologer, a flranger to Socrates, upon 
 calculating his nativity, delineated him an ill-temper'd 
 man, for which his ability was fufficiently queftioned -, 
 but the good philofopher juftify'd the artift, faying * fuch 
 ' as he defcribes me to be, I was born j but fince that time 
 ' I have been born again, and my fecond nativity has 
 c crofled my firft.' So Stilpo, a philofopher of Me gar a^ 
 naturally given to wine and women, yet was never 
 known debauched by either. 
 
 142. He that is in fuch a condition as places him above 
 contempt, and below envy, cannot, by an enlargement of 
 his fortune, be made really more rich, or more happy 
 than he is. 
 
 143. I think it may not appear heterodox to fay, that 
 as all men finned in Adam without their perfonal know- 
 ledge or confent j fo fome may be faved in Chrift, with- 
 out a particular or perfonal belief in him, of whom per- 
 haps they never fo much as^ heard. 
 
 144. Pluralities and non-refidents were never heard of 
 in the primitive ages, and it is a fhame there mould be fo 
 many fat parfonages, and yet fo many lean parfons. It is 
 the devil's market where church livings are bought 
 and fold, and fuch fpiritual huckfters deferve to be whipt 
 out of the temple. 
 
 145. Death never happens but once, yet we feel it e- 
 very moment of our lives ; it is worfe to apprehend 
 than to fuffer. Men mould confider, fince the end of 
 life is inevitable, that all regrets for the lofs of it are in- 
 
 figni-
 
 22 A COLLECTION of 
 
 lignifkant, and that the death which prevents dotage, 
 comes more feafonably than that which ends it. 
 
 146. It is impofllble without being matter of a good 
 addrefs to gain the publick efteem, and to make our ta- 
 lents appear fo to advantage, that the world may never be 
 difgufted or glutted with them. 
 
 147. The defire of glory the philofophers themfelves 
 acknowledge to be the laft thing a wife man puts off; and 
 if it is a bait which angels fwallowed, how hard muft it 
 needs be for fouls ally'd to fenfe to refifl it ! 
 
 148. When people are injur'd, and know themfelves in- 
 nocent, they are commonly negligent, believing that truth 
 will bear out itfelf. 
 
 149. The true eftimation of living is not to be taken 
 from age, but action ; a man may die old at forty, and 
 a child at fourfcore. 
 
 150. A wife man will defire no more than what he 
 may get juftly, ufe foberly, diftribute chearfully, and 
 leave contentedly. 
 
 151. A wife man is provided for occurrences of any 
 kind j the good he manages, the bad he vanquishes : in 
 profperity be betrays no prefumption, in adveriity he feels 
 no defpondency. 
 
 152. Critics are ufeful, that is moft certain, fo are ex- 
 ecutioners and informers : but what man did ever envy 
 the condition of Jack Ketch, or Jack P r. 
 
 ' 1 SZ* Wits are generally the moft dangerous company 
 a woman can keep, for their vanity makes them brag of 
 more favours than they obtain. 
 
 154. A
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 23 
 
 A witty man is a good companion, but an ill con- 
 fident. 
 
 155. It is prepofterous to pretend to reform the ftage 
 before the nation, and particularly the town. The bufi- 
 nefs of a dramatic poet is to copy nature, and reprefent 
 things as they are. Let our peers give over whoring and 
 drinking j the citizens cheating the clergy, their quarrels,, 
 covetoufnefs and ambition ; the lawyers, their ambi-dex- 
 trous dealings > and the women intriguing, and the ftage 
 will reform of courfe. 
 
 156. The great pleafure fome people take in criticifing 
 upon the frnall faults of a book, fo vitiates their tafte, 
 that it renders them unfit to be affected with its beauties, 
 
 1 57. Nothing furprizes me more, than to fee men laugh 
 fo freely at a comedy, and yet account it a filly weaknefs 
 to weep at a tragedy. For is it lefs natural for a man's 
 heart to relent upon a fcene of pity, than to be tranfport- 
 ed with joy upon one of mirth and humour ? Or is it 
 only the alteration of the features of our faces, that makes 
 us forbear crying ? But this alteration is undoubtedly as 
 great in an immoderate laughter, as in a moft defperate 
 grief j and good breeding teaches us to avoid the one as 
 well as the other, before thofe for whom we have a re- 
 fpect. Or is it painful to us to appear tender-hearted, and 
 exprefs grief upon a fiction ? But, without quoting great 
 wits, who account it an equal weaknefs, either to weep 
 or laugh out of meafure, can we expect to be tickled by 
 a tragical adventure ? And befides, is not truth as natu- 
 rally reprefented in that, as in a comical one ? Therefore, 
 as we do not think it ridiculous to fee a whole audience 
 
 laugh
 
 24 A COLLECTION of 
 
 laugh at a merry jeft or humour a&ed to the life, but, on 
 the contrary, we commend the {kill both of the poet and 
 the ador ; fo the great violence we ufe upon ourfelves, 
 to contain our tears, together with the forced fmiles, with 
 which we ftrive to conceal our concern, do forcibly evince, 
 that the natural effect of a good tragedy, is to make us 
 all weep by confent, without any more ado than to pull 
 out our handkerchiefs to wipe off our tears. And if it 
 were once agreed amongft us, not to refill thofe tender 
 impreflions of pity, I dare engage that we fhould foon 
 be convinced, that by frequenting the playhoufe we run 
 lefs danger of being put to the expence of tears, than of 
 being almoft frozen to death by many a cold, dull, in- 
 fipid jeft. 
 
 158. Prudence and experience are the gifts of age; it 
 is no difhonour to youth to be without that which age a- 
 lone can give. 
 
 1 59. That which is fplendor, fumptuoufnefs, and mag- 
 nificence in people of quality, is in private men extrava- 
 gance, folly and impertinence. 
 
 1 60. Had Sampfon's head contained the tythe of that 
 ftrength, faid to have refided in his heajt, a miflrefs had 
 never underftood where it lay. 
 
 161. The contentednefs which fome pretend to, if well 
 examined, means fomething of (loth, as well as moderation. 
 
 162. No trees bear fruit in autumn, unlefs they blof- 
 fom in the fpring. To the end that my age may be pro- 
 fitable and laden with ripe fruit, I will endeavour that my 
 youth may be fhidious, and flowered with the bloffoms 
 of learning and obfervation. 
 
 163. Love
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 25 
 
 163. Love refines a man's behaviour, but makes a wo- 
 man's ridiculous. 
 
 164. To bear with the imperfections of our neighbour, 
 is one of the chief points of love we owe him. 
 
 165. Grief, like fire, the more it is covered, the more 
 it rages. 
 
 1 66. A continual and moderate fobriety is much better 
 than violent abstinences, made by fits, and mingled with 
 many intermiffions. 
 
 167. A gr.eat enhancement of pleafure arifes from its 
 being unexpected, and pain is doubled by being forefeen. 
 . 1 68. He who has learning, and not difcretion to ufe 
 it, has only the advantage of having more ways to expofe 
 himfelf. 
 
 169. He that hazards his life upon an honourable fcore, 
 deferves the fame reward as if he had loft it. 
 
 170. Happy is the man who can be acquitted by him- 
 felf in private, by others in publick, and by God in bo.th. 
 
 171. The indifcretion of talking too freely of one an- 
 other, is the fource of thofe fo many differences which 
 embroil mankind. Such as, having heard difobliging dif- 
 courfes, repeat them again to the perfon concerned, are 
 much mifiaken if they think to oblige him by thofe in- 
 difcreet confidences ; it grates us to the heart, to hear a 
 man who is fo imprudent to tell us to our faces vexatious 
 things, tho' he only repeat what others have faid of us. 
 
 172. Juftice is the virtue with which the vulgar are moft 
 affected, becaufe of its continual and common ufe. The 
 Grecians efteemed Juftice above any other virtue, there- 
 fore the vulgar for thefe three reafons ftand affected to- 
 
 E wards
 
 26 A COLLECTION of 
 
 wards the Deity ; they think him bleft and happy for his 
 want of death and corruption, they fear and reverence him 
 for his power and dominion, but above all they love and a- 
 dore him for his Juftice. 
 
 173. Inference is looked on as the great acl: of the ra- 
 tional faculty, and fo it is when rightly made ; but the 
 mind, either defirous to enlarge its knowledge, or very apt 
 to favour the fentiments it has once imbibed, is forward to 
 draw Inference, and therefore often makes too much hafte, 
 before it perceives the connection of the ideas that muft 
 hold the extremes together. 
 
 174. Charity will prompt me to prefer a greater con- 
 cern of my neighbour's before a flight one of my own, but 
 in equal circumftances I am at liberty to be firft kind to 
 myfelf; but if I will recede even from that, I may; it 
 is then to be accounted among the heroick flights of cha- 
 rity, not her binding and indifpenfabk laws. 
 
 175. True religion, in general, is the obligation of rea- 
 fonable creatures to render fuch ads of worfhip to God, 
 as are fuitable to the excellency of his nature, and. their 
 dependence upon him. 
 
 176. No man has reafon to think himfelf rejected of 
 God, either from eternity, or in time, that does not find the 
 prefent marks of reprobation in his ill intentions and 
 actions. 
 
 177. Love is the epitome of our whole duty; and all 
 the fweetnefles and endearments of fociety that can be, fo 
 long as they are lawful and honeft, are not only confiflent 
 with it, but parts and expreffions of it. 
 
 178. There is a happy contagion in goodnefs; we may 
 
 per-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 2 y 
 
 perhaps be kindled like green wood by the neighbouring 
 flame. The example of another's zeal may awaken mine ; 
 thofe {howers of benediction which the prayers of good 
 people bring down are fo plentiful, that fome drops at leaft 
 may fcatter upon thofe about them. 
 
 179. Wifdom, valour, juftice, and learning, cannot 
 keep a man in countenance, that is- pofferTed with thofe ex- 
 cellences, if he wants that lefs art of life and behaviour 
 called good breeding. A man endowed with great perfec- 
 tions without this, is like one who has his pockets full of 
 gold, but always wants change for ordinary occafions. 
 
 1 80. Thofe who perpetually praife themfelves, and 
 blame others, look as if they meant to make their own 
 figures appear brighter by thefe fhades, and to recom- 
 mend their own conduct by cenfuring that of their neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 j 8 1 . We ought always to make choice of perfons of 
 fuch worth and honour for our friends, that if they fhould 
 ever ceafe to be fo, will not abufe our confidence, nor give 
 us caufe to fear them if enemies. 
 
 182. However partial hiftory is in mentioning the ac- 
 tions of great men, which will not allow them to parti- 
 cipate with the vulgar in the weaknefles incident to human 
 nature, yet every the greateft fpirit has its allay of imbe- 
 cillity. The moft knowing fcholar has found a period 
 beyond which his curious fearch could not move-; the wi- 
 fe ft politician has difcerned when he erred, and blumed at 
 the miftake j and the boldeft foldier, at fome time or o- 
 ther, has found the coward trembling in him. We may 
 2 by
 
 28 ^COLLECTION of 
 
 by our endeavours raife nature above her frailty, but never 
 
 triumph over her till death. 
 
 183. It is a remark of Antljlhenes y that if a man would 
 lead a fecure and unblameable life, he fhould either have 
 ingenuous and honeft friends, or very fharp and bitter ene- 
 mies ; becaufe the firft, by their kind admonitions, would 
 keep him from finning ; the latter, by evil words, and 
 vehement invectives. An enemy fees and underflands 
 more in matters relating to us than our friends do, becaufe 
 in P/afo's opinion love is blind, efpecially in difcerning 
 the thing beloved -, but fpite, malice, ill-will, wrath and 
 contempt, are very inquifitive and quickfighted : friend- 
 ihip is grown fpeechlefs, and has left off that freedom it 
 did once ufe; therefore we mufl expect to hear truth 
 only from the mouths of our enemies. 
 
 184. Forgiving enemies is only a private virtue, not 
 the rule of publick government. 
 
 185. A vow is a kind of prifon, which reftrained na- 
 ture has a mind to break, 
 
 1 86. There is no greater enemy to mankind than folly > 
 that poor, bafe, low, fordid, flavifh condition, which ren- 
 ders a man wearifome to himfelf, and contemptible to o~ 
 thers, expofed to every one's deceit and craft, a flave to. 
 his own paffions, and others flattery, a flock whereon to 
 graft any vice, fhame, or mifery. 
 
 187. As thofe bodies are commonly themofl healthful 
 that break out in their youth, fo many times the fouls of 
 men prove the founder for having vented themfelves in 
 their younger days : none are obferved to become greatey 
 enemies of vice, than thofe that have been the flaves of
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 29 
 
 it, and are fo bleffed and happy as to have broke their 
 chain. 
 
 1 88. Since human nature is moft delighted with thofe 
 actions to which it is moft accuftomed, then how abfo- 
 lutely neceflary is it for us to gain habits of virtue in this 
 life, if we would enjoy the eternal pleafures of the next ! 
 Heaven will not be capable of affecting thofe minds which 
 are not qualified for it ; we muft in this world gain a re- 
 lifh of truth and virtue, if we would be able to tafte that 
 knowledge and perfection which are to make us happy in 
 the next. The feeds of thofe fpiritual joys and raptures, 
 which are to rife up and flourifli in the foul to all eter- 
 nity, muft be planted in her during this her prefent ftate 
 of probation : in fhort, heaven is not to be looked upon 
 only as the reward, but as the natural effect of a religious 
 life. On the other hand, thofe evil fpirits who by long 
 cuftom have contracted in the body habits of fenfuality, 
 malice, and revenge, and an averfion to every thing that 
 is good, juft, and laudable, are naturally feafoned and 
 prepared for pain and mifery > their torments have already 
 taken root in them ; they cannot be happy when diveft- 
 ed of the body, unlefs we may fuppofe that providence- 
 will in a manner create them a- new, and work a miracle 
 in the rectification of their faculties. They may indeed 
 tafte a kind of malignant pleafure in thofe actions to which, 
 they are accuftomed whilft in this life, but when they 
 are removed from all thofe objects which are here apt to 
 gratify them, they will naturally become their own tor- 
 menters, and cherim in themfelves thofe painful habits: 
 of mind, which are called, in fcripture phrafe, the worm 
 
 which
 
 go A COLLECTION of 
 
 which never dies. This notion of heaven and hell is fo 
 very conformable to the light of nature, that it was dif- 
 covered by feveral of the moft excellent heathens ; it has 
 been finely improved by many eminent divines of the laft 
 age, particularly "Tillotfon and Sherlock j but there is 
 none who has raifed fuch noble fpeculations on it, as 
 .Scoff, in his firft book of the Chriftian life, which is one 
 of the fineft and moft rational fchemes of divinity that is 
 written in our tongue, or any other. That excellent au- 
 thor has mewn how every particular cuftom and habit of 
 virtue will, in its own nature, produce the heaven, or a 
 flate of happinefs in him who mall hereafter praclife it : 
 as, on the contrary, how every cuftom and habit of vice 
 will be the natural hell of him in whom it fublifts. 
 
 189. The foundation of a vigorous old age is a good 
 conftitution of the body, and to keep good order and go- 
 vern ourfelves by the rules of temperance in youth, the 
 effects whereof are the beft provilion we can lay in for 
 age ; for intemperance not only brings gray hairs, but 
 green years, with forrow, to the grave. 
 
 190. An uncultivated mind, like unmanured ground, 
 will foon be over-run with weeds. 
 
 191. All cannot be happy at once, becaufe the glory 
 of one eftate depends upon the ruin of the other, where 
 arriving at their meridian, they decline in obfcurity, and 
 fail under the horizon again. 
 
 192. Self-denial is not only the greater foundation of 
 all civil virtues, but our Saviour alfo made it his firft law 
 and condition to all his difciples ; and there is none above 
 
 the
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 31 
 
 the neceffities of life, but has frequent opportunities of 
 exercifing this noble quality. 
 
 193. Poverty is then only matter of difgrace and re- 
 proach, when it is attendant on iloth and idknefs, or 
 wantonnefs and prodigality. 
 
 1 94. From knowing much proceeds the admirable va- 
 riety and novelty of metaphors, fimilitudes, &c. which 
 are not to be met with in the compafs of a narrow know- 
 ledge. 
 
 195. Nopaffionfo ftrong in men, and fo univerfal in all 
 ages and nations, as that of acquiring glory by publick 
 fervices. Not only ftatues and triumphs, but even crowns 
 of leaves, beftowed as a national acknowledgment of dif- 
 tinguiming merit, have always been perfued with as much 
 eagernefs and danger, as ever the reward of riches pof- 
 fibly can. 
 
 196. The dotage afcribed to old age is, in fbme, not 
 fo much the effect of time, or a returning to, as a con- 
 tinued flay with childhood ; for they that want the curi- 
 ofity of furniming their memories with the rarities of na- 
 ture in their youth, and pafs their time only in making provi- 
 fion for eafe, and fenfual delight, are children ftill at what 
 years foever. Wifdom and virtue are the only preferva- 
 tives. 
 
 ,197. The flothful perfon, like an arrow from a feeble 
 bow, falls fhort of what he aims at; therefore let fome 
 good act or another, be flill as an anchor to the floating- 
 mind. 
 
 198. Fortune may begin a man's greatnefs, but it is 
 virtue that muft continue it* 
 
 199- ^
 
 32 A COLLECTION of 
 
 199. O temperance ! thou virtue without pride, and 
 fortune without envy, that giveft indolence of body, and 
 tranquillity of mind, the beft guardian of youth, and fup- 
 port of old age, the precept of reafon as well as religion, 
 and phyfician of the foul as well as of the body, the tu- 
 telar goddefs of health, and univerfal medicine of life ! 
 
 200. It is not Cuftom (as Plutarch obferves) which 
 makes even the beft life pleafant to thofe who choofe it, 
 but it muft be Prudence in conjunction with it, which not 
 only makes it the beft for its kind, but fweeteft for its 
 enjoyment. 
 
 201. The lives of heroes have enriched hiftory, and 
 hiftory in requital has embellimed and heightened the lives 
 of heroes ; fo that it is no eafy matter to determine which 
 of the two is more beholden to the other : either hifto- 
 rians, to thofe who have furnifhed them with fo great and 
 noble a matter to work upon j or thofe great men, to 
 thofe writers that have convey'd their names and atchieve- 
 ments down to the admiration of after- ages. 
 
 202. The name of the author ought to be the laft thing 
 we enquire into, when we judge of the merit of an inge- 
 nious competition ; but, contrary to this maxim, we ge~ 
 nerally judge of the book by the author, inflead of judg-* 
 ing of the author by the book. 
 
 203. If every one who hears or reads a good fentence 
 or maxim, would immediately confider how it does any 
 way touch his own private concern, he would foon find 
 that it was not fo much a good faying, as a fevere lafli 
 to the ordinary beftiality of his judgment ; but men re- 
 ceive the precepts and admonitions of truth as generally 
 
 direct-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 33 
 
 directed to the common fort, and never particularly to 
 themfelves, and inftead of applying them to their own 
 manners, do only very ignorantly and unprofitably commit 
 them to memory, without fuffering themfelves to be at all 
 intruded or converted by them. 
 
 204. There goes as much wifdom and ability in the im- 
 proving of a friend's advice, as in the adviling and conduct- 
 ing ourfelves. 
 
 205. Infult not mifery, neither deride infirmity, nor 
 ridicule deformity; the firft mews inhumanity, the fecond 
 folly, and the third pride. He that made him miferable, 
 made thee happy to lament him : he that made him weak, 
 made thee ftrong to fupport him : he that made him de- 
 formed, if he has made thee otherwife, mew not thy in- 
 gratitude to thy great creator, by defpifing any of his 
 creatures. 
 
 206. The commonalty, by their quiet and profit, moft 
 commonly meafure the virtue and piety of their princes. 
 
 207. Our buildings, like our children, are obnoxious to 
 death, and time fcorns their folly, who place a perpetuity 
 in either. 
 
 208. Nature inftru&s us to a fubordination $ and as in" 
 our own, fo in a politick body, 'tis monftrous either to 
 have no head, or to have more than one. 
 
 209. Diforder is a great enemy to mankind, and has 
 defrayed more than age, the fword, or peftilence - y order 
 is the true parent of profperous fuccefs. 
 
 210. It is dangerous to flep ailde out of the path of 
 innocence and virtue, upon any prefumption to be able 
 to get into it again. 
 
 F 211. Virtue
 
 34 ^ COLLECTION of 
 
 211. Virtue is an act of loving that which is moft love- 
 ly, and that act is Prudence, from whence not to be mov- 
 ed by conftraint, is Fortitude, not to be allured by en- 
 ticements, is Temperance, nor diverted by pride is Juftice : 
 the declining this act is Vice. 
 
 212. Be not punctual in taking place of any man. If 
 he be thy fuperior, it is his due ; if thine inferior, it is 
 his dimonour ; it is thou muft honour thy place, not thjr 
 place thee. 
 
 213. Perception is the inlet of knowledge. All natu- 
 ral philofophy, which is not built upon experiment, is but 
 a meer conjectural amufement. 
 
 214. Ill fortune is not content with bringing us into ca- 
 lamitous circumftances, but' me makes us more tender and 
 fenfible of every thing that wounds us - y and nature, which 
 ought to refift her, is in confederacy with her, and gives 
 us a more exquiiite fenfe of our misfortunes. 
 
 215. Pomp and fplendor fatisfy not all thofe whom they 
 furroundj the excefs of delight palls the appetite oftner 
 than it pleafes it. 
 
 216. Since all the advantages of nature and fortune, 
 joined, are not able to create an entire happinefs in this 
 life, we fhould therefore fearch for it without difquiet, 
 enjoy it without eagernefs y and lofe it without regret. 
 
 217. Happy is that mind which can entirely reii ft fome 
 paffions, and only unbend itfelf to fome others. It would 
 be then void of fear, fadnefs, hatred, or jealoufy ; it 
 would defire without violence, hope without impatience, 
 and enjoy without tranfport. 
 
 218. A man will never be either learned or agreeable, 
 
 if
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 35 
 
 if he does not apply himfelf to reading ; without that, 
 the beft natural parts are commonly dry and barren. 
 
 219. You are fo far from obliging a man by relating to 
 him the ill things that have been faid of him, that you 
 are quickly paid for your indifcretion, by becoming the 
 firft object of his averlion and refentment. 
 
 220. With difcretion the vicious preferve their honour, 
 and without it the virtuous lofe it. 
 
 221. Take heed how you difguife yourfelf, and copy o- 
 thers. Stick to nature if you defire to pleafe, for whatever 
 is fictitious and affected, is always infipid and diftafleful. 
 
 222. Benefits increafe or diminim friendfliip according to 
 the different circumftances that accompany them. A man's 
 blood rifes againft thofe that difcover their regret to do 
 him a pleafure, there is as much art required in giving as 
 refufing. A denial, qualify'd with fome foftnings, and a 
 great demonflration of fincerity, does not offend rational 
 perfons. 
 
 223. Sloth contracts a ftagnation of humours, numb- 
 nefs of the joints, dulnefs of the brain : By it the fpirit is re- 
 laxed, the underftanding unbent, and over-grown with 
 Tuft and rubbifh, and the memory perifhed and con- 
 founded. 
 
 224. If we did but reflect, it would be eafy to obferve 
 that the too great defire of out-mining and dazzling o- 
 thers, renders converfation difagreeable. We are willing 
 at any rate to give a great idea of our merit ; this defire 
 puts us upon a flow of talk, without giving others the lei- 
 lire or opportunity to exert their finall talents, and fo they 
 
 F 2 depart
 
 36 A COLLECTION of 
 
 depart four'd and provok'd againft thofe that have thus 
 kept them in amufement. 
 
 225. Diicourfes of ourfelves and our own actions ought 
 to be very feldom, and very well chofen, except it be. ta 
 intimate friends. 
 
 226. Refervednefs is the fource, and flownefs of belief 
 the finew, of prudence. It is wifdom fometimes to feem 
 a fool, at leafl ignorant, by that means to lie out of the 
 reach of obfervation and jealoufy. 
 
 227. Never aflent ineerly to pleafe, for that betrays a 
 fervile mind ; nor contradict to vex, for that argues an ill 
 temper and ill-breeding. 
 
 228. Old age is the haven of evils, therefore all things- 
 haflen to it. 
 
 229. Arlftoth obferves that old men are more incredu- 
 lous than others, becaufe the ufe and experience they 
 have had of the uncertainty of things awakens their cir- 
 cumfpection, and holds them upon their guard. 
 
 230. To retract, or mend a fault, at the admonition of a 
 friend, hurts your credit or liberty no more, than if you 
 had grown wifer upon your own thought. For it is flill 
 your own judgment and temper, which, makes you fee 
 your miftake, and willing to retrieve it. 
 
 231. Nothing in the world is fo unfmcere, as the afking 
 and receiving of advice. He that afks it, feems to yield 
 a refpectful deference to the opinion of his friend, and all 
 the while only deiigns to have his own approved, and 
 fhelter his own actions under the authority of another. 
 On the other fide, he that gives it, returns, as one would 
 think, the confidence of others with an ardent and im- 
 partial
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 37 
 
 partial zeal, and yet has generally no other aim but his 
 own honour or interefl. 
 
 232. Some people are not to be dealt withal, but by a 
 train of myftery and circumlocution j a downright admo- 
 nition looks more like the reproach of an enemy, than 
 the advice of a friend >, or,, at befr, it is but the good of- 
 fice of a man that has an ill opinion of us j and we do 
 not naturally love to be told of our faults by the witneiles 
 of our failings*. 
 
 2:3 3 . Young men that come firil upon the flage of the 
 world, ought to be either very modefl, or very brifk ; for 
 a fober, grave, and compofed temper, commonly turns to> 
 impertinence. 
 
 234. Since our defires increafe with our riches, is not 
 a man by fo much the more miferable, the more he pof- 
 felTes ? 
 
 235. Reafon is the molt raifed faculty of human na- 
 ture : No perfons better deferve the name of men, than; 
 fuch who allow their reafon a full employment; no gufb 
 fo exquiiite as that of the mind. They are little better 
 than brutes, who can patiently fufFer the imprifonment of 
 their intellects in a dungeon of ignorance. 
 
 236. Religion is the beft armour, but the worfr, cloak. 
 
 237. Wine is fuch an odd whetftone for wit, that if it: 
 be often fet thereon, it will quickly grind all the fteel out, 
 and fcarce leave a back where it found an edge. 
 
 238. Women will bring forrow, and your bottle mad- 
 nefsj therefore go to neither. 
 
 239. Probably the reafon why many men, who are fuf- 
 fkiently dull in other matters, yet can talk profanely, and: 
 
 fpeak.
 
 38 A COLLECTION of 
 
 fpeak againft religion, with fome kind of fait and fmart- 
 nefs, is, becaufe religion is the thing that frets them ; their 
 confciences are galled by it, and that makes them winch 
 and fling as if they had fome mettle in them. 
 
 240. It proceeds from a weak judgment, to credit all 
 you hear, and imitate all you fee. 
 
 241. The fault which you fuffer in your friend, you 
 fland guilty of yourfelf. 
 
 242. Large encomiums the fcripture has given to feve- 
 ral learned men. Mofes was famous for being verfed in 
 all the learning of the Egyptians : and Solomon for his ge- 
 neral knowledge, particularly in plants, from the cedar to 
 the hyflbp. Daniel was chief of the magicians ; Abra- 
 ham was a great aftronomer ; David and Job were emi- 
 nent phiiofophers, &c. Learning, if rightly apply'd, 
 makes a young man thinking, attentive, and induftrious, 
 confident and wary $ an old man chearful and refer ved. 
 It is an ornament in profperity, a refuge in adverfity, an 
 entertainment at all times, it chears in folitude, and mo- 
 derates upon a throne. 
 
 243. Depravation of one fenfe, doubles the vigour of 
 another. 
 
 244. None fo ftricl: exactors of modefty from others, as 
 thofe who are moft prodigal of their own. 
 
 245. Power is weakened by the full ufe of it, but ex- 
 tended by moderation. I choofe rather to win by kind- 
 nefs into a voluntary compliance, than to awe by feverity 
 into a forced fubjection. 
 
 246. If men could but reflect on and confider the great, 
 the generous feeds planted in them, that might (if right-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 39 
 
 ly cultivated) ennoble their lives, and make their virtue ve- 
 nerable to futurity, how could they, without pain, per- 
 ceive the univerfal degeneracy from that publick fpirit, 
 which ought to be the firft and principal motive of all 
 their actions ? The Greeks and Romans were wife enough 
 to keep up this great incentive ; with them 'twas impof- 
 fible to be in the fafhion without being a patriot. All ga- 
 lantry had its firft fource from hence ; and to want a 
 warmth for the publick welfare was a defect fo fcandalous,. 
 that he who was guilty of it, had no pretence to honour 
 or manhood. When the univerfal bent of a people feems 
 diverted from the fenfe of their common good and glo- 
 ry, it looks like a fatality, and crifis of impending ruine. 
 
 247. It proceeds from the height of incivility, and a 
 fordid education, to ridicule any one for their natural in- 
 firmities or imperfections ; no reproaches vex people more : 
 They who have the true tafte of converfation enjoy them- 
 felves in a communion of each other's excellencies, and 
 not in a triumph over their imperfections. There are fome 
 tempers fo fweet and obliging, that they take pleafure in 
 obferving the virtues and perfections of others ; fo that 
 whatever faults they have of their own, are overlooked, 
 concealed, or winked at, out of common gratitude, by all 
 their acquaintance. 
 
 248. Prudence requires all wife men to weigh their ac- 
 tions in the balance of reafon, and to judge whether there 
 be any due proportion, between the hazard run, and the 
 end propofcd. 
 
 249. There are but two means in the world of gaining 
 by other men, that is, by being either agreeable or ufefuh 
 
 250. Storms
 
 4O A COLLECTION of 
 
 250. Storms and tempefts give reputation to pilots. 
 Our moderation .has much lefs to apprehend from the mi- 
 feries of adverfity, than the fnares of plenty ; but then 
 it is infinitely more glorious to furmount the former, than 
 to efcape the latter. 
 
 251. If a merchant mifcarry, courtiers will fay of him, 
 he is a pitiful cit, a fneaking trader, a coxcomb - } if he 
 profper, they will court him for his daughter. 
 
 252. If fome of our fleeping anceftors mould come to 
 life again, and fee their great names and titles, their fplen- 
 did palaces, and vaft eftates, enjoyed by thofe whofe fa- 
 thers, perhaps, were their farmers, I wonder what opi- 
 nion they would have of the prefent age. 
 
 253. The duties of interment are juftly called the loft 
 duties^ for beyond the funeral, all that is given to the 
 dead is taken away from the living. Lamentations that 
 are too long, not only prejudice nature, but fociety like- 
 wife; they render us incapable of the duties of a civil 
 life, and one may fay, that, out of complaifance to thofe 
 friends we have loft, they make us wanting to thofe we 
 flill enjoy. 
 
 254. The pleafure of fociety and converfation betwixt 
 friends is entertained by a fimilitude of manners, and a 
 little difference of opinions in the fciences. By this it is 
 that a man either confirms and pleafes himfelf in his own 
 fentiments, or exercifes and inftru&s himfelf by the dif- 
 pute. 
 
 255. The wife man adapts himfelf to the feveral hu- 
 inours and inclinations of thofe he converfes with. 
 
 256. The following confideration may abundantly ferve 
 
 to
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 41 
 
 to teach us to pardon injuries. The committers of them 
 muft be either chofen, or reprobate ; if the firft, how 
 dare we to hate thofe, whom God mall eternally love ? 
 And if the other, are not the flames which mall eternally 
 devour them fufficient to quench our thirll of revenge ? 
 
 -257. Paft enjoyments are anxious, paft fufFerings plea- 
 fmg in the reflection. The memory of the one makes us 
 underftand our ftrength, the other our weaknefs. 
 
 258. There are few men but what iland indebted to ad- 
 verfity for tneir virtues. 
 
 259. Our pleafures would be infipid, if fome difap- 
 pointment did not heighten their relim. 
 
 260. The continual fociety, of even the beft men, be- 
 comes at length tirefome or infenfible, which makes thofe 
 perfons that have a delicate apprehenfion of pleafure, vo- 
 luntarily remove themfelves from one another, to avoid 
 the difgitft that threatens them, and to have a better tafte 
 of the charms of converfation, by a new vigour, which 
 they beflow upon their thoughts. 
 
 261. Of all enemies, thofe of a cowardly temper are 
 moft to be feared j for their want of courage makes 
 them ufe private revenges and treacheries; when a va- 
 liant man attacks you openly, and gives you warning, that 
 you may ftand upon your guard. 
 
 262. Having put in the balance and weighed the Pro- 
 teflant religion with all others that are extant, I now make 
 that the object of my choice, which before was only the 
 effect of prepoflemon j and as I was lifted a foldier of 
 Chrift in my baptifm, fo now I declare myfelf a volun- 
 teer in his fervice; what was then done without my 
 
 G know-
 
 42 1 A COLLECTION of 
 
 knowledge, I now ratify by my free confent, and I re- 
 folve not to change my banner as long as I live. 
 
 263. It is no folecifm in divinity, to fay, that the prince 
 of peace is the lord of hofts. The church militant is his 
 army, compos'd of many battalions, in different pofts,, 
 and under various orders. So long as they all ferve the 
 great captain of our falvation, and praclife well the difci- 
 pline of their arms, I refufe not to give the word of peace 
 to any, let him be of what company foever. 
 
 264. We mould diftinguim between the refolution of a 
 hero, and the resignation of a chriftian ; and betwixt the 
 motion of philofophy, and the impulfe of religion. I 
 would not have my foul numbed with a floical infenfibi- 
 lity, but calmed with a chriftian patience, the refult of 
 moderation not floth. 
 
 265. The lefs the occafion of fin, the greater the na- 
 ture of it. Sins, like fhadows, towards the evening of 
 life grow great and monftrous ; and as wounds torment us 
 moft towards night, fo do the wounds of confcience near 
 the night of death. 
 
 266. I can pray kneeling, ftanding, or fitting, either at 
 my bufinefs, or at my repaft, with or without words and 
 ceremonies j and this 1 take to be the only method of com- 
 plying with St Paul's counfel, when he bids us pray with- 
 out ceo/ing. A fwift and pious ejaculation often does the 
 office of a multitude of words (though the moft apt and 
 elegant in human language) fince God underftands the 
 dialed: of the heart, as well as that of the tongue, being 
 the architect of both. In all this I aim at a devotion, that 
 is mafculine and folid, difcreet and humble, fincere and 
 
 modeft,
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 43 
 
 modeft, full of primitive reverence, and the fervour of the 
 firfr, ages. 
 
 267. If I am not fo happy as I defire, it is well J am 
 not fo miferable as I deferve : I have received much more 
 good than I have ever done, and done more evil than I 
 have ever fuffered. 
 
 268. He that conftantly makes head againft the affaults 
 of Fortune, mail be fure at lafl to be victorious, and 
 
 his ends. 
 
 FORTUNE a goddefs is to fools alone ^ 
 The wife are always mafters of their oit?n* 
 
 269. Though filence is not always the mark of a 
 man, yet noife and impertinence certainly difcover die fool. 
 
 270. The fullen melancholy, the auftere, grave, and 
 filent obferver are feldom beloved. 
 
 271. Punimment is as natural an effect pf fin, as fmok$ 
 is of fire ; we muft put out the one, in order to prevent 
 the other. 
 
 272. The fearcher of knowledge may be called induf* 
 trious, the knower fkilful, the ufer prudent, the confirm- 
 er expert, the abufer crafty, but the inventer is only witty $ 
 invention being the moil painful action of the mind. 
 
 273. He that difcovers his fecret to another, fells him 
 his liberty, and becomes his flave ; but if he reveal ir, 
 the reproach is his, tho* the inconvenience be mine, nor 
 would I exchange my damage for his difgrace. 
 
 274. Since God is pleafed to call the body the temple 
 and refidence of his My fpirit, our affections {hould not 
 turn it to a brothel-houfe, our pafiions to a bedlam, nor 
 our exceifes to an hofpital. 
 
 G 2 275. As
 
 44 ^ COLLECTION of 
 
 275. As the fear of God is the beginning of mjdom\ 
 fo the love of him is the end of the law. 
 
 276. Hiftory tells us of illuftrious debauchees, but 
 there never was an illuftrious mifer in nature, grandeur of 
 foul cannot confht with the fordid bafenefs of avarice : 
 Betides, what can be more unjuft than to keep up that 
 which is the foul of commerce, and affords us the conve- 
 niences of life, to make no ufe at all of it ? It is to per- 
 fevere in the crime, and to rob the publick, by a conti- 
 nual theft, of what was once extorted from private per- 
 fons. Thofe that take away with violence, in order to 
 difperfe with profulion, are much more excufable. 
 
 277. Our all-knowing maker referves to himfelf the 
 fole intelligence of his work, he animates the fprings of 
 our foul, but he conceals from us- the admirable fecret that 
 makes them move. 
 
 278. It is an error to condemn pleafures as pleafures, 
 and not as they are unjufl and unlawful - } let them be ne- 
 ver fo innocent, the excefs is criminal, not only brings dif- 
 grace but diflatisfa&ion, and hurts the conftitution no lefs 
 than the credit. 
 
 279. Pleafure has no influence on minds that are cor- 
 rupted and fpoiled with all forts of debauchery and excefs, 
 the irregularities of the body darken the light of the 
 reaibn. 
 
 280. Where there is no capacity,, there perfuafion is. 
 vain ; for wifdom cannot be profitable to a fool, nor wit 
 to him that does not know how to ufe it. 
 
 281. Commerce with die world furnifhes us with plea- 
 fure, while we are capable of r-eliming it, and it would be 
 
 the
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 45 
 
 the higheft ingratitude to be a burthen to it, when we can 
 give it nothing but difguft : I would rather live in a de- 
 fart, than give my friends occafion to pity me, or to fur- 
 uifli thofe that are not fo with a fubjed for their mali- 
 cious mirth and raillery ; but the mifchief is, a man is 
 not fenfible when he becomes weak and ridiculous. 
 
 282. Too auftere a philofophy makes few wife men > 
 too rigorous a government, few good fubjeds ; too harm, 
 a religion, few devout fouls ; I mean that will long con- 
 tinue fo> for nothing is durable that is not fuitable to our 
 nature. 
 
 283. There is a great deal of difference between wri- 
 ting well, and talking well ; the ftile of an orator is of 
 another nature, than that of a well-bred converfation j 
 this muft be eafy in the delivery, proper in the phrafe,, 
 but as mort as may be ; the other admits of more various 
 decorations, a loftier phrafe, and a larger extent. 
 
 284. The world mall allow a man to be a wife man,' 
 a. good naturalift, a good mathematician, politician or 
 poet, but not a fcholar, or learned man, unlefs he be a 
 philologer, and understands Greek and Latin. But, for 
 my part, I take it, thefe Gentlemen have juft inverted the 
 ufe of the term, and given that to the knowledge of 
 Words, which belongs more properly to Things. I take 
 nature to be the book of univerfal learning, which he 
 that reads beft in all or any of its parts is the greateft 
 fcholar, the moft learned man ; and it is as ridiculous 
 for a man to count himfelf more learned than another, if 
 he has no greater extent of knowledge of things, becaufe 
 he is more verfed in languages^ as it would be for an old 
 
 , ' fellow
 
 46 A COLLECTION of 
 
 fellow to tell a young one, his own eyes were better than 
 the other's, becaufe he reads with fpectacles, the other 
 without. 
 
 285. It is the part of a blockhead to be troublefome ; 
 a man of wit and fenfe is fenfible whether his company is 
 agreeable or not, and difappears a moment before the time 
 when his vifit might be accounted tedious. 
 
 286. Marriage enlarges the fcene of our happinefs and 
 miiery ; the marriage in love is pleafant, the marriage of 
 intereft eafy, and a marriage where both meet, happy. 
 An happy marriage has in it all the pleafures of friend- 
 fhip, all the enjoyments of fenfe and reafon, and indeed 
 all the fweets of life. Nothing is a greater mark of a de- 
 generate and vicious age, than the common ridicule which 
 paffes on this {rate of life. It is indeed only happy in 
 thofe, who can look down with fcorn or neglect on the 
 impieties of the times, and tread the paths of life toge- 
 ther in a conftant, uniform courfe of virtue. 
 
 287. Chaftity muft needs be a divine quality, fince even 
 the enemies of it efteem it, and that the moft debauched re- 
 fpect them lefs that yield, than thofe that hold out. Re- 
 fpect waits upon defire, and neglect follows pofieflion. 
 
 288. Truth and Juftice are the foundations of life; 
 and, as Tu/fy obferves, without confidence in each other, 
 as to fome kind of Juftice, the life even of robbers and 
 pirates is incapable of being carried on. A juft diftribu- 
 tion of prey is abfolutely neceffary among them 3 and 
 thieves, who are enemies to Juftice, will follow no cap- 
 tain whom they think without it. 
 
 289. Endeavour to be religious without fuperflition, juft 
 
 with-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 47 
 
 without rigour, merciful without partiality, cautious with- 
 out fear, valiant without rafhnefs, and great without pride* 
 
 290. The fpeaking well of all mankind is the word 
 fort of detraction, for it takes away the reputation of the 
 few good, by making them all alike. 
 
 291. A probable lye will fooner be believed than a pro- 
 digious truth. 
 
 292. Moft men like people better with agreeable faults^ 
 than ofFenfive virtues. 
 
 293. The fpring of life, is that critical inftant that 
 muft either confirm, or blaft the hopes of all fucceeding 
 feafons. The firft impreffions the world takes of us, fel- 
 dom or never wear out. 
 
 294. Such as intend to infufe any goodnefs into the 
 minds of youth, muft firft exclude their pride, and felf- 
 conceit, as we fqueeze air out of a bladder j becaufe while 
 they are puffed up with arrogance, there is no room to 
 admit any thing ferious or folid. 
 
 295. Diftil religion into your child as foon as it can 
 diftinguim founds. 
 
 296. As fome women lofe their reputation rather for 
 want of difcretion, than for want of virtue, fo others pre- 
 ferve theirs by their difcretion only. 
 
 297. Moft people mew in their affliffiom more ambi- 
 tion than piety ; for when any body is within hearing, 
 what groans and outcries do they make ! but when they 
 are alone, and in private, all is hum and quiet : fo foon 
 as any body comes in, they are at it again, but their 
 forrow goes off with the company. 
 
 298. Ywng people change their tafte and inclinations 
 
 by
 
 48 A COLLECTION of 
 
 "by the mettle and heat of blood ; and old ones keep theirs, 
 by the fullennefs of habit and cuftom. 
 
 299. A woman is never indifferent as long as me com- 
 plains of the falfhood of her lover ; for if me did not re- 
 tain an affedtion for the vow -breaker, me would not be 
 uneafy at his perfidioufnefs. 
 
 300. Women are generally cheated in their firft in- 
 trigue, as men are commonly bubbled when they firfl en- 
 ter upon play. 
 
 301. Moft women judge of the merit and per fond ac- 
 compUJhments of men, by the impreffion they make upon 
 them i and will fcarce allow any to that man, whom they 
 can fee without concern. 
 
 302. It is eafy for a woman to fay what me does not 
 feel, but it is yet more eafy for a man to fay what he does 
 feel. 
 
 303. Againil the difeafes of the mind, fear and defire, 
 let fortitude and temperance be your fhield and buckler ; 
 for the one bears off the. injuries of fear, and the other 
 fupports the mind from languifhing under defires not at- 
 tainable. 
 
 304. The humours of youth and age differ fo widely, 
 that there had need be a great deal of fkill to compofe 
 the difcord into harmony. 
 
 305. Want of fuccefs in our actions is generally owing 
 to want of judgment in what we ought to attempt, or a 
 ruftick modefty which will not give us leave to undertake 
 what we ought. But how unfortunate this different dif- 
 fident temper is, to thofe who are poffefled with it, may 
 
 beft
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 49 
 
 beft be feen in the fuccefs of fuch as are wholly unac- 
 quainted with it. 
 
 306. A private education feems the moil natural for the 
 forming a virtuous man. A publick fchool fits better in 
 giving a manly afTurance, and an early knowledge in the 
 ways of the world j belides, children, there, frequently 
 contract fuch friendmips, as are of fervice to them, all 
 the following parts of their lives. 
 
 307. It is obferved, that when men are conquered by 
 reafon, who have little or none of their own to oppofe, 
 they fly to violence, and with their fwords furioufly cut 
 the knot, which they cannot untie ; there cannot be a 
 greater evidence of brutifh minds, than a baffled caufe. 
 
 308. If we infer a neceflity of events, man's endeavours 
 are vain. 
 
 309. If God has given you a comely body, praife him 
 for it, and defire it may be neither an occafion of fin in 
 yourfelf or others ; if not, be not peevim or repining, 
 fubmit to this abafement, as the punimment of fin, which 
 was the great deformity that introduced all others into the 
 world : take care to fecure an happy refurrection ; then, 
 all thefe deformities, the marks of fin, mall be done a- 
 way, and the moft pure and perfect foul fhall have the 
 mofl bright and purified body. 
 
 310. No power can exempt princes from the obligations 
 to the eternal laws of God and nature. In all difputes 
 between power and liberty, power muft always be proved, 
 but liberty proves itfelf, the one being founded upon po- 
 fitive laws, the other upon the laws of nature. 
 
 311. The favourite of the Prince might be the favou- 
 
 H rite
 
 50 A COLLECTION of 
 
 rite of the People, if he could be as humble after advance- 
 ment as 'he was before - y but height of profperity makes- 
 moft men giddy, and their infolence generally tumbles 
 them from that eminence to which a bafe fubmiflion raifed 
 them. 
 
 312. Admiration is commonly the effect of a grofs ig- 
 norance, great admirers are commonly great fools. You 
 are allowed to fay that a thing pleafes you, or to fignify 
 by fome fign that you are affected with what you fee or 
 hear ; but intemperate outcries, and violent motions, that 
 denote an extraordinary furprize, are commonly figns of 
 impertinence,, and of a grovelling foul, foolifhly prodigal 
 of its incenfe. 
 
 313. There is no fuch thing as principles in 'women* 
 They conduct themfelves by the heart, and depend for 
 their manners upon thofe they love. 
 
 314. Women go further in love than men, but men out- 
 ftrip them in frwndjhip. 
 
 315. Caprice, in women, is generally an attendant of 
 beauty, to be, as it were, its antidote againft the further 
 mifchief it might do to the men. 
 
 316. There are few love-intrigues that are kept fecret; 
 and a great many ladies are as well known by their gal- 
 lants as by their hujbands. 
 
 317. Vanity, flame, and efpecially a fuitable conflitu- 
 tion, are generally the caufes of the courage of men, and 
 the 'virtue of women* 
 
 318. There is a vaft difference between die difgufts 
 that an old engagement gives us, and the pleafant inquie- 
 tudes of a growing paffion, Jn a new amour, we pafs 
 
 every
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 51 
 
 every hour of the day with frefh fatisfadtion j it is an un- 
 expreffible pleafure to find that our love grows upon us 
 every minute ; but in a paffion of an old Handing, our 
 time is fpent very uneafily, in ftill loving lefs, or not 
 loving at all. 
 
 319. Bad wme, and ugly women, are better arguments 
 foefo&riety and continence, than what all the volumes of 
 morality can afford. 
 
 320. Inordinate felf-love is the ruine of fociety ; perfons 
 of this character are as it were unhinged from the uni- 
 verfe, and of no ufe in the world j they are crowded and 
 wrapped up in themfelves, and never extend beyond their 
 own circumference. 
 
 321. If in this life only we have hope, we fhould not 
 only be of all men, but of all creatures, the mofl miferable. 
 
 322. No man can complain that his profeffion takes 
 him off from religion ; his profeffion itfelf is God's fervice, 
 and if it be moderately perfued, and according to the 
 rules of chriftian prudence, it will leave void fpaces e- 
 nough for publick and private devotions. 
 
 323. What have the greateft part of the comments and 
 difputes upon the laws of god and man ferved for, but to 
 make the meaning more doubtful, and perplex the fenfe? 
 What have been the effects of thofe multiplied diftinclions, 
 and acute niceties, but obfcurity and uncertainty, leaving 
 the words more unintelligible, and the reader more at a 
 lofs ? How elfe comes it to pafs, that princes fpeaking or 
 writing to their fervants their ordinary commands, are ea- 
 fily underftood ; fpeaking to the people in their laws are 
 not fo ? And does it not often happen, that a man of or- 
 
 H 2 dinary
 
 52 A COLLECTION of 
 
 dinary capacity very well underftands a text, till he con- 
 fults an expolitor, who, by that time he has done explain- 
 ing it, makes the words either fignify nothing at all, or 
 what he pleafes ? 
 
 324. Right reafon discovers to us our duty, and the ob- 
 ligation we lie under to perform it -, it either infpires us 
 with courage, or ferves us inftead of it. 
 
 325. The fenfe of fancy is richer than that of creation. 
 Gold mines no where fo glorioufly, as in the mifer's head > 
 and Ambition makes a crown fparkle much more, than 
 all the refulgent jewels that adorn it. 
 
 326. The fcandal raifed by ill men is like dirt thrown 
 by children and fools at random, without provocation j it 
 may daub filthily at firfl, but is eafily warned out. I value 
 the malice of fuch men as little as their friendmip, the 
 one being as fickle, as the other is falfe. 
 
 327. The well-bred man's doubtful way of fpeaking, 
 does not proceed from uncertainty in his opinion, but good 
 nature, and a refined education. 
 
 328. Tho' there is nothing more diftant than wit and 
 folly, yet, like eaft and weft, they may meet in a point, 
 and produce actions that are but a hair's breadth from each 
 other. 
 
 329. God's knowledge is all fimple and uncompound- 
 ed, without reafoning or inferring, premifing or conclu- 
 ding j fo'r he has ever before him, in one fimple view, 
 the whole field of truth, and with one fingle adt of in- 
 tuition glances through the whole poffibility of being. 
 
 330. Nothing is a greater argument of a brave foul, and 
 impregnable virtue, than for a man to be fo much mailer 
 
 of
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 53 
 
 of himfelf, that he can either take or leave thofe conve- 
 niences of life, with refpect to which mod people are ei- 
 ther uneafy without them, or intemperate with them. 
 This was part of Socrafes's character. 
 
 331. The mark of a man of probity lies in keeping 
 reafon at the head of practice, and being eafy in his con- 
 dition : To live in a crowd of objects, without fuffering 
 either in his fenfe, his virtue, or his quiet : To have a 
 good understanding at home, and to be governed by that 
 divine principle within him : To be all truth in his word?, 
 and juftice in his actions : And if the whole world mould 
 difbelieve his integrity, difpute his character, and queftion 
 his happinefs, he would neither take it ill in the leaft, 
 nor alter his meafures, but perfue the end of living, with 
 all the honefty, eafe and refignation imaginable. 
 
 332. When any body's behaviour difturbs you, difmifs 
 the image of the injury, and bethink yourfelf whether 
 you have not been guilty of the fame fault. Such a re- 
 flection will quickly make you cool, and come to temper, 
 efpecially if you confider the offender was not altogether 
 his own man, but under the force of fome outward paf- 
 fion or other j you would do well therefore, if you can, 
 to Step in to the refcue, and free him from the caufe of 
 his diforder. 
 
 333. There is fomething fublime and noble in true art, 
 which none who have not fublknity of genius can touch 
 or arrive at. Quaintnefs and neatnefs are what will af- 
 fect vulgar eyes more than the truth of the workman- 
 fhip ; but take thofe who understand nature, and thofe 
 who act by her unprejudic'd impulfe without fkill, and 
 
 both
 
 4 -^ COLLECTION of 
 
 both of thefe kind of people fhall join in approving the 
 
 hand of a mafter. 
 
 334. Be not diverted or delighted with the folly of an 
 ideor, the fancy of -a lunatick, or the frenzy of a drunk- 
 ard : make fuch.the object of thy pity, not thy paftime. 
 
 335. Plato fays, that fathers, thofe living images of 
 God, have a great deal of force and efficacy to bring down 
 all forts of bleffings upon their children/ who render them 
 the honour which is due, and to make the moft frightful 
 curfes fall upon their heads, when they fail therein j for 
 God hears the prayers which parents addrefs to him, ei- 
 ther for or againft their children. 
 
 336. To bear ficknefs with patience is a noble inftance 
 of fortitude and grandeur of mind ; he that charges an 
 enemy does not mew himfelf more brave, than he that 
 grapples handfomely with a difeafe. To do this without 
 abject complaints, without rage and expoftulation, is a 
 moft glorious combat ; to be thus proof againft pain, is 
 the clearer!: mark of greatnefs. It fets a man above the 
 dread of accidents, in a ftate of liberty and credit ; be- 
 ing thus fenced, he need not fear nor flatter any thing. 
 The more we fink into the infirmities of age, the nearer 
 we are to immortal youth : all people are young in the 
 other world ; that fure is an eternal fpring, ever frelh and 
 flourifhing. To pafs from midnight into noon on 1 a fud- 
 den, to be decrepit one minute, and all fpirit and activity 
 the next, mufl be an entertaining change. Health after 
 ficknefs, and wealth after poverty, give double pleafure. 
 
 337. As you never faw any one unhappy in the perfuit 
 
 of
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 55 
 
 of virtue, fo you will fee none miferable under the con- 
 duct of providence. 
 
 338. A wife man ought to live no more in hope than 
 fear, nor put it in the power of fortune to take any thing 
 from, or add any thing to his felicity. . 
 
 339. To fpend much without getting, to lay out .all 
 without reckoning, and to give all without coniidering > 
 are the chief effects of a prodigal mind. 
 
 340. A good caufe may fuffer much when it is plead- 
 ed by an improper and exceptionable advocate-. How 
 fulfome is it to hear a coward harangue on valour, a. mi- 
 fer on contempt of the world, &c. This commending, 
 thofe good qualities, he neither has the honefly nor cou- 
 rage to be mafter of, is in effect only a fa-tire on himfelf, 
 and ferves to make him more ridiculous. 
 
 341. Gracefulnefs is to the body, what good fenfe is to 
 the mind. 
 
 342. It is a great happinefs to have virtuous parents, 
 relations, tutors and domeflicks j for it is from them we 
 take up our principles. We are born naked, both as to 
 mind and body, and put on any habit indifferently which 
 is iirft offered us. 
 
 343. A man may be happy in any ground, provided 
 he have the wit to chufe IKLS. fortune. Now if his manners 
 be good, his fortune can never be bad j for happinefs lies 
 in all the functions of reafon, in warrantable defires, and 
 regular practices. 
 
 344. We muft not expect PJafo's commonwealth - y 
 for as the world goes, a moderate reformation is a great 
 point. If we can but govern people's hands, we muft 
 
 let
 
 56 A COLLECTION of 
 
 let their hearts and their heads go free. To cure them 
 
 all of their folly and principles, is impracticable. 
 
 345. Too tender a fenfe of what other people fay /'// 
 of us, does but entertain the malice of the world, which 
 defires no more but that it may difturb us. 
 
 346. The abfolute want of fuch a fenfe, fo as to be 
 moved at nothing they fay, is a contrary extreme, that 
 produces the fame effect. This is fuch a fort of contempt, 
 as the 'world is concerned to revenge itfelf upon. 
 
 347. There are fome whofe fpeeches are witty, but 
 their courage weak j whofe deeds are incongruities, while 
 their words are apophthegms j it is not worth the name 
 of Wifdom, which can be heard only, and not feen. 
 Good difcourfe is but the reflection or fhadow of wifdom, 
 the pure and folid fubftance is good actions. 
 
 348. Secrefy and celerity are the two poles upon which 
 all great actions move; and the nobleft defigns are like 
 a mine, which having any vent, is wholly fruftrate, and 
 of no effect. 
 
 349. Content will give a relifh to all my pleafure, and 
 make me epicurize upon my little fortune, and enjoy to 
 the full height all that I have 5 whilft Covetoufnefs would 
 let me ftarve in the midft of plenty, and make a beggar 
 of me, though I wallowed in gold. Temperance and fo- 
 briety will give me life and health, a calm and free ex- 
 ercife of my reafon ; whilft glutony and drunkennefs will 
 enervate my body, and ftupify my foul, make me live 
 like a beaft, and die like a fool. For pleafure has a be- 
 witching faculty, the more we tafte it, the more we 
 hanker after it ; and therefore the beft way to avoid being 
 
 capti-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 57 
 
 captivated by that Syren, is to flop our ears to her charms; 
 when we have often balked our appetites, by denying them 
 what they crave, they will in a while grow fo quiet, that 
 they will crave no more. 
 
 350. Dr South in an extafy cries ont, " Oh ! how vaft- 
 ly difproportionate are the pleafures of the eating and the 
 thinking man ! as different, lays he, as an Archimedes in. 
 the ftudy of a problem, and the ftilnefs of a fow at her 
 warn." The pleafure of fpeculation has fometimes been, 
 fo great, fo intenfe, fo ingroffing of all the powers of the 
 foul, there has been no room left for other pleafures. Con- 
 templation feels no hunger, nor is fenfible of any thirft 
 but that after knowledge. 
 
 351. Though Chrift blefTes the poor, and pronounces 
 woes to the rich, as having received their confolation, yet 
 Abraham, Ifaac ) Jacob, Job, David and Solomon were 
 fo. Neither riches nor poverty blefs or curfe any man, 
 and none that are poor are blefTed if they be proud and 
 high-minded, nor any rich man curfed but he that places 
 his portion and confolation in riches. 
 
 352. Dull defpair is the foul's lethargy; roufe to the 
 combat, and thou art fure to conquer. 
 
 353. They muft be mighty evils, that can vanquim 
 a Spartan courage, or a Chriftian faith. 
 
 354. There is no forcing nature againft her biafs, or 
 inverting the methods of providence. Irregular defires, 
 and unreafonable undertakings, muft expect to meet with 
 difappointments : There is a proper time for all 
 things, and nothing fucceeds well but what is done in feafon. 
 
 355. All the extravagances of the lewdefl life, are no- 
 
 I thing
 
 58 A COLLECTION of 
 
 thing elfe but the more confummated follies and diforders 
 of either a mif- taught or a negledted youth 3 nay, all the 
 publick outrages of a deftroying tyranny and oppreffion 
 are but childifli appetites, let alone till they are ungovern- 
 able. Wherefore children mould be moulded while their 
 tempers are yet pliant and du<flile 5 for it is infinitely ea- 
 iier to prevent ill habits, than to mailer them; as the 
 choaking of the fountain is the fureft way to cut off the 
 courfe of the river. It mould be confidered too that we 
 have the feeds of virtue in us, as well as of vice 3 and 
 whenever we take a wrong biafs, it is not out of a moral 
 incapacity to do better, but for want of a careful manage- 
 ment and difcipline to fet us right at firft. 
 
 356. Men in great places are thrice fervants 5 fervants 
 of the foveretgn oijlate 3 fervants of fame 3 and fervants 
 of bujinefs. So as they have no freedom either in their 
 ferfons, in their ations> or in their times. 
 
 3 57. The wife and active conquer difficulties by daring 
 to attempt them 3 floth and folly fhiver and fink at the 
 toil and hazard, and make the impoffibility they fear. 
 
 358. It is obferved that the moft delicate and volup- 
 tuous princes have ever been the heaviefh oppreflbrs of the 
 people 3 riot being a far more lavifli fpender of the com- 
 mon treafure, than war or magnificence. 
 
 359. To fuperiors give refpect, deference, and fubmif- 
 fion; to equals, affection and confidence; to every body, 
 fincerity, and all the fervice in our power. 
 
 360. I would be civil to all, ferviceable to many, fa- 
 miliar with few, a friend to one, and an enemy to none. 
 
 361. Let not thy table exceed the fourth part of thy 
 
 in-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 59 
 
 income ; fee thy provifion be folid, and not far fetch'd, 
 fuller of fubflance than art j be wifely frugal in thy pre- 
 paration, and freely chearful in thy entertainments. 
 
 362. Let not the croaking of a raven, the crying of a 
 cricket, or the croffing of a hare, trouble thy repofe j 
 he is ill acquainted with himfelf, who does not know his 
 fortune better than thofc creatures. If evil follows, it is 
 the ptinifhment of thy fuperftition, not the fulfilling of 
 their portent. 
 
 363. A man muft make but very few reflections upon 
 life, if he defires to pals it happily : It is but a lafting 
 fucceffion of expectations and difappointments. 
 
 364. It is flupidity to fet up our reft in a life that may 
 terminate every moment ; meer curiofity will make us in- 
 quifitive to know what mall become of us hereafter. 
 
 365. Great and fudden pafTions have caufed flrange 
 extalies, and death itfelf fometirnes j the fpirits in grief 
 flowing too fan: to the heart to fortify it, and in joy lea- 
 ving the heart as fait to meet the object that caufes it. 
 
 366. Convey thy benefit to a friend, as an arrow to the 
 mark, to (lick there ; not as a ball to rebound back to 
 thee -, that friendship will not continue to the end, that is 
 begun for interest. 
 
 367. Praife has always fomething grofs in it, if it lie 
 too open, and go on in a direct line. Voiture^ one of 
 the moft delicate wits of the age, fcarce ever commended 
 any body but in drollery ; and of a long time none has 
 done it with more fuccefs. The ftandards for praife are 
 Homer and Virgil : Homer praifes not Achilles, but by a 
 fimple and bare relation of his actions 3 and never was any 
 
 1 2 man
 
 60 A COLLECTION of 
 
 man praifed fo delicately as Auguftus by Virgil -, by covert 
 paths he conducts him to glory. Certainly never man knew 
 better the art of praifmg, for hefavesall the modefty of the 
 perfon he praifes, even while he overwhelms him with it. 
 The true art of praife is to fay laudable things limply, but 
 delicately ; for praife is not to be endured unlefs fine, and 
 hidden ; it is fo very hard a thing to praife as one ought,, 
 that it is a rock which they that are wife will fhun. 
 
 368. Great men hide themfelves from publick view, 
 like beafts of prey ; yet are fometimes worried by a pack 
 of political hounds, called a parliament. 
 
 369. He will be much out in his account, who num- 
 bers his friends by the vilits that are made him, and con- 
 founds the decencies of ceremony and commerce with the 
 offices of united affetfions. 
 
 370. There is no living in this world without an ex- 
 change of civil offices, and the need we have one of an- 
 other goes a great way towards the making us love one 
 another : Now this amity and communication is to be en- 
 tertained by the commerce of giving and receiving ; and 
 without good nature and gratitude, men had as well live 
 in a wildernefs, as in a civil fociety. 
 
 371. Women are pleafed with courtmip, and the moft 
 difdainful" cannot but be complaifant to thofe that tell them 
 they are handfome. 
 
 372. Several expreffions of the clergy in their prayers 
 before fermon give offence, particularly the titles and epi- 
 thets to great men j which are indeed due to them in 
 their feveral ranks and ftations, but not properly ufed in 
 our prayers. It is a contradiftion to fay illuftrious, right 
 
 reve-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 61 
 
 reverend, and right honourable poor finners : thefe diftinc- 
 tions are fuited only to our ftate here, and have no place 
 in heaven : we fee they are omitted in the liturgy, and 
 fure the clergy fhould take that for their pattern in their 
 own forms of .devotion. 
 
 373. The minority of kings is the mifery of king- 
 doms, being commonly attended with emulations and 
 factions of great men. 
 
 374. Aim at purity of language, fublimity of ftile, 
 propriety of phrafe, neatnefs of fimile, exadtnefs of ar- 
 gument, choice of words, jufhiefs of examples, and e- 
 very thing that conftitutes the beauty and harmony of a 
 piece. 
 
 375. Sir Richard Steele bids us ufe a mathematical iieve, 
 to fift impertinences and fuperfluities out of our difcourfe 
 and writing, and to avoid excrefcences. 
 
 376. Love and ambition are commonly the raging fe- 
 vers of great minds. 
 
 377. Reading too many books does rather burden the 
 memory, than improve the understanding. 
 
 378. Unity is the life of chriftianity, becaufe it keeps 
 up that love which is the fulfilling of the law. 
 
 379. It is uncivil and unfit fora man to oblige another 
 to keep a promife difadvantageous to him, or one made in 
 mirth, paffion, hafte, unadvifedly, incivility, &c. asalfonot 
 to admit of a reafonable excufe in cafe of failure. 
 
 380. He that doubts not, knows either all things or no- 
 thing ; and he that imagines never to commit an error, 
 his next pretence may be to divinity j for perfection is not 
 the attribute of a man* 
 
 3 82. Vic-
 
 62 A COLLECTION of 
 
 381. Vi&ory does more often fall by the error of the 
 vanquifhed, than by the valour of the victorious. 
 
 382. A low condition expofes the wifeft men to con- 
 tempt : while we can keep our poverty a fecret, we can 
 never feel the weight of it j there is nothing in a mean 
 eftate ib intolerable, as the ridiculoufnefs of it ; for pa- 
 tience is not fo much wounded by pain and lofs, as by 
 derifion and contumely. 
 
 383. Nothing maintains itfelf fo long as a moderate for- 
 tune, and nothing fo foon dwindles away as a great one. 
 
 384. There are two forts of avarice, a true, and a 
 baftard : true covetoufnefs is a reftlefs and infatiable defire 
 of riches, not for any further end or ufe, but only to 
 hoard and preferve, 'and perpetually increafe them. This 
 is the greateft evidence of a bafe, ungenerous mind, and, 
 at the fame time, the higheft injuftice in the world. For 
 what can be more unreafonable, than for a man to ingrofs 
 to himfelf all that which is the common fupport and con- 
 veniency of mankind, and to propagate his crime, by 
 locking up his beloved treafures, and thereby robbing con- 
 tinually the publick of what he has once gotten ? 
 
 385. There is one kind of affliction which never leaves 
 us, I mean that which proceeds from the lofs of our for- 
 tunes. Time, which foftens and allays all other griefs, 
 does but exafperate and increafe this j for the fenfe of it 
 renews, even as often as we feel the pinch of preffing ne- 
 ceflities. 
 
 386. A dying man will give anything to fave his life, 
 a living man as much to fave his money : A man mall 
 readily proffer his fword, but hefitates if you would borrow 
 
 fifty
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 63 
 
 fifty pounds 5 fo much ealier it is to be brave than 
 kind. 
 
 387. A meer courtier, a meer foldier, a meer fcholar, 
 a meer any thing, is equally ridiculous. 
 
 388. Few of Adam's children are fo happy as not to be 
 born without fome biafs in their natural temper, which it 
 is the bufmefs of education, either to take off, or coun- 
 terbalance. 
 
 389. All our other paffions are to fome end ; love, to 
 enjoy ; anger, to revenge ; fear, to avoid, and the like : 
 But the paflion of grief ferves to no end or purpofe ini 
 the world ; it cannot be its own end, becaufe it is in no 1 
 refpec~l good ; it is therefore utterly abfurd and unrea- 
 fonable. 
 
 390. Ambition is a weed (if it may properly be called 
 fo) that is apt to grow in the beft foils. 
 
 391. All popular difcontents have fomething of the na- 
 ture of torrents 3 give them a little room to run, and 
 they quickly draw off themfelves but if you offer pre- 
 fently to obftruct their courfe, they fwell and fpread the 
 more. 
 
 392. Never let the irregularities of your own life be 
 the fubjecT: of your difcourfe, for men deteft in others 
 thofe vices which they cherifh in themfelves. 
 
 393. Plots, when difcovered, ftrengthen the govern- 
 ment they were defigned to mine. 
 
 394. Political jealoulies, like the conjugal, when once 
 raifed, are hard to be fuppreiled. 
 
 395. All trufl is dangerous that is not entire ; it is beft 
 to fpeak all, or conceal all. 
 
 396. The
 
 64 -^ COLLECTION of 
 
 396. The fcriptures, no doubt, were indited by the 
 holy ghofc ; for good men would not impofe fuch things 
 on the world, and there is too much againft the bad, to 
 believe them to be the authors of it. 
 
 397. Our troubles of mind muft either proceed from 
 the fpirit of God, or the fuggeftions of the devil : if from 
 God, it is an argument of fonmip and adoption ; if from 
 the devil, it is an argument your cafe is yet the better; 
 for he difturbs none that he is fure of, but is always rnofl 
 bufy with thofe he is in greateft danger of lofing. 
 
 398. A man remarkably obliging is almoft proof againfl 
 the moft malicious detractors, they will be afraid of one 
 fo fortified in publick efteem ; the charms of kindnefs 
 and affability are irrefiftible ; they conquer, captivate, and 
 return in triumph over the affections of all men. 
 
 399. There are thofe that perform all the arts of life 
 and good breeding with fo much eafe, that the virtue of 
 their conduct looks more like inftinct than choice. 
 
 400. It is more glorious to overcome my paflions than 
 my enemies : for if they are bad, I would not be friends 
 to them j and if they are good, they will not long be e- 
 nemies to me. 
 
 401. It is with our lives as with our eftates, a good 
 hufband makes a little go a great way : Whereas let the 
 revenue of a prince fall into the hands of a prodigal, it 
 is vanifhed in a moment. So that the time allotted us, if 
 it were well employed, were abundantly enough to an- 
 fwer all the ends and purpofes of mankind. 
 
 402. The generality of mankind fink in virtue as they 
 rife in fortune : how many hopeful young men, by the 
 
 fud-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 65 
 
 fudden-acceffion of a good eftate, have deviated into de- 
 bauchery, nay, turned abfolute rakes ! 
 
 403. It is hard to determine which is more troublefome 
 to undergo to a man of fenfe, either the extreme refer ve 
 and mynefs of fome women before they yield, or their 
 fondnefs after they have yielded. 
 
 404. What women call inconflancy in us, is not an ar- 
 gument of levity 9 but of their infufficiency to pleafe. 
 
 405. Nothing is fo unaccountable as the caprices of wo-. 
 men : For it frequently happens, that the firft applications 
 of a new face gain more upon them, than the long fer- 
 vices of a conftant old one. , i 
 
 406. He that marries for riches, is agreeably difappoint- 
 ed, if he meets with a good wife -, but that unexpected 
 happinefs is feldom his lot. 
 
 407. A man breaks out into a paflion againft an un- 
 faithful mijlrefs, and then forgets her ; a woman^ on the 
 -contrary, makes but little noife at the infidelity of her 
 lover, but keeps a long while her refentment. 
 
 408. Whifpering in company has ever been looked on 
 as an excefs of ill manners ; for we have naturally a cu- 
 riofity to divine what others fay, and feel a fecret indig- 
 nation to be fhut out of the intelligence. 
 
 409. He muft be a very wife man that knows the true 
 bounds and meafures of fooling, with refpect to time, 
 place, matters, perfons, &c. But religion, bufinefs, and 
 cafes of confequence muft be excepted out of that fort 
 of liberty. 
 
 410. The ftronger the oppolition, the more noble the 
 combat. Where there is no combat, there is no victory. 
 
 K How
 
 66 A COLLECTION of 
 
 How can we exercife the grace of contentment, if all 
 things fucceed well ; or that of forgivenefs, if we have 
 no enemies ? If men could not be angry, they could not 
 be meek ; and if they had no inclination to vice, they 
 could not be virtuous, fince virtue is no more than the 
 fubduing our vicious inclinations, 
 
 411. God's glory and our happinefs are fo infeparably 
 conjoined, that we cannot aim right at either but we muil 
 hit both j for God has not, throughout all his creation, 
 an enfign of honour fo truly worthy of him, as that of 
 a divine and pious foul, that reflects his image, and fhines 
 back his own glories upon him. 
 
 412. One very great caufe why men that have often 
 thought to reform their lives, and refolve againfl their e- 
 vil courfes, yet repent of their repentance, their refolu- 
 tion becoming frail and fruitlefs, is, becaufe they do not 
 ufe mortification, to work their averfion high and ftrong 
 againfl the fin, and fix their refolution. The univerfal 
 fenfe of the Primitive Church confirms me in this con- 
 clufion (fays Dr Allejlree)^ who for that reafon, in their 
 penitential excommunications, did inflict fuch feverities 
 as it is almoft incredible that Chriftians fhould fubmit to, 
 yet they begged to be cenfured into them ; and thofe had 
 St Paid for their precedent. But now our repentance is 
 but fome tranfient diflike of our fin, fome faint and fruitlefs 
 wifhes to do better. When we are under the apprehen- 
 fion of God's wrath and punifhment, we make vows a- 
 gainft our vices j but when that fit is over, and we by 
 indulgence anew prepared for temptation, we fall again, 
 
 and
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 67 
 
 and then perhaps we relent again, curfe the fin, and all 
 the caufes of it, and call ourfelves unhappy that are fub- 
 ject to fuch violent infirmities ; but ftill go on the devil's 
 round, like men inchanted in a circle of finning and re- 
 penting; and this is like to be our ftate till we in good 
 earneft fet about the great work of mortification. It is 
 true, what Clemens of Alexandria fays, this common prac- 
 tice of finning and fuperficial repenting, as if we would 
 give God and the devil their turns, is an argument of an 
 impenitent and unbelieving temper. It is no faint refift- 
 ance will make the temptations of the devil, the world, 
 and the flefh give way ; we muft offer a refolute violence 
 to all our earthly appetites, if we mean nobly to force 
 our way through thefe almoft inevitable dangers. It is 
 not for nothing that the fcripture bids us ftrive and fight, 
 and wreftle and run, labour and watch, faft and pray, 
 and work out our falvation with fear and trembling. 
 There is nothing but auflerities will mortify the inclina- 
 tions that ftir againft the fpirit ; by denying fruition to 
 our appetites, we mail be able to calm and moderate our 
 affections to every thing below, and then temptations will 
 have neither aid nor avenue. 
 
 413. It is a hard tafk to fpeak of perfons nearly related 
 to us, it being difficult either to commend or condemn 
 them with decency. 
 
 414. Poor mortals are prefTed with cares for what is 
 prefent, with forrows for what is pafl, and fears for what 
 is to come. 
 
 415. There is a certain zeal, that operates with equal 
 
 K 2 vio-
 
 68 A COLLECTION of 
 
 violence in all religions ; which, if well examined, is ei- 
 ther pride, intereft, or ill nature. 
 
 416. Affliction and phyiick both imply a difeafe, and 
 both are applied for cure. 
 
 4 j 7. Mufick is not more agreeable to a mufical ear, 
 than flattery to vain-glorious people ; it is a charm that 
 pleafingly bewitches them, and the wifeft of men give 
 way to be tamed and foothed by this enchantment. We 
 ought no more to receive the praifes we do not deferve, 
 than the money that is not due to us. 
 
 418. Nothing contributes more to the happinefs of 
 life than friendfhip ; but if the underftanding does not di- 
 rect the heart, friends are more proper to difturb than 
 pleafe us, and more capable of hurting than ferving us. 
 Nothing difturbs our repofe fo much as friends, if we 
 have not judgment enough to chufe them well. Impor- 
 tunate friends make us wim they were indifferent ; the 
 morofe give us more uneafinefs by their humour, than 
 they do us good by their fervices; and the imperious ty- 
 rannife over us. 
 
 419. A true chriftian knows how to make advantage 
 of every thing ; the evils which he fuffers are the good 
 things which God fends him ; the good things he wants, 
 are the evils from which providence has fecured him ; e- 
 very thing is a benefit to him, every thing in this world 
 is a mercy ; and when, by the neceflity of his mortal con- 
 dition, he muft die, he looks upon the end of his life as 
 a paflage to one more happy, which is never to conclude. 
 Such is the felicity of a true chriftian, whilft uncertainty 
 and trouble make the condition of all others unhappy. 
 
 420. There
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 69 
 
 420. There is no court, but where women have credit 
 and intereft 5 no jlate intrigues, but they have a hand in 
 them. 
 
 421. That man fets too high a rate upon his favours, 
 who expeds cringes and intreaties for them. 
 
 422. When a benefit is honourable to him that receives 
 it, we ought to accompany it with all the pomp that can 
 contribute to make it publick ; for, by that means, we 
 multiply the obligation. But when the ufefulnefs of a 
 good office is attended with fome difgrace, as when we 
 relieve an indigent perfon, we ought, by our fecrecy, ta 
 fpare him the confufion of having his wa-nts proclaimed j 
 for the leaft grain of fhame overpays the moft bountiful 
 relief. 
 
 423. Men glory in raifing great and magnificent flruc- 
 tures, and find a fecret pleafure to fee fets of their own 
 planting to grow up and flourim. But furely it would 
 be a greater and more glorious work to build up a man, 
 to fee a youth of our own planting; from the fmall be- 
 ginnings and advantages we have given him, to grow up 
 into a confiderable fortune. 
 
 424. Ingratitude perverts all the meafures of religion 
 and fociety, by making it dangerous to be charitable and 
 good-natur'd. 
 
 425. The contemplation of the divine being, and the 
 cxercife of virtue, are in their own nature fo far from ex- 
 cluding all gladnefs of heart, (as fome falfly imagine) that 
 they are the perpetual fources of it. The true fpirit of 
 religion chears as well as compofes the foul j it banifhes 
 indeed all levity of behaviour, all vicious and difTolutc 
 
 mirth.
 
 yo A COLLECTION of 
 
 mirth, but in exchange fills the mind with a perpetual 
 ferenity, uninterrupted chearfulnefs, and an habitual in- 
 clination to pleafe others, as well as be pleafed in itfelf. 
 
 426. The mind being eternal, no temporal .thing can 
 be a fit object for it, no more than founds can be proper 
 objects for the eye, or fights for the palate. 
 
 427. Malice is the ordinary vice of thofe who live in 
 the mode of religion, without the fpirit of it. 
 
 428. As ravenous birds are the quickeft- lighted, fo the 
 worft men are the greateft fault-finders. 
 
 429. Plato fays, that great minds are apt to produce 
 great virtues, and no lefs vices. 
 
 430. It is for young men to gather knowledge, and 
 old men to ufe it. 
 
 431. He may juftly be called covetous, who balks any 
 part of his duty for fear of leffening his fortune ; who 
 chufes rather to feve his wealth than his confcience ; that 
 denies himfelf the conveniences of life, and fets his inte- 
 reft above his honour. 
 
 432. Praife favours of flattery, and cenfure of malice, 
 be they never fo juft. The beft way to advance another's 
 virtue, is to follow it j and the true means to cry down 
 another's vice, is to decline it. 
 
 433. It is an ordinary failing in moft men, never to be 
 contented with their fortune, or difiatisfied with their wit. 
 
 434. Few men fear to be defpifed, except thofe who 
 really deferve to be fo. 
 
 435. He that fets up his reft upon contingencies, mall 
 never be happy nor quiet. 
 
 436. Jealoufy is like a polifh'd glafs, held to the lips, 
 
 when
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 71 
 
 when life is in doubt ; if there be the leaft breath, it will 
 catch the damp, and fhew it. 
 
 437. Penitent finners are under no condemnation ; the 
 law cannot condemn them, becaufe they have appealed ; 
 nor the gofpel, becaufe they have believed. 
 
 438. We muft not fuffer ourfelves to be obliged by all 
 manner of perfons, for that would be to become a com- 
 mon (lave. Some are born to be more happy than others ; 
 the firft for doing good, and the other for receiving it. 
 Liberty is more precious than all gifts, and to receive is 
 to lofe it. 
 
 439. It is hard to find one that a man of fpirit would 
 be obliged to ; for generally men are as fordid in their 
 favours, as in their interefts, and remember the obliga- 
 tion they have beftow'd, when they forget the return they 
 have received. 
 
 440. It is no fmall wonder to fee how 'women that are 
 fo mightily fond of their beauty^ can ufe fo much art to 
 anticipate its ruine. 
 
 441. A man had rather meet with thofe who depend 
 upon him, that that are thankful to him. To keep peo- 
 ple in hopes, is prudence; to truft to their gratitude, 
 fimplicity. For it is as common for gratitude to be for- 
 getful, as for hopes to be mindful : you get always more 
 by this, than by the other. So foon as the orange is 
 fqueezed, it is thrown upon the ground; and likewife 
 when dependence ceafes, there is an end of correfpondence 
 and efleem alfo. 
 
 442. Take care you never difpute againft your judg- 
 ment to mew your wit, left you become indifferent to 
 
 what
 
 7 2 A COLLECTION of 
 
 what is right ; never difpute againft a man meerly to vex 
 him, or for tryal of fkill, fince to inform, or be inform- 
 ed, is the end of all conferences. Poverty of imagina- 
 tion makes men run into the fault of giving contradictions ; 
 they want in their minds entertainment for themfelves and 
 company, and therefore build all they fpeak upon what 
 is ftarted by others ; and fince they cannot improve that 
 foundation, endeavour to deftroy it. 
 
 443. We fhould take all the care imaginable how we 
 create enemies, it being one of the hardeft things in the 
 chriflian religion to behave ourfelves as we ought to do 
 towards them. 
 
 444. It is not our intereft to be always over vigorous 
 in the demanding of our rights, nothing looks better than 
 for a man fometimes to drop his preteniions. 
 
 445. No one is obliged to think beyond his capacity j 
 and we never tranfgrefs the bounds of good fenfe, but 
 when we aim to go beyond it. 
 
 446. The only ftudy in the courts of princes is how to 
 pleafe, becaufe a man makes his fortune there by being a- 
 greeable ; this is the reafon why courtiers are fo polite. 
 On the contrary, in towns and republicks, where men 
 are forced to take pains to get their living, the laft of their 
 cares is to pleafe, and it is that makes them fo clownim. 
 
 447. Thofe that wifh for what they have not, forfeit 
 the enjoyment of what they have. Set a juft term to 
 your wimes, and when you have touched it, make a ftand ; 
 happinefs only begins when wimes end, and he that 
 hankers after more, enjoys nothing. 
 
 448. There is nothing more dangerous in a ftate, than 
 
 when
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 73 
 
 when the king and people are trying the utmofl extent of 
 the prerogative of the one, and the liberty of the other, 
 tho' the bounds of either were never yet found out ; for 
 it is an undeniable maxim, that they who will always do 
 as much as they may, will fometimes do more than they 
 ought. 
 
 449. Set bounds to your zeal, by difcretion ; to error, 
 by truth ; to paffion, by reafon j and to divhlon, by cha- 
 rity. 
 
 450. Doubt is the worft torment of the mind -, and fo 
 great is the pain, that we defire to lofe it, though in ex- 
 change of a certainty, that muft afflict us more. 
 
 451. Too many laws are a fnare, too few a weaknefs 
 in government, too gentle are never obeyed, and too ftricT: 
 and fevere are feldom executed. 
 
 452. Women are feldom cheated, but they are accef- 
 fary to it ; for did they not flatter themfelves, men could 
 not fo eafily impofe upon them. 
 
 453. "A woman is oftener unhappy in the perfon me 
 cbufes, than in the favour me grants. 
 
 454. The unequal difpenfation of rewards and punijk- 
 menfSj will foon or late prove fatal to a prince. 
 
 455. The fureft way of governing, both in a private 
 family and a kingdom, is for a bujband and a prince 
 fometimes to yield fomething of their prerogative. 
 
 456. There is no fubject fo inconfiderable, but his 
 prince, at one time or other, may have occafion for him j 
 and it holds through the whole fcale of the creation, that 
 the great and the little have need of one another. 
 
 457. A courtier never defires to retire till he is al- 
 
 L mofr
 
 74 A COLLECTION of 
 
 mod fure of being fent home, if not further out of the 
 
 way. 
 
 458. Valour was affigned to men, and cbqftity to wo- 
 men, as their principal virtues, becaufe they are the hard- ' 
 eft to pradife. When thefe virtues are not fuftained and 
 kept up, either by constitution or divine grace, they foon 
 grow faint, and fall prefently a facrifice to the love of life 
 and pleafure. 
 
 459* Women are neither thofe angels, nor thofe devils, 
 we make them j for, bating propagation, they differ but 
 little from men in any thing. 
 
 460. We mould never difpute on things that God has 
 not been pleafed to fubmit to our reafon. If a man's un- 
 derflanding could comprehend all the counfels of God, it 
 muft- of neceffity be equal to it. 
 
 461. As reconciling enemies is the work of God, fo 
 feparating friends is the bufmefs of the devil. 
 
 462. Friendmip fupplies the place of every thing, to 
 thofe who know how to make a right ufe of it j it makes 
 your profperity more happy, and your adverfity more eafy. 
 
 463. To endeavour not to pleafe, is ill nature ; altoge- 
 ther to neglect it, folly j and to overftrain for it, vanity 
 and defign. 
 
 464. A facetious fool may have entertaining follies to 
 divert you for a time, but nothing fo troublefome as a fe- 
 rious one. 
 
 465. He that is moderate in his wiflies from reafon 
 and choice, and not refigned from fournefs, diftafte and 
 difappointment, doubles all the pleafures of his life. 
 
 466. Religion and policy, as they do very well toge- 
 
 ther,
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 75 
 
 ther, fo they do but ill afunder ; the one is too cunning 
 to be good, the other too fimple to be fafe. A little of 
 the wifdom of the ferpent, mixt with the innocency of 
 the dove, will be a. good ingredient in all your actions. 
 
 467. The goodnefs and mercy of God towards perfons 
 not capable of becoming good, is a goodnefs that does not 
 agree with the infinite purity and holinefs of God. It is 
 fuch a goodnefs, that, if it were propofed to the world, it 
 would encourage men to live in fin, and to think that a 
 few acts of homage, offered to God in our lafl extremi- 
 ties, could fo far pleafe him, as to bribe and corrupt him. 
 The forming a falfe notion of the goodnefs of God, as 
 of a tendernefs that is to be overcome with importunities, 
 bowlings, and other fubmiiiions, and not to be gained only 
 by becoming like him, is a capital and fundamental error 
 in religion. 
 
 468. Though you may be never fo clear in your judg- 
 ment, yet it mews a yielding fweetnefs of temper, and a 
 moft agreeable condefcenfion, to fpeak with doubt, but 
 never to mew confidence in arguing, unlefs to fupport the 
 fenfe of another. Sometimes, in converfation, you may 
 chufe to be lefs knowing, to be more obliging, and to be 
 on a level with others, rather than opprefs them with a 
 Cuperiority of genius. 
 
 469. It is a hard matter to prevail with a woman to 
 own me loves you ; but when me has once done it, me 
 has no further fecret to keep from you. 
 
 470. Women generally take greater care of their reputa- 
 tion, than men of theirs. Why then do we account them 
 the weaker fex ? 
 
 L 2 471. Wo-
 
 76 A COLLECTION of 
 
 471. Women cannot endure a jealous hujband, yet are 
 well enough pleafed with a jealous lover. 
 
 472. A covetous man lays up for old age, when young; 
 and for death, when old. A prodigal heir makes him a 
 fine funeral \ and devours the reft of his wealth. 
 
 473. It is faid of a virtuous and wife man, that having 
 nothing, he has all ; when a mifer having all things, yet 
 has nothing. 
 
 474. We mould not meafure men by Sundays, without 
 regarding what they do all the week after $ for devotion 
 does not neceffarily make men good,- though the want of 
 it may endanger their principles. 
 
 475. He will find himfelf in a great miflake, that either 
 feeks for a friend in a court, or tries him at a feaft. 
 
 476. A falfe friend is like the fhadow on a dial ; it ap- 
 pears in clear weather, but vanimes as foon as that is 
 cloudy. 
 
 477. All objeffs have different faces, and the mind, 
 which is in continual motion, looks upon them as it turns j 
 infomuch that we have nothing, if I may fo fpeak, but 
 new afpeffs y thinking to enjoy new difcoveries. . 
 
 478. The wit of converfation confifls more in finding 
 it in others, than mewing a great deal yourfelf. He who 
 goes out of your company pleafed with his own facetiouf- 
 nefs and ingenuity, will the fooner come into it again. 
 Mod men had rather pleafe than admire you, and feek 
 lefs to be inftructeJ and diverted, than approved and ap- 
 plauded j and it is certainly the moft delicate fort of plea- 
 fure to pleafe another* 
 
 479. A pleafant man is rarely to be met with, "and a 
 
 perfon,
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 77 
 
 perfon, though he was born fo, muft have a great deal of 
 delicacy to maintain the character a long time j but com- 
 monly he that makes one laugh, is notfuretobeefteemed. 
 
 480. The heart has no avenue fo open, as that of flat- 
 tery, which, like fome enchantment, lays all its guards 
 afleep. 
 
 481. Where there is no remedy but patience, cuftoin 
 makes it eafy, and neceffity gives no courage. 
 
 482. Reciprocal love is juftice; conflant love, forti- 
 tude ; fecret love, prudence. It is the hardeft thing in 
 love to feign it where it is not, or hide it where it is j but 
 it is much eafier counterfeited than concealed. 
 
 483. The pleafure of fubduing an inordinate defire, of 
 denying an impetuous appetite, is not only nobler, but 
 greater by far, than any that is to be had in the moil 
 tranfporting moments of their gratification. 
 
 484. No man lives long enough to profit himfelf by 
 his faults i he is committing them during the whole courfe 
 of his life, and as much as he can do at laft, is to die 
 corrected. 
 
 485. In things necefTary, go along with the ancient 
 church ; in things indifferent, with the prefent. Though 
 you have opinions and notions of your own, yet yield, as 
 the orbs do, for the order of the univerfe, to the great 
 wheel of the church : if fome points in fcripture are lefs 
 clear and pofitive, it is, that chriftians may exercife hu- 
 mility in themfelves, and charity to others. 
 
 486. Cuftom and experience are more ufeful in making 
 one's fortune, than wit) we think of it too late, and 
 when at laft we refolve on it, we begin by thofe faults 
 
 which
 
 7 8 A COLLECTION of 
 
 which we have not always time to repair ; whence per- 
 haps It proceeds that fortunes are fo rarely acquired. 
 
 487. He who folicits for another, has the confidence 
 cf one who demands juftice ; he who fpeaks for himfelf, 
 the confufion of him who implores mercy. 
 
 488. None but little fouls are difturbed at having their 
 ignorance reproved ; and the reafon is, that being gene- 
 rally very blind and fooHfo, they never trouble themfelves 
 with doubts, and are fully fatisfied they fee thofe things 
 clearly, which they faw only through the thick mift of a 
 clouded underftandiflff. 
 
 O 
 
 489. The common fubjects of a kingdom are not fo 
 apt to trouble themfelves about the rights and polTeffions 
 of a crown, as about their own j and feldom engage in 
 the quarrels of the firft, but upon fome general and ftrong 
 apprehenfion that the lafl are in danger. 
 
 490. Princes may be faid, in fome fenfe, to com- 
 mand every thing that they do, and to forbid every 
 thing that they do not j their example has an at- 
 tradtive power to draw others after them : both their vir- 
 tues and their vices fpread themfelves over all their domi- 
 nions, and are, in fome meafure, eternized by imitation. 
 The leaft crime that they commit, renders them guilty of 
 a thoufand others j and all the virtues with which they 
 are adorned, are incelfantly reproduced in the hearts of 
 an infinite number of perfons, that are ambitious of re- 
 fembling them. 
 
 491. There is not any thing more dangerous for a 
 prince, than to confult only with perfons that he thinks 
 are of his own mind, or will be fo when they know it ; 
 
 nor
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 79 
 
 nor more pernicious in a counfellor, than to give only fuch 
 advices as he thinks moil agreeable ta him that afks or re- 
 ceives them. 
 
 492. A good countenance is a fllent commendation, and 
 is generally, though not always, the index .of the mind ; 
 for the rays of the foul paffing through it diicover what 
 degree of brightnefs is within, fo that the afpect feems de- 
 ligned not only for ornament, but information. For what 
 can be more fignificant than the fudden fluihing and con- 
 fufion of a blufh, than the fparklings of rage, or the 
 lightnings of a fmile, which may be reckoned the fun- 
 mine of the mind, that breaks out with the brighteft dif- 
 tinction j it plays with a furprizing agreeablenefs in the 
 eye, fits like a glory upon the countenance, and feems to 
 make the very foul vifible. 
 
 493. Affectation in gefhire, fpeech, or manners, is 
 frequently the confequence of idlenefs or indifference j 
 much bufinefs, and an application .to ferious affairs, oblige 
 a man to keep to nature. 
 
 494. No man ever was a lofer by good works; for 
 though he be not prefently rewarded, yet, in tract of 
 time, fome happy emergency or other arifes to convince 
 him that virtuous men are the darlings of providence. 
 
 495. It is difficult for a man to have fenfe, and be a 
 knave. A true and fharp genius conducts to order, truth, 
 and virtue ; it is want of fenfe and penetration, which 
 makes a man obftinate in evil as in error. We ftrive in 
 vain to correct a blockhead by fatire, which defcribes him 
 to others, while he himfelf will not know his own pic- 
 ture 5 it is like railing to a deaf man. 
 
 496. The
 
 80 A COLLECTION of 
 
 496. The fame vices which are deformed and infup- 
 portable in others, we do not fee in ourfelves ; they are 
 not burthenfome to us, but feem to reft without weight 
 as in their proper centers. Such a one, fpeaking of an- 
 other, draws a difmal picture, not in the leaft imagining 
 that at the fame time he is painting himfelf. 
 
 497. Generally the mirth of a debauch, as it is drain- 
 ed and artificial, fo it cannot lafl long ; it is at belt but 
 like the effects of a ftrong cordial, which may ferve to 
 rally the fpirits from feme encounter ; but then they are 
 fpent in the conflict, and fall and flag again quickly. 
 Whenever the fpirits are extraordinarily exhilarated and di- 
 lated, they thereby become fo thin and volatile, that they 
 eafily exhale and vanifh, and fo a man becomes far more 
 melancholy and lumpifh than before.^ 
 
 498. To fuffer the people to ftupify thcmfelves with 
 pleafures and feafts, with mows and luxury, with vanity 
 and delicacy j to difpqjfefs them of all things folid and va- 
 luable, and leave them fond of ridiculous trifles, is to 
 make the greateft advances to a defpotick power. 
 
 499. It is great wifdom in a prince to underftand the 
 critical feafons and circumftances for rigour or remiflhefs ; 
 when it if, proper to take up, and when to flacken the 
 reins of government. 
 
 500. It is the higheft pitch of greatnefs in a prince, 
 to know how to fupport his authority without the cere- 
 mony of guards j to flirink himfelf almoft into the figure 
 or it private gentleman, and yet act neverthelefs with all 
 the force and majefty of his character, when the govern- 
 ment requires it. How creditable is it to the fex we ac- 
 count
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 8j 
 
 count the weaker, that this was never done in England, 
 but by queen Elizabeth. 
 
 501. The authority which princes communicate to their 
 fubjects, is chiefly in refpect of wifdom or valour -, yet it 
 generally happens, that they account them the wifeft and 
 braveft men, that can befl accommodate themfelves to 
 their humour. 
 
 502. The wounding of a friend for the fake of a jeft, 
 is an intemperance and immorality not to be endured. 
 
 503. To give the women their due, few of them are 
 falfe till their hufbands provoke them to it. 
 
 504. The pleafure of fociety among friends is cultivated 
 by a likenefs of imagination as to manners, and a dif- 
 ference in opinion as to fciences ; the one confirms and 
 humours us in our fentiments, the other exercifes and in- 
 flructs us by difputation. 
 
 505. It is fo common for men not to be happy, and 
 fo eflential to all good to be accfuired by trouble, that 
 what is come at eafily, is fufpected. 
 
 506. A great merit, joined to a great modefty, may 
 be a long time before it is difcovered. 
 
 507. The moft barbarous nations have ftill paid a fort 
 of divinity to the dead, death being always looked upon 
 as a full difcharge from all the errors of life. 
 
 508. There is in the beft counfel fomething that dif- 
 pleafes ; it is not our own thoughts, and therefore pre- 
 fumption and caprice furnifh pretences enough to reject it 
 at firft fight, and reflection only forces its reception. 
 
 509. Wife conduct turns upon two centers, the pafl 
 and the future -, he that has- a faithful memory, and a vaft 
 
 M fore-
 
 82 A COLLECTION of 
 
 forefight, is our of danger of cenfuring in others thofe 
 faults he may have been guilty of himfelf, or condem- 
 ning an action which, in a parallel cafe, and in like cir- 
 cumftances, it will be impoffible for him to avoid. 
 
 510. There is a thing in the world, if it is poffible, 
 incomprehenfible : A perfon that appears dull, fottifli, 
 and ftupid, knows neither how to fpeak, nor relate what 
 he has feen, but if he fets to write, no man does it bet- 
 ter j he makes animals, trees, and ftones, talk, and his 
 works are full of elegance, natural fenfe, and delicacy. 
 
 511. Avoid obfcene ambiguities, be they never fo care- 
 fully wrapped up ; they have always a bad effect in the 
 mind of the hearer, and denote the corrupt moral of 
 the fpeaker. 
 
 5 1 2. Every outward beauty proceeds from an inward 
 order and harmony, and both the inward and outward 
 beauties are advanced by a proper method. 
 
 513. Hefiod being afk'd when he was lending money, 
 why all thefe niceties and forms of law among intimate 
 friends? He anfvver'd, By all means, that we may be 
 fure to continue fo. 
 
 514. I am tired with whatfoever I have yet enjoyed 
 in this world, and I expect no greater fatfsfaction mould 
 I live a thoufand years ; every pleafure appears but the 
 fame in different forms, and they all agree in- leaving us 
 afflicted in the fame, or greater, pains, than they found 
 us. It is beft therefore to lay afide all fruitlefs care and 
 fadnefs, and be as merry as will confift with the wifdom 
 of a man. 
 
 515. There are few women that would not rather 
 
 choofe
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 83 
 
 choofe to be divorced from their hufbands, than to lofe 
 their gallants. 
 
 516. If divorce was to be come by without the trouble 
 of fuing for an aft of parliament, it would raife the plea- 
 fures of a married life, and fink the delights of intriguing. 
 
 517. A woman's chaftity is not to be endured, where 
 me expects an uncontrollable authority for it. 
 
 518. Nothing better mews what little value God fets 
 upon riches, preferments, and other worldly advantages, 
 than his indifferent difpenfation of them, and the unwor- 
 thinefs of thofe who generally poflefs them. 
 
 519. From the features of a man's face we may draw 
 fome probable conjectures of his temper and inclinations ; 
 but his looks and countenance plainly difplay the advan- 
 tage of fortune, and we may read in them, in fair cha- 
 racters, how many thoufands a man is worth a year. 
 
 520. There is not a greater argument of a narrow, 
 wretched foul, than to doat .upon 'money ; nothing more 
 reafonable than to defpife it, when we have it not, and 
 nothing more honourable than to employ it generoufly, 
 and do good with it, when we have it. 
 
 521. To be proud of knowledge, is to be blind with 
 light ; to be proud of virtue, is to poifon yourfelf with 
 the antidote. 
 
 522. Nothing is fo glorious in the eyes of mankind, 
 and ornamental to human nature (fetting afide the infi- 
 nite advantages that arife from it) as a flrong, fleady, and 
 mafculine piety. But enthufiafm and fuperftition are the 
 weaknefles of human reafon, that expofe us to the fcorn 
 
 M 2 and
 
 84 A COLLECTION of 
 
 and derifion of infidels, and fink us even beneath the 
 beafts that perifh. 
 
 523. To-morrow is ftill the fatal time when all is to be 
 rectified; to-morrow comes, it goes, and fUll I pleafe 
 niyfelf with the fhadow, whilft I lofe the reality, un- 
 mindful that the prefent time alone is ours, the future is 
 yet unborn, and the paft is dead, and can only live (as 
 parents in their children) in the actions it has produced. 
 
 524. Bold refolution is the favourite of fortune : Ne- 
 ceffity deadens the apprehenfion of danger. A good caufe 
 makes a flout heart, and a ftrong arm. 
 
 525. He that is fo foolifhly modeft as to be afliamed 
 to own his defects of knowledge, fliall in time be fo ful- 
 fomely impudent as to juflify his ignorance, which is the 
 greateft of all infirmities, and, when juflified, the chiefeft 
 of follies* 
 
 526. Idlenefs is certainly the caufe, and bufinefs the 
 never -failing cure of melancholy. 
 
 527. Artificial modefty difparages a woman's real vir- 
 tue, as much as the ufe of paint does the natural com- 
 plexion* 
 
 528. A fally of paffion or extravagance is frequently 
 forgiven, but raillery in cool blood, which is a fign of 
 difefteem, is never pardoned. 
 
 529. Men ought to employ the firfl years of life to 
 become fo qualified, that the commonwealth rr&y have 
 occafion for their knowledge or induflry ; they ought to 
 refemble thofe materials in a building, which are of abfo^ 
 lute neceffity, and being fet there to advantage, give a 
 grace to the whole fabrick, 
 
 53. if
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 85 
 
 530. If any one ought to have been exempt from 
 error, doubt and inconftancy, it was Solomon. Notwith- 
 ftanding we fee in the inequality of his conduct, that he 
 was weary of his wifdom, that he was weary of his folly ; 
 and his virtues and vices, by turns, gave him new difgufts. 
 Sometimes he enjoys his life, as if chance governed all : 
 fometimes he afcribes all to providence, and never deli- 
 vers his thoughts with a pofitive air, but when eternal 
 wifdom makes him fpeak. 
 
 53 1. A nice obfervation of rules is a confinement which 
 a great genius cannot bear, it naturally covets liberty. 
 
 532. The art of managing humors, and of gaining our 
 ends upon men, is to find out their weak fide. There is 
 no man that has not his predominant paffions, and thefe 
 paffions are different, according to the diverfity of tempers. 
 All men are idolaters, fome of honour, others of intereft, 
 and moft of their pleafures. The fkill is firfi to know 
 the character of the perfon, next to feel his pulfe, and 
 then to attack him by. his ftrongeft pafTion, which is his 
 weaker fide. 
 
 533. Great fouls are not diftinguiflied by having lefs 
 faffion, and more virtue, but by having nobler and great- 
 er defigns than the vulgar. 
 
 534. All paffions and refentmcnts of the foul have their 
 tone of voice, their geftures of the My, and their forms 
 and air peculiar to them ; and the mutual relation of them, 
 either good or bad, makes accordingly perfons either plea- 
 fant or u.npleafant. 
 
 535. Every wife prince ought to govern his fubjefls 
 fervants, in fuch manner, that by his affability and 
 
 virtue,
 
 86 A COLLECTION of 
 
 virtue, they may be endeared to his fervice, rather volun- 
 tarily, than for pay or hope of preferment : For other- 
 wife, whenever the prince mail want means to reward, 
 the fubjects likevvife will fail in their good will to ferve ; 
 but he that faithfully loves, does neither become arrogant 
 in projperify, nor withdraw in adverfe fortune. 
 
 536. The foul is capable of greater joys in the imagina- 
 tion, than any which nature has provided for it in the body. 
 
 537- Women as often difcover where they love, by their 
 railing, as men when they lye, by their fwearing. 
 
 538. It is barbarous to infult over an unavoidable infir- 
 mity, and trample on the venerable ruins of human na- 
 ture. That age has a peculiar right to regard, is paft difputej 
 nature teaches it, religion enjoins it, and cuftom has con- 
 firmed it. 
 
 539. Certainly, nothing but nature can qualify a man 
 for learning. Socrates fays, it is impoffible to raife learn- 
 ing out of a mind, where nature has not planted it. 
 
 540. The productions of a great genius, with many 
 lapfes and inadvertencies, are infinitely preferable to the 
 works of an inferior kind of author, which are fcrupu- 
 loufly exact, and conformable to the rules of correct writing. 
 
 541. It is certain that goodnefs cannot be a perfection 
 which exceeds the meafures of wifdom, nor that mercy 
 neither, which tranfgrelTes the bounds of juftice. To be 
 wife beyond what is good, is craft ; to be good beyond 
 what is wife, is dotage j to be juft beyond what is mer- 
 ciful, is rigour ; to be merciful beyond what is juft, is ea- 
 finefs. 
 
 542. The inconftant multitude always judge of things 
 
 accord-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 87 
 
 according to the fuccefs j when that fails, they immedi- 
 ately fly at the government. 
 
 543. Such conceffions as are extorted by neceffity, are 
 always unfincere, and never lafling. 
 
 544. If a great wit has not a little wifdom join- 
 ed with it, to direct where, when, and how to apply 
 it, it is like wild-fire that flies at rovers, runs hiffing a- 
 bout, and blows up every thing that comes in its way, 
 without any refpect or difcrimination. 
 
 545. Take no advantage of the ignorance, neceffity, 
 or prodigality of any man, for that gain can never be bleft. 
 
 546. Of all friendfhip, that is the pleafanteft that is 
 contracted by a fimilitude of manners. 
 
 547. Thofe that contribute none of their ftudy, labour, 
 or fortune to the publick, may be faid to defert the com- 
 munity. 
 
 548. Thofe promifes are not to be kept that a man 
 makes when he is either compelled by fear, or deceived 
 by fraud : In all promifes, the intention is to be conlider- 
 ed, not the letter, none binding but what are juft. 
 
 549. Though there is a great deal due to character, yet 
 there is much more owing to truth, which mould never 
 be concealed for the advantage of any character. 
 
 550. Wherever life is, it will operate j and therefore, 
 if God, who is all life and activity, is every where, he 
 mud operate every where ; and if he operates every where, 
 that operation is an univerfal providence. 
 
 551. As the practice of all piety and virtue is agreeable 
 to our reafon, fo it is likewife for the intcreft of mankind, 
 both of private perfons and publick focieties. Some vir- 
 tues
 
 88 A COLLECTION of 
 
 tues plainly tend to the prefervation of our health, others 
 to the fecurity and improvement of our eftates, all to the 
 peace and quiet of our minds, and, which is fomewhat 
 more ftrange, to the advancement of our efteem and re- 
 putation. For though the world be generally bad, and 
 men are apt to approve nothing fo much as what they do 
 themfelves, yet I know not how it comes to pafs, men 
 are commonly fo juft to virtue and goodnefs, as to praile 
 it in others, even when they do not practife it themfelves. 
 
 552. All parties blame perfecution when they feel the 
 fmart of it, and all praclife it when they have the rod in 
 their hands. The church of England was no lefs fevere 
 upon the DilTenters in K. Charles the fecond's time, than 
 the Prejbyteriam had been on the church of England un- 
 der the Ufurper. 
 
 553. A divine ought to calculate his fermon, as an a- 
 ftrologer does his almanack, to the meridian of the place 
 and people where he lives. What fluff is it to preach a- 
 gainft ufury at Whitehall, and fornication mLombard-ftreet ! 
 No, invert the tables, and the application will be pat. 
 
 554. Every vice and folly has a train of fecret and ne- 
 ceflary punifhments linked to it. 
 
 555. Every man has his genial vices, his conflitutional 
 errors, and though he may appear a faint in all things 
 elfe, yet in thefe it is to be feared he will be found a finner. 
 
 556. It is more excellent for a prince to have a provi- 
 dent eye to prevent future, than a potent arm to fupprefs 
 prefent evils. 
 
 557. There is nothing fo impertinent and intolerable, 
 as a fool that takes upon him. A man puffed up with the 
 
 opinion
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 89 
 
 opinion of his own merit, is never put out of counte- 
 nance, he talks loud in all companies, he has an aflurance 
 in his face, which mows how well fatisfied he is with 
 himfelf, the leaft trifles that he fpeaks he utters with an 
 air of confidence, being convinced that he is heard with 
 pleafure ; thefe bold appearances impofe upon the incon- 
 iiderate, and carry away the fuffrages of fools, who know 
 not what true merit is, and fo take up with a glimmering 
 refemblance. 
 
 558. All great expreflions, without great thoughts to 
 fuftain them, may be refembled to fhips that ride with- 
 out lading j they float upon the furface, and cannot poife 
 themfelves to a fteady courfe. 
 
 559. Though beauty and merit are things real, and in- 
 dependent on tafle and opinion, yet agreeablenefs is ar- 
 bitrary. 
 
 560. An inviolable fidelity, good humour, and com- 
 placency of temper, out-live all charms of a fine face, 
 and make the decays of it invifible. 
 
 561. Mvz and aftiom are like objects of fight, and have 
 alfo their points of perfpeffive ; fome muft be feen at a 
 diftance, and others at clofe view, to be exactly judged of. 
 
 562. Thofe that make ill judgments of us, without be- 
 ing acquainted with us, do not wrong us in the leaft ; it 
 it not us they condemn, but only an imaginary chimera 
 of their own making. 
 
 563. It is the lot of mankind to be happy and mifer- 
 able by turns ; the wifdom of nature will have it fo, and 
 it is exceedingly for our advantage that it fhould be fo ; 
 by the mediation of this mixture we have the comfort of 
 
 N hope
 
 go A COLLECTION of 
 
 hope to fupport us in our diftreffes, and the apprehenfions 
 of a change, to keep a check upon us in the very huff 
 of our greatnefs and glory ; fo that by this viciflitude of 
 good and evil, we are kept fteady in our philofophy, and 
 in our religion ; the one minds us of God's omnipotence 
 and juftice, the other of his goodnefs and mercy ; the 
 one tells us, that there is no trufting to our own ftrength, the 
 other preaches faith and refignation in the profpect of an 
 over-ruling providence that takes care of us. 
 
 564. Nothing goes nearer a man in his misfortunes, 
 than to find himfelf undone by his own folly, or but any 
 way accefTary to his own mine. 
 
 565. We may be referved, without fournefs j grave, 
 without formality ; courageous, without ramnefs ; hum- 
 ble, without fervility j patient, without being infenfible ; 
 conftant, without obftinacy 5 chearful, without lightnefs ; 
 courteous . and fweet, without too much familiarity. 
 
 566. An affectation of wit where it is not, ferves only 
 to render folly more ridiculous j it makes both men and 
 women forward in fpeaking ; they fancy they mew their 
 wit, when they {hew their ignorance, and expofe them- 
 felves to be the jeft of the company, when they endea- 
 voured to be the admiration. 
 
 567. Notwithftanding man's effential perfection is very 
 little, his comparative may be conliderable $ if he looks 
 upon himfelf in an abftracted light, he has not much to 
 boaft of. This gives a different turn to the reflections of 
 the wife man and of the fool, the firft endeavours to fhine 
 in himfelf, and the laft to outmine others ; the firft is 
 humbled by the fenfe of his own infirmities, the laft is 
 
 lifted
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 91 
 
 lifted up by the difcovery he makes of thofe which he 
 obferves in other men ; the wife man coniiders what he 
 wants, and the fool what he abounds in ; the wife man 
 is happy when he gains his own approbation, and the 
 fool when he recommends hirnfelf to the applaufe of thofe 
 about him. 
 
 568. It is an eafy matter to impofe, where there is a 
 previous propenfion to be deceived. 
 
 569. Doubtlefs there are degrees of glory in heaven, 
 as of piety upon earth. 
 
 570. Much drink invigorates the fancy, but weakens 
 the underftanding. 
 
 571. Upon Pompey's hearing that Lucullus had given o- 
 ver meddling with publick affairs, and retired to enjoy his 
 plentiful eftate, he faid, That the fatigues of luxury were 
 much more unfeafonable for an old man, than thofe of 
 government. 
 
 572. If we cannot relieve the poor by contribution, yet 
 we may by confolation and intercefiion, by prayers and 
 companion, by pity and fympathy. 
 
 573. Opennefs has the mifchief, though not the malice 
 of treachery. 
 
 574. You mould be equally cautious of approving or 
 commending what deferves neither praife nor approbation, 
 that being commonly a fign of want of tafte, or an ill 
 judgment. 
 
 575* Wh is fufficient for thefe things ? 2 Cor. ii. -16, If 
 
 St Paul thought fit to put this queftion, who had a ful- 
 
 nefs of the fpirit, and the fiilnefs of learning, Brought 
 
 up in the fchools, taught by the doftors, and by the 
 
 N 2 mouth
 
 92 A COLLECTION of 
 
 mouth of God himfelf, fnatched from the feet of Gama- 
 liel to the third heaven, to have a beatific vifion of the 
 gofpel; if after all this he cried out, 'who is fujficient for 
 tbefe things ? fure they cannot be fuppofed to be fo, who, 
 in thefe little intervals which their trade and neceffities af- 
 ford them, fall into fits and frenzies of religion, have a 
 fharp paroxyfm of irregular and convulfed divinity, as if 
 they were poffefTed, till their wearinefs, and not know- 
 ing what to fay, do exorcife them. 
 
 576. How hard is it for a man who has no body to in- 
 troduce him, and cry him up in the world j who is no 
 member of any club or fociety, but ftands fingle, with- 
 out any thing to recommend him, but great parts and 
 true merit ; how hard is it, I fay, for fuch a man to break 
 through the obfcurity he finds himfelf in, and come upon the 
 fame level with many an empty fop in vogue and fafhion ! 
 
 577. A good man finds the reward of his application 
 to his duty, in the testimony of his own confcience -, and 
 the fecret pleafure he feels in difcharging it, makes him 
 amends for the efteem, acknowledgments, or praifes, 
 which he feldom meets with in the world. 
 
 578. Nothing goes fo far in the happinefs of our lives, 
 as to know things as really they are j and this knowledge 
 is to be acquired by frequent reflections upon men, and 
 the feveral affairs of the world, rather than by the peru- 
 fal of books. 
 
 579. 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 money. 
 
 580. Religion is univerfally rather inherited than taught ; 
 the generality of men embrace it as a part of their fate, 
 
 the
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 93 
 
 the temper of their clime, or the entail of their anceftors > 
 the reafon why they are chriftians, is becaufe chriftianity 
 had the luck to befpeak them firft j had Mahomet plied 
 them as early, they had had as much faith for the Al- 
 coran as the Bible. 
 
 581. Certainly chriftianity mufl be the true religion, or 
 all religions in the world are but a fable. 
 
 582. Men feldom commit one fin to pleafe, but they 
 commit another to defend themfelves. 
 
 583. The refufing or accepting praife rationally, grace- 
 fully, and difcreetly, is as great a trial of a wife man, as 
 the cupel is of filver. 
 
 584. Many laws are a fign of a lick commonwealth, as 
 many plaifters are of a difeafed body. 
 
 585. Of all poverty, that of the mind is mofr. deplo- 
 rable ; and of all prodigality, that of time is the worft. 
 
 586. Sloth is an argument of a degenerate and mean 
 mind, which is content to grovel in a defpicable ftate, 
 and aims at nothing that is great ; it difpofes a man to live 
 precarioufly and ungratefully on the publick flock, as a 
 burden to the earth, and an infignificant cypher among men. 
 
 587. When a man looks back upon his day or 
 week fpent, and finds his bufinefs has been worthy of 
 him, it exhilarates and revives him, enables him to 
 pafs his own approbation on himfelf, and, as it were,, 
 to anticipate the Euge he fhall one day receive from his 
 great matter. But he that gives himfelf only the idle 
 divertifements of a child, cannot reflect without con- 
 fufion ; which is fo well underftood by fuch perfons, that 
 they are forced to take fancluary in a total inconfideration, 
 
 never
 
 94 -^ COLLECTION of 
 
 never daring to afk themfelves, -zflto have I done? which 
 bears full teftimony to the excellency and felicity of inge- 
 nuous employments, fince they that decline thofe, are 
 forced to decline themfelves, and grow out of their own 
 acquaintance and knowledge. 
 
 588. It is a ftrange defire to feek power, and to lofe li- 
 berty j or to feek power over others, and to lofe power 
 over a man's own f elf. 
 
 589. It often comes to pafs, that when we think we do 
 a man a good office, we incur his indignation. The wife 
 Palemon had the misfortune to fall in difgrace with his 
 protector Daphnis, by endeavouring to cure him of the 
 paffion he had for Julia , who both jilts and ruins him j 
 for having mewn him invincible proofs of her infidelity, 
 the infatuated Daphnis, inftead of thanking Palemon., gave 
 credit to Julia's pretended juftification, and facrific'd his 
 friend to her refentment. 
 
 590. Many men have good fentiments in the moment 
 you oblige them -, but the conftitution of their nature 
 fways them foon after, and they eafily forget what they 
 owe others, becaufe they only love themfelves. And as 
 fire converts all things into its own fubftance, they only 
 confider publick interefts to convert them to their own 
 advantage, and equally defpife thofe who do them good, 
 and the ftate in which they receive it. 
 
 591. Operation is the right proof of nature : Trees 
 are diftinguilhed by their fruit, and dogs by the quali- 
 ties proper to their kind ; and, thus it holds with men 
 too, who ought to quit that name, unlefs they can anfwer 
 the idea, and make out their claim by their actions. 
 
 592. St
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 95 
 
 592. St Jerom wittily reproves the Gentile fuperflition, 
 who pictured the virgin deities with a fhield and lance, as 
 if chaftity could not be defended without war. No : 
 this enemy is to be treated with after another manner ; 
 if you hear it fpeak, though but to difpute, it ruins you, 
 and the very arguments you go about to anfwer, leave a 
 relim on the tongue j fo that it is not an enemy to be con- 
 tended with, but avoided. 
 
 593. The moft ready thing in the world is denial ; we 
 never grant but with reflection. 
 
 594. If any deceit be allowable, it is on fuch an oc- 
 cafion, as would make fincerity a piece of cruelty. 
 
 595. In the reputation of a wife man, his oeconomy 
 is one of the mofl diftinguifhing parts of his prudence. 
 
 596. Contentment makes us more happy in defiring 
 nothing, than the greateft monarchs upon earth in pofTef- 
 fmg all : It is the true philofopher's ftone, that turns all 
 it touches into gold; the poor are rich with, and the 
 rich poor without it $ in it we have all the treafure that 
 the world contains. 
 
 597. When our eftate in this world is perplexed and 
 uncertain, we mould be more than ordinary concern'd 
 to make fure of fomething, that we may not be miferable 
 in both worlds. 
 
 598. Whatever the church's fate be, I am chain'd to 
 it, both by my reafon and conference, and chufe rather to- 
 be crufhed by her fall, than to flourim on her ruins. 
 
 599. An ugly pei ion in fine trappings and accoutre- 
 ments is doubly fo ; when the deformity is by itfelf, it is 
 lefs, but being fet off with gaudy drapery, and rich gar- 
 niture,
 
 g6 A COLLECTION of 
 
 niture, it receives an additional difagreeablenefs from the 
 luftre of the bright equipage. The fire and brilliant of 
 a diamond makes the black hue of the complexion more 
 confpicuous, which was, as it were, hid; and benighted in 
 its own darknefs. 
 
 600. Fortitude without wifdom is ramnefs ; wifdom 
 without juftice, craft j juflice without temperance, cruelty. 
 
 60 1. Every inordinate luft and paflion is a falfe by- 
 afs upon men's underftanding, which naturally draws to- 
 wards atheifm. 
 
 602. Skilful mafters ought to have a care not to let 
 their works be feen in embryo, for all beginnings are 
 defective, and the imagination always prejudiced ; the re- 
 membering to have feen a thing imperfect, takes from 
 one the liberty of thinking it pretty when finished. 
 
 603. To fleep in health, and wake in plenty, to live 
 in the efteem and affection of every body ; what is want- 
 ing to make fuch a man happy ? Why, a great deal : 
 No wonder then fo many are miferable. 
 
 604. The vigour and jollity we enjoy, make the con- 
 trary eftate appear in fo great a difproportion to our pre- 
 fent condition, that by imagination we magnify and make 
 thofe inconveniencies ten times greater than they are, 
 and apprehend them to be much more troublefome, 
 than we find them really to be, when they lie the moft 
 heavy upon us. 
 
 605. It is undoubtedly true, that fcarce any man's 
 mind is fo capable of thinking ftrongly, in the prefence of 
 one whom he fears and reverences, as he is when that re- 
 ftraint is taken off. And this is not only to be found in 
 
 weighty
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 97 
 
 weighty matters, but alfo in the arts of difcourfe and 
 raillery themfelves : For we have often feen men of 
 bold tempers, that have overawed and governed the wit 
 of moft companies, to have been difturbed and dumb, 
 and bafhful as children, when fome other man has been 
 near, who us'd to out-talk them. Such a kind of na- 
 tural fovereignty there is in fome mens minds over others, 
 which mufl needs be much greater, when it is advanced 
 by long ufe, and the venerable name of a mafter. 
 
 606. Nothing is fo much for a prince's credit, as the 
 modefty of his favourites. 
 
 607. It is with Fortune as with other fantaftical mif- 
 trefTes, me makes fport with thofe that are ready to die 
 for her, and throws herfelf at the feet of thofe that de- 
 fpife her. 
 
 608. The knowledge of courtefy and good breeding 
 is a very necefTary ftudy ; but yet we mufl flill take care 
 not to be too troublefome or rude, by being over civil. 
 
 609. No . man can be truly good and fweet-natur'd 
 without conftancy and refolution : They that feem to be 
 fo, have commonly an eafinefs, that quickly turns pee- 
 vifh and four. 
 
 6 10. We eafily forget our faults, when no body takes 
 notice of them. 
 
 6 1 1- Courtiers cannot be too cautious, it being difficult 
 to rife, flippery to ftand, but deadly to fall. 
 
 612. In all controverfies between parents and their 
 children, I am naturally prejudiced in favour of the 
 former j the obligation on that fide can never be acquit- 
 ted j and, I think, it is one of the greateft reflections up- 
 
 O on
 
 98 A COLLECTION of 
 
 on human nature, that paternal inftindt mould be a 
 Wronger motive to love, than filial gratitude ; that the re- 
 ceiving of favours mould be a lefs inducement to good 
 will, tendernefs and commiferation, than the conferring of 
 them j and that the taking care of any perfon mould en- 
 dear the child, or dependant, more to the parent, or be- 
 nefactor, than the parent, or benefactor, to the child, 
 or dependant ; that fo it happens, that for one cruel pa- 
 rent, we meet with a thoufand undutiful children. This 
 is, indeed, wonderfully contrived for the fupport of eve- 
 ry living fpecies, but at the fame time that it mews the 
 wifdom of the creator, it difcovers the imperfection and 
 degeneracy of the creatures. 
 
 613. Religion in a maghtrate ftrengthens his authori- 
 ty, becaufe it procures veneration, and gains a repute to 
 it : and in all the affairs of this world, fo much reputa- 
 tion is, indeed, fo much power. 
 
 614. We often forgive thofe that have injured us, but 
 we can never pardon thofe we have injured. 
 
 615. Cunning is neither a very good, nor a very bad 
 quality ; it floats betwixt virtue and vice, and upon all 
 occafions it may, nay, perhaps, it ought to be, improved 
 by prudence. 
 
 6 1 6. There is not a greater pefl in human fociety, 
 than a perverfe craft under the mafk of fimplicity. 
 
 617. He that countenances, encourages, or abets mif- 
 chief, does it. 
 
 6 1 8. When the humours of the people are flirr'd by 
 difcontents, it is policy in a prince to give them mode- 
 rate liberty to vent their fpleen. He that turns the hu- 
 mour
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 99 
 
 rnour back, makes the wound bleed inwardly, and fills 
 the body with malignity. 
 
 619. There wants nothing more to make a prince 
 compleatly happy, than the fweetnefs of a private life. 
 If any thing can make him amends for fo great a lofs, 
 it muft be the charms of friendfhip^ and fidelity of true 
 friends. 
 
 620. There appear now in the world fome worthy 
 and excellent men, whofe rare virtues, and eminent qua- 
 lities, caft an incomparable brightnefs : They have nei- 
 ther anceftors nor defcendants, but make up themfelves 
 all their own pedigree, like thofe extraordinary apparhi- 
 ons in the heavens, which we know not how they rife, 
 or how they come to difappear. 
 
 621. A dogmatical tone is generally the effect of great 
 ignorance ; he that knows nothing, thinks he teaches o- 
 thers what he has learnt himfelf a moment before. On 
 the contrary, he that knows much, does hardly think 
 that what he fays can be unknown to other people, and 
 fo he fpeaks with a kind of indifference. 
 
 622. Men of greateft depth and wifdom have no infal- 
 lible fecurity againft making falfe fteps j but when the 
 misfortune happens, you are not obftinately to maintain 
 an abfurd choice, by a miftaken bravery, or the afperity 
 of refentments that plunge you in frefh precipices. Try 
 to recover from error, there being commonly more merit 
 in a dextrous difengagement from a labyrinth, than in the 
 firft avoidance of a fault. We pity a man, whom the 
 wretchednefs of his affairs, or unhappy circumftances have 
 difconcerted -, but we do not pity thofe that, by an unfea- 
 
 O 2 fonable
 
 ioo A COLLECTION of 
 
 fonable obftinacy, give the nnifhing ftroke to their own 
 ruin, when they might eafily reftore their matters by fol- 
 lowing another conduct. 
 
 623. Good fuccefs is often owing to want of judgment 5 
 for a nice difcretion keeps a man from venturing upon fe- 
 veral attempts, which meer want of confideration makes 
 frequently turn to good account. 
 
 624. Whofoever fpeaks againft religion, deferves to be 
 torn in pieces by the mob, whom he endeavours to un- 
 chain. 
 
 625. Time lengthens friendship, and weakens love. 
 
 626. If a man had arguments fufficient to perfuade 
 him there is no God, as he has infinite to the contrary, 
 yet the belief of fo bieft, fo kind, fo indulgent a being, 
 is fo very neceflary to the quiet, comfort and fatisfaclion of 
 our lives, that a wife man would be tormented and grieved 
 to quit fo pleafing an error. 
 
 627. The church of England generally preaches alca- 
 lis, the Prerbyterians acids : both may do well, according 
 to the different conftitutions they meet - 3 but the former 
 feem to operate beft with men of fenfe, and the latter with 
 the mob. 
 
 628. A man that enters the world, muft be induftri- 
 ous, but not affected in diiclofing his abilities ; the beft 
 way is to obferve a gradation, for the floweft fteps to 
 greatnefs are the moft fecure, but fwift rifes are often at- 
 tended with precipitate falls, and what is fooneft got is 
 generally fhorteft in the pofTeiTion. 
 
 629. Flattery will never be out of date, fo long as 
 there are knaves to give it, and fools to take it. 
 
 630. Satire
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 101 
 
 630. Satire and invectives are the eafieft kinds of wit, 
 almoft any degree of it will ferve to abufe or find fault j 
 for wit is a keen inftrument, and every one can cut and 
 gam with it ; but to carve a beautiful image, and to po- 
 lih it, requires great art and dexterity ; a little wit, 
 and a great deal of ill nature, will furnifh a man with 
 fatire, but the greateft inftance of wit is to commend well. 
 
 631. To boaft of virtue, is a moft ridiculous way of 
 difappointing the merit of it, but not by much fo pitiful 
 and mean, as that of being amam'd of it. 
 
 632. Nothing elder than God, greater than fpace, 
 quicker than fpirit, frronger than neceffity, or wifer than 
 time, which makes all men fo that obferve it. 
 
 633. The Jludkm men, while they continue heaping 
 up in their memories the cuftoms of pail ages, fall infen- 
 libly to imitate them, without any manner of care how 
 fuitable they are to time and things. In the ancient au- 
 thors^ which they turn over, they find defcriptions of 
 virtues more perfect than indeed they were : The go- 
 vernments are reprefented better, and the ways of life 
 pleafanter than they deferved. Upon this, thefe bsokifo 
 wifemen ftrait compare what they read with what they 
 fee ; and here beholding nothing fo heroically tranfcen- 
 dant, becaufe they are able to mark all the fpots> 
 as well as beauties of every thing that is fo clofe to 
 their fight, they prefently begin to defpife their own 
 times, to exalt the paft, to contemn the virtues, and ag- 
 gravate the vices of their country ; not endeavouring to 
 amend them, but by fuch examples as are now unpra&i- 
 cab:e ; by reafon of the alteration of men and manners. 
 
 634.. A
 
 102 A COLLECTION of 
 
 634. A peace cannot be lading, except the conditions 
 of it be reafonable and honourable to both parties 5 for 
 no people can live contented under fuch a law, as forces 
 them to loath the ftate wherein they are. 
 
 635. A king, who never gave his fubjects a caufe of 
 diflatisfadion, can never trufl them too far ; whereas a 
 -prince who has once rendered himfelf fufpefted, will do 
 well not to trufl them at all : Queen Elizabeth juflifies 
 the firfl ; and King Charles the Ifl, and James the lid, 
 the latter. 
 
 636. A principal fruit of friendmip, is the eafe and 
 difcharge of the fulnefs and fwellings of the heart, 
 which are caus'd by paffions of all kinds. We know 
 difeafes of floppings and fufTocations are the mofl dan- 
 gerous in the body, and it is not much otherwife in the 
 mind. 
 
 637. With three forts of people it is not prudence to 
 contract friendmip, viz. the ungrateful man, the blab, 
 and the coward ; the firfl cannot fet a true value on our 
 favours, the fecond cannot keep our fecrets, and the third 
 dares not vindicate our honour. 
 
 638. Hatreds are generally fo obftinate and fullen, that 
 the greatefl fign of death in a fick body, is his defire of 
 being reconciled to his enemies. 
 
 639. Luxury and delicacy of manners in a flate are 
 infallible fymptoms of its declenfion ; for when men are 
 fo over curious and nice in their own concerns and in- 
 ierefl, the good of the publick is generally neglected. 
 
 640. Princes and their miniflers have their natures 
 
 fome-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 103 
 
 fomething like the -celeftial bodies, they have much fplen- 
 dor, but no reft. 
 
 64 1 . To fight with cuftom is folly ; Pindar fays, cuftom 
 is king of all men, it bearing univerfal fway, and is of 
 that infinuating nature, that it converts into a beautiful 
 ihape, apparel, diet, geftures, opinions, and even fins, 
 that to a ftranger feem deformed and ugly. 
 
 642. Let thofe that abound in the conveniences of life, 
 give a new guft to their happinefs, by comparing it with 
 the ftate of the neceflitous j and let the thoughts of others 
 misfortunes, make them more delicioufly enjoy the feli- 
 city they poffefs. 
 
 643. He is truly miferable who difquiets himfelf with 
 the profpect of future evils. It is an abyfs fo profound,, 
 that it is enough to make one giddy to look down the pre- 
 cipice. To make ufe of the prefent good, is an excellent 
 fecret ; not but that a man ought to be prepared againfl 
 all the different accidents of life, for this may in fome 
 meafure protect him from the infults of fortune ; no ca- 
 lamity can happen to us, when once we have a fufficient 
 fund of patience and reafon to overcome it. 
 
 644. In the morning I love to converfe with the dead r 
 at noon with the living, and at night with myfelf. 
 
 645. Have a care of making any man your friend 
 twice, except the rupture was by your own miftake. 
 
 646. Friendfhip improves happinefs, and abates mife- 
 ry, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief. 
 
 647. "Truth is only agreeable to the virtuous, and it is 
 no fmall reflection on princes and great men, that few of 
 them can bear to hear it. 
 
 648. The
 
 IO4 <A COLLECTION of 
 
 648. The name of friends is commonly given to fuch 
 as are linked by any tyes of confanguinity, affinity, intereft, 
 mutual obligations, acquaintance, and the like : but thefe 
 are fuch friendfoips (if they may be called fo) as are al- 
 ways contracted with a tacit referve of interefl on both 
 fides, and feldom laft longer than the profperity of either 
 party, and during that, are frequently renounced upon 
 flight difobligations, or languifh and die of themfelves. 
 
 649. It is not in the power of calumny and envy, to 
 blaft the dignity of a wife and hone ft man. The princi- 
 ples of good and evil are as firm as the foundations of 
 the earth, and never had any man living the face yet to 
 make an open profeffion of wickednefs in its own name ; 
 not but that men of vicious lives and conventions have 
 found out ways of impofmg their corruptions and infir- 
 mities upon the world for virtues, and under falfe fem- 
 blances and colours. 
 
 650. There is no fufficient court of judicature againft 
 the venom of flander; for though you punifh the author, 
 yet you cannot wipe off the calumny. 
 
 651. Cujlom is the plague of 'wife men, and the idol of fools. 
 
 652. Great mens honour ought always to be rated by the 
 methods they employ to carry on and accomplifh their 
 defigns. 
 
 653. I dare affirm, notwithftanding the many harangues 
 made by a generation of men upon the corruptions of 
 human nature, could all mankind lay a true claim to that 
 eftimate they pafs upon themfelves, there would be little 
 or no difference between lapfed and perfect humanity, and 
 
 God
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 105 
 
 God might again review his image, with a paternal com- 
 placency, and flill pronounce them good. 
 
 654. Poverty never meets the thinking and induftrious. 
 
 655. In your worfl eftate hope, in the beft fear, and 
 in all be circumfpect. 
 
 656. Praife from an enemy is the moft pleafing of all 
 commendations. 
 
 657. We are not fillily to give credit to thofe that flatter 
 us, nor yet rudely to reject the compliments they make, 
 when we think we deferve them > this falfe modefty is 
 little lefs difguftful than a foolifh vanity. It requires great 
 art and delicacy to feafon praifes well, but there is alfo a 
 way of receiving them, when they are juft, that does not 
 offend modefty. Praife is a fort of tribute paid to real 
 worth, and it is neither affectedly to be rejected, nor too 
 eagerly courted, if we would not be the property of thofe 
 that give it, who prepare their way, by this allurement, to 
 obtain whatever they defire, when once you are intoxicated 
 with their incenfe. 
 
 658. God feldom fends a grievance without a remedy, 
 or at leaft fuch a mitigation as takes away a great part of 
 the fting and fmart of it. 
 
 659. As every fin is a degree of danger, fo every well em- 
 ployed opportunity is a degree of return to hope and pardon. 
 
 660. The conqueft of paffion gives ten times more hap- 
 pinefs than we reap from the gratification of it ; for curb- 
 ing our defires is the greateft glory we can arrive at in this 
 world, and will be moft rewarded in the next. 
 
 66 1 . Familiarity in inferiors, is faucinefs -, in fuperiors, 
 condefcenfion. 
 
 P 662. Si-
 
 io6 A COLLECTION of 
 
 662. Silence in company, if not dulnefs, or modefty, 
 is obfervation, or difcretion. 
 
 663. We muft not have an inlipid complaifance for all 
 that others fay, and fulfomely applaud without diftinclion > 
 diverfity of opinion is fometimes necefTary to quicken 
 converfation. 
 
 664. Though an action appear never fo bright and glo- 
 rious in itfelf, it is not to be accounted great, if it be not 
 the effect of ivifdom and defign. 
 
 665. One reafon why we find fo very few men of 
 fenfe, and agreeable converfation, is, that almoft every 
 body's mind is more intent upon what he himfelf has a 
 mind to fay, than upon making pertinent replies to what 
 the reft of the company fay to him. The more ingenious 
 and complaijant fort go no farther than pretending to 
 hearken attentively, when, at the fame time, a man may 
 plainly fee that both their eyes, and their mind, are ro- 
 ving from what is faid to them, and porting back again to 
 what they long to be at themfelves ; not confidering, that 
 to feek one's own pleafure fo very paffionately, can never 
 be the way either to pleafe, or perfuade others ; and that 
 diligent attention, and proper repartees, are the two per- 
 feftions that accomplifh a man for company. 
 
 666. When ill men take up a fit of kindnefs all of a 
 fudden, and appear to be better natured than ufual, it is 
 good difcretion to fufpect fraud, and to lay their words, 
 and their practices, together j for there are no fnares fo 
 dangerous, as thofe that are laid for us under the name 
 of good offices. 
 
 667. Moft fops think they are courted and followed 
 
 for
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 107 
 
 for their good company, when, in reality, it is only for 
 the fake of ridiculing their defects, which they themfelves 
 do not perceive, and others do. 
 
 668. If I commend one that all the world knows does 
 not deferve it, I mutt either pafs for a fool or a hypocrite. 
 
 669. Long life is a great bleffing, in that it gives time 
 leave to vent and boil away the difquietudes and turbu- 
 lences that follow our paffions, and to wean ourfelves 
 gently from carnal affections, and then at lafl to drop with 
 eafe and willingnefs, like ripe fruit from a tree. 
 
 670. A man fhould fludy the tafte of others, to be able 
 to infinuate himfelf into them, that the advice he gives 
 may have its effect, without difgufting. 
 
 671. Honour is a divine reward appointed for virtue, 
 which men of vicious minds cannot enjoy ; though they 
 may have a vain name for a time, yet it mall end in ignominy. 
 
 672. To divide glory from virtue, is to deprive the fun 
 of its light. 
 
 673. Meer bamfulnefs, without merit, is aukard; me- 
 rifc, without modefty, infolent ; modeft merit has a double 
 claim to acceptance, and generally meets with as many 
 patrons as beholders. 
 
 674. When Pericles the Athenian had in a publick 
 fpeech directed himfelf to the feveral ranks and orders of 
 his countrymen, he then addreffed himfelf to his female 
 audience thus : " I mall advife you in a few words ; afpire 
 only to thofe virtues that are peculiar to your fex, follow 
 your natural modefty, and think it your greateft commen- 
 dation not to be talked of one way or another.'* 
 
 675. Plato y when he faw one over indulgent to him- 
 
 P 2 felf
 
 io8 A COLLECTION of 
 
 felf by too much delicacy and nicenefs, afked him, what 
 he meant by making his prifon fo ftrong, by thus victual- 
 ' ing and encouraging his mortal enemy ? 
 
 676. In all actions, aim at excellence; that man will 
 fail at laft, that allows himfelf one finful thought ; he 
 that dares to be wicked for his advantage, will be always 
 fo, if his intereft requires it. 
 
 677. Get wifdom, get understanding, and practife vir- 
 tue ; for if you are fo bleft to have thefe for your portion, 
 it is not furer that there is a God, than it is, that by him 
 all necefTary truths mail be revealed to you. 
 
 678. Can the imagination of a man form a flronger i- 
 mage of a life or action, than by comparing it to a race ? 
 and how can he hope to finifh his courfe with glory, that 
 lags, and prefles not forward to obtain the prize ? There 
 is not one chriftian virtue to which the vice of idlenefs 
 is not entirely contrary. Faith, hope, charity, vigilance, 
 and mortification, are inconfiftent with it, and the confe- 
 quence is, that it muft be a damning fin. All thofe vir- 
 tues animate and invigorate the mind, whereas idlenefs en- 
 feebles and fetters it; thofe principles are pure, ftricr, 
 and fevere ; idlenefs is foft and indulgent ; the one raifes 
 and exalts the foul, the other debafes and depreffes it j and 
 though it has great pretences to innocence and merit, its 
 beginning is in fin, and its end in infamy and perditidfi : 
 flupidity, ignorance, levity, and fenfuality, are its com- 
 panions 3 and as harmlefs and fimple as it appears, it is, 
 of all vices, the moft pernicious and dangerous. 
 
 679. Being abfent from what we love, is a good, in 
 comparison of living with what we bate. 
 
 680. No
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 109 
 
 680. No man is apt to envy the merit of another, that 
 has any of his own to truft to. 
 
 6 8 1. A heroe, according to the notion I have of him, 
 is fit for nothing but war j whereas, a great man is fit for 
 any thing indifferently, whether it be the gown, the 
 fword, the clofet, or the court ; yet, both thefe, together, 
 are not worth a good man. 
 
 682. It is the faying of a great man, " That if we could 
 trace our defcents, we mould find all flaves to come from 
 princes, and all princes from flaves :" but for tune has turn- 
 ed all things topfy-turvy, in a long feries of revolutions. 
 But it matters not whence we come, but what we are ; 
 nor is the glory of our predecefTors any more to our ho- 
 nour, than the wickednefs of their pofterity is to their mame. 
 
 683. The prefs is dangerous in adefpotic government; 
 but in a free country may be very ufeful, as long as it is 
 under no correction j for it is of great confequence, that 
 the people mould be informed of every thing that con- 
 cerns them j and without printing, fuch knowledge could 
 not circulate either fo eafily or fo faft j and to argue a- 
 gainft any branch of liberty from the ill ufe that may be 
 made of it, is to argue againfl liberty itfelf^ fince all is 
 capable of being abufed. Nor can any part of freedom 
 be more important, or better worth contending for, than 
 thlt by which the fpirit of it is preferved, fupported, and 
 diffufed. By this appeal to the judgment of the people, 
 we lay fome reftraint upon thofe minifters, who may have 
 found means to fecure themfelves from any other lefs in- 
 corruptible tribunal : and fure they have no reafon to com- 
 plain, if the publick exercifes a right which cannot be 
 
 denied,
 
 no A COLLECTION of 
 
 -denied, without avowing, that their conduct will not bear 
 enquiry j for though the beft adminiftration may be attack- 
 ed by calumny, I can hardly believe it would be hurt by it. 
 
 684. Some women care not what becomes of their ho- 
 nour, fo they may fecure the reputation of their wit. 
 
 685. The character of a player was infamous amongft 
 the Romans, but with the Greeks honourable. What is our 
 opinion ? We think of them like the Romans^ and live 
 with them like the Greeks. 
 
 686. The branding of one truth, imports more difre- 
 pute, than the broaching ten errors; thefe being only lapfes 
 in the fearch of new reafon, without which there can 
 be no addition to knowledge; that, murdering of it. 
 
 687. In thy apparel avoid Angularity, foppery, and pro- 
 fufenefs. Can any thing expofe a man more to contempt, 
 than to appear in fuperfluities when he wants neceffaries ? 
 Be not too early or precifely in the famion, nor too long 
 out of it ; when cuftom has civilized it, it becomes de- 
 cent, till then, ridiculous ; decency is the midway betwixt 
 affectation and negligence : avoid morofenefs and punctuali- 
 ty, as the two poles of pride. 
 
 688. As thofe are the beft hives of bees that are moft 
 unquiet, fo are thofe confciences the beft, that are fo ten- 
 der, as to be uneafy and unquiet at the firft apprehenfion 
 or approach of evil. Doubts and fears, like thirties, are 
 bad in themfelves, but figns of good ground. He whofe 
 faith had never any doubt, has reafon to doubt whether 
 ever he had any faith : faith, without repentance, is pre- 
 fumption ; repentance, without faith, defpair. 
 
 689. Whofoever takes from his neighbour his good 
 
 name,
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS, in 
 
 name, befides the fin he commits, is bound to make re- 
 paration, though different, according to the diverlity of 
 the (landers ; for no man can enter into heaven with other 
 mens goods, and amongft all exterior goods, that of a 
 good name is moft precious. 
 
 690. It is a fad thing when men have neither wit e- 
 nough to fpeak well, nor fenfe enough to hold their 
 tongue j this is the foundation of all impertinence. 
 
 691. Wife men are the better and politer for travelling, 
 but fools the worfe. 
 
 692. It is very hard to hit a certain temper and medi- 
 ocrity of freedom with perfons above us, fo to be eafy 
 and plain with them, as to become an inftrument of their 
 diverlion and entertainment, without being any way of- 
 fenlive, or breaking in upon the honour and refpecl: due 
 to their quality. 
 
 693. Agreeablenefs is arbitrary, but beauty is fomething 
 more real, and independent upon the palate and opinion. 
 
 694. The difference between an amorous lady, and a 
 coquet., is, that the firil is for being loved, and the other 
 only for paffing for handfome and lovely : The one de- 
 figns to engage us, and the other only to pleafe us : the 
 intriguing woman paffes from one amour to another fuc- 
 ceffively, the coquet has feveral amufements at once : paf- 
 fion and pleafure are predominant in the firfr, and vanity 
 and levity in the other. Gallantry is a weaknefs of the 
 heart, or, perhaps, a defect of conftitution ; but a coquetifo 
 humour is an irregularity, or debauchery of the mind. 
 To conclude, an amorous 'woman makes herfelf to be fear- 
 ed, and a coquet to be hated, 
 
 695. It
 
 ii2 A COLLECTION of 
 
 695. It is ftrange to find in fome womens hearts fome- 
 tliing more quick and ftrong than the love of men j I 
 mean ambition^ and the paffion of gaming: Such wo- 
 men make men chafte ; they have nothing of their fex 
 but the petticoat. 
 
 696. He is much more to be valued that has got an e- 
 ftate by his induflry, than he that has loft it by his neg- 
 ligence. 
 
 697. If at any time you are prefled to do a thing haf- 
 tily, be careful j fraud and deceit are always in hafte, 
 diffidence is the right eye of prudence. 
 
 698. A man in publick affairs is like one at fea, never 
 in his own difpofal, but in that of winds and tides. 
 
 699. Becaufe you find a thing very difficult, do not 
 prefently conclude that no man can mafter it - y but what- 
 ever you obferve proper and practicable by another, be- 
 lieve likewife within your power. 
 
 700. As love of reputation is a darling paflion of great 
 men, fo the defence of it, in this particular, is the bufinefs 
 of every man of honour and honefty ; we mould run on 
 fuch an occafion, as if a publick building was on fire, to 
 the relief of it ; and all who fpread or publifh any fuch 
 deteftable pieces as traduce its merit, mould be ufed 
 like incendiaries. It is the common caufe of our country 
 to fupport the reputation of thofe who preferve it againft 
 invaders, and every man is attacked in the perfon of that 
 neighbour who deferves well of him. 
 
 701. Ladies, fome of them of the firft quality, here- 
 tofore, have been fo far from thinking it any abafement, 
 to charge themfelves with the inftru&ion of their own 
 
 chil-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 113 
 
 children, that, to their immortal honour, they have made 
 it part of their bufinefs to affift in that of other people's, 
 particularly thofe who were likely to be of confequence to 
 the commonwealth. I inftance only in the famous Cor- 
 nelia, the mother of the Gracchi, and Aurelia, the mo- 
 ther of Augujlus, who did this for the noblemen of Rome, 
 to whom they had no relation, but that of their common 
 country. Thefe high examples mould prevail with the 
 ladies of our age (who call themfelves chriftians) to em- 
 ploy fome of their vacant hours, and pains, if not on o- 
 thers, at leaft on their own offspring. 
 
 702. There is no work defpicable, becaufe it is mean ; 
 if it be honeft and neceflary, it is honourable ; I am ren- 
 dered important to the creation by ferving its neceffities. 
 It has been mentioned, in old time, that princefles did not 
 difdain the diftafT and needle. The golden age is painted 
 as a paftoral one, when the kings of the earth tilled the 
 ground, and the princes kept fheep. 
 
 703. They that are fo ridiculous as to value themfelves 
 meerly upon their quality, do, in a manner, flight that 
 very thing that gave them their quality, fince it is only 
 the virtue of their anceftors that firft ennobled their blood. 
 
 704. In the bufinefs of war, it is a nice diftindtion, 
 that which is betwixt a heroe and a great man, fince all 
 military virtues do equally contribute to the making of 
 both. Neverthelefs k may be faid, that it is the character 
 of the firft, to be young, bold, daring, refolute, and fear- 
 lefs, amidft the greateft dangers j and that the other's 
 chief qualifications are, a great judgment, a fagacious 
 forecaft, a vail ability, and a confummate experience.
 
 ii4 d. COLLECTION of 
 
 Alexander was perhaps but a heroe, but Ccefar was a great 
 man. 
 
 705. Philofophy eafily conquers and triumphs over pajl 
 and future evils-, but the prefent ones triumph over phi- 
 lofophy. 
 
 706. The Philofophers, and Seneca among the reft, did 
 not remove men's faults by their precepts, but only im- 
 proved them by the fetting up oi pride j fo that their vir- 
 tues (as a father of the church has it) were but glittering 
 vices. 
 
 707. Natural things never fatiate : who was ever weary 
 of looking on fields, rivers, flowers, heavens, &c? B ut 
 artificial things, as pictures, gardens, houfes, and the like, 
 glut with two or three times looking on them. 
 
 708. Strong defires are commonly attended with fears 
 proportionable. Let a man defire wifdom, and if he 
 once get that wifh, it is likely he may never be troubled 
 with another. 
 
 709. Plato hearing it was afTerted by fome perfons, that 
 he was a very bad man ; "I mall take care, faid he to live 
 fo, that no body mail believe them." 
 
 710. Nothing beftows fo much beauty on a woman, as 
 modefty j even Fenus herfelf pleafes moft, when me ap- 
 pears in a figure withdrawing herfelf from the eyes of the 
 beholders, in a my, retiring pofture. 
 
 711. Life is other wife in God, than in the creatures; 
 in him originally, in them derivatively ; our life is in him, 
 but his is in himfelf. 
 
 712. Anger is one of the pafllons which is occafioned 
 by furprize ;. for a man is not angry at a common thing, 
 
 and
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 115 
 
 and to which he is accuftomed j for this reafon, the dearer 
 thofe are to us, that put us in a paffion, the more violent it is. 
 
 713. It difgufts much to talk low in converfation ; fuch 
 as are excluded thefe myfteries, have reafon to think you 
 talk of them, or elfe defpife them. 
 
 7 1 4. Solomon always ufed the word fool as a term of 
 the fame fignification with unjuft^ and makes all deviation 
 from goodnefs, and virtue, to come under the notion of folly. 
 
 715. Thofe who are apt to blafon others faults, fjiew 
 they have either little confidered their own, or elfe find 
 them fo great, that they are forced to the art of reverfion, 
 and feek in the infamy of others, to drown their own. 
 
 716. A decent action in preaching is very commend- 
 able ; it being certain that the lifelefs, motionlefs gefture 
 of the generality of preachers, is the occafion that many 
 of their fermons mifs of their intended effect. 
 
 717. Every author almoft has fome beauty or blemifli 
 remarkable in his flile ; and every reader a peculiar tafte 
 of books, as well as meats: fome affect a grave, fome a 
 florid flile ; fome eafinefs and plainnefs, others flrength 
 and politenefs ; but the fecret of writing, is the mixing 
 all thefe in fo juft a proportion, that every one may tafle 
 what he likes, without being difgufted at its contrary. 
 
 718. Volatilenefs of thought is very pernicious to true 
 fcience ; it is a fault which people of warm imaginations, 
 and active fpirits are apt to fall into ; fuch a temper is rea- 
 dily difpofed to receive errors, and well qualified to pro- 
 pagate them, efpecially if volubility of fpeech be joined to it. 
 
 719. The great miflake of fome noblemen^ is, that they 
 look upon their nobility as a character given them by nature. 
 
 720. There
 
 1 1 6 A COLLECTION of 
 
 720. There is no condition that does not fit well upon 
 a wife man ; for this reafon, I fhall never quarrel with 
 a philofopher for living in a palace, but fhall, at the fame 
 time, not excufe him, if he cannot content himfelf with 
 a cottage. I fhall not be fcandalifed to behold him in the 
 apparel of kings, provided he has not their ambition. 
 
 721. By looking back into hiftory, and confidering the 
 fate and revolutions of government, you will be able to 
 draw a guefs, and almoft prophefy upon the future ; for, 
 things paft, prefent, and to come, are ftrangely uniform, 
 and of a colour, and are commonly caft in the fame mould -, 
 fo that, upon the matter, forty years of human life may 
 ferve for a fample of ten thoufand. 
 
 722. To be afraid of death, is to be long a dying. 
 
 723. The difficulty is not fo great, to die for a friend, 
 as to find a friend 'worth dying for. 
 
 724. It is a dangerous thing in all commonwealths, 
 by continual punimments, to hold the minds of fubjeds 
 in fufpicion ; for men ever fearing their ruin, will, like 
 thofe in defpair, refolve to fave themfelves any way, and 
 fo attempt innovations. All capital executions ought 
 therefore to be done fuddenly, fo to fecure the minds 
 of men from further cruelties. 
 
 725. It is ill logick to argue from particulars to gene- 
 rals ; and where the premifes are fingular, to conclude u- 
 niverfally. 
 
 726. Privileges founded upon private laws, only, are 
 neither to be pleaded nor granted in bar to the publick 
 fafety, which is the fupreme law. 
 
 727. Nothing fo wins upon the obftinate, and melts the 
 
 moft
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 117 
 
 mofl obdurate minds, like mild and gentle ufage -, even 
 filence, when it mews fubmiflion and not fullennefs, is 
 more apt to perfuade, than angry arguments ufed in op- 
 pofition. There is an unaccountable force in meeknefs, 
 patience, and forbearance ; they excite a fenfe of fhame, 
 gratitude, and honour. 
 
 728. The very beft way to make your children love 
 and refpedt you when you are old, is to teach them abfo- 
 lute obedience when they are young, that being the firft 
 virtue a child is capable of. Certainly nothing finks deeper, 
 or takes fatter root in the mind of a man, than thofe rules 
 and precepts learned when a child. Solon made a law, 
 that thofe parents mould neither be relieved nor regarded 
 in their old age by their children, who took no care, by 
 a good and virtuous education in their youth, to inftruct 
 them in all the principles of their duty. Socrates fays, 
 he that makes his fon worthy of efteem, by giving him 
 a liberal education, has a far better title to his obedience 
 and duty, than he that gives him a large eftate without it. 
 
 729. Revealing fecrets is, by Sir Richard Steele, called 
 a diabetic paffion, a kind of incontinence of the mind, 
 that retains nothing ; perpetually, and almofl infenfibly r 
 evacuating all. 
 
 730. If, by concealing one man's fault, I be injurious 
 to another, I affume the guilt I conceal ; and by the laws, 
 both of God and man, am judged an acceflary. 
 
 73 i . Men of great and elevated fpirits have fufferings 
 and enjoyments peculiar to themfelves. 
 
 732. All men are naturally good, when no refpect of 
 profit or pleafure draws them to become evil; but the 
 
 corrup-
 
 n8 A COLLECTION of' 
 
 corruption of this world, and our frailty is fuch, as eafily, 
 and often for our particular intereft, we incline to the 
 worft 5 which was the cauic that wife lawgivers found out 
 rewards and punifoments, the one to invite men to be good, 
 the other to deliver them from being evil. 
 
 733. In a ftate divided by feels and parties, the leader 
 of any fide is able to kindle civil war, yet he is unable to 
 moderate the victory : for to ftir up feditions and troubles, 
 the worft man commonly bears the ftroke j but peace and 
 quietnefs are only fettled by men of rare gifts, and excellent 
 virtue. 
 
 734. Marriage, that fhould be a fountain of all bleiTings 
 and enjoyments, proves often, by the difpofition of a man's 
 fortune, a heavy burden that crufhes him down : It is 
 then that a wife and children are a ftrong temptation to 
 deceit and unaccountable gains ; and that a man finds him- 
 felf betwixt two very extremes, knavery and indigence. 
 
 735. The reafon why women have a greater (hare in 
 Jlate intrigues in France, than they generally have in Eng- 
 land > is, becaufe France is governed by men, and England 
 by /aws ; the former they know how to manage, the lat- 
 ter they are not bred to underftand. 
 
 736. A man that has no good quality but courage, is 
 in a very ill way towards making an agreeable figure in 
 the world, becaufe that which he has fuperior to other 
 people, cannot be exerted, without raifing himfelf ene- 
 mies; (the fatirift is in the fame condition). To know bare- 
 ly how to (laughter men, to be better fkilled than others 
 in rooting out fociety, and deftroying nature, is to excel 
 in a very fatal fcience. 
 
 737-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 119 
 
 737. Children that are not fenfible of mame, are for 
 the moft part perverfe, ill-natur'd, and indocible j on the 
 contrary, bafhful children are moft commonly obfer- 
 ved to be very towardly and difciplinable ; apt to learn, 
 and eafily taught. 
 
 738. Covetoufnefs is either an unlawful defire of what 
 is none of our own, or a too greedy delight in what is fo. 
 
 739. What fignifies praife to them that are above it? 
 Truth itfelf, in a dedication, is like an honeft man in a 
 difguife, or vifor mafque, and will appear a cheat by be- 
 ing drefTed fo like one. A man is no more in reafon ob- 
 liged for his picture in a dedication, than to thank a painter 
 for that on a fign-poft ; except it be a lefs injury to touch 
 the moft facred part of him in his character, than to 
 make free with the countenance only. 
 
 740. Things read lofe ten thoufand beauties which 
 they have when fpoken j they have not that fpirit and life, 
 but look ftiff, and dead j are not fo free and natural, nor 
 appear with that fort of grace, fpirit and affection, 
 that things which are fpoken do. 
 
 741. Women engage themfelves to the men by the fa- 
 vours they grant them - y men, on the contrary, difengage 
 themfelves from the women by the favours they receive. 
 
 742. A 'woman that has but one gallant, thinks herfelf 
 to be no coquet; me that has feveral, concludes herfelf 
 no more than a coquet. 
 
 743. Women complain of their lovers inconstancy 
 without reafon. Their humours, their faces, their charms, 
 daily change : Why mould men be debarred the fame 
 ptivilege ? 
 
 744. Love
 
 I2O A COLLECTION of 
 
 744. Love is the moft unaccountable of all pafiions, 
 for it is never fo violent, but one unexpected action may 
 turn it to hatred. 
 
 745. It is the part of a prudent man to be moderate 
 in good fortune. A brave retreat is as great as a brave 
 enterprize. When a man has acted great exploits, he 
 ought to fecure the glory of them, by drawing off in 
 time. The more profperities croud one upon another, 
 the more flippery they are, and fubject to a reverie. 
 Fortune is weary to carry one and the^ fame man always 
 upon her fhoujders. 
 
 746. The women would fain lay the faults of their 
 conduct at the men's doors : They tell us, they would 
 not fin> if we did not tempt them : We anfwer, we 
 mould not tempt them, if they did not invite us. 
 
 747. What contributes to make the ipring time of our 
 life uncapable of the advantages of a true and folid 
 friendship, is, that young men, generally fpeaking, hate 
 even the very idea of virtue ; that name gives them as 
 much horror as its contrary pleafes them ; and as they 
 look upon its rewards to be only in reverfion, they con- 
 clude that it is time ill fpent to fet up for wifdom, and 
 to confult reafon, when they fhould indulge their fenfes. 
 
 748. The belief of a God is the beft foundation of 
 all pleafures, and an intire dependence on him never fuf- 
 fers a man to be without fatisfaction in profperity, nor 
 comfort in adverfity. A well regulated mind does not 
 only tafle delights in the enjoyment of any good it re- 
 ceives, but it alfo difcovers dainties in it, to thank its 
 
 bene-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 121 
 
 benefacftor for , and every reflection it makes upon them 
 affords new matter for fatisfadtion. 
 
 749. Examine, as long as you pleafe, the goods of the 
 world, and you will always find them much more defirablc 
 than really they are, till you have enjoyed them. Examine 
 likewife all the evils, and you will flill find them to be 
 feared, beyond what they ought to be, till you have made 
 the experiment. 
 
 750. No man is obliged to think beyond his capacity, 
 and we never tranfgrefs the bounds of good fenfe, but 
 when we aim to go beyond it. 
 
 751. No man defpifes honour, but he that defpairs of it. 
 
 752. They that will obferve nothing in a wife man, but 
 his overfights and follies ; nothing in a good man, but 
 his failings and infirmities, may make a mift to render a 
 very wife and good man very defpicable. If one mould 
 heap together all the pafllonate fpeeches, all the froward 
 and imprudent adions of the befl man, all that he had 
 faid or done amifs in his whole life, and prefent it all at 
 one view, concealing his wifdom and virtues, the man 
 in this difguife would look like a madman or fury j and 
 yet if his life were fairly reprefented, and juft in the fame 
 manner it was led, and his many and great virtues fet 
 overagainft his infirmities and failings, he would appear, 
 to all the world, an admirable and excellent perfon : but 
 how many and great foever a man's ill qualities are, it is 
 but juft that, with all this heavy load of faults, he mould 
 have his due praife of the few and real virtues that are 
 in him. 
 
 753. Wifdom requires three things; knowledge to 
 
 R dif-
 
 130 A COLLECTION of 
 
 difcern, judgment to weigh, and refolution to deter- 
 mine. 
 
 754. A paffionate expreffion is often forgiven, but rail- 
 lery in cool blood never, it being a fure fign of want of 
 efteem. 
 
 755. The wit of man does more naturally vent itfelf in 
 fatire and cenfure, than in praife and panegyric. 
 
 756. Grant a courtefy, if you intend it at all, willing- 
 ly, and fpeedily, for that doubles it ; to keep long in 
 fufpence, is churlim; for, by long expectation, the paflion 
 to the favour dies. 
 
 757. As it is moft pleafant to the eye to have an cnd- 
 lefs profpect, fo it is an inconceivable pleafure to a finite 
 underftanding, to view unlimited excellencies, which have 
 neither mores nor bounds : though it cannot poffibly com- 
 prehend them, yet there is an ineffable pleafure in admi- 
 ration. 
 
 758. The majefty of princes is cenfured as pride; their 
 facility, bafenefs ; if grave, the people love them not j if 
 familiar, they fcorn them ; if melancholy, nothing will 
 oblige them ; if prudent, fubtle and crafty -, if free and 
 ingenuous, improvident : all their words and actions receive 
 an ill interpretation ; if conquerors, they are ambitious ; 
 if peaceable, cowards ; if liberal, prodigal j if provident, 
 covetous ; if valiant, rah, &c. 
 
 759. Great and ingenuous fpirits are much fooner 
 brought to repentance by a fenfe of mercy, than of terror; 
 for terror begets a ftupifying fear, which dams and jftops 
 up all the pafTages to and from the foul, and made the 
 
 wretch
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS, 131 
 
 wretch in the gofpel ftand fpeechlefs and amazed at Chrift's 
 demand, whereas mercy opens the heart, and melts it. 
 
 760. He that credits an ill report, is almofl as crimi- 
 nal as the firft inventor of it. 
 
 761. They who ofteneft meet with infamous deaths, 
 are thofe who foolifhly fquander away their eflate, and 
 as fhamefully repair them. 
 
 762. Humour, temper, education, and a thoufand o- 
 ther circumftances, create fo great a difference betwixt the 
 feveral palates of men, and their judgments upon inge- 
 nious compofures, that nothing can be more chimerical 
 and foolifh in an author, than the ambition of a general 
 reputation. 
 
 763. If men of quality were as able to judge as they 
 are to reward, it would be an advantage to their purfes, 
 as well as their reputations. 
 
 764. A fine face is the fineft of fights ; and the voice 
 of her one loves, the fweeteft harmony in the world. 
 
 765. A woman will think herfelf flighted if me is not 
 courted, yet pretends to know herfelf too well to believe 
 your flattery. 
 
 766. There is a time when maids, even thofe that have 
 the moft confiderable fortunes, ought ferioufly to think 
 of beflowing themfelves, left their refufal of the firft of- 
 fers be attended with a long and bitter repentance. The 
 reputation of their riches does generally decreafe with that 
 of their beauty j but, on the contrary, every thing is fa- 
 vourable to a young lady, and men are content to heighten 
 all the advantages that can moft flir up their paffion, and 
 make her worthy of their applications and defires. 
 
 R 2 767. Love,
 
 124 ^ COLLECTION of 
 
 767. Love, in its infancy, leflens every fault ; in its de- 
 clenfion, it not only aggravates them, but multiplies them. 
 
 768. There is fomething which can never be learned, 
 but in the company of the polite : the virtues of men are 
 catching, as well as their vices ; and your own obferva- 
 tions, added to thefe, will foon difcover what it is that 
 commands attention in one man, and makes you tired and 
 difpleafed with the difcourfe of another. 
 
 769. Some of the fathers fay, that St Thomas's infi- 
 delity has done the church more fervice than the faith of 
 all the other apoflles, it being an inconteftable proof of 
 the refurrection. 
 
 770. Mercy, in particulars, is fometimes cruelty in the 
 general. 
 
 771. Th,e likelieft way to thrive is method in bulinefs, 
 and never to do that by another that you can convenient- 
 ly do yourfelf, and to defer not till to-morrow, what 
 ought to be done to-day, and defpife not fmall things. 
 
 772. Had I been a heathen, I believe I mould have fa- 
 crificed to no other God or Goddefs but truth and friend- 
 ihip 5 thofe would have been to me the king and queen 
 of heaven. 
 
 773. Every one makes Fortune his friend or foe, 
 according to his good or bad conduct. 
 
 774. As reconciling enemies is the work of God, fo fe- 
 parating friends is the work of the devil. 
 
 775. A prudent man will avoid talking much of any 
 particular fcience for which he is remarkably famous j be- 
 fides the decency of the rule, it is certainly founded on 
 good policy. A man who talks of any thing he is already 
 
 famous
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 125 
 
 for, has little to get, but a great deal to lofe j he who is 
 fometimes lilent on a fubjeft where every one is fatisfied 
 he could fpeak well, will often be thought no lefs know- 
 ing in other matters, where perhaps he is wholly ignorant. 
 
 776. Let all young people forbear the ufe of much 
 wines and ilrong drinks, as well as fpiced and hot meats ; 
 for they introduce a preternatural heat into the body, and 
 at laft hinder and obftruft, if not at length extinguish 
 the natural. 
 
 777. Nothing is more filly than the pleafure fome peo- 
 ple take, in what they call fpeaking their minds. A 
 man of this make will fay a rude thing for the meer 
 pleafure of faying it, when an oppofite behaviour, full 
 as innocent, might have preferved his friend, or made his 
 fortune. 
 
 778. It is virtue that makes the mind invincible, and 
 places us out of the reach of fortune, though not out of 
 the malice of it. When Zeno was told that all his goods 
 were drowned, Why then, faid he, Fortune has a mind 
 to make me a philofopher j nothing can be above him. 
 that is above fortune ; no infelicity can make a wife man 
 quit his ground. 
 
 779. Cuftom, without reafon, is no better than antient 
 error. 
 
 780. Railleries are not good, unlefs they be lively and 
 full of fait ; the length enervates and fpoils them. 
 
 781. We may truly fay of happinefs; philofophers feek. 
 it, divines find it, but the religious, only, enjoy it* 
 
 782. He cannot rightly judge of pleafure, that never 
 tailed pain. 
 
 783. He
 
 !34 A COLLECTION of 
 
 783. He that is in an error cannot rightly juflify him- 
 felf, but by immediately for faking it ; that yielding is glo- 
 rious, and to be overcome by truth, honourable. 
 
 784. Fly the company of thofe who are given to detrac- 
 tion ; to hear them patiently, is criminal, and to fhew the 
 leaft countenance of encouragement, is to partake of 
 their guilt, and to promote them to a continuance of it. 
 
 785. Fortune commonly ma-kes hafte in the profperity 
 or adverfity of princes. 
 
 786. Wit is only to be valued as it is applied, and is very 
 pernicious when accompanied with vice. 
 
 787. The modes and cuftoms of this world are fo en- 
 gaging, and bewitching, that they are the firft that fools 
 learn, and the laft that wife men forfake. 
 
 788. It is the bufinefs of a true critic to difcover beau- 
 ties as well as blemimes, and, by a due ballancing of both, 
 to pafs a found judgment on the whole. 
 
 789. People that have a great deal of wit themfelves, 
 are apt to over-rate the leaft appearance of it in others ; 
 and thofe that have noble fouls of their own, commonly 
 form their ideas of others accordingly. 
 
 790. We ought to fear no other misfortunes but thofe 
 that are infeparable from our fins 5 it is impoffible to be 
 unhappy and innocent. A peaceable confcience fills the 
 foul with tranquillity. 
 
 79 1 . Hope is the miferable man's God, the vital heat 
 of the mind, an active and vigorous principle, furnimed 
 with light and heat, to advife and execute ; it fets the 
 head and heart at work, and animates a man to do his 
 utmoft -, it is fometimes fo fprightly and rewarding a qua- 
 lity,
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 135 
 
 lity, that the pleafure of expectation exceeds that of frui- 
 tion j it refines upon the rules of nature, and paints be- 
 yond the life ; and when reality is thus outfhine'd by the 
 imagination, fuccefs is a kind of difappointment, and to 
 hope is better than to have. 
 
 792. Pleafures, preceded by the greateft difficulties, are 
 the molt fenfible. 
 
 793. As the fweeteft rofe grows upon the fharpeft 
 prickle, fo the hard eft labours bring forth the fweeteft 
 profit j no pleafure is denied to the painful perfon, by ufe 
 and labour a man may be brought to a new nature. 
 
 794. There feldom lodges other than a mean and fee- 
 ble mind in an effeminate and tender body, labour co- 
 agulates and ftrengthens the mind, while lazinefs loofens 
 and effeminates it. 
 
 795. Since our perfons are not of our own forming, and 
 that it is God that made us, and not we ourfelves j when they 
 appear defective, it is a laudable fortitude, neither to be 
 uneafy nor abamed with the confcioufnefs of imperfections, 
 which we cannot help, and in which there is no guilt, 
 and, consequently, no fhame. Though in the old tefta- 
 ment exprefs notice be taken of the beauty of feveral per- 
 fons, yet, in the new, no mention is made of orie ; not 
 that they wanted outward accomplimments, but the in- 
 ward is what the gofpel has chiefly recommended* So- 
 crates advifes youth to contemplate themfelves in a glafs^ 
 that, if handfome, they may do nothing unworthy of their 
 glorious form ; and if otherwife, they may mend them- 
 felves with virtue and wifdom, the true ornaments of the 
 
 foul,
 
 128 A COLLECTION of 
 
 foul, without which the.J>righteft body is not to be e- 
 fteemed as fuch. 
 
 796. The beft way of reprehending thofe that commit 
 miftakes, is to do it in general, without any direct ad- 
 drefTes to the perfon that has forgot himfelf, to fpare him 
 the confufion ; this indirect way more effectually gains its 
 point, becaufe it reproves without the fharpnefs of a re- 
 primand. If the fault be of no confequence, it is better 
 to feem ignorant of it than to cenfure it j but if it be of 
 that nature, that we are obliged in duty, decency, and 
 friendfhip, to admonifh him that is guilty of it, it ought 
 to be done with all the foftnefs and precaution poffible. 
 
 797. He who reprehends others, ought to be of an un- 
 blameable converfation himfelf. 
 
 798. The greateft love, and the greateft hatred, are caufed 
 by religion ; nothing is more to be admired, and nothing 
 more to be lamented, than the private contentions, the 
 paflionate quarrels, the perfonal hatred, and the perpetual 
 wars, maflacres, and murders, forreligion, among chriflians. 
 
 799. Why mould I have fuch an averfion to men on 
 account of their religion ? We cannot be fure not to be 
 deceived ; the obfcurity of fome queftions, the vanity of 
 human underftanding, the engagement of education, per- 
 fonal authorities, the feveral degrees of poffibility, the in- 
 validity of tradition, the oppofition of all exterior argu- 
 ments to each other, the publick violence done to authors 
 and records, the private art of abuling men's underftand- 
 ing, and all perfuafions into their opinions, and ten thou- 
 fand more, even all the difficulties of things, all the 
 weakneffes of man, and all the arts of the devil, make it 
 
 im-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 129 
 
 impoffible for any man, in fo great variety of matter, not 
 to be deceived. Why mould I then, if the perfons be 
 chriftians in their profeffions and lives, hate fuch as, per- 
 haps, God loves, and who love God, becaufe their un- 
 der {landings are not bred like mine ? 
 
 800. Adapt yourfelf to the company you are in, be 
 grave with the aged, gay with the young, fupple to the 
 great, affable to all, refpectful to every woman you con- 
 verfe with, but, efpecially, be at the devotion of the 
 young, and the fair. There is no man fenfible how difficult 
 it is to have this complaifance, but thofe that know 
 how neceflary it is to fupport the character of a 
 well-bred man. 
 
 80 1. Being fome time afunder, heightens converfation ; 
 moft meats require fauce, but all an appetite. The fre- 
 quent quarrels between relations, is their being fo much 
 together. 
 
 802. Some men adapt themfelves to all forts of cha- 
 racters, with fo dexterous a compliance, that one would 
 fwear their humours were that of all others j they appear 
 generous with men of honour, fubtle with intriguing per- 
 fons, without parts to the ftupid, and commit voluntary 
 fopperies, to agree with real fops. 
 
 803. When we fay of a man who is hafty, paffionate, 
 inconftant, quarrelfome, morofe, exceptious, whimfical, 
 &c. that is bis humour^ we do not fo much excufe him, 
 as confefs unawares, that his faults are fo great that they 
 are part mending. 
 
 804. The good or ill of men's lives comes more from 
 "their humours, than their fortunes. 
 
 S 805. Per-
 
 130 A COLLECTION of 
 
 805. Perfons and humours may be difguifed, but na- 
 ture is like quickfilver, that will never be killed. 
 
 806. A chriftian that is wife, ought fo well to employ 
 every moment of his life, as not to dread his end ; for if 
 he treads the path of uprightnefs under the conduit of 
 providence, it is indifferent to him at what time or age he 
 finimes his courfe. The only way to live, is not to fear 
 death, and it is this fear alone that difturbs the repofe of 
 a voluptuous life. 
 
 807. The pleafure which a man of honour takes in be- 
 ing confcious to himfelf of having performed his duty, is 
 a reward which he pays himfelf for all his pains, and 
 makes him the lefs to regret the applaufe, efteem, and 
 acknowledgments, which he is fometimes deprived of. 
 
 808. As the fpleen has great inconveniences, fo the 
 pretence of it is a handfome cover for many imperfec- 
 tions j it oftentimes makes ill nature pafs for ill health, 
 dulnefs for gravity, and ignorance for refervednefs. 
 
 809. A regular well-governed affection does not fcorch, 
 but, like the lamp of life, warms the breaft with a gentle 
 and refrefhing heat. 
 
 8 10. As he that can revenge an injury, and will not, 
 difcovers a great and magnanimous foul j fo he that can re- 
 turn a kindneis, and dares not, mews a mean and con- 
 temptible fpirit. 
 
 8 1 1 . Virtue ftrengthens in adverfity, moderates in pro- 
 fperity, guides in fociety, entertains in folitude, advifes in 
 doubts, fupports in weaknefs j it is of all acquifitions the 
 moft precious, without it the goods of fortune become 
 evils, ferving only to make us guilty and miferable -, for 
 
 it
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 131 
 
 it gives glory to God, utility to the publick, tranquillity 
 and joy to the confcience, relief to fome, counfel to o- 
 thers, and example to all. 
 
 812. Let prophane minds laugh at it as much as they 
 will, there is a fecret commerce between God and the 
 fouls of good men j they feel the influence of heaven, 
 and become both wifer and better for it. Their thoughts 
 are nobler as well as freer j thofe that truly fear God have 
 a fecret guidance from a higher wifdom than what is bare- 
 ly human, namely, the fpirit of truth, which does really, 
 though privately, prevent and direct them that fear, de- 
 pend and call upon God for his guidance and direction. 
 Though the divine affiftance is principally feen in matters 
 relating to the foul, yet it is very often found in the con- 
 cerns which a good man, that fears God, and begs his help, 
 fhall very often, if not at all times find. Sir Matthew 
 Hale called his own experience to witnefs, that in the ex- 
 ternal actions of his whole life, he never was difappointed 
 in the beft guidance and affiftance, when he had, in hu- 
 mility and fmcerity, implored the divine aid and benedic- 
 tion. There are peculiar happy flights, and bright minutes, 
 which open to men great landfcapes, and give them a 
 full and moft beautiful profpect of things, which do not al- 
 ways arife out of a previous meditation, or chain of thought, 
 but are flafhes of light from the eternal fource, which of- 
 ten break in upon the peaceful, pure, and pious mind. 
 
 813. The mind of man is not only an image of God's 
 fpirituality, but his infinity ; it is a fubftance of a bound- 
 lets comprehenfion j nothing does more difcover the foul's 
 infinity, than thought. 
 
 82 814. The
 
 132 A COLLECTION of 
 
 8 1 4. The extremes either of youth or age, make a 
 man's judgment often fail him > for if he thinks too little 
 on things, he over-looks truth, and if too long, he is too 
 much dozed to perceive it. Juft as in the petitions of a 
 picture, there is but one point moft proper to mew it 
 in, the other may mifreprefent by too great diftance, or 
 nearnefs, by being too high, or too low. 
 
 815. Confidence, which ought to make the tyes of friend- 
 fhip flronger, does generally produce a contrary effect $ 
 fo that it is a wife man's part to be as referved in this 
 particular, as is confiftent with the laws of decency, and 
 united affections ; but, above all, let us have a care not to 
 difclofe our hearts to thofe who mut up theirs from us. 
 
 8 1 6. Good breeding is learnt from the converfation of 
 ladies, and good humour from men ; the one teaches us 
 gallantry, the other wifdom. 
 
 8 j 7. To difcern true merit, and reward it when a man 
 has found it out, are two great fteps to make at once, and 
 fuch as few of the great ones are capable of. 
 
 8 1 8. Did men but take as much care to mend, as they 
 do to conceal their failings, they would both fpare them- 
 felves that trouble which diffimulation puts them to, and 
 gain betides the commendations they afpire to, by their 
 feeming virtues. 
 
 8 1 9. A man is more referved and fecret in his friend's 
 concern, than his own ; a woman, on the contrary, keeps 
 her own fecret better than another's. 
 
 820. There is never fo ftrong a love in a young ladfs 
 breaft, but what may receive fome addition, either from 
 ambition or intereft. 
 
 821. A jea-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 133 
 
 821. A jealous hufband, who finds out his wife, gets 
 this by the bargain, that it cures him of his jealoufy, 
 which is one of the worft torments a man can have j and 
 who would not bear with a faucy companion, to get rid 
 of the devil ? 
 
 822. It is commonly imagined, that a great memory 
 feldom accompanies a great wit, or a good judgment, 
 and that thofe three are incompatible, that they have di- 
 vers habitations in, and a diverfe temperature of the brain. 
 I think the contrary is generally, but not always true ; 
 doubtlefs they are managed by one great agent in the foul, 
 which is above temperature, place and matter. 
 
 823. An entire inactivity of body and mind is fo far 
 from giving us tranquillity, that it only brings upon us an 
 uneafy fatiety and difrelim of all things about us. 
 
 824. What is loft by the firft Adam, we have recover- 
 ed by the fecond j fo we fuffer no more by an imputed 
 fin, than we may enjoy by an imputed righteoufnefs. 
 
 825. Thofe that reveal a fecret, do an injury to whom 
 they reveal it ; for it is natural not only to hate thofe who 
 tell, but them alfo that hear what we would not have 
 difclofed. 
 
 826. The foundation of a good government over a 
 man's felf, is to be laid in the command of the paffions ; 
 a good life is aptly compared to mufick, for they who 
 make virtue the fcope of their actions, proceed in har- 
 mony and order. 
 
 827. The greateft pleafure of life, is love ; the greateft 
 treafure, contentment ; the greatefl poffeffion, health ; 
 
 the
 
 134 d- COLLECTION of 
 
 the greateft eafe, is deep j and the greateft medicine, a 
 true friend. 
 
 828. Of all the affe&ions that attend human life, the 
 love of glory is the moft ardent ; called by fome, a raging 
 fit of virtue in the foul. 
 
 Honour's a fpark of the celejliql fire, 
 That above nature makes mankind afyire. 
 
 829. I look upon arrears for paft benefits, as the moft 
 facred of all debts, and think no excefs fo commendable, 
 as an excefs of gratitude. 
 
 830. He that thinks to expiate a fin by going bare- 
 foot, does the penance of a goofe, and only makes one 
 folly the atonement for another. In the church of Rome, 
 a man cannot be a penitent, unlefs a vagabond, by pilgri- 
 maging about the world ; that which was Cain's curfe, 
 is become their religion. 
 
 831. We read that St Paul was beaten by the Jews, 
 but never that he beat himfelf j if the Papifts think his 
 keeping under the body imports fo much, they muft firft 
 prove the body cannot be kept under by a virtuous mind, 
 and that the mind cannot be made virtuous without a 
 fcourge. The truth is, if men's religion be no deeper 
 than the fkin, it is pofiible they may fcourge themfelves 
 into great improvements; but let them lafli on never fo 
 faft, they may as well expect to bring a cart, as a foul 
 to heaven, by thefe means. 
 
 832. The regular courfe, and ftanding order of nature 
 is a much .more glorious evidence of divine wifdom, 
 power and providence, than the mod miraculous inter- 
 ruptions, and diforders of it, 
 
 833. The
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 135 
 
 833. The vifible marks of extraordinary wifdom and 
 power appear fo plainly in all the works of the creation, 
 that a rational creature, who will but ferioufly reflect, can- 
 not mifs the difcovery of the deity. 
 
 834. It is obfervable, that, through all fucceffions of 
 men, there never was any fociety, any collective body of 
 atheifts ; a fingle one might here and there perhaps be 
 found, as we fometimes fee monfters, and mimapen births; 
 but, for the generality, they had always fuch inftincts of 
 a deity, that they never thought they ran far enough from, 
 atheifm, but rather chofe to multiply their Gods, to have 
 too many, than none at all ; they were even apt to defcend 
 to the adoration of things below themfelves, rather than, 
 renounce the power above them ; by which we may fee 
 the notion of a God is the moft indelible character of 
 natural reafon, and therefore, whatever pretence our a- 
 theifts make to ratiocination, and deep difcourfe, it is none 
 of the primitive fundamental reafon, coetaneous with our 
 humanity, but is, indeed, a reafon fit only for thofe who 
 own themfelves like the beafts that perifli. 
 
 835. If the world had no beginning, how is it that the 
 Greeks (the moft antient writers) mention nothing higher 
 than the wars of 'Thebes and Trey ? Were there, from eter- 
 nity, no memorable actions till that time ? or had men 
 no means to record or propagate the memory of them to 
 pofterity ? If men were from eternity, it is flrange they 
 mould not find out the way of writing in that long duration. 
 But it may be faid, thofe records and memorials perimed 
 in univerfal deluges, which is the atheift's plea. But thefe 
 Inundations muft be either natural or fupernatural - 3 if the lat- 
 ter,
 
 136 A COLLECTION of 
 
 ter, then indeed it is eafy to conceive how a few of mankind, 
 and no more fliould efcape, which evidently proves a God ; 
 but if they be natural, as the atheifts muft fay, then there is 
 nothing to reftrain them from a total deftruction. 
 
 836. Money has itsufe, it is true ; but, generally fpeak- 
 ing, the benefit does not countervail the care that goes a- 
 long with it, and the hazards, and the temptations to a- 
 bufe it. It is the patron, and the price of all wickednefs -, 
 it blinds all eyes, and flops all ears, from the prince, to 
 the very beggar ; it corrupts faith and juftice ; and, in 
 one word, it is the very pick-lock that opens the way in- 
 to all cabinets and councils : it debauches children againft 
 their parents ; it makes fubjeds rebel againft their gover- 
 nors, it turns lawyers and divines into advocates for fa- 
 crilege and fedition, and it tranfports the very profeflbrs of 
 the gofpel, into a fpirit of contradiction, and defiance of 
 the practices and precepts of our lord and mafter. 
 
 837. Want of care will always create want of money, 
 fo that, whether a man be a beggar, becaufe he never had 
 any money, or becaufe he could never keep any, is all 
 one to them that are to truft him. 
 
 838. The moft general and immediate caufe of the ruin 
 of families, in all the different degrees of condition, is, 
 that people generally fquarc their ftate and expence by 
 their title, and not by their revenue. 
 
 839. Jeahitfy, in a hufband, generally ripens into cue- 
 koldom. 
 
 840. There is nothing can render the thoughts of this 
 odd life tolerable, but the expectation of another; and 
 wife men have faid, that they would not live a moment, 
 
 if
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. i 37 
 
 if they thought they were not to live again, as it would 
 be a mifery to live, if we were to live for nothing elfe. 
 
 841. Thofe whom crofs accidents of fortune have un- 
 done, are pitied by all the world, becaufe it is a misfor- 
 tune the conditions of humanity fubmit us toj but thofe 
 that are reduced to mifery by vain profufion, raife more 
 contempt than commiferation, becaufe it is the ifTue of a 
 peculiar folly, from which every man has the good con- 
 ceit to think himfelf exempt. 
 
 842. A weak judgment, fome vanity, and much pride, 
 will hurry a man into as unwarrantable and violent at- 
 tempts, as the greateft, moft unlimited, and unfatiable 
 ambition. 
 
 843. As there are none but clean beafts that chew the 
 cud, fo none but clean and virtuous men can reflect with 
 pleafure upon their paft life. 
 
 844. To dcfire wealth for its own fake, is mean, for- 
 did, low, and proper only for thofe who make obtaining 
 it the end of our profeflion j but to delire it moderately, 
 in order to do more good is unblamable ; even reputation 
 itfelf is delired and fuftained by difcreetly keeping and 
 fpending, fo it is in a manner alfo fubfervient to wealth. 
 
 845. A wife man is a great monarch, he has an em- 
 pire within himfelf j reafon commands in chief, and pof- 
 fefTes the throne and fcepter } all his paffions, like obe- 
 dient fubje&s, do obey : though the territories feem but 
 fmall and narrow, yet the command is great, and reaches 
 farther than he that wears the moon for his creft, or the 
 other that has the fun for his helmet, 
 
 T 846. It
 
 138 A COLLECTION of 
 
 846. It is in life as in wine, he that has it good muft 
 not draw it to the laft dreg. 
 
 847. All the duties in the chriflian religion, that refpect 
 God, are no other but what natural light prompts men 
 to, except the facrament, and the praying to God in the 
 name and mediation of (Thrift. 
 
 848. Contrariety of opinions is that which gives life 
 and fpirit to converfation j if we were all of one mind, 
 we mould in a fhort time have little or nothing to difcourfe of. 
 
 849. Some men, by every mufcle in their face, difcover 
 their thoughts to be fixed upon the confideration what fi- 
 gure they are to make, and will often fall into a mufing 
 pofture to attract obfervation, and are then obtruding them- 
 felves upon the company, when they pretend to be with- 
 drawn from it j fuch little arts are the certain and infal- 
 lible tokens of fuperficial minds, as the avoiding obferva- 
 tion is the fign of great and fublime ones. 
 
 850. Nature provided for the hart, one of the mofl ti- 
 morous of creatures, fuch large and branching horns, to 
 teach us that ftrength and weapons cannot avail, . where 
 conduct and courage are wanting. 
 
 851. We ought not to difcover the imperfections of a 
 husband before his wife, of a father before his children, 
 of a lover in company with his miftrefs, nor of maflers 
 in prefence of their fcholars -, for it touches a man to the 
 quick, to be rebuked before thofe whom he defires mould 
 think honourably of him. 
 
 852. It is a degree of folly to delight to fee it in others, 
 and the greatefl infolence imaginable . to rejoice at the 
 difgrace of human nature. 
 
 853. Duty
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 139 
 
 853. Duty belongs to us, events only to God, who will 
 certainly reward the labourer, let what will be his fuccefs. 
 
 854. A found mind in a found body, is a fhort, but 
 full defcription of a happy ftate in this world : he that 
 has thefe two, has little more to wifh for ; and he that 
 wants either of them, will be but little the better for any 
 thing elfe. 
 
 855. A gentle and prudent reply to indecent and fcurri- 
 lous language, is the moft fevere, though innocent revenge. 
 
 856. Excellent fpeculations put but dead colours upon 
 virtue, he that would draw it to the life muft imprint it 
 on his practice. 
 
 857. Women will chufe to intrigue with a man that 
 wants fenfe, rather than with one that wants manners and 
 difcretion. 
 
 858. An amour, without any difturbance, is too like 
 marriage : there muft be quarrels, to make way for the 
 pleafure of reconcilements ; there muft be difficulties, for 
 the tranfport of overcoming them ; there muft be myfte- 
 ry, not to divide with any the fweetnefs of a tender com- 
 merce. 
 
 859. Hope, though never fo uncertain and deceitful, 
 ftill is of this good ufe to us, that it conduces us to our 
 journey's end an eafier and more pleafdntVay. 
 
 860. In a miferable condition, where all things are de- 
 fpaired of, a man is eafily perfuaded rather to confide in 
 another, than in himfelf. 
 
 86 1. He that would be fure to have his bufinefs well 
 done, muft either do it himfelf, or fee the doing of it j 
 be fides that, many a good fervant is fpoiled by a darelefs 
 
 T 2 mafter ;
 
 140 A COLLECTION of 
 
 matter. The morality of this caution is as good a lefTon 
 to governments, as to private families ; for a prince's lea- 
 ving his bufmefs wholly to his minifters, without a ftrict 
 eye over them, is as dangerous an error in politicks^ as a 
 matter's committing all to his fervants, is in oeconomicks. 
 
 862. Good offices depend much upon conftruction ; fome 
 take themfelves to be obliged when they are not, others 
 will not believe it when they are, and fome again take 
 obligations and injuries the one for the other, 
 
 863. Every man is attacked in the reproaching of him 
 that has bravely ferved his country, and he fcarce deferves 
 the name of a man that can filently bear it. 
 
 864. Ingratitude makes men rebels againft the princi- 
 ples of nature, who ought to be munned as an infectious 
 air, fmce there is no human law to punifh them. 
 
 865. Nothing is more abfurd than to hope for a hea- 
 ven of refined and fpiritual happinefs, and at the fame 
 time to^lead a fenfual life, as an introduction to it. 
 
 866. None generally find more difTatisfaction in earthly 
 things, than thofe who mofl indulge themfelves in the 
 enjoyment of them ; thofe who are moft in love with the 
 world, are frequently moft jilted by it. 
 
 867. Defpair makes a defpicable figure, and defcends 
 from a mean original j it is the offspring of fear, of la- 
 zinefs and impatience, and argues a defect of fpirit and 
 refolution. 
 
 868. An unlocked for good is a virgin happinefs, but 
 thofe who gain what they have long gazed on in expecta- 
 tion, only marry what they themfelves have defloured 
 before. 
 
 899. As
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 141 
 
 869. As a prevention of anger banifti all tale-bearers 
 and flanderers from your converfation, for it is thefe that 
 blow the devil's bellows, to rouze up the flames of rage 
 and fury, by firfl abufing your ears, and then your credu- 
 lity, and after that fleal away your patience, and all this 
 perhaps for a lye. To prevent anger, be not too inquifi- 
 tive into the affairs of others, or what people fay of your- 
 felf, or into the miflakes of your friends, for this is go- 
 ing out to gather flicks, to kindle a fire to burn your own 
 houfe. 
 
 870. Urbanity and civility are a debt you owe man- 
 kind j civil language, and good behaviour will be like'per- 
 petual letters commendatory to you ; other virtues have 
 need of fomewhat to maintain them, juflice mufl have 
 power, liberality, wealth, &c. but this fets up with no 
 other flock than a few pleafant looks, good words, and 
 no evil actions. It is an eafy purchafe, when friends are 
 gained by kindnefs and affability. 
 
 871. I cannot divine what pleafure fome people take in 
 conflantly complaining j doubtlefs they have fome fecret 
 pride in it, to let us know that their merit is ill ufed, or 
 ill rewarded -, their perpetual lamentations are very tedious 
 and grating, even to thofe they expect pity from. 
 
 For pity only on fre/h objeffs Jtays> 
 But with the tedious Jight of woes decays. 
 
 872. Be careful not to exafperate any feet of religion ; 
 rigour feldom makes ill chriflians better, but many 
 times it makes them referved hypocrites. 
 
 873. The common miftake in the computations of 
 men, when they expect returns of favours, proceeds 
 
 from
 
 14.2 A COLLECTION of 
 
 from the pride both of the giver and receiver, who can- 
 not agree upon the eftimate of the benefit. 
 
 874. There is a fort of free and generous gratitude, 
 whereby a man not only acquits a paft obligation, but lays 
 a new one upon his benefactor. 
 
 875. All tray tors are mercenaries ; and whoever be- 
 trays one matter for advantage, will betray another for a 
 better price. 
 
 876. It is a part of prudence, not to fink under the 
 impreflion of an ill report, provided there be integrity 
 and innocence to fupport that firmnefs of mind. A wife 
 man will not make his life precarious, he ftands or falls 
 to his own confcience, and leaves the world to take its 
 courfe. 
 
 877. A man feldom mifcarries by being ignorant of a- 
 nother's thoughts j but he that does not attend to his own, 
 will certainly be difappointed. 
 
 878. It was wifely faid of the Emperor Marcus Anto- 
 ninus, that no man could do him a real injury, becaufe no 
 man could force him to mijbehave himfelf. 
 
 879. Keeping is the greateft folecifm a man of plea- 
 fure can commit. If the fpark is true to his miftrefs, it 
 has all the phlegm ; and if he is fond of her, all the 
 expence of matrimony. 
 
 880. A man may eafily impofe upon a woman, by a 
 pretended paffion, provided he have no real one for ano- 
 ther. 
 
 88 1. We fhouldbe careful never to relate improbabili- 
 ties, though we have authority for them. Vaffb fays, 
 that other vices are like dipt or light money, but lying, 
 
 coun-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 143 
 
 counterfeit or falfe coin, which an honefl man ought 
 not to pay, though he himfelf received it. 
 
 882. Prudence is a chriftian as well as a moral virtue 5 
 without it, devotion degenerates into fuperftition, libera- 
 lity into profufenefs, and zeal into a pious frenzy. 
 
 883. Patient enduring a neceflary evil, is next to a 
 voluntary martyrdom; for adverfity overcome is the high- 
 eft glory, and willingly undergone is the greateft virtue. 
 
 884. Senfe of mame is a ftrong reftraint to keep men 
 from fin j he who, by a vicious courfe of life, has worn 
 out that fenfe, has nothing left, but fear, to deter him 
 from the moft barbarous afts of villainy. 
 
 885. A man of wit, who is born proud, lofes nothing 
 of his pride, or ftiffnefs, for being poor j on the con- 
 trary, if any thing will foften and render him more fweet 
 and fociable, it is a little profperity. 
 
 886. Men are generally more capable of great endea- 
 vours to obtain their ends, than of a long perfeverance ; 
 their lazinefs and inconftancy rob them of the fruits of 
 tjie beft beginnings. ' They are overtaken by fuch as they 
 left behind them, fuch as marched, perhaps, flowly, but 
 with a conftant refolution. 
 
 887. A man that has much merit and ingenuity, and 
 is known to have it, is not ugly with the mofl defor- 
 med features, or if there is a deformity, it makes no im- 
 preffion. 
 
 888. Mocking is of all injuries the leaft pardonable. 
 It is the language of contempt, and the bed way by 
 which it makes itfelf underftood ; it attacks a man in his 
 innermoil intrenchment, in the good opinion he has of 
 
 him-
 
 144 <A COLLECTION of 
 
 himfelf ; it aims at making him ridiculous in his own 
 eyes, and thus convincing him that the perfon who 
 mocks him, cannot have a worfe difpofition towards him, 
 renders him irreconcileable. 
 
 889. Simplicity, innocence, induftry and temperance, 
 are arts that lead to tranquillity, as much as learning, 
 knowledge, wifdom, and contemplation. A noble fim- 
 plicity in difcourfe is a talent rare, and above the reach of 
 ordinary men. Genius, fancy, learning, memory, &c. 
 are fo far from helping, that they often hinder the attain- 
 ing of it. 
 
 890. As in battle the fearful and cowardly meet that 
 danger by refignation, which the valiant by oppofition a- 
 void, fo he that is abject and refign'd in pain, admits and 
 fharpens the infults of an enemy, which by an intenfe pa- 
 tience mould be broke or overcome. 
 
 891. Ambition is like choler, which is an humour 
 that makes men active, earneft, full of alacrity and ftir- 
 ring, if it be not flopped ; but if it cannot have its way, 
 it becomes aduft, and thereby malignant and venomous : 
 So ambitious men, if they find their way open to their 
 riling, and ftill get forward, they are rather bufy than 
 dangerous ; but if they be checked in their defires, they 
 become fecretly difcontent, and look upon men and maf- 
 ters with an evil eye, and are beft pleafed when things 
 go backward, which is the worft property in a fervant 
 of a prince or Hate. Therefore it is good for princes, if 
 they are obliged to make ufe of ambitious men, to handle 
 them fo, as they be ftill progreffive and not retrograde. 
 
 892. To mourn without meafure, is folly, not to 
 
 mourn
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 145 
 
 mourn at all, infenlibility : The befl temper is betwixt 
 piety and reafon -, to be feniible, but neither to be tranf- 
 ported, nor cail down. 
 
 893. Exceffive commendations of any art, or fcience, 
 whatsoever, as alfo of the learning of any particular men, 
 or nations, only prove, that the perfons who give fuch 
 characters, never heard of any thing, or perfon, that were 
 more excellent in that way ; and therefore admiration 
 may be as well fuppofed to proceed from their own igno- 
 rance, as from the real excellency of the perfons or 
 things, unlefs their refpective abilities are otherwife known. 
 
 894. When every thing elfe mall fail, and time itfelf 
 go out into eternity, only love and praife mall endure for 
 ever, and vye with each other in heaven to endlefs ages. 
 
 895. Jf the human foul had more power than the phi- 
 lofopher allows her, if me had as many faculties within 
 the head, as hairs without, the fpeculation of the myfte- 
 rics of the Trinity would be work enough for them all. 
 
 896. Parents benedictions have a kind of prophetick 
 virtue to make their children profperous. 
 
 897. Wifdom is begot by nature, nourifh'd by experi- 
 ence, and brought up by learning. 
 
 898. It is obfervable that God has often called men to 
 places of dignity and honour, when they have been bti- 
 fy in the honeft employment of their vocation. Saul was 
 feeking his father's afTes, and David keeping his father's 
 fheep, when called to the kingdom. The fhepherds 
 were feeding their flocks, when they had their glorious 
 revelation. God called four apoftles from their fifhery, 
 and Matthew frqm the receipt of cuftom ; Amos, from a- 
 
 U
 
 146 A COLLECTION of 
 
 mong the herdfmen of Tckoah, Mofes from keeping Je- 
 thr/s fheep, and Gideon from the threming-floor, &c. 
 God never encourages idlenefs, and defpifes not perfons in 
 the meaneft employments. 
 
 899. It is a moft unpardonable vanity and wickednefs 
 to triumph over a woman's virtue, and then to trample up- 
 on her reputation. 
 
 900. In the Papifm we find many ftrange mixtures j in 
 the pope, a prelate and a prince ; in the canon, fcripture 
 and tradition ; in the mafs, a facrament and a facrifice j in 
 converfion of a (inner, grace and free will ; in justification, 
 faith and works ; in falvation, mercy and merit j in in- 
 terceffion, Chrift and the virgin Mary, &c. 
 
 90 1 . Though our reformation be as late as Luther, our 
 religion is as antient as chriflianity itfelf j for when the 
 additions which the church of Rome has made to the an- 
 tient chriftian faith, and their innovations in practice are 
 pared off, that which remains of their religion is ours. 
 We would fain hope, becaufe they retain the effentials of 
 chriflianity, and profefs to believe all the articles of the 
 chriftian faith, that, notwithstanding their corruptions, 
 they may ftill be accounted the true eflence of a church $ 
 as a man may really and truly be a man, though he have 
 the plague upon him, and for that reafon be fit to be a- 
 voided by all that wifh well to themfelves. 
 
 902. The grounds on which religion are founded are 
 either true or falfe ; if falfe, the religious man, and the 
 ftri&eft obferver of all precepts of felf-denial, ventures 
 no more than juft the lofs of threefcore years, which I 
 will allow to be foolifhly beftowed $ but if true, the vi- 
 cious
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 147 
 
 cious man is, of all others, the moft miferable, and I 
 tremble at the very thoughts of what unutterable and in- 
 comprehenfible torments I fee him daily heaping on him- 
 felf. 
 
 903. Moderation can never have the honour of contend- 
 ing with ambition, and fubduing it, becaufe they never 
 meet together : moderation is the weaknefs and floth of 
 the foul, whereas ambition is the ardour and activity of it. 
 
 904. The purfuits of ambition, though not fo general, 
 yet are as endlefs as thofe of riches, and as extravagant too, 
 iince none ever yet thought he had power or empire e- 
 nough ; for what prince foever feems to be fo great, as to 
 live and reign without any further defires or fears, falls 
 into the life of a private man, and enjoys but thofe plea- 
 fures and entertainments, which a great many feveral de- 
 grees of private fortune will allow, and as much, indeed, 
 as human nature is capable of enjoying. 
 
 905. Abjence is to love, what fajling is to the body ; 
 a little may make it more active and brifk, but a long 
 abjlinence will deftroy nature. So, fhort feparations, and 
 feldom, may render love more lively and vigorous, but long 
 and frequent muft bring a confumption upon it. 
 
 906. I cannot call riches better than the baggage of 
 virtue j for as the baggage is to an army, fo is riches to 
 virtue. 
 
 907. A covetous man renders himfelf the moft mifer- 
 able of men, wrongs many, and obliges none but when 
 he dies. 
 
 908. Prayer, compared to praife, is but a fuliginous 
 fmoke, ifluing from a fenfe of fin, and human infirmity. 
 
 U2 Praifes
 
 14.8 A COLLECTION of 
 
 Praifes are the clear fparks of piety, and fooner fly up- 
 wards. 
 
 909. To ftudy, is a good way to learn ; to hear, is a 
 better j but to teach, the beft of all. St Auftin fays, the 
 office of dhtributing gives us merit to receive, and the 
 office of teaching ferves us for a foundation of learning. 
 
 910. Our bodies are like a lamp, to which the natural 
 heat is inftead of fire, and the radical moifture, of oil. 
 
 911. To be always praying, and doing of nothing, is 
 like lazy beggars, that are ever complaining and afking, 
 but will do nothing to help themfelves j if we expect God's 
 grace and affiftance, we mufl work out our falvation, as 
 well as pray for it. 
 
 912. I am not of opinion that we are to retire from 
 human fociety to feek God in the horrors of folitude, nei- 
 ther do 1 believe it neceflary to difengage from a civil 
 life, and break off all reafonable correfpondence to be u- 
 nited to divinity ; and am averfe to thofe folitary humours, 
 which infenfibly infufe in the mind a hatred of the world,, 
 and an antipathy to pleafure. I may be devout without 
 fuperftition, enthufiafm, or melancholy ; and hope to find 
 God among men, where his goodnefs is moft active, and 
 his providence appears to be more worthily employed ; 
 and there I will endeavour, by his affiftance, to enlighten 
 my reafon, perfect my manners, and regulate my conduct, 
 both as to the care of my falvation, and the duties of life. 
 
 913. A folitary life, fays Arijlotle^ is either brutal or 
 divine, above, or below a man j but that is a cowardly 
 fort of content, which is got by running away from what- 
 ever difpleafes us $ mould all good men take that whim of 
 
 , . leaving
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 149 
 
 leaving the world, what would become of it ? It is not. 
 to be denied but that fociety has more temptations and 
 trouble in it, than folitude, the greateft trial of virtue be- 
 ing in the fcene of action 3 but the more difficult, the. 
 more honourable. 
 
 914. The man who is not contented with what is in 
 itfelf fufficient for his condition, neither is rich, or ever 
 will be fo,, becaufe there can be no other real limits to 
 his delires, but that of fufficiency j whatever is beyond 
 this, being boundlefs and infinite. 
 
 915. The commonwealth is a ring, the church a col- 
 leted diamond ; both, well fet together, receive and return 
 luftre to each other. 
 
 916. The difference between a foft and a meek man. 
 is, the one has no gall, the other bridles it. 
 
 917. Meccenas's advice to Auguflus was, never to be- 
 concerned at what was fpoken againft him. For, added 
 he, if their accufations be true, he ought rather to cor- 
 rect himfelf than reftrain others ; if falfe,. the contempt 
 of fuch difcourfes would deftroy the belief of them, but 
 concern would argue the truth of them, and put it in the.- 
 power of the vileft perfon to difturb his repofe. 
 
 918. Covetoufnefs is enough to make the mailer of the 
 world as poor as he that has juft nothing j for a man 
 may be brought to a morfel of bread by griping, as well 
 as by profufenefs. It is a madnefs for a man that has e- 
 nough already, to hazard all for the getting of more, and 
 then, upon the mifcarriage, to leave himfelf nothing. 
 
 919. It is the infatuation of mifers to take gold and 
 
 filver
 
 150 A COLLECTION of 
 
 filvcr for things really good, whereas they are only fome 
 of the means by which good things are procured. 
 
 920. That man is rich who receives more than he lays 
 out ; and, on the contrary, that man is to be accounted 
 poor, whofe expence exceeds his revenue. 
 
 921. A man at forty thinks himfelf fuperannuated for a 
 new friendmip, yet will marry at fourfcore. 
 
 922. We mould manage ourfelves with WK fortune y as 
 we do with our health ; enjoy it, when good ; bear it pa- 
 tiently, when ///; and never ufe defperate remedies , but up- 
 on defperate occafions. 
 
 923. Few will tell you the truth but friends, and they 
 will not always tell you your failings. 
 
 924. The lick amufe their melancholy, and alleviate 
 their illnefs by fpeaking of it ; the attention we give them 
 comforts, and in fome fort mitigates, the acutenefs of their 
 pain. 
 
 925. He is the happier owner who has a wife wife 
 enough to hide rhe real horns of her husband, than me 
 that, being innocent, does, by her light ridiculous carnage, 
 make the bafe fymptoms appear in the eye of the 
 world. 
 
 926. Humility, with an alloy of frailties and failings, 
 is doubtlefs much more acceptable to God, than virtuous 
 adions, puffed up with vain glory, and fpiritual pnde. 
 
 927. Learned men, to whom, the reft of the world are 
 infants, have the fame affection of nourishing minds, as 
 the pelican in feeding her young, which is at the expence 
 of the very fubftance of life. 
 
 928. It
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 151 
 
 928. It is rare to fee a man decline in his fortune, 
 that has not firft declined in his wifdom and prudence. 
 
 929. In Cato's difcourfe concerning his death, as it is 
 reprefented by Tully in his book of old age, " I am (fays 
 he) tranfported with a delire of feeing my forefathers, 
 thofe excellent perfons, of whom I have heard, and read, 
 and writ j and now I am going to them, I would not 
 willingly be drawn back again into this world. If fome 
 God would offer me at this age to be a child again, and 
 to cry in the cradle, I would earneftly refufe it, and upon 
 no terms accept it ; and now that my race is almoft run, 
 and my courfe juft finimed, how loth mould I be to be 
 brought back, and made to begin again ! What advantage 
 is there in life, nay rather what labour and trouble is there 
 not in it ? But let the benefit of it be what it will, 
 there is certainly fome meafure of life, as well as of o- 
 ther things, and men ought to know when they have 
 enough. O blefled and glorious day, when I mail go to 
 the great aflembly and council of fpirits, and have got 
 out of this tumult and fink !" If a heathen, that had 
 but fome obfcure glimmerings of another life, and of the 
 blefled ftate of departed fouls, could fpeak thus chearfully 
 of death - 3 how much more may we, who have a clear 
 and undoubted revelation of thofe things, and to whom, 
 life and immortality are brought to light ! 
 
 930. It is violating all the laws of nature, to treat 
 perfons fuperior to us by their quality and ftation, em- 
 ploys or age, in a familiar way. Familiarity is not ftif- 
 ferable but among equals: And tho' people fometimes 
 wave their privileges, yet ought we not to forget our 
 
 duty,
 
 152 A COLLECTION of 
 
 duty, and treat them otherwife than their character de- 
 mands. Liberties of this kind befpeak a fordid education, 
 and perfect ignorance of decorum. 
 
 93 r. What we call friendftrip is no more than an in- 
 tercourfe offociety ; it is only a mutual care aud manage- 
 ment of interefts, and an exchange of good turns and 
 fervices. In a word, it is only a fort of traffick^ in 
 which felf-k've has always profit in profpecl. 
 ' 932. The decrees of heaven are wrapped up in the 
 clouds, and the events of future things hidden in the 
 dark from the eyes of mortal men. The wifeft counfels 
 may be difcompofed by the fmalleft accidents, and the 
 fecureft peace of dates, and kingdoms, may be dhturbed 
 by the lighteft paffions, as well as the deep deligns of 
 thofe who govern them. For though the wife reflec- 
 tions of the bed hiftorians, as well as the common reafon- 
 ings of private men, are apt to afcribe the actions and 
 counfels of princes to intereft or reafons of ftate; yet 
 whoever can trace them to their true fpring, will be af- 
 ter forced to derive them from the fame paffions, and 
 perfonal difpofitions, which govern the affairs of private 
 lives. 
 
 933. Though the feveral members of a church may 
 feem to compofe but one body, yet they have a particular 
 religion, accommodated to every one's temper, humour, 
 inclination, quality, and the perfons they converfe with. 
 
 934. Fine talents, and eminent qualities, are not fuffici- 
 ent, of themfelves, to purchafe the efteem and affection 
 of men. It is moreover requifite not to applaud our- 
 felves for them, nor moke too pompous a difplay of 
 
 them ;
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 153 
 
 them ; for if you affume too great an afcendant, you 
 will bring all the world upon your back, your merit 
 will become a rock of offence, and be more to your pre- 
 judice than advantage ; becaufe we feel a fecret indigna- 
 tion againft thofe that eclipfe us, and fpare nothing to 
 excufe ourfelves from fo ungrateful a fuperiority. 
 
 935. Rather modeftly bear the praifes that are given you, 
 and you deferve, than reject them with a myfterious and 
 affected roughnefs ; it is equally ridiculous to be too fond 
 of praife, and to refufe it with too manifeft an affecta- 
 tion j admit what is civilly and obligingly faid to you, 
 or dexteroufly turn the difcourfe, fo as they that fpeak to 
 you may have no reafon to repent their commendation, 
 or look upon you as an unbred or brutal man. 
 
 936. Keep a low fail at the entrance of your eftatej you 
 may rife with honour, but cannot go back without fhame. 
 
 937. It is a great mark of weaknefs to be eternally 
 complaining of your misfortunes, and deafening all you 
 meet with the account of them ; we feek to folace and 
 amufe our affections by thefe recitals, but, in my mind, 
 we ought to conceal our difgraces from all but thofe that 
 can remedy them. 
 
 938. The will of God is not, in us, an impreffion that 
 he receives from without, but an inward felf-centering 
 principle, that both derives from, and terminates in him- 
 felf. 
 
 939. How calmly do thofe glide through all, even 
 the rougheft, events, who can but make a right eflimate of 
 the happinefs, as well as the virtue of a governable will, 
 religned to God's ! How does it enervate and enfeeble 
 
 X any
 
 154 ' <d COLLECTION of 
 
 any calamity ! nay, indeed, it triumphs over it, and, by 
 that conjunction with him that ordains it, may be faid to 
 command even what it fuffers. It was a philofophical 
 maxim that a wife moral man could not be injured, 
 could not be miferable ; but fure it is much more true of 
 him, who has that divine wifdom of chriftian refignati- 
 on, that twifts and inwraps all his choices with God's, 
 and is neither at the pains nor hazards of his own elec- 
 tion, but is fecure, unlefs omnifcience can be deceived, 
 and omnipotence defeated, he mail have what is really 
 beft for him. 
 
 940. There is no truth more evident, than that fome- 
 thing muft be from eternity. I never yet heard of any 
 one fo unreafonable, or that could fuppofe fo manifeft a, 
 contradiction, as a time wherein there was perfectly no- 
 thing ; this being of all abfurdities the greateft to ima- 
 gine, that pure nothing, the perfect negation and abfence 
 of all being, mould ever produce any real exiftence. 
 
 941. There never was found any pretended confcien- 
 cious zeal, but it was always moft certainly attended with 
 a fierce fpirit of implacable cruelty. 
 
 ^42. No treachery is fo mortal, as that which covers 
 kfelf under the mafk of fandity. 
 
 943. There is fomething particular, that pleafes in a 
 gentleman's converfation, when he is well bred : No bo- 
 dy can define it, yet every body is fenfible when they 
 meet it, or when they mifs it. 
 
 944. No injuries are fo fenfible to mankind in gene- 
 tal, as thofe of fcorn ; and no quarrels purfued between 
 princes, with fo much marpnefs and violence, as thofe 
 
 which
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 155 
 
 which arife from perfonal animofities, or private paffions, 
 to which they are fubject like other men. 
 
 945. Though it may be an argument of great wit, 
 to give ingenious reafons for many wonderful appearan- 
 ces in nature ; yet it is an evidence of fmall judgment, to 
 be poiitive in any thing, but the acknowledgment of our 
 own ignorance. 
 
 946. It is an unhappy thing for princes to be fome- 
 times neceffitated to promife, when they know it would 
 not be prudence to perform. 
 
 947. He who has learning, and not difcretion to ufe 
 it, has only the advantage of having more ways to ex- 
 pofe himfelf. 
 
 948. There are abundance of obfcene, and a great 
 many more railing and fatirical wits, but very few deli- 
 cate. A man muft have manners and politenefs, to trifle 
 with a good grace, and a copious fancy, to play hand- 
 fomely on little things, to create matter of raillery, and 
 make fomething out of nothing. 
 
 949. Undertake not with rafhnefs, nor perform with 
 indifference ; the one mews a weak mind, the other 'a 
 ilothful difpofition. 
 
 950. The jealous man's life is fpent in purfuit of a 
 fecret, which deftroys his happinefs if he chance to find 
 it : If he does not fee to the bottom of every thing, he 
 will be fure to go beyond it in his fears and fufpicions. 
 
 951. It is of the laft importance to feafonthe paffions 
 of a child with devotion, which feldom dies in a mind 
 that has received an early tincture of it. Though it may 
 feem extinguifhed for a while by the cares of the world, 
 
 X 2 the
 
 156 A COLLECTION of 
 
 the heats of youth, or the allurements of vice, it gene- 
 rally breaks out and difcovers itfelf aguin, as foon as dif- 
 cretion, confideration, age or misfortunes have brought 
 the man to himfelf. The fire may be covered and over- 
 laid, but cannot be entirely quenched and fmothered. 
 
 952. The fecrets of government ought not to be 
 touched with unwarned hands, and expofed to the mul- 
 tude ; for upon granting the people a privilege of debat- 
 ing the prerogatives of fovereign power, they will infer, 
 naturally enough, a right and title to the controuling and 
 over- ruling of it. 
 
 953. The true raillery mould be a defence fa good and 
 virtuous works, and mould only deiign the derifion of 
 extravagant, and the difgrace of vile and difhonourable 
 things. This kind of wit ought to have the nature of 
 fait, to which it is ufually compared -, which preferves 
 and keeps fweet the good and found parts of all bodies, 
 and only frets, dries up, and deftroys thofe humours 
 which putrefy and corrupt. 
 
 954. Men ought to find the difference betwixt faltnefs 
 and bitternefs; for he that has a fatirical vein, as he 
 makes others afraid of his wit, fo he had need be afraid 
 of others memory. 
 
 955. It is the excellent property of a good and wife 
 prince ', to ufe war as he does phyjick, carefully, unwilling- 
 ly, and feafonably. 
 
 956. Criticife upon your own actions, and then you 
 will fee reafon enough to pardon the weaknefles of 
 others. 
 
 957. Providence is pleafed to fee great and noble fouls
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS, 157 
 
 jftruggling with difficulties, and often defers their reward, 
 that it may grow greater by delay. 
 
 958. Gravity too much affected becomes comical, it is 
 like extremities that touch, whofe middle is dignity j you 
 cannot call it being grave, but acting the part of a grave 
 man j he that ftudies to be fo, mall never obtain it -, ei- 
 ther gravity is natural, or there is no fuch thing, and it 
 is ealier to defcend than afcend. 
 
 959. To difpute the goodnefs of pleafure, as God 
 defigned it, is to deny experiment, and contradict fen- 
 fation, which is the higheft evidence a man can have of 
 the things of this world j nay even a good man is con- 
 tent with hard ufage at prefent, that he may take plea- 
 fure in the other world ; and though now remote from 
 him, the thoughts of enjoying it, in due time, make him 
 bear up againfl all difficulties, 
 
 960. The luxury of water, to a true thirft, is far more 
 fweet than delicious wine to a debauched taite. 
 
 961. Love begins, and ambition ends with us, fo that 
 we are often never freed from paffions till we die. 
 
 962. It is obferved that thofe attempts which begin 
 with difficulty and danger, for the moil part, end in ho- 
 nour, crowned with glory, and good fuccefs. 
 
 963. Good confciences breed great refolutions; they 
 that leaft confider hazard in doing their duty, always fare 
 the beft j it is more fuccefsful to be bold than wary, and 
 no man ever profpered fo well as the refolute. Fortune 
 is a miftrefs, that is fooner won by thofe that ruffle and 
 force, than by fuch as proceed coldly ; it will certainly be 
 
 over-
 
 158 A COLLECTION of 
 
 overcome, if thou refift courageoufly -, if thou neglect, it 
 
 conquers. 
 
 964. He that has true fortitude is hardened againft 
 evil upon rational principles, he is fortified and guarded 
 with reafon and consideration, that no dolorous accident, 
 from without, is able to invade his foul, or raife violent 
 commotions in it : In a word,, he has fuch a conftant 
 power over his irafcible affections, as not to be over- prone 
 to be either timorous in danger, or envious in want, im- 
 patient in fuffering, angry in contempt, or malicious and 
 revengeful under injuries and provocations ; and till we 
 have acquired this virtue, we can never be happy, either 
 here or hereafter. 
 
 965. Prudence governs the wife, but there are but few 
 of that fort, and the moft wife are not fo at all times. 
 Paffion governs almoft all the world, and almoft always. 
 We fee moft things are carried on by a fpirit of faction, 
 and all factions are paffionate. Paffion is found every 
 where, the zeal of the beft perfons is not freed from it. 
 
 966. The patriarchs before the flood \ who lived nine 
 hundred years, fcarcely provided for a few days -, and 
 we, who live but a few days, provide at leaft for nine 
 hundred years. 
 
 967. Honefty is always the nearer! way to fuccefs ; 
 what a deal of fatigue and trouble muft a knave undergo ! 
 How many tricks, flourimes and mifts muft he ufe to 
 compafs his ends, when the honeft man does his bufmefs 
 with a wet finger ! 
 
 968. You are a good man, you neither court the fa- 
 vour, nor the refentments of favourites ; you mind your 
 
 own
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 159 
 
 own bufinefs, and wholly apply yourfelf to your prince 
 and duty. Mark my prophecy. Tou are undone. 
 
 969. As difficult as it is to get a confiderable place at 
 court) it is much harder, yet, to make one's felf worthy 
 of it. 
 
 970. The mifery and happinefs of the whole life of 
 mortals, are themes fcarce worth a pafiion r Whatever 
 we endure as an evi/ 3 or poffefs as a good, are both fa 
 fhort, that as the one need not fink us to an excefs of 
 grief, fo neither does the other deferve an excefs of joy. 
 
 971. I hold, in charity, no lefs than commerce with 
 all forts of people that acknowledge a divine and univer- 
 fal providence, but abominate thofe that have the indif- 
 cretion or impudence to deny it. 
 
 972. The wifeft, moil virtuous, and perfect among 
 men, may have fome little vanity and affectation, which 
 may lay them open to the raillery of a mimical, malicious 
 wit. 
 
 973. Nothing pleafes a man more, than to know that 
 he has avoided a foolim action. 
 
 974. A blockhead neither comes nor goes, fits or rifes, 
 nor is filent, nor ftands upon his legs like a man of fenfe. 
 
 975. God never faid to any man, Thy fins are forgiven 
 thee, without adding, Sin no more. 
 
 976. There is but little faithfulnefs to be expected from 
 aflbciates in villainy, be their mutual engagements never 
 fo folemn. 
 
 977. Riches are bleffings, if not perverted > they are 
 the rewards of induftry, and the inftruments of charity, 
 the mod amiable of all chriftian virtues. 
 
 978. A fine
 
 160 A COLLECTION of 
 
 978. A fine coat is but a livery, if the perfon that 
 wears it difcovers no higher fenfe than that of a footman. 
 
 979. If I have received an injury, I immediately con- 
 ilder whether I have deferved it or not ; if I have, it is 
 a judgment from God ; if not, it is an injuftice from 
 man, and the doer has more reafon to be afhamed of it 
 than I. 
 
 980. Where it is poflible to repair our ill fuccefs, I am 
 wholly of opinion we ought to employ all forts of reme- 
 dies; but in a fatal accident,which is never to be retrieved, 
 I would defire to know where lies the fervice of a ridicu- 
 lous affectation, in paying tears, which are at beft but trou- 
 blefome to thofe that med them, and wholly unfeafonable 
 to thofe for whom they are fhed. 
 
 . 981. Counfel in trouble gives but fmall comfort, when 
 help is paft remedy. 
 
 982. Repentance without amendment, is like continual 
 pumping in a fhip, without mending the leak. 
 
 983. True devotion is the true Tource of repofe, that 
 only has a power to fupport life, and fweeten death. 
 
 984. Men lofe many things, not* becaufe the attain- 
 ment is impoffible, but becaufe they want courage to at- 
 tempt them. 
 
 985. Illiterate men often perfuade more effectually than 
 the learned, becaufe they feem to fpeak more naturally, 
 and from a feeling fenfe. 
 
 986. There are fome common misfortunes, which have 
 a relation to all men, but every man has his particular 
 fentiments of them, and fo endures, in that fenfe, the 
 whole weight of his affliction fingly. But in our private
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 161 
 
 'dlf graces^ that which affects us mod is to fee no body 
 bear a refemblance to us. We cannot with patience be- 
 hold ourfelves deftined to fuffer an unhappinefs alone, 
 which all the world may be affected with as well as we : 
 and nothing fo much augments the fharpnefs of our af- 
 flictions, as the fiercenefs and pride of thofe who feem 
 to brave and defpife them. 
 
 987. Study makes a greater difference between nfcbolar 
 and an ignorant man, than there is between an ignorant man 
 and a brute. But the air of the world yet makes a 
 greater distinction between a polite and gleamed perfon. 
 Knowledge begins the gentleman^ and the commerce of 
 the world compleats him. 
 
 988. By a little knowledge of nature , men become a- 
 theijls ; but a great deal returns them back again to a found 
 and religious mind. 
 
 989. An Englijh king will never be able to hold the 
 ballance of Europe, if he knows not how to hold the bal- 
 lance of England ; for his reputation abroad will rife or 
 fink, as his affairs go well or ill at home. 
 
 990. The tares have the privilege of the field, as well 
 as the wheat 5 and the bad fifh of the net, as well as the 
 good. To communicate with fin, is fin j but to communi- 
 cate with the finner, in that which is not fin, can be none. 
 
 99 1 . Whenever you commend, add your reafon for do- 
 ing fo : It is this which diftinguiflies the approbation of 
 a man of fenfe, from the flattery of fycophants, and 
 the admiration of fools. 
 
 992. The only remedy againft fear is the refult of vir- 
 tuous actions, for thofe who do no evil, fear none. 
 
 Y 993. Re-
 
 1 62 A COLLECTION of 
 
 993. Reputation is the faireft face of virtue, and fooneft 
 cheats the world. 
 
 994. There is as much policy wanting to fecure a repu- 
 tation, as wit and learning to deferve it. 
 
 995. No man is ridiculous for being what he is, but 
 only for the affectation of being fomething more. 
 
 996. It behoves every man, in the fearch of truth, to 
 preferve a philofophical liberty, not to be fo enflaved to 
 the opinion of any one, as to think whatever he fays in- 
 fallible. 
 
 997. I would not have one of a great character en- 
 deavour to make himfelf inacceffible ; nothing but a mean 
 genius ought to be my of mewing himfelf, as being con- 
 fcious that his merit will not bear too near a fcrutiny j 
 there is a medium between a haughtinefs that defpifes o- 
 thers, and a-familiarity that makes us cheap. 
 
 998. If you defire knowledge only to know, it is cu- 
 rioiity - 3 if to be known, it is vanity ; but, if to edify, it 
 is charity ; or that thou mayeft be edified, it is wifdom. 
 
 999. Curiofity is one of the ftrongefl and mofl lafting 
 of our appetites. 
 
 1000. It is conformity of inclinations that conftitutes 
 friendmip. 
 
 1001. There are none that contemn a bad fame, fo 
 much as thofe who defpife the virtues that produce a good 
 one ; they that flight reputation, feldom value virtue, for 
 when once they are indifferent to other people's words, 
 they are commonly fo to their own actions j fuch I would 
 avoid. How can you expect they will preferve your re- 
 putation, when they defpife their own ? 
 
 1002. Per-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 163 
 
 1 002. Perjury is a fin that ftrikes like a fword with two 
 edges, both againft divine and human faith ; it impiouily 
 appears to brave heaven itfelf, and is odious to all focie- 
 ties on earth, flighting all folemn covenants made with 
 God and man. 
 
 1003. It is dangerous to add power to them who only 
 want will to do mifchief. 
 
 1004. He that firft invented the names of IVhig and 
 Tory, has done the nation as much harm, as the gun- 
 powder treafon would have done it, if it had taken effecT:. 
 
 1005. We have lately had the hiftory of unfortunate 
 favourites, it is pity the author has not given us, at the 
 fame time, the hiftory of princes that have been undone 
 by them. I am fure this fecond part would have been as 
 feafonable and ufeful as the firft, 
 
 1006. Death happens but once, but the fenfe of it re T 
 news in all the moments of our lives ; and the fear we 
 have of it, is ten times worfe than the fubmitting to it. 
 
 1007. Though the continued traverfes of fortune may 
 make us out of humour with the world, yet nothing but 
 a noble inclination to virtue and philofophy can make us 
 happy in retirement. 
 
 1008. There goes a great deal of art and addrefs to 
 make a denial go down, and by fair and civil expreflions, 
 to fupply the kindnefs we cannot grant. 
 
 1009. Men are born to be ferviceable one to another j 
 therefore, either reform the world, or bear with it. 
 
 1010. The generality of men feem fitter for thofe em- 
 ployments they have not, than for thofe they ftand already 
 pofleft of. 
 
 2 ion. The
 
 164 A COLLECTION of 
 
 i o 1 1 . The aim of orators is victory ; of hiffcorians, 
 truth j and of poets, admiration. 
 
 1012. Infamy, if thou art a mud-wall, will flick; if 
 marble, it will rebound. 
 
 1013. It is the ill fortune of a ftrong brain, if not to 
 be dignified as meritorious, to be deprefled as dangerous. 
 
 1014. He that declines phyfic till he be weakened with 
 the difeafe, is bold too long, and wife too late. 
 
 1015. Oftentimes a fmall lofs in an army, like open- 
 ing a vein, does rather correct than any way impair the 
 health j whereas too much profperity, like the worft fur- 
 feit, fuddenly becomes incurable. 
 
 1016. Rebuke thy fervant's faults in private, publick 
 reproof hardens mame j if he be part a youth, ftrike him 
 not ; he is not fit for thy fervice, who, after wife reproofs, 
 will either deferve thy ftrokes, or digeft them. 
 
 1017. We mould fpeak modeftly of others before thofe 
 whom we owe refpect to, who take little pleafure in 
 hearing the praifes wherein they have no part. To make a 
 trade of fquandering infipid praifes upon every body, is a 
 very defpicable character. Civility demands that we fhould 
 be complimental upon fome occafions, but it is turning 
 fool indifcriminately to beftow our compliments, learned 
 by heart, upon all comers, and as foon as we accoft them, 
 begin their panegyricks -, there is nothing more naufeous 
 to a judicious tafte, than thofe fulforne flatteries. I would 
 rather have hard words bluntly faid to me, than hear 
 thofe everlafting encomiafts, who are conftantly giving 
 me an incenfe that makes me drunk, and gets into my 
 head. 
 
 1018. The
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 165 
 
 1018. The fool does not difcern, and, confequently, 
 cannot mind the good that is obvious, for his thoughts 
 are flill intent upon the future j but the prudent man re- 
 trieves things that were loft, out of oblivion, by ftrength 
 of recollection renders them perfpicuous, and enjoys them as 
 if they were prefent : Happinefs having only a few coy 
 minutes to be courted in, the man that has no intellects 
 neglects this opportunity, and fo it Hides away from his 
 fenfe, and no more belongs to him. 
 
 1019. The mifery and happinefs of the whole life of 
 mortals, are themes fcarce worth a paffion. Whatever 
 we endure as an evil, or poffefs as a good, are both fo 
 mort, that as the one need not fink us to an excefs of 
 grief, fo neither does the other deferve a paroxyfm of joy ; 
 a figh or a tear are enough for the firfr., and a fmile is too 
 much for the laft. 
 
 1020. We are either made or marred in our educati- 
 on, and governments as well as private families are con- 
 cerned in the confequence of it. Wherefore wicked dif- 
 pofitions mould be checked betimes, for when they come 
 once to habits, they grow incurable. More people go to 
 the gibbet for want of timely inftruction, difcipline, and 
 correction, than upon any incurable pravity of nature ; 
 and it is mightily the fault of parents, guardians, tutors, 
 and governors, that fo many men mifcarry. 
 
 1 02 1. Do not manage as if you had ten thoufand years 
 to throw away : Look you, death ftands at your elbow; 
 make the moft of your minute, and be good for fomething 
 while it is in your power. 
 
 1022, Men
 
 1 66 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1022. Men that marry for riches, many times bring 
 into their families an unfupportable miftrefs. 
 
 1023. Many marriages prove convenient and ufeful ; 
 but few delightful. 
 
 1024. Unmarried men are beft friends, befl mafters, 
 beft fervants, but not always beft fubjects ; for they are 
 light to run away j and almoft all fugitives are of that 
 condition. 
 
 1025. It is the fault of weak reafoners to venture up- 
 on many things they do not underftand, and to renounce 
 them as foon as they come to know them. 
 
 1026. Too fervile a fubmiffion to the books and opi- 
 nions of the antients, has fpoiled many an ingenious 
 man, and plagued the world with abundance of pedants. 
 
 1027. It is obferved, that as profperity unexpected 
 makes men carelefs and remifs, if they be not very wife ; 
 fo they who have received the wounds of adverfe fortune, 
 become more vigilant and collected. 
 
 1028. The Arabian proverb fays, The habitation of 
 danger is on the borders of fecurity ; and that a man 
 never runs greater hazards, than when he leaft fears 
 them. 
 
 1029. He that looks for content muft look for inno- 
 cence, for thofe who fly from the one will never obtain 
 the other. 
 
 1030. The higheft pitch of human underftanding is 
 to be thoroughly acquainted with our own weaknefs, 
 vanity, and mifery : And the lefs wit a man has, the 
 lefs he knows of thefe matters. 
 
 1031. The joys of parents are fecret; and fo are their 
 
 griefs
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 167 
 
 griefs and fears . They cannot utter the one, nor will 
 they exprefs the other. Children fweeten labour, but they 
 make misfortunes more bitter : They increafe the cares 
 of life, but they mitigate the remembrance of death. 
 
 1032. What a happy condition is that, which gives a 
 man fo frequent opportunities to do good to fo many 
 thoufands ! What a dangerous poft is that, which expofes 
 a man to do hurt to fo many millions ! 
 
 1033. Hiftory antedates, and is the witnefs of time, 
 the fight of truth, the life of memory, the herald of an- 
 tiquity, and the miftrefs of life, which brings experience 
 without grey hairs, and makes us wife at the coft of o- 
 thers, that, upon the light which is given us of pafl times, 
 we may form prudent judgments of the prefent, and pro- 
 bable conjectures of the time to come. By reading, a 
 man makes himfelf cotemporary with the ages paft, and 
 this way of running up beyond our nativity is much bet- 
 ter than Plato'?, pre-exiftcnce : However, covet not ma- 
 ny books, let them be like the number of your friends, 
 very choice, but few ; for good books are a guide in youth, 
 an entertainment in age, a fupport in folitude, and keep 
 us from being a burden to ourfelves. When we are at any 
 time weary of the living, we may thus repair to the dead, 
 who have nothing of peevifhnefs, pride, or defign in all 
 their converfation. 
 
 1034. Reading is to the mind, what exercife is to the 
 body : as by the one health is preferved, ftrengthened and 
 invigorated j fo by the other, virtue, which is the health 
 of the mind, is kept alive, cherifhed, and confirmed. But 
 as exercife becomes tedious, and painful, when we make 
 
 ufe
 
 i68 A COLLECTION of 
 
 uie of it only as the means of health, fo reading is apt to 
 grow uneafy, and burdenfome, when we apply ourfelves 
 to it, only for our improvement in virtue. For this rea- 
 fon, the virtue which we gather from a fable, or allego- 
 ty, is like the health we get by hunting ; as we are en- 
 gaged in an agreeable purfuit, that draws us on with plea- 
 lure, and makes us infen(ible of the fatigues that accom- 
 pany it. 
 
 1035. The ftandards of hiflory are, Thucydides among 
 the Greeks, and Livy among the Romans ; they are noble, 
 without foaring too high, and natural, without linking too 
 low. ^uintus Curtins, by aiming at too much politenefs, 
 has loft a great deal of that grand and majeltick air, 
 which fo well becomes Salluft, who rr&de a voyage to A- 
 
 frica, on purpofe, to obferve the fituation of the places 
 he mould have occalion to mention in the Jugurthine 
 war. The generality of hiftorians being penlioners of the 
 court, it is no wonder they are biaffed. A man muft 
 lay alide hopes and fears, and all kinds of interefts, when 
 he engages in this great attempt, fo that he may always dare 
 to fpeak the truth. 
 
 1036. All precepts concerning Kings are fummarily 
 comprehended in thefe two : Remember that thou art a 
 man ; and that thou art injlead of God : The one bridles 
 their power, and the other their will. 
 
 1037. A private man is judged of by his companions ', a 
 prince by his minifters. 
 
 1038. Good and bad times are only modeft terms for 
 good or bad men in employments. 
 
 1039. All men affect an air and outfide fuitable to 
 
 their
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 169 
 
 their profejfion, that may make them appear what they 
 have a mind to be taken for j fo that we may fay, that 
 the 'world is made up of nothing but formal countenances 
 and fhows. 
 
 1040. It is hard to determine which of the two is the 
 greater mame, either to be denied a place we deferve, or 
 granted one we deferve not. 
 
 1041. Courtiers generally pay fervices with fmoak and 
 fair words, and ufe a world of unprofitable ceremony to 
 mortify an honeft man. 
 
 1042. What a great deal of time and cafe that man 
 gains, who is not troubled with the fpirit of curiofity, 
 who lets his neighbour's thoughts and behaviour alone, 
 confines his infpedtions to himfelf, and takes care of the 
 point of honefty and confcience ! 
 
 1043. It is part of the bufinefs of life, to lofe it hand- 
 fomely. 
 
 1044. England was at firft a monarchy under the Bri- 
 tons, and then a province under the Romans, and after 
 that divided into feven kingdoms under the Saxons, after 
 them the Danes, then the Normans, and now a monar- 
 chy again under the EngUJh, and all this by God's pro- 
 vidence, who fuffered his own peculiar people, the Jews, 
 to be under divers manners of government at divers times ; 
 at firfl under patriarchs, Abraham, Ifaac, &c. then under 
 captain-, as Mofes, Jcfhua, &c. then under judges, as Othniel, 
 Ehud, Gideon, &c. then under high priefts, Eli and Sa- 
 muel; then under kings, as Saul, David, &c. then un- 
 der captains and high priefts, again, as Zorobabel, Judas 
 Maccabeus, and his brethren ; until the government was, 
 
 Z laftly,
 
 170 A COLLECTION of 
 
 laftly, brought under the power of the Romans. The go- 
 vernment of Britain is a mixed, limited monarchy, where 
 the fupreme power is divided between the king and the 
 people, that is, the lords and commons, flnce he can nei- 
 ther raife money, nor make nor annul laws, without 
 them ; and thofe laws are a rule to both, a common 
 meafure to him of his power, and to them of their obe- 
 dience. The government is called a monarchy, becaufe 
 the king is predominant in the constitution, he having 
 his mare in the fupreme power, and the chief executive 
 part or adminiftration is lingly in him. The crown is not 
 held by a paternal right, but by the laws of the realm, 
 which allow no power of difpofing of the throne to its 
 kings, nor can a king be deprived of his lawful right by 
 any acl: of his predecefTor. 
 
 1045. Fuller fays, " the Turkifi empire is the greateft 
 and beft compacted the fun ever faw, not excepting the 
 Roman itfelf, in all its glory, take fea and land together -, 
 from Buda in the weft, to I'aurh in the eaft, it ftretches 
 above three thoufand miles ; little lefs in the extent thereof 
 north and fouth ; it lies in the heart of the world, com- 
 manding the moft fruitful countries of Europe, AJia y and 
 Africa j only America (not more happy in her rich 
 mines, than her remotenefs) lies free from their reach. 
 Mahometanifm has lafted above a thoufand years, a long- 
 er continued fcourge than any enemy of old : For the 
 Egyptians opprefled Ifrael fcarce two hundred years ; the 
 Canaanites twenty 5 the Moabites eighteen ; the Philiftines 
 forty ; the Affyrians and Chaldeans^ three hundred; Anti- 
 cchus Epiphanes, forty years -, the Chriftian church, from 
 
 Nero
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 171 
 
 Nero to Conftantine, was afflicted two hundred and fixty 
 years. The Mufti appears always in green, that being the 
 facred colour, wherein the family of Mahomet is always 
 eloathed, out of which he is conftantly chofen, and is 
 treated with as great reverence and refpect among the 
 Turks, as the Pope is among the Romans -, for it is a main 
 principle in their divinity, that no one thing does more 
 preferve, and improve their religion, than a venerable, 
 high, pious efteem of its chief minifter. They have no 
 other guide, or law, both for temporal and church af- 
 fairs, than the Alcoran, which they hold to be the rule 
 of civil juftice, as well as the divine charter of their 
 falvation ; it is only in one language, that is, Arabtck, the 
 mother tongue of their prophet : Among its many other 
 abfurdities it affirms \h^ Abraham was the fon of Lazarus, 
 and the virgin Mary fitter to Aaron." 
 
 1046. The dominical prayer, and the apoftolical creed, 
 are two acts, tending to the fame object of devotion, yet 
 they differ in this ; we include all in the firft, and our- 
 felves only in the fecond ; one may beg for another, but 
 he muft believe for himfelf j there is no man can believe 
 by a deputy. 
 
 1047. The books of the Apocrypha are not warranted 
 by divine infpiration, becaufe they were written after pro- 
 phecy and divine infpiration were ended in the ' J'ewijh 
 church, Malachi being the laft of their prophets, according 
 to the general tradition. 
 
 1048. Mufick, ornaments, and decent ceremonies, 
 were brought into churches, that the bufy and reftlefs 
 fancy, being bribed by its proper objects, may be inftru- 
 
 Z 2 mental
 
 172 A COLLECTION of 
 
 mental to a more celeftial love, and tranfplant the inftru- 
 ments of fancy into religion : The mufick of our churches 
 purifies and exalts the paffions, gives the thoughts a pro- 
 per turn, cheriihes thofe divine impulfes in the foul, 
 which every one feels, who has not {lifted them by fenfu- 
 al and immoderate pleafures > it raifes noble hints in the 
 mind, and fills it with great conceptions, it ftrengthens 
 devotion, advances praife into rapture, lengthens every al 
 of worfhip, and produces lading and permanent impreffions 
 of piety. 
 
 1049. Abraham was, with his own hands, to facrifice 
 his fon Ifaac, where, by the law of the burnt-offering, then 
 known to Abraham, and afterwards publifhed to Ifrael> 
 his throat was to be cut, his body divided into quarters, 
 his bowels taken out, and burnt to a(hes. That faith, that 
 could furmount thefe many difficulties, and readily, and 
 chearfully, reft upon God in the difcharge of fuch a duty, 
 BO wonder it is fo honoured by God, and celebrated by all 
 men, yea, even by the heathens, who have tranflated this 
 hiftory into their fables. 
 
 1050. How can death be a misfortune to a man, which 
 is no difappointment to his nature ? And how can that 
 crofs upon a man's nature, which falls in with the very in- 
 tention^and defign of it ? 
 
 1051. Idlenefs and ofcitancy fix the mind to what it 
 finds eafy and agreeable : This habit always confines, 
 and cramps up, our notions, and no body was ever at the 
 pains to ftretch and carry his underftanding as far as it 
 would go. 
 
 1052. A man that enters the world muft be induftrious, 
 
 but
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 173 
 
 but not affected in difclofing his abilities : the beft way 
 is to obferve a gradation, for the floweft fteps to greatneft 
 are the moft fecure, but fwift rifes are often attended with 
 precipitate falls, and what is fooneft got, is generally fhort 
 in the poflefllon. 
 
 1053. We mould defire very few things pajjionately> if 
 we did but perfe&ly know the nature of the thing we 
 defire. 
 
 1054. Where things appear moft plaufibleand pretend- 
 ing, be fure to bring them to the teft, and look within 
 them j and when the paint is thus pulled off, the coarfe- 
 ne/s of them will eafily be difcovered : without this care, 
 figure and out-fide are great cheats j and when you think 
 your fancy is beft employed, you will be mod fooled. 
 Even virtue itfelf is fometimes counterfeited, and gravity 
 is nothing elfe but grimace. Thus Crates difcovered Xe- 
 nocrates's philofophy to be only ikin-deep, great demure- 
 nefs without, and no lefs vanity within. 
 
 1055. God abhorred human facrince 5 Jephtha was a 
 Gileadite, and no prieft, and therefore could not facrifice 
 his daughter ; me deplored her virginity, not her death ; 
 and it is faid the daughters of Ifrael went yearly to talk 
 with her, not to lament her. 
 
 1056. The judiciary parts of the law were thofe that 
 related to the Jews, as they were a fociety of men to 
 whomGod, by a fpecial command, gave authority to drive 
 out and deftroy a wicked race of people, and to poflefs 
 their land, which God appointed to be divided equally a- 
 mong them, and that every portion mould be a perpe- 
 tuity to a family j that, though it might be mortgaged out 
 
 for
 
 174 -^ COLLECTION of 
 
 for a number of years, yet it was afterwards to revert to 
 the family. Upon this bottom they were firft fet, and they 
 were ftill to be preferved upon it, fo that many laws were 
 given them as a civil fociety, which cannot belong to any 
 other; and therefore their whole judiciary law, except 
 where any parts of it were founded upon moral equity, 
 was a complicated thing, and can belong to no other na- 
 tion, that is not, in its firft effential conftitution, made and 
 framed as they were. For inftance, the prohibition of 
 taking ufe for money, being a means to preferve that e- 
 quality which was among them, and to keep any of them 
 from becoming exceffively rich, or others from becoming 
 miferably poor, this is by no means to be applied to other 
 conftitutions, where men are left to their induftry, and 
 neither have their inheritance by a grant from heaven, 
 nor are put, by any fpecial appointment of God, all upon 
 a level ; fo that it is certain, and 'can bear no debate, 
 that the Mofaical difpenfation, as to all the parts of it, 
 that are not of their own nature moral, is determined and 
 abrogated by the gofpel. The decifions which the A- 
 poftles made in this matter, are fo clear, and for the proof 
 of them, the whole tenor of the epiftles to the Galatians, 
 and the Hebrews, is fo full, that no doubt can reft con- 
 cerning them, with any man who reads them. 
 
 1057. The moft illiterate man, who is touched with de- 
 votion, and ufes frequent exercifes of it, contracts a cer- 
 tain greatnefs of mind, mingled with a noble limplicity, 
 that raifes him above thofe of the fame condition, and 
 there is an indelible mark of goodnefs in thofe who fin- 
 cerely poffefs it. It is hardly pofllble it mould be other- 
 wife,
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 175 
 
 wife, for the fervours of a pious mind will naturally con- 
 trad: fuch an earneftnefs and attention towards a better be- 
 ing, as will make the ordinary pafTages to go off with a 
 becoming indifference. By this, a man, in the loweft con- 
 dition, will not appear mean, or in the moft fplendid for- 
 tune infolent. There are no diftinguiming qualities among 
 men, to which there are not falfe pretenders j but though 
 none is more pretended to than devotion, there are per- 
 haps fewer fuccefsful impoftors in this kind, than any o- 
 ther. There is fomething fo natively great and good in 
 a perfon that is truly devout, .that an aukard man may as 
 well be genteel, as a hypocrite pious : The conftraint, in 
 words or actions, is equally vilible in both cafes, and any 
 thing fet up in their rooms, does but remove the endea- 
 vours the farther from the pretenfions; but, however, 
 the fenfe of true piety being abated, there is no other mo- 
 tive of action that can carry us through the vicifTitudes of 
 life with alacrity and refplution : but piety, like philofo- 
 phy, when it is fuperficial, does but make men appear the 
 worfe for it ; and a principle that is but half-received, 
 does but diftract, inftead of guiding our behaviour. 
 
 1058. A death-bed figure is one of the moft mortify- 
 ing fights in the world j to fet in fo dark and difmal a 
 cloud, and to go off the ftage of life with languor, de- 
 formity, and convulfions, is a melancholy profpecl, and 
 a terrible rebuke to the dignity of human nature. He 
 that can conquer his imagination, may poffibly die eafier 
 of a faggot than a fever, and had better choofe to have 
 the fire kindled without, than within him ; the laft act of 
 life is fometimes like the laft number in a fum, ten times 
 
 greater
 
 176 A COLLECTION of 
 
 greater than all the reft. There are fome who have glo- 
 rious opportunities of going out of the world, very well 
 worth their coming for; and others have a greatnefs and 
 nobility in their nature, not to be over-awed by death it- 
 felf : I do not mean the courage of bullies and town 
 fparks, who are fo hardy as to rifque both body and foul 
 upon a point of pretended honour ; they are diftempered 
 beyond the lunacy of bedlam, and mould be taken care 
 of accordingly; the evils of neceffity are numerous e- 
 nough, without being multiplied by thofe of choice ; I 
 mean only that courage which is the product of reli- 
 gion and reafon. 
 
 1059. Adultery, in refpect of the perfon, is greater in 
 the man than the woman, becaufe me is of a more eafy, 
 pliant fpirit, and has lefs underftanding, and has nothing 
 to fupply the unequal ftrength of men, but the defence 
 of a paflive nature, and the armour of modefty, which 
 is the natural ornament of the fex. " It is unjuft that the 
 man mould demand that chaftity from his wife, which 
 himfelf will not obferve towards her (faid the good em- 
 peror Antoninus). It is as if a man mould perfuade his 
 wife to fight againft enemies that have conquered him." 
 In refpcct of the effects and evil confequences, the adul- 
 tery of the woman is worfe, as in bringing baftards into 
 a family, injuring the lawful children, infinite violations 
 of peace, murders, divorces, and all the effects of rage 
 and madnefs ; but in refpect of the crime, as relating to 
 God, they are equally odious, intolerable, and damnable. 
 The church, antiently, refufed to admit fuch to the com- 
 munion,
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 177 
 
 tnunion, till they had done feven years penance, in fail- 
 ing and fackcloth. 
 
 1060. Henrietta Maria, wife to King Charles the firft, 
 at the death of her father Henry the fourth was newly 
 born ; and Barberino, at that time, nuncio in France 
 (and afterwards created Pope by the name of Urban the 
 eighth) coming to congratulate her birth, and finding 
 that the Queen-mother had been better pleafed if me had 
 been born a male, he told her j " Madam, I hope to 
 fee this your youngefl daughter a great Queen before I die." 
 She anfwered, c< and I hope to fee you a Pope 5" both 
 which prophetick compliments proved true, and within 
 a fhort time of one another. 
 
 1 06 1 . The antient Lacedemonians were a flrong, hardy, 
 warlike, and enduring nation, bred up from their infan- 
 cy in all manner of difficult exercifes, and hardfhips of e- 
 very kind : their chiefeft delicacy was their black broth> 
 made of little bits of flem fteeped in vinegar, with blood 
 and fait, and boiled in a great deal of water : They al- 
 moft always lay on the ground, or on very hard beds, and 
 their children were not allowed light to go into them, as 
 an indecent thing j the better to accuflom them to travel 
 in the dark, without any fenfe of fear, or apprehenfion of 
 danger. 
 
 1062. The holy war lafted one hundred and ninety 
 years ; the coftlieft that ever was, both for time, blood, 
 and money. No conflict fo fierce and cruel, as when re- 
 ligion animates the war, and makes it piety to be irrecon- 
 cileable. 
 
 1063. The reafon why the Gods were antiently repre- 
 
 Aa fent-
 
 178 A COLLECTION of 
 
 fented as fwearing by the lake Styx, is, becaufe water was 
 fuppofed to be the principle of all things ; which is con- 
 fonant to Mofes's account of the creation, that the fpirit 
 of God moved upon the face of the waters, and 2 Pet. iii. 5. 
 
 1064. We may obferve Chrift never inveighed againft 
 idolatry, ufury, or fabbath -breaking among the yews ; not 
 that thefe were not fins, but they were not pradlifed fo 
 much in that age ; therefore Chrift bent the drift of his 
 preaching againft fpiritual pride, hypocrify, and tradition, 
 the then predominant fins among the people. 
 
 1065. It is an unhappy thing that princes and great 
 men, who feem to have the leaft need of friends, mould, 
 in truth, have the greateft difficulty of knowing them 
 too, for want of occafions to put them to the trial. There 
 is no proof of friend/hip like frequent experiment. Now 
 princes are above the want of thofe common offices, that 
 pafs for friendjhip betwixt man and man, as in matter of 
 money, liberty, protection, and the like. People do not 
 flock to court fo much for their mafters fervice, as for the 
 making of their own fortune. How mall any man diftin- 
 guim, now, betwixt a parafite and a man of honour, 
 where they are all on the receiving hand, and where hy- 
 pocrify and intereft look like duty and affection. 
 
 1066. We have very often more ftrength than good will 
 to ufe it, but we fancy things impoffible to be done, to 
 reconcile ourfelves to our own idlenejs. 
 
 1067. There are few inftances found in ftory of a 
 prince that began and atchieved any great and famous en- 
 terprize after fifty years of age ; whether the decline of 
 nature leaves not vigour enough for fuch defigns or ac- 
 tions.
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 179 
 
 tions ; or Fortune, like her fex, have no kindnefs left for 
 old men, how much foever me favoured them when they 
 were young. 
 
 1068. Tyrants can never be fafe; for cruelty is more 
 terrible than any danger we are expofed to, by endeavour- 
 ing to avoid it. 
 
 1069. " The book of Job, fays Dr Tillotfon, I take to 
 be the moft antient of all others, and much older than 
 Mofes ; and yet it is written with as lively a fenfe of the 
 providence of God, as noble figures, and flights of elo- 
 quence, as perhaps any book extant." God, to convince 
 Job of his ignorance in the fecrets of nature and provi- 
 dence, pofes him with many hard queftions, and this a- 
 mong the reft, Job xxxviii. 22, 23. Haft thou entered 
 into the treafures of the f now, or haft thou fe en the treasures 
 of the hail, which I have referred againft the day of bat- 
 tle and war ? The meaning of it is, that the providence 
 of God does fometimes interpofe to determine the events 
 of war, by governing the feafons, and the weather, and 
 by making the fnow and rain, the wind, and ftorms to 
 fulfil his word, and execute his pleafure. Of this we have 
 a remarkable inftance in the defeat of Sifera's army, a- 
 gainft whom, in the fong of Deborah, the ftars are faid 
 to have fought in their courfes ; though the expreffion 
 be poetical, the plain meaning is, that by mighty and 
 fudden rains, which the common opinion did afcribe to 
 the influence of the planets, the river of Ki/hon, near 
 
 . which .Si/era's army lay, was fo raifed, as to drown the 
 
 greateft part, of that huge hoft. The ftars in their courfes 
 
 A a 2. (fays
 
 180 A COLLECTION of 
 
 (fays Deborah) fought againft them, and the river of Ki- 
 flion fwept them away. 
 
 1070. The facred writ is fo plentiful a fountain of all 
 the riches and ornaments of eloquence, as to afford a 
 proper model for every way and ftile. Ifaiah is lofty, Je- 
 remiah pathetical, Ezekiel terrible, Daniel mild and gen- 
 tle. As for the other prophets, greatnefs is their general 
 character j nor is there any thing written with the like 
 force by Pagan authors. Good fenfe, and true reafon, 
 were never difplayed to fo much advantage in any. moral 
 treatife, as in the books of Solomon. No hiftory ever was 
 writ with fuch a mixture of limplicity and majefty, as 
 that of Mofes. Nothing furely was ever compofed with 
 more tender paffions, or with a greater delicacy of pious 
 and delicate {trains, than the Pfalms of David. The 
 moft refined policy of worldly fages never carried its view 
 fo far, as the books of Proverbs and Rcclejiaftes. The 
 utmoft extent and capacity of human wit was never 
 able to furnifh a fubject fo vaft and profound, as thofe a- 
 dorable myfteries of grace contained in St Paul's epiftles. 
 But the eloquence and dignity of the new teftament, 
 which is moft emphatically the book of our religion, and 
 to which all the prophetick writings were but a kind of 
 preface, or introduction, is vaftly fuperior to the greater! 
 elevation of any human ftile. What can be conceived fo 
 great and expreffive, as that fhort character our Lord has 
 given of his own words, that they are fpirit, and they 
 are life ? No human penetration can ever be fufficient to 
 fathom the depth of thofe myfterious truths. 
 
 1071. Our Saviour parTed thirty years of his life in ob- 
 
 fcurity
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. ;8i 
 
 fcurity and poverty ; then preached, and confirmed his 
 doctrine with prodigies - f gave health to the lick, light tQ 
 the blind, life to the dead : He died by men's malice^ 
 and rofe again by his own power j fent twelve fifhermen. 
 to fubdue the world ; fuccefs waited on their labours, 
 and crowned their endeavours ; fo that, in a few years, 
 the chriftian religion fpread its conquefls beyond the 
 bounds of the Roman empire. Prejudice, libertinifm, and 
 atheifm, confpired its ruin j philofophers oppofed argu- 
 ments > emperors, torments ; and libertines, fenfuality ; 
 Yet chriftianity broke through the violence of the oppo- 
 fition, it multiplied by tiifputes, and increafed by perfecu- 
 tion ; millions of martyrs loft their lives in the quarrel, 
 they demonftrated the truth of their creed, by the con- 
 ftancy of their invincible valour, though their torments 
 were inexpreflible. So that, notwithftanding the chri- 
 fttan religion has been fo furiouily attacked by impiety and 
 prophanefs, it has always appeared holy, always victori- 
 ous, and always triumphant j it has been proved by mira- 
 cles, fealed with the blood of martyrs, teftified by the 
 apoftles, confirmed by reafon, published by the very ele- 
 ments, and confefled even by devils. 
 
 1072. The chriftian, that firmly believes, and trufts, in 
 God, is not without his claim to a preient advantage, 
 tho* of a far differing nature from that of the atheifts ; he 
 propofes to himfelf the fatisfadlion of a man, thofe delights 
 which may entertain his reafon, not his fenfe, and which 
 confift in the rectitude of a well informed mind. His re- 
 ligion is the perfecteft fcheme of morality, and makes him 
 a philofopher without the help of fchools ; it teaches him 
 
 the
 
 182 A COLLECTION -of' 
 
 the art of fubduing his appetites, calming his paflions, 'and, 
 in a word,' rn&kes him lord of himfelf, and .by that gives 
 him all the pleafures which refult from fuch a fovereign- 
 ty : Nor is he totally void even of the pleafures of 
 ienfe, which, in many inftances, are greater to him than 
 to thofe that moil court them. Temperance cooks his 
 coarfeft diet to a greater guft, than all their ftudied mix- 
 .tures. Chaftity alfo makes one lawful embrace more 
 grateful to him, than all the naufeating variety of their 
 unbounded lufts ; and contentment fwells his mite into 
 a talent, and makes him richer than the Indies would do, 
 if he defired beyond them : Nor is it a contemptible be- 
 nefit that his moderation gives him an immunity from 
 the fenfitive pains, which oft bring up the rear of inor- 
 dinate fenfual pleafures : So that his condition, even fet 
 -in the worft light, in that very particular, wherein the 
 atheift mofl triumphs over him, is not fo deplorable as 
 it is reprefented ; befides, even the utmoft fufFerings, which 
 chriftianity can at any time require, are outvy'd daily by 
 the effects of luxury and rage, and for one that has an 
 opportunity to be a martyr for his God, thoufands become 
 fo to their vices. 
 
 1073. By a moderate diet the ftrength of the body is 
 fupported, the fpirits are more vigorous and active, hu- 
 mours attenuated, crudities and obftructions prevented, 
 many infirmities checked and kept under, the fenfes pre- 
 ferved in their integrity, the ftomach clean, tbe appetite 
 and digeflion good. If you have as many difeafen in your 
 body, as a bill of mortality contains, this one receipt of 
 temperance will cure them all. -By temperance men flint 
 
 up
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 183 
 
 up their days like a lamp, only by pure confumption of 
 the radical moifture, without grief or pain. The fed: of 
 the EJJenes among the Jews, by reafon of their fimple and 
 abflemious diet, did ufually extend their life to one hun- 
 dred years : By the fame means too, Laertius tells us, 
 the Stoicks and Cy nicks were very long livers. The author 
 William de Britaine (from whom I writ this) fays thus of 
 himfelf : " I have lived in the reign of five kings, yet 
 can I by no other calculation, than that of my fins, be 
 found to be old. By reafon of the regularity of life, I have 
 a perpetual fpring in me ; I never met with an autumn, 
 or knew any thing of the fall of the leaf, but vigour and 
 ftrength, like the fun in its glory, vifit all my quarters. 
 After a fmall pittance, I find a found and quiet fleep all 
 night, and at the peep of day I get up as frefh as the 
 morning. All afflictions and calamities are to me wel- 
 come, for I never feel more the divine afliftance and 
 comfort, than in my greateft extremities ; and, becaufe I 
 am under the protection of the Almighty, I take but lit- 
 tle care of myfelf. I never beg of God but general blef- 
 fings, becaufe he, in his divine wifdom, knows better 
 what is good for me, in particular, than I for myfelf." 
 
 1 074. The reafon why the very word or name of bridge 
 appears not in all the fcripture is, becaufe the rivers of Pa- 
 leftine were either fo (hallow, they were paflable by fords, 
 or fo deep, that they were ferried over. 
 
 1076. It is matter of prudence, to have a care not to 
 out-do one's matter. All fuperiority is odious, but in a 
 fubject over his prince ', it is ever foolifh or fatal : An ac- 
 complimed man conceals vulgar advantages, as a modeft wo- 
 man
 
 i '84 -d COLLECTION of 
 
 man hides her beauty under a negligent drefs. There are 
 many who would yield in good fortune, or in good humour, 
 but no body would yield in good wit, and leaft of all a fove- 
 reign. Princes are willing to be affifted, but not fur- 
 pafled 5 thofe who advife them, ought to fpeak as if they 
 put them in mind of what they forgot, and not as teaching 
 them what they know not. 
 
 1076. It is impoffible for men to love any thing, with- 
 out fome refpedl to their private interefts : And, we only 
 follow our own inclination and pleafure, when we pre- 
 fer our friends before ourfelves ; and yet this preference is 
 the only thing that can render friendjlrip perfect and 
 fincere. 
 
 1 077. A man of true piety, that has no defigns to car- 
 ry on, like one of an eftablimed fortune, always makes 
 the leaft noife. One never pulls out his money, the 
 other never talks of religion, but when there is occafion 
 for it. 
 
 1078. How often have I laughed, in my fleeve, to hear 
 a country parfon explain the effe^s of drunkennefs to his 
 parifh, that knew them as well as himfelf ! 
 
 1079. Lewis Cornaro, a Venetian of quality and learn- 
 ing, wrote a book of the benefits of a fober life, and pro- 
 duced himfelf as a teftimony. He fays, to the fortieth year 
 of his age, he was continually perplexed with variey of infir- 
 mities ; at laft he grew fo careful of his diet, that in one 
 year, he was almoft freed from all his difeafes, and never 
 after ufed phyfick ; he continued thus temperate to the 
 eightieth year of his age, found, chearful, and vegete j 
 and fo entire and perfect in his ftrength, that, he affirm- 
 ed,
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 185 
 
 ed, he could do moft of thofe things he did in his youth, 
 at fourfcore years. At length, he died in his chair, with 
 very little pain or ficknefs, and all his fenfes entire to the 
 laft, in the year 1631. 
 
 1080. Thofe that want the organs of any fenfe, never 
 can have the ideas belonging to that fenfe, produced in 
 their minds $ this is too evident to be doubted ; and, there- 
 fore, we cannot but be afTured, that they come in by the 
 organs of that fenfe, and no other way : The organs 
 themfelves, it is plain, do not produce them ; for then the 
 eyes of a man in the dark would produce colours, and 
 his nofe fmell rofes in winter : But we fee no body gets 
 the relim of a pine-apple, until he taftes it. 
 
 1 08 1. Difcretion is an admirable veil to hide manifeft 
 imperfections, and a politick filence fcreens thofe unper- 
 ceived weaknefles, which are betray'd by the filly dif- 
 courfes that efcape ; we ought to be very cautious of 
 talking before judicious people, left we tread awry. A 
 grave and myfterious air may at leaft make it probable, 
 that we are fkilled in the bufinefs treated on, and give us 
 an appearance of ability. I know not whether of the 
 two faults is moft blamable in a young manj a filly timo- 
 roufnefs, attended with a fheepifh and awkard look, 
 which keeps him from opening his mouth j or an impu- 
 dent prefumption, that defines with a bold air, cenfures 
 right or wrong, attacks the condudl of all the world, vents 
 a thoufand fooleries, and then carefTes himfelf for them ; 
 both are equally foolifh, but it is eafier to endure the fi- 
 lence of the one, than the frothinefs and vanity of the 
 other. 
 
 Bb It
 
 186 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1082. It is not barely the doing of good, that makes u* 
 have the title of being good. It is a generous and univer- 
 fal inclination, of doing fo by every body. 
 
 1083. Court acknowledgments have not fo much re- 
 fpect to the paft, as defign upon the future. They ac- 
 knowledge obligations to all that are in any poft to ob- 
 lige, and by an affected gratitude for favours never 
 done, infinuate themfelves into thofe in whofe power it is 
 to do them. 
 
 1084. The great ones, in requital, have a trick as arti- 
 ficial to excufe themfelves from doing kindneffes, as the 
 courtiers have to engage them to it. They reproach men 
 with fervices never done, and complain of ingratitude, 
 though they have hardly obliged any one, to draw from 
 hence a fpecious pretence to oblige no body. 
 
 1085. There is no tryal of a true/hVW, but in cafes of 
 difficulty ; as lofs, trouble, or danger j for that is the time 
 f diftinguifhing what a man does for my fake, and what 
 for his own. 
 
 1086. Virtues are loft in inter eft, as rivers are fwallow- 
 ed up in the fea. 
 
 1087. Luxury, and too great delicacy of manners in a 
 ftate, are infallible iymptoms of its declenfion : For 
 when men are fo over-curious and nice in their own con- 
 cerns and interefts, the good of the publick is generally 
 negledled. 
 
 1088. He has learnt but little, who values himfelf upon 
 what he knows, or defpifes another for what he knows not. 
 
 1089. Bafhfulnefs is no ill fign in itfelf, but the caufe 
 and occafion of a great deal of harm; for the bafhful of- 
 tentimes
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 187 
 
 tentimes run into the fame enormities, as the moft har- 
 dened and impudent, with this difference only, that the 
 former feel regret for fuch mifcarriages, but the latter 
 take a pleafure and fatisfadtion therein ; the gracelefs 
 perfon is without fenfe of grief for the greateft bafenefs, 
 and the bafliful is in diftrefs for the leaft appear- 
 ance of it : Bafhfulnefs is only modefty in the excefs, 
 and may aptly enough be defined, A confufion, or de- 
 jectednefs of fpirit, difcovered in a fuitable character on 
 the face : For as that grief, which cafts down the eyes, 
 is termed dejeftednefs^ fo that kind of modefty, which 
 cannot look another in the face, they call bafofulnefs. 
 
 1090. St PWfays, that in love is a complication of all 
 virtues ; and St Aujlin, that love is the moft comprehen- 
 five virtue ; for charity fujfers long, and then it is meek- 
 . nefs 5 it is kind, and then it is courtefy j it envies not, and 
 then it is peaceablenefs 5 it vaunts not itfelf, and fo h is 
 modefty j it is not puffed up, it does not behave itfelf un- 
 feemly, and then it is called decency ; feeks not her own, 
 and then it is publick-fpiritednefs j bears all things, and fo 
 it is chriftian fortitude ; believes all things, and fo it is 
 faith j hopes all things, and fo it is afturance ; en- 
 dures all things, and then it is magnanimity ; it ne- 
 ver fails, and fo it is perfeverance ; it purifies more 
 than the flames of martyrdom, it enlightens more than all 
 reading, and all contemplation, and it makes a man a 
 chriftian, while knowledge and miracles, only, make him 
 a prodigy. In a word, it is all philofophy, and all reli- 
 gion ; and he alone truly knows how to live, who knows 
 how to love. " Who is able to defcribe the beauties of 
 B b 2 holy
 
 i88 A COLLECTION of 
 
 holy love ? (fays St Clement] the height to which it 
 carries us is unfearchable ; it unites us to God, and covers 
 a multitude of fins, it is the bond of union, and the bane 
 of fchifm." 
 
 1091. Converfation is an advantage peculiar to man, 
 as well as reafon : It is the band of fociety, and by it 
 the commerce of civil life is kept up ; the mind com- 
 municates its thoughts, and the heart exprefles its inclina- 
 tions ; in fhort, friendmip is contracted and kept up by 
 the fame means. The converfation of two friends renders 
 their happinefs, and their misfortunes common ; it aug- 
 ments their pleafures, and leflens their afflictions -, nothing 
 alleviates grief fo much, as the liberty of complaining - 3 
 nothing makes one more fenfible of joy, than the delight 
 of expreffing it. In a word, man is fo far born to be 
 fociable, that this quality is no lefs efTential to him than 
 reafon ; to fly from company is to act againft the inten- 
 tion of nature ; to live always in folitude, one muft be 
 fomething more than man, or lefs than brute : Immo- 
 derate ftudy begets a grofTnefs in his mind, and vitiates his 
 fentiments, the converfation of friends mufl refine and 
 affift him ; it is no common bleflmg to meet with a 
 faithful, fenfible, difcreet friend, faithful to conceal no- 
 thing from us, fenfible to remark our faults, and difcreet ta 
 reprehend us for them j but to be able to believe and fol- 
 low advice, is the perfection of happinefs. It frequently 
 happens, that we take a pride in following our own con- 
 ceits, like thofe travellers that lofe their way, for want of 
 taking a guide, or enquiring the road. 
 
 1092. The innocent delights of converfation, and plea- 
 
 furab le
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 189 
 
 fumble entertainments of difcourfe, are themfelves a great 
 field of virtue, and an exercife and occafion of many in- 
 flances of obedience : for in that, we may every one of 
 us exercife in our own perfons, and be examples to others 
 of much courtefy and kindnefs, civility and condefcenfion, 
 affability and obligingnefs. Let no man then think that 
 his hours of common converfation are always loft hours, 
 and that whatever time he fpends upon offices of civility, 
 and freedom of company, is mifapplied, and ftolen from 
 God and religion - y for we are fulfilling God's laws, while, 
 as occafion requires, we keep all the commandments in 
 the pleafurable entertainments of common life : they are 
 fuch bufinefs as he has fet for us, and our obedient per- 
 formance of them muft pafs for his fervice, as well as 
 devotion, holy conference, and meditation. It is no pre- 
 judice to religion, to be free and open in converfation, 
 and pleafant and chearful in common life j but rather an 
 inftancc and expreffion of it. It is no part of any man's 
 duty to be always talking in fcripture phrafe, and fancti- 
 fied expreffions, or elfe to be wholly filent, and feverely 
 morofe, and not talk at all ; for an innocent chearfulnefs, 
 and freedom of difcourfe, is not fo truly the good man's 
 lin, as the exercife of his virtue and obedience : but that 
 every idle word mall be accounted for at the day of judg- 
 ment, that is only meant, every falfe, flanderous, finful, 
 or unlawful word : the word idle, here, is agreeable to 
 the word vain in the third commandment, where we are 
 bid not to take the name of God in vain, that is, in per- 
 jury and falfhood ; for this is the fenfe our Saviour gives 
 it in his repetition of the commandment. It has been 
 
 faid
 
 igo A COLLECTION of 
 
 faid to them of old (faid he, /". e. in the third command- 
 ment) tboujhalt notforfwear tbyfelf, or fwear falfely. 
 
 1093. It may feem fomewhat a hard cafe for the greater 
 thieves to punifti the lefs, and for publick purloiners and 
 oppreflbrs to fit in triumph upon the lives of the little 
 ones, that go to the gallows ; for the tye of morality is 
 the fame upon both, and they ftand both accountable to 
 the fame matter : But time, power, and corruption, give 
 a reputation to the worft of practices ; and it is no longer 
 oppreflion, when it comes gilded with the name of autho- 
 rity. Now in the fight of heaven, the greater the temp- 
 tation, the lefs is the fin ; and yet, in the vogue of the 
 world, it pafles for an exploit of honour, for Kings and 
 States to run away with whole countries, that they have 
 
 ' no colour or pretence to ; when many a poor devil ftands 
 condemned to a halter, or a whipping- port, for the pil- 
 fering of a filver fpoon, or perhaps the robbing of a hen- 
 rooft. 
 
 1094. There are two forts of curiofities ; the firft pro- 
 ceeds from interefty and is a defire to learn things that 
 can be ufeful and beneficial to us -, the other arifes from 
 pride, and is a defire of being wifer than our neighbours. 
 
 1095. He that gives to be feen, would never relieve a 
 man in the dark e 
 
 1096. That is good ground that bears a good crop, no 
 matter in what climate it lies. 
 
 1097. There is not, in all the magazine of detraction, 
 any weapon of proof againft the mutual intimacies of our 
 own fex, the generous endeavours of fouls truly mafculine, 
 and virtuous, united by fympathies and magnets, whofe 
 
 root
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 191 
 
 root is in heaven. No panegyricks can reach the worth 
 of thofe divine engagements, fince they admit not of any 
 mediocrity, but derive their value only from their excefs. 
 I have been always flow and cautious in contracting ami- 
 ties, but where I have once pitched my affection, I love 
 without referve or rule. I never entertain, without fuf- 
 picion, the warm profeflions of love, which fome men 
 are apt to make at firfl fight : fuch mufhroom friendmips 
 have no deep root, and therefore moft commonly wither 
 as foon as they are formed : yet, I do not deny but there 
 are fome marks and Signatures, which fouls ordained for 
 love and friendship can read in each other at a glance, 
 by which that noble paffion is excited, that afterwards dif- 
 plays itfelf in more apparent characters. This is the fi- 
 lent language of Platonick love, wherein the eye Supplies 
 the office of the tongue ; it is the rhetorick of amorous 
 fpirits, wherein they make their court without a word. 
 There a*e fome lafting friendmips, which owe their birth 
 to fuch an interview ; but their growth and faftnefs pro- 
 ceed from other circumflanees, being cherifhed by fre- 
 quent converfation, repeated good offices, and an inviolate 
 fidelity j which are the only proper and fubftantial aliment 
 of love. It is impoffible to fix a friendship, wherever we 
 place a tranfient inclination j becaufe of the infupportable 
 neceffities which divide particular men from each other's 
 commerce, or knowledge, after they have begun to love. 
 In the orb of this life, men are like the planets, which 
 now and then cafl friendly afpects on each other, en paf- 
 fant ; but following the motion of the greater fphere of 
 providence, they are again feparated, their influences dif- 
 
 folve,
 
 1 92 A COLLECTION of 
 
 folve, and new amours commence : but I would have my 
 friendmip refemble the fixed ftars and conftellations, which, 
 in the eternal revolution, never part company or interefts. 
 On the other hand, there is no one that can pretend to 
 fuch a univerfalized fpirit, to be without antipathies. I 
 efteem hatred to be as necefTary and allowable a paffion as 
 love, provided it be exercifed on its proper objects ; fince, 
 as the one fattens us to thofe things which procure our 
 happinefs, fo the other fnatches us from what would be 
 the caufe of our mifery. 
 
 1098. The advantages of a private life, above thofe 
 of a publick, are certainly very great, if the bleffings of 
 innocence, fecurity, meditation, good air, health, and 
 found fleeps, without the rages of wine and lufl, and the 
 contagion of idle examples, can make them fo ; for every 
 thing, there, is natural and gracious. There is the diver- 
 lion of all healthful exercifes for the body, the entertain- 
 ment of the place, and of the rivers, without any bafe 
 intereft to corrupt either the virtue or the peace of our 
 lives. He that is a flave in the town, is a kind of a petty 
 prince in the country ; he loves his neighbours without 
 pride, and lives in charity with the whole world ; all that 
 he fees is his own, as to the delight of it, without en- 
 vying the property; his doors are not troubled with ei- 
 ther duns or fools j and he has the fages of all times in 
 his cabinet for his companions. He lives to himfelf, as 
 well as to the world, without brawls or quarrels of any fort 
 whatfoever ; he fees no bloody murders ; he hears no 
 blafphemous execrations ; he lives free from the plagues 
 of jealoufy and envy : and this is the life, in fine, that 
 
 the
 
 APHORISMS and- MAXIMS. 193 
 
 the greateft, and the wifeft men in the world have, or 
 would have made, choice of, if cares and bufinefs had not 
 hindered them from fo great a bleffing. 
 
 1099. Every thing in this life is accidental, even our 
 birth, that brings us into it : death is the only thing we 
 can be fure of, and yet we behave ourfelves juft as if 
 all the reft were certain, and death alone accidental. 
 
 uoo. True friends are commonly reckoned in pairs j 
 Tbefeus and Pirithous, Achilles and Patrochis, Oreftes and 
 Pylades, Damon and Pythias^ Epaminondas and Pelopidas, 
 6cc. the number two is the adequate and compleat inea- 
 fure of friendmip. I do not alTert that we ought to confine 
 ourfelves only to one, but among the reft there ought to be 
 one eminently fo, chofe upon long and mature delibera- 
 tion, and confirmed by a long and fettled converfe. That 
 which procures love and friendship in the world, is a 
 fweet and obliging temper of mind, a lively readinefs in 
 doing good offices, together with a conftant habit of vir- 
 tue j than which qualifications nothing is more rarely 
 found in nature j and therefore, to love and be beloved 
 much, can have no place in a multitude ; but the moft 
 eager affection, if divided among numerous objects, like 
 a river divided into many channels, muft needs flow, at 
 length, very weak and languid. Upon this fcore, thofe 
 animals love their young moft, which generate but one ; 
 and Homer defcribing a beloved child, calls it. the only 
 begotten, and born in old age, at fuch a time when the 
 parents neither have, nor hope for, another. 
 
 1 10 1. He that has wife and children^ has given ho- 
 
 ftages to fortune ; for they are impediments to great en- 
 
 C c ter-
 
 194 <d COLLECTION of 
 
 terprizes, either of virtue or mifchief. The perpetuity 
 by generation is common to beafts ; but memory, merit, 
 and noble works, are proper to men : and certainly a man 
 mall find the nobleft works and foundations have always 
 proceeded from childlefs men, who have fought to ex- 
 prefs the images of their minds, where thofe of their bo- 
 dies have failed, and both in affedtion and means have 
 married and endowed the publick : fo that the care of 
 pofterity is the moil: in them that have none. 
 
 1 1 02. When our hatred \s too fierce, it fubjects us to 
 the perfons we hate. 
 
 1103. Revenge is a kind of wild juilice, which the 
 more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed 
 it out : for as to the firfl wrong, it does but offend the law ; 
 but the revenge of that wrong puts the law out of office. 
 Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his 
 enemy, but in pafling it over he is fuperior, for it is only 
 a prince's part to pardon. 
 
 1104. To confider purely the repofe of this life, it 
 would be well if religion had more or lefs influence upon 
 mankind : It compels, and does not fubject enough, like 
 fome politicks, that take away the fweetnefs of liberty, 
 without bringing the advantages of fubjettion. 
 
 1105. There never was a hypocrite yet fo diiguifed, 
 but he had fome mark or other yet to be known by. 
 
 1 1 06. When I think of the heart of a gentleman, I 
 imagine it firm and intrepid, void of all inordinate paf- 
 fions, and full of tendernefs, companion and benevolence. 
 When I view the fine gentleman, with regard to his man- 
 ners, methinks I fee him modefr, without bamfulnefs; 
 
 frank.
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 195 
 
 frank and affable, without impertinence ; obliging and 
 complaifant, without fervility ; chearful and in good hu- 
 mour, without noife : thefe amiable qualities are not ea- 
 fily obtained, neither are there many men that have a 
 genius to excel this way. A finifhed gentleman is perhaps 
 the moil uncommon of all the great characters in life : 
 befides the natural endowments with which this diilin- 
 guifhed man is to be born, he mufl run through a long 
 feries of education, before he makes his appearance, and 
 fhines in the world ; he mufl be principled in religion, 
 inflructed in all the moral virtues, and led through the 
 whole courfe of the polite arts and fciences $ he mould be 
 no flranger to either courts or camps ; he mufl travel, to 
 open his mind, and enlarge his views, to learn the poli- 
 cies and interefls of foreign dates, as well as to faihion 
 and polifh himfelf, and to get clear of thofe natural pre- 
 judices, of which every country has its mare. To thefe 
 more effential improvements, he mufl not forget to add 
 the fafhionable ornaments, fuch as are the languages, and 
 the bodily exercifes mofl in vogue ; neither would I have 
 him think even drefs itfelf beneath his notice. 
 
 1107. Nothing can be more fickle than the judgment 
 of men, as to the religion of others ; they treat as im- 
 pious perfons, thofe who forfake the world for God's fake ; 
 and thofe as weak and decayed in their understanding, 
 that facrirke fortune to religion. 
 
 1 1 08. He that is tranfported out of his nature, and out 
 of his element, let the change be what it will, is a lofer 
 by the bargain. A plain, and a homely home, with com- 
 petency and content, is beyond all the palaces under the 
 
 C c 2 hea-
 
 196 A COLLECTION of 
 
 heavens ; the pomp, the plenty, and the pleafures of 
 them over and above. To fay nothing of the forfeits that 
 are gotten by the exceffes of eating and drinking, the reft- 
 lefs nights, factious emulations, feuds and difgufts that 
 attend them, belides the flavery of being tied up to o- 
 ther people's hours, meals, and fafhions. He that has 
 no ambition, is happy in a cell, or in a cottage, whereas 
 the ambitious man is miferable, even upon a throne. He 
 that thinks that he has not enough, wants j and he that 
 wants, is a beggar. 
 
 1109. Hafty refolutions are feldom fortunate, and it is 
 a piece of neceflary prudence, for a man, before he re- 
 iblves any thing, to confider what may be the confequence 
 cf it. 
 
 1 1 10. That man who never grants a favour without 
 a great deal of intreaty and importunity, does, as it were, 
 pay himfelf by his own hands, and forfeits his claim to 
 our gratitude. 
 
 in i. There is no character more defervedly e- 
 fleemed, than that of a country gentleman, who 
 underftands the ftation in which heaven and nature 
 have placed him. He is father to his tenants, and 
 patron to his neighbours ; and is more fuperior to 
 thofe of lower fortune, by his benevolence, than his pof- 
 feffions. He juftly divides his time between folitude and 
 company, fo as to ufe one for the other. His life is fpent 
 in the good offices of an advocate, a referee, a com- 
 panion, a mediator, and a friend. His counfel and know- 
 ledge are a guard to the fimplicity and innocence of thofe 
 
 of
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 197 
 
 of lower talents, and the entertainment and happinefs of 
 thofe of equal. When a man in a country life has this 
 turn, as it is to be hoped thoufands have, he lives in a 
 more happy condition, than any that is defcribed in the 
 paftoral defcriptions of poets, or the vain-glorious folitudes 
 recorded by philofophers : to. a thinking man, it would 
 feem prodigious, that the very fituation in a country life, 
 does not incline men to a fcorn of the mean gratifications 
 ufually taken in it. To ftand by a ftream, naturally lulls 
 the mind into a compofure and reverence, and a bright 
 funmine makes a man confider all nature in gladnefs, and 
 himfelf the happieft being in it, as he is the moft con- 
 fcious of her gifts and enjoyments. It would be the 
 moft impertinent piece of pedantry imaginable, to form 
 our pleafures by imitations of others -, I will not, there- 
 fore, mention Scipio, and Lxlius, who are generally pro- 
 duced on this fubject, as authorities, for the charms of a 
 rural life : He that does not feel the force of agreeable 
 views and iltuations in his own mind, will hurdly ar- 
 rive at the fatisfadion they bring, from the reflections of 
 others; however they who have a tafte that way, are 
 more particularly inflamed with a defire, when they fee 
 others in the enjoyment of it ; efpecially, when men car- 
 ry into the country, a knowledge of the world, as well as 
 of nature ; the leifure of fuch perfons is endeared and re- 
 fined, by reflections upon cares and inquietudes. The 
 abfence of paft labours doubles the prefent pleafure, 
 which is ftill augmented, if the perfon in folitude has the 
 happinefs of being addicted to letters. 
 
 1 1 12. The niceft part in human converfation, and the 
 
 fined
 
 198 A COLLECTION of 
 
 fined probe of the recefTes of the heart of man, is to guefs 
 at the meaning of the little hints that are given by the bye, 
 and to know how to make the beft of them. There are 
 fome malicious and angry jerks, dipped in the gall of 
 paffion, and thefe are imperceptible thunderbolts, that 
 flrike down thofe they are levelled at. Many times a 
 word has thrown down headlong from the pinnacle of fa- 
 vour, thofe whom the murmurings of a whole people, com- 
 bined againft them, could not fo much as make. There 
 are other hints which produce an effecT: quite contrary ; 
 that is to fay, which fupport and increafe the reputation 
 of a man to whom they are addreffed. But feeing they 
 are cunningly glanced, fo are they to be cautioufly receiv- 
 ed, for the fecurity confifts in fmelling out the intention, 
 and the blow forefeen is always warded. 
 
 1113. Such words zsfympatby, occult qualities, and a 
 thoufand more of the fame ftamp, have no fenfe nor lig- 
 nification at all. A man is wonderfully deceived, if he 
 fancies himfelf one jot the wifer for them. They were 
 only found out to fupply the want of reafon, and to be 
 ufed when we would fain fay fomething, but indeed have 
 nothing to fay. 
 
 1114. There are fome obftinate people in the world, 
 who have, as it were, fworn an allegiance to their grief, 
 and contracted with it for their whole life. But what in- 
 jury has nature done them, that they mould throw them- 
 felves into the hands of their adverfary ? It is true, me 
 has deprived them of what they loved -, but fince me 
 makes us die without our own confent, why mould we 
 take it amifs that me deftroys others without our permif- 
 
 fion ?
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 199 
 
 fion ? Let us confider our friends whilft they live, as 
 goods we are obliged to part with when dead, as goods 
 we were to enjoy but for a fhort fpace. I am not furpri- 
 zed to find that tears were in fo much reputation with 
 the poets, and defpifed by the philofophers. Poetry bor- 
 rows its beauty from the paflions and the infirmities of 
 nature, and philofophy derives all its excellence from the 
 virtues and forces of the foul. A poet reprefents to us a 
 Niche, who melts into tears, for the death of her children. 
 A philofopher mews us a Cornelia, who beholds, with dry 
 eyes, the death of all her family : The one is very tender, 
 the other very courageous : I would keep my admiration 
 for Cornelia, and my compaffion for N'iobe. I pity Niobe, 
 and commend Cornelia. Niobe fubmits to grief, grief 
 fubmits to Cornelia. We mould pity thofe whom grief 
 overcomes, but commend thole who overcome grief. 
 
 1115. In the fludy of human learning, our mind ought 
 always to preferve its own freedom, and not to enflave it- 
 felf to other people's fancies. The liberty of the judg- 
 ment mould have its full fcope, and not take any thing 
 upon truft, from the credit of any man's authority. 
 When different opinions are propofed to us, we mould 
 confider and chufe, if there are fuch odds between them, 
 as to admit of a choice j and if there be not, then we 
 mould contiue in fufpenfe ftill. 
 
 1 1 1 6. It is liberty alone which infpires men with lofty 
 thoughts, and elevates their fouls to a higher pitch than 
 rules of art can direct. Books of rhetorick make men 
 copious and methodical ; but they alone can never infufe 
 that true enthufiaftick rage which liberty breathes into 
 
 their
 
 200 A COLLECTION of 
 
 their fouls who enjoy it, and which, guided by a fedate 
 judgment, will carry men further than the greatefl induf- 
 try, and the quicken: parts can go without it. 
 
 1117. A neighbouring monarch has oftentimes taken 
 wrong meafures, upon account of our inteftine jars, not 
 confidering that thofe who are factious among themfclves, 
 and jealous of one another, are more flrongly prepared to 
 encounter with a common enemy. 
 
 1118. As I wim a prince would not over flightly be- 
 lieve all men ; neither would I have him, for fmall cau- 
 fes, diftrufl every man. 
 
 1119. The mind not having a fufficient time to recol- 
 lect its forces, it immediately gufhes into tears, before we 
 can utter ourfelves by fighs or complaints. The mofl 'no- 
 torious caufes of thefe drops are pity, forrow, joy, and 
 reconciliation. The foft fex, who are made of man, and 
 not earth, have a more delicate humanity, and pity is the 
 common caufe of their tears. 
 
 1 120. Above any of the other fenfes that of hearing re- 
 ceives the firlt impreffion, moft eafily diiiurbs the mind, 
 and fubverts the underflanding. 
 
 j 1 2 1 . All ftates ought to delire peace, yet fo as to be al- 
 ways prepared for war. 
 
 1 1 22. All nations do naturally imitate the manners of 
 their prince ; and obferving his proceedings, refolve ei- 
 ther to hate or love him. Therefore, it highly imports a 
 king, upon his firil acceffion to the throne, to give a good 
 opinion of himfelf to his people ; for it is that firft ftep 
 which determines either the happinefs or niifery of his 
 reign. If the people happen once to bate their fovereign, 
 
 then
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 201 
 
 then his a<flions, good or evil, are never afterwards ac- 
 counted good : But if at the beginning he gains the love 
 of the people, then every bad action is reputed a virtue , 
 as though he could not be induced to do amifs, without 
 good caufe or reafon. 
 
 1123. 'Truth difcovers itfelf to prince s^ no longer than 
 while they are young and under age : It flies a crown, 
 and vanifhes out of light, as foon as they come to be in- 
 verted with power. If thefe firft years be not made ufe 
 of, to give them good advice and instruction, there will be 
 no retrieving it in the following part of their lives ; for all 
 then goes off in mere juggle and difguife. 
 
 1124. A Roman conful had the thanks of the fenate 
 (though he was beaten) that he did notdefpair , and a 
 French genera! was made a Marefchal of France, after he 
 had loft Namur - 3 but with us, if any thing goes crofs, 
 we are prefently for changing the miniftry. 
 
 1125. Cambden obferves, that the weftern people, of 
 moft countries, are the talleft and ftouteft 3 and it is cer- 
 tain that the eaftern people of the world, the Chinefe, 
 are the moft effeminate, and un warlike \ it is alfo obfer- 
 vable, that rocky, mountainous places breed warlike, tall 
 people, as the Highlanders^ Swifs and Griffons. 
 
 1126. It is obferved, that armies marching from fouth 
 to north, grow more hardy, according as the inward heat 
 is either concentrated, or compreffcd by the outward air $ 
 they which are tranfplanted from cold countries to hot, 
 cannot bear the change j whereas thofe that remove more 
 northerly, grow more hardy. 
 
 1127. Among the znt'ient Greeks and Romans, the phi- 
 
 D d lofophers
 
 202 A COLLECTION of 
 
 lofophers and orators were brave, and the brave men flu- 
 died philofophy and eloquence ; among us, t\\zfcholar is but 
 a fcholar, the lawyer does but plead, and the foldier only 
 fights. In fhort, if a man excel in any one thing, he ei- 
 ther defpifes the reft, or is unfit for it. 
 
 1128. Religion in a magiftrate flrengthens his authori- 
 ty, becaufe it procures veneration, and gains a reputation 
 to it. And in all the affairs of this world > fo much re- 
 putation is, indeed, fo much power. 
 
 1129. As clemency is produced by magnanimity, and 
 fearleffnefs of dangers, fo is cruelty by cowardice and fear, 
 and argues not only a depravednefs of nature, but alfo a 
 meanefs of courage, and imbecillity of mind - } for which 
 reafon it is both hated by all that are within its reach and 
 danger, and defpifed by all that are without. 
 
 1130. In anfwer to the query, whether 'Turks or Tar- 
 tars be more eafily converted to the chriflian faith ? 
 The Tartars doubtlefs ; for pure paganifm, and native in- 
 fidelity, will fooner take the tincture of chriflianity ; 
 whereas the Turks are foiled and ftained with the religion 
 of Mahomet., which muft firft he discharged. 
 
 1131. We read in hiftory, that mo& princes, who have 
 been in the apprehenfion of confpiracies, have taken the 
 courfe to meet and prevent them by punifhment and re- 
 venge j but I find very few who have reaped any advan- 
 tage by this proceeding, and whoever finds himfelf in this 
 danger, ought not to expecl: much, either from his vigilan- 
 cy or power -, for how hard a thing is it for a man to fe- 
 cure himfelf from an enemy, who lies concealed under the 
 countenance of the mofl officious friend we have ; and to 
 
 difcover
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 203 
 
 difcover and know the wills and inward thoughts of thofe 
 who are continually doing us fervice ! And moreover, 
 this continual fufpicion, that makes a prince jealous of 
 all the world, tnuft of neceffity be a flrange torment to 
 him. 
 
 1132. Princes and their miniflers have their nature 
 much like that of celejlial bodies -, they have much fplen- 
 dor, but no reft. 
 
 1133. Ill nature is a contradiction to the laws of pro- 
 vidence, and the intereft of mankind ; a punifhment, no 
 lefs than a fault, to thofe that have it. 
 
 1134. Men's thoughts are much according to their in- 
 clinations j their difcourfe and fpeech is according to their 
 learning, and infufed opinions ; but their deeds are after, 
 as they have been accuftomed. 
 
 1135. The memory of things below remains with us 
 after this life, either in heaven or hell. Son ! re- 
 member in thy life time thou received/I thy good things, 
 Luke xvi. and Revel, xv. / am he that 'was dead, and am 
 alive again. 
 
 1136. War is proved to be lawful, Firft, By the Bap- 
 tift's anfwer to the foldiers, when they came to his bap- 
 tifm. Luke iii. 14. Secondly, By Cbrifts commending 
 the centurion's faith. Thirdly, By St Paul's ufmg a 
 band of foldiers, againft the treachery of the yews. 
 Fourthly, By St Pefer's baptizing Cornelius, without his 
 giving over the military employment. We may con- 
 clude, then, a foldier is one of a lawful, neceflary, and 
 commendable profeffion : His pay is an honourable ad- 
 dition, but no valuable compenfation for his pains. 
 
 D d 2 Though
 
 204 A COLLECTION of 
 
 Though money be the finews of war, yet if thofe finews 
 chance to {brink, and pay fall fhort, he takes a fit of this 
 convulfion patiently ; he will not expofe himfelf to need- 
 lefs perils, but if a danger meets, he goes over it with 
 valour, or under it with patience ; and will never give 
 ground, but on one of thefe three conditions, either 
 an affured peace, abfolute vidtory, or an honourable 
 death. 
 
 1137. Our greateft vices derive their firft propenfity 
 from our moil tender infancy, and our principal education 
 depends upon the nurfe. Yet fuch wife fathers there 
 are in the world, who look upon it as a notable mark of 
 a martial fpirit, when they hear their fons mifs-call, or 
 fee them domineer over a poor peafant, or a lacquey, 
 that dare not reply and turn again ; and a great fign of 
 wit, when they cheat and over-reach their playfellows, by 
 fome malicious trick of treachery and deceit j not conli- 
 fidering that thefe are the true feeds of cruelty, tyranny 
 and treafon j they bud and put out there, and afterwards 
 moot up vigoroufly, and grow into a prodigious bulk and 
 feature, being cultivated and improved by cuftom. There- 
 fore, it is a very dangerous miftake to excufe thefe vile 
 inclinations, upon the tendernefs of their age, and the tri- 
 vialnefs of the fubjecl:. 
 
 1138. No commendations are thought too great for 
 prudence : And yet the higheft pitch of it, cannot enfure 
 a man the moft i neon fid erable event. 
 
 1139. We mould often blujh for our beft aSitons, if the 
 world did but fee all the motives upon which they were 
 grounded. 
 
 God
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 205 
 
 1 140. God, in giving us the light of reafon, has not 
 thereby tied up his own hands from affording us, when 
 he thinks fit, the light of revelation, in any of thofe 
 matters wherein our natural faculties are able to give a 
 probable determination. Revelation, where God has been 
 pleafed to give it, muft carry it againfl all the probable 
 conjectures of reafon, becaufe the mind, not being certain 
 of the truth of that it does not evidently know, but only 
 yielding to the probability that appears in it, is bound to 
 give up its aflent to fuch a teftimony, which it is fatisfied 
 comes from one, who cannot err, and will not deceive. 
 But, yet, it ftill belongs to reafon, to judge of the truth of its 
 being a revelation, and of the figniflcation of the words 
 wherein it is delivered. Indeed, if any thing fhall be tho't 
 revelation, which is 'contrary to the true principles of rea- 
 fon, and the evident knowledge the mind has of its own 
 clear and diflinct ideas, there, reafon muft be hearkened 
 unto, as a matter within its province ; fince a man can 
 never have fo certain a knowledge, that a proportion, 
 which contradicts the clear principles and evidence of his 
 own understanding, was divinely revealed, or that he under- 
 ftands the words rightly, wherein it it delivered, as he has, 
 that the contrary is true ; and fo is bound to conlider, and 
 judge of it as a matter of reafon, and not fwallow it 
 without examination, as a matter of faith. 
 
 1141. I am fcandalized at fome chriftians, who will not 
 allow falvation to any man that is not within the vifible 
 pale of their church, as if the eternal fun of juftice were 
 eclipfed to all that were out of their narrow horizon. 
 Sure he enlightens every man that comes into this world, 
 
 and
 
 206 A COLLECTION of 
 
 and his rays are not confined to countries or parties. He 
 fhines univerfally, and no man can trace him in the zo- 
 diack of his mercy. I dare not, it is true (with Juftin 
 Martyr) canonize the philofophers, and place Socrates 
 and Heraclitus in heaven j neither am I fure, that Ari- 
 jlotle, by his learned treatifes of it, has obtained an inhe- 
 ritance there. It is too officious a regard, and too bold a 
 charity, thus happily to difpofe of particular men. On 
 the other fide, I dread to pafs the fentence of damnation 
 on all the antient Pagans, and to aver that none were fa- 
 ved who died before the fifteenth year of Tiberius. Tho' 
 the meer light of natural reafon was not fufficient to con- 
 duel: them, nor all their morality enough to entitle them 
 to fupreme felicity ; yet I cannot be perfuaded, that the 
 infinite goodnefs would doom the virtuous Gentiles to the 
 abyfs of mifery : neither can any man demonftrate, that 
 Chrift was not the light of the Gentiles, before his incar- 
 nation ; and fince Abraham faw his day, and was glad, 
 how do we know that men, renowned for their prudence, 
 temperance, fortitude, chaftity, liberality, and the like 
 virtues, might not alfo be favoured with a glimpfe of the 
 Meffias, the defire of all nations, before he appeared in 
 the flefli ? Though we have no records in fcripture of 
 Hermes Trifmegiftus, Epiffetus, Homer, Thefeus, and Her- 
 cules, yet we cannot be aflured but that they had faith, 
 and expecled the redeemer, as well as Job, who was not 
 of the holy lirve, but a branch of the Gentiles. When I 
 confider what pains fome of the wifer heathens have taken 
 to find out the truth j when I contemplate on Pythagoras 
 travelling through Afia, and particularly converfant in Pa- 
 
 kjline-,
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 207 
 
 leftme ; an Empcdocles journeying into Africa, to learn die 
 wifdom of the Egyptians ; an Alexander falling at the feet 
 of the Hebrew high prieft j I cannot think the heathen 
 world to be fo ignorant of religion, as is commonly ima- 
 gined : for ought we know, fome of them might have 
 had the fcriptures of the Old Teftament, or at leaft a part 
 of them, even before the celebrated tranflation of the 
 Septuagint j fince it was eafy for thofe Gentiles who 
 had commerce with the Jews, to procure copies of their 
 law, while they were captives in Media, Ajjyria, Egypt, 
 and Babylon. An EJiher lying in the bofom of Ahafuerus, 
 a Daniel fitting at the right hand of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 Belfoazzar, and Darius, had fair opportunities of in- 
 ftructing thofe heathen monarchs in the myfteries of the 
 Mofaick law ; and fure fuch holy perfons would never 
 negle<ft fo noble a work, as profelyting the princes of 
 the Gentiles to God. The fame of Solomon brought 
 Kings from afar, and Queens from the remoteft borders 
 of the continent, to be difciples of that royal philofopher, 
 and fpectators of the Hebrew grandeur. Without doubt, 
 thefe faw the dawning of the ftar of Jacob, and the fouth 
 could calculate his meridian even before he rofe ; neither 
 were the north and the weft without fome glimmerings of 
 his appearance : furely, he was the delire of all nations, 
 the hope of the Gentiles, and the glory of his people If- 
 rael It is both unreafonable and uncharitable, to pafs 
 the fentence of damnation on all the Gentiles, fmce God 
 has afTured us, that he is no refpefter of perfons, but he 
 that in every nation fears God, and works right eoufnefs, is 
 accepted of him. Some grains of allowance may be given 
 
 to
 
 208 A COLLECTION of 
 
 to the involuntary frailties of human nature, fome indul- 
 gence granted to the invincible ignorance of a great part 
 of Adaris pofterity, who, if they knew not the high way 
 to heaven which was revealed to their brethren the Jews 
 and Chriftians, it is too narrow a conceit of God's mer- 
 cy, to think, that becaufe he had chiefly manifefted it 
 in the royal road of the law and gofpel, therefore he would 
 never go out of the beaten track ; this were to retrench 
 the divine prerogative, and to tye him up to limited con- 
 ditions, whofe ways are in the great deep, and whofe foot- 
 fteps no created being can trace. 
 
 1142. Cuftom is the plague of wife men, and the idol 
 of fools. 
 
 1 143. You have done a kindnefs to fuch a perfon, and 
 becaufe he makes no return, you grow peevifh and fati- 
 rical upon him : in earnefl, this is a fign that you had a 
 mercenary view, and that you were but a huckfter in the 
 mafk of a friend^ for otherwife you would have been fa- 
 tisfied with a generous action, and made virtue her own 
 reward. You have obliged a man, it is very well, what 
 would you have more? Is not the confcioufnefs of a good 
 office, a fufficient confideration ? You have humoured 
 your own nature, and acted upon your conftitution, and 
 muft you ftill have fomething over and above ? For man 
 is made to be kind and oblige, and his faculties are order- 
 ed accordingly, and therefore, when he does a good of- 
 fice, he follows the bent, and anfwers the end of his being. 
 
 1 1 44. When I have tired myfelf with following the 
 vifible motions of nature, I return home again, thinking 
 to take fanduary in myfelf, and find reft in the contem- 
 
 pla-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 209 
 
 plation of my own foul : but there I do but commence a 
 new fatigue, and am hurried about in a perpetual circle, by 
 an invifible energy within me. I think, fpeak, and act 
 with infinite variety, yet know not how I perform thofe 
 different operations. I know myfelf to be an incorporeal 
 fubftance, and can eafily feel out my own independency 
 on the body : I look on this houfe of clay, I carry about 
 me, to be only my prifon ; but how I am confined to this 
 prifon, is a riddle which I cannot folve. I can better 
 imagine how a beam of our invifible fun may be united 
 to a marble ftatue, than that a pure thought mould be 
 fattened to a clod of earth, from which it cannot free itfelf 
 but by death. What cement is it that thus clofely ties 
 together two fuch incompatible efTences, as heaven and 
 earth, light and darknefs, fpirit and body ? This is a knot 
 muft be left for Eli as to untie, and is, indeed, one chief 
 argument of the fhipwreck of human reafon, fince not 
 only all other things are obfcure to us, but we are fo to 
 ourfelves. The nearefl objects, even our own domeftick 
 operations, are as incomprehenfible to us, as thofe that are 
 firtheft off - y the things that touch us, nay, the very fa- 
 culties by which we touch, fee, underftand, &c. are as 
 diftant from us as the ninth fphere, and we are as great 
 Grangers to ourfelves as the inhabitants of Terra incognita. 
 1145. There are not fo many ungrateful men, as there 
 are thought to be j becaufe there are not fo many gene- 
 rous men as we imagine. He that in filence fupprefTes 
 a favour received, is an unthankful fellow, that deferved 
 it not : but he that publifhes one that he has done, turns 
 Ee it
 
 2iO A COLLECTION of 
 
 it to an injury, fhewing, to your difgrace, the neceflity 
 you had of him. 
 
 1 146. Princes are generally kept fo much in the dark, 
 as to things, and have fo feldom a true character given 
 them of perfons, that it is a wonder they commit no great- 
 er errors, either in the management of affairs, or in the 
 choice of their minifters. 
 
 1 147. Formerly our nobles fignalized their entrance 
 upon the ftage of the world, with fighting two or three 
 battles, or at leaft a duel : now-a-days our young Patri- 
 cians generally make themfelves firft talked of, either by 
 debauching an aclrefs, or by lofing eight or ten thoufand 
 pounds at Newmarket. 
 
 1148. Nothing (hews more the weaknefs of a govern- 
 ment, than a loofe adminiftration of the exchequer j for 
 it argues either a prince's negligence, or that he is unfet- 
 tled in his throne, and obliged to make creatures with 
 exorbitant gifts. 
 
 1 149. We are all angry at backbiting, yet every body 
 is more or lefs fubject to it. 
 
 1 1 50. The defect in ideots, or naturals, feems to proceed 
 from want of quicknefs, activity and motion in the intel- 
 lectual faculties, whereby they are deprived of reafonj 
 whereas mad-men, on the other fide, feem to fuffer by 
 the other extreme j for they do not appear to me to have 
 loft the faculty of reafoning, but having joined together 
 Ibme ideas very wrongly, they miftake them for truths, 
 and they err, as men do that argue right from wrong 
 principles j for by the violence of their imaginations, having 
 taken their fancies for realities, they make a right deduc- 
 tion
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 211 
 
 tion from them. Thus you mall find a diftracted man, fan- 
 cying himfelf a king, with a fight inference, require 
 fuitable attendance, and perfect obedience. Others, who 
 have thought themfelves made of glafs, have ufed the 
 caution necefTary to preferve fuch brittle bodies ; hence it 
 comes to pafs, that a man, who is very fober, and of a 
 right understanding in all other things, may in one parti- 
 cular be as frantick as any one in bedlam, if either by 
 any fudden, or very ftrong impreffion, or long fixing his 
 fancy upon any one fort of thought, incoherent ideas have 
 been cemented together fo powerfully as to remain uni- 
 ted. But there are as great degrees of madnefs as of folly ; 
 the diforderly jumbling ideas together, is in fome more, 
 in fome lefs. In fhort, herein feems to lie the differ- 
 ence between ideots and madmen, that madmen put wrong 
 ideas together, and fo make wrong proportions, but argue 
 and reafon right from them ; but ideots make very few- 
 er no propofitions, and reafon fcarce at all. The differ- 
 ence may yet appear more plain by this comprehensive de- 
 finition : A fool is he that from right principles makes a 
 wrong conclufion, but a madman is one who draws a jufl 
 inference from falfe principles. 
 
 1151. I have always preferred chearfulnefs to mirth, 
 the latter I confider as an act, the former as a habit of the 
 mind. Mirth is fhort and tranfient, chearfulnefs fixed and 
 permanent. Thofe are often raifed into the higheft tranf- 
 ports of mirth, who are Subject to the greateft deprefTions 
 of melancholy : on the contrary, chearfulnefs, though it 
 does not give the mind fuch an exquifite gladnefs, yet 
 prevents us from falling into any depths of forrow. Mirth 
 E e 2 is
 
 212 A COLLECTION of 
 
 is like a flam of lightening, that breaks thro' a gloom of 
 clouds, and glitters for a moment. Chearfulnefs keeps 
 up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a 
 fleady and perpetual ferenity. 
 
 1152. It is a pitiful fneaking fort of life, that of & back- 
 biter, always to be pecking at, and feeding upon the im- 
 perfections of others. 
 
 1153. It is a court humour, to keep people upon the 
 tenters ; their injuries are quick and fudden, but their bene- 
 factions are flow. Great minifters love to wrack men with 
 
 attendance, and account it an oftentation of their power 
 to hold their fuitors in hand, and to have many witnefles 
 of their intereft. 
 
 1 1 54. The devotion of fome ladies, on the turning of 
 their years, is no better than a kind of decency, taken up 
 to fhelter themfelves from the fhame and the jeft of an- 
 tiquated beauty, and to fecure, in every change, fomething 
 that may ftill recommend them to the world. 
 
 11 55' No man lives without enemies, and no enemy is 
 fo defpicable, but fome time or other he may do a body 
 a ihrewd turn. It is prudence to pafs over thofe indig- 
 nities, which are either too little for our confideration, or 
 out of our power to reach and punifh; for there is no- 
 thing more ridiculous, than an impotent anger, that fpends 
 itfelf to no manner of purpofe ; and there is no better way 
 of dealing with it, than to laugh it out of countenance. 
 
 1 156. Frequent executions caft as great a blemilh on the 
 reputation of a king, as frequent funerals on that of a 
 phyfician. 
 
 1157. The
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 213 
 
 1 1 57. The firft and chiefeft part of a good patriot is to 
 overlook wrongs. 
 
 1158. Among all the productions and inventions of hu- 
 man wit, none is more admirable and ufeful than writing, 
 by means wherof a man may copy out his very thoughts, 
 utter his mind without opening his mouth, and iignify 
 his pleafure at a thoufand miles diftance ; and this by the 
 help of twenty four letters, by various joining, and infinite 
 combinations of which, all words that are attainable and 
 imaginable may be framed -, and the feveral ways of join- 
 ing, altering and tranfpofing thefe letters, do amount (as 
 Clavius the Jefuite has taken pains to compute) to 
 52,636,738,497,664,000 ways; fo that all things that 
 are in heaven and earth may be expreffed by the help of 
 this wonderous alphabet, which may be comprized in the 
 compafs of a farthing. 
 
 1 159. Tea is good for people of great application, that 
 ftudy much and fit up late ; it furpalTes the Turks coffee, 
 and the Americans chocolate ; for coffee is too cooling and 
 fplenetick, and chocolate heats too much, efpecially in 
 fummer ; but tea is very temperate, and does no hurt. It 
 is believed that the ufe of this drink preferves the Chinefe 
 from the ftone and gout, for they are ieldom troubled 
 with either ; it is certain it clean fes the reins, purges the 
 brain, and hinders crudities and indigeftions, taken after 
 meat. Sir Thomas Pope Elount fays, green tea is the beft 
 and wholfomeft. 
 
 1 1 60. It is not for every twattling goffip, or fome em- 
 pty pedant^ to undertake fo difficult a province as the edu- 
 cation of youth ; for it requires a critical nicety, both of 
 
 wit
 
 214 -A COLLECTION &f 
 
 wit and judgment, to find out the genius and propenfions 
 of a child, and to divide fo accurately betwixt the good 
 and the evil, the gracious and perverfe, as to hit the pre- 
 cife medium of encouraging the one, without difcouraging 
 the other : And this faculty of difcerning is not enough 
 neither, without a watchful afliduity of application. The 
 juft feafon of doing things muft be nicked, and all acci- 
 dents obferved and improved ; for weak minds are to be 
 as narrowly attended as fick bodies. To fay nothing of 
 the infinite curiofity of the operation, in the forming of 
 our lives and manners ; and that not one man of ten 
 thoufand is competently qualified for the office. Upon 
 the whole matter, there muft be an awe maintained on the 
 one hand, and, at the fame time, a love and reverence prefer- 
 ved on the other. And all this muft be ordered, too, with fo 
 gentle a foftnefs of addrefs, that we may not hazard, either 
 the ftifling or the quenching of generous inclinations, by 
 bearing too hard upon them, or the licentiating of any 
 thing that is coarfe and vulgar, out ofafoolifli facility, or 
 a miftaken pity. 
 
 1 1 6 1 . The exercife of logick was profecuted with fo 
 much eagernefs in Zew's fchool, that the Stoicks refined 
 more upon it than all the other fedts of philofophers ; 
 perhaps the difficulty which they found in maintaining 
 their wild viiionary morals, obliged them to make up, in 
 fubtilty of fpeech, what they wanted in folidity of doc- 
 trine. Though logick be called the art of reafoning, yet 
 it is more apt to injure than affift it j becaufe having ac- 
 cuftomed ourfelves to take rules, we rather depend upon 
 
 them
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 215 
 
 them to determine our judgments, than permit ourfelves 
 to examine the true reafons of things. 
 
 1162. Moral philofophy is divided into two parts, e- 
 thicks, and politicks ; the firft inftructs us in the private 
 offices of virtue, the fecond in thofe which relate to the 
 commonwealth. 
 
 1 163. True philofophy is a fpring and principle of mo- 
 tion ; wherever it comes, it makes men active and induf- 
 trious ', it fets every wheel and faculty on going, it flores 
 our minds with axioms and rules, by which to make a 
 found judgment j it determines our will to the choice of 
 what is honourable and juft, and it wings all our faculties 
 to the fwiftefl profecution of it. It is accompanied with 
 an elevation and noblenefs of mind, joined with a coolnefs 
 and fweetnefs of behaviour, backed with a becoming aflu- 
 rance, and inflexible refolution. 
 
 1 164. We oftentimes fancy that we love perfons in au- 
 thority, when it is nothing but intereft that makes us fond 
 of them. And all our applications and attendances are not 
 fo much upon the account of any good we defire to do 
 them, as for what we expect and hope they may do us. 
 
 1 165. It is next to impoffible to have three friends j if 
 you have but two, the one mufl be for advice, the other 
 for reproof : If once they begin to interfere, the band is 
 half diffolved, and an implacable enmity hanging over 
 your heads. 
 
 1 1 66. All devotion, which is not grounded upon chrifli- 
 an humility ', and the love of one's neighbour, is no better 
 than form and. pretence. It is generally the pride andpee- 
 r cij!mefs of 'philofophy, which thinks, by defpifing the worhf, 
 
 to
 
 2i 6 A COLLECTION of 
 
 to revenge itfelf upon all the contempt and dilTatisfadion 
 men have met with from it. 
 
 1167. A man that repofes and affures himfelf upon di- 
 vine protection and favour, gathers a force and faith, 
 which human nature in itfelf could not obtain. There- 
 fore as atheifm is in all refpects hateful, fo in this, that it 
 deprives human nature of the means to exalt itfelf above 
 
 1 1 68. The antient philofophy is grounded more upon 
 authority, the modern upon experience. The aritient is 
 iimple and natural, the modern artificial and refined , the 
 latter has an affuming and magisterial air, the former more 
 gravity and modefty ; the antient is quiet and peaceable, 
 the modern has made it an art to difpute of all things, and 
 to train up youth in the tumult and contention of the 
 fchools ; the antient is more conftant and fevere in its ftu- 
 dies, more laborious and indefatigable ; the modern is more 
 unfettled in its application, more precipitant in its defigns 
 and purfuits. In fhort, conftancy, fidelity, refolution, and 
 good fenfe, was what they meant by philofophy in Plato's 
 days j but philofophy, in the language of many of our 
 time, is a difguft to bufinefs, a chagrin and melancholy, 
 and renouncing of pleafure, when the tafte of it is loft by the 
 mortification of the paffions. 
 
 1169. Greece has obliged the world with the greateft 
 philofophers, and the greateft legifiators, and we cannot 
 deny but that other nations have borrowed from them all 
 the politenefs they can boaft of. 
 
 1 1 70. Comedy prefents us with the imperfections of 
 human nature 5 farce confifts of forced and unnatural events, 
 
 and
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 217 
 
 and entertains us with what is monftrous and chimerical. 
 A plot in a well contrived comedy fhould be fo cunningly 
 wrought, that it difcover not itfelf, until the laft fcene, 
 when expectation acknowledges herfelf deluded by . in- 
 vention. 
 
 1171. Phylicks is the fcience 'of things natural and 
 fenfible, and metaphyficks the fcience of things purely 
 intellectual, upon which all other fciences have their de- 
 pendence. 
 
 1172. Prefumption leads people to infidelity in a trice, 
 and fo by infenfible degrees to atheifm : For when men 
 have once caft off a reverence for religion, they are come 
 within one flep of laughing at it. 
 
 1173. It were better to have no opinion of God at all, 
 than fuch an one as is unworthy of him ! For the one 
 is unbelief, and the other contumely. 
 
 1174. No prince ever loft the love of hisfubjedts by 
 puniming the wicked, if, at the fame time, he rewarded 
 the good and well deferving ; for no man can think him. 
 cruel, that for love to virtue ufes feverity, which will ap- 
 pear when he is bountiful to the virtuous. 
 
 11 75* Next to fenfuality and Jloth, are the fufpicion of 
 
 Jimplicity, cowardice, or any fuch vice. Nothing renders 
 
 a prince more contemptible to his people, than his being 
 
 mutable, irrefolute y light, and inconfiderate in beflowing 
 
 bofiours and offices of ftate. 
 
 1 176. There have been within this feventy years paft 
 more difcoveries made in nature, by experiments and ob- 
 fervations, and by the invention of fgme aftronomical 
 
 Ff in-
 
 2i8 A COLLECTION of 
 
 inftruments, than had been made in two hundred years 
 before. 
 
 1177. In the opinion of the moft knowing and inqui- 
 fitive mathematicianSjthere is towards the fouthern climates 
 as much land undifcovered, as may equal in dimenftons 
 the late new world. 
 
 1178. In the Mahometan paradife they have feveral 
 beafts apartments ; fuch as Abraham's ram, Mofes's heifer, 
 Solomon's ant, the Queen of Sheba's parrot, Efdras's afs, 
 Jonah's whale, the feven fleepers dog, and Mahomet's 
 camel. 
 
 1179. If we fet alide thofe cafes in which reafon is 
 concerned, a man ought to meafure his ftudies and his 
 books by \htftandard of his own reafon, and notenflave 
 his reafon to his books. 
 
 1 1 80. The fafety of a prince is never fo firm 'and well 
 eftablifhed upon any other bottom, as the general fafety, 
 and thereby fatisfaction of the common people, which 
 make the bulk and ftrength of all great kingdoms, when- 
 ever they confpire and unite in any common paffion, or 
 interefl : For the nobles, without them, are but like an 
 army of officers without foldiers : and make only a vain 
 (how, or weak noife, unlefs raifed and increafed by the 
 voice of the people ; which, for this reafon, is, in a com- 
 mon Latin proverb, called the voice of God. 
 
 1 1 8 j . In all the cafes of our lives, we fancy ourfelves 
 much more miferable than we are -, for want of taking a 
 true eftimate of things, we fly into tranfports without rea^ 
 fon, and judge of the happinefs or calamity of human 
 life, by falfe lights. A ftrift enquiry into the truth of 
 
 mat-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 219 
 
 matters will help us in the one, and companion will fet 
 us right in the other. 
 
 1182. True devotion is a temper of mind purely fpiritu- 
 al, and derives itfelf from God ; confequently it is a very 
 nice thing, and ought to be obferved very narrowly, and 
 with exceeding caution, by thofe that would keep them- 
 felves from being deceived in it. 
 
 1183. The doctrine of tranfmigration obtains this day 
 in China and both the Indies. The foul of a poet, they 
 fay, goes into a grafhopper, becaufe it fings till it ftarves. 
 
 1 1 84. From the indigefted matter, or chaos, Hejiod, 
 Homer ^ and Ovid, &c. fteal the invention of the created 
 world ; and from the gardens of Paradife they took the 
 platform of the orchards of Alcinom and the Hefperides ; 
 and from the tree of life their nectar and ambrofia, for 
 nectar fignifies making young, and ambrolia immortality ; 
 therefore faid-to be the meat and drink of the gods. 
 
 1185. Tithes are due both by common and ilatute law ; 
 from whence it follows, that, if there were nothing more 
 to be urged, the church has as good a property and title in 
 them, as any layman whatfoever can pretend to for his 
 e-ftate. 
 
 1 1 86. We ought to be more felicitous to avoid ene- 
 mies., than to gain friends ; by reafon that the opportuni- 
 ties of doing mifchief are generally more frequent than 
 thofe of doing good. 
 
 1 187. The mhtake of a friend for an enemy y or of an 
 tnemy for a friend^ is one of the moft pernicious errors of 
 a juft man's life j for there is judgment, good nature, ge- 
 nerofity, juftice, common prudence, and all at flake. 
 
 F f 2 Nothing
 
 220 A COLLECTION of 
 
 Nothing can be more diofbliging to a friend, on the one 
 hand, or more ruinous to one' s felf on the other. Charity, 
 however, bids us hope, and think the beft, provided, at 
 the fame time, that we fecure the main chance. 
 
 1 1 88. A prudent friend eafes many troubles, whereas, 
 one who is not fo, multiplies and increafes them. 
 
 1189. Hatreds are generally fo obftinate and fullen, 
 that the greater! fign of death, in a fick body, is his de- 
 fire of being reconciled to his enemies. 
 
 1190. The moft illuftrious revenge, is to pardon 
 where we might deftroy. 
 
 1191. The antient Perpans, defpairing to find all re- 
 quifite accomplishments in one, had four diftinct perfons 
 to teach their princes : One to inftruct in religion, ano- 
 ther in morals, a third the laws of his country, the fourth 
 the art of war. 
 
 1192. The gofpel was, doubtlefs, preached over all 
 the world by the apoftles, and their fucceffors, as appears 
 by three hundred and eighteen biftiops being at the 
 council of Nice, out of all the chief provinces in the 
 world. 
 
 1193. Anacharfis the philofopher, when upbraided by 
 an Athenian for being a Scythian, readily replied, " My 
 country's a reproach to me, bnt thou art a reproach to thy 
 country.'* 
 
 1 1 94. Socrates acknowledges, he learned more by his 
 fcolding wife, than by all the precepts of his philofophy. 
 
 1195. Sir PaulRicaut fays, at Philadelphia there is a 
 wall of men's bones, faid to be erected by the prince 
 who firft took the city j for having flaughtered many of 
 
 the
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 221 
 
 the belieged in a fally, for a terror to thofe who furvived, 
 he erected a wall of their bones, which is fowell cemented, 
 and the bones fo entire, that they bring pieces of the wall 
 to fhew. 
 
 1 196. Ditching a Peninfula near Smyrna, is faid to have 
 been the only enterprize that Alexander the gceat attempt- 
 ed without accomplifhing. 
 
 1197. The Papifts can't agree among themfelves what 
 is the Catholick Church, to which every man is bound to 
 fubmit j whether it be the virtual Church, the Pope, or 
 the Pope jointly with his conclave of Cardinals, or the 
 Pope with a provincial Council, or the Pope with a general 
 Council, or a general Council without the Pope, or, laftly, 
 the efTential Church difperfed over the face of the world. 
 
 1198. The greateft misfortune in fome affronts is, that 
 we cannot revenge them. 
 
 1199. As we love more and more thofe weftill oblige, 
 fo we hate moft violently thofe we have injured. 
 
 1 200. The impreffion of any notable misfortune will 
 commonly flick by a man as long as he lives : for, things 
 that we have once fet our heart upon, will hardly be ever 
 got out of our head, but every hint and occafion will be 
 putting us in mind of them again : fo that, upon the 
 whole, the only way to be happy and quiet, is to make 
 all contingencies indifferent to us. 
 
 1 20 1. Happinefs lies not in the things themfelves, but 
 in our own palate, and the relifh we have of them ; we 
 are happy by the enjoyment of what we fancy and deflre, 
 and not what other people think lovely and defirable. 
 
 1202. If
 
 222 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1202. If a man cannot find eafe within himfelf, it is 
 prepofterous for him to feek it any where elfe. 
 
 1203. Jcaloufy lives upon doubts and fufpicions, but as 
 foon as thefe become certainties, then the pafiion either 
 ceafes, or turns abfolute madnefs. 
 
 1204. The bare name and pretence of virtue, is more 
 ferviceable to a man's intereft than vice. 
 
 1205. Never any man laid open the vanity and ridicu- 
 loufnefs of Paganifm, the pride and ignorance of philo- 
 fophers, together with the frailty and inccnftancy of human 
 things, more than Lucian. He reprefents the Epicureans, 
 as luxurious and voluptuous; the Peripateticks, puncti- 
 lious and covetous ; the Platonicks, vain and proud ; the 
 Pythagoreans, fuperftitious and ridiculouily fcrupulous; 
 the Cynicks, nafty and impudent ; the Stoicks, opinionative 
 and felf-conceited, 6cc. He flourished in Trajan's reign, 
 was remarkable for his great wit, and pure Greek, though 
 he ridiculed all religions, nay, chriftianity itfelf did not 
 cfcape him. 
 
 1206. Irene is with much difficulty conveyed to the 
 temple viEfculapim, to confult the God about all her ills. 
 She complains at firft, that (he is weary and fatigued ; the 
 God pronounces that it is occafioned by the length of her 
 journey. She fays me has no ftomach to her fupper 3 the 
 oracle bids her eat the lefs at dinner. She adds, (he is 
 troubled at night with broken (lumbers ; he bids her ne- 
 ver lie a-bed by day. She afks how her groflhefs may be 
 prevented 5 the oracle replies, flie ought to rife before 
 noon, and now and then make ufe of her legs a little. 
 She declares, that wine difagrees with her -, the oracle 
 
 bid
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 
 
 bids her drink water. That me has a bad digeftion $ he 
 tells her that {he muft go into a diet. My fight, fays (he, 
 fails ; ufe fpectacles, fays Efculapius. I grow weak, I am 
 not half fo ftrong and healthy as I have been ; you grow 
 old, fays the God. But how, fays fhe, (hall I cure 
 this languiming ? Why you muft die like your grandfa- 
 thers and grandmothers, if you will get rid of it prefently. 
 What advice doft thou give me, thou fon of Apollo, cries 
 Irene ! Is this the mighty fkill men praife and worfhip 
 thee for ? What haft thou told me rare or myfterious ? Did 
 not I know thus much before ? The God anfwers, Why 
 then did you not put it in practice, without coming fo far 
 out of your way, and Shortening your days by a tedious 
 voyage, to no purpofe ? 
 
 1207. He muft have ftudied children long, that is ca- 
 pable of teaching them well j every good fcholar is not 
 a good matter j he muft be a man of invincible patience, 
 and fingular obfervation ; diligent and fober ; not too fa- 
 miliar, nor referved ; neither amorous, nor fantaftick ; juft, 
 without fiercenefs ; and merciful, without fondnefs : he 
 muft commend, without flattery j chide, without con- 
 tumely j and correct, without paffion ; be chearful, with- 
 out levity ; affable, without fawning 5 grave, without 
 morofenefs ; merry, without folly : he mould be patient, 
 humble, and meek, to pafs by, diffemble, and bear with 
 many impertinencies, dulneffes, and forgetful nefles ; he 
 muft endure many contempts, paffions, and evil words. 
 Befides thefe qualifications, he fhould have experience of 
 foreign parts, underftand learning and fciences, be well 
 born, of a good prefence and addrefs, and wear his cloaths 
 
 hand-
 
 224 -^ COLLECTION of 
 
 handfomely, which will procure him reTpect from his 
 
 charge, and facilitate the performance of his duty. 
 
 1208. Epi5letus t though but a poor flave, had fuch a 
 veneration paid to his memory, that his earthen lamp, by 
 which he was wont to ftudy, was after his death fold for 
 three thoufand drachms. 
 
 1209. Shake/pear, born with all the feeds of poetry, 
 may be compared to the ftone of Pyrrhus's ring, which 
 had the figure of Apollo and the Mufes in the veins of it, 
 produced by the fpontaneous hand of nature, without 
 any help from art, as Pliny tells us. 
 
 1 2 10. Bimop Hall was admired for the depth of his 
 judgment, the elevation of his fancy, and the uncommon- 
 nefs of his notions. He was natural in his characters, and 
 lively in his defcriptions j his ftile eafy, elegant, and con- 
 cife. His gravity was fo well tempered with good hu- 
 mour, that his virtue was troublefome to no man. 
 
 1 2 1 1 . The famous archbimop Ttllotfon is all over na- 
 tural and eafy, in the mofl unconftrained and freed ele- 
 gance of thought and words ; his difcourfe, both in his 
 reafoning and ftile, is like a gentle, even current, clear and 
 deep, calm and ftrong ; the language fo pure, as no wa- 
 ter can be more fo. It flows with fo free and fo uninter- 
 rupted a ftream, that it never flops the reader or itfelf : 
 every word pofTefTcs its proper place ; no hard, unufual, 
 mean, far-fetched, or over-ftrained expreffion j his didlion, 
 not in the naked terms of the things he fpeaks, but ra- 
 ther metaphorical, yet fo eafily are his metaphors tranf- 
 ferred, that you would not fay they intrude into another's 
 place, but that they flep into their own ; fo delicately 
 
 he
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 225 
 
 he writes, with fuch an elegant fimplicity, fuch an orna- 
 mental plainnefs of fpeech, fuch an eafy majefty of flile, 
 fuch brightnefs of thought, and beauty of expreffion, as 
 are inimitable, and never enough to be admired. 
 
 1 2 12. The late learned and venerable Dr Beveridge, 
 bifhop of St Afaph, delivered himielf with thofe orna- 
 ments alone, which his fubject fuggefted to him ; he has 
 written with that pjainnefs and folemnity of ftile, that 
 gravity and fimplicity, which give authority to the facred 
 truths he teaches, and is an unanfwerable evidence to the 
 doctrine he defends. There is fomething fo great, primi- 
 tive, and apoftolical in his writings, that it creates an awe 
 and veneration in our minds. The importance of his fub- 
 ject is above the decoration of words, and what is great and 
 majeftick, looks moft like itfelf, the lefs it is adorned ; 
 the true fublime in the greatefl articles of our faith is 
 lodged in the plaineft words. 
 
 1213. The lord Clarendon was one of the moft noble and 
 impartial hiftorians our nation has produced - y the com- 
 paffion and refentment of his thoughts, the noble open- 
 nefs and freedom of. his reflections, that peculiar felicity 
 in defigning characters, in which he has fucceeded beyond 
 example, the glorious debt he pays to friendfhip, and the 
 veil he kindly draws over the forrows and reproach of his 
 country, are fo admirably exprefled, in fuch lively colours, 
 that we are ftruck by fympathy, and feel by reading, that 
 he wrote from his heart, under the deepeft fenfe, and the 
 moft perfect: impreffion of the evils he bewails. Few 
 can compare with him in the weight and folemnity of his 
 ftile, in the ftrength and clearnefs of his diction, in the 
 
 G g beauty
 
 226 A COLLECTION of 
 
 beauty and majefty of expreffion, and that noble negligence 
 of phrafe, which makes his words wait every where upon 
 his fubjecT:, with a readinefs and propriety, that art and 
 ftudy are almoft ftrangers to. 
 
 1214. I think, that fame after death is but an indifferent 
 thing for a chriftian to trouble himfelf about ; the heathens 
 indeed were fond of it, becaufe they found within themfelves 
 an impetuous defire of immortality, and could not fee any 
 other way to effed it, but only by this ; but for us chriftians 
 to defpife the joys of paradife for the clattering of people's 
 tongues, is an unpardonable affront offered to our religion ; 
 it is a worfe indignity put upon God, than the Ifraelites 
 longing for garlick and onions when they fed upon the 
 food of angels. What good is fame after death, I will 
 illuftrate in the moft famous man of all antiquity, I mean 
 Arijlotle. As for Alexander and Cafar, I look upon 
 them to be infamoufly fo, far beneath that wretch that 
 burnt the Epbejtan temple j two barbarous butchers of 
 mankind, that cut the throats of fo many innocent peo- 
 ple to facrifice to their ambition : I fay Arijlotle , that had 
 the moft univerfal genius of all the fons of Adam j that 
 brought philofophy into fome method and intelligiblenefs, 
 which was ( cant and jargon before; that was, I may fay, 
 the inventor of logick, that great pillar of reafon 5 that 
 was fo admirable a critick in poetry, that both epick and 
 lyrick, as well as the dramaticks, will ftand obliged to 
 him for ever j that gave the moft admirable rules in rhe- 
 torick, which ever the world had, or, I dare fay, ever 
 mall have j that wrote fuch a fyftem of morality, as was 
 never equalled until the fermon on the mount - 3 whofe 
 
 phy-
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 227 
 
 phyfiology was better than the reft of his time, and will 
 ftill be in reputation and requeft, when Cartefius and Gaf- 
 fendus mall not perhaps be heard of; whofe heterodoxies 
 in divinity are better defended than other men's truths ; 
 whofe books have been read ten thoufand times over, and 
 as many volumes of comments wrote or printed upon 
 them ; who was almoft the only ftudy of learned men for 
 many ages - y whofe aflertions are taken in moft controver- 
 iies as undoubted axioms, and are defended every day in 
 the moft famous fchools of Europe : I fay, Artftotle^ that 
 has all this fame entailed upon him, can receive no bene- 
 fit after death. If he be happy, he has fomething elfe 
 to bufy his thoughts about, or if he be miferable, it will 
 not relieve him ; if he has ceafed to be, he knows no- 
 thing of it now, and before his death he could never 
 have expected it -, fo that, in mort, as to all the good 
 this fame can have done this great philofopher fince death, 
 he had even as good have been Cleanthes, Grantor, or 
 CarneadeSy for whom we are beholding to other authors 
 that we know any thing of them. 
 
 1215. Human reafon, well improved, makes us the 
 more capable of divine. Thofe that have moft ftudied 
 men and hiftories, do obferve, that the greateft men and 
 beft wits, when once they find their own mortality, de> 
 then, with the ftrongeft refolution, quit the world, and apr 
 ply themlelves wholly to devotion, and fo end their days 
 with moft quietude and peace. A remarkable inftance of 
 this we have in the reiignation of the emperor Charles V. in 
 the year 1555, at which time the Spanifo greatnefs re- 
 ceived its firft (hock, and which drew the eyes of all 
 G g 2 Eu-
 
 228 A COLLECTION of 
 
 Europe on it. After this great man had enjoyed his here- 
 ditary dominions forty, and the empire thirty eight years, 
 and had endured wonderful hardfhips by the many jour- 
 neys he had made, nine into Germany, fix into Spain, 
 feven into Italy , four through France, had been ten times 
 in the Netherlands, made two expeditions into Africa, 
 been twice in England, and crofled the fea eleven times : 
 After unufual fuccefsin wars, in which he had taken a Pope, 
 a King of France, and fome German princes prifoners, and 
 had a vafl acceffion of wealth and empire from the Weft 
 Indies : after all, when fuccefs followed him no more, 
 and he was much afflicted with the gout, he grew out of 
 love with the pomps and glories of this world, and be- 
 gan ferioufly to prepare for another ; upon which he re- 
 figned all his dominions to Ferdinand his brother, and 
 Philip his fon (that was married to Mary of England) 
 with a greatnefs of mind that was much fuperior to all 
 his other conquefts. He retired to a private lodge of fe- 
 ven rooms, that he had ordered to be built for him in the 
 confines of Portugal-, he kept only twelve fervants to 
 wait on him, and referved, for his expence, but an hun- 
 dred thoufand crowns penfion. In this his laft retreat, he 
 lived not full three years : The firfl part of his time he 
 fpent chiefly in mechanical inventions, that he faid were a 
 great diverfion and pleafure to him ; from that he turned 
 to the cultivating his garden, in which he placed a great 
 part of his felicity, and in it he employed thofe hands that 
 now no more would be troubled with f words and fcepters : 
 afterwards he addicted himfelf more entirely to ftudy and 
 devotion, . and it is believed in many points he came to 
 
 be
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 229 
 
 be of the opinion of the Proteftants before he died : His 
 confeflbr was burnt foon after his death for herefy ; and 
 Miranda, archbifhop of Toledo, that converfed frequently 
 with him, in his retirement, was clapt into prifon on the 
 fame fufpicion. Before the three years end he died, having 
 given a very great inftance of a noble mind, furfeited 
 with the glories of the world, and voluntarily retiring thus 
 from it, to feek for quiet and contentment, in a private 
 lonely cell, which it had long in vain fearched after, but 
 never found, in courts, in camps, or palace?. 
 
 1216. I mould efteem the world but a defart, were it 
 not for the fociety of the fair fex ; and the mod polifh- 
 ed part of mankind would appear but like hermits in 
 mafquerade, or a kind of civilized fatyrs ; fo imperfect 
 and unaccomplimed are we without the reunion of our 
 loft rib, that fubftantial and integral part of us : They 
 are the guardians of our infancy and youth, the compani- 
 ons of our riper years, and the cherifhers of our old age. 
 From the cradle to the grave we are wrapped in a circle 
 of obligations to them for their love and good offices, and 
 he is a monfter in nature who returns them not the ca- 
 rets of an innocent affection, the fpotlefs fallies of vir- 
 tue and gratitude. Love is the foul of the world, the vi- 
 tal prop of the elements j it is the cement of human fo- 
 ciety, and ftrongeft fence of nature. Earth would be a 
 hell without it, neither can there be any heaven where 
 this is abfent. I would have our commerce with females 
 as general as is their number that deferve it, whofe 
 knowledge and virtue will be a fufficient fecurity againft 
 criminal familiarity, and from the fcandal of the world. 
 
 Reafon
 
 230 A COLLECTION of 
 
 Reafon itfelf will appear more eloquent in the mouth of 
 an innocent maid, than in that of the moft florid orator, 
 and there are no figures in the fyftem of rhetorick fo mov- 
 ing and forcible as the peculiar graces of that fex ; it is 
 believed that men can boaft of no endowments of the 
 mind, which women pofTefs not, with as great, or greater 
 eminence : There have been Mufes as well as Amazons, 
 and no age or nation, but has produced fome females 
 renowned for their wifdom and virtue j fo that the con- 
 verfation of women is no kfs ufeful than pleafant, and the 
 dangers which attend their friendfhip and commerce are 
 abundantly recompenfed by vaft advantages. It will be a 
 little hard to pronounce that women are naturally inferior 
 to men, when it is conlidered how much extriniick 
 weight is put in the bdlance, to turn it on the men's 
 fide : men have their parts cultivated and improved by 
 education, refined and fubtilized by learning and arts ; they 
 are like an enclofed piece of a common, which, by induf- 
 try, and hufbandry, becomes a different thing from the 
 reft, though the natural turf owned no fuch inequality. 
 And truly had women the fame advantage, I dare not fay, 
 but they would make as good returns of it. Some of 
 thofe few that have been tried, have been eminent in fe- 
 veral parts of learning. Let them not charge God foolifh- 
 ly, or think that, by making them women, he neceffita- 
 ted them to be proud or wanton, vain or peevifh, fince 
 it is manifeft he made them to better purpofes, was not 
 partial to the other fex, but that having, as the prophet 
 fpeaks, abundance of fpirit, he equally difpenfed it, and 
 gave the feebleft woman as large and capacious a foul, as 
 
 that
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 231 
 
 that of the greateft heroe. After all, the eternal, wife 
 being feems to have placed them in more advantageous 
 circumftances than he has done men : He has implanted 
 in them fome native propeniions, which much facilitate 
 the operations of grace upon them. Betides, there are ma- 
 ny temptations to which men are expofed, that are out 
 of their road. How hard is it for a man to converfe in the 
 world, but he mail be importuned by debauchery and 
 excefs, muft forfeit his fobriety, to maintain the reputati- 
 on of a fociable perfon. Again, how liable are men, by a 
 promifcuous converfation among variety of humours, to 
 meet with fome affronts, which the maxims of honour 
 will tell them muft (in fpight of all Chriji's interdicts) be 
 revenged j and this engages them in quarrels, fometimes 
 in murders. Now none of thefe are incident to women ; 
 they muft in thefe and fome other inftances attack temp- 
 tation, and abandon their fex, and the whole ceconomy of 
 their eftate, before they can diveft themfelves of their in- 
 nocence : So that God feems, in many particulars, to 
 have clofer fenced them in, and not left them to thofe 
 wilder excurfions, for which the cuftomary liberties of the 
 other fex afford a more open way. In fhort, they have fo ma- 
 ny ad vantages to wards virtue, that though the -j- philofopher 
 made it one of his folemn acknowledgments to God, that 
 he had made him a man, and not a woman, yet, I think, 
 chriftian women have now reafon enough to invert that 
 form, and to thank God that he has made them wo- 
 men, and not men. How many women do we read of in 
 the gofpel, who, in all the duties of affiduous attendance 
 
 on 
 
 f- Socrates.
 
 232 A COLLECTION of 
 
 on Cbrift, liberalities of love and refpedl, nay even in zeal 
 and courage, furpafled the apoftles themfelves. We find 
 his crofs furrounded, his paffion celebrated, by the avow- 
 ed tears and lamentations of devout women, when the 
 moft courageous of his difciples had denied, yea forfworn, 
 and all had forfaken him : Nay even death itfelf could 
 not extinguish their love 3 we find the devout Marys 
 defigning a laborious, chargeable, and, perhaps, hazardous 
 refpect to his corps j and accordingly it is a memorable at- 
 teftation Chrtft gives to their piety, by making them the 
 firfl witnefles of his refurrection, the prime evangelifts 
 to declare the glad tidings. Nor is the devotion of that 
 fex to be found only in the facred records, the primitive 
 times have left us many memorials of the like, and the 
 martyrologies are full of female fufFerers of all ages and 
 conditions, who, by the fervour of their zeal, had over- 
 come the timoroufnefs of their nature, and wearied the 
 cruelty of their perfecutors. And as women helped to 
 augment the number of martyrs, fo did they of confeiTors 
 alfo, in a flout owning, and diligent practice of chriftia- 
 nity. Queens and empreffes knew then no title fo glo- 
 rious, as that of nurfing- mother to the church, and 
 have often exchanged their large and magnificent palaces, 
 for little retired cells, and private oratories j and valued 
 not their own diadems in comparifon with their Saviour's 
 crown of thorns. And though, by a perpetual declinati- 
 on from their priftine zeal, the examples have in every 
 age grown lefs numerous, yet none has wanted fome very 
 illuftrious patterns, enough to credit and ennoble the fe- 
 male world. For inflance, our late incomparable and 
 
 never
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 233 
 
 never enough to be admired Queen Mary II. This great, 
 this virtuous queen, was a compound, of the various good 
 qualities, that embellim the whole fpecies, adorned with 
 moft of the beauties of her fex below, and virtues of the 
 bleft above ; grave, when her duty to God required it, 
 yet, in her common converfation, me had a fpring of 
 chearfulnefs not to be exhaufted ; fo fteddy in her friend- 
 fliip, that whoever was fo happy as to gain her approbati- 
 on, never loft it, becaufe me did not give it blindly. It 
 was fcarce poffible to look on her without veneration, her 
 countenance being unfpeakably awful, yet moft exqui- 
 fitely grateful, being fweetened with humility, raifed with 
 contemplation, emboldened with refolution, and adorned 
 with all the moft agreeable airs, that proceed from the fe- 
 cret habits of virtue. Tho' me was advanced to one of 
 the higheft pinacles of human glory, yet me readily conde- 
 fcended to the very meaneft offices of piety, and charity ; 
 for me was reckoned one of the moft obliging and beft 
 of wives to her hulband, as well as the moft excellent 
 and indulgent of miftrelTes to her domeftick fervants ; a 
 great patronefs of religion and learning,' a true and certain 
 friend, a chriftian, mild and merciful to her enemies ; her 
 life a perpetual courfe of pious practice, not diftempered 
 with fits of unfubftantial zeal, which are fuddenly raifed, 
 and as fuddenly vanifh : No, the fpring was in the judg- 
 ment and the heart, and from thence the whole living 
 was regular and conftant. 
 
 Mild as the bleft above, without ferene 
 As Edom'-y air, and calm as heaven within* 
 Her goodnefs (like the unwearied fun, ever moving, but 
 
 H h never
 
 234 ^ COLLECTION of 
 
 never tired,) had advanced her in reputation falter than- 
 in years j and, if one may depend on all that is faid of 
 her, fcarce any woman lived more worthy of fame ; fo 
 that her character is too celeftial to be frequently met with, 
 and deferves to be defcribed with the utmoft flights of 
 human imagination, but that me has been fo long the 
 liibject of panegyrick, that nothing new can be faid in 
 her praife. To conclude, therefore, as all her life was 
 crowned with glory, fo was her death with peace ; and few 
 in the world ever lived more beloved, or died more la- 
 mented, than this glorious queen. 
 
 jTo chri/lian rules foe Jlriftly liv'd confined \ 
 Was j uft to God, and good to all mankind. 
 
 121 7. The wickednefs of other men we have always 
 in our eye, but we caft our own over our moulders. He 
 that loves his neighbour's wife, and for that very reafon 
 becaufe me is another's, locks up his own 5 and a worfe 
 father chaftifes a better fon. 
 
 1218. It is with juftice as with fick men: In time 
 part, when we had few doctors, as well of law as of phy- 
 icky we had ' more right and more health. But we are 
 now destroyed by multitudes and confultations, which 
 ferve to no other end, than to inflame both the diftempcr 
 and the reckoning. 
 
 1219. The mod tolerable ibrt of revenge, is, for thofe 
 wrongs, which there is no law to redrefs : But, then, let 
 a man take heed that the revenge be fuch as there is no 
 law to punifli ; elfe a man's enemy is ilill before hand, 
 and it is two for one. 
 
 1220. It
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 235 
 
 1220. It is a troublefome fort of difeafe, the living 
 ftridtly by rule, for the prefervation of health. 
 
 1221. Sobriety, in the generality of men, is only a 
 fbndriefs of health, or the effect of a weak conftitution, 
 which will not bear intemperance. 
 
 1 122. It is highly neceflary for a man to avoid too 
 much familiarity in converfation. He that familiarizes 
 himfelf prefently, lofes the fuperiority that his ferious 
 air gave him, and by confequence his credit. The more 
 common human things are, the lefs they are efteemed : 
 for communication difcovers imperfe&ions that referved- 
 nefs concealed. We muft not be too familiar with fupe- 
 riors, becaufe of danger ; nor with inferiors, by reafon of 
 indecency j and far lefs with mean people, whom igno- 
 rance renders infolent ; in as much as being inferifible of 
 the honour that is done them, they prefume it is their 
 due. 
 
 1223. It may feem to be a kind of a malicious fatis- 
 faclion, that one man derives from the misfortunes of ano- 
 ther. But the philofophy of this refle&ion ftands upon 
 another ground j for our comfort does not arife from other 
 people's being miferable, but from this inference upon the 
 balance, that we fuffer only the lot of human nature j and 
 as we are happy or miferable, compared with others, fo 
 other people are miferable or happy, compared with us : 
 By which juftice of providence, we come to be convinced 
 of the fin, and the miftake of our ingratitude. 
 
 1224. Unfaithfulnefs ought to quench our love quite ; 
 and we do ill to be jealous when there is no reafon : No 
 
 H h 2 body
 
 236 A COLLECTION of 
 
 body deferves the jealoufy of another, who will give any 
 juft occafion for it. 
 
 1225. He that trims between two interefts, lofeshim- 
 felf with both, when he comes to be detected, for being 
 true to neither. 
 
 1226. The knowing of others well is a fair ftep to gain 
 an ajcendant and maftery over them j. for the man that is 
 throughly known, depends, in fome meafure, upon the 
 perfon that knows him. 
 
 1227. There are fome fort of people that never look 
 into a book, and yet, with their own flock of natural 
 parts, have a better fenfe of things, that depend upon 
 clear and true reafon, than fome great and bookim pro- 
 
 fe/ors. 
 
 1228. Government can no more fubfift without fub- 
 jedlion, than the multitude can agree without government; 
 and the duty of obliging is no lefs of divine appoinment, 
 than the authority of commanding. 
 
 1229. They who give the firfi mock to a ftate, are 
 ordinarily the firft overwhelmed in its ruin. The fruits 
 of publick commotions are feldom enjoyed by him who 
 was the firft mafter : He only troubles the water for a- 
 nother's net ; and beats the bufh, vvhilft another gets the 
 hare. 
 
 1230. A prince mould constantly reflet that he go- 
 verns men, and that he himfelf is but a man. 
 
 1231. The affability of fome great men, is to make 
 us believe their goodnefs greater than their fortune. 
 
 1232. Jealoufy is the greateft of eviJs y and yet the leaft 
 gitied by thofe that occafion it. 
 
 1233. There
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 237 
 
 1233. There is an eloquence, a certain fimplicity, which 
 furpaffes all ornament ; and the more fimple any difcourfe 
 is, the more true, noble, and magnificent will it appear -, 
 like thofe uncultivated places, which nature has fo much 
 enriched by their fituation, as to allow no room for ad- 
 ditional beauties and improvements. 
 
 1234. It is a pleafure to ftand upon the more, and to 
 fee mips tofled upon the ocean -, a pleafure to ftand in 
 the window of a caftle, and behold a battle, its adven- 
 tures, and fuccefs : but no pleafure like that of ftanding 
 upon the advantage ground of truth, (a hill not to be com- 
 manded, and where the air is ever clear and ferene) and 
 to fee the errors, the wanderings, the mifts, and tem- 
 pefts in the vale below j fo always, that this profpect be 
 with pity, not with contemptuous pride. It is, certainly, 
 heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in chari- 
 ty, reft in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth. 
 
 1235. He who is in poffeffion of the fupremeft 
 dignity, and can mount no higher, has but one way left 
 to diftinguifh himfelf, that is, by his humility, becaufe 
 governors of the world need fear nothing lefs than the 
 making themfelves too cheap, by a condefcenfion of this 
 nature. 
 
 1236. Aflumed and falfe greatnefs is brutifh and in- 
 acceflible j as fhe is confcious of her foible, fo does flie 
 conceal herfelf, at leaft, fhe never mews a full face, and 
 but juft fo much as is requiiite to impofe upon the fpec- 
 tators, and to hide the real imperfections, which are tru- 
 ly mean and contemptible : but true greatnefs is free, 
 gentle, familiar, and popular j is tractable, and eafy of 
 
 ac-
 
 238 A COLLECTION of 
 
 accefs ; lofes nothing by a clofe enquiry j the more fire is 
 feen, the more admired : as her goodnefs inclines her to 
 bend to her inferiors, fo, without conftraint, me refumes 
 her native dignity. She abandons, neglects herfelf, and di- 
 verts herfelf of her native privileges. She dares fmile, play, 
 and trifle, but always with fome fort of dignity, fo that 
 me may be approached with liberty, and referve, at the 
 fame time. Her character is noble, [eafy, infpires refpect 
 and confidence, and makes the rulers of the world appear 
 great, nay, very great, without making us fenfible of our 
 littlenefs and infignificancy. 
 
 .1237. In the judgment of Pliny the younger, that per- 
 fon has the greateft honour, and pureft moral?, who is 
 ready to pardon all miftakes in other people, as if he him - 
 felf offended daily; and at the fame time fo rigoroufly 
 abftains from all appearance of evil, as if he forgave no 
 body. 
 
 1238. It is much eafier to know what men are in ge- 
 neral, than to know a fingle man in particular. 
 
 1239. It is fo ufual with mofl men to judge of things 
 fo very flightly and fuperficially, that the moft ordinary 
 words and aftions, fet off with a good grace, and fome 
 little knowledge how matters go in the world, very often 
 gain a man more reputation than the moft profound wif- 
 dom and learning. 
 
 1240. As the abfence of an ill prince feldom fails of 
 railing difquiets and commotions among the people, in a 
 government which is obeyed only from fear ; fo nothing 
 contributes more to the fatisfaction and obedience of fub- 
 jects, than the prefence of a good king : and this is the 
 
 reafon
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 
 
 reafon why all diftant provinces, governed by commif- 
 flons, or fubordinate authorities, are fo fubject to frequent 
 feditions and revolts, how lawfully foever they are inhe- 
 rited, or how well foever they are eftablifhed, after any 
 new conqueft or acquilition ; the force and influence of 
 authority growing ftill weaker by the change of hands, 
 and diftance of place. 
 
 1241. Reafons of ftate are fo very intricate, that a g ood 
 minifter can hardly be a good man. 
 
 1242. Courage is not always innate ; and men may 
 learn to be brave, as well as to exercife a battalion. 
 
 1243. fifawfl p uts men upon exercifing virtues and 
 vices, as the occafion requires. 
 
 1244. An author fpeaking in his prince's commendati- 
 on, fays, He thinks himfelf one of us, and this confidera- 
 tion renders him ftill more glorious. For remembering 
 always that he commands men, he is- lefs apt to forget 
 that he is one of that number. 
 
 1245. The ambitious are generally deceived, and im- 
 pofe moft of all upon themfelves, when they propofe 
 fome certain end j for when they have once attained this 
 purpofe, it only inflames their minds, and ferves as the 
 means to fome new purfuit. 
 
 1246. When great men fink under the length and pref- 
 fure of difappointments, it is plain they fupported them 
 by the vigour of their ambition, and not by the greatnefs 
 of their minds; and that, excepting an exceflive vanity, 
 your heroes are made juft like other men; but they have 
 never failed of flatteries, living or dead. 
 
 1247. The pi& ure f Oliver Cromwell, as it is drawn 
 
 by.
 
 240 A COLLECTION vf 
 
 by a French gentleman deferves notice. A man ap- 
 peared, who was endowed with an incredible depth of 
 judgment. In hypocrify, as exquifitely refined, as feen in 
 politicks ; capable of undertaking and conducting every 
 defign with the greateft fecrecy ; who trufted nothing to 
 fortune, which he could poffibly put out of her power by 
 counfel or forefight ; but withal fo vigilant, and fo 
 prepared for every turn, that he never fufFered the leaft 
 opportunity to efcape him, with the which {he prefented 
 him. In a word, he was one of thofe reftlefs and daring 
 fpirits, which feetned created on purpofe to turn the world 
 upfide down. He was good-natured and cruel, as it beft 
 fuited his intereft ; he had not the leaft faith in religion, 
 honour in his words, or fidelity in his friendfhip, any far- 
 ther than the appearance of thofe virtues could any ways 
 contribute to the aggrandizing of himfelf. He under- 
 ftood, better than any man, the art of putting in practice 
 the grimaces and hypocritical cant of all fectaries ; and 
 which way to conceal, under an humble and popular de- 
 meanour, an unbounded ambition. In fhort, he pof- 
 lefled, in the moft eminent degree, the qualities of a great 
 politician; and nothing was wanting to his fortune, but 
 the attaining it by more juftifiable meafures, a greater ex- 
 tent of days, and having children worthy of fucceeding 
 him. He was a great man, with refpedl as well to his 
 virtues as vices; fince having attained to a power and 
 rank of acting as arbitrarily as he pleafed, he led, how- 
 ever, a life of continency, fobriety, modefty, vigilancy, 
 and in bufmefs, was ever indefatigable : but was frill under 
 the dominion of a reftlefs and boundlefs ambition, and 
 
 was
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 24.1 
 
 was fcarce fatiated with the blood of his iking, and op- 
 preffion of his country. 
 
 1248. He muft be a man of fenfe (fays C. de Buffi) 
 who can refift the ftrokes of fortune, without being ftun- 
 ned, and finking under them ; and is able, at the fame 
 time, to give a dextrous turn to whatever ill accident be- 
 falls him. 
 
 1249. The fame perfon fays, .however, in another 
 place, I apply the belt correlations J can oneet with, a- 
 gainft thofe cares that infeft me j but that .feme mind 
 which furniflieth me with the means of refiftance, invents 
 ^very moment new occafions of concern and fadnefs; in- 
 fomuch, that I am ever to begin where I left off. 
 
 1250. On 'the occafion qf bis confinement, ,he lays, la 
 truth, the moft exalted and .defperate thoughts of prifo- 
 ners are incomprehenfible : when they conceive the leafl 
 hopes, they wonder how they could ever have.defponded,; 
 And when they feel the .impwflipns of fear, they wonder 
 how they could ever have admitted the leaft hope. The 
 fame things which at fome certain feafons ferved to con- 
 fole them, render them defperate in others. 
 
 1251. The reafon why the pains we feel from Jham& 
 and jea/oujy, are fo fmart and cutting, is, becaufe vanity 
 cannot affift us to bear them. 
 
 1252. When Princes, that ought to be common parents, 
 make themfelves as. a party, and .lean to a fide, it is. like 
 a boat that is overthrown by uneven weight on one fide. 
 For when the authority of Princes is made but an ac- 
 cefiary to a caufe, and that there are other bands that 
 
 I i tie
 
 242 A COLLECTION of 
 
 tie fafler than the band of fovereignty, Kings begin to be 
 almoft put out of pofTeflion. 
 
 12 53- There is no way more effectual to engage all to 
 adhere to the crown, than the grateful acknowledgments 
 of paft fervices. 
 
 1254. In a weak government, an ill-digefted infurrec- 
 tion raifes the power of the Prince, and adds as much 
 fpirit to his friends, as it deprefles the faction againft him ; 
 and it alfo gives a handle to do fome things, for which it 
 were not eafy, other wife, to find either colours or inftru- 
 ments. 
 
 1255. Men are moft efteemed when the world does not 
 know the utmoft of their parts and abilities ; for things 
 that are underflood but by halves, are always prefumed 
 greater than really they are. 
 
 1256. Civility is a flrong political magick. It is a 
 gentle hook, to be ufed rather for attracting hearts, than 
 drawing of profit ; or rather, indeed, for all things. Me- 
 rit will not do the work, if it be not feconded by agree - 
 ablenefs, on which depends all the plaufibility of actions. 
 This agreeablenefs is the moft efficacious instrument of fo- 
 vereignty : there is a luck in it to put others into appetite ; 
 yet, artifice contributes to that alfo. From thence iprings 
 that unaccountable Je ne fai quoy, which gains univerfal 
 favour. 
 
 1257. As there is no man but what may draw great 
 fupplies and advantages from learning, fo there are very 
 few who do not find great prejudices from the notions 
 they acquire by ftudies, except they ufe them as if they 
 were natural to them. 
 
 i 258. The
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 243 
 
 1258. The eager defire men have of making their 
 parts and abilities known, hinders them generally from ac- 
 quiring any confiderable improvements : for whilft they are 
 bufy to let the world fee what knowledge they have, they 
 lofe the opportunity to learn that which they want. 
 
 1259. Anantient philofopher, who could diftinguifh things 
 very well by proper names, calls Hope the dream of a man 
 awake : and the French Sappho fays, that Hope feems to be 
 a young giddy-headed creature, that gives credit to every 
 thing that pleafes her ; whofe imagination is much ftronger 
 than her judgment, and who is infinitely delighted with 
 fhadows and chimeras ; who takes truth for falfhood, and 
 falfhood for truth ; and who extracts, out of the moft airy 
 appearances, a thoufand pleafures which have no being. 
 
 1260. Nothing can fo well inform us of other people's 
 irregular appetites, as a juft reflection upon our own. If 
 we pleafe to look into our own hearts, we {hall there find 
 the feed of all thofe vicious fentiments which we caft in 
 other people's teeth. Although thefe may not fpring in- 
 to action, we may ftill, by attention, apprehend their life 
 and motion. There is no fort of malice that felf-love 
 does not offer to the wit for its ufe upon proper occa- 
 iions, and few there are who have fufficient virtue to re- 
 iift the temptation. 
 
 1261. Prudence, which conducts all human affairs, is 
 nothing more than a circumfpect and well informed fel- 
 love ; its oppolite is inconfideratenefe and blind nefs. 
 
 1262. Men of honour often fight for a trifle, not but 
 that there are fome provocations not to be born with. 
 
 1263. It is fancy, not the reafon of things, that makes 
 
 I i 2 life
 
 244 -^ COLLECTION Of 
 
 life fo uneafy as we find it. It is not the place, nor the 
 condition, but the mind alone, that can make any body 
 miferable or happy ; and men that are impatient under 
 imaginary afflictions, change commonly for worfe. 
 
 1264. It is with fome good qualities, as with ourfenfes; 
 thofe that never had the ufe of them, can never have any 
 notion of them. 
 
 1265. Ignorance creates weaknefs and fear, but kdr?b- 
 ing makes men bold and afTured. Nothing affects of di- 
 fturbs a mind that has a true apprehenfion of things, and 
 knows how to diftinguim them rightly. 
 
 1266. Reafon of ft ate, in the fimplicity of the notion 3 
 is only that of political wifdom, abftrafted from the ordi- 
 nary rules and method of confcie?2ce and religion ; it con- 
 fults only legal utility, and never matters it, provided the 
 publick may be the better for it, though the inftruments 
 and managers go to the devil. In mort, it is mofl certain 
 that reafon of ftate is a very devilifh thing under a fpe- 
 cious name, and a cover for all wickednefs. What are 
 alliances and ruptures, but temporary expedients ? And the 
 ordinary reafons of war and peace, are very little better than 
 banter and paradox. 
 
 1267. Converfation feems not only ordained to be the 
 cement of fociety, but the greateft confolation to reafon- 
 able creatures ; and yet has company grown fo dangerous, 
 and difcourfe fo depraved, that it is become the fpring of 
 many misfortunes ; and what contributed once to the ci- 
 vilizing of mankind, and cultivating of their minds, has 
 turned it at laft into a wildernefs of wild beafts, where 
 all purfue a lawlefs appetite of tearing and devouring one 
 
 another.
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 245 
 
 another. The reafon of this feems to be, that every in- 
 dividual is too highly prejudiced in his own favour, and 
 thinks that, while he himfelf is under the influence of an 
 unerring judgment, others are bore down by a torrent of 
 natural infirmities, and perverfe inclinations, forgetting all 
 the while, that what may appear to him at firft fight very 
 ridiculous, may be owing to fome reafons, as folid, and 
 convincing, as they are concealed. 
 
 1268. As virtue is an interior beauty, fo is beauty an 
 exterior virtue j yet we fee, that it may, in great mea- 
 fure, be either deformed, or lofe a great part of its brilli- 
 ancy, by affectation, and an ill tafte : But this does not 
 appear only in the manners, but in drefs -, and, it too- 
 frequently happens, that when the infide is the leaft dif- 
 ordered, or diffracted, the outfide is obliged to wear its li- 
 very. Hence comes it, that you fee Lord Freake generally 
 equipped with a rat- tail twitted wig, a coat of an odd 
 cut, and whimfically adorned, his breeches flrapped un- 
 der the knee, a heavy cane in his hand, a fevere afpedv 
 and altogether denouncing fomewhat of defiance, and ill 
 nature to mankind. 
 
 1269. An induftrious and virtuous education of chil- 
 dren, is a better inheritance for them, than a great eftate; 
 To what purpofe is it, faid Crates, to heap up great eftates, 
 and have no concern what manner of heirs you leave 
 them to ? 
 
 1270. Many bad things are done only for cuftom^ 
 which will make a good practice as eafy to us as an ill one. 
 
 1271. Agefilaus> being afked, What he thought molt 
 
 proper
 
 246 A COLLECTION of 
 
 proper for boys to learn, anfwered, What they ought to do 
 when they come to be men. 
 
 1272. The mind ought fometimes to be diverted, that 
 it may return to thinking the better. Little reading^ and 
 much thinking^ little fpeaking, and much hearing, is the 
 beft way to improve in knowledge. 
 
 1273. Virtue is neverthelefs venerable for being out of 
 fafhion. 
 
 1274. Judges ought to be more learned than witty, 
 more reverend than plaufible, and more advifed than con- 
 fident : Above all things, integrity is their portion, and 
 proper virtue. 
 
 1275. Magiftrates are to obey, as well as execute laws. 
 Power is not to do wrong, but to puniih the doers of 
 wrong. 
 
 1276. A lawyer and a phyfician having a difpute about 
 precedency, they referred the merits of the caufe to Dioge- 
 nes j who gave fentence in favour of the lawyer, in thefe 
 terms, Let the thief go before, and the executioner follow. 
 
 1 277. A damfel of Bologna having proceeded againft a 
 young gentleman, and procured a fentence of damages for 
 a rape upon her perfon : After the tryal, the pretended 
 raviiher protefted his innocence fo heartily, that the judge 
 thought proper to make ufe of an ingenious expedient, to 
 try whether or no the accufation, and the fentence he had 
 pronounced were juft and righteous. He ordered, there- 
 fore, the money to be brought into court, and to be de- 
 livered to the plaintiff; who received it with more joy 
 than became one who had loft fomething infinitely more 
 valuable : But as fhe was going off the ftage, the judge 
 
 bid
 
 APHORISMS and MAXIMS. 247 
 
 bid the young man try if he could get the money from 
 her : He firfl ufed fair words ; when that would not 
 do, he endeavoured to pull the bag from her by main 
 force j but me played her part fo well, that me kept her 
 pofleffion in fpight of his teeth. After this fecond tryal 
 was over, the judge ordered the young man the reftitu- 
 tion of his money j there being no room to believe, but 
 that fhe who had ftrength enough to retain the money, 
 might have employed the fame effectually, had fhe pleaf- 
 ed, in the defence of her honour. 
 
 1 278. It is a maxim, that law and phyfick mould only 
 be made ufe of for neceffity. 
 
 1,279. Nature has been extremely fruitful of wonders 
 in thefe kingdoms, that compofe the Brifijb monarchy ; 
 and it is a ridiculous, cuflom, that gentlemen of fortune 
 ihould be carried away with a defire of feeing the curio- 
 fities of other countries, before they have any tolerable 
 infight into their own. Travelling fometimes makes a 
 wife man better, but always a fool worfe. 
 
 1280. Innocence is no protection againft tyrannical 
 power, for accu/ing is proving, where malice and force 
 are joined in the profecution. Force governs the world, 
 and fuccefs confecrates the caufe. What avails it the 
 lamb to have the better caufe, if the wolf have the flronger 
 teeth ? It is to no purpofe to ftand reafoning, where the 
 adverfary is both party and judge. 
 
 1281. Archldamm being afked, Who was the mafter of 
 Sparta ? The laws, faid he j and next them the ma- 
 giftrates. 
 
 1,282. A Turkifh ambafTador refiding fome time at Pa* 
 
 ris,
 
 248 d COLLECTION of 
 
 rts, in the reign of Henry the fourth^ took notice that 
 his matter had ever an army on foot confifting of 400000 
 men, and declared, at the fame time, that he wonder- 
 ed fo great a prince as the king of France was, had fo 
 frnall an army. To which that prince reply'd, Where 
 jnftice reigns, force is little required. 
 
 1283. Neceflity, that great refuge andexcufe for hu- 
 man frailty, breaks through all laws ; and he is not to be 
 accounted in fault, whofe crime is not the effect of choice, 
 but force. 
 
 1284. The man who wants mercy, makes the law of 
 the land his gofpel, and all his cafes of confcience are de- 
 termined by his attorney. The guilt of being unfortunate, 
 is never to be defended by the beft advocate in the world ; 
 all he can do or fay, will be received with prejudice by an 
 uncompaffionate creditor. 
 
 1285. There have been many laws made by men, 
 which fwerve from honefty, reafon, and the dictates of 
 nature, By the law of arms, he is degraded from all 
 honour, whe puts up an affront ; and by the civil law, 
 he that takes vengeance for it, incurs a capital punifhment : 
 He that feeks redrefs by law for an affront, is diigraced 3 
 and he that does not feek redrefs this -way, is punifhed by 
 the laws. 
 
 1286". Self denial is -the moft exalted pleafure j and the 
 conqueft of evil habits is the moft glorious triumph. 
 
 1 287. Virtue is made for difficulties, and grows ftronger 
 and brighter for fuch tryals. 
 
 1288. Some glorious actions are buried in oblivion, 
 which would have made a great figure in ftory, had they 
 
 beea
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, & c . 249 
 
 been atchieved by perfons of great quality and diftindlion. 
 In the iflands where a traffick of flaves is carried on, a 
 villainous Moor fold his wife, who had not been delivered 
 for above a month of twins ; and fome chriftians, no 
 lefs villains than he, had the cruelty to buy her, and me 
 was put in the hold amongft the reft j but as it happened 
 to be fine weather, the veffel did not fail above a league 
 before the flaves were brought above board, and pafled in 
 review before the mafter. This poor mother, touched 
 with compaffion for her children, who ufed to have their 
 whole nourifhment from her breafts, threw herfelf in- 
 ftantly into the fea, with the natural purpofe of prefer- 
 ving their lives. The charitable crew let fly a hundred 
 balls at the poor fwimming wretch ; but whether they 
 did this only to frighten her into a return, or whether 
 heaven favoured fo laudable a venture, me efcaped all 
 wounds, and reached the more, to which herjuft and na- 
 tural concern conducted her. Did ever woman, of the 
 greateft quality, merit, and virtue perform a more illuftri- 
 ous and heroick exploit ? And with what encomiums 
 would fome princefs have been recorded, had me acted 
 with the fame tendernefs and refolution ! 
 
 1289. Dems the tyrant, afking one day Ariftippus, 
 why philofophers were feen frequently making their court 
 to princes, but princes never enquiring after philofophers; 
 Arijlippus made anfwer, that philofophers very well un- 
 derftood their own wants, but princes did not underftand 
 theirs. In this manner, did he reproach mofl great men 
 with the want of virtue, wifdom, and good advice, 
 which they were not themfelves apprized of, and for which 
 
 K k reafon
 
 250 A COLLECTION of 
 
 reafon they did not look out for proper and able perfons 
 
 to fupply thofe defects. 
 
 1290. Let the accidents of this world be never fo fur- 
 prizing, and their variety never fo great, yet do all effects 
 hang upon a fecret and providential chain of caufes, 
 which come up in their turn, and follow the courfe of 
 their deftiny. 
 
 1291. Incivility is not a vice of the foul, but the effect 
 of many vices ; of ridiculous vanity, of ignorance, idle- 
 nefs, ftupidity, giddinefs, contempt of others, ill na- 
 ture, and jealoufy. 
 
 1292. Happinefs confifts in the moderation of our de- 
 fires. Exceflive delires hinder the ambitious, the volup- 
 tuous, and the covetous from being ever fatisfied j becaufe 
 they breed in the heart an infatiability, which tempts 
 them ftill to feek after what they do not poffefs, and to 
 reft never content with what they have. Seneca fays, 
 there is no difference betwixt pofleffing a thing, and not 
 defiring it. 
 
 Happy the man, of mortals happieft be, 
 Whofe quiet mind from vain defires is free : 
 Whom neither hopes deceive, nor fears torment, 
 But lives at peace within himfelf, content : 
 In thought or aft accountable to none, 
 But to himfelf, and to the Gods alone. 
 O fweetnefs of content ! feraphickjoy ! 
 That, wanting nothing, nothing can deftroy ! 
 Where dwells this peace, this freedom of the mind ? 
 Where, but injhades, re mote from human kind? 
 
 In
 
 APHORISMS, MAX IMS, -afc. 251 
 
 Infow'ry vales, where nymphs andjhepherds meet, 
 But never comes within the palace gate. 
 Farewel then cities, courts, and camps, far ewcl : 
 Welcome, ye groves, here let me ever dwell. 
 From cares, from bufinefs, and mankind remove, 
 AH but the mufes, and infpiring love. 
 How fweet the morn, how gentle is the night, 
 How calm the evening, and the noon how bright / 
 From hence, as from a hill, I view, below, 
 The crowded world that like fome wood does Jhow. 
 Where fever al wand'rers travel day and night, 
 Through fever al paths, and none are in the right. 
 
 1293. We envy the great for thofe very things, which 
 are the greateft plagues to them j I mean their great 
 retinue. 
 
 1294. The duties are at prefent fo high upon prefer- 
 ment, that men of honour do not care for trading. 
 
 12950 A king of England mould caufe his coronation 
 oath to be written in golden capitals in his clofet, as the 
 ten commandments are in his chapel ; the obfervation of 
 the firft being as necefTary for his happinefs in this world, 
 as the keeping of the other for his felicity hereafter. 
 
 1296. A wife prince had much better make a favourite 
 of his minijler, than a minifler of his favourite. But 
 beafts of pleafure, are feldom beajls of burthen. 
 
 1297. Innovations are generally pernicious in govern- 
 ment, as well as in religion -, and, therefore, it is much 
 better to bear with fmall grievances, than unravel the pre- 
 fent conftitution. 
 
 1298. The difeafe of a kingdom firfl breaks out in the 
 
 K k 2 mini-
 
 252 A COLLECTION of 
 
 miniftry, which, if not removed, will infallibly corrupt 
 and deftroy the whole body politick. 
 
 1299. It is very dangerous to try experiments in a flate, 
 unlefs in cafes of extreme neceffity } and it is better to con- 
 nive for a while at any inconveniences, than fuddenly to 
 run upon a reformation. 
 
 1300. Seneca fays, if a man, truly great, falls, honour 
 attends him in his loweft condition j the fame veneration 
 is paid to him as to a temple that lies in ruins, for which 
 the devout and confiderate entertain the fame religious re- 
 fpect, as if it were in the beft repair, and fhone with the 
 greateft fplendor and glory. 
 
 1301. Nothing can be feen finer than the image 
 of the reign of Augujlus, after the death of Ccefar. 
 Plain dealing is recalled to the bar j difcord is banim- 
 ed the fenatej equity and juftice return to the city, at- 
 tended with ability and induftry ; the magiftrates have 
 refumed their authority $ the fenators their ancient ma- 
 jefty j decrees and judgments their wonted force : We 
 fee the citizens reinfpired with a generous emulation of 
 doing good actions j or forced upon fuch by a happy ne- 
 ceffity : Virtue is honoured, vice punifhed ; the inferior 
 rank have a veneration for the fuperior, without any mix- 
 ture of awe or averfion j and the latter coniider the for- 
 mer without any fentiments of contempt. 
 
 1302. Monfieur Balzac writing to a friend from his 
 folitude, expreffeth himfelf with a good deal of humour. 
 " I do not care, fays he, to return to a country, where 
 men become hunch-backed by fcraping, and cringing. I 
 am fo happily fituated, that all the princes of the world 
 
 aft
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, & c . 253 
 
 act comedies for my diversion : I pofTefs all the abundance 
 of the univerfe, from the heights of heaven, down to the 
 brooks and fprings ; and, with the greatefr. eafe, obtain,, 
 from the moderation of my defires, what I never 
 hoped from the liberality of fortune. This being the true 
 ftate of my cafe, would you advife me to leave thefe pof- 
 feffions, which no body envies, and to neglect that pre- 
 cious liberty, for which the Hollanders have facrificed fo 
 much blood, and contended with the Spaniards thefe fif- 
 ty years ?" 
 
 1303. Let a prince that would beware of plots, be ra- 
 ther jealous of fuch whom his favours have advanced, 
 than of thofe whom his difpleafure has difcontented : 
 thefe want the means, the others have, to execute their 
 defire ; and ambition to rule, is more vehement than ma-- 
 lice to revenge. 
 
 1304. Perfeverance is either meritorious, or otherwife, 
 according as the purpofe of it is good or bad, and the 
 conduct difcreet or defperate. In a righteous caufe, and 
 under the direction of reafon, it afTumes the name of con- 
 
 Jiancy, and is numbered among the virtues : but when 
 preffed into the "fervice of iniquity, and goaded on by 
 rafhnefs and folly, it is called obftinacy, and can lead to 
 nothing but ruin. 
 
 1305. Whilft courtiers fpeak for one another, all of 
 them obtain what none of them defer ve. 
 
 1306. The publick is but one body, and the prince the 
 head of it j fo that what member foever withdraws his 
 fervice from the head, is no better than a negative traitor 
 to his country and himfelf. 
 
 1307. k
 
 254 ^ COLLECTION of 
 
 1307. It is with glory, as with beauty ; for as a fingle 
 fine lineament cannot make a handfome face, neither can 
 a iingle good quality render a man accomplished ; but a 
 concurrence of many fine features and good qualities 
 makes true beauty, and true honour. 
 
 1308. Everyman fets up a court of honour within him- 
 felf, pronounces every thing honourable that ferves his pur- 
 pofe, and laughs at them that think otherwife. 
 
 1309. He cannot be without a great deal of compaf- 
 fion, that is always fenfible of another's mifery. 
 
 1310. It is not fo very difficult for men to know them- 
 felves, if they did but take the pains to enquire into them- 
 felves j but they are more felicitous to be thought what 
 they mould be, than really careful to be what they 
 fhould be. 
 
 1311. This maxim, Let a thing be never fofecret, yet 
 it will be difcovered At one time or other , is very uncertain, 
 if not falfe 3 for it has no other ground, than thofe things 
 that have been found out ; and, for ought we know, there 
 may be as many that never did, or mall come to our 
 knowledge. 
 
 1312. An affectation of popularity has often proved a 
 fnare, ftrong enough to tempt many men, who have o- 
 therwife been of great temperance and virtue : nor, indeed, 
 can there be any more dangerous enemies to a ftate or a 
 kingdom, than fuch as come fober to endeavour its de- 
 ftrudion. 
 
 1313. Laws, with penalties, are made for the govern- 
 ment of the limple and weak, like cobwebs, to catch 
 
 flies;
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, & e . 
 
 flies j but power is the law of laws, and there is no dif- 
 puting with it, but upon the fword's point. 
 
 1315. Nothing can make a King of England abfdute, 
 but his goodnefs, and ftrict regard to the laws. 
 
 1316. A prince that governs by parties, is like a philo- 
 fopher that grows wife by ftarts, and broken fancies. 
 
 1317. When a prince has overcome the rebels, he mould 
 deliver the forfeited eftates into the hands of his people, 
 who have beforehand paid the purchafe, by enabling him 
 to triumph over his enemies. 
 
 1318. A prince who has the love and veneration of his 
 people, may eafily fatisfy all, parties j whereas, courting 
 them is endlefs. 
 
 1319. The times pafl read ufeful lectures to the time 
 prefent -, he that would fee what {hall be, let him confi- 
 der what has been. 
 
 1320. It is as impoffible for a government to be with- 
 out faults, as for a man to be fo. 
 
 1321. Favourites are juftly the envy of the people ; they 
 get every thing, and generally merit nothing. 
 
 1322. Governing by parties may keep a prince above 
 water for a while, but will fink him at kft. 
 
 1323. A Jleady conduct is the great art of governing a 
 fakle people ; whereas, chopping and changing of mea- 
 
 fures keeps them always in a ferment, and ready to rebel. 
 
 1324. It is a hard matter to .determine whether thofe 
 who preached pajjive obedience did Kingj^finsi more harm, 
 than thofe who fpake againft his prerogative ? We may 
 rail againft the King of France as much as we pleafe, but 
 
 to
 
 256 A COLLECTION of 
 
 to give him his due, he ever rewarded virtue and merit, 
 
 and punimed vice better than fome of his neighbours. 
 
 1325. It is almoft impoffible for any prince, or magi- 
 ftrate, utterly to avoid the evil report of men j for if he 
 be good, he incurs the offence of wicked people ; if 
 he be evil, good men will exclaim againft him. This 
 danger, therefore, wife and virtuous princes have little re- 
 garded, becaufe hate may be gained, as well by good, as 
 evil doing. 
 
 1326. The richeft endowments of the mind, are tem- 
 perance, prudence, and fortitude. Prudence is an univer- 
 fal virtue, which enters into the compofition of all the 
 reft ; and where me is not, fortitude lofes its name and 
 nature. 
 
 1327. It is a maxim of prudence, to leave things before 
 they leave us. 
 
 1328. The true way to advance another's virtue, is to 
 follow it -, and the beft means to cry down another's vice, 
 is to decline it. 
 
 1329. Nothing would fortify us more againft any man- 
 ner of accidents, than the pofleffing our fouls with this 
 ,maxim, that we can never be hurt but by ourfelves. If our 
 
 reafon be what it ought, and our actions according to it, 
 we are invulnerable. 
 
 1330. A wife man is out of the reach of fortune, and 
 all attempts upon him are no more than Xerxes's arrows -, 
 they may darken the day, but they cannot ftrike the fun. 
 
 1331. It is a Spanijh maxim, he who lojeth wealth, lo- 
 feth much ; he who lofeth a friend, lofeth more ; but he 
 that lofeth his fpirits, lofeth all. 
 
 A vir-
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, ftfc. 257 
 
 1332. A virtuous habit of the mind is fo abfolutely 
 necefTary to influence the whole life, and beautify every 
 particular action 5 to over-balance or repel all the gilded 
 charms of avarice, pride, and felf-intereft 5 that a man de- 
 fervedly procures the lalling epithets of good or bad, as he 
 appears either fwayed by, or regardlefs of it. 
 
 1333. The prerogatives of good men appear plainly in 
 this, that men bear more honour to the fepulchres of the 
 virtuous, than to the boafted palaces of the wicked. 
 
 1334. An angry man, who fupprefTes his paffion, thinks 
 worfe than he fpeaks ; and an angry man that will chide, 
 fpeaks worfe than he thinks. 
 
 1335. Anger may glance into the breaft of a wife man, 
 but refts only in the bofom of fools. 
 
 1336. In all things miftakes are excufable; but an er- 
 ror that proceeds from any good principle, leaves no room 
 for refentment. 
 
 1337. It was a good method obferved by Socrates ; 
 when he found in himfelf any difpofition to anger, he 
 would check it by fpeaking low, in oppofition to the mo- 
 tions of his difpleafure. 
 
 1338. Whofoever gains by the dead, has not much 
 kindnefs for the living. 
 
 1339. That fort of ignorance which is but a privation 
 or emptinefs of knowledge, is much lefs defpicable than 
 the other kind of ignorance^ which is full of, and puffed 
 up with error and impertinence, and which the world 
 oftentimes miftakes for learning and knowledge. 
 
 1 340. Difcord is every where a troublefome companion ; 
 tut when it is (hut up within a family, and happens a- 
 
 L 1 mongfl
 
 258 A COLLECTION of 
 
 mongft relations that cannot eafily part, it is harder to 
 deal with. 
 
 1341. None more impatiently furTer injuries, than thofe 
 that are moil forward in doing them. 
 
 1342. It is the only valour, to remit, a wrong; and the 
 greateft applaufe, that I might hurt, and would not. 
 
 1243. None mould be fo implacable as to refufe an 
 humble fubmiffion. He whofe very beft actions muft be 
 feen with favourable allowance, cannot be too mild, mo- 
 derate, and forgiving. 
 
 1344. There cannot poflibly be a greater extravagance, 
 than for a man to run the hazard of lofing his life, to 
 fatisfy his revenge. When Mark Antony^ after the battle 
 of Attium y challenged Augujlus, he took no further no- 
 tice of the infult, than fending back this anfwer, " That if 
 Antony was weary of his life, there were other ways of 
 difpatch befides fighting him ; and for his part, he mould 
 not trouble himfelf to be his executioner/'. 
 
 1345. To err, is human; to forgive, divine. 
 
 1346. A more glorious victory cannot be gained over 
 another man, than this, that when the injury began on 
 his part, the kindnefs mould begin on ours. 
 
 1347. A wife man hath no more anger than mews he 
 can apprehend the frft wrong, nor any more revenge than 
 juftly to prevent a fccond. 
 
 1348. Our paffions are like the feas, agitated by the 
 winds ; and as God hath fet bounds to thofe, fo mould 
 we to thefe : So far theyjhallgo, and no farther. 
 
 1349. There is not any revenge more heroic, than that 
 which torments envy, by doing good. 
 
 . 1350. It
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &>c. 259 
 
 1350. It was a pretty viftory which Euclid got of his 
 angry brother, who, being highly difpleafed, cried out, 
 Let me perijh if I be not revenged ! But he anfwered, 
 And let me perijh, if I do not make you kind, and quickly 
 to forget your anger ! 
 
 1 3 5 1 . Cruelty is fo contrary to nature, that it is diftin- 
 guifhed by that fcandalous name of inhumanity. 
 
 1352. Hatred is fo durable and fo obftinate, that recon- 
 ciliation on a fick bed is the greateft fign of death. 
 
 1353. To live above our ftation, mews a proud heart ; 
 and to live under it, difcovers a narrow foul. 
 
 1 3 54. Pride and ill nature will be hated, in fpite of all 
 the wealth and greatnefs in the world. Civility is always 
 fafe, but pride creates us enemies. 
 
 1355. If a proud man makes me keep my diftance, 
 the comfort is, he keeps his at the fame time. 
 
 1356. Riches fhould be admitted into our houfes, but 
 not into our hearts ; we may take them into our polfeffion, 
 but not into our affections. 
 
 1 3 57. Money, like dung, does no good till it is fpread. 
 There is no real ufe of riches, except it be in the diftribu- 
 tion -, the reft is but conceit. 
 
 1358. Some are by nature fo covetous and miferable, 
 that it is as much in vain to attempt to enlarge their minds, 
 as to go about to plough the rocks. 
 
 1359. Seneca obferves well, that it is the conftant fault, 
 and infeparable ill quality of ambition, never to look be- 
 hind it. 
 
 1360. What can be a more wretched fight, than to fee 
 a ftarving mifer mortify without religion ? To fubmit to 
 
 L 1 2 fuch
 
 260 A COLLECTION of 
 
 fuch voluntary hardships to no purpofe, and lofe the pre- 
 fent, without providing for the future. 
 
 1361. It is a much eafier tafk to dig metal out of its 
 native mine, than to get it out of the covetous man's cof- 
 fer. Death only has the key of the mifer's cheft. 
 
 1362. Pitiful ! that a man mould fo care for riches, as 
 if they were his own -, yet fo ufe them, as if they were 
 another's; that when he might be happy in fpending 
 them, will be miferable in keeping them ; and had rather, 
 dying, leave wealth with his enemies, than, being alive, 
 relieve his friends. 
 
 1363. Nothing can be more vain than the courting of 
 popular applaufe ; if we confider the emptinefs of the 
 found, the precarious tenure, the little judgment of thofe 
 that give it us, and the narrow compafs it is confined to. 
 
 1364. Some people are all quality, you would think 
 they were made up of nothing but title and genealogy. 
 The ftamp of dignity defaces in them the very character 
 of humanity, and tranfports them to fuch a degree of 
 haughtinefs, that they reckon it below them, to exercife 
 either good nature or good manners. 
 
 1365. If we would trace our defcents, fays Seneca, we 
 mould find all flaves to come from princes, and all prin- 
 ces from flaves. We are all of us compofed of the fame 
 elements, all of us equal, if we could but recover our e- 
 vidence j but when we can carry it no further, the herald 
 provides us fome heroe to fupply the place of an illuftrious 
 original, and there is the rife of arms and families. 
 
 1366. A poor fpirit is poorer than a poor purfe. A 
 
 very
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, & c . 261 
 
 very few pounds a year would eafe a man of the fcandal 
 of avarice. 
 
 1367. He that fwells in profperity, will fhrink in ad- 
 verlity. 
 
 1368. Where is that advantage under the fun, that any 
 but a madman would be proud of? Or where is that pride 
 itfelf, that any mortal in his right wits would not find 
 reafon to be amamed of? 
 
 1369. There is not the greateft man living, but may 
 ftand in need of the meaneft, as much as the meaneft 
 does of him. 
 
 1370. The beft way to humble a proud man, is to 
 take no notice of him. 
 
 J37i. The talleft trees are moft in the power of the 
 winds, and ambitious men of the blafts of fortune j great 
 marks are fooneft hit. 
 
 1372. A perfon who fquanders away his fortune in 
 rioting and profufenefs, is neither juft to himfelf, or others ; 
 for, by a conduct of this kind, his fuperfluities flow in an 
 irregular channel, and thofe that are the moft unworthy, 
 are the greateft fharers of them, who do not fail to cen- 
 fure him when his fubftance is exhaufted. 
 
 1373. If money be not thy fervant, it will be thy 
 mafter. The covetous man cannot fo properly be faid to 
 poflefs wealth, as that may be faid to pofTefs him. 
 
 1374. What man in his right fenfes, that has where- 
 withal to live free, would make himfelf a flave for fu- 
 perfluities ? What does that man want that has enough ? 
 Or what is he the better for abundance, that can never 
 be fatisfied _? 
 
 1375. Tan-
 
 262 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1375. 'Tantalus, it is faid, was ready to perifh with 
 thirit, though the water was up to his chin. Change but 
 the name, and every rich mifer is the Tantalus in the fa- 
 
 ' ble. He fits gaping over his money, and dares no more 
 touch it, than he dares commit facrilege. 
 
 1376. No kind admonition of friends, nor fear of po- 
 verty, can make a prodigal become thrifty. The Greci- 
 ans had a law that denied them their father's fepulchre, 
 that wafted their patrimony. It is wretched to fee a houfe 
 ruined by a prodigal. 
 
 1377. The prodigal has as little charity in him as the 
 mifer : His flinty foul is not to be touched with any ten- 
 dernefs, humanity or commiferation j neither poverty nor 
 diflrefs, innocence nor merit, can melt him : That noble 
 truth in facred ivrif, of a fuperior happinefs in giving than 
 receiving , he never experienced. 
 
 1378. When Darius offered Alexander 10,000 talents, 
 and to divide-^fo equally with him, he anfwered, The earth 
 cannot bear two funs, nor AJla two kings. - Parmenio, a 
 friend of Alexander > hearing the great offers Darius had 
 made, faid, Were I Alexander > I would accept them. So 
 would J, replied Alexander^ were I Parmenio. 
 
 1379. Cleobulus being afked, why he fought not to be 
 advanced to honour and preferment, made this reply ; O 
 friend, as long as I ftudy and pradlife humility, I know 
 where I am; but when I mall hunt after dignities and 
 promotion, I am afraid I mould lofe myfelf. 
 
 1380. Turn your carcafe the wrong fide outward ffaid 
 the emperoror Aurelius) and be proud, if you can ; and 
 
 to
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, fife. 263 
 
 to improve your thought, confider what a beauty, age, 
 difeafes, and death, will make of you. 
 
 1381. Worldly glory ends with the world ; and, for 
 what concerns us, the world ends with our lives. What 
 have we to be proud of ? Are not all things perifhable ? 
 The time of flouriihing pride is foon over, and our little 
 greatnefs is loft in eternity. 
 
 1382. He that envieth, maketh another man's virtue 
 his vice, and another's happinefs his torment ; whereas he 
 that rejoiceth at the profperity of another, is partaker of 
 the fame. 
 
 1383. Envy is a paffion fo full of cowardice and mame, 
 that no body ever had the confidence to own it. 
 
 1384. A good work is an eafy obligation ; but not to 
 fpeak ill, requires only our filence, which cofts us nothing. 
 
 1385. Slanderers are like flies ; they leap over alia 
 man's good parts, to light upon his fores. 
 
 1386. There is an odious fpirit in many perfons, who 
 are better pleafed to detecT: a fault, than commend a virtue. 
 
 1387. The worthieft people are moft injured by flan- 
 derers j as we ufually find that to be the beft fruit, which 
 the birds have been pecking at. % 
 
 1388. Socrates, when informed of fome derogating 
 fpeeches one had ufed of him behind his back, made only 
 this facetious reply, Let him beat me too when I am abfent. 
 
 1389. Envy is fixed only on merit j and, like a fore eye, 
 is offended with every thing that is bright. 
 
 1390. Diogenes being afked, How one mould be re- 
 venged of his enemy ? anfwered, By being a virtuous and 
 
 an honeft man. 
 
 1391. En-
 
 264 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1391. Envious people are doubly miferable, in being 
 afflicted with others profperity, and their own adverfity. 
 
 1392. Philip of Mace don faid, He was beholden to the 
 Athenian orators for reproving him ; for he would endea- 
 vour both by words and actions to make them lyers. And 
 Plato hearing it was afferted by fome perfons, that he 
 was a very bad man, faid, I mall take care to live fo, that 
 nobody will believe them. 
 
 1393. Nothing is truly infamous, but what is wicked ; 
 and therefore fhame can never diflurb an innocent and 
 virtuous mind. 
 
 1394. If we well knew how little others enjoy, it 
 would refcue the world from one fin, there would be no 
 fuch thing as envy upon earth. 
 
 1395. The fureftfign of a noble difpofition, is to have 
 no envy in one's nature. 
 
 1396. Our induftrious fearch and inquiries mould 
 chiefly be employed about our own affairs at home j for 
 here we mall find fo many offences in our converfation, 
 fuch variety of perturbations in our fouls, and manifeft 
 failures in our duty, that it will take up fo much time to 
 reform t^em, as not to leave us any leifure to be imper- 
 tinent or ill-natured in remarking upon the faults of others. 
 
 1397. ^^e flings f good men are commonly more 
 published in the world, than their good deeds j and one 
 fault of a well deferving man mail meet with more re- 
 preaches^ than all his virtues praife : Such is the force 
 of ill-will and ill-nature. 
 
 1-398. It is in the power of every man to preferve his 
 probity ; but no man living has it in his power to fay, 
 
 that
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &*c. 265 
 
 that he can preferve his reputation, while there are fo 
 many evil tongues in the world, ready to blaft the faireft 
 character j and fo many open ears, ready to receive their 
 reports. 
 
 1399. It is fancy, not the reafon of things, that makes 
 life fo uneafy to us as we find. It is not the place, nor the 
 condition, but the mind alone, that can make any body 
 happy or miferable. 
 
 1400. Every man has it in his own power, by the 
 force of natural reafon, to mafter the temptation of falling 
 either into prefumption, or defpair. 
 
 1401. When Anaxagoras was told of the death of his 
 ion, he only faid, I knew he was mortal. So we in all 
 cafualties of life mould fay, I knew my riches were un- 
 certain, that my friend was but a man. Such confidera- 
 tions would foon pacify us, bacaufe all our troubles pro- 
 ceed from their being unexpected. 
 
 1402. None fhould defpair, becaufe God can help 
 them 5 and none fhould prefume, becaule God can crofs 
 them. 
 
 1403. A noble fpiritmuft not vary with his fortune : 
 In your word eftate, hope ; in the beft, fear - t and in all 
 be circumfpect. 
 
 1404. A man cannot be truly happy here, without a 
 well grounded hope of being happy hereafter. 
 
 1405. A firm truft in the affiftance of an almighty 
 being, naturally produces patience, chearfulnefs, and all 
 other difpofitions of mind, that alleviate thofe calamities 
 which we are not able to remove. 
 
 Mm 1406- It
 
 266 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1406. It is virtue only that repels fear and fear, only 
 that makes life troublefome. 
 
 1407. There can be no peace in human life, without 
 the contempt of all events. He that troubles his head 
 with drawing confequences from mere contingencies, mail 
 never be at reft. 
 
 1408. We could willingly change fortune and riches 
 with many j but there are few, who would be any of thofe 
 men in every circumftance. 
 
 1409. It were no virtue to bear calamities, if we did 
 not feel them. 
 
 1410. Divine providence always places the remedy near 
 the evil. There is not any duty, to which providence 
 has not annexed a blefling ; nor any affliction, for which 
 virtue has not provided a remedy. 
 
 1411. A contented mind, and a good confcience, will 
 make a man happy in all conditions. Hejcnows not how 
 to fear, who dares to die. 
 
 1412. When faith, temperance, the graces, and other 
 celeftial powers, left the earth (fays one of the ancients) 
 hope was the only goddefs that ftaid behind. 
 
 1413. The expectation of future happinefs is the beft 
 relief of anxious thoughts, the mofl perfect cure of me- 
 lancholy, the guide of life, and the comfort of death. 
 
 1414. Hopes and cares, anger and fears, divide our life : 
 Would you be free from thefe anxieties ? Think every 
 day will be your laft, and then the fucceeding hours will 
 be the more welcome, becaufe unexpected. 
 
 1415. There is but one way of fortifying the foul a- 
 gainft all gloomy prefages, and terrors of mind ; and that 
 
 is,
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &> c . 267 
 is, by fecuring to ourfelves the friendfhip and protection of 
 that being, who difpofes of events, and governs futurity."] 
 
 1416. The utmofl perfection we are capable of in this 
 world, is to govern our lives and adtions by the rules 
 which nature hath fet us, and keeping the order of our 
 creation. 
 
 1417. He is the wife man, who, though not {killed in 
 fcience, yet knows how to govern his paffions and affec- 
 tions. Our pafllons *are our infirmities. He that can 
 make a facrifice of his will, is lord of himfelf. 
 
 1418. Phyfick hath not more remedies againft the dif- 
 eafes of the body, than reafon hath prefer vatives againft 
 the paflions of the mind. 
 
 1419. Excefs of forrow is as foolifti as profufe laugh- 
 ter. Loud mirth, or immoderate forrow, inequality of be- 
 haviour, either in profperity or adverfity, are alike ungrace- 
 ful in a man that is born to die. 
 
 1420. Nothing alleviates grief fo much as the liberty 
 of complaining : Nothing makes one more fenfible of 
 joy, than the delight of expreffing it. 
 
 1421. Philofophy and religion mew themfelves in no 
 one inftance fo much, as in the preferving our minds firm 
 and fteddy. 
 
 1422. To be covetous of applaufe, difcovers a flender 
 merit 5 and felf-conceit is the ordinary attendant of ig- 
 norance. 
 
 1423. Every man's vanity ought to be his greateft 
 mame, and every man's folly ought to be his greateil 
 feet. 
 
 Mm 2 1424. There
 
 268 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1424. There are a thoufand fops made by art, for 
 one fool by nature. 
 
 1425. It is to affectation the world owes its whole 
 race of coxcombs; nature in her whole drama never drew 
 fuch a part 5 me has fometimes made a fool, but a cox- 
 comb is always of a man's own making. 
 
 1426. The obfervation that no man is ridiculous for 
 being what he is, but only in the affectation of being 
 fomething more, is equally true in regard to the mind 
 and the body. 
 
 1427. Socrates had fo little efteem of himfelf, that 
 he thought he knew nothing certainly, but that he knew 
 nothing. 
 
 1428. The vanity of human life is like a river, con- 
 flantly paffing away, and yet conftantly coming on. 
 
 1429. It is the infirmity of poor fpirits to be taken 
 with every appearance, and dazzled with every thing that 
 fparkles : But great genius's have but little admiration, 
 becaufe few things appear new to them. 
 
 1430. A wife man endeavours to mine in himfelf, a 
 fool to outmine others : The firft is humbled by the 
 fenfe of his own infirmities, the laft is lifted up by the 
 difcovery of thofe which he obferves in others. The 
 wife man coniiders what he wants, and the fool what he 
 abounds in. The wife man is happy when he gains his 
 own approbation, and the fool when he recommends him- 
 felf to the applaufe of thofe about him. 
 
 1431. Rectitude of will is a greater ornament and per- 
 fection, than brightnefs of underftanding $ and to be di- 
 vinely
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &c. 269 
 
 vinely good, more valuable than any other wifdom and 
 knowledge. 
 
 1432. Ariftippus faid, That the only fruit he had re- 
 ceived from his philofophy, was to fpeak plainly to all the 
 world, and to tell freely his thoughts of things. 
 
 1433. To preferve the entire liberty of one's judgment, 
 without being prepoflefTed with falfe reafon, or pretended 
 authority, is a ftrength of mind whereof few are capable. 
 
 1434. Fine fenfe, and exalted fenfe, are not half fo 
 ufeful as common fenfe. 
 
 1535. A lincere confefTion of our ignorance, is one of 
 the faireft and fureft teflimonies of our judgment. 
 
 1436. What is the whole creation, but one great libra- 
 ry ; every volume in which, and every page in thefe vo- 
 lumes, are impreffed with radiant characters of infinite 
 wifdom j and all the perfections of the univerfe are con- 
 tracted with fuch inimitable art in man, that he needs no 
 other book but himfelf, to make him a complete philo- 
 fopher. 
 
 1437. There is no end of books; our libraries are fur- 
 nimed for fight and oftentation, rather than ufe ; the very 
 indexes are not to be read over in an age ; and in this mul- 
 titude, how great a part of them are either dangerous, or 
 not worth the reading. A few books well chofen, and 
 well made ufe of, will be' more profitable, than a 
 great confufed Alexandrian library. 
 
 1438. Lycurgus remarked, That fubtle fpeculations, and 
 all the refinements of fcience, ferved to fpoil the under- 
 ftanding, and corrupt the heart 5 for which reafon he 
 made little account of them. 
 
 1439. Moft
 
 270 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1439. Mod men take lead notice of what is plain, as 
 if that were of no ufe ; but puzzle their thoughts, and 
 lofe themfelves in thofe vaft depths and abyfles, which 
 no human underftanding can fathom. 
 
 1440. It is a filly conceit, that men without languages 
 are alib without underftanding. It is apparent in all ages, 
 that fome fuch have been even prodigies for ability ; for 
 it is not to be believed, that wifdom fpeaks to her difci- 
 ples only in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. 
 
 1441. There is no neceffity of being led through the 
 feveral fields of knowledge j it will be fufficient to gather 
 fome of the faireft fruit from them all, and fo lay up a 
 {lore of good fenfe, found reafon, and folid virtue. 
 
 1442. We read of a philofopher, who declared of him- 
 felf, that the firft year he entered upon the ftudy of phi- 
 lofophy, he knew all things ; the fecond year he knew 
 fomething ; but the third year nothing : the more he ftu- 
 died, the more he declined in the opinion of his own 
 knowledge, and faw more of the mortnefs of his under- 
 ftanding. 
 
 1443. The curiofity of feeing into every thing, ex- 
 plaining every thing, and adjufting it to our weak ideas, is 
 the moft dangerous difeafe of the human mind. 
 
 1444. Of all parts of wifdom, the practice is the beft. 
 Socrates was efteemed the wifeft man of his time, becaufe 
 he turned his acquired knowledge into morality, and aim- 
 ed at goodnefs more than greatnefs. 
 
 1445. O ne philofopher is worth a thoufand gram- 
 marians. Good fenfe and reafon ought to be the umpire 
 of all rules, both antient and modern. 
 
 1446. Too
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, & c . 271 
 
 1446. Too fervile a fubmiffion to the books and opi- 
 nions of the antients hath fpoiled many an ingenious man j 
 and plagued the world with abundance of extravagant and 
 abfurd notions. 
 
 1447. Wrangling about frivolous criticifms in words, 
 tho' it is a great part of the bulinefs of a fchool, is too 
 pedantic and low for a generous converfe j while he that 
 is well grown in knowledge may perhaps forget, or not fo 
 much refpecl:, the firfl rudiments of letters ; it being more 
 grateful to the mind to contemplate the ftruclures of learn- 
 ing, as they (land finimed and adorned, than to difcufs 
 the low materials of their foundations. 
 
 1448. True eloquence is good fenfe, delivered in a na- 
 tural and unaffected way, without the artificial ornaments 
 of tropes and figures. Our common eloquence is ufually 
 a cheat upon the underftanding ; it deceives us with ap- 
 pearances, inftead of things, and makes us think we fee 
 reafon, whilft it is only tickling our fenfe. 
 
 1449. It was an idle fancy of fome, to run out perpe- 
 tually upon fimilitudes, confounding their fubjecl: by the 
 multitude of likenefTes, and making it like fo many things, 
 that it is like nothing at all. 
 
 1450. The reafon of things lies in a narrow compafs, 
 if the mind could at any time be fo happy as to light 
 upon it. Moft of the writings and difcourfes in the world 
 are but illuftration and rhetorick, which lignifies as much 
 as nothing to a mind in purfuit after the philofophical 
 truth of things. 
 
 1451. Though it may be an argument of a great wit, 
 to give ingenious reafons for many wonderful appearances 
 
 m
 
 272 A COLLECTION of 
 
 in nature ; yet it is an evidence of fmall judgment; to. 
 be pofitive in any thing but the knowledge of our own 
 ignorance. 
 
 1452. It paffes for an ornament to borrow from other 
 tongues, where we may be better furnimed in our own. 
 
 1453. Suppofe a man knows what is Greek, Latin, 
 French, Spanijh, or Italian for a Horfe 3 this makes the 
 man no more the wifer, than the Horfe the better. 
 
 1454. Languages are not to be defpifed, but things 
 are ftill to be preferred. 
 
 1455. The moft refplendent ornament of man, is judg- 
 ment j here is the perfection of his innate reafon ; here 
 is the utmoft power of reafon joined with knowledge. 
 
 1456. It was a faying of Cicero , That oratory was but 
 his ornament as a commonwealth's man, and that philo- 
 fophy and reafon were his profeffion as a man. 
 
 1457. S uc h books as teach fapience and prudence, and 
 ferve to eradicate errors and vices, are the moft profitable 
 writings in the world, and ought to be valued and ftudied 
 more than all others whatfoever. 
 
 1458. The wifdom of the antlents, as to the government 
 of life, was no more than certain precepts, what to do, 
 and what not ; and men were much better in that fimpli- 
 city j for as they came to be more learned, they grew 
 lefs careful of being good : that plain and open virtue is 
 now turned into a dark and intricate fcience, and we are 
 taught to difpute, rather than to live. 
 
 1459. Wife men are inftructed by reafon -, men of lefs 
 underftanding, by experience ; the mofl ignorant, by ne- 
 effity ; and beafts, by nature. 
 
 1460. Our
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, ftfc. 273 
 
 1460. Our controverfies about religion have brought, at 
 laft, even religion itfelf into controverfy. The fchool- 
 men have fpun the thread too fine, and made chriftianity 
 look liker a courfe of philofophy, than a fyftem of faith, 
 and fupernatural revelation : fo that the fpirit of it evapo- 
 rates into niceties, and exercifes of the brain } and the con- 
 tention is not for truth, but victory. 
 
 1461. Knowledge, that is of ufe, muft be allowed to 
 be the greateft and nobleft acqueft that man can gain : 
 but to run on in difputations, whether privation be 
 a principle ; whether any thing can be made of nothing ; 
 whether there be an empty fpace in the compafs of na- 
 ture i or whether the world mall have an end, and fuch 
 like, is without end, and to no end. 
 
 1462. True philofophy, fays Socrates, confifts more in 
 fidelity, conftancy, juftice, fincerity, and in the love of 
 our duty, than in a great capacity. 
 
 1463. The primitive chriftians excelled us in goodnefs 
 as much as we do them in learning ; and were better with- 
 out thofe advantages, than we are with them. 
 
 1464. It was a ufual faying of M. Pafcal, that fciences 
 produced no confolation in the times of affliction ; but 
 the knowledge of chriftianity was a comfort, both in ad- 
 verfity, and defect of all other knowledge. 
 
 1465. He that knows what belongs to his falvation, 
 has learned what is fufficient. 
 
 1466. Contentment is only to be found within our- 
 felves. A man that is content with a little, has enough ; 
 he that complains, has too much. 
 
 1467. Were matters fo managed, that men turned their 
 
 N n fpe-
 
 274 ^ COLLECTION of 
 
 fpeculation into pradice, and took care to apply'their read- 
 ing to the purpofes of human life, the advantage of learn- 
 ing would be unfpeakable ; and we fee how illuftrioufly 
 iuch perfons mine in the world : and, therefore, nothing 
 can be faid to the prejudice of learning in general, but 
 only to fuch a falfe opinion of it, as depends upon this a- 
 lone for the mofl eligible and only qualification of the 
 mind of man ; and fo refts upon it, and buries it in inac- 
 tivity. 
 
 1468. Socrates rightly faid of contentment, oppoilng 
 it to the riches of fortune and opinion, that it is the 
 wealth of nature >, for it gives every thing that we want, 
 and really need* 
 
 1469. Profperity hath always been the caufe of far 
 greater evils to men, than adverfity ; and it is eafier for a 
 man to bear this patiently, than not to forget himfelf id 
 the other. 
 
 1470. He who thinks no man above him but for hi 
 virtue, none below him but for his vice, can never be ob- 
 fequious or affuming in a wrong place. 
 
 1471. Many afflictions may befal a good man, but no 
 evil ; for contraries will never incorporate. All the ri- 
 vers in the world are never able to change the tafte and 
 quality of the fea. 
 
 1472. " The race is not always to the fwift, nor the bat- 
 tle to the ftrong ; neither bread to the wife, nor riches to 
 men of understanding, nor favour to men of ikill; but 
 time and chance happeneth to them all." 
 
 1473. Wealth and titles are only the gifts of fortune, 
 but peace and content are the peculiar endowments of a 
 
 well-
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &>c. 275 
 
 well-difpofed mind - y a mind that can bear affliction with- 
 out a murmur, and the weight of a plentiful fortune with- 
 out vain glory ; that can be familiar without meannefs, 
 and referved without pride. 
 
 1474. 1 find it a very hard thing, fofsMontargnt, to un- 
 dergo misfortunes -, but to be content with a competent 
 meafure of fortune, and to avoid greatnefs, I think a very 
 eafy matter. 
 
 1475. Solon being afked by Cr&fus, Who in the whole 
 world was happier than he ? he anfwered, Tellus, who, 
 though he was poor, was a good man, and content with 
 what he had, and died in a good old age. 
 
 1476. The beft need afflictions, for trial of their virtue. 
 How can we exercife the grace of contentment, if all 
 things fucceed well ? Or that of forgivenefs, if we have 
 no enemies ? 
 
 1477. A good confcience is to the foul, what health is 
 to the body j it preferves a conftant eafe and ferenity with- 
 in us, and more than countervails all the calamities and 
 afflictions which can poffibly befal us. 
 
 1478. He that needs leaft, faid Socrates, is moft like 
 the Gods, who need nothing. 
 
 1479. When Alexander faw Diogenes fitting in the warm 
 fun, and afked what he (hould do for him ? He defired 
 no more, than that he would ftand out of his funfhine, 
 and not take from him what he could not give. 
 
 1480. A quiet and contented mind is the fupreme good, 
 the utmoft felicity man is capable of in this world, and 
 the maintaining fuch an uninterrupted tranquillity of fpirit, 
 is the very crown and glory of wifdom, 
 
 Nna 1481. This
 
 276 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1481. This is the foundation of contentment in all con- 
 ditions, and of patience under fufferings j that death, 
 which is not far off, when it removes us out of this world, 
 will take us from all the fufferings of it. 
 
 1482. We fhould chufe a friend endued with virtue, as 
 a thing in itfelf lovely and defirable ; which confifls in 
 a fweet and obliging temper of mind, and a lively readi- 
 nefs in doing good offices. 
 
 1483. It was ever my opinion, fays Horace, that a 
 chearful good-natured friend is fo great a blefling, that it 
 admits of no comparifon but itfelf. 
 
 1484. Cicero ufed to fay, That it was no lefs an evil 
 for a man to be without a friend, than to have the hea- 
 vens without a fun. And Socrates thought friendfhip the 
 fweeteft poffefiion, and that no piece of ground yielded 
 more or pleafanter fruit, than a true friend. 
 
 1485. True friends are the whole world to one another j 
 and he that is a friend to himfelf, is alfo a friend to man- 
 kind. There is no relim in the poffeffion of any thing 
 without a partner. 
 
 1486. It is no flattery to give a friend a due character, 
 for commendation is as much the duty of a friend, as re- 
 prehenfion. 
 
 1487. It is a ftrange thing to behold what grofs 
 errors, and extreme abfurdities, many (efpecially of the 
 greater fort) do commit, for want of a friend to tell them 
 of them, to the great damage both of their fame and 
 fortune. 
 
 1488. Worthy minds deny themfelves many advantages, 
 
 to
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, ftfc. 277 
 
 to fatisfy a generous benevolence, which they bear to their 
 friends in diftrefs. 
 
 1489. The kindnefs of a friend lie deep ; and whether 
 prefent, or abfent, as occalion ferves, he is felicitous a- 
 bout our concerns. 
 
 1490. A friendfhip with a generous ftranger is com- 
 monly more fleddy than with the nearer! relation. 
 
 1491. The greater a man is, the more need he hath 
 of a friend j and the more difficulty there is in rinding and 
 knowing him. 
 
 1492. A forwardnefs to oblige is a great grace upon a 
 kindnefs, and doubles the intrinfick worth : in thefe cafes, 
 that which is done with pleafure, is always received fo. 
 
 1493. Friendship improves happinefs, and abates mife- 
 ry, by the doubling of our joy, and dividing of our grief. 
 
 1494. There is .little friendship in the world, and leafl 
 of all between equals, which was wont to be magnified : 
 that which is, is between fuperior and inferior, whofe 
 fortunes may comprehend one the other. 
 
 1495. Many begin friendfhips, and cancel them on 
 flight occafions -, and great enmity often fucceeds to a ten- 
 der affection. 
 
 1496. If you have not the indulgence to pardon your 
 friends, nor they the fame to pardon you, your friendfhip 
 will laft no longer than it can ferve both your interefts. 
 
 1497. " Late ere I love, faid Auguftus y as long ere 
 I leave." 
 
 1498. The beft friendfhip, is to prevent a requeft, 
 and never put a man to the eonfufion of afldng. To a/k, 
 is a word that lies heavily on the tongue, a^d cannot well 
 
 be
 
 278 A COLLECTION of 
 
 be uttered but with a dejected countenance. We fliould, 
 therefore, ftrive to meet our friend in his wimes, if we 
 cannot prevent him. 
 
 1499. A man may have a thoufand intimate acquain- 
 tance, and not a friend among them all. If you have one 
 friend, think yourfelf happy. 
 
 1500. It is a certain principle, that friendmip cannot 
 long fubfift between many perfons. 
 
 1501. A great advantage of friendmip is the opportu- 
 nity of receiving good advice j it is dangerous relying al- 
 ways upon our own opinion. Miferable is his cafe, who, 
 when he needs, hath none to admonifh him. 
 
 1502. Being fometimes afunder, heightens friendmip. 
 The great caufe of the frequent quarrels between relati- 
 ons, is their being fo much together. 
 
 1503. Whoever would reclaim his friend, ar.d bring 
 him to a true and perfect underftanding of himfelf, may 
 privately admonifh, but muft j never publickly reprehend 
 him. An open admonition is an open difgrace. 
 
 1504. A man without complaifance ought to have a 
 great deal of merit in the room of it. 
 
 1505. Friendmip has a noble effect upon all accidents 
 and conditions : It relieves our cares, raifes our hopes, 
 and abates our fears. A friend, who relates his fuccefs, 
 talks himfelf into a new pleafure ; and, by opening his 
 misfortunes, leaves part of them behind him. 
 
 1 506. All men have their frailties j whoever looks for 
 a friend without imperfections, will never find what he 
 feeks ; we love ourfelves with all our faults, and we 
 ought to love our friend in like manner. 
 
 . No
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &> c . 279 
 
 1507. No man can lay himfelf under an obligation to 
 do an ill thing. Peric/es, when one of his friends im- 
 portuned his fervice in an unjuft matter, excufed himfelf, 
 faying, / am a friend as far as the altar. 
 
 1508. Friends muft be preferved with good deeds, and 
 enemies reconciled with fair words. 
 
 1509. Some cafes are fo nice, that a man cannot ap- 
 pear in them himfelf, but muft leave the folliciting whol- 
 ly to his friend. For the purpofe : A man cannot re- 
 commend himfelf without vanity, nor alk many times 
 without uneaiinefs: But a kind proxy will dojuftice to 
 his merits, and relieve his modefty, and effect his bufinefs, 
 without trouble or bluming. 
 
 1510. One friend is not bound to bear a part in the 
 follies of another, but rather to diffuade him from them ; 
 and, if he cannot prevail, to tell him plainly, as Phocyon did 
 Antipater^ I cannot be both your friend and flatterer. 
 
 1511. Hearts may agree, though heads differ. 
 
 1512. It is difficult to act the part of a true friend; for 
 many times, by telling one of his failings, we lofe his af- 
 fection ; and, if we are filent, we betray our own confi- 
 dence. But we cannot lofe a friend in a more honourable 
 way, than in feeking by good will to preferve him. 
 
 1513. A true friend unbofoms freely, advifes juftly, af- 
 fifts readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends 
 courageoufly, and continues a friend unchan geably. 
 
 1514. Nothing more engages the affections of men, 
 than an handfome addrefs, and graceful converfation. 
 
 I 5 I 5- When you come finto any company, obferve 
 their humours, and fuit your own carriage thereto, by which 
 
 iniinuation
 
 280 A COLLECTION of 
 
 infinuation you will make their converfe more free and o- 
 pen. Let your difcourfe be more in queries and doubt- 
 ings, than peremptory affertions or difputings. 
 
 1516. Our converfation mould be fuch, that youth may 
 therein find improvement, women modefty, the aged re- 
 Ipedt, and all men civility. 
 
 1517. Talkativenefs is ufually called a feminine vice ; 
 but it is poffible to go into mafculine company, where it 
 will be as hard to wedge in a word, as at a female goffiping. 
 
 1518. He that is peremptory in his own flory, may meet 
 with another that is peremptory in the contradiction of it; 
 and then the two Sir Pofitives muft have a fkirmiih. 
 
 1519. He whofe honefl freedom makes it his virtue 
 to fpeak what he thinks, makes it his necejjity to think 
 what is good. 
 
 1520. Vile and debauched expreflions are the fure 
 marks of an abject and grovelling mind, and the filthy o- 
 verflowings of a vicious heart. 
 
 1521. The hatred of the vicious will do you lefs harm, 
 than their converfation. 
 
 1522. Some fay, that hurt never comes by filence : But 
 they may as well fay, that good never comes by fpeech ; 
 for where it is good to fpeak, it is ill to be filent. 
 
 1523. The art of pleafing in company, is not to explain 
 things too circumftantially, but to exprefs only one part, 
 and leave your hearer to make out the reft. 
 
 1524. He that is truly polite, knows how to contradict 
 with refpect, and to pleafe without adulation ; and is e- 
 qually remote from an infipid complaifance, and a low 
 familiarity. 
 
 1525. In
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, c . 281 
 
 1525. In difcourfe it is good to hear others firft j for 
 filence hath the fame effect as authority. 
 
 1526. Rhetorick in ferious difcourfe is like the flower 
 in corn j pleafing to thofe who come only for amufement, 
 but prejudicial to him who would reap profit from it. 
 
 1527. If you think twice before you fpeak once, you 
 will fpeak twice the better for it. 
 
 1528. We fometimes fhall meet with a frothy wit, 
 who will rather lofe his beft friend, than his worft jeft. 
 
 1529. A man without fecrecy is an open letter for eve- 
 ry one to read. 
 
 1 530. Some men are filent for want of matter, or affu- 
 rance ; and fome again are talkative for want of fenfe. 
 
 153 1. It is a fign of great prudence to be willing to re- 
 ceive inftruction ; the moft intelligent perfon fometimes 
 flands in need of it. 
 
 1532. Studied figures, and ornaments in fpeech, are not 
 always conformable to good fenfe ; they ferve more to a- 
 mufe than to inftruct, and are oftentimes a burden to the 
 fpeaker, as well as to the hearer. 
 
 1533. A reproof has more effect when it comes by a 
 fide wind, than if it were levelled directly at the perfon. 
 
 J 534- Too much afleveration gives ground of fufpicion. 
 Truth and honefty have no need of loud proteftations. 
 
 T 535- The ton g ue i s as a w ^d beaft, very difficult to be 
 chained again, when once let loofe. 
 
 1536. We muft fpeak well, and ad well; brave actions 
 are the fubftance of life, and good fayings the ornament of it. 
 
 1537. He can never fpeak well, that can never hold his 
 tongue. It is one thing to fpeak much, and another to 
 
 O o fpeak
 
 282 A COLLECTION of 
 
 fpeak pertinently. Much tongue and much judgment 
 feldom go together j for talking and thinking are two 
 quite different faculties -, and there is commonly more 
 depth where there is kfs noife. 
 
 1538. Converfation is generally confined to indifferent, 
 low, or, perhaps, vicious fubjects j and all that is ferious 
 or good, is almoft banifhed the world. Some are fo black 
 in the mouth, as to utter nothing that is decent, fupplying 
 want of wit with want of modefty, and want of reputation 
 with want of mame. 
 
 1539. There is nothing more difagreeable, than con- 
 tinual jetting. By endeavouring to purchafe the reputation 
 of being pleafant, a man lofes the advantage of being 
 thought wife. 
 
 1540. He that can reply calmly to an angry man, 19 
 too hard for him. 
 
 1541. A man fecluded from company can have but the 
 devil and himfelf to tempt him ; but he that converfea 
 much in the world, has almofl as many fnares as he has 
 companions. 
 
 1542. Some, under a fool's cap, exercife a knave's 
 wit ; making a feeming fimplicity the excufe of their 
 impudence. 
 
 1543. A too great credulity is great limplicity -, and to 
 believe nothing, becaufe our narrow capacities cannot 
 comprehend it, is a great ftupidity. 
 
 1 544. The life of life, is fociety ; of fociety, freedom j 
 of freedom, the difcreet and moderate ufe of it. 
 
 1545. It is a fair flep towards happinefs and virtue, to 
 delight in the converfation of good and wife men ; and 
 
 where
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &?c. 283 
 where that cannot be had, the next point is, to keep no 
 company at all. 
 
 1546. He who treats men ingenuoufly, and converfes 
 kindly with them, gains a good efteem with a very eafy 
 expence. 
 
 1 547. Good nature (fays a polite author) is more agree- 
 able in converfation than wit, and gives a certain air to the 
 countenance, which is more amiable than beauty. 
 
 1548. Instructions are entertained with better effect, 
 when they are not too personally addreffed. We may 
 with civility glance at, but cannot, without rudenefs and 
 ill manners, flare upon, the faults and imperfections of any 
 man. 
 
 1549. The greateft wifdom of fpeech, is to know 
 when, and what, and where to fpeak ; the time, matter, 
 manner ; the next to it, is lilence. 
 
 1550. To ufe too many circumftances before one come 
 to the matter, is wearifome ; to ufe none, is blunt. 
 
 1551. Some are fo flow of fpeech, and fo very dull, that 
 their heads may be compared to a limbeck, which gives 
 you drop by drop an extract of the fimples in it. 
 
 1552. Common fwearing argues in a man a perpetual 
 diftruft of his own reputation ; and is an acknowledgment, 
 that he thinks his bare word not to be worthy of credit. 
 
 1553. You will never be thought to talk too much, 
 when you talk well ; and always to fpeak too much, when 
 you fpeak ill. 
 
 1554. As a man mould not conftrue that in earneft, 
 which is fpoken in jefl ; fo he mould not fpeak that in 
 jeft) which may be con ft rued in earneft. 
 
 O o 2 1555- I* 1
 
 284 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1555. In reafoning, the bed way to carry the caufe, 
 and which will bring the controverfy to a fpeedy determi- 
 nation, is by afking queftions, and proceeding flill upon 
 the adverfary's conceffions. 
 
 1556. Wherever the fpeech is corrupted, fo is the mind. 
 
 1557. Words are the pledges and pictures of our 
 thoughts, and therefore ought not to be obfcure and obfolete. 
 Truth (as Euripides fays) loves plain language. 
 
 1558. A man may contemplate on virtue in folitude and 
 retirement j but the practical part confifts in its participa- 
 tion, and the fociety it hath with others ; for whatfoever is 
 good, is the better for being communicable. 
 
 J 559' Contradiction mould awaken our attention and 
 care, but not our paflion ; we muft be of no fide or in- 
 tereft but that of truth. 
 
 1560. A great talker will always fpeak, though nobo- 
 dy minds him ; nor does he mind any body, when they 
 fpeak to him. 
 
 1561. Zeno 3 of all virtues, made his choice of filence: 
 For by it, faid he, I hear other men's imperfections, and 
 conceal my own. 
 
 1562. The too frequent fafhion of oaths and imprecati- 
 ons has no temptatiou to excufe it, no man being born of 
 n /wearing conftitution. 
 
 1563. He that reveals a fecret, injures them to whom 
 he tells it, as well as himfelf. The beft maxim, concern- 
 ing fecrets, is, neither to hear, nor to divulge them. 
 
 1564. Gentle reply to fcurrilous language is the moft fe~ 
 vere revenge. 
 
 1565. No injury makes fo deep an impreflion in one's 
 
 memory.
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, ftfc. 285 
 
 memory, as that which is done by a cutting malicious jeft; 
 for let it be never fo good, yet it is always extremely bad 
 when it occafions enmity. 
 
 1566. They who have the true tafte of converfation, 
 enjoy themfelves in a communication of each other's ex- 
 cellencies, and not in a triumph over their imperfections. 
 
 1567. In converfation, a man of good fenfe will feem 
 to be lefs knowing, to be more obliging j and choofe to be 
 on a level with others, rather than opprefs with the fu- 
 periority of his genius. 
 
 1568. Excefs of ceremony mews want of breeding. 
 That civility is beft, which excludes all fuperfluous formality. 
 
 1569. As amongft wife men, he is the wifefl that thinks 
 he knows leaft -, fo, amongft fools, he is the greateft that 
 thinks he knows moft. 
 
 1570. A good understanding, with a bad will, makes 
 a very unhappy conjunction. That is an unlucky wit which 
 Is employed to do evil. The Spanijh proverb fays, Know- 
 ledge will become folly, if good fenfe do not take care of it. 
 
 1571. There is a time when nothing, a time when 
 fomething, but no time when all things are to be fpoken. 
 
 i572.Thefpeechof the antientGrn^tfj was ufually fhort, 
 and very fignificant : as, when Philip, King of Macedonia, 
 fent a threatning letter, that if he entered into Laconia 
 he would overthrow them ; they wrote back to him only 
 this word, IF. 
 
 1573. Let your fubject (fays Epitfetw) be fomething 
 of neceffity and ufe ; fomething that may advance the 
 love and practice of virtue, reform the paflions, or in- 
 ilruct the underftanding j fuch as may adminifter advice 
 
 to
 
 286 A COLLECTION of 
 
 to men in difficulties, comfort them under afflictions, af- 
 fift them in the fearch of truth, give them a reverend 
 fenfe of God, and an awful admiration of his divine ex- 
 cellencies. 
 
 1574. Good nature is the very air of a good mind ? 
 the fign of a large and generous foul, and the peculiar 
 foil in which virtue profpers. 
 
 1575. It is according to nature to be merciful -, for no 
 man, that hath not diverted himfelf of humanity, can be 
 hard-hearted to others, without feeling a pain in himfelf. 
 
 1576. Emulation is a noble pafTion, and itftrivesto ex- 
 cel by raifing itfelf, and not by depreffing another. 
 
 1577. There is far more fatisfadtion in doing, than re- 
 ceiving good. To relieve the opprefTed, is the mod glo- 
 rious act a man is capable of; it is, in fome meafure, 
 doing the bufineis of God and providence, and is attend- 
 ed with a heavenly pleafure, unknown but to thofe that 
 are beneficent and liberal. 
 
 1578. It is not in the power of a good man to refufe 
 making another happy, where he has both ability and op- 
 portunity. 
 
 1579. Without good-nature and gratitude, men had as 
 well live in a wikkrnefs, as in a civil fociety. 
 
 1580. Some who are reduced to the laft extremity, 
 would rather perifli, than expofe their condition to any, 
 ftrce the great and noble-minded. They efleem fuch to be 
 
 wile men, generous, and confiderate of the accidents 
 which commonly befall us : they think, to thofe they may 
 freely unbofom themfelves, and tell their wants without 
 
 the
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, V. 2 8 7 
 
 the hazard of a reproach, which wounds more deeply than 
 a (hort denial. 
 
 1581. It was well faid of him that called a good of- 
 fice that was done harfhly, a Jlony piece of bread ; it is 
 neceflary for him that is hungry, to receive it j but it al- 
 moft choaks him in the going down. 
 
 1582. It is a good rule, for every one that has a com- 
 petency of fortune, to lay afide a certain proportion of 
 his income for pious and charitable ufes j he will then 
 always give eafily and chearfully. 
 
 1583. Anaxagoras, who had a large eftate, gave the 
 greateft part of it to his friends -, and being blamed for 
 his carelefnefs, anfwered, It is enough for you to care. 
 One afking him, why he had no regard for his country ? 
 I have, faid he, and pointed towards heaven. When he 
 returned home after travel, and faw his former pofleffions, 
 he faid, Had I not loft thefe, I mould have been loft my- 
 felf. And at the time he was dying, his friends afking 
 where he would be buried ? No matter, faid he, there is 
 a mort cut into the other world every where. 
 
 1584. It is the chara&er of an unworthy nature, to 
 write injuries in marble, and benefits in duft. 
 
 1585. The words of Lewis the twelfth of France 
 mewed a great and noble mind ; who being advifed to 
 punifh thofe that had wronged him before he was King, 
 anfwered, It is not becoming a King of France to avenge 
 injuries done to a duke of Orleans. 
 
 1586. He that is noble-minded, has the fame concern 
 for his own fortune, that every wife man ought to have ; 
 and the fame regard for his friend, that every good man 
 
 really
 
 288 A COLLECTION of 
 
 really has : his eafy, graceful manner of obliging carries as 
 many charms as the obligation itfelf : his favours are not 
 extorted from him by importunity, are not the late rewards 
 of long attendance and expectation, but flow from a free 
 hand, and open heart. 
 
 1587. We read a pretty paflage of a certain Cardinal, 
 who, by the multitude of his generous actions, gave occa- 
 fion for the world to call him, 'The patron of -the poor. 
 This ecclejiaflic prince had a conftant cuftom, once or 
 twice a week, to give publick audience to all indigent 
 people, in the ball of his palace, and to relieve every one 
 according to their various neceflities, or the motions of his 
 own bounty. One day a poor widow, encouraged with 
 the fame of his generofity, came into the ball of this car- 
 dinal^ with her only daughter, a beautiful maid, about 
 fifteen years of age. When her turn came to be heard, 
 among a croud of petitioners, the cardinal obferving the 
 marks of an extraordinary modefty in her face and car- 
 riage, as alfo in her daughter, he encouraged her to tell 
 her wants freely. She, blufhing, and not without tears, 
 thus addrefled herfelf to him ; My Lord, I owe for the 
 rent of my houfe five crowns ; and fuch is my misfortune, 
 that I have no other way to pay it, fave what would break 
 my heart, fince my landlord threatens to force me to it, that 
 is, to projlitute this my only daughter, whom I have hitherto 
 with great care educated in virtue. What I beg of your 
 eminence, is, 'That you would be pleafed to interpofe your 
 authority, and protect us from the violence of this cruel man, 
 till by our honejl indujlry we can procure the money for him. 
 The cardinal, moved with admiration of the women's 
 
 virtue,
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &c. 289 
 
 virtue, and innocent modefty, bid her be of good courage. 
 Then he immediately wrote a billet, and giving it into the 
 widow's hands, Go, faid he, to my Jleward t and he Jhall 
 deliver thee Jive crowns to pdy thy rent. The poor wo- 
 man, overjoyed, and returning the cardinal a thoufand 
 thanks, went diredlly to the fteward, and gave him the 
 note ; which when he had read, he told her out fifty crowns. 
 She, aftonifhed at the meaning of it, and fearing this was 
 only the Jleward* 's trick to try her honefty, refufed to take 
 above five, faying, me mentioned no more to the cardi- 
 nal, and me was fure it was fome miftake. On the other 
 fide, the fteward infifted on his mafter's order, not daring 
 to call it in queftion : but all the arguments he could ufe 
 were inefficient to prevail on her to take any more than 
 five crowns. Wherefore, to end the controverfy, he of- 
 fered to go back with her to the cardinal^ and refer it 
 to him. When they came before that munificent prince, 
 and he Was fully informed of the bufinefs, It is true, faid 
 he, / mijlook in writing Jiffy crowns : give me the paper , 
 and I will rectify it. Thereupon he wrote again, faying 
 thus to the woman, So much candor and virtue deferve a 
 recompence. Here I have ordered you five hundred crowns^ 
 what you can fpare of if, lay up as -<z dowry to give with 
 your daughter in marriage. 
 
 1588. Ingratitude is a crime fo fhameful, that there 
 was never yet one found, that would acknowledge himfelf 
 guilty of it. 
 
 1589. Cato, in fully, boafls off bis as the great comfort and 
 ioy of his old age,That nothing was more pleafant to him, than 
 
 P p the
 
 290 A COLLECTION of 
 
 the conference of a well fpent life, and the remembrance 
 of many benefits and kindnefles done to others. 
 
 1590. He that preaches gratitude, pleads the caufe both 
 of God and man'; for without it we can be neither fo- 
 ciable nor religious. 
 
 1591. Antiently the Romans worshipped Virtue and Ho- 
 nour for Gods ; whence it was that they built two tem- 
 ples, which were fo feated, as none could enter the 
 temple of Honour, without paffing through the temple 
 of Virtue. 
 
 1592. Nobility is to be confidered only as an imagi- 
 nary diftinction, unlefs accompanied with the practice of 
 thofe generous virtues by which it ought to be obtained. 
 Titles of honour, conferred upon fuch as have no perfonal 
 merit to deferve them, are at beft but the royal ftamp fet 
 upon bafe metal. 
 
 1593. It is mentioned in hiflory to the honour of the 
 emperor Alexander Severus, that he would in no cafe per- 
 mit offices to be fold : For, faid he, he who buyeth muft 
 fell : I will not endure any merchandize of authority, 
 which, if I tolerate, I cannot afterwards condemn ; and 
 I mail be amamed to punim him who fold what I per- 
 -mitted him to buy. 
 
 1594. The prepoffeffions of the vulgar for men in power 
 and authority, are fo blind, and they are generally fo ad- 
 mired in every thing they do, that if they could bethink 
 themfelves of being good, the multitude would, in a man- 
 ner, idolize them. But, as Gratlan obferves, when ex- 
 cellence concurs with high birth and fortune, it pafles for 
 a prodigy. 
 
 1595- The
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &c. 291 
 
 1595. The greater a man is in power above others, the 
 more he ought to excel them in virtue : wherefore Cyrus 
 faid, that none ought to govern, who was not better than 
 thofe he governed. 
 
 1^96. Let any one remove his eye from themoft mag- 
 nificent parade, or triumph, to the expanfe of heaven ; 
 and inftantly, what was great is little, what was publick 
 is private. 
 
 1597. Nothing is more odious than the practice of thofe 
 great men, who with fine looks and promifes make one 
 hope for fervkes they never mean to perform. Find out 
 fomething wherein I can ferve you, fays a court minion ; 
 and then upon the difeovery he lays hold of it to fome o- 
 ther purpofe. 
 
 1598. There is no nobility like to that of a great heart ; 
 for it never ftoops to artifice, nor is wanting in good of- 
 fices, where they are feafonable. 
 
 1599. The preferments and honours of this world are, 
 generally fpeaking, either the inheritance of folly, or the 
 recompenfe of vice. 
 
 1600. No government can flourish, where the morals 
 and manners of the people are corrupted : for, as fully 
 obferves, take but away the awe of religion, all that fi- 
 delity and juftice, fo neceflary for the keeping up of hu- 
 man fociety, muft perim with it. 
 
 1 60 1. Who would not defire the honour that Agejilaus 
 King of Sparta had ? who was fined by the Epbori for 
 having ftolen away all the hearts of the people to himfelf 
 alone ; of whom it is faid, That he ruled his country by 
 obeying it. 
 
 Pp2 1602. Though
 
 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1602. Though an honourable title may be conveyed 
 to poflerity, yet the ennobling qualities, which are the 
 foul of greatnefs, are a fort of incommunicable perfections, 
 and cannot be transferred. Indeed, if a man could be- 
 queath his virtues by will, and fettle his fenfe and learn- 
 ing upon his heirs, as certainly as he can his lands, a brave 
 anceftor would be a mighty privilege. 
 
 1603. Title and anceftry render a good man more il- 
 luflrious, but an ill one more contemptible. Vice is in- 
 famous, though in a prince > and virtue honourable, though 
 in a peafant. 
 
 1604. The man of honour is an internal, the perfon of 
 honour an external, the one a real, the other a fictitious 
 character. A perfon of honour may be a profane libertine,, 
 penurious, proud, may infult his inferiors, and defraud 
 his creditors ; but it is impaffible for a mpn of honour to 
 be guilty of any of thefe. 
 
 1605. Honours are in this world under no regulation; 
 true quality is neglected, virtue is oppreffed, and vice tri- 
 umphant : The laft day will rectify this diforder, and 
 affign to every one a ftation fuitable to the dignity of his 
 character j ranks will then be adjufted, and precedency 
 fet right. 
 
 1606. There are few perfons to be found, but are more 
 concerned for the reputation of wit and fenfe, than honef- 
 ty and virtue. 
 
 1 607. He that fets no value upon a good repute, is as 
 carelefs of the actions that produce it. 
 
 1608. The coin that is mofl current among mankind, is
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, fifc. 293 
 
 flattery : The only benefit of which is, that, by hearin^ 
 what we are not, we may be inftrucled what we ought to be. 
 
 1609. For people of worth it is notneceflary to fetch 
 praifes from their predeceflbrs -, it is enough to fpeak of 
 their own particular merit : It is happy to have fo much 
 merit, that our birth is the leaft thing refpected in us. 
 
 1 6 10. We mould be careful to deferve a good reputati- 
 on, by doing well ; and when that care is once taken, not 
 to be over anxious about the fuccefs. 
 
 1 6 1 1 . No man mould be confident of his own merit : 
 The beft err, and the wifeft are deceived. 
 
 1612. Praife from the common people is generally falfe, 
 and rather follows vain perfons than virtuous. 
 
 1613. He that will fell his fame, will alfo fell the pub- 
 lick intereft. 
 
 1614. It is frequent wi(;h many, upon every trivial mat- 
 ter, to pawn their reputation : A moft inconfiderate thing ! 
 For what is fo often lent, and pafleth fo many hands upon 
 every occafion, cannot but lofe much of its value. 
 
 1615. Great and good men will rather look for their 
 characters in the writings and precepts of philofophers, 
 than in the hyperboles of flatterers j for they know very 
 well, that wife books are always true friends. 
 
 1616. It is a maxim of Cato's, that a man ought to 
 refpect himfelf, /'. e. refpect his reafon, that recommends 
 an honeft boldnefs, and forbids a fervile fear, which is 
 a kind of licence and permiffion for others to have no re- 
 gard and confideration for us. 
 
 1617. If we would perpetuate our fame or reputation, we 
 muftdo things worth writing, or write things worth reading. 
 
 1618, It
 
 294 '-A COLLECTION of 
 
 1618. It is many times as troublefome to make good 
 the pretence to a good quality, as to obtain it. 
 
 1619. Men are not to be judged by their looks, habits, 
 and appearances ; but by the character of their lives and 
 converfations, and by their works. It is better that a 
 man's own works, than that another man's words, mould 
 praife him. 
 
 1620. Many take lefs care of their conscience than their 
 reputation. The religious man fears, the man of honour 
 
 f corns, to do an ill action. 
 
 1621. It is a thing exceeding rare to diftinguifh virtue 
 and fortune ; the mofl impious, if profperous, are always 
 applauded j the mofl virtuous, if unprofperous, are fure 
 to be defpifed. 
 
 1622. It is very ftrange, that no eftimate is made of any 
 creature, except ourfelves, but by its proper qualities. He 
 has a magnificent houfe, fo many thoufand pounds a year, is 
 the common way of eftimating men, though thefe things 
 are only about them, not in them, and make no part of 
 their character. 
 
 1623. Honours, monuments, and all the works of va- 
 nity and ambition, are demolished and deftroyed by time, 
 but the reputation of wifdom is venerable to pofterity. 
 
 1624. Wifdom is better without an inheritance, than 
 an inheritance without wifdom. 
 
 1625. How defpicable is his condition, who is above 
 neceffity, and yet (hall refign his reafon, and his integrity^ 
 to purchafe fuperfluities ! 
 
 1626. The luxurious live to eat and drink, but the wife 
 ana temperate eat and drink to live. 
 
 1627. Vice
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, & c . 295 
 
 1627. Vice is covered by wealth, and virtue by poverty. 
 
 1628. He that is violent in the purfuit of pleafure, will 
 not ftick to turn villain for the purchafe. 
 
 1629. Pleafures unduly taken enervate the foul, make 
 fools of the wife, and cowards of the brave. A libertine 
 life is not a life of liberty. 
 
 1630. Though want is the fcorn of every wealthy fool, 
 an innocent poverty is yet preferable to all the guilty af- 
 fluence the world can offer. 
 
 1631. Arlftotle wondered at nothing more than at this, 
 That they were thought richer that had fuperfluous things, 
 than they who had what were profitable and neceffary. 
 
 1632. From the manner of men's bearing their condi- 
 tion, we often pity the profperous, and admire the unfor- 
 tunate. 
 
 1633. So ftupid and brutifh, fo worthlefs and fcanda- 
 lous, are too many feen in this degenerate age, that grandeur 
 and equipage are looked upon as more indifpenfable than 
 charity -, and thofe creatures, which contribute meerly to 
 our pomp, or our diverfion, are more tenderly and fum- 
 ptuoufly maintained, than fuch as are in neceflity among 
 ourfelves. 
 
 1634. Caligula made himfelf ridiculous by the foftnefs 
 and fantafticalnefs of his habit $ and Auguftus was as much 
 admired for the modefty and gravity of his. 
 
 1635. What if a body might have all the pleafures in 
 the world for the afking ? Who would fo unman himfelf, 
 as, by accepting of them, to defert his foul, and become 
 a perpetual Have to his fenfes ? 
 
 1636. The temperate man's pleafures are durable, be- 
 
 caufe
 
 296 A COLLECTION of 
 
 caufe they are regular ; and all his life is calm and ferene, 
 becaufe it is innocent. 
 
 1637. Thofe who make no other ufe of life than to 
 gormandize, never employ their faculties : their Reafoning 
 is idle, and their understanding lies fallow. Hence it is 
 our great folks in thofe days furpafs other people only in 
 glutting their appetites, and are as poor in knowledge, as 
 they are rich in eftates. 
 
 1638. The Egyptians at their feafts, to prevent excefTes, 
 fet zjkeleton before their guefts, with this motto, Remem- 
 ber ye muft be fhortly fuch. 
 
 1639. What is a man the worfe for the laft year's plain 
 diet ? Or what now the better for the laft great feafl ? 
 What is a voluptuous dinner, and the frothy vanity of 
 difcourfe that commonly attends thefe pompous entertain- 
 ments ? What is it but a mortification to a man of fenfe 
 and virtue, to fpend his time among fuch people ? 
 
 1640. He that looks into the offices of the luxurious, 
 and fees the troops of fervants fweating and hurrying up 
 and down j the maflacre of beafts and fowls, and every- 
 thing afloat in the richeft wine, cannot but wonder at fo 
 horrible a profufion for the guts of one family. 
 
 1641. The confederation of the dignity and excellence 
 of our nature plainly informs us, how mean and unworthy 
 it is, to difTolve in luxury, foftnefs, and effeminacy ; and 
 how becoming it is, on the other hand, to lead a life of 
 frugality, temperance, and fobriety^ 
 
 1642. A good man will love himfelf too well to lofe, 
 and his neighbour alfo to win, an eftate by gaming. Love 
 ef gaming corrupts the beft principles in the world. 
 
 1643. Gaming
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, V. 297 
 
 * 
 
 1643. Gaming, like a quickfand, fwallows up a man 
 in a moment. Our follies and vices help one another, and 
 blind the bubble, at the fame time that they make the 
 Jharper quick-fighted. 
 
 1644. Among many other evils that attend gaming, are 
 thefe ; Lofs of time, lofs of reputation, lofs of health, lofs 
 of fortune, lofs of temper, ruin of families, defrauding of 
 creditors, and, 'what is often the effeft of it, the lofs of life 
 itfelf. 
 
 1645. Richnefs of drefs contributes nothing to a man. 
 of fenfe, but rather makes his fenfe enquired into. The 
 more the body is fet off, the mind appears the lefs. 
 
 1646. It is feen, to the terror of wifdom, that from a 
 large eftate are fetched all virtues : a man in fuch pofTef- 
 fion, mall be honeft, wife, valiant, and learned : the ftrength 
 of his ability is not from his wit, but from his revenue ; 
 which is a confpiracy, between ignorance and adulation, to 
 confound knowledge. 
 
 1 647. Caft an eye into the gay world, what fee we ? 
 For the moft part, but a fet of querulous, emaciated, 
 fluttering, fantaftical beings, worn out in the keen pur- 
 fuit of pleafure j creatures that know, own, condemn, de- 
 plore, yet ftill purfue their own infelicity; the decayed 
 monuments of error 5 the thin remains of what is called 
 delight. 
 
 1648. He only is worthy of efteem, that knows what 
 is juft and honeft, and dares do it ; that is matter of his 
 own paffions, and fcorns to be a (lave to another's : fuch 
 an one, in the low<;ft poverty, is a far better man, and 
 merits more refpect, than thofe gay things, who owe all 
 
 Q q - their
 
 298 A COLLECTION of 
 
 their greatnefs and reputation to their rentals and re- 
 venues. 
 
 1649. Religion is fo far from barring men any innocent 
 pleafure, or comfort of human life, that it purifies the 
 pleafures of it, and renders them more grateful and gene- 
 rous j and, befides this, it brings mighty pleafures of its 
 own, thofe of a glorious hope, a ferene mind, a calm and 
 undiilurbed confcience, which do far outrelim the moft 
 ftudied and artificial luxuries. 
 
 1650. There needs no train of fervants, no pomp or e- 
 quipage, to make good our paflage to heaven >, but the 
 graces of an honeft mind will ferve us upon the way, and 
 make us happy at our journey's end. 
 
 1651. The utmoft of a woman's character is contained 
 in domeftick life ; firft, her piety towards God ; and, next, 
 in the duties of a daughter, a wife, a mother, and a fifter. 
 
 1652. A prudent woman is in the fame clafs of honour 
 as a wife man. 
 
 1653. Nothing can atone for the want of modefty and 
 innocence j -without which, beauty is ungraceful, and qua- 
 lity contemptible. 
 
 1654. A good wife (fays Solomon) is a good portion, and 
 there is nothing of fo much worth as a mind well in- 
 truded. 
 
 1655. Many of the misfortunes in families arife from 
 the trifling way the women have in fpending their time, 
 and gratifying only their eyes and ears, inftead of their 
 reafon and understanding. 
 
 1656. There is nothing that wears out a fine face like 
 the vigils of the card table, and thofe cutting paffions 
 
 which
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &rV, 009 
 which naturally attend them. Haggard looks, and pule 
 complexions, are the natural indications of a tcoule 
 gamefter. 
 
 1657. The plainer the drefs, with greater luftre does 
 beauty appear. Virtue is the greatefl ornament, and good 
 fenfe the beft equipage. 
 
 1658. A woman had need be perfectly provided of vir- 
 tue, to repair the ruins of her beauty. 
 
 1659. Howfoever a lewd woman may pleafe a man for 
 a time, he will hate her in the end, and he will ffody 
 to deftroy him. 
 
 1660. A woman of great fpirit, and little understanding, 
 expofes herfelf to derifion and reproach, and is defpifed 
 wherever (he appears. 
 
 1 66 1 . There are fuch perverfe creatures that fall to fome 
 men's lots, wkh whom it requires more than common 
 proficiency in philofophy to be able to live. What charm- 
 ing companions for life are fuch women ! 
 
 1662. Alcibiades being aftonimed at Socrates 's patience, 
 afked him, How he could endure the perpetual fcolding 
 of his wife ? Why, faid he, as thofe do who are accuftomed 
 to the ordinary noife of wheels to draw water. 
 
 1663. There is an old farcaflical faying concerning the 
 Italian women> That they are magpies at the door, fyrens 
 in the window, faints in the church, and devils in the 
 houfe. 
 
 1 664. The reputation of a Jlatefman y the credit of a 
 merchant^ and the modefly of a woman, prevail more than 
 their power, riches, or beauty. 
 
 Q.q 2 1665. He
 
 d COLLECTION of 
 
 1665. He who marries a woman he could never love, 
 will, it is to be feared, love a woman he never married. 
 
 1666. In reading romances, women (who are moftly 
 addided this way) do not only learn the evil they mould 
 vbe ignorant of, but alfo the moll; delicate ways of com- 
 ,mitting it. 
 
 1667. As the poets reprefented the Graces under the 
 ^figures of women, fo the Furies too. Let a woman be 
 .decked with all the embellishments of art, and care of 
 nature, yet if boldnefs be to be read in her face, it blots 
 all the lines of beauty. 
 
 1668. There fcarce was ever any fuch thing under the 
 fun, as an inconjolabk widow : grief is no incurable di- 
 eafe, but time, patience, and a little philofophy, with the 
 help of human frailty and addrefs, will do the bufinefs. 
 
 1669. He who gets a good hulband for his daughter, 
 hath gained a fon j and he who meets with a bad one, 
 hath loft a daughter. 
 
 1670. The Emperor Conrade, when he befieged Guel- 
 fho duke of Bavaria, would not accept of any other 
 conditions than that the men mould be prifoners ; but 
 ; that the women might go out of the town, without viola- 
 tion of their honour, on foot, and with fo much only as 
 they could carry about them : which was no fooner known, 
 .but they contrived prefently to carry out upon their 
 ; fhoulders their hufbands and children, and even the duke 
 Jiimfelf. The emperor was fo afFe&ed with the generofity 
 of the a<ftion, that he treated the duke and his people, e- 
 ver after, with great humanity. 
 
 1671. Truth and falmood, like the iron and clay in 
 
 JVo
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, Vc. 301 
 
 'a image, may cleave, but they will not in- 
 corporate, 
 
 1672, In all the characters we read of excellent wo- 
 men, there is not a more illuftrious inftance of filial piety, 
 than in the ftory of Cimonus ; who being caft into prifon, 
 and there adjudged to be ftarved to death, his daughter 
 Xantippe fed him through the iron grate with the milk 
 of her own breafts. 
 
 1 673 . 'Themiftocles being afked, How he would marry 
 his daughter, whether to one of fmall fortune, but ho- 
 neft, or to one that was rich, but of an ill reputation ? 
 made anfwer, I had rather have a man without an eflate, 
 than have an eftate without a man. 
 
 j 674. When, after having dined too well, a hufband is 
 received at home without a florm, or a reproachful look, 
 the wine will naturally work out all in kindnefs \ which 
 a wife fhould encourage, let it be wrapped up in never fo 
 much impertinence. 
 
 1675. The Lacedemonians prohibited any but common 
 women to wear gay and fumptuous cloaths : this was look- 
 ed upon as the mark to diftinguifh fuch infamous people 
 by, but the ladies of reputation defired to be known by 
 their modefty and fhining virtues, 
 
 1676. Though Solomon's defcription of a wife and good 
 woman may be thought too mean and mechanical for this 
 refined generation, yet certain it is, that the bufinefs of 
 a family is the moft profitable, and the moft honourable 
 fludy they can employ themfelves in. 
 
 1677. Women fhould be acquainted, that no beauty 
 iiath any charms, but the inward one of tlic mind j and 
 
 that
 
 302 A COLLECTION of 
 
 that a gracefulnefs in their manners is much more engaging 
 than that of their perfons : that meeknefs and mcdefty 
 are the true and lading ornaments : for me that has thefe, 
 is qualified as me ought to be, for the management of a 
 family, for the educating of children, for an affection to 
 her hufband, and fubmitting to a prudent way of living. 
 Thefe only are the charms that render wives amiable, and 
 give them the beft title to our refpecl. 
 
 1698. There is nothing fo delightful, fays Plato, as the 
 hearing, or fpeaking of the truth : for this reafon, there is 
 no converfation fo agreeable as that of the man of integrity, 
 who hears without any defign to betray, and fpeaks with- 
 out any intention to deceive. 
 
 1679. Truth is always confident with itfelf, and needs 
 nothing to help it out ; it is always near at hand, and 
 fits upon our lips,, and is ready to drop out before we are 
 aware j whereas a lye is troublefome, and fets a man's in- 
 vention upon the rack, and one trick needs a great many 
 more to make it good. 
 
 1680. Plain truth mutt have plain words j me is in- 
 nocent, and accounts it no fhame to be feen naked : where- 
 as the hypocrite, or double-dealer, fhelters and hides him- 
 felf in ambiguities and referves. 
 
 1 68 1. Truth is born with us, and we muft do violence 
 to nature, to make off our veracity. 
 
 1682. An honeft man is believed without an oath ^ for 
 his reputation fwears for him. Xenocrates was a man of 
 that truth and fidelity, that the Athenians gave him alone 
 this privilege, That his evidence jhould be lawful 'without 
 fivearing. And it is faid of Fabricius> that a man might 
 
 as
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, fife. 303 
 
 as well attempt to turn the fun out of its courfe, as bring 
 him to do a bafe or a dimoneft action. 
 
 1683. When a man hath forfeited the reputation of his 
 integrity, he is fet faft ; and nothing will then ferve his 
 turn, neither truth nor falfhood. 
 
 1684. A man who is rightly honeft, looks not to what 
 he might do, but to what he Jhould. He wears always 
 the fame countenance -, fpeaks the truth. His cheeks are 
 never flained with the blumes of recantation, nor does 
 his tongue falter, to make good a lye with the fecret glofTes 
 of double or referved meaning. 
 
 1685. Ariftotle lays it down for a maxim, That a brave 
 man is clear in his dijcourfe^ and keeps clofe to truth. And 
 Plutarch calls lying, he vice of a JIave. 
 
 1686. Sincerity is, to fpeak as we think j to do as we 
 pretend and profefs ; to perform and make good what we 
 promife ; and really to be what we would feem and ap- 
 pear to be. 
 
 1687. Did men take as much care to mend, as they 
 do to conceal their failings, they would both fpare them- 
 felves that trouble which diffimulation puts them to, and 
 gain over and above the commendations they afpire to 
 by their feeming virtues. 
 
 1688.- Truth is fo great a perfection (fays Pythagoras) 
 that if God would render himfelf viilble to men, he 
 would choofe light for his body y and truth for his foul. 
 
 1689. There is a fort of oeconomy in providence, that 
 one mall excel, where another is defective, in order to 
 make men more ufeful to each other, and mix them in 
 fociety. 
 
 1690. It
 
 304 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1690. It is obferved in the courfe of worldly things, 
 That men's fortunes are oftener made by their tongues,- 
 than by their virtues -, and more men's fortunes over- 
 thrown thereby, than by their vices. 
 
 1691. Some will read over, or rather over- read a book, 
 with a view only to find fault, like venomous fpiders ; 
 extracting a poifonous quality, where the induftrious bees 
 fip out a fweet and profitable juice. 
 
 1692. When a man draws himfelf into a narrow com- 
 pafs, fortune has the leaft mark at him. 
 
 1693. We do not want precepts fo much as patterns, 
 fays Pliny, and example is the fofteft and leaft invidious 
 way of commanding. 
 
 1694. It is a ftanding rule in philofophy, never to make 
 the opinion of others the meafure of our behaviour. 
 
 1695. Small tranfgreflions become great, by frequent 
 repetition ; as fmall expences, multiplied infenfibly, wafle 
 a large revenue. 
 
 1696. At twenty years of age, the will reigns ; at thir- 
 ty, the wit j and at forty, the judgment. 
 
 1697. It is eafier to preferve health, than to recover it $ 
 and to prevent difeafes, than to cure them. 
 
 1698. To judge impartially, we are to put men's 
 good qualities in the balance againft their bad ones j and 
 if the fcale of the firft' outweighs, the latter ought not ta 
 be brought into account. 
 
 1699. For a man to run a long race through the world, 
 and to leave no token of good behind him, it were better 
 if he never had been born at all. 
 
 1700. He
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, ftfc. 305 
 
 1700. He that feoffs at the crooked, had need go very 
 upright himfelf. 
 
 1701. A certain perfon being afked, How old he was, 
 anfwered, He was in health. Being afked, How rich he 
 was, he laid, He was not in debt. 
 
 1702. He that hinders not a mifchief when it is in his 
 power, is guilty of it. 
 
 1703. He that has feweft faults, has conftructively none 
 at all ; becaufe it is a common cafe : but no man has more 
 faults, than he that pretends to have none. 
 
 1704. If a man cannot find eafe within hirnfelf, it is 
 to little purpofe to feek it any where elfe. 
 
 1705. One month in the fchool of affliction will teach 
 us more wifdom, than the grave precepts of Arljlotle ia 
 feven years. 
 
 1706. Gentlenefs is the beft way to make a man loved 
 and refpected in his family : he makes himfelf contem- 
 ptible, when he talks paffionately to his fervants, for no 
 reafon but to mew his authority. 
 
 3707. It goes a great way towards making a man faith- 
 ful, to let him underftand that you think him fo ; and 
 he that does but fufpecl: that I will deceive him, gives 
 me a kind of right to cozen him. 
 
 1708. There is this difference between a man of fenfe 
 and modefly, and a perfon of cunning and impudence : one 
 mines in his abilities, and the other debafes himfelf, and 
 is a difgrace to fociety. 
 
 1709. Reading ferves for delight, for ornament, and 
 for ability; it perfects nature, and is perfected by ex- 
 perience. 
 
 R r 1710. There
 
 306 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1710. There feems, fays Seneca, to be fo near an affi- 
 nity betwixt wifdom, philofophy, and good counfels, that 
 it is rather matter of curiofity, than of profit, to divide 
 them. 
 
 171 1. Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflec- 
 tions the filly world may make upon you, for their cen- 
 fures are not in your power, and confequently mould not 
 be any part of your concern. 
 
 1712. Pitch upon that courfe of life which is the moft 
 excellent, and cuftom will render it the moft delightful. 
 
 1713. Rather avoid thofe vices you are naturally inclined 
 to, than aim at thofe excellencies and perfections which 
 you were never made for. 
 
 1714. When the idea of any pleafure flrikes your ima- 
 gination, make a juft computation between the duration 
 of the pleafure, and that of the repentance fure to fol- 
 low it. 
 
 1715. Think before you fpeak, and confider before you 
 promife. Take time to deliberate and advife, but lofe no 
 time in executing your refolutions. 
 
 1716. Spend the day well, and thou wilt rejoice at night. 
 1617. Never expect any affiftance or confolation, in thy 
 
 neceffities, from drinking companions. 
 
 171 8. Endeavour to make peace among thy neighbours ; 
 it is a worthy and reputable action, and will bring great- 
 er and jufter commendations to thee, and more benefit to 
 thofe with whom thou converfeft, than wit or learning, or 
 any of thofe fo much admired accomplishments. 
 
 1719. Purfue not a coward too far, left you make him- 
 turn valiant to your difadvantage. 
 
 1720, Be
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &c. 307 
 
 1720. Be not cafily exceptions, nor rudely familiar; 
 the one will breed contention, the other contempt. 
 
 1721. Prefer folid fenfe to wit; never fludy to be di- 
 verting, without being ufeful ; let no jeft intrude upon good 
 manners, nor fay any thing that may offend modefty. 
 
 1722. In marriage, prefer the perfon before wealth, 
 virtue before beauty, and the mind before the body; then 
 you have a wife, a friend, and a companion. 
 
 1723. Be flow in chufing a friend, and flower to change 
 him ; courteous to all, intimate with fewj flight no man 
 for his meannefs, nor efleem any for their wealth and 
 greatnefs. 
 
 1724. At every action and enterprize, aik yourfelf this: 
 queftion ; What will the confequence of this be to me? 
 Am I not likely to repent of it ? I mall be dead in a little 
 time, and then all is over with me. 
 
 1725. Time is what we want moft, but what we ufe 
 worft j for which we muft all account, when time {hall 
 t>e no more. 
 
 1726. An idle body is a kind of monfter in the creation : 
 all nature is bufy about him. How wretched is it to hear 
 people complain, that the day hangs heavy upon them, 
 that they do not know what to do with themfelves 1 How 
 monftrous are fuch expreffions, among creatures who can 
 apply themfelves to the duties of religion and meditation, 
 to the reading of ufeful books : who may exercife them- 
 felves in the purfuits of knowledge and virtue, and every 
 hour of their lives make themfelves wifer and better than 
 they were before ! 
 
 1727. Of all the diverfions of life, there is none fo 
 
 R r 2 proper
 
 308 A COLLECTION of 
 
 proper to fill up its empty fpaces, as the reading of ufcful 
 and entertaining authors ; and, with that, the converfation 
 of a well chofen friend. 
 
 . 1728. He that is well employed in his ftudy, though 
 he may feem to do nothing, does the greateft things yet 
 of all others : he lays down precepts for the governing of 
 - our lives, and the moderating of our paffions, and obli- 
 ges human nature, not only in the prefent, but in all fuc- 
 ceeding generations. 
 
 1729. Epaminondas, prince of Thebes, had fuch hatred 
 to idlenefs, that, finding one of his captains afleep in 
 the day time, he flew him ; for which act being reproved 
 by his nobles, he replied, / left him as I found him ; com- 
 paring idle men to dead men. 
 
 1730. Should the greateft part of people fit down, and 
 draw up a particular account of their time, what a fhame- 
 ful bill would it be ! So much extraordinary for eating, 
 drinking, and fleeping, beyond what nature requires ; fo 
 much in revelling and wantonnefs j fo much for the reco- 
 very of the laft night's intemperance ; fo much in gaming, 
 plays, and mafquerades j fo much in paying and receiving 
 formal and impertinent vifit?, in idle and foolilh prating, 
 in cenfuring and reviling our neighbours ; fo much in 
 dreffing our bodies, and talking of fafliions ; and fo much 
 wafted and loft in doing nothing. 
 
 1731. It was a memorable practice of Titus Vefpafian y 
 throughout the courfe of his whole life : he called him- 
 felf to an account every night for the actions of the paft 
 day, and fo often as he found he had ilipt any one day 
 
 with-
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, ftfc. 309 
 
 without doing fome good, he entered upon his diary this 
 memorial - 9 I have loft a day. 
 
 1732. The greateft lofs of time is delay and expecta- 
 tion, which depends upon the future : we let go the pre- 
 fent, which we have in our power, and look forward to 
 that which depends upon chance, and fo quit a certain* 
 ty for an uncertainty. 
 
 1733. There is no man but hath a foul, and if he will 
 look carefully to that, he need not complain for want of 
 bufinefs : where there are fo many corruptions to mortify, 
 fo many inclinations to watch over, fo many temptations 
 to relift, the graces of God to improve, and former neg- 
 lect of all thefe to lament ; fure there can never want fuf- 
 ficient employment, for all thefe require time ; and fo men 
 at their deaths find ; for thofe who have lived carelefly, 
 and wafted their time, would then give all the world to 
 redeem it. 
 
 1734. The filent virtues of a good man in folitude, 
 are more amiable than all the noify honours of active life. 
 
 1735. Sir Francis Walfmgbam, towards the end of his 
 life grew very melancholy, and wrote to the Lord Bur- 
 leigh to this purpofe : We have lived long enough to our 
 country, to our fortunes, and to our fovereign ; it is high 
 time we begin to live to ourfelves, and to our God. 
 
 1736. He who refigns the world, is in conftant pof- 
 feffion of a ferene mind ; but he who follows the plea- 
 fures of it, meets with nothing but remorfe and confufion. 
 
 1737. The man that lives retired, lives quiet. He fears 
 no body, of whom no body is afraid. He that ftands be- 
 low, upon the firm ground, needs not fear falling. 
 
 1738. A
 
 3 .to ,/ X/ COLLECTION 0/" 
 
 , 1738. A wife man, that lives up to the princi|ies^6f 
 reafon and virtue, if one confider him in his/^dntude, as 
 taken in the fyftem of the univerfe, objpK'ing the mutual 
 
 dependance and harmony, by whicl^tne whole frame of 
 it hangs together, raifing his thoughts with magnificent 
 ideas of providence ; makes a nobler figure in the eye of 
 an intelligent being, than the greateft conqueror amidft all 
 the pomps and folemnities of a triumph. 
 
 1739. The pleafure which affects a human mind with 
 the moil lively and tranfporting touches, is the fenie, that 
 we act in the eye of infinite wifdom, power, and good- 
 nefs, that will crown our virtuous endeavours here, with 
 a happinefs hereafter, large as our defires, and lading as 
 our immortal fouls : without this the higheft ftate of life 
 is infipid, and with it the lowed is a paradife. 
 
 1740. I can hardly think that man to be in his right 
 mind, fays Cicero, who is deftitute of religion. 
 
 1741. An atheifl is the mofl vain pretender to reafon in 
 the world. The whole ftrength of atheifm confifts in con- 
 tradicting the univerfal reafon of mankind : they have no 
 principles, nor can have any j and therefore they can never 
 reafon, but only confidently deny and affirm. 
 
 1742. They lye, fays Seneca, who fay they believe there 
 is no God : though they may profefs this fomewhat con- 
 fidently, in the day time, when they are in company ; 
 yet in the night, and alone, they have doubtful thoughts 
 about it. 
 
 1743. Nothing is fo important to any man, as his own 
 ftate and condition ; nothing fo amazing as eternity : If 
 .therefore we find perfons indifferent to the lofs of their 
 
 being,
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS,^. 31* 
 
 being, and to the danger of endlefs mifery, it is impoflible 
 that this temper mould be natural. 
 
 1744. For men to refolve to be of no religion till all 
 are agreed in one, ib juft as wife and as rational, as if 
 they mould determine' not to go to dinner till all the clocks 
 in town ftrike twelve together. 
 
 1745. Cicero hath obferved, That no kind of men are 
 more afraid of God, than fuch as pretend not to believe 
 his being. Thefe are the men who above all others are moft 
 liable to be affected with dread and trembling, more e- 
 fpecially in the time of ficknefs, and the approaches of 
 death. 
 
 1746. My lord Bacon, towards the latter end of his 
 life, faid, That a little fmattering in philofophy would 
 lead a man to atheifm, but a thorough infight into it will 
 lead a man back again to a firft caufe j and that the firft 
 principle of right reafon is religion : and ferioufly profefled 
 that, after all his ftudies and inquifition, he durft not die 
 with any other thoughts than thofe religion taught, as it 
 it profe/Ted among -the Chriftians. 
 
 1747. The confent of all men, fays Seneca, is of very 
 great weight with us ; a mark that a thing is true, is- 
 when it appears fo to all the world. Thus we conclude 
 there is a divinity, becaufe all men believe it, there be- 
 ing no nations, how corrupt foever they be, which deny it, 
 
 1748. I never had a fight of my foul (fays the Empe- 
 ror Aurelius) and yet I have a great value for it, becaufe 
 it is difcoverable by its operations j and, by my conftant 
 experience of the power of God, I have a proof of his 
 being, and a reafon for my veneration. 
 
 1749. God
 
 312 A COLLECTION of 
 
 1749. God hath wifely provided, in his prefent admi- 
 niftration of things, to give us inftances enough of his juft 
 procedure towards the good and bad ; and yet to leave us 
 inftances enough of unrewarded virtue, and profperous 
 wickednefs, to aflure us he intends an after reckoning. 
 
 1750. As infidelity is the greater! fin, fo for God to give 
 a man over to it, is the greateft punifhment. 
 
 1751. It was good counfel given to thzAtbwians, To 
 be fure that King Philip was dead, before they exprefTed 
 their joy at the report of it, left they might find him 
 alive to revenge their hafty triumph. The like advice 
 may be proper to all unbelievers ; let them be fure there 
 is no God, before they prefume to defy him, left they find 
 him at laft to aiTert his being to their deftruclion. 
 
 1752. Nothing has more horror than annihilation. The 
 worft that good men can fear, is the 'beft that evil can 
 wiih for, which is the difFolution of the foul in death. 
 
 J 75 v Virtue needs no outward pomp j her very coun- 
 tenance is fo full of majefty, that the proudeft pay her re- 
 fpe<fl, and the profaneft are awed by her prefence. 
 
 1754. If We believe that God is, and act confonantly, 
 we ihall be fafe if he be not, and eternally happy if he 
 be : whereas, if we believe that he is not, we are fure to 
 be miferable forever if he be, and are only fafe from be- 
 ing miferable for ever, if he be not. 
 
 I 755" What is this life, but a circulation of little mean 
 actions ? We lie down and rife again, drefs and undrefs, 
 feed and wax hungry, work or play, and are weary, and 
 then we lie down again, and the circle returns. We fpend 
 the day in trifles, and, when the night comes, we throw 
 
 our-
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS,^. 3I3 
 
 ourfelves into the bed of folly, amongft dreams, and bro- 
 ken thoughts, and wild imaginations. Our reafon lies 
 afleep by us, and we are for the time as errant brutes as 
 thofe that fleep in the flails, or in the fields. Are not 
 the capacities of man higher than thefe ? and ought not 
 his ambition and expectation to be greater ? Let us be ad- 
 venturers for another world ; it is at leaft a fair and noble 
 chance, and there is nothing in this worth our thoughts,- 
 or our paffions. If we mould be difappointed, we are 
 flill no worfe than the reft of our fellow mortals ; and, if 
 we fucceed in our expectations, we are eternally happy. 
 
 1756. Wifdom allows nothing to be good, that will 
 not be fo for ever j no man to be happy, but he that 
 needs no other happinefs than what he has within him- 
 felf ; no man to be great or powerful, that is not mafter 
 of himfelf. 
 
 1757. When a man has once got a habit of virtue, 
 all his actions are equal. 
 
 1758. The firft ftep towards virtue, is to abftain from 
 vice. No man has true found fenfe, who is immoral. 
 
 1759. A good man is influenced by God himfelf, and 
 has a kind of divinity within him. 
 
 1760. It is a great difgrace to religion, to imagine that 
 it is an enemy to mirth and chearfulnefs, and a fevere ex- 
 acter of penflve looks, and folemn faces. 
 
 1761. The true fpirit of religion cheers as well as 
 compofes the foul. It is not the bufmefs of virtue to 
 extirpate the affections of the mind, but to regulate them. 
 
 1462. Were there but one virtuous man in the world, 
 Sf he
 
 314 -^ COLLECTION of 
 
 he would hold up his head with confidence and honour ; 
 
 he would fhame the world, and not the world him. 
 
 1763. Though it be a truth very little received, that 
 virtue is its own reward ; it is furely an undeniable one, 
 that vice is its own punimment. 
 
 1764. If a man would but confult this golden rule, of 
 dealing as he would be dealt by j thole very paffions which 
 incline him to wrong others, would inftruct him to right 
 them. 
 
 1765. It is infolent, as well as unnatural, to trample up- 
 on the venerable decays of human nature. He that acts 
 in this manner, does but expofe his own future condition, 
 nd laugh at himfelf beforehand. 
 
 1766. No body giving attention to Diogenes while he 
 difcourfed of virtue, he fell a finging, and every one croud- 
 ing to hear him, Great Gods ! faid he, how much more 
 is folly admired than wifdom ! 
 
 1767. Virtue is a fteddy principle, and gives lability 
 to every thing elfe -, though while good men live in a gid- 
 dy and rolling world, they muft in fome meafure feel 
 its uncertain motions. 
 
 1768. All earthly delights are fweeter in the expectation, 
 than in the enjoyment; all fpiritual pleafures more in 
 fruition, than expectation. 
 
 1769. The Arabians have a faying, It is not good to 
 jeft with God, death, or the devil : for the firft neither 
 can nor will be mocked ; the fecond mocks all men, one 
 time or another ; and the third puts an eternal farcafm on 
 thofe that are too familiar with him. 
 
 1770. It is faid of Socrates, whether he is teaching the 
 
 rules
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, ftfc 315 
 
 rules of an exact morality, whether he is anfwering his 
 corrupt judges, whether he is receiving fentence of death, 
 or fwallowing the poifon, he is ftill the fame man ; that 
 is to fay, calm, quiet, undiflurbed, intrepid, and, in a 
 word, wife to the laft. 
 
 1 77 1 . It was faid by one of the Antients, That trouble 
 marched before virtue, and after vice : but pleafure fol- 
 lowed virtue, and vice was followed by repentance. 
 
 1772. A firm faith, and true honefty, are not to be for- 
 ced by neceffity, or corrupted by reward. 
 
 1773. To love the publick, to ftudy univerfal good, 
 and to promote the intereft of the whole world, as far as 
 lies within our power, is the height of goodnefs, and makes 
 that temper which we call divine. 
 
 1774. A little wrong done to another, is a great injury 
 done to ourfelves. The feverefl punifhment of an injury, 
 is the confcience of having done it ; and no man fuffers 
 more than he that is turned over to the pain of repentance. 
 
 I 775* I' c ft s us more to be miferable, than would 
 make us perfectly happy : how cheap and eafy to us is the 
 fervice f virtue, and how dear do we pay for our vices ! 
 
 1776. He that falls into error for want of care and dili- 
 gence to find out the truth, can have no pretence to par- 
 don. We are as much bound to know our duty, as ob- 
 liged to praftife it. 
 
 1777. A virtuous man maybe innocently revenged of 
 his enemies, by perfifting in well doing ; and a wicked 
 man, by reforming his life. 
 
 1778. Alexander Severus allowed Chriftianity out of love 
 
 Sf 2 t
 
 316 A COLLECTION of 
 
 to that one precept, Do not that to another ', which th&u 
 would/I not have done to thyfelf. 
 
 1779. The fear of hell does a great deal towards the 
 keeping of us in our way to heaven, and if it were not 
 for the penalty, the laws neither of God nor of man 
 would be obeyed. 
 
 1780. Were angels, if they look into the ways of men, 
 to give in their catalogue of worthies, how different would 
 it be from that which any of our own fpecies would 
 draw up ! We are dazzled with the fplendor of titles, 
 the oftentation of learning, and the noife of victories : 
 they, on the contrary, fee the philofopher in the cottage, 
 who poffeffes his foul in patience and thankfulnefs, un- 
 der the preffures of what little minds call poverty and 
 diftrefs. The evenings walk of a wife man is more il- 
 luftrious in their fight, than the march of a general at 
 the head of a hundred thoufand men. A contemplation 
 of God's works, a generous concern for the good of man- 
 kind, and unfeigned exercife of humility, only denomi- 
 nate men great and glorious. 
 
 1781. The firft of all virtues is innocence, the next 
 is modefty. If we banifh modefty out of the world, me 
 carries away with her half the virtue that is in it. 
 
 1782. A peaceful confcience, honeft thoughts, virtuous 
 actions, and an indifference for cafual events, are bleffings 
 without end or meafure : this confummated ftate of feli- 
 city is only a fubmiffion to the dictate of right nature j 
 the foundation of it is wifdom and virtue, the know- 
 ledge of what we ought to do, and the conformity of 
 the will to that knowledge. 
 
 1783. A
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, Vc. 317 
 
 1783. A firm faith is the beft divinity, a good life the 
 beft philofophy, a clear confcience the beft law, honefty 
 the beft policy, and temperance the beft phyfic. 
 
 1784. Sir W. Raleigh difcourfing with fome friends in 
 the Tower ; of bappinefs, urged, that it was not only a 
 freedom from difeafes and pains of the body, but from 
 anxiety and vexation of fpirit j not only to enjoy the plea- 
 fures of fenfe, but peace of confcience, and inward tran- 
 quillity : and this happinefs, fo fuitable to the immortality 
 of our fouls, and the eternal ftate we muft live in, is only 
 to be met with in religion. 
 
 1785. What can be more fuitable to a rational crea- 
 ture, than to employ reafon to contemplate that divine 
 being, which is both the author of its reafon, and nobleft 
 object about which it can poflibly be employed. 
 
 1786. Religion is exalted reafon, refined from the grofier 
 parts of it : it is both the foundation and crown of all 
 virtues : it is morality improved, and raifed to its height, 
 by being carried nearer heaven, the only place where per- 
 fection refideth. 
 
 1787. Every virtue gives a man a degree of felicity in 
 fome kind. Honefty gives a man a good report ; juftice, 
 eftimation; prudence, refpect; courtefy and liberality, 
 affection ; temperance gives health ; fortitude, a quiet 
 mind, not to be moved by any adverfity. 
 
 1788. Virtue is a bleffing which man alone pofieiTes, 
 and no other creature has any title to but himfelf. All is 
 nothing without her, and fhe alone is all. The other 
 bleffings of this life are oftentimes imaginary : me is al- 
 ways real. She is the foul of the foul, the life of life, 
 
 and
 
 3i 8 A COLLECTION of 
 
 and crown of all perfe&ions. If mortal excellence be wor- 
 thy of our defires, fure the eternal ought to be the object 
 of our ambition. 
 
 1789. There is not a more effectual way to revive the 
 true fpirit of chriftianity, than ferioufly to meditate on 
 what we commonly call the four laft things, death^judg- 
 rnent, heaven, and hell. 
 
 1790. Deftiny has decreed all men to die ; but to die 
 well, is the particular privilege of the virtuous and good. 
 
 1791. Our decays are as much the work of nature, as 
 the firft principles of our being. We die as faft as we 
 live. Every moment fubtrads from our duration on earth, 
 as much as it adds to it. 
 
 1792. He that has given God his worfhip, and man his 
 due, is entertained with comfortable prefages, wears off 
 fmoothly, and expires in pleafure. 
 
 1793. A l^tle while is enough to view the world in: 
 nature treads in a circle, and has much the fame face 
 through the whole courfe of eternity. Live well, and 
 make virtue thy guide, and then let death come fooner or 
 later, it matters not. 
 
 1794. We need not care how fhort our pafTage out of 
 this life is, fo it be fafe : never any traveller complained 
 that he came too foon to his journey's end. 
 
 1795. Few take care to live well, but many to live long ; 
 though it is in a man's power to do the former, but in no 
 man's power to do the latter. 
 
 1796. The cafl of mind which is natural to a wife man, 
 makes him look forward into futurity, and confider what 
 
 will
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, & c . 319 
 
 will be his condition millions of ages hence, as well as 
 what it is at prefent. 
 
 1797. To live, is a gift; to die, is a debt. This life 
 is only a prelude to eternity. 
 
 1 79 8. /Men take more pains for this world, than hea- 
 ven would coft them ; and when they have what they aim 
 at, do not live to enjoy it. The grave lies unfeen be- 
 tween us and the object which we reach after. Where 
 one lives to enjoy whatever he kas in view, ten thoufand 
 are cut off in the purfuit of it. 
 
 1799. It is an excellent proof of wifdom, frequently 
 to meditate of the eternity of our worthieft part, and to 
 coniider, that this compages of the elements mufl foon 
 fufFer a difTolution. Beauty is a flower which foon wi- 
 thers, health changes, and ftrength abates ; but innocen- 
 cy is immortal, and a comfort both in life and death. 
 
 1800. How miferable is that man, that cannot look 
 backward, but with mame ; nor forward, without terror ! 
 What comfort will his riches afford him in his extremity ? 
 or what will all his fenfual pleafures, his vain and empty 
 titles, robes, dignities, and crowns, avail him in the day 
 of his diftrefs ? 
 
 1 80 1. In the grave there is no diftindtion of perfon?, 
 which made Diogenes fay, when fearching a charnel houfe, 
 That he could find no difference betwixt the fkull of 
 King Philip, and another man's. 
 
 1802. The young may die fhortly, but the aged can- 
 not live long : green fruit may be plucked off, or fliaken 
 down j but the ripe will fall of itfelf. 
 
 1803. A certain gentleman, upon his death-bed, laid 
 
 this
 
 320 A COLLECTION of 
 
 this one command upon his wild fon, That he fhould e- 
 very day of his life be an hour alone : which he conftant- 
 ly obferved, and thereby growing ferious, became a new 
 man. 
 
 1804. An holy defire of a religious death, is not the 
 humour, the fancy, the fear of fome men, but the fe- 
 rious wim of all. Many have lived wickedly, very few 
 in their fenfes died fo. 
 
 1805. There is nothing in hiftory which is fo improving 
 to the reader, as thofe accounts which we meet with of 
 the deaths of eminent perfons, and of their behaviour in 
 that dreadful feafon. 
 
 1806. The great philofopher Socrates, on the day of 
 his execution, a little before the draught of poifon was 
 brought to him, entertaining his friends with a difcourfe 
 on the immortality of the foul, . faid, Whether or no God 
 will approve of my actions, I know not j but this I am 
 fure of, that I have at all times made it my endeavour to 
 pleafe him, and I have a good hope, that this my en- 
 deavour will be accepted by him. 
 
 1807. Philip III. King of Spain, ferioufly reflecting 
 upon the life he had led in the world, cried out upon his 
 death bed, Ah ! how happy were I, had I fpent thofe 
 twenty three years that I have held my kingdom, in a re- 
 tirement ! faying to his confeflbr, My concern is for my 
 foul, not my body. 
 
 1808. Cardinal Wolfey, one of the greateft minifters of 
 ftate that ever was, poured forth his foul in thefe fad 
 words, Had I been as diligent td ferve my God, as I have 
 
 been
 
 APHORISMS, MAXIMS, &c. 321 
 
 been to pleafe my King, he 'would not have forfaken me 
 now in my grey hairs. 
 
 1808. Cardinal Richlieu, after he had given law to all 
 Europe many years together, confefled to P. du Moulin, 
 that, being forced upon many irregularities in his life time, 
 by that which they call reafon of flat e, he could not tell 
 how to fatisfy his confcience upon feveral accounts : and, 
 being afked one day by a friend, Why he was fo fad ? 
 he anfwered, The foul is a ferious thing, it mufl be either 
 
 fad here for a moment, or be fad for ever. 
 
 1809. Sir John Mafon, Privy Counfellor to King Henry 
 VIII. &c. upon his death bed, delivered himfelf to thofe 
 about him, to this purpofe : " I have feen five princes, and 
 been privy counfellor to four. I have feen the moft re- 
 markable obfervations in foreign parts, and been prefent at 
 moft ftate tranfaclions for thirty years together, and have 
 learned this, after fo many years experience, That ferioufnefs 
 is the greateft wifdom, temperance the beft phyfic, and a 
 good confcience the beft eftate : and were I to live again, I 
 would change the court for a cloyfter $ my privy counfellor's 
 buftles, for an hermit's retirement ; and the whole life I 
 lived in the palace, for one hour's enjoyment of God in the 
 chapel : all things elfe forfake me, befides my God, my 
 duty, and my prayer. 
 
 1810. Sir Thomas Smith, fecretary of ftate to Q. E- 
 lizabeth, a quarter of a year before he died, fent to his 
 friends, the bifhops of Winchefter and Worcefter, intreat- 
 ing them to draw him, out of the word of God, the 
 plaineft and exacteft way of making his peace with him ; 
 adding, that it was great pity men knew not to what end 
 
 T t they
 
 322 A COLLECTION, 
 
 they were born into this world, till they were ready to go 
 out of it. 
 
 1 8 1 1 . Sir Philip Sidney left this his laft farewel among 
 his acquaintance ; Love my memory, chefijh my friends ; but, 
 above all, govern your will and affections by the will and 
 word of your creator j in me behold the end of this world, 
 and all its vanities. 
 
 1812. Dr Donne, a perfon of great parts and learning, 
 being upon his death-bed, and taking his folemn farewel of 
 his friends, left this with them; I repent of all my life, but 
 that part of it Ifpent in communion with God, and doing good. 
 
 1813. When I look upon the tombs of the great, every 
 emotion of envy dies in me j when I read the epitaphs of 
 the beautiful, every inordinate deiire goes out -, when I meet 
 with the grief of parents upon a tomb-ftone, my heart melts 
 with companion; when I fee the tombs of the parents them- 
 felves, I coniider the vanity of grieving for thofe whom we 
 muft quickly follow; when I fee Kings lying by thofe who 
 depofed them, when I confider rival wits placed fide by 
 fide, or the hoty men that divided the world with their 
 contefts and difputes, I reflect with forrow and aftonim- 
 ment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of 
 mankind ; when I read the feveral dates of the tombs of 
 fome that died as yefterday, and fome fix hundred years 
 ago, I coniider that great day, when we (hall all of us be 
 cotemporaries, and make our appearance together, 
 
 F I ' N I S.