by the mean opinion which you seem to have of yourself.' However, weigh not thyself in the scales of thy own opinion, but let the judgment of the judicious be the standard of thy merit." Make not a jest of another man's infirmity:remember thy own. Be thou just to thy servants, but not familiar with them. Be never so angry as to give thyself a box on the ear. Speak the truth always, though it may not be necessary always to speak the whole truth. If thou wouldst make a good will, make it in time of health. Take especial care that a real or supposed offence to yourself from any one does not make you unjust to the general character of such person. In reproving, mind the person and the time. The greatest effort of friendship is, not to bear the faults of our friends, but to pardon the superiority of their talents. Very few have sense enough to despise the praise of a fool. Fortune and the sun make insects shine. Gross jealousy is distrust of the person beloved; delicate jealousy is distrust of oneself. A joyless and dreary season will old age prove, if we arrive at it with an unimproved or corrupted mind. For this period, as for every other thing, certain preparation is necessary; and that preparation consists in the acquisition of knowledge, friends, and virtue. Then is the time when a man would especially wish to find himself surrounded by those who love and respect him who will bear with his infirmities, relieve him of his labours, and cheer him with their society. Let him, therefore, now in the summer of his days, while yet active and flourishing, by acts of seasonable kindness and benevolence, insure that love, and, by upright and honourable conduct, lay foundation for that respect, which in old age he would wish to enjoy. In the last place, let him consider a good conscience, peace with God, and the hope of heaven, as the most effectual consolations he can possess when the evil days shall come.' L'un des avantages de bonnes actions est d'élever l'âme, et de la disposer à en faire meilleures.2 There is no permanent fame but that which is obtained by adding to the comforts and pleasures of mankind. Life can never be entirely blest: Heaven punishes the bad, and proves the best.3 It is an endless and frivolous pursuit to act by any other rule than the care of satisfying our own minds in what we do.4 If a reasonable man satisfy himself, it will satisfy all others that are worth the care of it.5 1 Blair (Sermons). 2 Rousseau. 4 Spectator, No. 4. 3 Dryden (Abs. and Achit.). 5 Sir W. Temple. Truth will be uppermost some time or other, like cork, though kept down in the water.1 The wisest men are easiest to hear advice, least apt to give it.2 When, after much working, one's head is very well settled, the best is not to set it a working again. I would never despise anybody for what they have not; I am only provoked when they don't make a right use of what they have. Still would I think of others, use my pen, And so discharge my duty to the state.3 I'd have my morning to myself then; calm, And take my draft of generous exercise, The youth of age, and medicine of the wise." Clear blood, quick foot, free spirit, and thought refined. Half a word fixed [or a line drawn] at or near a spot, is worth a cartload of recollections." The mind has more room in it than most people think, if you would but furnish the apartments. Lire est une habitude-ceux qui l'ont perdue dans les affaires, ont bien de la peine à la reprendre. Ah! qu'il est beau le talent, quand on ne l'a jamais profané, quand il n'a servi qu'à révéler aux hommes, sous les formes attrayantes des beaux arts, les sentimens généreux et les espérances religieuses obscurcies au fond de leur cœur.1 Northcote talked of the value of time. He said that time was an estate to every man, and intended to be so by Providence; and if we made a right use of it, we should be certain to have the full benefit of the profits.2 Till I knew Mirabeau, I was not aware what, in a single day, might be done.3 One of Walter Scott's grand maxims was-never to be doing nothing,-and thus he had leisure for every thing; except, indeed, for the newspapers, which consume so many precious hours now-a-days with most men, and of which he certainly read less than any other man I ever knew, who was in the habit of reading at all.* Be calm in arguing, for fierceness makes Disappointments and crosses that come not of thy own vices, follies, or negligences, are corrections of Heaven; and it is thy own fault if they prove not to thy advantage. She had discovered early what few people, in her 1 M. de Staël (L'Allemagne). 2 Knighton Mem. ii. 104. 3 Dumont (not literal). 5 George Herbert. See Life by Lockhart, vi. 88. P situation, discover till late in life-that selfish gratifications may render us incapable of other happiness, but can never of themselves make us happy. Despising flattery, she had determined to make herself friends, and to make them in the only possible way—by deserving them.1 Our great Creator made us for each other. He gave us tears; He gave us compassion not only for our own sorrows, but for those of our kind; He gave us love and tender feelings—not to expend on one worthless idol, but largely and liberally to diffuse them in general beneficence around us. And he who checks the order of nature and religion, and fails to create an interest in the hearts of his fellow-creatures, will assuredly live to know the curse of being an isolated, despised, and solitary creature.2 Be assured that, however rich, great, or powerful a man may be, it is the very height of folly to make personal enemies from any, but especially from personal motives.3 The best course when we are low-spirited, and distressed with anxieties, is to set ourselves to action in doing good to others; not to be satisfied with not being unkind, but to try to be positively kind to every one.1 I so much respect Mr. W., a marine-lieutenant, giving up his half-pay for his father's support, and 1 Miss Edgeworth (Absentee). 2 Osmond. 4 Wilberforce (Life). |