the judgment and skill of the ingenious Contriver My thoughts will be the same with yours and I 'll suppose this must be the dwelling of one of those men who from the very minute they get into place think on nothing but on the laying the Foundation of some great and sumptuous Palace Yet what is this piece of ground so order'd and on the beautifying of which all the art of the most skilful Workmen have been employ'd if the whole Earth is but an Atome hanging in the air and if you 'll but hear what I am going to say You are plac'd Lucilius on some part of this Atome you must needs be very little since you hold there is so little room Yet you have eyes imperceptible like two points Open them however towards heaven What is sometimes the object of your observations there Is it the Moon when at the full 'T is radiant then and very beautiful tho all its light be but the reflections of the Sun 's It appears as large as the Sun itself larger than the other Planets than any of the Stars But be not deceivâ—d by outward appearance nothing in Heaven is so little as the Moon The extent of its superficies exceeds not the thirteenth part its solidity not the eight and fortieth part and its Diameter which is two thousand two hundred and fifty miles not a quarter part of that of the Earth And the truth is that what makes it so great in appearance is its proximity only Its distance from us being no more than thirty times the Diameter of the Earth or three hundred thousand miles Nay and its course is nothing in comparison of the prodigious long race of the Sun thro the spacious Firmament For it is certain it runs not above sixteen hundred and twenty thousand miles a day which is not above sixty seven thousand five hundred miles an hour or one thousand one hundred and five and twenty miles a minute And yet to compleat this Course it must run five thousand six hundred times faster than a Race-Horse that goes twelve miles an hour It must be eighty times swifter than the sound than the noise for example of a Cannon or of the Thunder which flies eight hundred and one and thirty miles an hour But if you 'll oppose the Moon to the Sun with respect to its greatness its distance or its course you shall find there is no comparison to be made betwixt ' em Remember only that the Diameter of the Earth is nine thousand miles That of the Sun 's is a hundred times as large which is nine hundred thousand miles Now if this be the breadth of it every way judge you what its superficies what its solidity must be Do you apprehend the vastness of this extent and that a million of such Globes as the Earth being laid together would not exceed the Sun in bigness How great will you cry must then the distance of it be if one may judge of it by its smallness in appearance 'T is true it is prodigious great it is demonstrated that the Sun's distance from the Earth can be no less than ten thousand times the Diameter of the Earth Or which is all one than ninety millions of miles Nay and it may be four times perhaps six times perhaps ten times as much for ought we know There is no method found out for the computing of it Now for the help of your apprehension let us suppose a Mill-stone falling from the Sun upon the Earth let it come down with all the swiftness imaginable and even swifter than the heaviest body's falling from never so high let us also suppose that it preserves always the same swiftness without acquiring a greater or losing from that it already has that it advances forty yards every second which is half the heighth of the higheâ—t Steeple and consequently two thousand four hundred yards in a minute But to facilitate this computation allow it be two thousand six hundred and forty yards which is a mile and an half its fall will be three miles in two minutes ninety miles in an hour and two thousand one hundred and sixty miles in a day Now it must fall ninety millions of miles before it comes down to the Earth so that it can't be less than forty one thousand six hundred and sixty six days which is above one hundred and forty years in performing this journey Let not all this fright you Lucilius I 'll tell you more The distance of Saturn from the Earth is at least ten times as much as the Sun 's so that it is no less than nine hundred thousand millions of miles and that this Stone would be above eleven hundred and forty years in falling down from Saturn to the Earth Now by this elevation of Saturn's raise your imagination so high if you can as to conceive the immensity of its daily course The Circle which Saturn describes has above eighteen hundred millions of miles Diameter and consequently above five thousand four hundred millions of miles circumference So that a Race-Horse which I 'll suppose to run thirty miles an hour must be twenty thousand five hundred and forty eight years in taking this round I have not said all Lucilius that can be said on the miracle of this visible world Or to speak more like your self on the wonders of Chance which alone you will allow to be the first cause of all things It is still more wonderful in its operations than you imagin Learn what Chance is Or rather be instructed in the knowledge of all the power of your God Do you know that this distance of the Sun from the Earth which is ninety millions of miles and that of Saturn which is nine hundred millions of miles are so inconsiderable if oppos'd to that of the other Stars that no comparison can express the true measure of the latter For indeed what proportion is there betwixt any thing that can be measur'd let its extent be what it will and that which it is impossible to measure The heighth of a Star cannot be known it is if I may so speak immensurable All Angles Sinuses and Paralaxes become useless if one goes about to compute it And should one man observe a fixed Star from Paris and another from Iapan the two lines that should reach fâ—om their Eyes to that Star should make no Angle at all And should be confounded together and make up one and the same line so inconsiderable is the space of the whole Earth in comparison of that distance But tho Stars have this in common with Saturn and the Sun and I should express something more If then two Astronomers should stand the one on the Earth and the other in the Sun and from thence should observe one Star at the same time the two visual rays of these two Astronomers should not in appearance form an Angle But that you may conceive the same thing another way should a man be plac'd on one
some people should say will the Characters never be finisht shall we never see any thing else from this Author On one side several men of good sense told me the matter is solid useful pleasant inexhaustible live a long while and treat on 't without interruption as long as you live What can you do better The follies of Mankind will every year furnish you with a Volume While others with a great deal of reason made me apprehend the capriciousness of the multitude and the levity of the people with whom however I have good cause to be content These were always suggesting to me that for these 30 years past few have read with any other intent than for the sake of readingâ— and that to amuse the world there should be Chapters and a new Titleâ— that this humour of indifference had fill'd the Shops and stockt the Age with Piles of dull and tedious Books without stile or meaning rules or order contrary to decency or manners written in haste read with precipitation and taking a while only for their Novelty They added further if I could not enlarge a sensible Book I had best sit quiet and do nothingâ— I in some measure took both their Advices as opposite as they seem to be and observ'd a medium which disagrees with neither I don't pretend to have added any new Remarks to those which already had doubled the bulk of the first Edition of my Book but that the publick might not be oblig'd to read over what was done before to come at what has been added since and that they may immediately find out what they would only read I have taken care to distinguish the 2d augmentation by a greater mark and the first by a less as well to shew the progress of my Characters as to guide the Reader in the choice he might be willing to make And lest they should be afraid I shall never have done with these additions I add to all my exactness the sincere promise to venture on nothing more of this kind If any one accuses me with breaking my word by adding in the sixth Edition a few remarks I confess ingenuously I had not the power to suppress ' em He may perceive by mingling what was new with what was old without any mark of distinction I did not so much endeavour to entertain the world with novelties as to deliver down to posterity a Book of Manners more pure regular and compleat To conclude what I have written are not design'd for Maxims those are like Laws in Morality and I have neither Genius nor Authority sufficient to qualifie me for a Legislator I know well enough I have offended against the customs of Maxims which are deliver'd in short and concise terms like the manner of Oracles Some of my remarks are of this kind others are more extended We think things differently one from another and we express 'em in a turn altogether as differentâ— By a Sentence an Argument a Metaphor or some other Figure a Parallel a simple Comparison by one continuâ—d in all parts or in a single passage by a Description or a Picture from whence proceeds the length or shortness of my Reflexions Those who write Maxims would be thought infallible on the contrary I allow any body to say of me my Remarks are not always good provided he will himself make better OF Polite Learning WE are come too late after above seven thousand years that there have been men and men have thought to say any thing which has not been said already The finâ—st and most beautiful thoughts concerning manners are carry'd away before us and we can do nothing now but glean after the Ancients and the most ingenious of the Moderns * We must only endeavour to think and speak justly our selves without aiming to bring others over to our taste and sentimentâ— We shall find that too great an enterprize * To make a Book is like making a Pendulum a Man must have Experience as well as Wit to succeed in it A certain Magistrate arriving by his merit to the first dignities of the Gown thought himself qualifyâ—d for every thing He printed a Treatise of Morality and publish'd himself a Coxcomb * T is not so easie to raise a reputation by a compleat work as to make an indifferent one valu'd by a reputation already acquir'd * A Satire or a Libel when 't is handed privately from one to another with strict charge of secrecy if 't is but mean in it self passes for wonderful the printing it would ruin its râ—putation * Take away from most of our Moral Essays the Advertisement to the Reader the Epistle Dedicatory the Preface the Table and the Commendatory Verses there will seldom be enough left to deserve the name of a Book * Several things are insupportable if they are but indifferent as Poetry Music Painting and Public Speeches 'T is the worst punishment in the world to hear a dull Declamation deliver'd with Pomp and Solemnity and bad Verses rehears'd with the Emphasis of a wretched Poet. * Some Poets in their Dramatic pieces are fond of big Words and â—ounding Verses which seem strong elevated and sublime The people stare gape and hear 'em greedily They are transported at what they fancy is rare and where they understand leaâ—t are sure to aâ—mire mostâ— They scarce allow themselves time to breathe and are loth to be interrupted by Claps or Applauses When I was young I imagin'd these places were clear and intelligible to the Author the Pit Boxes and Galleries that the Actors understood 'em and that I was in the wrong to know nothing of the matter after much attention But I am now undeceiv'd * There never was seen any piece excellent in its kind that was the joint labour of several men Homer writ his Iliads Virgil his Eneidsâ— Livy his Decades and Cicero his Orations * As there is in Nature so there is in â—rt a point of Perfection He who is sensible of it and is toucht with it has a good taste He who is not sensible of it but is wavering has a vicious taste Since then there is a good and a bad taste we may with reason dispute the difference * Every one has more fire than judgment or rather there are few men of Wit who are good Criticks The Lives of Heroes have enrich'd History and History has adorn'd the Actions of Heroes And thus 't is difficult to tell who are most indebted the Historians to those who furnish'd 'em with such noble materials or the Great Men to their Historians * 'T is a sorry commendation that is made up of a heap of Epithetes 't is actions and the manner of relating 'em which speak a mans praise * The chief Art of an Author consists in making good definitions good pictures Moses Homer Plato Virgil and Horace excel other Writers mostly in their Expressions and Images Truth is the best guide to make a man write forcibly naturally and delicately * We
If at any time we have been liberal to those we love whatever happens afterwards we ought by no means to reflect on our benefits * It has been said in Latin that is costs less to hate than to love or if you will that friendship is more chargeable than hatred 'T is true we are excus'd from liberality to our Enemies but is a man at no cost to revenge himself Or if 't is so sweet and natural to do ill to those we hate is it less pleasing or less natural to do good to those we love Wou'd it not be difficult and disagreeable to us not to do so * There is a pleasure to meet the Eyes of a person that we have lately obligâ—d * I do not know whether a benefit which falls on an ungrateful person and so consequently on one that 's unworthy does not change its name or whether it deserves acknowledgment * Liberality consists not so much in giving a great deal as in giving prudently * If 't is true that in our pity and compassion we have a regard to our selves as we are apprehensive of being some time or other in the same circumstances with the miserable how comes it about then that in their misery we so seldom relieve ' em * T is better to expose our selves to Ingratitude than to be wanting to the miserable * Experience confirms it every Day That our indulgence to our selves and hard-heartedness to others are but one and the same vice The churlish moyling laborious man that shews no mercy to himself is not to be made indulgent to others but by an excess of reason * Tho the charge of maintaining an indigent person may be very burthensom to us yet we cannot heartily relish the new advantages which put him out of our protection In the same manner the pleasure which we take in the exaltation of our friend is something abated by a little sort of a trouble we have to see him mounted above us or in an equal condition with us Thus we agree but ill with our selves We wou'd have others dependant on us but to cost us nothing We wou'd have our friends prosperous in the World yet when their good fortune comes perhaps we 're the last to rejoyce at it 'T is nothing for people to make invitations to their House and Table to make liberal offers of their fortune and services To be as good as their word is all * One faithful friend is enough for ones self and 't is much to meet with such an one yet we can't have too many for the sake of others * When we have done all that 's possible to gain some sort of people and we find it in vain there 's one Reserve still left which is ev'n to let 'em alone for the future * To live with our Enemies in such manner as if they shou'd one day be our Friends and to live with our Friends as if they shou'd some time or other become our Enemies is at once against the nature of Hatred and the rules of Friendship It may be a good Maxim in Politicks but 't is a very bad one in Morality * We ought not to make those our Enemies who being better known we may be glad to have in the number of our Friends We ought to make choice of persons of such Honour for our Friends as if they shou'd ever cease to be so will not abuse our Confidence nor give us cause to fear 'em for Enemies * 'T is extremely pleasant to frequent our Friends when we do it from Inclination and Esteem but 't is painful and troublesome to cultivate Friendship out of Interest 'T is solliciting * 'T is more allowable to use Artiâ—ice to gain their affections whom we design to oblige than 't is to gain their favour from whom we have expectations of advantage * We do not pursue our Settlement in the World with the same eagerness that we do the frivolous things we fancy Our Imagination suggests to us a kind of Liberty in following our Whimseys and on the contrary a kind of Slavery in labouring how to make our fortune 'T is natural to desire it very much but to take little pains to procure it To think in short we deserve it without seeking for it * He that knows how to wait for what he desires takes the course not to be excessively griev'd if he chances to go without it He on the contrary who desires a thing too impatiently thinks the success when it comes cannot recompence him for all the pains he has been at about it * There are those People who so ardently and passionately desire a thing that for fear they shall lose it they leave nothing undone that may surely make 'em lose it * Those things which are most desir'd either never are attain'd or are attain'd with so much difficulty after so many delays and attended with such circumstances as quite spoil the enjoyment of ' em * We must laugh before we are happy or else we may die before we have cause to laugh * If we cannot be accounted to live but at such times as we enjoy our selves I 'm afraid Life will be found to be very short since if wâ— were only to reckon the hours which we pass agreeably a great number of years wou'd not make up a Life of a few months * How difficult is it to be perfectly satisfy'd with any one 'T is imppssâ—ble to suppress all sense of joy when we behold the ruine of a bad man Then it is that we enjoy the fruit of our hatred and that pleasure is all the satisfaction we we can expect His Death happens at last but then 't is at such a conjuncture perhaps that our Interests will not permit us to rejoyce for which he dies either too soon or too late * It goes to the Heart of a haughty and proud Man to forgive one that has taken him in a fault and whom he knows has reason on his side His Pride is never satisfy'd till he has regain'd the Advantage he has lost and made the other acknowledge himself in the wrong Just in the same manner as we grow more and more endearing to the persons that oblige us so do we more and more violently hate those whom we have extreamly offended * 'T is as difficult to stifle the Resentment of an Injury at first as 't is to preserve it for a great many years * 'T is Weakness which makes us hate an Enemy and seâ—k Revenge and 't is Laziness that pacifies us and makes us not to prosecute it * It proceeds from Laziness as much as from Weakness that we suffer our selves to be Rul'd and Manag'd There 's no thinking of managing a man all at once and without some preparation in an affair which perhaps may be of the last importance to him or his He wou'd feel you then presently and the Ascendant you design'd to gain over him and wou'd throw off the yoak for Shame No let
trys all tasts all no hands are seen on the Table but his he turns about the Dishes manages the Meat tears it to pieces and if the Guests will dine it must be on his leavings He never spares any of his nasty customs enough to spoyl the stomachs of such as are most hungry You see the Gravy and the Sauce run over his Beard and Chin if he takes part of a Ragou out of a Dish he spills it by the way on other Dishes on the Cloath and you may distinguish his Plate by the tracts he makes to it he eats with a great deal of bustle and noise rouls his eyes and uses the Table as if it were a Manger picks his teeth and continues eating he thinks himself always at home and behaves himself at a Play as if he were in his Bed-chamber when he rides in the Coach it must be always forward he grows pale and swoons if he 's set backward when he travels he gets first to the Inn chuses the best Chamber and Bed for himself His own and other mens Servants run about his occasions baggage and equipage every thing is his he lays his hands on he troubles every one troubles himself for none pities none knows no evils but his own his Spleen and Choler weeps for no body's death and fears no body's but his own and to save himself would willingly consent to the extirpation of mankind * Cliton never had but two things to do in his life to dine at noon and sup at night he seem'd only born for digestion his whole life was but one entertainment he was always talking of the Courses which were serv'd up at his last Meal how many Soupes there were what sort what Roast-meat what dainties and he never forgot the Dishes that made the first Course he remember'd the several Fruits and different kinds of Sweetmeats all the Wines and every sort of Liquor that was drank he was perfectly well verst in the language of the Kitchin and 't would have been difficult to have din'd at a good Table where he was not known he had however a certain Palace which he seldom chang'd and was never expos'd to the dismal inconveniency of making a bad Dinner eating a bad Ragou or drinking indifferent Wine He was in short a person admirable in his way he brought the art of feeding one self well to the highest perfection and 't is to be fear'd we shall never see his fellow who will eat so much and so nicely as hâ— did he was the judge of good Bits and it had been criminal to like any which he did not approve But he is no more he was to the last gasp born to the Table he eat in his last minutes he eats where ever he is and should he rise again from the Grave 't wou'd be only to eat * Ruffinus begins to turn grey but he 's healthy his Colour and his quick Eye promise him at least twenty years more He is gay jolly familiar and indifferent he laughs heartily aloudâ— and fears nothing he is content with himself and what belongs to him he 's satisfy'd with his little fortune and calls himself happy Some time since his only Son dy'd who was the hopes of the Family and might have been its honour he resign'd his tears to others he said My Son is dead 't will be the death of his Mother and was comforted He has no passions no friends nor enemies no body troubles him all the world agrees with him every thing suits him he talks to those he never saw before with the same liberty and confidence as to those he calls his old friends he tells them presently all his Stories and Puns He is accosted forsaken he takes no notice on 't but the tale he begun to one person he finishes to another that comes afrer him * N .... is less worn out with age than disease the poor Gentleman is but threescore and eight but alas he has the Gout and the Gravel looks meagre and has all the symptoms of decay he marles his Lands and reckons that he must not dung 'em this fifteen years he plants a young Wood and hopes that in less than twenty years 't will be a good shade for him He builds him a Stone House makes its corners firm with Iron plates and assures you coughing in a weak languishing tone that he shall never see the end on 't He walks into his Laboratory supported by his Valets he shews his friends what he has doneâ— and tells them what he desâ—gns to do He does not build for his Children for he has none nor for his Heirs they are mean persons and he long since quarrelled with them 'T is for himself only who must expire to morrow * Antagoras has a trivial and popular Phiz 'T is as well known to the Mob as the Gyants at Guild-hall Every morning he runs up and down the Courts of Justice and every evening walks the Streets and Squares as if he had every where a Cause on foot He has been a Pettyfogger these 40 years always nearer the end of his life than his business There has not been a troublesome Suit depending since he put on the Gown but he has had a hand in 't His name becomes the Sollicitors mouth and agrees as well with Plaintiff and Defendant as the substantive with the adjective He 's every bodyâ—s Kinsman and every one's Enemy There 's scarce a Family but has some quarrel with him or he with them He is perpetually in Commissions of Bankrupt and Statutes always putting Judgments in Execution and scattering Writs He finds some leisure minutes for a few private visits where he talks of Briefs Tryals and false News You leave him one hour at one end of the Town and find him the next at another If perhaps he has been there before you you 'll hear of him by the lyes he has left behind him His fellow Lawyers meet him frequently at a Judge's Chamber where his affairs must be first expedited or neither they nor the Judge will have any peace with him * Men live a great while opposing some and injuring others and dye at last worn out with age after having causâ—d as many evils as they suffer'd * There must I confess be Judgments Seizures Prison and Executions But Justice and Law apart 't is always strange to me when I consider with what violence and fury men act towards one another * We meet with certain wild Animals male and female spread over the Country They are black and tann'd united to the Earth which they are always digging and turning up and down with an unweary'd resolution They have something like an articulate voice when they stand on their feet they discover a manlike face and indeed are men at night they retire into their Burries where they live on black Bread Water and Raysons They spare other men the trouble of sowing labouring and reaping for their maintainance and deserve one would think that
their Reputation if they pretend to it why should not I scorn them It is an happy thing to be a Philosopher but a very unhappy thing to wear that Character to give him that stile is an affront till the suffrage of most men declare him so and in restoring to that August name its proper Idea you attribute to him all due esteem * There is a Philosophy which raises us above Ambition and Fortune that equals us to what shall I say places us above the Rich the Great and the Powerful that prompts us to contemn preferments and those that procure them that exempts us from the fatiguâ— of cringing petitioning and importunate solicitations and even prevents those excessive transports of Joy which are the usual companions of great promotions There is another Philosophy which disposes and subjects us to all these things for the sake of our Neighbours and Friends This is the better of the two * It will shorten and rid us of a thousand tedious discussions to take it for granted that some persons are not capable of talking well and to condemn all that they have do or will say * We only approve of others for the resemblance we imagin they bear to our selves and so it seems to esteem any one is to equal him to our selves * The same vices which are deformed and insupportable in others we don't feel in our selves they are not burthensom to us but seem to rest without weight as in their proper centers Such an one speaking of another draws a dismal Picture of him not in the least imagining that at the same time he is Painting himself There is nothing would make us correct our own faults so readily as to be able to observe them in others 't is at this just distance that they appear what they are and raise in us an indignation equal to their demerit Wise conduct turns upon two Centers the past and the future he that hath a faithful memory and a vast foresight is out of danger of censuring in others those faults he may have been guilty of himself or condemning an action which in a parallel case and in like circustances it will be impossible for him to avoid * The Souldier and the Politician like cunning Gamesters trust nothing to chanceâ— but they advise they prepare themselves and seem ready to determine they don't only know what the Fool and the Coward are ignorant of I mean to make use of the first opportunity but by their measures and precaution they know how to serve themselves of this or that accident or of several of them together If this happens they get by it if that comes to pass they also get by it and the same accident is advantageous several different ways These wise men ought to be commended for their good fortune as well as wise conduct and chance ought to be recompenc'd as vertue in them * I place nothing above a great Polititian but he that despises him and is more and more perswaded that the World does not deserve his thoughts * There is in the best Counsels something that displeases 't is not our own thought and therefore presumption and caprice furnish pretences enough to reject it at first sight and reflection only forces its reception * What surprizing success accompanies some Favourites during the whole course of their lives what better fortune could support them without interruption without the least disgrace They have the first Posts the Princes Ear vast Treasures a perfect Health and an easie Death but what a strange account have they to give for their past life for the Counsels they have given for those they have neglected to give or follow for the good deeds they have not done and on the contrary for the evil ones they have done either by themselves or others in a word for all their Prosperity We gain by our Death the praises of our Survivors frequently without any other merit than that of ceasing to be the same Elogies serve at present for Cato and Piso. The Report runs that Piso is dead 't is a a great loss he was a good Man and deserv'd a longer life he was an agreeable Man had Wit Resolution and Courage he was Generous and Trusty Add only that he 's dead * That we cry up those that distinguish themselves by their honesty disinterest and probity is not so much their Elogy as a disgrace to the rest of mankind * Such an one relieves the necessitous who neglects his own Family and leaves his Son a beggar another builds a new House tho' he has not paid for the Lead of that which was finishâ—d ten years before a third makes presents and largesses and ruins his Creditors I would fain know whether Pity Liberality and Magnificence can be the Vertues of an unjust Man or whether Humour and Vanity are not rather the causes of this Injustjce * Dispatch is an essential Circumstance of that Justice we owe to others to occasion attendance is unjust The first do well they do what they ought but to say of him that in all his management protracts time that he does well is to do very ill * 'T is said of a great Man who had two set meals a day and spent the rest of his time to cause digestion that he dyed of hunger to say that he is not rich or that his affairs are in ill Circumstances this is figurative it might be more literally said of his Creditors * The Honesty Respect and Politeness of those advanced in years give me a good opinion of what we call Antient time * 'T is an over-confidence in Parents to have too great Expectation from the good Education of their Children and a great Error to expect nothing and neglect it * Were it true what several affirm that Education doth not change the Soul and Constitution and that the alterations that it makes were not substantial but meerly superficial I would yet forbear saying that it would be unprofitable * He that speaks little is sure of advantage 't is presum'd he has Wit and if indeed he does not want it 't is presum'd he is Excellent * To think only of our selves and the present time is the source of Error in Politicks * The greatest misfortune next to that of being Convicted of a Crime is often that of being able to justify our selves such a proceeding discharges and acquits us tho we still remain Criminal in the mouths of the People * A Man is just to some practical rules of Religion we see him nicely observe them no Man commends or discommends him he is not thought of another reclaims after ten Years neglect of all Religious duties he is cried up and applauded for it every Mans judgment is free for my part I blame his long forgetfulness of his duty and think him happy in his Reformation * The Flatterer has too weak an opinion both of himself and others * Some persons are forgot in the distribution of Favours
her Daughter without any regard to her inclinations takes upon herself the charge of another Soul besides her own and â—tands bound for such a Soul of God himself That this Mother may escape eternal Death the Daughter must obtain eternal Life * A broken Gamester marries his Daughter and gives her all that he has left for her portion The youngest is upon making her self a Nun and all the Call she has is her Father's gaming * There has been virtuous healthy zealous Maids and who had a good and lawful Call but who wanted money to devote themselves to Poverty in a rich Abbey * That man is blinded by his passion and guilty of the highest piece of folly that marries Melita a pretty young virtuous and prudent woman who is of a saving temper and has as great a kindness for him as he has for her but less money than Acgina who is offerâ—d to him with an extraordinary good portion and extraordinary qualifications to squander it all away and his own estate along with it * Marrying formerly was a nice thing It was a settlement for life a serious piece of business and which deserv'd a great deal of consideration A man was formerly to take his wife for better for worse the same House the same Table and the same Bed were in common to 'em both he was to be a husband all his life time There was no coming off with a separate maintenance no reconciling of a wife and family with the outward appearance and the delights of a single life * Should a man be afraid of being seen with a woman that is not his Wife I should commend his modesty Were he loth to frequent the company of such persons whose reputation is not altogether untainted I should never wonder at him But what impertinent whimsey can make him blush at his own Wife What makes him be asham'd of being seen in publick with one whom he has chosen for an inseparable Companion one from whom he should expect all the satisfaction and delight that can be reap'd from human Society One whom he loves and admires who is his chief Ornament who credits him no less by her extraction than by her wit her merit her extraordinary virtue And why did he not begin by blushing at his marriage * I am not unacquainted with the prevailing power of Custom with its ruling over the minds of men its tyrannizing over their manners even without ground or reasonâ— yet I should have impudence enough to walk openly in the Maill and to let who will see me there with one that was my Wife * A young man deserves no blame for marrying an old woman He rather shews his prudence in preventing a greater evil The disparagement lies in misusing of ones Benefactriss and in using her so as to let her perceive that she has been imposâ—d upon by a hypocritical and an ungrateful man If any fiction be excusable it is that of friendship And if deceit be allowable it is on such an occasion as would make sincerity a a piece of cruelty Ay but she lives longer than was expected Had you then computed the time she was to live to be no longer than just what would suffice for her to sign the Deed that clears your debts and raises your fortune And as soon as this great work is done is she to breathe no longer Is a dose of Opium a necessary thing for her Is it a crime in her to live And if you should dye before her whose Funeral you had so well contriv'd and for whom you had design'd the finest Pall and the ringing of the biggest Bell in the Pari'sh must she be accountable for your disappointment * There is a method of improving ones Estate which for these many ages have been practicâ—d by some of the best of men and blam'd by some of the best Divines * The Commonwealth was ever burden'd with certain Offices which seem to have been erected with no other design than to enrich one man at the expence of many which cause a constant and a perpetual ebb in the Estates of private men and shall I say it from which any advantage is seldom or never reap'd Each of them is a Gulph a Sea that receives the waters of many Rivers but parts with none at least disgoâ—ges itself through secret and subterranean Conduits in an imperceptible manner and which lessens nothing of the extreme heighth to which it is swell'd 'T is a lake that never overflows but after it has enjoy'd those Waters long and when it can keep them no longer * Have you a piece of Silver That 's not sufficient No nor a piece of Gold neither 'T is a quantity that must do the business Add others to it if you can Improve 'em to a heap of many bags and leave the rest to me You have neither birth nor wit neither natural parts nor any experience of the world No matter only keep up your heap and I 'll place you so high that you shall stand on a level with your Master if you have one And he must be very eminent indeed if with the help of your increasing metal I raise you not even many degrees above him * Oranta has been at Law for these ten years about determining in what Court her Cause is to be heard Her pretensions are just of the highest consequence and on them depends all her fortune About five years hence she is like to know who her Judges are to be and at what Bar she is to plead during the remaining part of her life * That custom is receiv'd with applause which has introduced itself in our Courts of Judicature of interrupting the Council at the Bar in the middle of his discourse of hindering his being eloquent or witty of making him return to the matter of fact and confining him to the bare proofs on which his Client grounds his right and by which the justness of his cause may be demonstrated And so severe a practice which exposes an Orator to the regret of having left out the finest part of his discourse which banishes eloquence from its natural place and which is ready to fill our Courts with mutes This practice I say is authorizâ—d by a substantial reason against which there is no exception And that is the dispatch of business I could wish this reason was less forgot elsewhere that it were as much regarded in all Offices belonging to each respective Court as it is in the Court itself That our Lawyers were obliged to aim at a conclusion in their writing as they are in their speaking * The Duty of a Judge consists in the administration of Justice and his Trade in delaying it Some Judges understand their duty and follow their Trade * Whoever becomes a sollicitor to his Judge shews him no respect at all He questions his understanding or his honesty he endeavours to give him a prejudice against his Adversary or else he desires of him a downright