VIII.

THE inequalities of life are real things, they can neither be explained away, nor done away; "Expellas furcâ tamen usque recurrent." A leveller therefore has long ago been set down as a ridiculous and chimerical being, who, if he could finish his work to-day, would have to begin it again to-morrow. The things that constitute these real inequalities, are four, strength, talent, riches, and rank. The two former would constitute inequalities in the rudest state of nature; the two latter more properly belong to a state of society more or less civilized and refined. Perhaps the whole four are all ultimately resolvible into power. But in the just appreciation of this power, men are too apt to be deceived. Nothing, for instance, is more common than to see rank or riches preferred to talent, and yet nothing is more absurd. That talent is of a much higher order of power, than riches, might be proved in various ways; being so much more indeprivable, and indestructible, so much more above all accident of change, and all confusion of chance. But the peculiar superiority of talent over riches, may be best discovered from hence-That the influence of talent will always be the greatest in that government which is the most pure; while the influence of riches will always be the greatest in that government which is most corrupt. So that from the preponderance of talent, we may always infer the soundness and vigour of the commonwealth ; but from the preponderance of riches, its dotage and degeneration. That talent confers an inequality of a much higher order than rank, would appear from various views of the subject, and most particularly from this-many a man may justly thank his talent for his rank, but no has ever yet been able to return the compliment, by thanking his rank, for his talent. When Leonardo da Vinci died, his sovereign exclaimed, "I can make a thousand lords, but not one Leonardo." Cicero observed to a de

generate patrician, "I am the first of my family, but you are the last of your's." And since his time, those who value themselves merely on their ancestry, have been compared to potatoes, all that is good of them is under the ground; perhaps it is but fair that nobility should have descended to them, since they never could have raised themselves to it.

IX.

AN upright minister asks, what recommends a man ; a corrupt minister who.

X.

THE first consideration with a knave, is how to help himself, and the second, how to do it, with an appearance of helping you. Dionysius the tyrant, stripped the statue of Jupiter Olympius, of a robe of massy gold, and substituted a cloak of wool, saying, gold is too cold in winter, and too heavy in summer ;-It behoves us to take care of Jupiter.

XI.

IF hypocrites go to hell by the road to heaven, we may carry on the metaphor, and add, that as all the virtues demand their respective tolls, the hypocrite has a bye-way to avoid them, and to get into the main road again. And all would be well, if he could escape the last turnpike in the journey of life, where all must pay, where there is no byepath, and where the toll is death.

In great matters of public moment, where both parties are at a stand, and both are punctilious, slight condescensions cost little, but are worth much. He that yields them is wise, in as much as he purchases guineas with farthings,

A few drops of oil will set the political machine at work, when a tun of vinegar would only corrode the wheels, and canker the movements.

XIII.

WERE we as eloquent as angels, yet should we please some men, some women, and some children much more by listening, than by talking.

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XIV.

WHEN Mahomet forbids his followers the use of wine, when the grand Sultan discourages learning, and when the Pope denies the scriptures to the laity, what are we to infer from hence? not the danger of the things forbidden, but the fears of those that forbid. Mahomet knew that his was faith strictly military, and to be propagated by the sword he also knew that nothing is so destructive of discipline as The grand wine; therefore Mahomet interdicted wine. Sultan knows that despotism is founded on the blindness and weakness of the governed; but that learning is light and power; and that the powerful and the enlightened make very troublesome slaves; therefore the Sultan discourages learning. Leo the Xth knew that the pontifical hie rarchy did support, and was reciprocally supported by a superstition that was false; but he also knew that the scriptures are true, and that truth and falsehood assimilate not; therefore, Leo withheld the scriptures from the laity.

XV.

A WISE minister would rather preserve peace, than gain a victory; because he knows that, even the most success. ful war leaves nations generally more poor, always more profligate than it found them. There are real evils that cannot be brought into a list of indemnities, and the demora

lizing influence of war is not the least of them. The triumphs of truth are the most glorious, chiefly because they are the most bloodless of all victories, deriving their highest lustre, from the number of the saved, not of the slain.

XVI.

THE great examples of Bacon, of Milton, of Newton, of Locke, and of others, happen to be directly against the popular inference, that a certain wildness of eccentricity and thoughtlessness of conduct, are the necessary accompaniments of talent, and the sure indications of genius. Because some have united these extravagancies with great demonstrations of talent, as a Rousseau, a Chatterton, a Savage, a Burns, or a Byron, others, finding it less difficult to be eccentric, than to be brilliant, have therefore adopted the one, in the hope that the world would give them credit for the other. But the greatest genius is never so great, as when it is chastised and subdued by the highest reason; it is from such a combination, like that of Bucephalus, reined in by Alexander, that the most powerful efforts have been produced. And be it remembered, that minds of the very highest order, who have given an unrestrained course to their caprice, or to their passions, would have been so much higher, by subduing them; and that so far from presuming that the world would give them credit for talent, on the score of their aberrations and their extravagancies, all that they dared hope or expect has been, that the world would pardon and overlook those extravagancies, on account of the various and manifold proofs they were constantly exhibiting of superior acquirement and inspiration. We might also add, that the good effects of talent are universal, the evil of its blemishes confined. The light and heat of the sun benefit all, and are by all enjoyed; the spots on his surface are discoverable only to the few. But the

lower order of aspirers to fame and talent, have pursued a very different course; instead of exhibiting talent in the hope that the world would forgive their eccentricities, they have exhibited only their eccentricities, in the hope that the world would give them credit for talent.

XVII.

THE enthusiast has been compared to a man walking in a fog; every thing immediately around him, or in contact with him, appears sufficiently clear and luminous ; but beyond the little circle of which he himself is the centre, all is mist, and error and confusion. But he himself is nevertheless as much in the fog as his neighbours, all of whom have also cantoned out their little Goshens of perspicacity. Total freedom from error is what none of us will allow to our reighbours, however we may be inclined to flirt a little with such spotless perfection ourselves. Sir Richard Steele has observed, that there is this difference between the church of Rome and the church of England; the one professes to be infallible- -the other to be never in the wrong. Such high pretensions are extremely awkward wherever the points of difference happen to be more numerous than those of agreement. A safer mode of proceeding would be to propose with diffidence, to conjecture with freedom, to examine with candour, and to dissent with civility; in rebus necessariis sit unitas; in non necessariis liberalitas; in omnibus, charitas. This ought to teach all enthusiasts moderation, many of whom begin to make converts from motives of charity, but continue to do so from motives of pride; like some rivers which are sweet at their source but bitter at their mouth. The fact is, that charity is contented with exhortation and example, but pride is not to be so easily satisfied. An enthusiast, therefore, ought above all things to guard agains: this error, arising from a mor