willingly insert it into the creed. Thou shalt kill, and thou shalt commit adultery, would be very conveniently supported, by, "I do not believe in God." But are we to burn a man for so absurd a doctrine? Yes, says the zealot, for fear of his making proselytes. That he will attempt to make proselytes I admit, even to a system so fatherless, so forlorn, and so gloomy; and he will attempt it, on the same principle which causes little children to cry at night for a bedfellow, he is afraid of being left alone in the dark ! But to grant that he will be successful in his attempt to convert others, would be to grant that he has some reason on his side; and we have yet to learn that reason can be consumed by fire, or overwhelmed by force. We will burn him then for the sake of example. But his example, like his doctrine, is so absurd, that, let him alone, and none will follow it. But by burning him, you yourselves have set a most horrid example; which the innumerable champions of bigotry and of fanaticism have followed, and will follow whenever and wherever they have power to do so. By burning an atheist, you have lént importance to that which was absurd, interest to that which was forbidding, light to that which was the essence of darkness. For atheism is a system which can communicate neither warmth nor illumination, except from those faggots which your mistaken zeal has lighted up for its destruction.

LX.

THERE are some who affect a want of affectation, and flatter themselves that they are above flattery; they are proud of being thought extremely humble, and would go round the world to punish those who thought them capable of revenge; they are so satisfied of the suavity of their own temper, that they would quarrel with their dearest benefactor only for doubting it. And yet so very blind are all their acquaintance, to these their numerous qualifica

tions and merits, that the possessors of them invariably discover, when it is too late, that they have lived in the world without a single friend, and are about to leave it, without a single mourner.

LXI.

THEY that are in power should be extremely cautious to commit the execution of their plans, not only to those who are able, but to those who are willing; as servants and instruments it is their duty to do their best, but their employers are never so sure of them, as when their duty is also their pleasure. To commit the execution of a purpose, to one who disapproves of the plan of it, is to employ but one third of the man; his heart and his head are against you, you have commanded only his hands.

LXII.

IT is far more safe to lower any pretensions that a woman may aspire to, on the score of her virtue, than those dearer ones which she may foster on the side of her vanity. Tell her that she is not in the exact road to gain the ap probation of angels, and she may not only hear you with patience, but may even follow your advice; but should you venture to hint to her, that she is equally unsuccessful in all her methods to gain the approbation of men, and she will pursue not the advice, but the adviser, certainly with scorn, probably with vengeance.

LXIII.

THERE is a certain constitution of mind, which, of all others, is the most likely to make our fortunes, if combined with talent, or to mar them, without it;-for the

errors of such minds are few, but fatal. I allude to those characters, who have a kind of mathematical decision about them, which dictates that a straight line is the shortest distance between any two points, and that small bodies with velocity, have a greater momentum than large masses without it. Thus they would rather use a cannon ball, than a battering ram. With such minds to resolve and to act is instantaneous; they seem to precede the march of time; to foresee events, in the chrysalis of their causes ; and to seize that moment for execution, which others waste in deliberation. Cromwell had much of this decision in the camp, but in the church, hypocrisy asserted her dominion, and sometimes neutralized his moral courage, never his physical; for he always fought, with more sincerity than he prayed. Cardinal de Retz carried this energy and promptitude into every department of his career: the church, the camp, the council, and the court; but, like Charles the XIIth, he had always more sail than ballast, and after the most hair-breadth escapes, was shipwrecked at last. Napoleon had more of this promptitude of decision, than any other character, ancient or modern. Even his ablest generals were often overwhelmed with astonishment at the result of his simultaneities. Kleber designated him, as a chief, who had two faults, that of advancing, without considering how he should retreat; - and of seizing, without considering how he should retain. It was absolutely necessary for such a man to 66 wear his heart in his head," for he invariably sacrificed blood to time, and means to the end. If the wrong path happened to be the shortest, that made it the right; and he

Cromwell is thus described by his confidential physician George Bate: A perfect master of all the arts of simulation, and of dissimulation; who, turning up the whites of his eyes, and seeking the Lord with pious gestures, will weep and pray, and cant most devoutly, till an opportunity offers of dealing his dupe a knock-down blow under the short ribs."

anticipated an acquittal, by securing a conquest. He invaded France with sixty men, and for a time succeeded; but this desperate measure would not have been necessary, if the same promptitude of action which caused this latter attempt to succeed, had not most miserably failed on a former one. He had said, "Let war feed war;" it did so, and Russia spread her table-cloth of snow, to receive the fragments of the feast. But all this energy, and all this talent, were clouded by a total want of principle; he knew that he had none nimself, and here he was always right; but he concluded that all others had none, and here he was often wrong. On a more confined stage, and in a smaller sphere, few have combined more talent with more decision, than Lord Thurlow. Nature seems to have given him a head of chrystal, and nerves of brass. I shall quote his reply to a deputation from the dissenters, as highly characteristic of the man. They had waited on him by appointment, to request that he would give them his vote for the repeal of the test act. They were shewn into the library, where a plentiful collation had been prepared. They thought themselves sure of success, but they reckoned without their host, who at length made his appearance. He listened to a long harangue with much patience; when it was finished, he rose up, and addressed them, "Gentlemen, you have called on me to request my vote for the repeal of the test act. Gentlemen, I shall not vote for the repeal of the test act. I care not whether your religion has the ascendancy, or mine, or any, or none; but this I know, that when you were uppermost, you kept us down, and now that we are uppermost, with God's help, we will keep you down."

LXIV.

IN pulpit eloquence, the grand difficulty lies here; to give the subject all the dignity it so fully deserves, with

out attaching any importance to ourselves. The Christian messenger cannot think too highly of his prince, nor too humbly of himself. This is that secret art which captivates and improves an audience, and which all who see, will fancy they could imitate, while most who try, will fail.

"Speret idem, sudet multum, frustraque laboret,
"Ausus idem."

LXV.

THE most disinterested of all gifts, are those which kings bestow on undeserving favourites; first, because they are purely at the expense of the donor's character; and secondly, because they are sure to be repaid with ingratitude. In fact, honours and titles so conferred, or rather so misplaced, dishonour the giver, without exalting the receiver; they are a splendid sign, to a wretched inn; an illuminated frontispiece, to a contemptible missal; a lofty arch, overshadowing a gutter. Court minions lifted up from obscurity by their vices, and splendid, only because they reflect the rays of royal munificence, may be compared to those fogs, which the sun raises up from a swamp, merely to obscure the beams, which were the cause of their elevation.

LXVI.

SOME men who know that they are great, are so very haughty withal and insufferable, that their acquaintance discover their greatness, only by the tax of humility, which they are obliged to pay, as the price of their friendship. Such characters are as tiresome and disgusting in the journey of life, as rugged roads are to the weary traveller, which he discovers to be turnpikes, only by the toll.