beautiful woman extremely witty. Even Madam de Staël admits that she discovered, that as she grew old, the men could not find out that wit in her at fifty, which she possessed at twenty-five; and yet the external attractions of this lady were by no means equal to those of her mind. Wits. GREAT wits, who pervert their talents to sap the foundation of morality, have to answer for all the evil that lesser wits may accomplish through their means, even to the end of time: a heavy load of responsibility, where the mind is still alive to do mischief, when the hand it animated is dust. Men of talent may make a breach in morality, at which men of none may enter, as a citadel may be carried by muskets after a road has been battered out for them by cannon. Woman. 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 approbation 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, she will pursue not the advice, but the adviser, certainly with scorn, probably with vengeance. Women. WOMEN generally consider consequences in love, seldom in resentment. World, Contemners of the. THERE are many that despise half the world; but if there be any that despise the whole of it, it is because the other half despises them. Worldly Difficulties. THIS world cannot explain its own difficulties without the assistance of another. Worldly Goods. WITH respect to the goods of this world, it might be said, that parsons are preaching for them; that lawyers are pleading for them; that physicians are prescribing for them; that authors are writing for them; that soldiers are fighting for them; but that true philosophers alone are enjoying them. Worldly Sagacity. A MAN who knows the world will not only make the most of every thing he does know, but of many things he does not know, and will gain more credit by his adroit mode of hiding his ignorance, than the pedant by his awkward attempt to exhibit his erudition. In Scotland, the "jus et norma loquendi" has made it the fashion to pronounce the law term curător curător. Lord Mansfield gravely corrected a certain Scotch barrister when in court, reprehending what appeared to English usage a false quantity, by repeating, "Curator, Sir, if you please. The barrister immediately replied, "I am happy to be corrected by so great an orator as your lordship." Worldly Treasures. It would be most lamentable if the good things of this world were rendered either more valuable, or more lasting; for, despicable as they already are, too many are found eager to purchase them, even at the price of their souls.* That the wicked prosper in the world, that they come into no misfortune like other folk, neither are they plagued like other men, is a doctrine that divines should not broach too frequently in the present day. For there are some so completely absorbed in present things, that they would gladly subscribe to that blind and blasphemous wish of the Marshal and Duke of Biron, who, on hearing an ecclesiastic observe, that "those whom God had forsaken and deserted as incorrigible, were permitted their full swing of worldly pleasures, the gratification of all their passions, and a long life of sensuality, affluence, and indulgence," immediately replied, that he should be most happy to be so forsaken. Youth. THE excesses of our youth are drafts upon our old age, payable with interest about thirty years after date. Youth and Age. THE young fancy that their follies are mistaken by the old for happiness; and the old fancy that their gravity is mistaken by the young for wisdom. And yet each are wrong in supposing this of the other. The misapprehension is mutual; but I shall not attempt to set either of them right, because their respective error is reciprocally consolatory* to both. I would not be so severe on the old as the lively Frenchman who said, that "if they were fond of giving good advice, it was only because they were no longer able to set a bad example." But for their own sake, no less than that of others, I would recommend cheerfulness to the old, in the room of austerity, knowing that heaviness is much more often synonymous with ignorance, than gravity with wisdom. Cheerfulness ought to be the viaticum vitæ of their life to the old; age without cheerfulness is a Lapland winter without a sun; and this spirit of cheerfulness should be encouraged in our youth, if we would wish to have the benefit of it in our old age. Time will make a generous wine more mellow, but it will turn that which is early on the fret to vinegar. LET us so employ our youth that the very old age which will deprive us of attention from the eyes of the women, shall enable us to replace what we have lost with something better from the ears of the men. WE devote the activity of our youth to revelry, and the decrepitude of our age to repentance; and we finish the farce by bequeathing our dead bodies to the chancel, which when living we interdicted from the church. "Pol, me occidistis, amici, Non servâstis, ait; cui sic extorta voluptas, 344 MANY THINGS IN FEW WORDS. Youth, Age, and Manhood. WHEN young, we trust ourselves too much; and we trust others too little, when old. Rashness is the error of youth; timid caution, of age. Manhood is the isthmus between the two extremes; the ripe and fertile season of action, when alone we can hope to find the head to contrive united with the hand to execute. Zeal without Knowledge. IF a cause be good, the most violent attack of its enemies will not injure it so much as an injudicious defence of it by its friends. Theodoret and others, who gravely defend the monkish miracles, and the luminous cross of Constantine, by their zeal without knowledge, and devotion without discretion, have hurt the cause of Christianity more by such friendship, than the apostate Julian by his hostility, notwithstanding all the wit and vigour with which it was conducted. |