Intrigues of their Courts. It was his Character, That he had a large Memory for the Retaining, and a nice Judgment in the Digeftion of his Notions; and when deep Learning and Diversity of Abilities are added to fuch Advantages, what Expectations ought we not to entertain of the Genius and Productions of fuch a Man!

THE World has already had a Tafte of his Stile, as well as Impartiality, and Turn to Politicks, in his Printed Letters to the Earl of Arlington: The Author, whoever he were, that publifh'd thofe Preliminary Specimens of his Wit, happily let us know, That his Eays were much commended by judicious Perfons to whom he had Shewn them in his Life-time; that Sir Richard defign'd them for the Press, and that it was earnefly expected they wou'd ere long be tranfmitted hither for that purpose. Thefe Expectations are now almoft at an End, the Effays are just on the Point of Publication; and I pro.. fels my felf fo well a Wifher to Letters in general, that I fhall be fincerely pleas'd to fee the World embrace them with the fame Good-will and Approbation, as I have perufed them.

HI'S Effay on Company and Conversation is fo Excellent, that it takes in every Branch of the Subject, and feems to comprehend all we could wish to have faid an this Theme. His Directions for Carriage in Company, fpeaks him to have a perfect Skill in Nature, and may entertain the Reader with the Caft of his Thoughts and Clofenefs of his Reasoning.

FREEDOM, fays he, is the endearing Thing in · Society; and where that is controll'd, Men are not very fond of affociating themfelves. "Tis natural for us to be uneafy in the Presence of Those that affume an Authority over us; as Children care not for the Company of their Parents or Tutors that govern them: And Men will be careless of theirs, who wou'd make them Children, by Ufurping a Tutorage over them. This Peremptoriness in Converfation renders wife Men difobliging and very troublefom, and Fools ridiculous and contemptible; we feeing none fo Peremptory as half-witted People, who have juft Senfe enough to excite their Pride, but not so much as to cure their Ig

• norance.

norance. This is the Effect of a mean and impru⚫dent Education; a Man who hath convers'd only with the lower fort of Company, who durft not difpute or examine his Affertions, thinks the fame falfe Coin will pafs over the World, which went current among his petty Comrades. And we may obferve this Fault is most usual among young Men, who have come raw into Company, with good Fortunes and ill Breeding. And therefore thofe Perfons are most to be esteem'd, who fhew their Wit without offending any one; and 'fuch are usually hated, who make ufe of Wit only to, the Displeasure of others; and a wife Man ought to avoid the Company of fuch, it being a fmall Advantage to have Wit, if we do not make use of it for gaining the good Opinion and Love of the World. "We ought to deal with others, with that Patience, Refpect, and Moderation, which we expect from them; not fetting forth our own Opinion imperiously, nor rejecting the Opinion of others arrogantly; remembring that we all are enwrapp'd in a deep Mist, and that all our Reafoning is but groping in the Dark; and therefore we should pafs gently over ⚫the Errors of our Neighbours, to oblige them to the like Account: But many Gentlemen are fo far from this Generous Humour, that they always behave themselves difdainfully in Company, as if they could not fet a juft Value upon themselves, without the utmoft Contempt of others.

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L

Monday,

II.

N® 663. Monday, April 11.

I

E Calo defcendit.

-Γνώθι Σεαυτόν.

Juven.

Know nothing more worthy the Obfervation of a Man, than when we meet with the Example of a Charitable Compassionate Nature, in the Perfon of one of our Cotemporaries; and when I behold the good Chriftian, in the feveral Parts he acts, tending to the true difinterested Love of his Neighbour, it is a Thing I feat upon; having at that Time infuled into me a certain Noble Foy, too great to admit of a Companion; for even while it lafts, it is a kind of Manumission from the Frowns of Fortune.

ALUMNUS is, as I take it, a Man form'd for a Precedent, because he has not only chofen fo worthy a Part, on the Stage and Theatre of Life, but performs it truly, and fuitable to the real Virtue he poffeffes; his plentiful Fortune has enabled him to pursue this Glorious Tract, which his good Conduct always fupported, by a provident Management of his Affairs; and therein he capacitates himself to actuate in fuch a Manner, that the needy Wretch asks him not in vain, nor does the Modeft Poor One pine without his Help; he Clothes some, Comforts others, Educates the Orphan Child, Redeems the Prifoner; and many, who are oppreft, revive in the Shine of his Hofpitality: As the Spring Sun makes the Vegetables grow and profper, fo does the Sight of this good Man, in the Eyes of the Diftrefs'd, find Paffages to gladden the Heart, where Buds of Joy are seen to start at a Distance, when he appears, and Colour comes like Health upon the Face; the Honesty of this good Gentleman is a Theme crouded with all the various Qualifi

cations

cations that can confpire to perfect that worthy Character; even all thofe Steps, which the brightest Genius, infpired by a pious Intention, could advance, he is Mafter of, and conftantly puts in practice what the World thinks too hard for any Thing but Speculation.

HUMILITYFlook upon to be the Bafis, on which this God-like Pillar iserected,and that no other Ground is lufty enough to fuftain the Weight of fo Angelical a Crop This great Platform was made ufe of for a Pat tern in the Life of the Person of our Redeemer, and the Annals of his Holy Time are every where adorn'd with pure Humility; how willing the Generality of Mankind are to follow fo pious an Example, is not hard to fee, when we ftick a Mark of Infamy upon fuch Virtue, and stile the Humble and Meek, Mean and Ignoble: It is indeed want of weighing Things that makes our Nature grow to this Corruption, and the Hurry in which we follow one anothers Steps, carries us precipitately on to forc'd and guilty Pleafures; wholly preventing our Enquiry into thofe Happineffes which are laudable, and confequently real: It is impoffible, in my Imagination, to frame that Perfon in being, who is fo hardy to enjoy criminal Delights, and who could fay he never felt the flighteft Sting. Whoever believes fo much, I cannot; but I am of Opinion, that fuch People free themselves, in fome fort, that is, by an Agitation in varying with the Appetite, and changing from one Thing to another; they free themselves, if Delay may be called freeing i for furely when the continual Repetition brings paling Age along with it, 'tis then that the Worm begins to gnaw, and the poor Wretch fees through the right End of the Perfpective, views too late the deform'd Image of his paft Life, and the long Stage fhews him a fhocking Scene, a huge Theatre, where he himself is acting Shame and Folly in a thousand Shapes: Pride is ever repaid with fuch unwelcome Reflexions, whilft Humbleness fmiles, and fleeps fecure as Infants, and neither dreams of Merits nor Injuries. A little refolute Thinking pla ees Things in a true Light, and nothing dreffes Virtue in a frightful Shape but Idleness, whilft the Fear of being ferious is in reality the only Bugbear: Confideration makes it appear in the clearest and most evident Man

ner

ner, that the Ordinance of God is the Effect of that Almighty Love a kind Creator intended to his Creature ; for the Paths he has prefcrib'd to Man, in order to his future Blifs, is for our Happiness here on Earth; because it is to our Repose to govern our Paffions, to do good Offi ces to our Neighbour, to be patient under Sufferings, to be a Perfon of Integrity; and the whole Chriftian Rule is so true a Friend to human Nature, that it is good Receipt for Health, Content, and Harmony of Peace, and bids fair for a long Life to boot: On the contrary, what' is more vifible than those Vices from which we are prohibited by the Divine Law, when they are put in practice? How do they bring Heaps of Miseries with a long Chain of Sorrows link'd to one another, till the Burden grows intolerable, thro' the Weight of Gluttony, Diseases, Quarrels, Hatred, Revenge, and often Poverty, till the infirm Body, and the more infirm Mind, render us dreadful Companions, even to our felves?

THE celebrated Monfieur Pafcal, in his Thoughts upon the Mifery of Man, which was only a Fragment he left unfinished, gives us to understand, that the Repetition and Hurry of Bufinefs and Pleasure we impofe upon our felves, is to divert us from the ugly Profpect of Mortality and Mifery, and affures us there is but one way to render a Man supportable to himself. In one place he fays, I fpeak only of such who seek themfelves in this World, without any view of the next; ⚫ for certain it is, that Christian Religion has that Wonder in it, that it can reconcile a Man to himself, by reconciling him to God; that it can render the fight ' of a Man's felf fupportable, and make Solitude and Quiet ⚫ become more agreeable to many Perfons than the Hur6 ry and Commerce of the World! but it is not by fix⚫ing a Man within himself, that it produces these pre⚫vailous Effects; it is by the carrying him up to God, ⚫ and by the Comfort he has in the Mifery he feels from the Hope of another Life, that will give him an intire Deliverance.

IN another place, Hence it comes to pass that fo many People apply themselves to Gaming, Hunting, ⚫ and other Diverfions, which may take up their whole Mind; not that there is any real Happiness in what VOL. IX. G