O! from the dread immensity of space
Retuning, with accelerated course,
The rushing Comet to the sun descends:
And as he sinks below the shading earth,
With awful train projected o'er the heavens,
The guilty nations tremble.
Companionship. Greville.

OUR Companions please us less from the charms we

find in their conversation, than from those they find in ours.

THE

Companionship. — Lessing.

HE most agreeable of all Companions is a simple, frank man, without any high pretensions to an oppressive greatness; one who loves life, and understands the use of it; obliging, alike at all hours; above all, of a golden temper, and steadfast as an anchor. For such an one we gladly exchange the greatest genius, the most brilliant wit, the profoundest thinker.

Company.

Chesterfield.

No enough be some

man can possibly improve in any Company for

degree of restraint.

freer

Company. Lavater.

THE you feel yourself in the presence of another,

T

the more free is he.

AKE, rather than give, the tone of the Company you are in. If you have parts, you will show them, more or less, upon every subject; and if you have not, you had better talk sillily upon a subject of other people's than your own choosing.

TATURE has left every man

ΝΑ

a capacity of being agreeable, though not of shining in Company; and there are a hundred men sufficiently qualified for both who, by a very few faults, that they might correct in half an hour, are not so much as tolerable.

Comparison.

Tare great, because their associates are little.

Superiority of some men is merely local. They

HEN the Moon shone, we did not see the Candle.

W se doth the greater glory dim the less;

A Substitute shines brightly as a King,
Until a King be by; and then his state
Empties itself, as doth an inland Brook
Into the Main of Waters.

NOTW

OTWITHSTANDING man's essential Perfection is but very little, his comparative Perfection may be very considerable. If he looks upon himself in an abstracted light, he has not much to boast of; but if he considers himself with regard to others, he may find occasion of glorying, if not in his own virtues, at least in the absence of another's Imperfections. This gives a different turn to the reflections of the Wise Man and the Fool. The first endeavours to shine in himself, and the last to outshine others. The first is humbled by the sense of his own infirmities, the last is lifted up by the discovery of those which he observes in other men. The Wise Man considers what he wants, and the Fool what he abounds in. The Wise Man is happy when he gains his own approbation, and the Fool when he recommends himself to the applause of those about him.

Compliments. Chesterfield.

COMPLIMENTS of Congratulation are always kindly taken, and cost one nothing but pen, ink, and paper. I consider them as draughts upon Good Breeding, where the exchange is always greatly in favour of the drawer.

THE

HE great cause of that delight we receive from a fine Composition, whether it be in Prose or in Verse, I conceive to be this; the marvellous and magic power it confers upon the reader; enabling an inferior mind at one glance, and almost without an effort, to seize, to embrace, and to enjoy those remote Combinations of Wit, melting Harmonies of Sound, and vigorous Condensations of Sense, that cost a superior mind so much perseverance, labour, and time.

Conceit. Shakespeare.

CONCEIT in weakest bodies strongest works.

NONE

are so seldom found alone, and are so soon tired of their own company, as those Coxcombs who are on the best terms with themselves.

CONCEIT is na, but impairs what it would improve.

(ONCEIT is to nature what paint is to beauty; it is

IT is the part of a prudent man to conciliate the minds

of others, and to turn them to his own advantage.

GIVE every man thine ear, but few thy voice:
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment,

is not enough that you can form, nay, and follow, the

I most excellent Rules for Conducting yourself in the

world; you must also know when to deviate from them, and where lies the exception.

IF

we do not weigh and consider to what end this life is given us, and thereupon order and dispose it right, pretend what we will to the arithmetic, we do not, we cannot, so much as number our days in the narrowest and most limited signification.

AVE more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,

Lend less than thou owest,

Learn more than thou trowest,
Set less than thou throwest.

Conduct. — Epictetus.

UPON every fresh accident, turn your eyes inward and

examine how you are qualified to encounter it. If you see any very beautiful person, you will find Continence to oppose against the temptation. If labour and difficulty come in your way, you will find a remedy ir Hardiness and Resolution. If you lie under the obloquy of an ill tongue, Patience and Meekness are the proper fences against it.

EFECT of Manners, want of Government,

The least of which,

Loseth men's hearts; and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.

WILL govern my life, and my thoughts, as if the

other; for what does it signify, to make anything a secret to my neighbour, when to God (who is the searcher of our hearts) all our privacies are open?

ΑΙ

Conduct. — Fuller.

LL the while thou livest ill, thou hast the trouble, distraction, inconveniences of life, but not the sweets and true use of it.

AS

S in walking it is your great care not to run your foot upon a nail, or to tread awry, and strain your leg; so let it be in all the Affairs of Human Life, not to hurt your Mind, or offend your Judgment. And this rule, if observed carefully in all your deportment, will be a mighty security to you in your undertakings.

OBEY

BEY thy parents, keep thy word justly; swear not; commit not with man's sworn spouse; set not thy sweet heart on proud array. ... Keep thy foot out of brothels, thy pen from lenders' books.

I

SON of Heav'n and Earth,
Attend: that thou art happy, owe to God;
That thou continuest such, owe to thyself,
That is, to thy Obedience; therein stand.
Conduct. Joanna Baillie.

Take of worthy men whate'er they give:
Their Heart I gladly take, if not, their Hand;
If that too is withheld, a courteous Word,
Or the Civility of placid Looks.

F

WHE

HEN we are young, we are slavishly employed in procuring something whereby we may live comfortably when we grow old; and when we are old, we perceive it is too late to live as we proposed.

I

Is oft-times proof of Wisdom, when the fault
Is obstinate, and cure beyond our reach.

SELF-LOVE is not so vile a sin
As self-neglecting.

Conduct. Joanna Baillie.

WOULD, God knows, in a poor woodman's hut Have spent my peaceful days, and shar'd my crust With her who would have cheer'd me, rather far Than on this Throne; but being what I am,

I'll be it nobly.

Byron.
To what gulphs

A single deviation from the track

Of Human Duties leads even those who claim
The homage of mankind as their born due,
And find it, till they forfeit it themselves!

LOVE all, trust a few,

Do wrong to none; be able for thine Enemy
Rather in power, than use: and keep thy Friend
Under thy own life's key; be check'd for Silence,
But never taxed for Speech.

Deeds to thy Knowledge answerable, add Faith.
Add Virtue, Patience, Temperance, add Love,
By name to come call'd Charity, the soul
Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath

To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A Paradise within thee, happier far.