LIX.

Books.--Read not to contradict and confute, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly and with diligence and attention. Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man,and writing an exact man.— Lord Bacon.

LX.

Laws must not be inconsistent with Natural Justice.By a law to enact anything which is naturally unjust, is to enact that which is morally evil, and that which is opposite to those laws, by which it is manifestly the will of our Creator we should be governed; and to enact what is thus evil must be evil indeed. And to establish injustice must be utterly inconsistent with the general good and happiness of any society; unless to be unjustly treated, pilled, and abused, can be happiness. And if so, it is utterly inconsistent with the end of society; or, it is to deny that to be the end of it, which is the end of it.— Wollaston.

LXI.

Hypochondriacs.-Sick persons change their tempers, as the seat of the disease alters. And though men see daily instances of this, they do not reflect, but praise or blame the sick capriciously. Hence a miserable melancholic shall labour under a double disease; the internal one of his own bad feelings, and the external torment of hatred and reproach: for some people will not allow such a sufferer to have any disease at all; but contemptuously call it whim, vapours, sullenness, &c. Such a perverted judgment is cruel. We readily excuse paralytics from labour; and shall we be angry with an hypochondriac for

D

not being cheerful in company? Must we stigmatize such an unfortunate person as peevish, positive, and unfit for society? his disorder may no more suffer him to be merry, than the gout will suffer another to dance. The advising a melancholic to be cheerful is like bidding a coward be courageous, or a dwarf be taller.-Ibid.

LXII.

Ignorance the Cause of Error and Vice.-Few writers disclose the source of errors, so frequently committed to the hurt of society; nor seem to know that they chiefly arise from ignorance. People are hurried by shoals into vice, merely through ignorance and it is impossible for them to act right, till they are taught what is right and wrong in particulars. From ignorance it is, that men make false judgments one of another. Thus one man shall be praised for his patience, because he is not by nature prone to anger; and another be condemned for his warmth, because he happens to have much bile in his constitution.-The Reflector.

LXIII.

Ridiculous Gravity.—An assumed gravity may indeed, for a time, procure the reputation of sense; as a beggar in brocade may pass for a rich man. A reserved behaviour, arising from ignorance, often passes for wisdom; as many, by a stupid silence, have passed for learned. In the account of Moliere's life, we find that as he once crossed. the Seine, along with his company of comedians; a learned debate arose among the principal actors. In the heat of the dispute, they frequently appealed to a monk, who happened to be in the boat. The monk had a venerable aspect, and held his tongue; whence they thought, that by nodding his head, and wrinkling his brow, he either approved or disapproved of their arguments. This reserved gravity so heightened

their opinion, that they looked upon him as too acute a philosopher, to engage in the dispute. Their esteem continued till the boat landed, when they saw the monk take up his wallet, and throw it across his shoulders: by which they found he was only a lay brother, whose office is that of a carrier, to fetch in provisions for the cloister.—Ibid.

LXIV.

The Sanction of Great Names.-Great names have contributed to render customs venerable. It was a sufficient sanction to an ancient Greek or Roman, if a philosopher of his own sect had delivered an opinion upon the case. The like weakness has prevailed among Christians, with regard to the fathers, whose opinions have been looked upon as oracles, though we discover various errors in their morality. Clemens Alexandrinus holds the eating of white bread unlawful; forbids music and singing; declares that the wearing of different coloured clothes is a sign of falsehood, &c. Lactantius condemns all going to war, even for self defence; and does not allow of putting out money to interest.-Ibid.

LXV.

Religion. Every one has a right belonging to man, and a natural power to worship that which he shall think right; nor is any one injured or benefitted by the religion of another. Nor is it any part of religion to force religion, which ought to be taken up spontaneously, not by force. -Tertullian.

LXVI

The effect of Fear as a Moral Agent.-The fear of pu nishment may certainly produce sorrow and penitence. Strong apprehensions of future evil, coinciding with present distress, may force men into a change of conduct; and the satisfaction arising from the change may induce

them to persevere a sufficient time to prevent a relapse : but this is barely a possibility. Fear produces only temporary effects-it produces a species of sorrow, and occasions restraint, but never influences the inclination or habit. Three vices incident to ill-educated youth are, falsehood, intrigue, and dishonesty respecting property, and which may often be discovered to have arisen from the restraints of poverty, or the injudicious authority of parents and instructors. The power of the laws over poverty, or of austere parents and tutors over children, may impress fear or terror, without materially affecting the vicious dispositions which are gratified by deceit. The first practices of youth are the first efficient lessons of their education; their first sufferings inure their minds to pain and punishment; and they gradually improve in fortitude and callousness, until their virtues or vices be established in habits. This may account for the risks they run without apprehension, or the celerity with which they recover from circumstances of shame and humiliation. It is commonly observed, that the vices of lying, intrigue, and fraud, are incurable. We generally have recourse to power and terror, which are the sources of the evils; and if they do not frighten a man out of the vice, and deprive him of the inclination to return to it, they blunt his sensibility, improve his artifice, and secure him in its practice. Severity of punishment increases that meanness which is the origin of deceit, induces greater caution in future attempts, and occasions improvements in the secret practice of vice. The best effect ever produced by such means is the acquisition of outward decency in the operations of vice; the fear of pain or reproach having given them caution and dexterity in the practice of vice.-Anon.

LXVII.

Sympathy between the Mental and Physical Constitutions. The subjection of mental feelings to corporal in

fluences is a humiliating doctrine, but is nevertheless a sound one; the stomach is a more faithful barometer of the changes in human temperature than we are always disposed to admit.-Lucubrations of Maior Ravelin.

LXVIII.

Of Governments.—Reason and ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the great bulk of mankind. If either of these can be rendered sufficiently extensive in a country, the machinery of government goes easily on. Reason obeys itself, and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it. The two modes of government which prevail in the world, are, first, government by election and representation-secondly, government by hereditary succession. The former is generally known by the name of republic, and the second by that of monarchy or aristocracy -those two distinct and opposite forms, erect themselves on the two distinct and opposite bases of reason and ignorance. As the exercise of government requires talents, and as talents cannot have hereditary descent, it is evident that hereditary succession requires a belief from man to which his reason cannot subscribe, and which can only be established on his ignorance; and the more ignorant any country is, the better it is fitted for this species of government. On the contrary, government in a well regulated republic, requires no belief beyond what his own reason can give. He sees the rationale of the whole system, its origin, and its operation; and it is best supported when it is best understood.

LXIX.

Death.-Men fear death, as children fear the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased by frightful tales, so is the other. Groans, convulsions, weeping friends, and the like, show death terrible; yet there is no passion so weak but conquers the fear of it, and therefore