essences, as it were, of which honourable ambition is composed and maintained. It is, however, true, that men are, from their inconstancy*, more capable of obtaining their ends by vigorous efforts, than by long perseverance.

Patience under privation is a divine quality. Disappointment is a melancholy tutor; but frequent disappointment is the parent of patience. Hence we bear those pains best to which we have been most accustomed. Hence it arises that some sustain mental pains better than bodily ones; and others bodily pains better than those of the mind. But that, in general, bodily pain is the less easy to bear, is proved by the circumstance, that, before a mental pain can be felt at all, a great bodily one must be relieved. As to misfortune, it has this one excellence :

'He cannot be esteemed a perfect man,

Who is not tried, and tutor'd in the world:'

and no one can be so, who has not been subject, not only to a few misfortunes, but a multitude. This is one commanding reason why the rich and the great are, for the most part, so heartless as they are.

LVII.

WHO CUT WEBS OF THEIR OWN SPINNING.

ABLE men do this every now and then, unknowingly. Clarendon is an example. He first advised an impolitic and unnecessary war with the Dutch; and, after many years of warfare, concluded it with making an equally disgraceful and impolitic peace.

* La Bruyère,

LVIII.

WHO CAN ADOPT WORDS TO OCCASIONS.

RICCIOLI Summed up the evidence, for and against, the Copernican system of philosophy; not according to the weight, but the quantity of arguments; and men frequently judge of deeds and motives after the same manner. Henry V. was a better king than he had been son or subject; his general characteristics were candour, affability, sincerity, clemency, courage, magnanimity, and a love of justice; all these qualities are strictly in accordance with a noble ambition. I shall not insist upon his vices; because they are better known as his virtues! I shall merely revert to his answer to the Cardinal des Ursins, who seeing how far his ambition was about to lead him, endeavoured to dissuade him from attempting to seize the throne of France. Do you not see, my good Lord Cardinal,' returned Henry, that God has led me hither, as it were, by the hand? France has no sovereign; and every thing is in the greatest state of confusion. No one even thinks of resisting me in any way. Can 'I have a more evident proof that the Being, who disposes of empires as pleases him most, has resolved on putting the crown upon my head ?' It was not possible to frame an answer more suited to the person to whom it was addressed; or more likely to have been effective with the general mass of society, at that particular time; perhaps even at the present.

.

Framing speeches for occasions is very useful and

exceedingly politic; but it is not pleasing to be flattered by those, who, like courtiers and members at election balls, labour to say something agreeable to every one in company. We cannot, however, refrain from comparing such conduct, as it respects most people, to the laurel-leaved Canella, which is so exceedingly aromatic, when it blossoms, that it perfumes the whole of its neighbourhood.

LIX.

THE OBSEQUIOUS AND TREACHEROUS.

An obsequious man is, generally, a treacherous one : a position we may illustrate, from a thousand, by referring to the example of William, second Earl of Salisbury. This nobleman was descended from strict and honourable parents; yet he bore so little affinity to them in conduct, in sentiment, or in manners, that Lord Clarendon assures us, that when he was admitted into the council, he was so obsequious to whatever King Charles proposed, that he not only voted, but acted, in a manner the most likely to please him and his ministers, even to the extremity of rigour. But, when the tide of affairs began to turn, he turned too; and concurred in every measure proposed against both. Yet he accompanied his majesty to York; where, for some time, he coincided with all his councils; but, receiving some adverse intelligence, he fled from the town on horseback; and having relays on the road, reached London in safety, where he finished his career of obsequiousness by assisting to carry on the war against his unfortunate master-he to whom he had sworn a thousand oaths of fidelity!

LX.

WHO SPLIT STRAWS.

The posi

SOME men's arguments are set forth so mildly, modestly, and good-humouredly, that, illogical as they may be, we admit them for the sake of the man. tions of others are, sometimes, thrust upon us with so much violence and dictatorial impertinence, that, unanswerable as they may be, we feel disposed to be at war with them, because our feelings are at war with those who utter them.

Sicut aquæ tremulum labris ubi lumen ahenis
Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine Luna,
Omnia pervolitat latè loca, jamque sub auras
Erigitur, summique ferit laquearia tecti.'

If there are some, who will give up an argument in a moment, rather than encounter the smallest opposition, others will argue for three hours, and quarrel for three years, for the nine hundred and ninety-ninth part of a gnat's toe! Lord Chesterfield says of Lord Bolingbroke, that though he received attentions of civility as obligations, and returned them as such, with interest, yet a difference of opinion, upon a philosophical subject, would prove him no practical philosopher at least ; but philosophy is more than a cheat if she will not allow us to put up with something more than mere differences in opinion.

*

I seldom think of those who split straws, but I remember Turner's picture of a Blacksmith's shop, in which a butcher is represented disputing the charge

* In the collection of Sir John Leicester.

for shoeing his pony. Hotspur was of this descrip

tion :

:

-I'll give thrice so much land

To any well-deserving friend:

But in the way of business, mark me well,
I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.'

LXI.

WHO WILL NOT BE LED.

SOME persons remind us of what has been said in regard to the style of Sir Thomas Browne :-' vigorous, ' but rugged; learned, but pedantic; deep, but obscure; ' it strikes, but does not please; it commands, but does ' not allure.'

Some are of such an easy and confiding nature, that their companions have the power to lead or draw them into any thing:

-'Alas! I'll wager with your wisdom,
His consorts drew him to it; for of himself
He is both virtuous, bashful, innocent.'

Chapman; All Fools, act v. sc. 1.

Just the reverse are those, who, if we would tame them, it is necessary to remember, that—

Those, that tame wild horses,

Pace them not in their hands to make them gentle;
But stop their mouths with stubborn bits, and spur them,
Till they obey the manage.'-Henry VIII. act. ii. sc. 2.