fears to be lost in a complicated system, may yet hope to adjust a few pages without perplexity; and if, when he turns over the repositories of his memory, he finds his collection too small for a volume, he may yet have enough to furnish an essay. Rambler, vol. 1.

Exercise.

Such is the constitution of man, that labour may be styled its own reward: nor will any external incitements be requisite, if it be considered how much happiness is gained, and how much misery escaped, by frequent and violent agitation of the body Ibid. vol. 2.

Exercise cannot secure us from that dissolution to which we are decreed; but, while the soul and body continue united, it can make the association pleasing, and give probable hopes that they shall be disjoined by an easy separation. It was a principle among the ancients, that acute diseases are from heaven, and chronical from ourselves: the dart of death, indeed, falls from Heaven; but we poison it by our own misconduct.

Ibid

Fame.

The true satisfaction which is to be drawn from the consciousness that we shall share the attention of future times, must arise from the hope, that, with our names, our virtues shall be propagated, and that those, whom we cannot benefit in our lives, may receive instruction from our example, and incitement from our renown.

Friendship.

Rambler, vol. 1.

So many qualities are necessary to the possibility of friendship, and so many accidents m st concur to its rise and its continuance, that the greatest part of mankind content themselves without it, and supply its place as they can with interest and dependence.

Ibid. vol. 2.

Many have talked in very exalted language of the perpetuity of friendship; of invincible constancy and unalienable kindness; and some examples have been seen of men who have continued faithful to their earliest choice, and whose affections have predominated over changes of fortune and contrariety of opinion. But these instances

are memorable because they are rare. The friendship which is to be practised or expected by common mortals, must take its rise from mutual pleasure, and must end when the power ceases of delighting each other. Idler, vol. 1.

When Mr. Addison was made secretary to the marquis of Wharton, then lord lieutenant of Ireland, he made a law to himself, never to remit his regular fees in civility to his friends. "For," said he, "I may have a hundred friends; and, if my fee be two guineas, I shall, by relinquishing my right, lose two hundred guineas, and no friend gain more than two; there is, therefore, no proportion between the good imparted and the evil suffered."

Life of Addison.

There are few who, in the wantonness of thoughtless mirth, or heat of transient resentment, do not sometimes speak of their friends and benefactors with levity and contempt, though, in their cooler moments, they want neither sense of their kindness nor reverence for their virtues. This weakness is very common, and often proceeds rather from negligence than ingrati tude. Life of Savage

Flattery.

In every instance of vanity it will be found that the blame ought to be shared among more than it generally reaches. All who exalt trifles by immoderate praise, or instigate needless emulation by invidious incitements, are to be considered as perverters of reason, and corrupters of the world; and since every man is obliged to promote happiness and virtue, he should be careful not to mislead unwary minds, by appearing to set too high a value upon things, by which no real excellence is conferred. Rambler, vol. 4.

In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it; for no species of falsehood is more frequent than flattery, to which the coward is betrayed by fear, the dependant by interest, and the friend by tenderness. Those who are neither servile nor timorous are yet desirous to bestow pleasure; and while unjust demands of praise continue to be made, there will always be some whom hope, fear, or kindness, will dispose to pay them.

Folly.

No man will be found in whose mind airy notions do not sometimes tyrannise, and force him to hope or fear beyond the limits of sober probability. Prince of Abyssinia.

Fortune.

Fortune often delights to dignify what nature has neglected, and that renown, which cannot be claimed by intrinsic excellence or greatness, is sometimes derived from unexpected accidents.

Falkland Islands.

Examples need not be sought.at any great distance, to prove that superiority of fortune has a natural tendency to kindle pride, and that pride seldom fails to exert itself in contempt and insult. This is often the effect of hereditary wealth, and of honours only enjoyed by the merit of othLife of Savage.

ers.

Fear.

Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil; but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it; nor should it be suffered to tyrannise in the imagination, to raise phantoms