be more than negatively good; and they are generally much below the common ftandard of merit. The vulgar phrase of approbation, which we fo frequently hear applied to the individuals of this clafs, that they are enemies to no one but themselves, conveys the feverest fatire; because it implies that they are either infignificant drones, grofs hypocrites, or the infamous panders of pleasure. Tully defcribes Cataline himself as popular, by having the artifice cum triftibus feverè, cum remiffis jucundè, cum fenibus gravitèr, cum juventute comiter vivere; that is, by fervilely accommodating himself to the humours and vices of all with whom he converfed.

Are we then to regard fame as unattainable, or as unworthy of a wife man's purfuit? Certainly not. Such a conviction would fupprefs a noble and powerful incitement to virtue, and destroy one of the moft exquifite enjoyments of human life. For the pleasure arifing from the applaufes of the judicious and the good, is next, in

degree,

degree, to the inward delight which flows from the consciousness of having deserved them. And he who governs by reafon this animating principle of action; who uniformly aims at moral rectitude in his conduct; who fuffers not popular praise or vulgar opinion to elate or to mislead him; and who is undepreffed by the cenfures of interested or incompetent judges; * will command the esteem and love of those, whose fuffrages alone are fame; will be honoured and revered by pofterity; and will obtain the favour of God himself, the omniscient obferver and fovereign rewarder of merit.

PRAISE WHEN YOU MAY;

BE CANDID WHEN YOU CAN.

SEVERAL gentlemen in the company of Lord Bolingbroke, were fpeaking of the avarice of the Duke of Malborough;

*Falfus honor juvat, et mendax infamia terret,
Quem, nifi mendacem, & mendofum ?---

and they appealed to his lordship, for the truth of the inftances which they produced." He was fo great a man," replied Lord Bolingbroke, " that I have forgotten his vices." --- A truly generous answer for a political enemy to make! The Duke and Lord Bolingbroke were of oppofite parties.

VOLTAIRE.

CIRCUM SPECTION.

UCY and Emilia were admiring the ftructure of a spider's web, which was formed between the branches of a tall shrub, in the garden at Hart-Hill; when Euphronius, returning from his morning walk, stopped to inquire what object fo much engaged their attention. The dewdrops yet befpangled the fine threads, of which the web was compofed, and rendered every part of it confpicuously beautiful. A fmall winged infect happened, at this inftant, to be caught in the toil; and the

fpider,

fpider, before invisible, advanced along the lines from his fecret retreat, feized the prey, and killed it, by inftilling a venomous juice into the wound he made. When the rapacious tyrant had almost devoured his game, another fly, of a larger size, became entangled in the mesh. He now waited patiently till the infect was fatigued, by ftruggling to obtain its liberty; and then rolling the web around it, he left the poor fly in a state of terror and impotence, as a future repaft for his returning appetite.

You pity the fate, faid Euphronius, of this unfortunate infect, whofe deftruction is the natural confequence of its ignorance and want of caution. Remember that you yourselves will be expofed, in the commerce of life, to various fnares, dangerous to your virtue, and fubverfive of your peace of mind. FLATTERY is the common toil laid for your fex; and when you are entangled in it, vanity, affectation, pertness, and impatience of controul, constitute the poifon which is then infufed into your wounded

G 2

wounded bofoms. PLEASURE spreads a glittering web, which has proved fatal to thousands. AMBITION catches the unwary by power, titles, dignities, and preferments. And FALSE RELIGION, under a dazzling outside of mysterious fanctity, and pompous ceremonies, conceals a net work of priestcraft and fuperftition, from which it will be still more difficult to extricate yourselves. Sophron and Alexis had now joined the little party; and Euphronius, pointing to them his difcourfe, bid them beware of the cobwebs of PHILOSOPHY ; those fine-spun hypothefes, which involve the mind in error, and unfit it for the patient investigation of truth, by obfervation and experiment.

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN, AND THE WISDOM OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

D

ISORDERS

of the intellect occur

much more frequently than fuperficial obfervers will eafily believe. There is no man whofe imagination does not fome