agreeable to men of great Pride, that they can be imitated with such exactness by their inferiors.

And this leads me to remark, that while we have allowed riches to be in some degree a foundation for Pride, we meet frequently with a class of men who are, as already hinted, proud of nothing. They have neither fortune, family, nor talents, to serve as a foundation, and yet are remarkable for all the varieties of Pride, from silent sullenness to obstreperous insolence. Without pretending to account for this, I may be permitted to infer from the fact, that Pride is not that well-bred passion which some of its admirers are apt to imagine. It is not to be denied that it sometimes keeps good company; but it is equally certain that it sometimes associates with the worst. We can account for its alliance with lace and diamonds; but what it has to do with rags and hunger I know not, unless to prove that poverty may be sometimes made more ridiculous than it deserves. Such, however, is the frolicsome humour of Pride, that it amuses itself with all sorts and conditions of men. We meet with it sometimes in the drawing-room, and sometimes behind the counter; and it has been known, in the same

day, to repel modest worth from the gates of a palace, and from the door of a pew.

I shall conclude these desultory remarks on Pride, by suggesting an inquiry whether, all the above circumstances considered, it is really of much use? We have seen that it is none of those gratifications which can be enjoyed in secret; and that, when it is displayed, it procures no respect, and is liable to continual mortifications. If, however, there are any who think they have a right to be proud, let them produce their vouchers, and a quantity of the article may be licensed proportioned to their just claims; but the number of such claimants, I apprehend, would be few: for it is among the enigmatical properties of Pride, that men are too proud to acknowledge it.

Pope, in my motto, seems to consider Pride as the never-failing vice of fools. I have already said that this will not be reckoned a very civil opinion; but, whether true or not, it is certain that a contest has been long maintained between Pride and Good Sense, and that the latter never fails to get the better, when she has fair play, Young people, educated in Pride (for it is in some schools a regular branch of education), are frequently observed

to forget it, after a very short intercourse with the world: this I consider as the effect of Good Sense, and, perhaps, of an observation which cannot fail to strike an ingenuous mind very forcibly, that Pride has not a natural aversion to meanness, but, on the contrary, is frequently obliged for its support to low tricks and shifts of no very reputable kind.

If, notwithstanding these remarks, the expediency of Pride should be asserted, as a necessary accompaniment of riches, it may yet remain to be asked whence that necessity arises; and why the blessings of prosperity may not be enjoyed with humility, and now and then improved by reflecting on the very uncertain tenure by which they are held. It certainly is not saying much in favour of Pride, that they who practise it most are least willing to allow their share, or to point out its uses; yet upon the whole it is a thing that must be of some service in this world, since we are very certain it will be of none in the next.

THE PROJECTOR, N° 60.

"Quo spectanda modo, quo sensu, credis, et ore?"

HOR.

August 1806.

SEEING SIGHTS is an employment so popular at the present season of the year, that there is much reason to regret it has not been put under some kind of regulation, and particularly that the true native uses and importance of this mode of spending time have not been fully explained by some of my learned predecessors. For want of such instructions and information, it frequently happens that the time which we think usefully employed is unprofitably wasted, and the pleasure which was fondly expected, ends in ill-humoured disappointment. That Seeing Sights is a business which any man may undertake; that it is a mode of diverting his mind to which any man may have recourse who has a pair of eyes, and can hire a post-chaise; appear to me to be, although very common, at

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the same time very dangerous errors. indeed, convinced that if the lovers of novelty will honestly confess the truth, they will confess that Seeing Sights with advantage, or even with pleasure, is not quite so easy as they supposed when they first engaged in the pursuit. And the repeated and sullen disappointments of those who make a practice of going to see whatever is to be seen, surely form a very powerful argument in favour of some regulations in this important matter. Travelling, in summer, we all know to be delightful, even if it consisted only of rapid motion from one place to another; but when travellers wish to combine a little more, and to indulge themselves with a view of the beauties of England and Wales, it is much to be regretted that they should return disappointed; and, yet more, that this disappointment should be almost entirely their own fault,

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The usual error which prevails on this subject is, that when we set out to see what is to be seen, we think there is nothing more to do than to fix our eyes on such objects as may pointed out. I grant, indeed, that those who fall into this error are deceived by an opinion, which some will think natural enough; namely, that the eyes are given us for the purpose of