do. Every man feeks for truth; but God only knows who has found it. It is, therefore, as unjust to perfe cute, as it is abfurd to ridicule, people for thofe feveral opinions which they cannot help entertaining upon the conviction of their reafon. It is the man who tells, or who acts a lie, that is guilty, and not he who honeftly and fincerely believes the lie. I really know nothing more criminal, more mean, and more ridiculous, than lying. It is the production either of malice, cowardice, or vanity; and generally miffes of its aim in every one of thefe views; for lies are always detected fooner or later. If I tell a malicious lie, in order to affect any man's fortune or character, I may indeed injure him for fome time; but I fhall be fure to be the greatest sufferer myself at laft; for, as foon as ever I am detected (and detected I most certainly fhall be) I am blafted for the infamous attempt; and whatever is faid afterwards, to the difadvantage of that perfon, however true,paffes for calumny. If I lie, or equivocate, (for it is the fame thing) in order to excufe myself for fomething that I have faid or done, and to avoid the danger or the fhame that I apprehend from it, I discover at once, my fear, as well as my falfehood; and only increafe, inftead of avoiding, the danger and the fhame; I fhow myself to be the lowest and the meanest of mankind, and am fure to be always treated as fuch. Fear, inftead of avoiding invites danger; for concealed cowards will infult known ones. If one has had the misfortune to be in the wrong, there is fomething noble in frankly owning it; it is the only way of atoning for it, and the only way of being forgiven. Equivocating, evading, fhuffling, in order to remove a prefent danger or inconveniency, is fomething fo mean, and betrays fo much fear, that whoever pradifes them, always deferves to be, and often will be kicked. There is another fort of lies, inoffenfive enough in themselves, but wonderfully ridiculous: I mean thofe lies which a mistaken vanity fuggefts, that defeat the very end for which they are calculated, and terminate in the humiliation and confufion of their author, who is fure to be detected. These are chiefly narrative and hiftorical lies, all intended to do infinite I honour to their author. He is always the hero of his own romances; he has been in dangers from which nobody but himself ever efcaped; he has feen with his own eyes whatever other people have heard or read of : he has had more bonnes fortunes than ever he knew women; and has ridden more miles poft, in one day, than ever courier went in two. He is foon difcovered, and as foon becomes the object of univerfal contempt and ridicule. Remember then, as long as you live, that nothing but ftrict truth can carry you through the world, with either your confcience or your honour unwounded. It is not only your duty, but your intereft: as a proof of which, you may always obferve, that the greateft fools are the greateft liars. For my own part, I judge of every man's truth by his degree of underftanding. This letter will, I fuppofe, find you at Leipfig; where I expect and require from you attention and accuracy, in both which you have hitherto been very deficient. Remember that I fhall fee you in the fummer; fhall examine you moft narrowly; and will never forget nor forgive thofe faults which it has been in your own power to prevent or cure and be affured, that I have many eyes upon you at Leipfig, befides Mr. Harte's.— Adieu ! DEAR BOY, LETTER XLVII. London, October the ad. By your letter of the 18th paft, I find that you are a tolerable good landscape painter, and can prefent the feveral views of Switzerland to the curious. I am very glad of it, as it is a proof of fome attention; but Ï hope you will be as good a portrait painter, which is a much more noble science. By portraits, you will eafily judge that I do not mean the outlines and the colouring of the human figure, but the infide of the heart and mind of man. This fcience requires more atten tion, obfervation, and penetration, than the other; as indeed it is infinitely more ufeful. Search therefore, with the greatest care, into the characters of all thofe whom you converfe with; endeavour to difcover their predominant paffions, their prevailing weakneffes, their vanities, their follies, and their humours; with all the right and wrong, wife and filly fprings of human actions, which make fuch inconfiftent and whimsical beings of us rational creatures. A moderate fhare of penetration, with great attention, will infalliably make these neceffary difcoveries. This is the true knowledge of the world; and the world is a country which nobody ever vet knew by defcription; one muft travel through it one's-felf to be acquainted with it. The fcholar, who in the duft of his clofet talks or writes of the world, knows no more of it, than that orator did of war, who judiciously endeavoured to inftruct Hannibal in it. Courts and camps are the only places to learn the world in. There alone all kinds of characters refort, and human nature is seen in all the various fhapes and modes which education, cuftom, and habit give it whereas, in all other places, one local mode generally prevails, and produces a fecming, though not a real, fameness of character. For example, one general mode diftinguishes an univerfity, another a trading town, a third a fea-port town, and so on; whereas at a capital, where the prince or the fupreme power refides, fome of all thefe various modes are to be seen, and seen in action too, exerting their utmost skill in purfuit of their feveral objects. Human nature is the fame all over the world; but its operations are fo varied by education and habit, that one muft fee it in all its dreffes, in order to be intimately acquainted with it. The paffion of ambition, for instance, is the fame in a courtier, a foldier, or an ecclefiaftic; but, from their different educations and habits, they will take very different methods to gratify it. Civility, which is a difpofition to accommodate and oblige others, is effentially the fame in every country but good-breeding, as it is called, which is the manner of exerting that difpofition, is differen in almost every country, and merely local; and ever * man of fenfe imitates and conforms to that local goodbreeding of the place which he is at. A conformity and flexibility of manners is neceffary in the course of the world; that is, with regard to all things which are not wrong in themfelves. The versatile ingenium is the most useful of all. It can turn itself instantly from one object to another,affuming the proper manner for each. I can be ferious with the grave, cheerful with the gay, and trifling with the frivolous. Endeavour, by all means, to acquire this talent, for it is a very great one. As I hardly know any thing more ufeful, than to fee, from time to time, pictures of one's-felf drawn by dif ferent hands, I fend you here a fketch of yourself, drawn at Laufanne, while you were there, and fent over here by a perfon who little thought that it would ever fall into my hands; and indeed it was by the greateft accident in the world that it did. LETTER XLVIII. Cautions against bafy and improper Friendships. DEAR BOY, London, October the 9th. PEOPLE of your age, have commonly an unguard ed franknefs about them; which makes them the eafy prey and bubbles of the artful and the experienced: they look upon every knave, or fool, who tells them that he is their friend, to be really fo; and pay that profeffion of simulated friendship, with an indifcreet and unbounded confidence, always to their lofs, often to their ruin. Beware, therefore, now that you are coming into the world, of thefe proffered friendships. Receive them with civility, but with great incredulity too; and pay them with civility, but not with confidence. Do not let your vanity and felf-love, make you fuppofe that people become your friends at first * Accommodating disposition. fight, or even upon a fhort acquaintance. Real friendhip is flow grower; and never thrives, unless ingrafted upon a flock of known and reciprocal merit. There is another kind of nominal friendship, among young people, which is warm for the time, but, by good luck, of fhort duration. This friendship is hatily produced, by their being accidentally thrown to gether, and purfuing the fame courfe of riot and debauchery. A fine friendship truly! and well cemented by drunkennefs and lewdnefs. It fhould rather be called a confpiracy against morals and good manners, and be punished as fuch by the civil magiftrate. However, they have the impudence, aud the folly, to call this confederacy a friendship. They lend one another money, for bad purposes; they engage in quarrels, offenfive and defenfive, for their accomplices; they tell one another all they know, and often more too; when, of a fudden, fome accident difperfes them, and they think no more of each other, unless it be to betray, and laugh at their imprudent confidence. Remember to make a great difference between companions and friends; for a very complaifant and agreeable companion may, and often does, prove a very improper, and a very dangerous friend. People will, in a great degree, and not without reafon, form their opinion of you, upon that which they have of your friends; and there is a Spanish proverb, which fays, very juftly, Tell me whom you live with, and I will tell you who you are. One may fairly fuppofe, that a man, who makes a knave or a fool of his friend, has fomething very bad. to do, or to conceal. But, at the fame time that you carefully decline the friendship of knaves and fools, if it can be called friendship, there is no occafion to make either of them your enemies, wantonly, and unpro-voked; for they are numerous bodies; and I would rather chufe a fecure neutrality, than alliance, or war, with either of them. You may be a declared enemy to their vices and follies, without being marked out by the mas a perfonal one. Their enmity is the next dangerous thing to their friendship. Have a real refer with almost every body; and have a feeming |