are properly furnished. If you be found to be a bad archer, they will set you up for a butt.

In the case of one's being exposed to the mirth of a company for something said or done siliily, the most effectual way of turning the edge of their ridicule, is by joining the laugh against one's self, and exposing and aggravating his own folly; for this will show, that he has the uncommon understanding to see his own fault.

SECTION III.

Of Secrecy. Of the Choice of Company, and of inti mate Friends. Of Visiting where there is no Friendship. Of the Company of Ladies. Of Story-telling. Of Boasting, and Lying.

AS to his own private affairs, a prudent person will consider, that his secrets will always be safer in his own breast, than in that of the best and discreetest friend he has in the world. He will therefore be very cautious of imparting them; and will never let any one into the knowledge of them, but for the sake of profiting by his advice, or for some other useful end. There is not indeed a person among many hundreds, to whom a secret is not an unsupportable burden. And the bulk of people are so extremely curious, that they will fall upon a thousand stratagems to make the person, who they imagine is possessed of a secret, believe that they know most of it already, in order to draw him on to discover the whole: in which they often succeed.

A prudent person will always avoid diving into the secrets of others; for he will consider, that whoever is weak enough to blab his private affairs to him, is like to put the same confidence in others; the consequence of which may be, that he may come to be blamed for what was discovered by the indiscretion of another, though religiously concealed by himself.

If you cannot keep your own secrets, how do you think other people should? If you have such an opinion of a person, as to think he will be faithful to you, he has the fike of another, and he again of another, and so your secret

goes round. You ought likewise to consider, that besides the chance of unfaithfulness in him to whom you trust a secret, or of a difference arising between you, the mere circumstance of his happening some time or other to forget himself, may be the occasion of his discovering and undoing you.

As to the choice of friends or companions, the number of which ought to be small, and the choice delicate, one general rule may be laid down, viz. That a man, who has neither knowledge nor virtue, is by no means a fit companion, let him have what other accomplishments he will. No advantage one can propose from keeping the company of an ignorant or a wicked man, can make up for the nuisance and disgust his folly will give; much less for the danger of having one's manners corrupted, and his mind debauched. Nothing can give a higher delight, than the conversation of a man of knowledge. There is in a mind, improved by study, conversation and travel, a kind of inexhaustible fund of entertainment, from which one may draw supplies for many years enjoyment, and at every conversation receive some new piece of information and improvement. On the contrary, the company of an ignorant person, must soon grow tiresome and insipid. For one will soon have heard all the tolerable things he can say: and then there is an end of improvement and entertainment both at once.

As for your buffoons, who are the delight of superficial people, and the fiddles of companies, they are, generally speaking, the most despicable people one can converse with. Their being caressed by the thoughtless part of mankind, on account of their pleasantry, gives their manners such a tincture of levity and foolery, that very few of them are good for any thing but to laugh at. And as a very extensive vein of wit is a great rarity, you will generally find the drolls, you meet in company, have a set of conceits which they play off at all times, like dancing dogs, or monkeys; and that what chiefly diverts, is rather some odd cast of countenance, or uncommon command of features, than any thing of real wit, that will bear repeating.

The only proper persons, therefore, to choose for inti

mate friends, are men of a serious turn; for such are generally prudent, and fit to consult with; and of established characters: for such, having somewhat to lose, will be cautious of their behaviour. To which add another qualification, indispensably necessary in a friend, with whom one would expect to live agreeably, I mean, a good natural temper. Nothing more forcibly warms the mind to a love of goodness, or raises it more powerfully to all that is truly great and worthy, than the conversation of wise and virtuous men. There is a force in what is said viva voce, which nothing in writing can come up to. A grave remonstrance, mixed with humanity and compassion, will often awaken thought and reflection in a mind, which has stood proof against the finest moral lessons in books. And the approbation of a friend, whose judgment and sincerity one esteems, will encourage one to go lengths in every commendable disposition and practice, which he could not have thought himself capable of. As, on the contrary, a little smart raillery, or a smooth flow of words, put together with an appearance of reason, and delivered with an easy and assured air, may very quickly shake the virtue, or unhinge the principles, of a young person, who has neither had time nor opportunity for establishing himself sufficiently.

I do not mean, that young persons are to take upon trust all that is told them by pious people, (some of whom may be very weak and bigotted) without examining into the grounds and evidences of what they have taught them, and without allowing themselves an opportunity of hearing both sides of the question. This is more than religion requires; nay, it is directly contrary to what it requires: for it directs men to use their own reason, and not to take any thing of importance upon trust. Nor can any thing be more unsafe than to trust that to another, which I ought to make sure of for myself; which is my own concern infinitely more than any one's else, and where I alone must stand to the damage. My meaning, I say, is not to discourage young people from hearing all sides, and conversing among people of different ways of thinking; but to guard them against the crafty, and the vicious

from whose conversation they will be sure to gain nothing, and may lose dreadfully.

As the slightest touch will defile a clean garment, which is not to be cleaned again without a great deal of trouble, so the conversation of the wicked and debauched, will, in a very short time, defile the mind of an innocent person, in a manner that will give him great trouble to recover his former purity. You may therefore more safely venture into company with a person infected with the plague, than with a vicious man: for the worst consequence of the first is death; but of the last, the hazard of a worse destruction. For vicious people generally have a peculiar ambition to draw in the innocent to their party; and many of them are furnished with artifices and allurements but too effectual for insnaring.

It is the advice of a great man to his son, to keep the company of his superiors, rather than his inferiors. This direction is to be followed with discretion. As on one hand, for a gentleman to associate constantly with mechanics, must prove the most effectual means of sinking him to the level of their manners and conversation; so on the other, for a young person, who is born to no great fortune, and must resolve to make his way in life by his own industry, to affect the company of the nobility and gentry, is the way to have his mind tinctured with the same love of idleness and expence, which even in people of fortune is highly blameable; but in those, who have no such prospects in life, is certain ruin. The supposed advantage arising from the friendship of the great, is of very little consequence. The surest way to ingratiate, one's self with the bulk of them, is to serve their pleasures, or their ambitious views: A price infinitely too great for all that their favour can procure. It may therefore, I think, be concluded, that the most proper companions for every man, are those of his own rank in life.

It has been the misfortune of many in friendship, as in love, to form to themselves such romantic notions, of I know not what sublimities, as will not answer in real life, and to make themselves miserable upon meeting with disappointments. Whoever thinks to find an object of love or friendship, in whom, after long acquaintance and fami

liarity, nothing faulty or defective shall appear, must go among superior orders of beings in search of what he wants human nature will furnish no such characters. He who has found a friend, capable of keeping a secret, of giving sincere and judicious advice, of entertaining and instructing by his conversation, and ready to show his affection by actions as well as words; he who has found such a friend, and drops him for any weakness not inconsistent with these qualities, shows himself unworthy of such an inestimable treasure.

As a temper too reserved and suspicious, forbidding the approach of a stranger, is an indication of a crafty disposition, or at least of a timorous and narrow mind; so throwing open one's arms to every forward intruder, is a proof of egregious want of prudence and knowledge of the world. Those pert and insinuating people, who become, all of a sudden, and without any reason, the most zealous and sanguine friends, are ever to be suspected of some indirect design. The wisdom of behaviour therefore is, to communicate your knowledge to all, who seem willing to receive it; your private affairs only to persons of approved secrecy and judgment, and to them no more than is absolutely necessary; to have many acquaintance, but few intimates; to open your countenance to all, your heart to very few.

Never think of friendship with a covetous man: He loves his money better than his friend. Nor with a man of pleasure: He has not gravity enough to render his conversation improving. Nor with a wicked man: He will corrupt you. Nor with a silly fellow: His emptiness will disgust you. Nor with a drunkard: He will betray your secrets. A passionate fellow will affront you. A conceited man will expect you to submit to him in every thing. A mean-spirited creature will disgrace you. A bully will draw you into his quarrels. A spendthrift will borrow your money. A very poor fellow will make your life unhappy. A man of overgrown fortune will draw you into his expensive way of living.

There is no folly more common among young people than that of puffing or boasting; at which some are extremely awkward, putting their accounts of their pretend