An irritable and passionate man is a downright drunkard.— Spanish. A man that breaks his word bids others be false to him. A man may as well expect to be at ease without wealth, as happy without virtue. An ill style is better than a lewd story. A knave discovered is a great fool. As good be hanged for an old sheep as a young lamb. If you will be a knave, be not so in a trifle, but in something of value. Kelly, in illustration of this proverb, has the following anecdote: A presbyterian minister had a son who was made archdeacon of Ossory; when this was told to his father, he said, 'if my son will be a knave, I am glad that he is an arch-knave.' It is a false and mischievous proverb to those foolish enough to believe it. A wicked companion invites us all to hell. A man is not good or bad for one action. We ought to balance the good with the bad, and also the length of time a man has lived, to form a true estimate of his character. Polybius, the Greek historian, has an observation to the same effect: "There is no reason," says he, "why we should not sometimes blame, and sometimes commend, the same person; for as none are always right, neither is it probable that they should be always wrong." A vicious man's son has a good title to vice. A lie begets a lie till they come to generations. A good life keeps off wrinkles.-Spanish. An old goat is never the more reverend for his beard. A wise man's thought walks within him, a fool's without him. A great reputation is a great charge. A fool may chance to put something in a wise man's head. A little time may be enough to hatch a great deal of mischief. A bad man has a blot in his escutcheon. A liar is not believed when he speaks the truth.-Italian. All happiness is in the mind. Happiness is not in a cottage, nor a palace, nor in riches, nor in po verty, nor in wisdom, nor in ignorance, nor in active nor in passive life, there is evil as well as good in all these. It is certainly in the mind, but the difficulty is in getting it to dwell there. An old monk has left the following maxims to pass through life comfortably: Never speak ill of your superiors. Perform every one's office according to his quality. Suffer the mad world to go its own way, for it wills to go its own way. After all, the attainment of the summum bonum is not so difficult as is generally supposed. The first thing is not to be too eager in the pursuit of it; not to make, as one may say, a trade of it; for it is certainly true, that he who seeks his content most will find it least. The way is to take things, as they happen to turn up, easy, without too much anxiety about consequences. The present mode of life is much too artificial, has too many factitious passions too much ambition, pride, and emulation, which keep men in a constant state of excitement and exertion. Follow nature: rest when you are weary, eat when you are hungry, drink when you are thirsty. Pursue what is most congenial to your inclinations and abilities. If you are only fit for solitude, seek not active life, and vice versa. No man all things can. Indulge your inclinations, always subordinate to reason, and the laws and usages of society. Nothing overmuch is an invaluable maxim to be observed in all things. Lastly, if you have not the means to live according to these rules, endeavour to procure them as soon as possible. "True happiness is to no spot confin'd, If you preserve a firm and equal mind; 'Tis here, 'tis there, 'tis every where."-HORace. An upright judge has more regard to justice than to men.Ital. Amendment is repentance. An ill man is worse when he appears good. All fame is dangerous: good brings envy; bad, shame. A good cause makes a stout heart and a strong arm. Indiscriminate hospitality, which occasions the ruin of families, is seldom praised by those who have shared in it. A man, like a watch, is to be valued for his goings. A wise man gets learning from those who have none themselves.-Eastern. Anger is often more hurtful than the injury that caused it. An hypocrite pays tribute to God that he may impose on men. After praying to God not to lead you into temptation, do not throw yourself into it. An envious man waxes lean with the fatness of his neighbour. A profitable religion never wanted proselytes.—Italian. A good consience is the best divinity. A goose quill is more dangerous than a lion's claw. There is nothing more powerful than the pen of an able writer. The sword of the warrior is nothing to it. That can only have power over life, while the former has the gift of immortality, and can consign to glory or infamy the greatest names of the earth. Where would have been the great characters of history without some writer to record their actions? As before observed, there were many heroes prior to Fingal and Agamemnon; but as there were no Ossians nor Homers, their names perished with their exploits. It is not, however, the dead only, but the living also that great writers have power over. In this intellectual age, Opinion is truly the queen of the world; and who guide opinion but men of letters? They are the keepers of the public conscience, and the distributors of its judgments and honours. They are far above princes and statesmen, for though these may have wealth and power, they cannot have that permanent renown which all covet, without the fiat of the literati. A libertine life is not a life of liberty. A wicked man is his own hell; and his passions and lusts the fiends that torment him. B. Better untaught, than ill-taught. Better be alone than in ill company.-Scotch. Better late ripe and bear, than early blossom and blast. Be a father to virtue, but father-in-law to vice. Better ten guilty escape than one innocent man suffer. Ital. Meglio è liberar dieci rei, che condannar un innocente. A well-known maxim in English jurisprudence, which appears to have come from Italy. Dr. Paley doubted the policy of it in our criminal code, while Blackstone, and afterwards Sir S. Romilly, were in its favour. It seems to have originated from observing the natural disposition of mankind, which is to good rather than evil. When, therefore, in criminal cases, the balance of evidence is equal, we ought, from the greater natural tendency the accused had to refrain from than to commit the alleged crime, to conclude him innocent. Whether the fractional proportion should be onetenth or one-fifteenth, is not material; but as the interest and inclination of individuals except in a few anomalous cases-are to observe the laws, we clearly ought to require stronger testimony to establish their guilt than innocence. Be merry and wise. Buffoonery and scurrility are the corruption of wit, as knavery is of wisdom. Bought wit is best, but may cost too much. Believe only half of what you hear of a man's wealth and goodness. Spanish. Blushing is virtue's colour. C. Cheer up, God is where he was. Common fame is seldom to blame. Constant occupation prevents temptation.-Italian. Confession without repentance, friends without faith, prayer Content is the philosopher's stone, that turns all it touches into gold. "If ever I more riches did desire Than cleanliness and quiet do require; If e'er ambition did my fancy cheat, With any wish so mean as to be great; Continue, Heaven, still from me to remove The humble blessings of the life I love."-COWLEY. "Is happiness your point in view, Who finds Content, will find her there."-GAY. Criminals are punished that others may be amended.—Ital. D. Death has nothing terrible in it but what life has made so. Dissembled holiness is double iniquity. Do not trust nor contend, nor borrow nor lend, and you will live in quiet.-Spanish. Disputations leave truth in the middle, and party at both ends. Do not give a bribe, nor lose your right.-Spanish. Do not do evil to get good by it, which never yet happened to any. Do you know what charity is: forgive if you bear ill will, and pay what you owe.-Spanish. Do what thou ought, come what can.-French. Do weel an' doubt na man; do ill, an doubt a' men.-Scotch. Drunkenness is nothing else but voluntary madness. Drunkenness is an egg from which all vices are hatched. Drunkenness turns a man out of himself, and leaves a beast in his room. Drunkenness is a pair of spectacles, to see the devil and all his works. Dying is as natural as living. E. Education begins a gentleman, conversation completes him. Education polishes good natures, and corrects bad ones. Evil gotten, evil spent. Lat.-Male parta, male dilabuntur. Every one's censure is first moulded in his own nature. |