with, and polish so much their writings, that all they give to the public are nothing but mere dust and filings.

133.

The first faults alarm innocence: those that follow cease to fright her. Happy that innocence which has not learned to fear, or has held to her first fears.

134.

I know no real worth but that tranquil firmness which seeks dangers by duty, and braves them without rashness.

135.

I pity less an ignorant person who knows nothing, than one who knows but indifferently what he has learned. It is much better to know thoroughly than to know a great deal,

136.

The man of understanding reasons only according to what he has learned; but the man of genius according to himself.

137.

It does not suit all persons to be modest; none but great men ought to be so,

138.

The merit of great men is not understood, but by those who are formed to be such themselves: genius speaks only to genius.

139.

Great men are in vain criticised; their illustrious qualities are sufficient to procure them revenge.

140.

Great speakers resemble those musicians, who, in their airs, prefer noise to harmony.

141.

We may recover out of the darkness of ignorance, but never out of that of presumption.

142.

We have known how to make the elements obsequious to our ingenuity, but we know not how to master our passions.

143.

True valor braves danger without neglect

ing resources.

144.

Two sorts of men do not reflect, the terrified and the rash man.

MAXIMS TO LIVE BY.

1.

Avom, if possible, laying yourself under an obligation to a purse-proud man, whose wealth is his only distinction, and who, thanks to some lucky star, has risen from a menial station in society to one of comparative opulence and importance. If your miserable fate dooms you to receive the slightest pecuniary favor from such a person, he is almost sure to treat you with insolence and contumely, and to profit by the opportunity to take liberties with you, which, under other circumstances, he would not dare to attempt.

2.

We lose our friends at the flood-tide of our prosperity, not less frequently than at its ebb; the two extremes are equally fatal. In the former case they grow distant and reserved, in

order to shield themselves from the coldness they have reason to anticipate from us; and in the latter, they desert us because we have ceased to have it in our power to be useful to them.

3.

Politeness has been defined to be artificial good nature; but we may affirm, with much greater propriety, that good nature is natural politeness.

4.

Success affords us the means of securing additional success; as the possession of capital enables us to increase our pecuniary gains.

5.

It is after the hey-day of passion has subsided, that our most deservedly celebrated writers have produced their chef d'œuvres; as it is after the eruption of a volcano that the land in its vicinity is usually the most fertile.

6.

Before you purchase any superfluity upon credit, ask yourself this very simple question: Should I be disposed to pay the cost of this article, at the present moment, supposing I

could obtain it on no other terms? If you decide in the negative, by all means forego its possession; for this test ought to have satisfied you that you are about to buy that of which, in reality, you have no need.

7.

Avoid, if possible, receiving an obligation which you have reason to believe you will never have it in your power to repay.

8.

You must not expect that conviction will follow, immediately, the detection of error, any more than that the waves of the sea will cease to heave the instant the storm has subsided.

9.

There are few defects in our nature so glaring as not to be veiled from observation by politeness and good breeding.

10.

It is a fallacy to suppose that an author must appear frequently before the public in order to retain the station to which his writings may have elevated him. The silence of the man of genius is far more respected by the