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carry this confideration higher, by obferving, that, if matter had appeared to us endowed only with thofe real qualities which it actually poffeffes, it would have made but a very joylefs and uncomfortable figure; and why has Providence given it a power of producing in us fuch imaginary qualities, as taftes and colours, founds and fmells, heat and cold, but that man, while he is converfant in the lower ftations of nature, might have his mind cheered and delighted with agreeable fenfations? In fhort, the whole univerfe is a kind of theatre filled with objects that either raife in us pleasure, amusement, or admiration.

The reader's own thoughts will fuggeft to him the viciffitude of day and night, the change of feafons, with all that variety of fcenes which diverfify the face of nature, and fill the mind with a perpetual fucceffion of beautiful and pleafing images.

I fhall not here mention the feveral entertainments of art, with the pleasures of friendship, books, converfation, and other accidental diverfions of life, because I would only take notice of fuch incitements to a cheerful temper, as offer themselves to perfons of all ranks and conditions, and which may fufficiently thow us, that Providence did not defign this world thould be filled with murmurs and repinings, or that the heart of man fhould be involved in gloom and melancholy.

I the more inculcate this cheerfulness of temper, as it is a virtue in which our countrymen are obferved to be more deficient than any other nation. Melancholy is a kind of demon that haunts our island, and often conveys herself to us in an easterly wind. A celebrated French novelift, in oppofition to thofe who begin their romances with the flowery feafons of the year, enters on his story. thus: "In the gloomy month of November, when the "people of England hang and drown themfelves, a dif "confolate lover walked out into the fields," &c.

Every one ought to fence against the temper of his climate or conftitution, and frequently to indulge in himfelf thofe confiderations which may give him a ferenity. of wind, and enable him to bear up cheerfully againít. thofe little evils and misfortunes which are common to human nature,, and which, by a right improvement of

them

them, will produce a fatiety of joy, and uninterrupted happiness.

At the fame time that I would engage my reader to confider the world in its most agreeable lights, I must own there are many evils which naturally fpring up amidst the entertainments that are provided for us; but thefe, if rightly confidered, fhould be far from overcasting the mind with forrow, or deftroying that cheerfulness of temper which I have been recommending. This interfperfion of evil with good, and pain with pleasure, in the works of nature, is very truly afcribed by Mr Locke, in his effay on human understanding, to a moral reason, in the following words:

"Beyond all this, we may find another reafon why "God hath fcattered up and down feveral degrees of "pleasure and pain, in all the things that environ and "affect us, and blended them together in almost all "that our thoughts and fenfes have to do with; that "we, finding imperfection, diffatisfaction, and want of "complete happiness in all the enjoyments which the creatures can afford us, might be led to feek it in the "enjoyment of Him, with whom there is fulness of "joy, and at whose right-hand are pleasures for ever"more."

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SEC.

SECTION II.

I. The bad Reader.

ULIUS had acquired great credit at Cambridge by his compofitions. They were elegant, animated, and judicious; and several prizes, at different times, had been adjudged to him. An oration, which he delivered the week before he left the university, had been honoured with particular applaufe; and, on his return home, he was impatient to gratify his vanity, and to extend his reputation, by having it read to a number of his father's literary friends.

A party was therefore collected; and, after dinner, the manufcript was produced. Julius declined the office of reader, because he had contracted a hoarfenefs on his journey; and a conceited young man, with great forwardness, offered his fervices. Whilft he was fettling himself on his feat, licking his lips, adjufting his mouth, hawking, hemming, and making other ridiculous preparations for the performance which he had undertaken, a profound filence reigned through the company, the united effect of attention and expectation. The reader at length began; but his tone of voice was fo fhrill and diffonant, his utterance fo vehement, his pronunciation fo affected, his emphasis fo injudicious, and his accents were fo improperly placed, that good manners alone reftrained the laughter of the audience. Julius was all this while upon the rack, and his arm was more than once extended to fnatch his compofition from the coxcomb who delivered it. But he proceeded, with full confidence in his own elocution; uniformly overftepping, as Shakespeare expreffes it, the modefty of nature.

When the oration was concluded, the gentlemen returned their thanks to the author; but the compliments which they paid him were more expreffive of politenefs and civility, than of a conviction of his merit. Indeed, the beauties of his compofition had been converted, by bad reading, into blemishes; and the fense of it rendered obfcure,

obfcure, and even unintelligible. Julius and his father could not conceal their vexation and difappointment; and the guests, perceiving that they laid them under a painful reftraint, withdrew, as foon as decency permitted, to their respective habitations.

11. Refpect due to Old Age.

IT happened at Athens, during a public reprefentation of fome play exhibited in honour of the commonwealth, that an old gentleman came too late for a place fuitable to his age and quality. Many of the young gentlemen, who obferved the difficulty and confufion he was in, made figns to him that they would accommodate him if he came where they fat. The good man bustled through the crowd accordingly: but when he came to the feats to which he was invited, the jeft was, to fit clofe, and expofe him, as he stood out of countenance, to the whole audience. The frolic went round all the Athenian benches. But on thofe occasions there were also particular places affigned for foreigners. When the good man skulked towards the boxes appointed for the Lacedæmonians, that honeft people, more virtuous than polite, rofe up all to a man, and with the greateft refpect received him among them. The Athenians being fuddenly touched with a fenfe of the Spartan virtue and their own degeneracy, gave a thunder of applaufe; and the old man cried out, The Athenians underftand what is good, but the Lacedæmonians practife it."

III. Piety to God recommended to the Young. WHAT I fall firft recommend, is piety to God.

With this I begin, both as the foundation of good morals, and as a difpofition particularly graceful and becoming in youth. To be void of it, argues a cold heart, deftitute of fome of the best affections which be long to that age. Youth is the feafon of warm and generous emotions. The heart fhould then, fpontane oufly, rife into the admiration of what is great; glow with the love of what is fair and excellent; and melt at the discovery of tenderness and goodness. Where can any object be found fo proper to kindle thofe affections as the Father of the universe, and the Author of all felicity?

licity? Unmoved by veneration, can you contemplate that grandeur and majefty which His works everywhere difplay Untouched by gratitude, can you view that profufion of good which, in this pleafing featon of life, His beneficent hand pours around you? Happy in the love and affection of thofe with whom you are connected, look up to the Supreme Being, as the infpirer of all the friendship which has ever been fhown you by others; himself your beit and your first friend: former ly, the fupporter of your infancy, and the guide of your childhood; now, the guardian of your youth, and the hope of your coming years. View religious homage as a natural expreffion of gratitude to him for all his goodnefs. Confider it as the fervice of the God of your fa thers; of him to whom your parents devoted you; of him whom, in former ages, your ancestors honoured; and by whom they are now rewarded and bleffed in heaven. Connected with fo many tender fenfibilities of foul, let religion be with you, not the cold and barren off-fpring of fpeculation, but the warm and vigorous dictate of the heart.

T

IV. Modefty and Docility.

O piety, join modefty and docility, reverence of your parents, and fubmiffion to those who are your fuperiours in knowledge, in station, and in years. De pendence and obedience belong to youth. Modesty is one of its chief ornaments; and has ever been efteemed a prefage of rifing merit. When entering on the career of life, it is your part not to affume the reins as yet into your hands; but to commit your felves to the guidance of the more experienced, and to become wife by the wif dom of those who have gone before you. Of all the fol lies incident to youth, there are none which either deform its prefent appearance, or blast the profpect of its future profperity, more than felf-conceit, prefumption, and obstinacy. By checking its natural progrefs in improvement, they fix it in long immaturity; and frequently produce mischiefs which can never be repaired. Yet these are vices too commonly found among the young. Big with enterprife, and elated by hope, they refolve to truft for fuccefs to none but themselves. Full

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