venient to feem good, let him be fo indeed, and then his goodness will appear to every body's fatisfaction; so that upon all accounts fincerity is true wisdom. Particularly as to the affairs of this world, integrity hath many advantages over all the fine and artificial ways of diffimulation and deceit; it is much the plainer and easier, much the fafer and more fecure way of dealing in the world; it has lefs of trouble and difficulty, of entanglement and perplexity, of danger and hazard in it; it is the shortest and nearest way to our end, carrying us thither in a ftrait line, and will hold out and last longeft. The arts of deceit and cunning do continually grow weaker and lefs effectual and ferviceable to them that use them; whereas integrity gains ftrength by use, and the more and longer any man practifeth it, the greater fervice it does him, by confirming his reputation, and encouraging those with whom he hath to do, to repofe the greatest trust and confidence in him, which is an unfpeakable advantage in the business and affairs of life. Truth is always confiftent with itself, and needs nothing to help it out; it is always near at hand, and fits upon our lips, and is ready to drop out before we are aware; whereas a lie is troublesome, and fets a man's invention upon the rack, and one trick needs a great many more to make it good. It is like building upon a falfe foundation, which continually stands in need of props to fhore it up, and proves at laft more chargeable than to have raised a substantial building at first upon a true and folid foundation; for fincerity is firm and fubftantial, and there is nothing hollow or unfound in it, and because it is plain and open, fears no difcovery; of which the crafty man is always in danger, and when he thinks he walks in the dark, all his pretences are fo tranfparent, that he that runs may read them; he is the laft man that finds himself to be found out, and whilft he takes it for granted that he makes fools of others, he renders himself ridiculous. Add to all this, that fincerity is the most compendious wildom, and an excellent inftrument for the speedy dispatch of business; it creates confidence in those we have to deal with, faves the labour of many inquiries, and brings things to an iffue in few words; it is like travelling in a plain beaten road, which commonly brings a man fooner to his jour ney's end than bye-ways, in which men often lofe themselves. In a word, whatfoever convenience may be thought to be in falfhood and diffimulation, it is foon over; but the incon venience of it is perpetual, because it brings a man under an everlasting jealorify and fufpicion, fo that he is not believed when he fpeaks truth, nor trufted perhaps when he means honeftly. When a man has once forfeited the reputation of his integrity, he is fet faft, and nothing will then ferve his turn, neither truth nor falfhood. And I have often thought, that God hath, in his great wifdom, hid from men of falfe and dishonest minds the wonderful advantages of truth and integrity to the profperity even of our worldly affairs; these men are fo blinded by their covetoufnefs and ambition, that they cannot look beyond a prefent advantage, nor forbear to feize upon it, though by ways never fo indirect; they cannot fee fo far as to the remote confequences of a steady integrity, and the vaft benefit and advantages which it will bring a man at last. Were but this fort of men wife and clear-fighted enough to difcern this, they would be honeft out of very knavery, not out of any love to honesty and virtue, but with a crafty defign to promote and advance advance more effectually their own interefts; and therefore the juftice of the divine providence hath hid this trueft point of wisdom from their eyes, that bad men might not be upon equal terms with the juft and upright, and ferve their own wicked defigns by honest and lawful means. Indeed, if a man were only to deal in the world for a day, and fhould never have occafion to converfe more with mankind, never more need their good opinion or good word, it were then no great matter ((peaking as to the concernments of this world) if a man fpent his reputation all at once, and ventured it at one throw: but if he be to continue in the world, and would have the advantage of converfation whilft he is in it, let him make ufe of truth and fincerity in all his words and actions; for nothing but this will laft and hold out to the end: all other arts will fail, but truth and integrity will carry a man through, and bear him out to the laft. Spectator. § 23. Rules for the Knowledge of One's Self. Hypocrify, at the fashionable end of the town, is very different from hypocrify in the city. The modifh hypocrite endeavours to appear more vicious than he really is; the other kind of hypocrite more virtuous. The former is afraid of every thing that has the fhew of religion in it, and would be thought engaged in many criminal gallantries and amours, which he is not guilty of; the latter affumes a face of fanctity, and covers a multitude of vices under a feeming religious deportment. But there is another kind of hypocrify, which differs from both these, and which I intend to make the fubject of this paper: I mean that hypocrify, by which a man does not only deceive the world, but very often im poses on himself; that hypocrify which conceals his own heart from him, and makes him believe he is more virtuous than he really is, and either not attend to his vices, or mistake even his vices for virtues. It is this fatal hypocrify and felf-deceit, which is taken notice of in thefe words, Who can understand his 'errors? cleanfe thou me from my fecret faults.' If the open profeffors of impiety deserve the utmost application and endeavours of moral writers, to recover them from vice and folly, how much more may thofe lay a claim to their care and compaffion, who are walking in the paths of death, while they fancy themfelves engaged in a courfe of virtue! I fhall endeavour therefore to lay down fome rules for the difcovery of thofe vices that lurk in the fecret corners of the foul; and to fhew my reader thofe methods, by which he may arrive at a true and impartial knowledge of himself. The ufual means prefcribed for this purpofe, are to examine ourselves by the rules which are laid down for our direction in facred writ, and to compare our lives with the life of that perfon who acted up to the perfection of human nature, and is the standing example, as well as the great guide and inftructor, of those who receive his doctrines. Though thefe two heads cannot be too much. infifted upon, I fhall but juft mention them, fince they have been handled by many great and eminent writers. I would therefore propofe the following methods to the confideration of fuch as would find out their fecret faults, and make a true eftimate of themselves. In the first place, let them confider well, what are the characters which they bear among their enemies. Our friends very often flatter us as much as our own hearts. They either do not see our faults, or conceal them from us, us, or foften them by their reprefentations, after fuch a manner, that we think them too trivial to be taken notice of. An adverfary, on the contrary, makes a ftricter fearch into us, difcovers every flaw and imperfection in our tempers; and, though his palice may fet them in too ftrong a light, it has generally fome ground for what it advances. A friend exaggerates a man's virtues, an enemy inflames his crimes. A wife man fhould give a juft attention to both of them, fo far as they may tend to the improvement of the one, and the diminution of the other. Plutarch has written an effay on the benefits which a man may receive from his enemies; and among the good fruits of enmity, mentions this in particular, "that, by the reproaches which it cafts upon us, we fee the worft fide of ourselves, and open our eyes to several blemishes and defects in our lives and converfations, which we fhould not have observed without the help of fuch ill-natured monitors." In order likewife to come to a true knowledge of ourselves, we fhould confider on the other hand, how far we may deserve the praises and approbations which the world beitow upon us; whether the actions they celebrate proceed from laudable and worthy motives; and how far we are really possessed of the virtues, which gain us applause among those with whom we converse. Such a reflection is abfolutely neceffary, if we confider how apt we are either to value or condemn ourfelves by the opinion of others, and to facrifice the report of our own hearts to the judgment of the world. In the next place, that we may not deceive, ourselves in a point of fo much importance, we should not lay too great a firefs on any fuppofed virtues we poffefs, that are of a doubtful nature: and fuch we may esteem all those in which multitudes of men diffent from us, who are as good and wife as our felves. We fhould always act with great cautioufnels and circumfpection, in points where it is not impoffible that we may be de-. ceived. Intemperate zeal, bigotry, and perfecution, for any party or opinion, how praise worthy foever they may appear to weak men of our own principles, produce infinite calami ties among mankind, and are highly criminal in their own nature; and yet how many perfons, eminent for piety, fuffer fuch monstrous and abfurd principles of action to take root in their minds under the colour of virtues ?. For my own part, I must own, I never yet knew any party fo juft and reafonable, that a man could follow it in its height and violence, and at the fame time be innocent. We should likewife be very apprehenfive of thofe actions, which proceed from natural conftitution, favourite paffions, particular edu cation, or whatever promotes our worldly in tereft or advantage. In thefe or the like cafes, a man's judgment is easily perverted, and a wrong bias hung upon his mind. These are the inlets of prejudice, the unguarded avenues of the mind, by which a thoufand errors and fecret faults find admiffion, without being obferved or taken notice of. wife man will fufpect thofe actions to which he is directed by fomething befides reason, and always apprehend fome concealed evil in every refolution that is of a difputable nature, when it is conformable to his particular temper, his age, or way of life, or when it favours his pleasure or his profit. A. There is nothing of greater importance to us, than thus diligently to fift our thoughts, and examine all thefe dark receffes of the mind, if we would eftablish our fouls in fuch a folid and fubftantial virtue as will turn to account in in that great day, when it must ftand the teft of infinite wisdom and juftice. Ifhall conclude this effay with obferving, that the two kinds of hypocrify I have here spoken of, namely that of deceiving the world, and that of impofing on ourselves, are touched with wonderful beauty in the hundred thirty-ninth pfalm. The folly of the first kind of hypocrify is there fet forth by reflections on God's omniscience and omnipresence, which are celebrated in as noble ftrains of poetry as any other I ever met with, either facred or profane. The other kind of hypocrify, whereby a man deceives himself, is intimated in the two laft verses, where the pfalmist addresses himself to the great fearcher of hearts in that emphatical petition; "Try me, O God, and feek the ground of my heart; prove me and examine my thoughts: look well if there be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in ❝ the way everlasting.” Spectator. 24. No Life pleafing to God, but that which is useful to Mankind. An Eastern Story. It pleafed our mighty fovereign Abbas Carafcan, from whom the kings of the earth derive honour and dominion, to fet Mirza his fervant over the province of Tauris. In the hand of Mirza, the balance of diftribution was fufpended with impartiality; and under his adminiftration the weak were protected, the learned received honour, and the diligent became rich: Mirza, therefore, was beheld by every eye with complacency, and every tongue pronounced bleffings upon his head. But it was observed that he derived no joy from the benefits which he diffufed: he became penfive and melancholy; he spent his leifure in folitude; in his palace he fat motionless upon a fofa; and when he went out, his walk was flow, and his eyes were fixed upon the ground: he applied to the business of state with reluctance; and refolved to relinquish the toil of government, of which he could no longer enjoy the reward: He, therefore, obtained permiffion to approach the throne of our fovereign; and being afked what was his request, he made this reply: "May the Lord of the world forgive : the flave whom he has honoured, if Mirza "prefume again to lay the bounty of Abbas "at his feet. Thou haft given me the do"minion of a country, fruitful as the gardens "of Damafcus; and a city glorious above all "others, except that only which reflects the "fplendour of thy prefence. But the longest "life is a period fcarce fufficient to prepare "for death all other bufinefs is vain and "trivial, as the toil of emmets in the path of "the traveller, under whofe foot they perish "for ever; and all enjoyment is unfubftantial "and evanefcent, as the colours of the bow "that appears in the interval of a form. “Suffer me, therefore, to prepare for the ap"proach of eternity, let me give up my foul "to meditation; let folitude and filence ac"quaint me with the myfteries of devotion ; "let me forget the world, and by the world "be forgotten, till the moment arrives in "which the veil of eternity shall fall, and I "shall be found at the bar of the Almighty." Mirza then bowed himself to the earth, and ftood filent. By the command of Abbas it is recorded, that at these words he trembled upon the throne, at the footstool of which the world pays homage: he looked round upon his nobles; but every countenance was pale, and every eye was upon the earth, No man opened his mouth; and the king first broke filence, after it had continued near an hour. "Mirza, terror and doubt are come upon me. I am alarmed as a man who fuddenly "perceives that he is near the brink of a preci"pice, and is urged forward by an irrentible "force: but yet I know not, whether my "danger is a reality or a dream. I am as ❝ thou art, a reptile of the earth: my life is a moment, and eternity, in which days, " and years, and ages, are nothing, eter"nity is before me, for which I alfo fhould << prepare but by whom then mult the "Faithful be governed? by thofe only who "have no fear of judgment? by thofe "only, whofe life is brutal, because like "brutes they do not confider that they fhall "die? Or who, indeed, are the Faithful? "Are the bufy multitudes that crowd the "city, in a state of perdition? and is the cell " of the Dervife alone the gate of Paradife? "To all, the life of a Dervife is not poffible : "to all, therefore, it cannot be a duty. De66 part to the house which has in this city been "prepared for thy refidence: I will meditate "the reason of thy request; and may He who "illuminates the mind of the humble, enable "me to determine with wisdom." Mirza departed, and on the third day having received no command, he again requested an audience, and it was granted. When he entered the royal prefence, his countenance appeared more chearful; he drew a letter from his bofom, and having kiffed it, he presented it with his right hand. "My Lord," said he, "I have learned by this letter, which I re"ceived from Cofrou the Iman, who stands now before thee, in what manner life may "be beft improved. I am enabled to look "back with pleasure, and forward with "hope; and I fhall now rejoice still to be the "fhadow of thy power at Tauris, and to keep "thofe honours which I fo lately wished to "refign." The king, who had listened to "Under the inftruction of the physician "Aluzar, I obtained an early knowledge of his art. To those who were fmitten with "difeafe, I could adminifter plants, which "the fun has impregnated with the spirit of "health. But the fcenes of pain, languor, " and mortality, which were perpetually "rifing before me, made me often tremble "for myself. I faw the grave open at my "feet: I determined, therefore, to contem"plate only the regions beyond it, and to def "pife every acquifition which I could not "keep. I conceived an opinion, that as there 66 was no merit but in voluntary poverty, and "filent meditation, thofe who defired money "were not proper objects of bounty; and "that by all who were proper objects of "bounty, money was despised. I, therefore, "buried mine in the earth; and renouncing "fociety, I wandered into a wild and fequef ❝tered |