confequently I have received many fayours in the opinion of thofe at whofe expence I have been maintained; yet I do not feel in my heart any burning gratitude or tumultuous affection; and, as I would not willingly fuppofe myself lefs fufceptible of virtuous pallions than the rest of mankind, I fhall lay the hiftory of my life before you, that you may, by your judgment of my conduct, either reform or confirm my prefent fentiments.

My father was the fecond fon of a very ancient and wealthy family. He married a lady of equal birth, whofe fortune, joined to his own, might have fupported his pofterity in honour; but being gay and ambitious, he prevailed on his friends to procure him a polt, which gave him an opportunity of difplaying his elegance and politenefs. My mother was equally pleafed with fplendor, and equally carelets of expence; they both juftified their profufion to themselves, by endeavouring to believe it neceffary to the extenfion of their acquaintance, and improvement of their intereft; and whenever any place became vacant, they expected to be repaid. In the midst of thefe hopes my father was fnatched away by an apoplexy; and my mother, who had no pleature but in drefs, equipage, affemblies, and compliments, finding that he could live no longer in her accustomed rank, funk into dejection, and in two years wore out her life with envy and difcontent.

I was fent with a fifter, one year younger than myself, to the elder brother of my father. We were not yet capable of obferving how much fortune influences affection, but flattered ourfelves on the road with the tenderness and regard with which we fhould be treated by our uncle. Our reception was rather frigid than malignant; we were introduced to our young cousins, and for the first month more frequently confoled than upbraided; but in a fhort time we found our prattle repreffed, our drefs neglected, our endearments unregarded, and our requests referred to the houfe-keeper.

The forms of decency were now violated, and every day produced new infults. We were foon brought to the neceffity of receding from our imagined equality with our coufins, to whom we funk into humble companions without choice or influence, expected only to

echo their opinions, facilitate their defires, and accompany their rambles. It was unfortunate that our early introduction into polite company, and habitual knowledge of the arts of civility, had given us fuch an appearance of fuperiority to the awkward bashfulness of our relations, as naturally drew respect and preference from every stranger; and my aunt was forced to affert the dignity of her own children while they were fculking in corners for fear of notice, and hanging down their heads in filent confufion, by relating the indifcretion of our father, difplaying her own kindness, lamenting the mifery of birth without eftate, and declaring her anxiety for our future provifion, and the expedients which he had formed to fecure us from thofe follies or crimes, to which the conjunction of pride and want often gives occafion. În a short time care was taken to prevent fuch vexatious miftakes; we were told, that fine clothes would only fill our heads with falfe expectations, and our dress was therefore accommodated to our fortune.

Childhood is not easily dejected or mortified. We felt no lafting pain from infolence or neglect; but finding that we were favoured and commended by all whofe intereft did not prompt them to discountenance us, preferved our vivacity and fpirit to years of greater fenfibility. It then became irksome and difgufting to live without any principle of action but the will of another, and we often met privately in the garden to lament our condition, and to ease our hearts with mutual narratives of caprice, peevifhnefs, and affront.

There are innumerable modes of infult and tokens of contempt, for which it is not easy to find a name, which vanifh to nothing in an attempt to defcribe them, and yet may, by continual repetition, make day pafs after day in forrow and in terror. Phrafes of curfory compliment and established falutation may, by a different modulation of the voice, or caft of the countenance, convey contrary meanings, and be changed from indications of refpect to expreffions of fcorn. The dependent who cultivates delicacy in himfelf very little confults his own tranquillity. My unhappy vigilance is every moment difcovering fome petulance of accent, or arrogance of mien, fome vehemence of interrogation, or quickness of reply, that recalls U u 2

my

my poverty to my mind, and which I feel more acutely as I know not how to refent it.

You are not however to imagine, that I think myself discharged from the duties of gratitude, only because my relations do not adjust their looks, or tune their voices, to my expectation. The infolence of benefaction terminates not in negative rudencfs or obliquities of infult. I am often told in exprefs terms of the miferies from which charity has fnatched me, while multitudes are fuffered by relations equally near to devolve upon the parish; and have more than once heard it numbered among other favours, that I am admitted to the fame table with my cousins.

That I fit at the first table I muft acknowledge, but I fit there only that I may feel the ftings of inferiority. My enquiries are neglected, my opinion is overborne, my affertions are controverted; and as infolence always propagates itself, the fervants overlook me, in imitation of their mafter; if I call modeftly, I am not heard; if loudly, my ufurpation of authority is checked by a general frown. I am often obliged to look uninvited upon delicacies, and fometimes. defired to rife upon very flight pretences.

The incivilities to which I am expofed would give me lefs pain, were they not aggravated by the tears of my fifter, whom the young ladies are hourly tormenting with every art of feminine

perfecution. As it is faid of the fu preme magiftrate of Venice, that he is a prince in one place and a flave in another; my fifter is a fervant to her cousins in their apartments, and a companion only at the table. Her wit and beauty draw fo much regard away from them, that they never fuffer her to appear with them in any place where they folicit notice, or expect admiration; and when they are vifited by neighbouring ladies, and pafs their hours in domeftick amufements, the is fometimes called to fill a vacancy, infulted with contemptuous freedoms, and difmiffed to her needle when her place is fupplied. The heir has of late, by the inftigation of his fifters, begun to harass her with clownish jocularity; he feems inclined to make his firft rude effays of waggery upon her; and by the connivance, if not encouragement of his father, treats her with fuch licentious brutality, as I cannot bear, though I cannot punish it.

I beg to be informed, Mr. Rambler, how much we can be fuppofed to owe to beneficence, exerted on terms like thefe? to beneficence which pollutes it's gifts with contumely, and may be truly faid to pander to pride? I would willingly be told, whether infolence does not reward it's own liberalities, and whether he that exacts fervility can with justice at the fame time expect affection? I am, Sir, &c.

HYPERDULUS.

been able long to over power the anguish of oppreffion, the tediouinefs of languor, or the longings of want.

Yet it may be generally remarked, that where much has been attempted, fomething has been performed; though the discoveries or acquifitions of man are not always adequate to the expectations of his pride, they are at least fufficient to animate his industry. The antidotes with which philofophy has medicated the of life, though they cannot give it falubrity and sweetness, have at least allayed it's bitterness, and contempered it's malignity; the balm which the drops upon the wounds of the mind abates their pain, though it cannot heal them.

cup

By fuffering willingly what we cannot avoid, we fecute ourselves from vain and immoderate difquiet; we preferve for better purposes that strength which would be unprofitably wafted in wild efforts of desperation, and maintain that circumfpection which may enable us to feize every fupport, and improve every alleviation. This calmness will be more easily obtained, as the attention is more powerfully withdrawn from the contemplation of unmingled unabated evil, and diverted to those accidental benefits which prudence may confer on every ftate.

Seneca has attempted not only to pacify us in misfortune, but almost to allure us to it, by representing it as neceffary to the pleasures of the mind. He that never was acquainted with adverfity,' fays he, has feen the world but on one fide, and is ignorant of half the scenes of nature.' He invites his pupil to calamity, as the Syrens allured the paffenger to their coafts, by promifing that he fhall return valdas, with increase of knowledge, with enlarged views, and multiplied ideas.

and

Curiofity is, in great and generous minds, the first paffion and the last; perhaps always predominates in proportion to the ftrength of the contemplative faculties. He who eafily comprehends all that is before him, and foon exhaufts any fingle fubje&t, is always eager for new enquiries; and in proportion as the intellectual eye takes in a wider profpect, it must be gratified with variety by more rapid flights, and bolder excurfions; nor perhaps can there be propofed to thofe who have been accuftomed to the pleasures of thought, a more powerful incitement to any under

O quantum terræ, quantum cognofcere cæli, Permifum eft! pelagus quantos aperimus in ufus!

Nunc forfan grave rerisopus: fed læta recurret Cum ratis et caram cum jam mihi reddet Iolcon Quam referam visas tua per fufpiria gentes! Quis pudor beu noftro tibi tunc audire labores!

Led by our stars, what tracts immense we trace!

From feas remote, what funds of science raife!
A pain to thought! but when th' heroick band
Returns applauded to their native land,
A life domeftick you will then deplore,
And figh, while I defcribe the various shore.
EDW. CAVE.

Acaftus was foon prevailed upon by his curiofity to fet rocks and hardships at defiance, and commit his life to the winds; and the fame motives have in all ages had the fame effect upon those whona the defire of fame or wifdom has diftinguished from the lower orders of inankind.

If therefore it can be proved that diftrefs is neceffary to the attainment of knowledge, and that a happy fituation hides from us fo large a part of the field of meditation, the envy of man who repine at the fight of affluence and splendor will be much diminished; for fuch is the delight of mental fuperiority, that none on whom nature or study have conferred it, would purchase the gifts of fertune by it's lofs.

It is certain, that however the rhetorick of Seneca may have dressed adverfity with extrinfick ornaments, he has justly reprefented it as affording fome opportunities of obfervation, which capnot be found in continual fuccefs; he has truly afferted, that to escape misfortune is to want inftruction, and that to live at eafe is to live in ignorance.

As no man can enjoy happiness with

out

out thinking that he enjoys it, the experience of calamity is neceffary to a juft fenfe of better fortune; for the good of our prefent ftate is merely comparative, and the evil which every man feels will be fufficient to disturb and harafs him, if he does not know how much he efcapes. The luftre of diamonds is invigorated by the interpofition of darker bodies; the lights of a picture are created by the fhades. The highest pleasure which nature has indulged to fenfitive perception, is that of reft after fatigue; yet that ftate which labour heightens into delight is of itself only cafe, and is incapable of fatisfying the mind without the fuperaddition of diverfified amufements.

Profperity, as is truly afferted by Seneca, very much obstructs the knowledge of ourselves. No man can form a juft eftimate of his own powers by unactive fpeculation. That fortitude which has encountered no dangers, that prudence which has furmounted no difficulties, that integrity which has been attacked by no temptations, can at beft be confidered but as gold not yet brought to the teft, of which therefore the true value cannot be affigned. He that traverses the lifts without an adverfary, may receive, fays the philofopher, the reward of victory, but he has no · pretenfions to the honour.' If it be the highest happiness of man to contemplate himfelf with fatisfaction, and to receive the gratulations of his own

confcience, he whofe courage has made way amidst the turbulence of oppofition, and whofe vigour has broken through the fnares of diftrefs, has many advantages over those that have flept in the fhades of indolence, and whole retrofpect of time can entertain them with nothing but day rifing upon day, and year gliding after year.

Equally neceffary is fome variety of fortune to a nearer inspection of the manners, principles, and affections of mankind. Princes, when they would know the opinions or grievances of their fubjects, find it neceffary to feal away from guards and attendants, and mingle on equal terms among the people. To him who is known to have the power of doing good or harm, nothing is thown in it's natural form. The behaviour of all that approach him is regulated by his humour, their narratives are adapted to his inclination, and their reasonings determined by his opinions; whatever can alarm fufpicion, or excite refentment, is carefully fuppressed, and nothing appears but uniformity of fentiments and ardour of affection. It may be obferved that the unvaried complaifance which ladies have the right of exacting, keeps them generally unskilled in human nature; profperity will always enjoy the female prerogatives, and therefore must be always in danger of female ignorance. Truth is fcarcely to be heard, but by thofe from whom it can ferve no intereft to conceal it.

Toby have faced, with agitat HE writers of medicine and phyfi

pearance of accuracy, the effects of time upon the human body, by marking the various periods of the conftitution, and the feveral stages by which animal life

WEST.

crepitude's house fancyvations

makes it's progrefs from infancy to de

have not enabled them to discover how manhood may be accelerated, or old age retarded, yet furely, if they be confidered only as the amufements of curiofity,

they

they are of equal importance with conjectures on things more remote, with catalogues of the fixed ftars, and calculations of the bulk of planets.

It had been a task worthy of the moral philofophers to have confidered with equal care the climactericks of the mind; to have pointed out the time at which every paffion begins and ceases to predominate, and noted the regular variations of defire, and the fucceflion of one appetite to another.

The periods of mental change are not to be ftated with equal certainty: our bodies grow up under the care of nature, and depend fo little on our own management, that fomething more than negligence is neceffary to difcompofe their structure, or impede their vigour. But our minds are committed in a great measure first to the direction of others, and afterwards of ourselves. It would be difficult to protract the weaknels of infancy beyond the ufual time, but the mind may be very eafily hindered "from it's fhare of improvement, and the bulk and ftrength of manhood muft, without the affiftance of education and inftruction, be informed only with the underftanding of a child.

Yet amidst all the diforder and inequality which variety of difcipline, example, converfation and employment, produce in the intellectual advances of different men, there is ftill difcovered by a vigilant fpectator, fuch a general and remote fimilitude, as may be expected in the fame cominon nature affected by external circumftances indefinitely varied. We all enter the world in equal ignorance, gaze round about us on the fame objects, and have our first pains and pleasures, our first hopes and fears, our first averfions and defires, from the fame caufes; and though, as we proceed farther, life opens wider profpects to our view, and accidental impulfes determine us to different paths; yet as every mind, however vigorous or abftracted, is neceffitated, in it's prefent ftate of union, to receive it's informations, and execute it's purposes, by the intervention of the body, the uniformity of our corporeal nature communicates itself to our intellectual operations; and those whofe abilities or knowledge incline them moft to deviate from the general round of life, are recalled from excentricity by the laws of their exift

ence.

If we confider the exercifes of the mind, it will be found that in each part of life fome particular faculty is more eminently employed. When the treafures of knowledge are firit opened before us; while novelty blooms alike on either hand, and every thing equally unknown and unexamined feems of equal value, the power of the foul is principally exerted in a vivacious and defultory curiofity. She applies by turns to every object, enjoys it for a fhort time, and flies with equal ardour to another. She delights to catch up loofe and unconnected ideas, but starts away from fyftems and complications which would obftruct the rapidity of her tranfitions, and detain her long in the fame purfuit.

When a number of diftinct images are collected by these erratick and hasty furveys, the fancy is bufied in arranging them; and combines them into pleafing pictures with more refemblance to the realities of life as experience advances, and new obfervations rectify the former. While the judgment is yet uninformed, and unable to compare the draughts of fiction with their originals, we are delighted with improbable adventures, impracticable virtues, and inimitable characters: but in proportion as we have more opportunities of acquainting ourfelves with living nature, we are fooner difgufted with copies in which there appears no refemblance. We first difcard abfurdity and impoffibility, then exact greater and greater degrees of probability, but at last become cold and infenfible to the charms of falsehood, however specious, and from the imitations of truth, which are never perfect, transfer our affection to truth itfelf.

Now commences the reign of judgment or reafon; we begin to find little pleasure but in comparing arguments, ftating propofitions, difentangling perplexities, clearing ambiguities, and deducing confequences. The painted vales of imagination are deferted, and our intellectual activity is exercised in winding through the labyrinths of fallacy, and toiling with firm and cautious fteps up the narrow tracks of demonftration. Whatever may lull vigilance, or mislead attention, is contemptuously rejected, and every difguife in which error may be concealed is carefully obferved, till by degrees a certain number