fome collateral truth, to remove fome adjacent difficulty, and to take in the whole comprehenfion of our fyftem. As a prince, in the ardour of acquifition, is willing to fecure his firft conqueft by the addition of another, add fortress to fortress, and city to city, till defpair and opportunity turn his enemies upon him, and he lofes in a moment the glory of a reign.

The philofophers having found an easy victory over thofe defires which we produce in ourselves, and which terminate in fome imaginary ftate of happiness unknown and unattainable, proceeded to make further inroads upon the heart, and attacked at laft our fenfes and our inftincts. They continue to war upon nature with arms, by which only folly could be conquered; they therefore loft the trophies of their former combats, and were confidered no longer with reverence or regard.

Yet it cannot be with justice denied, that these men have been very useful monitors, and have left many proofs of ftrong reafon, deep penetration, and accurate attention to the affairs of life, which it is now our business to separate from the foam of a boiling imagination, and to apply judicioufly to our own use. They have fhewn that most of the conditions of life, which raise the envy of the timorous, and roufe the ambition of the daring, are empty fhews of felicity, which, when they become familiar, lofe their power of delighting; and that the most profperous and exalted have very few advantages over a meaner and more obfcure fortune, when their dangers and folicitudes are balanced against their equipage, their banquets, and their palaces.

It is natural for every man uninstructed to murmur at his condition, because, in the general infelicity of life, he feels his own miferies, without knowing that they are common to all the reft of the fpecies; and therefore, though he will not be lefs fenfible of pain by being told that others are equally tormented, he will at leaft be freed from the temptation of feeking by perpetual changes that eafe which is no where to be found, and though his disease still continues he escapes the hazard of exafperating it by remedies.

The gratifications which affluence of wealth, extent of power, and eminence of reputation confer, must be always, by their own nature, confined to a very small number; and the life of the greater part of mankind must be lost in empty wishes and painful comparisons, were not the balm of philofophy fhed upon us, and our discontent at the appearances of an unequal distribution foothed and appeafed.

It seemed, perhaps, below the dignity of the great mafters of moral learning, to defcend to familiar life, and caution mankind against that petty ambition which is known among us by the name of vanity; which yet had been an undertaking not unworthy of the longest beard and most folemn aufterity. For though the paffions of little minds, acting in low stations, do not fill the world with bloodfhed and devaftations, or mark, by great events, the periods of time, yet they torture the breaft on which they feize, infeft thofe that are placed within the reach of their influence, deftroy private quiet and private virtue, and undermine infenfibly the happiness of the world.

The

The defire of excellence is laudable, but is very frequently ill-directed. We fall, by chance, into fome clafs of mankind, and, without confulting nature or wisdom, refolve to gain their regard by thofe qualities which they happen to esteem I once knew a man remarkably dim-fighted, who, by converfing much with country gentlemen, found himself irresistibly determined to fylvan honours. His great ambition was to fhoot flying, and he therefore spent whole days in the woods pursuing game; which, before he was near enough to fee them, his approach frighted away.

When it happens that the defire tends to objects which produce no competition, it may be overlooked with fome indulgence, because, however fruitlefs or abfurd, it cannot have ill effects upon the morals. But most of our enjoyments owe their value to the peculiarity of poffeffion, and when they are rated at too high a value, give occafion to ftratagems of malignity, and incite oppofition, hatred, and defamation. The conteft of two rural beauties for preference and distinction, is often fufficiently keen and rancorous to fill their breasts with all thofe paffions which are generally thought the curfe only of fenates, of armies, and of courts; and the rival dancers of an obfcure affembly have their partizans and abettors, often not lefs exafperated against each other, than thofe who are promoting the interefts of rival monarchs.

It is common to confider those whom we find infected with an unreasonable regard for trifling accomplishments, as chargeable with all the confequences of their folly, and as the authors of their own unhappiness; but, perhaps, thofe whom we

VOL. II.

E

thus

thus fcorn or deteft, have more claim to tenderness than has been yet allowed them. Before we permit our feverity to break loose upon any fault or error, we ought furely to confider how much we have countenanced or promoted it. We fee multitudes bufy in the pursuit of riches, at the expence of wifdom and of virtue; but we see the rest of mankind approving their conduct, and inciting their eagerness, by paying that regard and deference to wealth which wisdom and virtue only can deferve. We fee women univerfally jealous of the reputation of their beauty, and frequently look with contempt on the care with which they ftudy their complexions, endeavour to preferve or to fupply the bloom of youth, regulate every ornament, twift their hair into curls, and fhade their faces from the weather. We recommend the care of their nobler part, and tell them how little addition is made by all their arts to the graces of the mind. But when was it known that female good-. nefs or knowledge was able to attract that officioufnefs, or infpire that ardour, which beauty produces whenever it appears? And with what hope can we endeavour to perfuade the ladies, that the time spent at the toilet is loft in vanity, when they have every moment fome new conviction, that their interest is more effectually promoted by a ribband well difpofed, than by the brighteft act of heroick virtue ?

In every inftance of vanity it will be found, that the blame ought to be fhared among more than it generally reaches; all who exalt trifles by immoderate praife, or inftigate needlefs emulation by invidious incitements, are to be confidered as perverters of reafon and corrupters of the world:

and

and fince every man is obliged to promote happinefs and virtue, he fhould be careful not to mislead unwary minds, by appearing to fet too high a value upon things by which no real excellence is conferred.

NUMB. 67. TUESDAY, November 6, 1750.

Αἱ δ ̓ ἐλπίδες βόσκεσι φυγάδας, ὡς λόγος
Καλῶς βλέπεσιν ὄμμασι, μέλλεσι δέ

Exiles, the proverb fays, fubfist on hope,
Delusive hope ftill points to distant good,
To good that mocks approach.

EURIP.

THERE is no temper fo generally indulged as hope; other paffions operate by starts on particular occafions, or in certain parts of life; but hope begins with the first power of comparing our actual with our poffible state, and attends us through every stage and period, always urging us forward to new acquifitions, and holding out fome diftant bleffing to our view, promifing us either relief from pain, or increase of happiness.

Hope is neceffary in every condition. The miferies of poverty, of fickness, of captivity, would, without this comfort, be infupportable; nor does it appear that the happieft lot of terreftrial exiftence can fet us above the want of this general bleffing; or that life, when the gifts of nature and of fortune are accumulated upon it, would not ftill be wretched, were it not elevated and delighted by the expectation of fome new poffeffion, of fome enjoyment yet behind, by which the wifh fhall be at laft fatisfied, and the heart filled up to its utmost extent.