It is most true that was anciently spoken; "A place showeth the man; and it showeth some to the better and some to the worse:" "Omnium consensu capax imperii, nisi imperasset," "h saith Tacitus of Galba; but of Vespasian he saith, "Solus imperantium, Vespasianus mutatus in melius ;"i though the one was meant of sufficiency, the other of manners and affection. It is an assured sign of a worthy and generous spirit, whom honour amends; for honour is, or should be, the place of virtue; and as in nature things move violently to their place, and calmly in their place, so virtue in ambition is violent, in authority settled and calm. All rising to great place is by a winding stair; and if there be factions, it is good to side a man's self whilst he is in the rising, and to balance himself when he is placed. Use the memory of thy predecessor fairly and tenderly; for if thou dost not, it is a debt will sure be paid when thou art gone. If thou have colleagues, respect them; and rather call them when they look not for it, than exclude them when they have reason to look to be called. Be not too sensible or too remembering of thy place in conversation and private answers to suitors; but let it rather be said, "When he sits in place, he is another man." ✓ XII.-OF BOLDNESS. Ir is a trivial grammar-school text, but yet worthy a wise man's consideration. Question was asked of Demosthenes, what was the chief part of an orator? he answered, Action : what next?-Action: what next again?—Action. He said it that knew it best, and had by nature himself no advantage in that he commended. A strange thing, that that part of an orator which is but superficial, and rather the virtue of a player, should be placed so high above those other noble "By the consent of all he was fit to govern, if he had not governed." "Of the emperors, Vespasian alone changed for the better after his accession." 30 thou digressest from place, but stir not assume thy right in with claims and che inferior places; and than to be busy advices touching drive away such a accept of them chiefly four: For delays giv through with business but c thine own l bind the ha used doth manifest de not only t1. variable, a giveth suspi changest declare it change, favourite + esteem, ruption. severit observation. This is well to be weighed, that boldness is ever blind; for it seeth not dangers and inconveniences : therefore it is ill in counsel, good in execution; so that the right use of bold persons is, that they never command in chief, but be seconds and under the direction of others; for in counsel it is good to see dangers, and in execution not to see them except they be very great. XIII.-OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE. I TAKE goodness in this sense, the affecting of the weal of men, which is that the Grecians call "philanthropia;" and the word humanity (as it is used) is a little too light to express it. Goodness I call the habit, and goodness of nature the inclination. This, of all virtues and dignities of the mind, is the greatest, being the character of the Deity: and without it man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing, no better than a kind of vermin. Goodness answers to the theological virtue charity, and admits no excess but error. The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall;a the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall; but in charity there is no excess, neither can angel or man come in danger by it. The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man; insomuch, that if it issue not towards men, it will take unto other living creatures; as it is seen in the Turks, a cruel people, who nevertheless are kind to beasts, and give alms to dogs and birds; insomuch as Busbechius reporteth, a It is not improbable that this passage suggested Pope's beautiful lines in the Essay on Man, Ep. i. 125-8. "Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes, Men would be angels, angels would be gods. Aspiring to be angels, men rebel." Auger Gislen Busbec, or Busbequius, a learned traveller, born at Comines, in Flanders, in 1522. He was employed by the Emperor Ferdinand as ambassador to the Sultan Solyman II. He was afterwards ambassador to France, where he died in 1592. His "Letters" relative to his travels in the East, which are written in Latin, contain much interesting information. They were the pocket companion of Gibbon, and are highly praised by him. D honest mind prisoner. Neither give thou Æsop's cock a gem, who would be better pleased and happier if he had had a barley-corn. The example of God teacheth the lesson truly; "He sendeth his rain, and maketh his sun to shine upon the just and the unjust ;" but he doth not rain wealth, nor shine honour and virtues upon men equally: common benefits are to be communicate with all, but peculiar benefits with choice. And beware how in making the portraiture thou breakest the pattern; for divinity maketh the love of ourselves the pattern: the love of our neighbours but the portraiture: "Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, and follow me:"f but sell not all thou hast except thou come and follow me ; that is, except thou have a vocation wherein thou mayest do as much good with little means as with great; for otherwise, in feeding the streams, thou driest the fountain. Neither is there only a habit of goodness directed by right reason; but there is in some men, even in nature, a disposition towards it; as, on the other side, there is a natural malignity for there be that in their nature do not affect the good of others. The lighter sort of malignity turneth but to a crossness, or frowardness, or aptness to oppose, or difficileness, or the like; but the deeper sort to envy, and mere mischief. Such men in other men's calamities, are, as it were, in season, and are ever on the loading part: not so good as the dogs that licked Lazarus' sores, but like flies that are still buzzing upon anything that is raw; misanthropi, that make it their practice to bring men to the bough, and yet have never a tree for the purpose in their gardens, as Timon had such dispositions are the very errors of human : e St. Matthew v. 5: "For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." This is a portion of our Saviour's reply to the rich man who asked hint what he should do to inherit eternal life: "Then Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt thou have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."St. Mark x. 21. g See St. Luke xvi. 21. h Timon of Athens, as he is generally called (being so styled by Shakspeare in the play which he has founded on his story), was surnamed the "Misanthrope," from the hatred which he bore to his fellow-men. He was attached to Apemantus, another Athenian of similar character to himself, and he professed to esteem Alcibiades, because he foresaw that |