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Venice.]

1703. WISDOM-affectation of it. There is a sort of men whose visages

Do cream and mantle like a standing pool,
And do a wilful stillness entertain,
With purpose to be drest in an opinion
Of Wisdom, Gravity, profound Conceit.

1704. LUXURY and TEMPERANCE Contrasted. Superfluity comes sooner by white hairs; but Competency lives longer.

1705. KNOWLEDGE and PRACTICE.

If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, Chapels had been Churches, and poor Men's Cottages Princes' Palaces*.

1706. HYPOCRISY.

The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. 1707.

An evil soul producing holy witness

Is like a villain with a smiling cheek. 1708.

O what a goodly outside Falsehood hath. 1709. INEQUALITY.

O that Estates, Degrees, and Offices,
Were not deriv'd corruptly; and that clear Ho-
Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer! [nor
How many then should cover that stand bare;
How many be commanded that command!
How much low peasantry would then be glean'd
From the true seed of Honor; and how much
Honor

Pickt from the chaff and ruin of the times,
To be new varnish'd.

This latter consequence does not very clearly follow; but it is clear that Cottages would be more numerous and more comfortable.

1710. SHEW deceives the wORLD.

Venice.]

The World is still deceiv'd with Ornament. 1711.

There is no Vice so simple but assumes

Some mark of Virtue on his outward parts. 1712. DIVINITY-Errors in it made plausible. In Religion

What damned error but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with a Text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament.
1713. LAW-Deceits in it.

In Law what Plea so tainted and corrupt
But being season'd with a gracious voice,
Obscures the shew of evil?

1714. MILITARY-Imposture in that Profession. How many Cowards whose hearts are all as false As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars. 1715. ORNAMENT deceitful. Ornament is but the gilded shore To a most dangerous sea.

1716. GOOD never to be repented. One never did repent for doing good.

1717. CRUELTY once habitual, can not be softened. You may as well use question with the Wolf Why he hath made the Ewe bleat for the Lamb; You may as well forbid the mountain pines Το wag their high tops, and to make no noise When they are fretted with the Gusts of Heaven; You may as well do any thing most hard

As seek to soften that (than which what's harder) A cruel Heart.

Venice.]

.1718. FRUIT-the weakest falls soonest. The weakest kind of Fruit

Drops soonest to the ground.

1719. MERCY.

The quality of Mercy is not strain'd;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned Monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shews the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of Kings.
But Mercy is above this sceptred sway:

It is enthroned in the hearts of Kings:

It is an attribute to GoD himself:

And earthly power doth then shew likest God's When Mercy seasons Justice.

1720. RECOMPENCE.

He is well paid that is well satisfied.

1721. MUSIC best suited to Night and Silence. Soft Stillness and the Night

Become the touches of sweet Harmony*.

1722. HARMONY celestial.

There's not the smallest Orb which thou beholdst
But in his motion like an Angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed Cherubim :
Such Harmony is in immortal Souls;
But while this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close us in, we cannot hear it†.

*To one who truly loves Music, the most perfect stillness is requisite.

Vide TINDAL's ESS.

+ Where are the sublimest Theories of the Platonic Philosophy more classically, more beautifully, more sublimely expresst?

S

Like It.

1723. MUSIC-Dislike of it a bad Symptom. The man that hath no Music in himself,

Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;
The motions of his Spirit are dull as Night,
And his affections dark as Erebus:

Let no such man be trusted.

1724. OPPORTUNENESS.

How many things by Season season'd are To their right praise and true perfection. 1725. WIFE.

A light Wife doth make a heavy Husband.

AS YOU LIKE IT.

1726. FORTUNE-governs in adventitious Things; not in those of NATURE.

Fortune reigns in the gifts of the World; not in the lineaments of Nature.

1727. TREASON not inherited. Treason* is not inherited.

1728. ADVERSITY profitable. Sweet are the uses of Adversity,

Which, like the Toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.

1729. RETIREMENT contemplative, finds GOOD in every thing.

A Life that is exempt from public haunt Finds tongues in trees; books in the running brooks;

Sermons in stones; and GOOD in every thing.

This shews, by implied consequence, how much the Punishment of Attainder and Forfeiture, in cases of Treason and other Felony, ought to be mitigated, to be,consistent with Justice.

Like It.]

1730. QUALITIES Good-sometimes the occasion To some kind of men

[of EVIL.

Their Graces serve them but as Enemies.

1731.

often of OBLOQUY.

O what a World is this, when what is comely
Envenoms him that bears it!

1732. PROVIDENCE-it's Care over all.
* He that doth the Ravens feed,

Yea providently caters for the Sparrow;
Will comfort Man's old age.

1733. DISTRESS neglects the forms of Politeness. The thorny point

Of bare Distress doth take from us the shew

Of smooth Civility.

1734. MISERY —we should think of that of Others. One is not alone unhappy :

This wide and universal theatre

Presents more woeful pageants than the scene Wherein one plays.

1735. LIFE compared to a Theatre.

All the World's a Stage*,

And all the men and women merely Players:
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts;
His acts being seven Ages.

1736. PAST and PRESENT. Was is not Is.

1737. SUFFERING anxious for REMEDY. Wherever Sorrow is Relief should be.

Σκηνη Πας ο Βιος και Παιγνιον.

EP. VET.

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