out wishing to mortify or offend, have too much spirit to disguise or flatter himɩ

Confiderable benefit in the fame way may be derived from a wider commerce with mankind. Many boys, naturally poffeffed of promifing difpofitions, are early corrupted with vanity. Their little caprices and puerile conceits, which if properly educated they would foon outgrow, are injudiciously fostered by fond parents, and other partial relations, who are inceffantly praifing their vivacity as wit, the dawnings of an ordinary understanding as marks of genius, and the just observations on which they stumble, in hazarding whatever comes uppermoft, as wisdom beyond their years. The intoxication produced by this, and other inftances of weak indulgence, is feldom cured at fchools or colleges, as matters are commonly managed there. From these they iffue into the world opiniative, prating, difputatious, troublesome pedants, full of their own

parts, and prone to contemn or leffen those of others: but, if they are fo fortunate as to mingle with men of diftinguished talents, to meet with feasonable checks in conversation, and to form intimacies with perfons of worth and experience, in that cafe their original good-nature, joined with increasing sense, cool reflection, and the forms of refpect, which they will find practifed in the politer intercourfes of life, will by degrees mould them into modefty, attention, and complaifance. They will then recollect, with concern and astonishment, how ill they formerly knew themfelves, or understood the behaviour that became them.

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But now, where a youth is conftitutionally impetuous, violent, overbearing, and has not been taught betimes to controul his temper, he, instead of being fubdued or foftened by the focial difcipline I have been describing, will only be incited to worse fallies of paffion and arrogance.

Or if, for the fake of intereft, power, or popularity, he should affume a smoother manner, and even ftoop to the lowest arts of pleafing, as indeed there is nothing low, to which Pride cannot stoop in the midst of its loftieft airs, he will not long be able to fupprefs the ebullitions of his predominant fin. But fuppofe him fo refined a hypocrite as to conceal it under an appearance of habitual meekness, what then? True wifdom, and the milder affections of humanity, must ever be ftrangers to his foul.

It was not, we may prefume, without fpecial reafon, that Solomon took fuch uncommon pains to caution his fon or pupil against felf-fufficiency. He well knew how peculiarly incident that vice is to youth, from the brifknefs of their fancies, from the narrowness of their views, from their inexperience of the world and themselves, from their little acquaintance with perfons of more years or attainments,

from their early defire of confequence, and often, as we hinted before, from the flattery of those who should teach them better. Knowing this, and the pernicious effects of over-rating their own abilities, he guards them against it with particular care.

Lean not to thine own understanding. "Be not wife in thine own eyes. With "the lowly is wisdom; but a fool is con"fident. A wife fon heareth his father's "inftructions: but a fcorner heareth not "rebuke. Seeft thou a man wife in his "own conceit? there is more hope of a "fool than of him." Mere folly may be brought to liften, to learn, to fubmit: but he who thinks himself wife enough already, difdains the thought. In the fluctuation of ideas that pafs through the head of a giddy diftracted creature, there may chance to arise some sober confiderations, which by repetition shall at length take hold of his mind, and become the feeds of reformation and improvement: but both are precluded, where ignorance

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and vanity concur to perfuade a man that neither is wanted.

Does it then require any high ftrain of Humility for a young perfon to conceive that he may poffibly be mistaken, and is ftill deficient; that he who has read little, is not likely to know much; that he who has converfed with few men, can scarcely be acquainted with many characters; or that he who has often detected, or imagined he has detected, his companions in error, may fometimes fall into it himself? Alas! my friends, the illufions of selflove are fo complicated and powerful, that to refift them demands very often no common degree of vigilance and refolution: and yet they are fometimes fo grofs, that to give way to them argues contemptible weakness. To hear a conceited youth boafting his knowledge of the world, and talking in a tone of triumph, and with a look of fancied penetration, as if he faw through every one, while no one faw