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gularity; and affect to cross the roads of life, because they know they shall not be jostled, and indulge a boundless gratification of humour, because they perceive they shall be quietly obeyed.

This seems an easy passport to fame; and those on whom the lot is bestowed, appear too frequently to consider the patience with which their caprices are suffered, as an undoubted evidence of their own importance-of a genius to which submission is universally paid, and whose irregularities are only considered as consequences of its vigour. These peculiarities, however, are always found to blemish a character, though they may not totally obscure it. For he who expects from mankind, that they should give up established customs in compliance with his single will, and exacts that deference which he does not pay, may be endured, but can never be approved. *

But let no man be in haste (of which we, however, see too many instances) to conclude his own merit so great or conspicuous as to require or justify singularity. It is as hazardous for a moderate understanding to usurp the prerogatives

* Adventurer.

of

of genius, as it is for an ordinary woman to usurp the airs of beauty. The pride of men will not patiently endure to see one, whose attainments are but level with their own, break through the rules, by which they have consented to be bound, or forsake the direction which they uniformly follow. All violation of established practice, implies in its own nature a rejection of the common opinion, and a defiance of common censure. He, therefore, who differs from others, without apparent advantage, ought not to be angry, if his arrogance be punished; and if those whose example he superciliously condemns, point him out to detection, and hoot him back into the common road.

There are occasions, I will allow you, on which it is noble to dare to stand alone. To be pious, for instance, among infidels; to be disinterested, in a time of general venality; to lead a life of virtue and reason, in the midst of sensualists, these are proofs of a mind intent upon nobler things than the praise or blame of men; of a soul fixed in the contemplation of the highest good, and superior to the tyranny of custom and example. But it is in moral and religious questions only, that a wise man will hold no con-sultations with fashion, because these duties are

constant

constant and immutable; and depend not on the notions of men, but on the commands of heaven. Yet even of these, the external mode is to be in some measure regulated by the prevailing taste of the age in which we live; for he is certainly an injudicious friend to virtue, who neglects to give it every lawful attraction; or who suffers it to displease the eye, or alienate the affections, for want of an innocent compliance with fashionable decorations.

LET.

LETTER CIII.

THE complaints of the sufferer are not al

ways so sure a mark of distresss as the stare of the languid. We seldom reckon any task, which we are bound to perform, among the blessings of life. We always aim at a period of pure enjoyment, or a termination of trouble; and overlook the source from which most of our present satisfactions are really drawn. But is it hope alone, then, you will ask me, that supports the mind in the midst of uncertainty? Or would assurance of success fill the intervals of expectation with more pleasing emotions?

Give the huntsman his prey, give the gamester the gold which is staked on the game, that the one may not need to fatigue his person, nor the other to perplex his mind, and both will probably laugh at your folly. The one will stake his money anew, that he may be perplexed; the other will turn his stag to the field, that he may hear the cry of the dogs, and follow them through

VOL. VI.

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through danger and hardship. Withdraw the occupations of men; terminate their desires; existence is a burthen, and the iteration of memory is a torment.

The difficulties and hardships of human life are supposed to detract from the goodness of God; and yet many of the pastimes men devise for themselves are fraught with difficulties and hardships. The great inventor of the game of human life, notwithstanding, knew well how to accommodate the players. The chances only are matter of complaint. But if these were to be removed, the game itself would no longer amuse the parties. We are not always unhappy, when we complain. There is a kind of affliction, which makes even an agreeable state of the mind, and lamentation itself is sometimes an expression of pleasure. The painter and the poet have laid hold of this handle, and have provided, among the means of entertainment, works composed to awaken our sorrows.*

Religion is the most lasting source of comfort. For what else can fill the aching void in the heart, that human pleasures can never fill? The troubled soul ceases to beat with anguish,

*Ferguson on Civil Society.

for

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