the thief; and, whenever they become the topic of conversation, seem to be a sceptic, though you are really a serious believer; and always take the extenu. ating part. But all this seeming ignorance should be joined to thorough and extensive private information ; and, indeed, it is the best method of procuring them; for most people have such a vanity in shewing a superiority over others, though but for a moment, and in the merest trifles, that they will tell you what they should not, rather than not shew that they can tell what you did not know; besides that such seeming ignorance will make you pass for incurious, and consequently undesigning. However, fish for facts, and take pains to be well informed of every thing that passes; but fish judiciously, and not always, nor indeed often, in the shape of direct questions, which always put people on their guard, and, often repeated, grow tiresome. But, sometimes, take the things that you would know for granted; upon which somebody will, kindly and officiously, set you right: sometimes say that you have heard so and so; and, at other times, seem to know more than you do, in order to know all that you want: but avoid direct questioning as much as you can.

FLEXIBILITY OF MANNERS VERY USEFUL.-Human nature is the same all over the world, but its operations are so varied by education and habit that one must see it in all its dresses, in order to be intimately acquainted with it. The passion of ambition, for instance, is the same in a courtier, a soldier, or an ecclesiastic; but, from their different educations and habits, they will take very different methods to gratify it. Civility, which is a disposition to accommodate and oblige others, is essentially the same in every country; but good breeding, as it is called, which is the manner of exerting that disposition, is different in almost every country, and merely local; and every man of sense imitates and conforms to that local ood breeding of the place where he is at. A conformity and flexibility of manners is necessary in the

course of the world; that is, with regard to all things which are not wrong in themselves. The versatile ingenium is the most useful of all. It can turn itself instantly from one object to another, assuming the proper manner for each. It can be serious with the grave, cheerful with the gay, and trifling with the frivolous.

Indeed, nothing is more engaging than a cheerful and easy conformity to people's particular manners, habits, and even weaknesses; nothing (to use a vulgar expression) should come amiss to a young fellow. He should be, for good purposes, what Alcibiades was commonly for bad ones,-a Proteus, assuming with ease, and wearing with cheerfulness, any shape. Heat, cold, luxury, abstinence, gravity, gaiety, ceremony, easiness, learning, trifling, business, and pleasure, are modes which he should be able to take, lay aside, or change occasionally, with as much ease as he would take or lay aside his hat.

SPIRIT.-Young men are apt to think that every thing is to be carried by spirit and vigour; that art is meanness, and versatility and complaisance are the refuge of pusillanimity and weakness. This most mistaken opinion gives an indelicacy, an abruptness, and a roughness, to the manners. Fools, who can never be undeceived, retain them as long as they live; reflection, with a little experience, makes men of sense shake them off soon. When they come to be a little better acquainted with themselves, and with their own species, they discover, that plain, right reason is, nine times in ten, the fettered and shackled attendant of the triumph of the heart and the passions; consequently, they address themselves nine times in ten to the conqueror; not to the conquered and conquerors, you know, must be applied to in the gentlest, the most engaging, and the most insinuating manner.

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But, unfortunately, young men are as apt to think themselves wise enough, as drunken men are to think themselves sober enough. They look upon spirit to be a much better thing than experience; which they call

coldness. They are but half mistaken; for, though spirit without experience is dangerous, experience without spirit is languid and defective. Their union, which is very rare, is perfection; you may join them, if you please; for all my experience is at your service; and I do not desire one grain of your spirit in return. Use them both, and let them reciprocally animate and check each other. I mean here, by the spirit of youth, only the vivacity and presumption of youth, which hinder them from seeing the difficulties or dangers of an undertaking: but I do not mean what the silly vulgar call spirit, by which they are captious, jealous of their rank, suspicious of being undervalued, and tart (as they call it) in their repartees upon the slightest occasions. This is an evil and a very silly spirit, which should be driven out, and transferred to a herd of swine.

-To con

ACQUAINTANCE.

NEVER NEGLECT OLD clude; never neglect or despise old, for the sake of new or shining, acquaintance; which would be ungrateful on your part, and never forgiven on theirs. Take care to make as many personal friends, and as few personal enemies, as possible. I do not mean, by personal friends, intimate and confidential friends, of which no man can hope to have half a dozen in the whole course of his life; but I mean friends, in the common acceptation of the word; that is, people who speak well of you, and who would rather do you good than harm, consistently with their own interest, and no farther.

LYING.

NOTHING is more criminal, mean, or ridiculous, than lying. It is the production either of malice, cowardice, or vanity; but it generally misses of its aim in every one of these views; for lies are always detected sooner or later. If we advance a malicious lie, in order to affect any man's fortune or character, we may, indeed, injure him for some time; but we shall certainly be the greatest sufferers in the e

for, as soon as we are detected, we are blasted for the infamous attempt; and, whatever is said afterward to the disadvantage of that person, however true, passes for calumny. To lie, or to equivocate (which is the same thing), to excuse ourselves for what we have said or done, and to avoid the danger or the shame that we apprehend from it, we discover our fear as well as our falsehood; and only increase, instead of avoiding, the danger and the shame; we shew ourselves to be the lowest and meanest of mankind, and are sure to be always treated as such. If we have the misfortune to be in the wrong, there is something noble in frankly owning it; it is the only way of atoning for it, and the only way to be forgiven. To remove a present danger, by equivocating, evading, or shuffling, is something so despicable, and betrays so much fear, that whoever practises it deserves to be chastised.

There are people who indulge themselves in another sort of lying, which they reckon innocent, and which, in one sense, is so; for it hurts nobody but themselves. This sort of lying is the spurious offspring of vanity begotten upon folly. These people deal in the marvellous. They have seen some things that never existed; they have seen other things which they never really saw, though they did exist, only because they were thought worth seeing. Has any thing remarkable been said or done in any place, or in any company, they immediately represent and declare themselves eye or ear witnesses of it. They have done feats themselves, unattempted, or at least unperformed, by others. They are always the heroes of their own fables; and think that they gain consideration, or at least present attention, by it. Whereas, in truth, all that they get is ridicule and contempt, not without a good degree of distrust: for, one must naturally conclude, that he, who will tell any lie from idle vanity, will not scruple telling a greater for interest. Had I really seen any thing so very extraordinary as to be almost incredible, I would keep it to myself, rather than, by telling it, give any

body room to doubt for one minute of my veracity. It is most certain, that the reputation of chastity is not so necessary for a woman, as that of veracity is for a man, and with reason; for it is possible for a woman to be virtuous though not strictly chaste: but it is not possible for a man to be virtuous without strict veracity. The slips of the poor woman are sometimes mere bodily frailties; but a lie in a man is a vice in the mind and of the heart.

Nothing but truth can carry us through the world with either our conscience or our honour unwounded. It is not only our duty, but our interest: as a proof of which it may be observed, that the greatest fools are the greatest liars. We may safely judge by a man's truth of his degree of understanding.

DIGNITY OF MANNERS.

A CERTAIN dignity of manners is absolutely necessary, to make even the most valuable characters either respected or respectable in the world.

ROMPING, &C.-Horseplay, romping, frequent and loud fits of laughter, jokes, waggery, and indiscrimi nate familiarity, will sink both merit and knowledge into a degree of contempt. They compose at most a merry fellow, and a merry fellow was never yet a respectable man. Indiscriminate familiarity either offends your superiors, or else dubs you their dependant and led captain. It gives your inferiors just but troublesome and improper claims of equality. A joker is near akin to a buffoon; and neither of them is the least related to wit. Whoever is admitted or sought for, in company, upon any other account than that of his merit and manners, is never respected there, but only made use of. We will have Such-aone, for he sings prettily; We will invite Such-a-one to a ball, for he dances well; We will have Such-aone to supper, for he is always joking and laughing; We will ask another, because he plays deep at all games, or because he can drink a great deal. These are all vilifying distinctions, mortifying preferene