plummets upon the heels of pride, and let ambition have but an epicycle or narrow circuit in thee. Measure not thyself by thy morning shadow, but by the extent of thy grave and reckon thyself above the earth by the line thou must be contented with under it.

Give no quarter unto those vices which are of thine inward family, and having a root in thy temper, plead a right and property in thee. Examine well thy complexional inclinations. Raise early batteries against those strong-holds built upon the rock of nature, and make this a great part of the militia of thy life.

If length of days be thy portion, make it not thy expectation. Reckon not upon long life, but live always beyond thy account. He that so often surviveth his expectation, lives many lives, and will hardly complain of the shortness of his days. Time past is gone like a shadow; make times to come present; conceive that near which may be far off; approximate thy last times by present apprehensions of them; live like a neighbour unto death, and think there is but little to come. And since there is something in us that must still live on, join both lives together; unite them in thy thoughts and actions, and live in one but for the other. He who thus ordereth the purposes of this life, will never be far from the next, and is in some manner already in it, by a happy conformity and close apprehension of it.

FROM "CHRISTIAN MORALS," BY SIR THOMAS

BROWNE.

Comply with some humours, bear with others, but serve none. Civil complacency consists with decent honesty; flattery is a juggler, and no kin unto sincerity. But while thou maintainest the plain path, and scornest to flatter others, fall not into self-adulation, and become not thine own parasite. Be deaf unto thyself, and be not

betrayed at home. Self-credulity, pride, and levity lead unto self-idolatry.

Let not fortune, which hath no name in scripture, have any in thy divinity. Let providence, not chance, have the honour of thy acknowledgments, and be thy Edipus in contingencies. Mark well the paths and winding ways thereof; but be not too wise in the construction, or sudden in the application. . . Leave future occurrences to their uncertainties, think that which is present thy own; and, since 't is easier to foretel an eclipse than a foul day at some distance, look for little regular below. Attend with patience the uncertainty of things, and what lieth yet unexerted in the chaos of futurity. The uncertainty and ignorance of things to come, makes the world new unto us by unexpected emergencies.

Though a contented mind enlargeth the dimension of little things; and unto some it is wealth enough not to be poor; and others are well content, if they be but rich enough to be honest, and to give every man his due: yet fall not into that obsolete affectation of bravery, to throw away thy money, and to reject all honours or honourable stations in this courtly and splendid world. Old generosity is superannuated, and such contempt of the world out of date.

When thou lookest upon the imperfections of others, allow one eye for what is laudable in them, and the balance they have from some excellency, which may render them considerable. . .

Since virtuous actions have their own trumpets, and, without any noise from thyself, will have their resound abroad; busy not thy best member in the encomium of thyself. Praise is a debt we owe unto the virtues of others, and due unto our own from all, whom malice hath not made mutes, or envý struck dumb.

THOMAS FULLER

(A. D. 1608-1661.)

THOMAS FULLER, born at Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, in 1608, having entered Queen's College, Cambridge, at the early age of twelve years, became a popular preacher when he was twenty, and began very shortly to publish his writings. His "Holy and Profane State" appeared in 1642, and passed rapidly through four editions. It consists of two parts, the former presenting examples for imitation, and the latter their opposites. The "Holy State" contains rules for the religious guidance of the individual in every relation of life, as the husband, father, soldier, and divine. The few of these which bear on conduct in the simply moral view are quoted below.

SELECTIONS FROM "THE HOLY STATE."

Of Company. A desert is better than a debauched companion. For the wildness of the place is but uncheerful, whilst the wildness of bad persons is also infectious. Better therefore ride alone than have a thief's company. And such is a wicked man, who will rob thee of precious time, if he doth no more mischief. . . .

If thou beest cast into bad company, like Hercules, thou must sleep with thy club in thine hand, and stand on thy guard. I mean, if against thy will the tempest of an unexpected occasion drives thee amongst such rocks; then be thou like the river Dee in Merionethshire in Wales, which running through Pimble meer remains entire, and mingles not her streams with the waters of the lake. Though with them, be not of them; keep civil

communion with them, but separate from their sins. And if against thy will thou fallest amongst wicked men, know to thy comfort thou art still in thy calling, and therefore in God's keeping, who, on thy prayers, will preserve thee. The company he keeps is the comment, by help whereof men expound the most close and mystical man; understanding him for one of the same religion, life, and manners with his associates. And though perchance he be not such a one, 't is just he should be counted so for conversing with them. .

To affect always to be the best of the company, argues a base disposition. Gold always worn in the same purse with silver loses both of the color and weight; and so to converse always with inferiors degrades a man of his worth.

It is excellent for one to have a library of scholars, especially if they be plain to be read. I mean of a communicative nature, whose discourses are as full as fluent, and their judgments as right as their tongues ready: such men's talk shall be thy lectures.

Of Anger. Anger is one of the sinews of the soul: he that wants it hath a maimed mind, and with Jacob, sinewshrunk in the hollow of his thigh, must needs halt. Nor is it good to converse with such as cannot be angry, and with the Caspian Sea, never ebb nor flow. This anger is either heavenly, when one is offended for God; or hellish, when offended with God and goodness; or earthly, in temporal matters: which earthly anger (whereof we treat) may also be hellish, if for no cause, no great cause, too hot, or too long.

Be not angry with any without a cause. If thou beest,

thou must not only, as the proverb saith, be appeased without amends (having neither cost nor damage given thee), but, as our Saviour saith, "be in danger of the judgment."

Be not mortally angry with any for a venial fault. He will make a strange combustion in the state of his soul, who at the landing of every cock-boat sets the beacons on fire. To be angry for every toy debases the worth of thy anger; for he who will be angry for anything, will be angry for nothing.

Let not thy anger be so hot, but that the most torrid zone thereof may be habitable. Fright not people from thy presence with the terror of thy intolerable impatience. Some men, like a tiled house, are long before they take fire, but once on flame there is no coming near to quench them.

Take heed of doing irrevocable acts in thy passion; as the revealing of secrets, which makes thee a bankrupt for society ever after: neither do such things which once are done forever, so that no bemoaning can amend them. Samson's hair grew again, but not his eyes: time may restore some losses, others are never to be repaired.

Of Recreation. Recreation is a second creation, when weariness hath almost annihilated one's spirits. It is the breathing of the soul, which otherwise would be stifled with continual business. We may trespass in them, if using such as are forbidden by the lawyer as against the statutes; physician, as against health; divine, as against conscience. Be well satisfied in thy conscience of the lawfulness of the recreation thou usest. . .

Spill not the morning (the quintessence of the day) in recreations. For sleep itself is a recreation; add not therefore sauce to sauce; and he cannot properly have any title to be refreshed, who was not first faint. Pastime, like wine, is poison in the morning. It is then good husbandry to sow the head, which hath lain fallow all night, with some serious work. Chiefly, intrench not on the Lord's day, to use unlawful sports; this were to spare thine own flock, and to shear God's lamb.