could not have assumed more gravity and solemnity of disposition, or have portioned out his humour in smaller dividends.

Unequal, however, as this passion appears to be in its quantity, and capricious in its dependance on external circumstances, and however unreasonable it may appear that a man's temper should be in the inverse ratio of his honours or prosperity, there is still a heavier charge to bring against men of anger, and that is, their employing so noble a passion upon things for which it never was created. And let me add that this abuse of anger has brought it into much unmerited contempt. Upon a review of what are called the fatal effects of anger for the last twenty years, in all the instances that have been made public, I have almost uniformly discovered that the causes were trifles scarcely worth the attention of a rational creature, such as horses, dogs, and a very indifferent species of women. These are beings for whom it is most surely very absurd that a man should lose his life, although I do not wish to take from them their proper merits, and am far less disposed to degrade the two former by any comparison with the latter. On this subject, however, it is not my intention to dwell, or incur the suspicion of religion or

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morality, which, I am aware, are but awkwardly connected with the disputes of the stable, the kennel, or the brothel. I have more pleasure in celebrating the coolness of that kind of anger which leads a man to the ground, and in praising, not without a respectful mixture of astonishment, the dispassionate resentment, and amicable hatred, with which the parties meet. These are circumstances which, as an impartial writer, I cannot conceal; but on the contrary bid them heartily welcome to all the praise which is due to men who so ingeniously baffle the laws of their country, and so good-humouredly turn into ridicule the old-fashioned qualities of courage and honour. All I wish to hint, for it becomes me not to insist, is, that in these, and all other cases of anger, from a family tiff to a fatal duel, it would be very becoming to exhibit some cause better proportioned to the effect, than what is usually laid before the publick.

1

Some of the antients, we read, considered anger as a short madness, and others as a dis¡ease. These theories were at least rational, and the disorder in either way might be removed. Confinement or reflection will prevent all bad effects in the most inveterate cases;

but the remedy becomes very difficult when it assumes the gracefulness and popularity of a fashion, and is supported by men whose ideas of real honour are as confused as those of any other makers of fashions. It would be agreeable, therefore, if some rules were laid down for quarrelling; we have rules for almost every thing but this; and I cannot see why all should be left to caprice, and nothing of system or science introduced in an affair which is reckoned of so much importance as to justify men in defying the precepts of the living God. As to the appearances of anger in private society, the subject is so exceedingly copious that I can offer but a very few hints. That it is useful, I am not permitted to deny, because it is sanctioned by universal custom. It is particularly celebrated for its efficacy in promoting the circulation of the blood, and therefore eminently serviceable to persons of a sedentary habit, who sit much at home, or any where else, watching the event of the odd trick. It might be mentioned too, as heightening the complexion, and consequently improving beauty. It were needless to expatiate on its usefulness in such cases as breaking a china bowl, misplacing a cap, or cane, &c. These are extreme instances, and are thought sufficient to

justify a very great portion of wrath. Nor are these so dependant on the scale of income, as the examples alluded to in a former part of this paper. Domestic anger may be traced in courts and alleys as well as in places and squares; and I have been witness to most passionate squabbles between persons who, to my knowledge, could scarcely bear the expence of a very moderate tiff; and I have beheld others fretting and fuming in the cast-off oaths of men of rank, or the second-hand scoldings borrowed from ladies' maids.

For my own part, whoever knows the life which a Projector is doomed to live, must know that anger is a luxury far beyond his pocket. Exposed as we are to the sneers and buffetings of the world, and yet dependant on it for the few comforts we enjoy, it would ill become us by any shew of resentment to provoke those who could in a moment take the very pen out of our hands. This fatal necessity has, in a great measure, enabled me to suppress those risings which other men may indulge as they please. But another consideration has for many years contributed to make me very easy on this score; and, as some of my readers may be disposed to adopt it, I shall conclude with remarking, that there are very

few things in this world worth quarrelling about; that anger was given for the valuable purposes of preserving from danger, and from vice, by exciting our abhorrence and resentment at its offers, however tempting; that one of the principal means whereby happiness may be promoted, is the cultivation of a benevolent disposition, and a forgiving temper; that silent contempt is the most successful resentment, and abstraction from the company of the unprincipled, the only security.

THE PROJECTOR. N° 31.

"Librorum inopiam quereris. multos habeas, sed quam bonos. est multa degustare."

PROJECTORS

ROJECTORS may

Non refert quam Fastidientis stomachi

SENECA, EPIST.

May 1804.

be divided into two classes,

namely, into those who employ their skill on purposes of utility, and those who devote themselves to the invention of amusement; but