felves well enough of their refpective Employments: Yet I dare venture to fay, that there are Thousands in the World, whom no body takes notice of, that are as fit for business, as thofe that are in Place: And I am the more enclined to think fo, by the marvellous and fuccessful Conduct of fome, who are beholden to Blind Chance for their Preferment; and of whom no body ever entertained any great Hopes.

How many Men of extraordinary Parts and Merit have died unknown? How many are there still, at this very Day, that live unknown, and who will never be taken notice of?

How hard is it for a Man who has no body to introduce him, and Cry him up in the World; who is no Member of any Club, or Society, but ftands fingle without any thing to recommend him, but great Parts and true Merit; How hard is it, I fay, for fuch a Man to break through the obfcurity he finds himself in, and come upon the fame Level with many an empty Fop in Vogue and Fashion?

Natural Gifts and Parts are often wanting; and no lefs frequently opportunities of time and place to exert natural Parts; wherefore fome Men deferve to be commended for what they have done, and fome again for what they might have done.

It is not fo rare a thing to find Wit in other People, as to meet with a Man that knows how to improve his own, and make ufe of that of others to his advantage.

It is but a flender Commmendation to fay of a Man that he is fit for any thing; for in ftrictness of fpeaking, that can fignifie no other, but that his Talent is not greater one way than the other, or which is almoft the fame that he is fit for juft no thing at all.

A Man has need of a great Spirit, and a vast Genius, to Live quiet at Home, without the Hurry, and Buftle of Offices and Employments: And not one in a Thoufand fo qualified, as to a& this Part with Credit and Dignity, and fill up the gap of his Time, without that which the vulgar calls Business. And yet there wants nothing to the Leisure of a Wife Man, but a better Name perhaps, and that Meditating, Reading, Writing, and enjoying a quiet and compos'd Mind withal, fhould be call'd Bufinefs.

A Man of great Merit in Place, never makes himself troublesome to others by vanity and Pride. He is lefs puffed up with the Preferment he has, than humbled by a higher Poft he has not, and which he is confcious he deferves; he is more apt to be Uneafie, than Proud; and does not fo much defpife others, as he is a burden to him felf.

A good Man finds the reward of his application to his Duty, in the Teftimony of his own Confcience and the Secret Pleafore he feels in difcharging it, makes him amends for the Efteem, Acknowledgments or Praises which he feldom meets with in the World.

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If I might be allowed a Comparison betwixt two Conditions of Men infinitly distant from each other, I should be tempted to fay, that a Couragious Captain goes about the performing of a Military Exploit, with the fame difpofition of

mind with which a Mafon goes about his Work; they do neither of them Court danger, nor are they difcourag'd by it; Death is no more to them than a cafual inconveniency, that attends their Trade,but is never an Obstacle to their Bufinefs. And indeed the former feldom draws a greater Vanity from having been in the Trenches, Affaulted än Out-work, or Storm'd a Town, than the other does of climbing on the Scaffolds of Pauls, or the Top of a Spire perhaps; they are both intent upon the doing of their Bufinefs, while Mr. Braggadochio Aims at nothing but to make himself talk'd of and admired.

Gold, you tell me, glitters in in Philemon's Cloaths, well, But does it not glitter alfo at the Lace-mans? He is clad with the finest Stuffs.-Why, are they not the fame which I faw as I went along expofed for a Sample? Yes, fay you, but the Richness of the Embroidery has added a Degree to the Magnificence of the Habit. Very well; Then, pray, let me adimire the Industry and Skill of the Artificer. If any Man, fay you again, ask him the Hour, he prefently pulls out Tompion's Mafter-piece: His Wig, is the most bushy, and the best made, that ever came out of Devillie's Shop; the Hilt of his Sword is a perfect Onyx; he has the finest and the largest Diamond that ever I faw on any Courtiers Finger upon a Birth-Day, which he fo manages to Advantage, with an artful negligent Air, that no Mans Eye can efcape its Brightnefs: In fhort, he wants none of thofe Curious Gewgams which make all the accomplishments of our Modern Beaux, and fpares no more cost in his Equipage and Furniture, than a younger Brother newly Married to a Rich Widow. T

Now,

Now, indeed you fet my Curiofity a gog, and I befeech you, oblige me with the fight of those precious Fooleries, I excufe you for his Perfon; am too well acquainted with that already.

Thou art greatly mistaken, Philemon, if thou think'ft to captivate our Efteem by a fine Chariot, a numerous Train of Slaves, and those Six Animals which drag thee along the Streets; we put away all that adventicious Equipage to penetrate to the Fop.

Not, but that a Man ought fometimes to be excufed for pretending to Quality and Wit, upon the Account of a great Retinue, a Rich Apparel, and a magnificent Furniture: For how can he have any other thoughts of himself, than thofe he Reads in the very Looks and Countenance of his Flatterers and Admirers.

No Man is apt to envy the Merit of another, that has any of his own to trust to.

Among us, the Soldier is brave, and the Gown-Man, Learned: We feldom go any further; whereas, among the Romans, Gown-Men were brave, and Soldiers Learned; That is, a Roman was both a Gown-Man and a Soldier at once.

An Heroe, according to the Notion I have of him, is fit for nothing but War: Whereas a great Man is fit for any thing indifferently, whether it be the Gown, the Sword, the Closet or the Court; yet both thefe together are not worth a Good Man.

In the Bufinefs of War, it is a nice diftintion, That which is betwixt an Heroe and a Great Man, fince all Military Vertues do equally contribute to the making of both. Nevertheless it may be faid; that it is the Character of

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of the first, to be Young, Bold, Daring, Refolute and Fearless, amidit the greatelt Dangers; and that the other's chief Qualifications are, a great Judgment, a Sagacious Forecaft, a vast Ability, and a Confummated Experience. Alexander was perhaps but an Heroe; but Cafer was a Great Man.

Menippus, is a Bird adorned with borrowed Feathers; for he neither Speaks nor Judges of Things, but only repeats the Stories and Sentiments of others; it is grown fo habitual with him to make ufe of another Man's Wit, that he is the very first Person that mistakes it for his own; and often fancies that he tells you his own Thoughts, when he is only the Eccho of him he parted with a moment before. He is a Man of Parts and good Company for a quarter of an Hour, the next Minute after, he lowers, degenerates, lofes his luftre, and wears threadbare: He is the only Man, who knows not how infinitely fhort he comes of Sublimity and Greatness of Genius; and as he is incapable to guefs how far a Man's Wit can go, fo he has the good Opinion to think himself furnish'd with as much as any Body can poffibly have. This gives him the Air and affurance of one who defires nothing, or envies no Man as to this particular. He often talks to himself; and as. tho' he was a Judge of fome Controverfy, pofitively determines what is, and what is not. If you chance to Salute him in the Street, tis Ten to One that he will be puzled whether he ought to Salute you again or no; and before he comes to refolve upon the matter, you are gone a great way out of fight. He is wholly taken up with his Dear felf; he admires the agreeableness

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and