ment. I fpeak of Men of Honour: For as to others, it would rather be a Curb, than a Spur, to give them an Honorary beforehand.

* Men glory in raifing great and magnificent Structures, and find a fecret Pleasure to see Sets of their own Planting, to grow up and Flourish; But furely it would be greater and more glorious Work, to build up a Man, to fee a Youth of our own Planting, from the fmall Beginnings and Advantages we have given him, to grow up into a confiderable Fortune.

* We fhould not contract any Obligations rafh ly, for Good Offices in Courfe, are rather Baits and Snares than Benefit; and there are fome People, that a Sober Man would not venture the being beholden to.

Nothing is more pleasant than to meet with the Eyes of him we have lately Obliged.

An undistinguishable Facility fhall never fail of meeting with an undiftinguishable Infidelity; which is no other than a juft Judgment upon an inconfiderate Bounty.

* Ingratitude perverts all the Measures of Religion and Society, by making it dangerous to be Charitable and Good-natur'd.

We must not fuffer our felves to be obliged by all manner of Perfons, for that would be to become a common Slave. Some are born to be more happy than others; the firft for doing of good, and the other for receiving it. Liberty is more precious than all Gifts, and to receive, is to lofe it.

There are Men of fuch Parts, that they ob lige by asking, because they transform their own Intereft into another's Honour. They fo adjust

Matters,

Matters, that one would fay, others discharged their Duty, when they grant them what they ask, fo dextrous they are in inverting the Order of Obligations, by a fingular knack of Policy.

Some Men when they do you a Kindness, are prefently for ringing the Obligation in your Ears; others are more Modeft than this comes to: However, they remember the Favour, and look upon you as their Debtor. A third fort fhall be every jot as much Benefactors, and yet fcarce know any thing of the matter. Thefe are much like a Vine, which is fatisfied by being Fruitful in its Kind, and bears a bunch of Grapes, without expecting any Thanks for it. A fleet Horfe or a Grey-Hound don't use to make a noife when they have perform'd handfomely; and thus a Man that's rightly kind, never proclaims a good Turn, but does another as foon as he can, just like a Vine that bears again the next Season.

Ill Nature is a contradiction to the Laws of Providence and the Intereft of Mankind; a punishment no less than a Fault, to thofe that have

it.

You have done a Kindness to fuch a Perfon, and because he makes no return, you grow Pecvifh, and Satyrical upon him: In earnest, this is a Sign that you had a Mercenary View, and that you were but a Huckster in the Mask of a Friend, for otherwise you would have been fatisfied with a generous Action, and made Vertue her own Reward. You have oblig❜d a Man, 'tis very well, what would you have more. Is not the confcioufiefs of a good Office, a fufficient Confideration. You have humour'd your own Nature, and acted upon your Conftitution, and muft you ftill have fomething over G 4

and

and above? For Man is made to be kind and oblige, and his Faculties are order'd accordingly; and therefore when he does a good Office, he follows the Bent, and anfwers the end of his Being.

Operation is the right proof of Nature: Trees are distinguish'd by their Fruit, and Dogs by the qualities proper to their Kind; And thus it holds with Men too, who ought to quit that Name, unlefs they can anfwer the Idea, and make out their Claim by their Actions.

"Tis hard to find one that a Man of Spirit would be Oblig'd to; for generally Men are as Sordid in their Favours, as in their Interefts, and remember the Obligation they have beftow'd, when they forget the Return they have receiv'd.

It often comes to pass, that when we think we do a Man a good Office, we incur his Indignation. The Wife Palemon had the misfortune to fall in Difgrace with his Protector Daphnis, by endeavouring to cure him of the Paffion he had for Julia, who both Jilts and Ruins him; for having thewn him invincible Proots of her Infidelity, the infatuated Daphnis inftead of thanking Palemon, gave Credit to Julia's pretended Juftification, and Sacrific'd his Friend to her Refentment.

"Readiness in Obliging fhews both the Merit of "him that receives the Benefit, and the Zeal of « him that beltows it, whereas by delaying a good "Office, we feem to doubt the Merit of him we defign to Oblige.

That Man fets too high a rate upon his Favours, who expects Cringes, and Intreaties for them.

"When a Benefit is Honourable to him that re"celves it, we ought to accompany it with all the

Pomp

1

"Pomp that can contribute to make it publick, "for by that means we multiply the Obligation; "but when the usefulness of a good Office is at❝tended with fome Difgrace, as when we relieve an indigent Perfon, we ought by our Secrecy to fpare him the Confufion of having his wants proclaim'd; for the leaft grain of fhame, overce pays the most bountiful Relief.

૮.

What a cruel Torment it is to be beholden to one we Despise! and how fweet it is to owe a Favour to a Perfon we are enclin'd to Love, even tho' he should do us an Injury!

*The fame Qualifications which render Men Worthy of Favours, are the fame which make 'em capable and defirous to acknowledge them: And on the contrary, the fame ill Qualities which make Men unworthy of Favours, are the fame which make them ungrateful.

* Many Men have good Sentiments in the moment you Oblige them; but the Conftitution of their Nature fways them foon after, and they eafily forget what they owe others, because they only Love themfelves. And as Fire converts all things into its own Substance, they only confider publick Interests to convert 'em to their own Advantage, and equally despise those who do them Good, and the ftate in which they receive it.

Some Men are not only apt to forget both kind Turns, and Injuries that have been done them, but even to hate their very Benefactors, and to lay afide their Refentments against their Perfecutors. The Application of acquitting Obligations and revenging of Wrongs,appears to them a kind of flavery, which they are loath to undergo,

Gratitude

Gratitude in moft Men is nothing else but a fecret defire to hook in greater Benefits.

The generality of Men take a delight to acquit fmall Obligations; a great many pay their Acknowledgments for moderate ones; but there is fcarce any Body but is unthankful for fuch as are Extraordinary..

It is with Gratitude among Friends, as with Honefty among Traders,it keeps business and Commerce: Moft Men don't quit Scores because it is juft to pay Debts, but to fecure their Credit, and fo be trufted again the easier.

The common Mistake in the Computations of Men, when they expect Returns for Favours, proceeds from the Pride both of the Giver and Receiver, which cannot agree upon the Eftimate of the Benefit.

To be uneafie, and make too much hafte to return an Obligation, is a fort of Ingratitude.

There is a fort of free and generous Gratitude, whereby a Man not only acquits a paft Obligation, but lays a new one upon his Benefactor.

The Error of the Giver does oftentimes excufe the Ingratitude of the Receiver.

The good turns that we have receiv'd from a Man, ought to make us Reverence his Malice.

We meet with little or no Ingratitude,as long as we are able to oblige.

We should not regard how much Good a Friend has done us, fo much, as how much he defired and endeavour'd to do us.

Men are often more defirous to feem forward and bufie to ferve others, than to be fuccesful in