truth and ingenuity has any lasting good effect, even upon a man's fortune and intereft. "Truth and reality have all the advantages of appearances, and many more. If the shew of any thing, be good for any thing, I am fure fincerity is better: For why does any man diffemble, or feem to be that which he is not, but because he thinks it good to have fuch a quality as he pretends to? For to counterfeit and diflemble, is to put on the appearance of fome real excellency. Now the best way in the world for a man to feem to be any thing, is really to be what he would seem to be. Besides that it is many times as troublesome to make good the pretence of a good quality as to have it; and if a man have it not, it is ten to one but he is discovered to want it, and then all his pains and labour to feem to have it, is loft. There is fomething unnatural in painting, which a skilful eye will eafily difcern from native beauty and complexion. "It is hard to perfonate and act a part long; for where truth is not at the bottom, nature will always be endeavouring to return, and will peep out and betray herself one time or other. Therefore if any man think it convenient to feem good, let him be so indeed, and then his goodness will appear to every body's fatisfaction; so that upon all accounts fincerity is true wisdom. Particularly as to the affairs of this world, integrity hath many advantages over all the fine and artificial ways of diffimulation and deceit; it is much the plainer and easier, much the fafer and more fecure way of dealing in the world; it has less of trouble and difficulty, of entanglement and perplexity, of danger and hazard in it; it is the shortest and nearest way to our end, carrying us thither in a straight line, and will hold out and last longest. The arts of deceit and cunning do continually grow weaker and less effectual and serviceable to them that use them; whereas integrity gains strength by use, and the more and longer any man practised it, the greater service it does him, by confirming his reputation, and encouraging those with whom he hath to do, to repose the : greatest trust and confidence in him, which is an unspeakable advantage in the business and affairs of life. "Truth is always confiftent with itself, and needs nothing to help it out; it is always near at hand, and fits upon our lips, and is ready to drop out before we are aware; whereas a lye is troublesome, and fets a man's invention upon the rack, and one trick needs a great many more to make it good. It is like building upon a false foundation, which continually stands in need of props to shore it up, and proves at last more chargeable, than to have raised a substantial building at first upon a true and folid foundation; for fincerity is firm and substantial, and there is nothing hollow and unfound in it, and because it is plain and open, fears no difcovery; of which the crafty man is always in danger, and when he thinks he walks in the dark, all his pretences are fo transparent, that he who runs may read them; he is the last man who finds himself to be found out, and whilst he takes it for granted that he makes fools of others, he renders himself ridic ulous. "Add to all this, that fincerity is the most compendious wisdom, and an excellet instrument for the ipeedy dispatch of business; it creates confidence in those we have to deal with, faves the labour of many inquiries, and brings things to an issue in few words. It is like travelling in a plain beaten road, which commonly brings a man fooner to his journey's end than bye-ways, in which men often lose themselves. In a word, whatsoever convenience may be thought to be in falihood and diffimulation, it is foon over; but the inconvenience of it is perpetual, because it brings a man under an everlasting jealousy and fufpicion, fo that he is not believed when he speaks truth, nor trufted when he perhaps means honestly. When a man has once forfeited the reputation of his integrity, he is fet faft, and nothing will then ferve his turn, neither truth nor falfhood. "And I have often thought, that God hath in his great wisdom hid from men of falte and dishoneft minds the wonderful advantage of truth and integrity to the profperity even of our worldly affairs; these men are fo blinded by their covetousness and ambition, that they cannot look beyond a present advantage, nor forbear to seize upon it, though by ways ever so indirect; they cannot fee so far as to the remoteft confequences of a steady integrity, and the vaft benefit and advantage which it will bring a man at laft. Were but this fort of men wife and clear fighted enough to difcern this, they would be honest out of very knavery, not out of any love to honesty and virtue, but with a crafty design to promote and advance more effectually their own interests; and therefore the justice of the Divine Providence hath hid this trueft point of wisdom from their eyes, that bad men might not be upon equal terms with the just and upright, and serve their own wicked designs by honeft and lawful means. "Indeed, if a man were only to deal in the world for a day, and should never have occafion to converse more with mankind, never more need their good opinion or cood word, it were then no great matter (fpeaking as to the concernments of this world) if a man spent his reputation all at once, and ventured it at one. throw: But if he is to continue in the world, and would have the advantage of conversation whilft he is in it, let him make use of truth and fincerity in all his words and actions; for nothing but this will laft and hold out to the end; all other arts will fail, but truth and integrity will carry a man through, and bear him out to the laft." T SPECTATOR, Vol. IV. No. 552. FAME. HE foul, confidered abstractedly from its passions, is of a remifs and sedentary nature, flow in its refolves, and languishing in its execution. The use therefore of the paffions is to stir it up, and to put it upon action, to awaken the understanding, to enforce the will, and to make the whole man more vigorous and attentive in the profecution of his defigns. As this is the end of the paffions in general, so it is particularly of ambition, which pushes the foul to such actions as are apt to procure honor and reputation to the actor. But if we carry our reflections higher, we may discover farther ends of Provide in implanting this paffion in mankind. It was necessary for the world, that arts should be invented and improved, books written and tranfmitted to pofterity, nations conquered and civilized: Now fince the proper and genuine motives to these and the like great actions, would only influence virtuous minds; there would be but small improvements in the world, were there not some common principle of action working equally with all men. And fuch a principle is ambition or a defire of fame, by which great endowments are not fuffered to lie idle and uselefs to the public, and many vicious men, over-reached, as it were, and engaged contrary to their natural inclinations in a glorious and laudable course of action. For we may farther observe, that men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition: And that, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it; whether it be that a man's sense of his own incapacities makes him despair of coming at fame, or that he has not enough range of thought to look out for any good which does not more immediately relate to his interest of convenience, or that Providence, in the very frame of his foul, would not fubject him to such a paffion as would be useless to the world, and a torment to himself. Were not this defire of fame very strong, the difficulty of obtaining it, and the danger of lofing it when obtained, would be fufficient to deter a man from so vain a pursuit. How few are there who are furnished with abilities sufficient to recommend their actions to the admiration of the world, and to diftinguish themselves from the reft of mankind! Providence for the most part sets us upon a level, and observes a kind of proportion in its dispensations towards us. If it renders us perfect in one accomplishment, it generally leaves us defective ⚫ in another, and feems careful rather of preferving every perfon from being mean and deficient in his qualifications, than of making any fingle one eminent or extraordinary. And among those who are the most richly endowed by nature, and accomplished by their own industry, how few are there whose virtues are not obscured by the ignorance, prejudice, or envy of their beholders. Some men cannot difcern between a noble and a incan action. Others are apt to attribute them to fome false end or intention; and others purposely misrepresent ⚫ or put a wrong interpretation on them. But the more to enforce this confideration, we may observe, that those are generally most unfuccefsful in their purfuit after fame, who are most defirous of obtaining it. It is Saluft's remark upon Cato, that the less he coveted glory the more he acquired it. Men take an ill-natured pleasure in croffing our in. clinations, and difappointing us in what our hearts are most set upon. When therefore they have discovered the paffionate defire of fame in the ambitious man (as no temper of mind is more apt to shew itself) they become sparing and reversed in their commendations, they envy him the fatisfaction of an applaufe, and look on their praifes rather as a kindness done to his perfon, than as a tribute paid to his merit. Others who are free from this natural perverseness of temper grow wary in their praises of one who fets too great a value on them, left they should raise him too high in his own imagination, and by confequence remove him to a greater distance from themselves. But farther, this defire of fame naturally betrays the ambitious man into fuch indecencies as are a leffening to his reputation. He is still afraid left any of his actions should be thrown away in private, left his deferts should be concealed from the notice of the world, or receive any disadvantage from the reports which others make of them. This often fets him on empty boasts and oftentations of himself, and betrays him in |