Part 6
This Mitred Flattery is of all others the most exalted. It ever groweth in proportion, and keepeth pace with Power. There is a noble Stroke of it in the Articles sent to Princess _Mary_ from _Henry_ VIII. "Such is his Majesty's _Gracious and Divine Nature_--shewing _Mercy_ to such as _repentantly cry and call_ for the same."
[Sidenote: _Forgetfulness._]
Forgetting is oftner an Aggravation than an Excuse.
The Memory will seldom be unmannerly but where it is unkind.
[Sidenote: _Good-manners._]
There needeth little Care to _polish_ the Understanding; if true Means were used to _strengthen_ it, it will polish itself.
Good-manners is such a Part of Good-sense, that they cannot be divided; but that which a Fool calleth Good-breeding is the most unmannerly thing in the World.
Right Good-manners require so much Sense, that there is hardly any such thing in the World.
[Sidenote: _Good-nature._]
Good-nature is rather acted than practised in the World.
Good-nature to others is an inseparable Part of Justice.
[Sidenote: _Good-will._]
Good-will, like Grace, floweth where it listeth.
Men mean so very well to themselves, that they forget to mean well to any body else.
[Sidenote: _Heat._]
Good-sense will allow of some intermitting Fevers, but then the Fit must be short.
[Sidenote: _Honesty._]
He that can be quite indifferent when he seeth another Man injured, hath a lukewarm Honesty that a wise Man will not depend upon.
He that is not concerned when he seeth an ill thing done to another, will not be very eager to do a good one himself.
[Sidenote: _Hypocrisy._]
There is so much Wit necessary to make a skilful Hypocrite, that the Faculty is fallen amongst Bunglers, who make it ridiculous.
[Sidenote: _Injury._]
An Injury may more properly be said to be postponed, than to be forgiven.
The Memory of it is never so subdued, but that it hath always Life in it.
The Memory of an Enemy admitteth no decay but Age.
Could we know what Men are most apt to remember, we might know what they are most apt to do.
It is a general Fault that we dislike Men only for the Injuries they do to us, and not for those they do to Mankind. Yet it will be hard to give a good Reason why a Man who hath done a deliberate Injury to one, will not do it to another.
The Memory and the Conscience never did, nor never will agree about forgiving Injuries.
Nature is Second to the Memory, and Religion to the Conscience.
When the Seconds fight, the latter is generally disarmed.
[Sidenote: _Integrity._]
A Man in a corrupted Age must make a Secret of his Integrity, or else he will be looked upon as a common Enemy.
He must engage his Friends not to speak of it; for he setteth himself for a Mark to be ill used.
[Sidenote: _Justice._]
As far as keeping distance is a sign of Respect, Mankind hath a great deal for Justice.
They make up in Ceremony what they want in Good-will to it.
Where the Generality are Offenders, Justice cometh to be Cruelty.
[Sidenote: _To Love, and be in Love different._]
To Love, and to be in Love with any thing, are Things as differing, as good Sense and Impertinence.
When we once go beyond bare liking, we are in danger of parting with Good-Sense; and it is not easy for Good-Sense to get so far as liking.
[Sidenote: _Lucre._]
When by habit a Man cometh to have a bargaining Soul, its Wings are cut, so that it can never soar.
It bindeth Reason an Apprentice to Gain, and instead of a Director, maketh it a Drudge.
[Sidenote: _Lying._]
The being kind to a Lyar, is abetting a Treason against Mankind.
A Man is to inform the first Magistrate, that he may be clap'd up.
Lies are embroidered with Promises and Excuses.
A known Lyar should be outlawed in a well ordered Government.
A Man that renounceth Truth, runneth away from his trial in the World.
The use of Talking is almost lost in the World by the habit of Lying.
A Man that doth not tell all the Truth, ought to be hanged for a Clipper.
Half the Truth is often as arrant a Lye, as can be made.
It is the more dexterous, but not the less criminal kind of Lying.
[Sidenote: _Names._]
Names to Men of Sense are no more than Fig-leaves; to the generality they are thick Coverings that hide the Nature of Things from them.
Fools turn Good-Sense upon its Head, they take Names for Things, and Things only for Names.
[Sidenote: _Partiality._]
It is a general Mistake to think the Men we like are good for every thing, and those we do not, good for nothing.
[Sidenote: _Patience._]
A Man who is Master of Patience, is Master of every thing else.
He that can tell how to bear in the right Place, is Master of every body he dealeth with.
[Sidenote: _Positiveness._]
Positive is the Perfection of Coxcomb, he is then come to his full Growth.
[Sidenote: _Prosperity._]
It sheweth Mens Nature, that when they are pampered in any kind, they are very apt to play jadish Tricks.
One of the Tricks of any Creature that is wanton, is to kick what is next them.
[Sidenote: _Quiet._]
Every thing that doth us good is so apt to do us hurt too, that it is a strong Argument for Men to be quiet.
If Men would think more, they would act less.
The greatest Part of the Business of the World, is the Effect of not thinking.
[Sidenote: _Reason and Passion._]
Most Men put their Reason out to Service to their Will.
The Master and the Man are perpetually falling out.
A third Man will hazard a beating, if he goes about to part them.
Nothing hath an uglier Look to us than Reason, when it is not of our side.
We quarrel so often with it, that it maketh us afraid to come near it.
A Man that doth not use his Reason, is a tame Beast; a Man that abuses it, is a wild one.
[Sidenote: _Reputation._]
It is a self-flattering Contradiction, that wise Men despise the Opinion of Fools, and yet are proud of having their Esteem.
[Sidenote: _Self-love._]
Self-love rightly defined, is far from being a Fault.
A Man that loveth himself right, will do every thing else right.
[Sidenote: _Shame._]
A Man who doth not think he is punished when he is blamed, is too much hardened to be ever reformed.
The Court of Shame hath of late lost much of its Jurisdiction. It ought by right both to judge in the first Instance, and to exclude all Appeals from it.
Shame is a Disease of the last Age, this seemeth to be cured of it.
[Sidenote: _Singularity._]
Singularity may be good Sense at home, but it must not go much abroad.
It is a Commendation to be that which a crowd of mistaken Fools call Singular.
There can hardly be a severer thing said to a Man in this Age, than that he is like the rest of the World.
[Sidenote: _Slander._]
Slander would not stick, if it had not always something to lay hold of.
A Man who can allow himself the Liberty to slander, hath the World too much at his Mercy.
But the Man that despiseth Slander deserveth it.
[Sidenote: _Speakers in Publick._]
Speakers in Publick should take more Pains to hold in their Invention than to raise it.
Invention is apt to make such Sallies, that it cannot secure its Retreat.
He that will not make a Blot, will be pretty sure in his time to give a Stroke.
A patient Hearer is a sure Speaker.
Men are angry when others do not hear them, yet they have more Reason to be afraid when they do.
[Sidenote: _Time the loss of it._]
Mispending a Man's time is a kind of _self-homicide_, it is making Life to be of no use.
[Sidenote: _Truth._]
Truth is not only stifled by Ignorance, but concealed out of Caution or Interest; so if it had not a Root of Immortality, it must have been long since extinguished.
[Sidenote: _Wisdom._]
The most useful Part of Wisdom is for a Man to give a good guess, what others think of him.
It is a dangerous thing to guess partially, and a melancholy thing to guess right.
Nothing would more contribute to make a Man wise, than to have always an Enemy in his view.
A wise Man may have more Enemies than a weak one, but he will not so much feel the weight of them. Indeed the being wise doth either make Men our Friends, or discourage them from being our Enemies.
Wisdom is only a comparative Quality, it will not bear a single Definition.
[Sidenote: _Youth._]
A Man hath too little Heat, or Wit, or Courage, if he hath not sometimes more than he should.
Just enough of a good thing is always too little.
Long Life giveth more Marks to shoot at, and therefore old Men are less well thought of, than those who have not been so long upon the Stage.
Other Mens Memories retain the ill, whilst the good Things done by an old Man, easily slip out of them.
Old Men have in some degree their Reprisals upon younger, by making nicer Observations upon them, by virtue of their Experience.
_FINIS._
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Upon the Words of his Declaration.
[2] Two Papers in Defence of the _Roman Catholick_ Religion, found in this King's strong Box, in his own hand, and published by King _James_ II. afterwards.
[3] The Dutchess of _Portsmouth_.