Sir William Temple describes William III. as the reverse of this; having been a man of the most decisive judgment, of the most consummate knowledge; the sincerest man in the world, and hating all tricks and 'those that used them.' Some are so cunning that they seem to have as many heads as the hydra; as many mouths as report; as many arms as Briareus. Sometimes they resemble the Lake of Alcyonia, which is said to have been tranquil to the eye, and yet drew all those who ventured upon it down to its bottom. Sometimes they appear to give a point up; but they yield, as Alpheus sunk,-to meet his Arethusa in a distant land. Cromwell's force, for instance, lay †, not in creating or inventing opportunities, but in watching and seizing them. And Frederic the Great would frequently communicate to a third power the whole of the correspondence of the party with which he was negotiating 1, merely for the purpose of begetting confidence, which he might betray in the end. It was, also, the policy of the Council of Ten to preach against immorality, and yet encourage dissoluteness of manners, in order to divert the public attention from public affairs. Venice, in fact, traced her power, in the fifteenth century, not to her honesty, to her resources, or to her courage; but to the practice of supporting her armies on other men's money, and obtaining compensations for her labours in their conquests. Some men spread toils so long, that we are reminded of the lines set by the Russians along the coasts of *Pausanias. Life of Col. Hutchinson, note, p. 313, 4to. Zimmermann; Select Views, c. ix. Norway and Norwegian Lapland. These lines extend, sometimes, for more than two miles, along the top and bottom of the sea; and hooks are placed not only near the surface and the bottom, but in the middle; so that to these lines are attached sometimes not less than from six to seven hundred hooks. Men of this sort conjure up a passage from Thomson's Castle of Indolence : - 'And o'er the weedy, foul, abhorred ground, Snakes, adders, toads, each loathsome creature crawls around.' There is no line too long or too short for those who live by intrigue and baseness. XXXVII. WHO BEAR PATIENTLY. HENRY IV. of France was frequently reduced to very great extremities. Le Grain says, he has often seen him in a coat of plain white cloth, soiled by his breastplate, torn in the sleeves, and with stockings worn entirely through on the side on which his sword hung *. We think this state of privation very great, because it * I am near my enemies,' said the king, one day, to his friend ' and minister, the Duc de Sully; I am very near my enemies, and 'hardly a horse to carry me into the battle, or a complete suit of C armour to put on; my shirts are all ragged; my doublets are ' out at elbows; my kettle is seldom on the fire; and these two 'last days I have shifted for a dinner; my purveyors having in'formed me that they have no longer wherewithal to furnish my 'table.' was endured by a sovereign. Suppose it to last two months; what is this to the privations of one who, after gaining some reputation, retired to a cottage, having only a small bed, two or three chairs, one table, and three or four articles of earthenware; who often laid in bed for want of a fire during an intensely-severe winter; who kindled his own fire when he chanced to have a few coals; who had none in his neighbourhood with whom he could converse; who ate nothing but dry bread, a few vegetables, and a little fruit, the product of his garden; and who drank nothing but water, with now and then a little milk? What was his consolation during all this period of trial ?—The consciousness, that he had done his best under all existing circumstances. I know him well. Is nothing more than purpose in thy power? Does well, acts nobly;-angels could no more.'-Young. One great preservative of the body, say some, is to keep the mind in a constant state of tranquillity. This is certainly one way of arriving at the honours of corpulency; but no active mind can be kept in a state of constant tranquillity; nor, indeed, any other person's. Men often fall into an error, one way, in their endeavour to avoid one in another. We should, therefore, be frugal, temperate, discreet, and arrive at the distinction of having great command over ourselves while young. We should, also, have the virtue to look up, and speak out; but prudently. We should remember, too, that the leaves of the geranium and of the amber tree emit, when bruised, not only an agreeable but a fragrant odour. Gloomy prospects may be often compared to those deep fogs, which, resting on the hills near Lima, convert dry, pulverized sand into deep mould, and thereby yield nourishment to the flocks and herds of the native Indians, at a season in which the herbage of the valley fails. 'Tu ne cede malis; sed contra audentior ito. XXXVIII. WHO SACRIFICE GREAT TO LITTLE. GUICCIARDINI attributes most of the mischiefs which befell Peter de Medicis, to his vanity in trifles: but he did not sacrifice great things to these trifles, because he had not sufficient judgment to know the difference between the little and the great. With him all were great or little alike. Duppa seasonably remarks, that when we study trifles, we sacrifice two of the best things in the world,-knowledge and understanding.' Mr. Burke did not do this, but he did almost as bad; he engaged to fight the cause of a party when he was amply qualified to fight the battles of the world: hence Goldsmith justly characterized him as one, 'Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind.' XXXIX. WHO YIELD ALL THINGS TO GAIN ONE POINT. ' WHEN Lord Macartney went ambassador to China, he refused to perform certain ceremonies; and Lord Amherst followed the example. Napoleon censured them; he laughed! Had I thought it worth my 'while to send an ambassador to China,' said he, 'I 'should have directed him to perform whatever homage was required. It is but a ceremony after all!' The Greeks thought otherwise. Pelopidas would not prostrate himself before Artaxerxes*, and Conon refused to perform the same ceremonyt, as Sperchis and Bulis had done before when introduced to Xerxes ‡. Timagoras, however, was not so scrupulous. He prostrated himself; but, for so doing, the Athenians, on his return, punished him with death §. XL. WHO ARE SLOW TO BEGIN, AND DIFFICULT TO EXECUTE. I have not seen more than five pictures by Sebastian del Piombo, but one of these is his masterpiece,-the Raising of Lazarus; which some are disposed to class with Raphael's Transfiguration, and Rubens's Descent from the Cross. The design is supposed to have been sketched by Michael Angelo, who advised Piombo to *Plut. in Vit. Artax. Ælian. Var. Hist., i., c. 21. † Justin, lib. vi. § Valer. Max., lib. vi. |