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He that suffers by imposture, has too often his virtue more impaired than his fortune. But as it is necessary not to invite robbery by supineness, so it is our duty not to suppress tenderness by suspicion. It is better to suffer wrong than to do it; and happier to be sometimes cheated, than not to trust.

Ibid. p. 147.

He who is spontaneously suspicious, may be justly charged with radical corruption; for if he has not known the prevalence of dishonesty by information, nor had time to discern it with his own eyes, whence can he take his measures of judgment but from himself?

SUPERIORITY.

Ibid. vol. 4, p. 86.

The superiority of some is merely local. They are great, because their associates are little.

Life of Swift,

SCRIPTURE.

File and indecent applications of sentences taken from Scripture, is a mode of merriment which a good man dreads for its profaneness, and a witty man disdains for its easiness and vulgarity. Life of Pope.

All amplification of sacred history is frivolous and vuin; all addition to that which is already sufficient for the purposes of religion, seems not only useless, but in some degree profane. Life of Cowley.

SIMILE.

A simile, to be perfect, must both illustrate and ennoble the subject; must show it to the un

derstanding

derstanding in a clearer view, and display it to the fancy with greater dignity; but either of these qualities may be sufficient to recommend it. In' didactic poetry, of which the great purpose is instruction, a simile may be praised which illustrates though it does not ennoble. In heroics, that may be admitted which ennobles, though it does not illustrate. That it may be complete, it is required to exhibit, independently of its references, a pleasing image; for a simile is said to be a short episode. Life of Pope.

SHAME.

Shame, above every other passion, propagates itself. Rambler, vol. 3, p. 309..

It is perhaps, kindly provided by nature, that as the feathers and strength of the bird grow together, and her wings are not completed till she is able to fly; so some proportion should be observed in the human mind, between judgment and courage. The precipitation of experience is therefore restrained by shame, and we remain shackled by timidity, till we have learned to speak and act with propriety.

Ibid. p. 316.

Shame operates most strongly in our earliest Notes upon Shakspeare, vol. 5, p. 79.

years.

As in life, so in study, it is dangerous to do more things than one at a time; and the mind is not to be harrassed with unnecessary obstructions,

in a way of which the natural and unavoidable asperity is such as too frequently produces despair. Preface to the Preceptor, p. 65.

The predominance of a favourite study, affects all subordinate operations of the intellect.

SOBRIETY.

Life of Cowley.

Sobriety or temperance, is nothing but the forbearance of pleasure; and if pleasure was not followed by pain, who would forbear it?

SCARCITY.

Idler, vol. 2, p. 208.

Value is more frequently raised by scarcity than by use. That which lay neglected when it was common, rises in estimation as its quantity becomes less. We seldom learn the true want of what we have, till it is discovered that we can have no more.

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In all pointed sentences, some degree of accuracy must be sacrificed to conciseness.

Bravery of English Common Soldiers, p. 324.

SUCCESS AND MISCARRIAGE.

Success and miscarriage have the same effects in all conditions. The prosperous are feared, hated, and flattered; and the unfortunate avoided, pitied, and despised.

Idler, vol. 2, p. 277.

SHAKSPEAE.

SHAKSPEARE.

Of all the disputed plays of Shakspeare, except Titus Andronicus, it may be asked, if they are taken from him, to whom shall they be given? for it will be found more credible that Shakspeare might sometimes sink below his highest flights, than that any other should rise up to his lowest.

Notes upon Shakspeare, vol. 1, p. 216.

Each change of many-coloured life he drew,
Exhausted worlds, and then imagined new :
Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign,,
And panting Time toil'd after him in vain.

Prologue at the opening of Drury-lane Theatre.

SUPERFLUITIES.

Nothing gives so much offence to the lower ranks of mankind, as the sight of superfluities merely ostentatious.

Notes upon Shakspeare, vol. 6, p. 339.

GOOD SENSE.

Good sense is a sedate and quiescent quality, which manages its possessions well, but does not increase them: it collects few materials for its own operations, and preserves safety, but never gains supremacy.

RURAL SPORTS.

Life of Pope.

It is probable all the sports of the field are of Gothic original; the ancients neither hunted by the scent, nor seem much to have practised horsemanship as an exercise; and though in their works there is mention of Aucupium and Piscatio, they

seem

seem no more to have been considered as diversions, than agriculture, or any other manual labour.

be

Life of Sir Thomas Browne, p. 269.

SEASONS.

It is observed by Milton, that he who neglects to visit the country in spring, and rejects the pleasures that are then in their first bloom and fragrance, is guilty of" sullenness against nature." If we allot different duties to different seasons, may be charged with equal disobedience to the voice of nature, who looks on the bleak hills, and leafless woods, without seriousness and awe., Spring is the season of gaiety, and winter of terror. In spring, the heart of tranquillity dances to the melody of the groves, and the eye of benevolence sparkles at the sight of happiness and plenty; in the winter, compassion melts at universal calamity, and the tear of softness starts at the wailings of hunger and the cries of creation in distress.

SUBLIMITY.

Rambler, vol. 2, p. 149.

Sublimity is produced by aggregation, and littleness by dispersion.--Great thoughts are always general, and consist in positions not limited by exceptions, and in descriptions not descending to minuteness. Life of Cowley.

SCIENCE

Divide and conquer, is a principle equally just in science as in policy.

Rambler, vol 3, p. 187.

Every science has its difficulties, which yet call for solution, before we attempt new systems of

R

knowledge;

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