any Man of War or State, fhall find this cafe to be his own, and himself touch'd in this Moral, let him keep his own Councel, and learn to be Wifer hereafter.

* 'Tis an unhappy thing both for Master and Servant, when the Love, and Loyalty, and Zeal of the one, fhall be ill taken at the Hands of the other; for he that will not believe and depend upon the Faith of a Try'd Friend and Servant, falls under the Judgment commonly of giving too much heed to a Secret Enemy: Befide, that it goes to the Heart of a Man of Honour and Addrefs, when he has done his uttermoft for his Master's Service, to fall under that fcandalous Character of Offcious and Impertinent for his Pains.

*T

False Pretenders.

*Here's nothing more frequent,or more ridiculous in the World, than for a Divine to set up for a Doctor, a Beggar for a Man of an Estate, a Scoundrel for a Cavalier, a Poltron for a Sword-man; But every Fool ftill has fome mark or other to be known by, through all difguifes; and the more he takes upon him, the arranter Sot he makes himself; when he comes to be unmafqu'd every Fool, or Fools Fellow, carries more or lefs in his Face, the Signature of his Manners, tho' the Character may be much more Legible in fome, than in others. Let him keep his Words betwixt his Teeth, and he may pass Muster perhaps for a Man of fome Sense ; but if he comes to open once he's loft. For Nature never put the Tongue of a Philofpher into theMouth

of

of a Coxcomb: But however,let him be,inTruth,what he will, he is yet fo confcious of what he ought to be, that he makes it his business to pass for what he is not. And in the matter of Counterfeits, it is with Men, as it is with falfe Money; One piece is more or less passable than another, as it happens to have more or lefs Sense or Starling in the Mixture. One general Mark of an Impoftor, is this, that he out does the Orignal.

* Pretence goes a great way in the World, with Men that will take fair Words, and Magisterial looks for current Payment; but the fhort and the certain way of bringing the Cause to a fair Iffue, is to put the Pretenders to the Test of doing what they fay.

There's Quacking in all Trades: Bold ignorance paffes upon the Multitude for Sense; and it is with Men as 'tis with Brutes, fome are to Eat, and others to be Eaten. Confident Knaves live upon credulous Fools.

SMa

Fidelity, Infidelity.

Mall Infidelity, whereby our felves are Sufferers, leffen the Committers of them in our Eftem,more than great ones committed against other People.

Fidelity in moft Men, is nothing else but a Contrivance of Self-Love, to make our felves trufted. It is a Trick to raife or felves above other People, and get the most important Matters depofited in our hands.

F

Flattery, Praife, Satyr.

Lattery is a Falfe Coyn, which our own Vanity has made Current.

Men never would enjoy much Pleasure, if they never flatter'd themfelves.

If we did not Flatter our felves, the Flatteries of others could not hurt us.

No body loves to be upon the Commending Strain; and indeed we feldom touch upon it without fome By-end. Praife is a more ingenious, conceal'd and nicer kind of a Fattery, which humours and affects feverally, both the Giver and Receiver; the one accepts it as a Reward due to his Merit; the other gives it, that he may be look'd upon as a just and difcreet Perfon.

We extol and value the Excellencies of other People, rather out of the Efteem of our own Opinions, than of their Worth; and when we pretend to commend other Men's Virtues, 'tis but a Sidewind to put other Men upon commending ours.

We often choose to make use of Commdenations, that carry a Sting in the Tail, and by taking Men at the rebound, as it were, lay open fome Defects in the Perfons fo commended, which we dare not venture to expofe any other way.

Few Men are so wife as to prefer useful Reproofs to treacherous Praife.

As there are commending Reproofs, fo there are abufive Praises.

He that declines Praise the first time it is offer'd, does it from a defire of being prais'd over again.

The

The defire of being worthy the Commendations of the World, is a great affiftance and strengthning to our Virtues; and the extolling of Men's Wit, Courage, or Beauty, goes a great way towards the emproving them.

We generally pull down one Man's Reputation to fet up anothers; and fometimes Men would not enlarge fo much upon the Praise of the Prince of Conde, and Marefchal Turenne, if it were not out of a design to lessen them both.

We feldom commend any body in Goodness, except fuch as admire us.

To commend Princes for Virtues they have not, is no better than a fafe way to abuse them.

Nothing fo much leffens the Merit of thofe that have deferv'd great Praises, than the trouble they are eternally at, to make themselves valued by Trifles. When we commend good and noble Actions, we make them in fome measure our own.

Nothing ought in Reason to mortifie our SelfSatisfaction, more than our applauding and crying up at one time, what we blame and run down at another.

Former Times are fometimes cry'd up, only to run down the prefent; and we value what is now no more, that we may flight that which is.

Men fancy fometimes they have an Aversion to Flattery, when it is, only to the manner of being flatter'd: And that Modefty that would feem to decline Praife, is at the bottom only a defire of having it better expreft.

*There is a kind of Infinuation and Compliance, that is far from any fervile Bafenefs, or fordid Flattery, and may be term'd Difcretion rather than Adulation.

* Whofo

* Whofoever is vex'd at a Reproach, would be Proud if he were commended.

* 'Tis difficult to write juftly in any thing, but almost impossible in Praise.

There are fome Men greedy of Honour, that love Praise even from the meaneft fort; and are lefs fatisfied to be commended by a few Judicious Perfons, than to be admired by an ignorant Multitude.

To commend the Great Ones, is a nice Phrase in its Original, and fignifies undoubtedly, to commend one's Self, by publishing all the good a Man rais'd in Honours has done us, or that he ever defign'd to do

us.

We generally commend the Great Ones, to acquaint others that we approach them, and very feldom out of Efteem or Gratitude: Nay, fometimes we commend those we never faw in our Lives; and which is yet more ftrange, there are Occasions where our Vanity prevails againft our Resentments, and makes us commend thofe, of whom we have reafon to complain.

All the Fortune of a Prince, is too little to recompenfe a base Flatterer, if he defigns to make him amends for what he forfeits of his own, (I mean, his Honour and Reputation :) But on the other hand, all the Power of a Prince is not too great to punish him, if he will make his Revenge proportionable to the Wrong he fuffers by being flatter'd.

1...

A Flatterer has neither good Opinion of himself, nor others.

'Twould be a kind of Fiercenefs and Brutality, for a Man to reject all manner of Praises: We may be fenfible of thofe of the Good, because they

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