General Instructions.

No one ought to make a mean court to the passions of a superior; nor do wrong with open eyes, iii. 81. [64].

One person will shine in one way, another in another; each to be respected should keep within his own sphere of excellence, iii. 175. [138].

Let us give praise to the good, dispraise to the bad, and every one try to amend one, iii. 342. [269].

We should never leave till to-morrow, the thing pro|per to be done, that can be done to day, iii. 363. [287].

A prudent woman will not preserve such letters and papers, however innocent, as she cares not her husband should see, lest any doubts, in case of his survivorship, should arise from them of her conduct, when she is no more, and which the papers themselves do not fully ex|plain, iii. 475. [376].

No husband, no earthly power, can dispense with a divine obligation, iv. 11. [9].

Art should never take place of nature, but be subser|vient to it, iv. 50. [41].

Where there are beauty and wit on one side, and youth and strong passions on the other, it is presumptuous to rely upon our own strength, iv. 237. [205].

The first appearances of evil should be avoided, ibid.

Easily perhaps, at first, may that breach of morals be stopt, which when neglected, the waves of passion will widen, till they bear down all before them, iv. 253. [219].

Things will unavoidably happen in this life, in the most prosperous state, to embitter our pleasures, without Page  34 our seeking by our own wilful mismanagements to make ourselves unhappy, iv. 254. [221].

The sinner, whom the Almighty graciously offers to reclaim rather by mercies than by judgments, ought to take care that he brings not upon himself the judge|ments by slighting the mercies, iv. 264. [229].

General Observations.

HE that is mean enough premeditatedly to do one bad thing, is not likely to stick at another, i. 20. [16].

Men who offer unworthy things to their inferiors, put it in the power of such to be greater than themselves, i. 24. [19, 20].

There is safety generally in poverty; danger too often in plenty, i. 29, 30. [24].

Indignation gives bodily strength, i. 37. [31].

Every thing is pretty that is young, i. 70. [58].

Riches and power never want advocates, i. 89. [70]. 154. [194].

How easily do people, who give way to vice, go from bad to worse! i. 108. [85].

Affected concealment excites curiosity, i. 203. [256].

We are apt to approve or disapprove of an enterprize, as the event comes out to be prosperous, or otherwise, i. 227. [285].

There are no men so bad, but there are women as bad, ii. 5. [37].

The world often judges of past actions rather by the event, than by the reason of the thing, ii. 18. [46, 47].

A little weight turns the scale, when it hangs in equal balance, ii. 42. [66].

Persons who doubt themselves, are least likely to do amiss, ii. 55. [77].

The presumptuous, the conceited, the thoughtless, sel|dom escape falling into great errors, ii. 56. [77].

Gentleness of temper, and meanness of spirit, are too very different qualities, ii. 148. [153].

The most thoughtful beginnings promise the most hap|py proceedings, ii. 177. [177].

No man wants capacity to be honest and just, iii. 30. [25].

Page  35 He who will not be satisfied with a competence, will not with a redundance, iii. 32. [26].

The man who maintains a licentious theory, too pro|bably wants only opportunity and temptation, to carry it into practice, iii. 189. [150].

The most agreeable subjects are seldom started in a large company, iii. 276. [218].

A good cause will bear a strict scrutiny, and shine the brighter for it, iii. 297. [235].

It is in every one's power to prescribe rules for his own conduct, when he lets his visiters see what they are, and that he will not be put out of his laudable way, iii. 301, [237].

People who would avoid bustle, in endeavouring to do so, sometimes make it, iii. 313. [247].

The reason why so little good, (as generally is the case) is done by public bodies of men, may be thus ac|counted for; An individual cares not to pull down upon himself the odium of a bad action; but when there are many to share it among them, every one is less scrupu|lous, iii. 334, 335. [264].

A bad mind, a covetous or oppressive nature, will be the same, whether the person be a clergyman or lay|man; a married man, or single, iii. 339. [207, 208].

Fasting, when one has a stomach to eat, gives one a gloomy and mortified appearance, iii. 417. [329].

He who is premeditatedly guilty of a bad action, will not, when suspected, scruple falshoods to endeavour to exculpate himself, iii. 450. [356].

One fault generally is the parent of more, iii. 473. [374].

Affectation and false politeness are often attendants on ceremony, iii. 501. [397].

We are all of us very ready to be persuaded on the side of inclination, iv. 23. [19].

A woman hardly ever takes a journey, but she for|gets something, iv. 64. [53].

The world has sometimes, by its report, united two people in one cause, who otherwise, perhaps, would have been but common acquaintance, iv. 251. [218].

Page  36 The greatest mischiefs often arise from the slightest beginnings, iv. 253. [219].

Indifferent pleas will have force in favour of a pro|posal or argument, to which we have no repugnance, iv. 316. [275].

By grasping at too much, we sometimes lose what we were in possession of, iv. 407. 409. [356].

When our hearts are engaged, we are for making every case we hear or read of, applicable to our own, iv. 445. [389].

The person who admires any particular good qualities in another, gives a kind of indirect assurance, that she has the same herself, iv. 453. [396].

Genius.

A MODEST person will endeavour to know the ex|tent of his Genius, and not suppose himself equal to every subject, because he has succeeded in one, iv. 326. [284].

It is no small point of wisdom, to know our own ta|lents, ibid.

Good Men.

GOOD Men, tho' low in the world, are fit for all companies, and are present to every laudable occasion, ii. 124. [134].

No consideration of interest, or even of friendship, will induce a truly good man to do a bad thing, iii. 339. [268].

While a bad man will not want a pretence to display his evil qualities; nor flatterers neither, if he be rich or powerful, to defend him in the worst he can do, ibid.

Good Wife.

IT is the part of a Good Wife to extenuate her hus|band's faults, and to endeavour to give the world a good opinion of him, iii. 196. [156].

It will be a great comfort to a good woman, who has married a libertine, if she can find that his licentious|ness is reduced to notions only, iii. 197. [156].

See Clergyman's Wife. Conjugal Piety. Husband and Wife. Wife.

Gratitude.

THE more humble will be a worthy person, as the more obliged, ii. 52. [75].

Great kindness shewn to a worthy inferior will make him double his diligence to deserve it, ii. 56. [78].

A grateful heart will be delighted in every opportu|nity given it, to be useful to its benefactors; nor will be limited by the value of the benefaction, ii. 141. [147].

Gratitude is a noble gift, which, on proper occasions, will make a person susceptible of it, speak and write, as well as act, above himself, iii. 17. [14].

When your worthy minds, my dear parents, says Pa|mela to hers, (whose hearts were overflowing with Grati|tude for the benefits heaped upon them by Mr. B's bounty) are likely to be too much affected by your Gratitude, raise your thoughts upwards, and consider who it is that enables him to bless us;

And pray for him and for me. For HIM, that all his actions may be of apiece with this noble disposition of mind: For ME, that I may continue humble, and con|sider myself blessed for your sakes, and for the sakes of persons, shall I say, equally worthy? And to be a re|warder, in the hands of providence, of this its bountiful agent, iii. 17, 18. [14, 15].

A just person greatly benefitted by another, tho' that other change his mind, and even injuriously treat him, will lament that change, but bear gratefully in mind the former benefits, iv. 168. [144, 145].

Guardian.

THAT man must be the most abandoned of men, who attempts the honour of a woman entrusted to his pro|tection, iii. 188, 189. [149].