benevolence and love to man. The truly pious serve God, their creator and benefactor, with their whole soul. They honour and love him, not so much for the sake of their promised reward, as for the benefits they have received, and are more actuated by gratitude than hope. They are severe to themselves, and compassionate to others. They endeavour to reclaim the erroneous, not by severity, but meekness. They are always similar to themselves, and serve God uniformly, not by fits and starts. They are at peace with all men. They comfort the afflicted, support the distressed, and clothe the naked. They neither exult in prosperity, nor sink in adversity, but remain contented with the will of God, and patiently bear those afflictions he is pleased to lay upon them. They show their piety not in theory, but in practice; not in words, but works. They are not led by fear, ambition or worldly interest, but by love to the Author of their being. They strive to promote the good of all men, and labour to secure eternal bliss.

ADVICE TO A DAUGHTER.

BY LORD HALIFAX.

FRIENDSHIP.

[The Editor introduces Lord Halifax to the reader, rather on account of the good sense by which his ADVICE is distinguished, than on account of his style; which abounds with the quaintness of former times.]

I MUST, in particular, recommend to you a strict care in the choice of your friendship. Per

haps the best are not without their objections, but however, be sure that yours may not stray from the rules which the wiser part of the world hath set to them. The leagues, offensive and defensive, seldom hold in politics, and much less in friendships. Besides, these great attachments, by degrees, grow injurious to the rest of your acquaintance, and throw them off from you. There is such an offensive distinction when the dear friend comes into the room, that it is flinging stones at the company, who are not apt to forgive it.

Do not lay out your friendship too lavishly at first, since it will, like other things, be so much the sooner spent; neither let it be of too sudden a growth; for as the plants which shoot up too fast, are not of that continuance as those which take more time for it, so too swift a progress in pouring out your kindness, is a certain sign that by the course of nature it will not be long lived. You will be responsible to the world, if you pitch upon such triends as at that time are under the weight of any criminal objection. In that case, you will bring yourself under the disadvantages of their character, and must bear your part of it. Choosing implies approving; and if you fix upon a lady for your friend against whom the world hath given judgment, 'tis not so well natured as to believe you are altogether averse to her way of living, since it doth not discourage you from admitting her into your kindness. And resemblance of inclinations being thought none of the least inducements to friendship, you will be looked upon as a well wisher, if not a partner with her in her faults. If you can forgive them in another, it may be presumed you will not be less gentle to yourself; and therefore you must not take it ill, if you are reckoned a copier, and condemned to pay an

equal share with a friend of the reputation she

hath lost.

If it happens that your friend should fall from the state of innocence, after your kindness was engaged to her, you may be slow in your belief in the beginning of the discovery: but as soon as you are convinced by a rational evidence, you must, without breaking too roughly, make a fair and quick retreat from such a mistaken acquaintance: else by moving too slowly from one that is so tainted, the contagion may reach you so far as to give you part of the scandal, though not of the guilt. This matter is so nice, that as you must not be too hasty to join in the censure upon your friend when she is accused, so you are not, on the other side, to defend her with too much warmth: for if she should happen to deserve the report of common fame, besides the vexation that belongs to such a mistake, you will draw an ill appearance upon yourself, and it will be thought you pleaded for her, not without some consideration for yourself. The anger which must be put on to vindicate the reputation of an injured friend, may incline the company to suspect you would not be so zealous, if there was not a possibility that the case might be your own. For this reason you are not to carry your attachments so far as absolutely to lose your sight where your friend is concerned. Because malice is too quick sighted, it doth not follow, that friendship must be blind; there is to be a mean between these two extremes, else your excess of good nature may betray you into a very ridiculous figure, and by degrees you may be preferred to such offices as you will not be proud of.

Let the good sense of your friends be a chief ingredient in your choice of them; else let your

reputation be ever so clear, it may be clouded by their impertinence. It is like our houses being in the power of a drunken or a careless neighbour: only so much worse, as that there will be no insurance here to make you amends, as there is in the case of fire.

To conclude this paragraph; if formality is to be allowed in any instance, it is to be put on to resist the invasion of such forward women as shall press themselves into your friendship, where, if admitted, they will either be a snare or an incumbrance.

PRIDE

THIS is an ambiguous word; one kind of it is as much a virtue, as the other is a vice: but we are naturally so apt to choose the worst, that it is become dangerous to commend the best side of it.

A woman is not to be proud of her fine gown; nor when she hath less wit than her neighbours, to comfort herself that she hath more lace. Some ladies put so much weight upon ornaments, that if one could see into their hearts, it would be found, that even the thoughts of death are made less heavy to them by the contemplation of their being laid out in state, and honourably attended to the grave. One may come a good deal short of such an extreme, and yet still be sufficiently impertinent, by setting a wrong value upon things, which ought to be used with more indifference. A lady must not appear solicitous to engross respect to herself, but be content with a reasonable distribution, and allow it to others, that she may

have it returned to her. She is not to be troublesomely nice, nor distinguish herself by being too delicate, as if ordinary things were too coarse for her; this is an unmannerly and an offensive pride, and where it is practised, deserves to be mortified, of which it seldom fails. She is not to lean too much upon her quality, much less to despise those who are below it. Some make quality an idol, and then their reason must fall down and worship it. They would have the world think, that no amends can ever be made for the want of a great title, or an ancient coat of arms: they imagine, that with these advantages they stand upon the higher ground, which makes them look down upon merit and virtue, as things inferior to them. This mistake is not only senseless, but criminal too, in putting a greater price upon that which is a piece of good luck, than upon things which are valuable in themselves. Laughing is not enough for such a folly, it must be severely whipped, as it justly deserves. It will be confessed there are frequent temptations given by pert upstarts to be angry, and thereby to have our judgments corrupted in these cases; but they are to be resisted; and the utmost that is to be allowed, is, when those of a new edition will forget themselves, so as either to brag of their weak side, or endeavour to hide their meanness by their insolence, to cure them by a little seasonable raillery, a little sharpness well placed, without dwelling too long upon it. These and many other kinds of pride are to be avoided.

That which is to be recommended to you, is an emulation to raise yourselves to a character, by which you may be distinguished: an eagerness for precedence in virtue, and all such other things as may gain you a greater share of the good opi