EXERCITATIONES IN AMBULANDO.

Fear.-Courage is only the absence of Fear, the power of acting as we please, or as other passions or motives direct, without being swayed by that particular passion. Pusil lanimity is bearing evils weakly. Fear, in a bad sense, is apprehending them weakly. The great advantage of the passions is that they outrun reason and are also more forci→ ble in their impulses; but as to Fear I am disposed to think it is always a weakness-reason and experience teach us sufficiently to avoid evil without a particular emotion of the heart which weakens reason. Death is an evil, reason teaches me to avoid it, but if a mad bull is running at me, Fear makes me stand still or tumble into a ditch, when I might have run behind a tree and been safe.

Fear is certainly of use as an emotion by applying to which we may work on mankind to a good end—as a boy learns his lesson for fear he should be flogged; but a wise man I believe ought not to be at all under its influence, for he should avoid evil and pursue good from consideration of the wisdom of so doing, not from the stimulus of such a passion. A man may be a great coward, yet not pusillanimous, that is, he may shew great fear of a contingent evil, yet bear an actual evil with fortitude, yet the presumption is that a coward will be pusillanimous; as if a man lies in bed on Tuesday, it is odds he will do the like on Wednesday, yet he may then exert himself and get up at six. We despise Cowardice in men, but we forgive and almost love it in women. Yet Cowardice is always contemptible;

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but it is associated with the idea of weakness, which is pleasing in women, because it implies acquiescence and gentleness which again are allied to all the softer virtues.

Softness, gentleness, tenderness, imbecillity, elegance, &c. these are the qualities which excite our love-must it not then follow that the man loves the woman much more than the woman can love the man, for his virtues excite only admiration, esteem, confidence, which create friendship. I should incline to think that the love of the woman is different from the love of the man, unless perhaps the animal passion being warmer may, when united with these (if I may so term them) severer feelings, soften them and produce altogether a sensation not very different from the love of the man. If this be so we see a great reason why the animal passion was allowed to be stronger in the woman. It would be miserable for a man to know that in the nature of things his love could not be returned, and yet so it would be; for none of the male qualities, strength, knowledge, courage, fortitude, prudence, &c. have any tendency to awaken affection though they raise esteem.

Ambition. I do not value Ambition though it is said to be the characteristic of a great mind; I do not believe the assertion-we have all of us a tumultuous love of superiority, but the want of means to indulge this vicious propensity compels the mass of mankind to crush or at least

conceal it. Those who can, indulge it, and those only can, who from great endowments of mind and body are enabled to aspire to greatness with a prospect of successthus an association is formed in its favour.-Ambition also pushes aside the lower and sensual appetites, and so it is thought to confer dignity because it prevents the lowest of all degradations; if smoke preserves the air of London from putrefaction, is smoke therefore desirable?—Ambition is selfishness, and therefore a vice, and therefore contemptible; it is not the worst sort of selfishness, and therefore not the meanest of vices, but it is bad and ought always to be subdued.

Appetites. If it be wondered that the Christian Law should have restrained the indulgence of those impure passions which yet are quite natural, let it be remembered that this in fact occasions much excellence-for a young person feels this to be a great sin, he therefore cuts himself off from it, and having made so great a sacrifice, having paid as it were so great a price, he will make the best of his bargain; it is but common sense; it becomes therefore the boundary line which goeth betwixt Virtue and Vice; if there were no such restriction there might be less vice but there would be less virtue.

Hope-seems only the perception of pleasure in a lesser degree by anticipation, as if I hope to be rich, and figure to myself the enjoyments attached to riches, Hope

anticipates them and gradually enjoys them more and more as it approaches till they are devoured, just as if instead of receiving £20,000 this day ten years, it were paid to me in a regular increasing ratio beginning with one shillingthus by Hope all or a large part of a proposed pleasure is enjoyed before we obtain it-hence it follows that a mind cannot enjoy hope in the prospect of a particular kind of happiness which could not enjoy that happiness if present, as the delights of affection cannot be enjoyed by hope unless the mind is susceptible of the more tender feelings; and thus we may learn the reason why hope is ranked so high among the Christian virtues.-Faith is that firm trust in God which secures our constant obedience and elevates us above the things of this life; Charity that overflowing love to all mankind which softens and enlarges the heart in so delightful a manner; Hope that purity and elevation of soul which enables us to enjoy by anticipation the raptures of a future state of being such as we must believe them to be.

Happiness. I take it there is more happiness than misery in life; I reason thus-We all over-calculate the chances of happiness in our own favour, more in youth, less in age; this can only proceed from the predominance of pleasurable feelings at the moment, which reason grounded on experience corrects more and more as we live longer, but seldom completely-It is like a man who abounding with vigour fancies he could walk 20 miles when in fact he could only walk 15.-If he judged only from feeling, he could assign no limit to his powers, but reason and ex

perience limit that feeling, though they do not quite ba lance it; now if at the moment the majority of mankind over-calculate the chances of happiness in their own favour, there must be more happiness than misery in life,

As to Talleyrand's Note to Lord Hawkesbury.-Whether this country is not bound to expel or silence those who libel the Government of another. It may be said to be the first law of enjoyment, Sic utere tuo ut alienum non lædas—indulge the liberty of the press if you please as far as it injures only yourselves, but do not suffer it to insult and injure your neighbours-but by injury must be understood a reasonable injury, not what the caprice or ignorance of men choose to call such. Is not then the being degraded by defamation a real injury?—Yes; but consider-Every individual is at liberty and is bound to do that which is reasonable, and that may be surely deemed reasonable which if universally practised would be universally beneficial; here are two neighbours-one is sensible and likes a fire in winter, the other half-crazy would shiver for four months because he fancies it better for his health; the partition wall is thin and my fires warm his house; he complains; is the complaint reasonable? No; for I am not obliged to be a fool because he is; or sacrifice my knowledge to his ignorance, so with respect to states.-The liberty of the press if generally established would be a great benefit.—We have had wisdom enough to establish it here, you are not so wise in France; are we to be robbed of a real benefit because you have not sense enough to see that it is such?