Men are rarely fit to command, who have not been accustomed to obey. Children brought up too indulgently neither become agreeable companions, nor good masters. Accustomed to find everyone bending to their humours, and to have all their wishes gratified, they are ill qualified to mix with the world, and to encounter the thousand cross accidents, which every one, whatever may be their rank, will be sure to meet with. Every opposition to their will irritates, and every accident appals them. One of the strongest arguments in favour of our public schools is, that boys must there obey, before they are allowed to command. The proverb also intimates, that no one is fit to govern others, who has not obtained a command over his own passions and, affections.

It is not the fortune of every man to be able to go to Corinth. This city, from its commerce, and from the great concourse of strangers accustomed to visit it, became the most wealthy, and in time, the most voluptuous city in the world; it was also celebrated for its numerous and splendid temples, baths, theatres, and other exquisitely rich and beautiful public buildings, and unfortunately not less so for its debaucheries. It was, therefore, only suitable to the circumstances of the rich to visit a place so dissipated and expensive. Corinth gave its name to the fourth order of architecture, which was invented and first employed in the public buildings there, and to a metallic composition, Corinthian brass, which was very beautiful and durable, but of which there are no vestiges remaining. The proverb may be aptly used to deter persons from entering pursuits, or engaging in projects much beyond their faculties or powers to carry into execution.

It is not easy for anyone to talk a great deal, and altogether to the purpose. "A mucho hablar, mucho errar," talk much, and err much. "No diga la langua par do pague la cabeza," "the tongue talks at the head's cost," and "eating little, and speaking little, can never do harm." "He that speaks doth sow, but he that is silent reaps." "En boca cerrada, no entra moscha," flies do not enter the mouth that is shut, and "Fous sont sages, quand ils se taisent," fools are wise, or may be so reputed, when they are silent.

I am not made of horn, of brass, of iron, or such like impenetrable stuff, as to be so totally void of sense or proper feeling, that I should hear unmoved a tale of so much distress; or so difficult of persuasion, that I should not listen to so reasonable a request.

There is no remedy against the tongue of the sycophant, who, by pretended concern for your interest, worm themselves into your confidence and get acquainted with your most intimate concerns. When men who are indifferent to you affect a more than ordinary regard for your interest, you should be cautious how you converse with them;

" Halaga la cola el can
Non por ti, sino por el pan",

the dog wags his tail not for you but for your bread. It might be well if the sycophant were content with pillaging, but more usually they flatter only to betray you; such men are said, "halagar con la cola, y morder con la boca," to bite while they fawn upon you and, if they are as crafty as they are malevolent, you will not discover the villany of their dispositions until they have done you some irremediable mischief; until they have alienated the minds of your friends, or raised such dissensions in your family as nothing but death will extinguish. When Iago saw that he had succeeded in exciting in Othello a suspicion of the incontinence of Desdemona, he says, exulting in the success of his villany,

–––"Not poppy, nor mandragore,
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou ow'dst yesterday."

The ancients supposed that there were magic rings which had the power of defending those who wore them from certain diseases, inflicted, as they imagined, by inchantment or witchcraft, but even these were insufficient to protect them from the tongue of the slanderer.

There is no remedy against slander, it should therefore be borne quietly, and treated with contempt. What, if I have not deserved it? Then it will be the more easily borne. When a Roman patrician was ordered by the Emperor Tiberius to die, his friends in lamenting his doom, dwelt strongly on the injustice of the sentence. That, said he, my friends, is my greatest consolation; ye do not surely wish that I had been guilty.

«Latrantem curatne alta Diana canem ?»

Is the moon disturbed at the barking of a dog? Let them scoff, slander, abuse, wrong, curse and swear, feign and lye, when they have done all, innocency will vindicate itself, and a good conscience is a continual feast.

Be not in haste to give your opinion on any proposition, though pressed to it ever so earnestly. But be ready in all matters of moment to say, I will consider of it, will advise with my pillow. A wise man will neither give his assent nor dissent in any matter of consequence, until he has sufficiently examined it, and discovered its tendency.

"He has met with his match;" the person he attacked has proved too strong for him, and "he is come off second best," as the razor, instead of injuring the stone, was itself destroyed. "et fragili quaerens illidere dentem, Offendet solido." Or as the viper, who, attempting to gnaw a file which he had found, wounded his own mouth, but left the file unhurt.

No day without a line, was the advice and the practice of Apelles. No one must expect to be perfect in any art, without incessant care and diligence; therefore, "Nulla dies abeat, quin linea ducta supersit," no day should be suffered to pass, without leaving some memorial of itself. "Diem perdidi," "I have lost a day," was the exclamation of the Emperor Titus, finding, on a review of what had been performed, that he had relieved no distressed person, not done any act deserving recollection in the course of the day.

I am undone, lost beyond all possibility of redemption, was the exclamation of Davus, when he found that he had, by his schemes, precipitated his master into the very engagement he was employed, and actually meant to extricate him from.

Your iron is in the fire, work it now that it is soft, and you may give it what fashion you please; but if you suffer it to become cold, it will no longer yield to the hammer. Having begun the business, it must be diligently attended to or it will not succeed. Bisogna battere il ferro mentre è caldo, strike while the iron is hot; make hay while the sun shines.