curses him, and could kill him that sends him thither. The old Canons wisely enjoined three years Penance, sometimes more, because in that time a Man got a habit of Virtue, and so committed that sin no more for which he did Penance.

People.

HERE is not any thing in the World more abused than this Sentence, Salus populi suprema Lex esto, for we apply it, as if we ought to forsake the known Law, when it may be most for the advantage of the People, when it means no such thing. For first, 'tis not Salus populi suprema Lex est, but esto; it being one of the Laws of the Twelve Tables,* and after divers Laws made, some for Punishment, some for Reward; then follows this, Salus populi suprema Lex esto: That is, in all the Laws you make, have a special Eye to the Good of the People; and then what does this concern the way they now go?

2. Objection. He that makes one is greater than he that is made; the People make the King, ergo, &c.

*It is probably a lapse of memory in Selden, or incorrectly related; for this is not one of the Laws of the xii. Tables, but among those which Cicero has set down for the government of his imaginary republic. See De Legibus, lib. iii. § 8. It seems to have forcibly impressed itself on Ammianus Marcellinus, who repeats it in substance more than once; his words are "finis enim justi imperii, ut sapientes docent, utilitas obedientium æstimatur et salus." Amm. Marcel. xxx. 8, and xxix. 3.

Answer. This does not hold; for if I have 1000l. per Annum, and give it you, and leave myself ne'er a Penny; I made you, but when you have my Land, you are greater than I. The Parish makes the Constable, and when the Constable is made, he governs the Parish. The Answer to all these Doubts is, Have you agreed so? if you have, then it must remain till you have altered it.

Pleasure.

LEASURE is nothing else but the intermission of Pain, the enjoying of something I am in great trouble for till I have it.

2. 'Tis a wrong way to proportion other Men's Pleasures to ourselves; 'tis like a Child's using a little Bird, "O poor Bird, thou shalt sleep with me;" so lays it in his Bosom, and stifles it with his hot Breath: the Bird had rather be in the cold Air. And yet too 'tis the most pleasing Flattery, to like what other men like.

3. 'Tis most undoubtedly true, that all Men are equally given to their pleasure; only thus, one man's pleasure lies one way, and another's another. Pleasures are all alike simply considered in themselves: he that hunts, or he that governs the Commonwealth, they both please themselves alike, only we commend that, whereby we ourselves receive some benefit; as if a man place his delight in things that tend to the common good. He that takes pleasure to hear Sermons, enjoys himself as much as he that hears Plays; and could he that loves Plays endeavour to love Sermons, possibly he might bring himself to it as

I

well as to any other Pleasure. At first it may seem harsh and tedious, but afterwards 'twould be pleasing and delightful. So it falls out in that which is the great Pleasure of some Men, Tobacco; at first they could not abide it, and now they cannot be without it.

4. Whilst you are upon Earth, enjoy the good Things that are here (to that end were they given), and be not melancholy, and wish yourself in Heaven. If a King should give you the keeping of a Castle, with all things belonging to it, Orchards, Gardens, &c. and bid you use them; withal promise you that, after twenty years to remove you to the Court, and to make you a Privy Counsellor; if you should neglect your Castle, and refuse to eat of those fruits, and sit down, and whine, and wish you were a Privy Counsellor, do you think the King would be pleased with you?

5. Pleasures of Meat, Drink, Clothes, &c. are forbidden those that know not how to use them; just as Nurses cry pah! when they see a Knife in a Child's Hand; they will never say any thing to a Man.

Philosophy.

HEN Men comfort themselves with Philo

sophy, 'tis not because they have got two or three Sentences, but because they have di

gested those Sentences and made them their own: So upon the matter, Philosophy is nothing but Discretion.

Poetry.

VID was not only a fine Poet, but, as a man may speak, a great Canon Lawyer, as appears in his Fasti, where we have more of the Festivals of the old Romans than any where else: 'tis pity the rest are lost.

2. There is no reason Plays should be in Verse, either in Blank or Rhyme; only the Poet has to say for himself, that he makes something like that, which somebody made before him. The old Poets had no other reason but this, their Verse was sung to Music; otherwise it had been a senseless thing to have fettered up themselves.*

3. I never converted but two, the one was Mr. Crashaw, from writing against Plays, by telling him a way how to understand that Place of putting on Woman's Apparel, which has nothing to do in the business, as neither has it, that the Fathers speak against Plays in their Time, with reason enough, for they had real Idolatries mixed with their Plays, having three Altars perpetually upon the Stage. The other was a Doctor of Divinity, from preaching against Painting; which simply in itself is no more hurtful, than putting on my Clothes,

* No one man can know all things; even Selden here talks ignorantly. Verse is in itself a music, and the natural symbol of that union of passion with thought and pleasure, which constitutes the essence of all poetry, as contradistinguished from history civil or natural. To Pope's Essay on Man,-in short to whatever is mere metrical good sense and wit, the remark applies.-Coleridge.

or doing anything to make my self like other folks, that I may not be odious nor offensive to the Company. Indeed if I do it with an ill Intention, it alters the Case; so, if I put on my Gloves with an intention to do a mischief, I am a Villain.

4. 'Tis a fine thing for Children to learn to make Verse; but when they come to be Men, they must speak like other Men, or else they will be laughed at. 'Tis ridiculous to speak, or write, or preach in Verse. As 'tis good to learn to dance, a man may learn his Leg, learn to go handsomely; but 'tis ridiculous for him to dance, when he should go.

5. 'Tis ridiculous for a Lord to print Verses; 'tis well enough to make them to please himself, but to make them public, is foolish. If a Man in a private Chamber twirls his Band-strings, or plays with a Rush to please himself, 'tis well enough; but if he should go into Fleet-street, and sit upon a Stall, and twirl a Band-string, or play with a Rush, then all the Boys in the Street would laugh at him.

6. Verse proves nothing but the quantity of Syllables; they are not meant for Logic.*

* True; they, that is, verses, are not logic; but they are, or ought to be, the envoys and representatives of that vital passion, which is the practical cement of logic; and without which logic must remain inert.—Coleridge.