- ing down upon his breech for want of one, sets a
whole company a-laughing, when all the wit in the world would not do it; a plain proof, in my mind, how low and unbecoming a thing laughter is. Not to mention the disagreeable noise that it makes, and the shocking distortion of the face that it occasions. Laughter is easily restrained by a very little reflection; but as it is generally connected with the idea of gaiety, people do not enough attend to its absurdity. I am neither of a melancholy nor a cynical disposition; and am as willing and as apt to be pleased as anybody; but I am sure that, since I have had the full use of my reason, nobody has ever heard me laugh. [Same date.]
The Mind.—It requires, also, a great deal of
exercise, to bring it to a state of health and vigor.
Observe the difference there is between minds cultivated
and minds uncultivated, and you will, I am
sure, think that you cannot take too much pains, nor
employ too much of your time in the culture of your
own. A drayman is probably born with as good
organs as Milton, Locke, or Newton; but, by culture,
they are much more above him than he is above
his horse. Sometimes, indeed, extraordinary geniuses
have broken out by the force of nature, without
the assistance of education; but those instances are
