angling for praise, where, admitting all they say to be true (which, by the way, it seldom is), no just praise is to be caught. One man affirms that he has rode post a hundred miles in six hours; probably it is a lie; but supposing it to be true, what then? Why, he is a very good postboy, that is all. Another asserts, and probably not without oaths, that he has drunk six or eight bottles of wine at a sitting; out of charity I will believe him a liar; for if I do not, I must think him a beast. [Same date.]
Yourself.—The only sure way of avoiding these
evils is never to speak of yourself at all. But when
historically you are obliged to mention yourself, take
care not to drop one single word that can directly or
indirectly be construed as fishing for applause. Be
your character what it will, it will be known; and
nobody will take it upon your own word. Never
imagine that anything you can say yourself will
varnish your defects or add lustre to your perfections;
but on the contrary, it may, and nine times in
ten will, make the former more glaring and the
latter obscure. If you are silent upon your own
subject, neither envy, indignation, nor ridicule will
obstruct or allay the applause which you may really
deserve; but if you publish your own panegyric upon
any occasion or in any shape whatsoever, and how-
