his head than his heart, could produce nothing great, and his underſtanding, prepared for this world, would not, by its noble flights, prove that it had a title to a better.
Beſides, it is not poſſible to give a young perſon a juſt view of life; he muſt have ſtruggled with his own paſſions before he can eſtimate the force of the temptation which betrayed his brother into vice. Thoſe who are entering life, and thoſe who are departing, ſee the world from ſuch very different points of view, that they can ſeldom think alike, unleſs the unfledged reaſon of the former never attempted a ſolitary flight.
When we hear of ſome daring crime, it comes full on us in the deepeſt ſhade of turpitude, and raiſes indignation; but the eye that gradually ſaw the darkneſs thicken, muſt obſerve it with more compaſſionate forbearance. The world cannot be ſeen by an unmoved ſpectator, we muſt mix in the throng, and feel as men feel before we can judge of their feelings. If we mean, in ſhort, to live in the world to grow wiſer and better, and not merely to enjoy the good things of life, we muſt attain a knowledge of others at the ſame time that we become acquainted with ourſelves—knowledge acquired any other way only hardens the heart and perplexes the underſtanding.
I may be told, that the knowledge thus acquired, is ſometimes purchaſed at too dear a rate. I can only anſwer that I very much doubt whether any knowledge can be attained without labour and ſorrow; and thoſe who wiſh to ſpare their children both, ſhould not complain, if they are neither wiſe nor virtuous. They only aimed
