Numb. 23. Tuesday, June 5, 1750.
Tres mihi convivœ prope dissentire videntur;
Poscentur vario multum diversa palato.
Three guests I have, dissenting at my feast,
Requiring each to gratify his taste
THAT every man should regulate his actions by his own conscience, without any regard to the opinions of the rest of the world, is one of the first precepts of moral prudence; justified not only by the suffrage of reason, which declares that none of the gifts of heaven are to lie useless, but by the voice likewise of experience, which will soon inform us that, if we make the praise or blame of others the rule of our conduct, we shall be distracted by a boundless variety of irreconcileable judgments, be held in perpetual suspense between contrary impulses, and consult for ever without determination.
I know not whether, for the same reason, it is not necessary for an author to place some confidence in his own skill, and to satisfy himself in the knowledge that he has not deviated from the established laws of composition, without submitting his works to frequent examinations before he gives them to the publick, or endeavouring to secure success by a solicitous conformity to advice and criticism.
It is, indeed, quickly discoverable, that consultation and compliance can conduce little to the perfection of any literary performance; for who-
