be thrown into the river, that the thief may live like the honest man. But what morality ought to say is, Never rob, it is your duty not to rob. Condemn the brigands when they plunder; but do not treat them as fools or madmen for enjoying their plunder. If English sailors win prize money for the capture of Pondicherry or Havana, can they be blamed for pleasuring in London in compensation for the hardships they have undergone in Asia or America? Certain censors admonish men to bury, as it were, the riches that come from war, or agriculture, or commerce and industry in general. They cite Lacedæmonia: why not cite the republic of San Marino? What benefits did Sparta afford Greece? Did she produce a Demosthenes, a Sophocles, an Apelles, or a Phidias? The luxury of Athens formed great men. Sparta certainly produced great captains, though fewer even of these than did other cities. But granting that a small republic like Lacedæmonia may maintain its poverty, men uniformly die, whether in poverty or comfort. The savage of Canada subsists and attains old age, not less than the English landlord with fifty thousand guineas a year. But who would ever compare the country of the Iroquois to England?

Let the republic of Ragusa and the canton of Zug enact sumptuary laws: they are quite right. The poor must not exceed their means; but I have somewhere read that, with some harm, luxury on the whole does great good.

If by luxury you mean excess, let us at once admit that excess is pernicious,- in abstinence as well as in gluttony, in parsimony as in profusion. In my own village, where the soil is meagre, the imposts heavy, and the prohibition against a man's exporting the corn he has himself sown and reaped, intolerable, there is hardly a cultivator who is not well clothed, and who has not sufficient warmth and food. Should this cultivator plow in his best clothes, and with his hair dressed and powdered, he would display the most absurd luxury; but were a rich citizen of Paris or London to appear at the play in the dress of this peasant, he would exhibit the grossest, the most ridiculous parsimony.

"Some certain mean in all things may be found,

To mark our virtues' and our vices' bound."

On the invention of scissors, what was not said of those who pared their nails, and cut off the hair that was hanging down over their eyes? They were doubtless regarded as prodigals and

coxcombs, buying an extravagant instrument fit only to spoil the work of the Creator. What a sin to pare the horn which God himself made to grow at our finger-ends! It was an insult to Divinity! With shirts and socks it was far worse. With what wrath and indignation did the old counselors, who had never worn socks, exclaim against the young magistrates who encouraged so fatal a luxury!

L

PASSAGES FROM THE PAMPHLETS

OVE truth, but pardon error. The mortal who goes astray is still a man and thy brother. Be wise for thyself alone; compassionate for him. Achieve thine own welfare by bless

ing others.

TAKE revenge upon a rival by surpassing him.

TO DESIRE all is the mark of a fool. Excess is his portion. Moderation is the treasure of the wise: he knows how to control his tastes, his labors, his pleasures.

WORK is often the father of pleasure. I pity the man overwhelmed with the weight of his own leisure. Happiness is a good that nature sells us.

ONE day some mice said to one another, "How charming is this world! What an empire is ours! This palace so superb was built for us; from all eternity God made for us these large holes. Do you see those fat hams under that dim ceiling? they were created there for us by Nature's hands; those mountains of lard, inexhaustible aliment, will be ours till the end of time. Yes, we are, great God, if our sages tell us the truth, the masterpiece, the end, the aim, of all thy works! Cats are dangerous and prompt to devour, but it is to instruct and correct us!"

MIRACLES are good; but to relieve a brother, to draw a friend from the depths of misery, to pardon the virtues of our enemies - these are greater miracles.

THE Secret of wearying your reader is to tell him everything.

THE true virtue then is "beneficence "; a new word in the French language, but the whole universe ought to cherish the idea.

SOULS Communicate with souls, and can measure one another without need of an intermediate body. It is only the greatness or the worth of a soul that ought to frighten or intimidate us. To fear or to respect the body and its accessories-force, beauty, royalty, rank, office-is pure imbecility. Men are born equal and die equal. Let us respect the virtue, the merit of their souls, and pity the imperfections of these souls.

DOUBTLESS we should by prudence avoid the evil which that physical force [of rulers] can do us, as we should guard ourselves against a crowned bull, an enthroned monkey, a savage dog, let loose upon us. Let us beware of such. Let us even endeavor, if possible, to moderate them, to soften them; but this sentiment is very different from the esteem and respect which we owe to souls.

HAVING it clearly in your heart that all men are equal, and in your head that the exterior distinguishes them, you can get on very well in the world.

BELIEVE that in his eternal wisdom the Most High has, with his own hand, engraved at the bottom of thy heart natural religion. Believe that the native candor of thy soul will not be the object of God's eternal hate. Believe that before his throne, in all times and in all places, the heart of the just person is precious. Believe that a modest bonze, a charitable dervish, finds favor in his eyes sooner than a pitiless Jansenist or an ambitious pontiff. God judges us according to our virtues, not our sacrifices.

AFTER all, it is right to give every possible form to our soul. It is a flame that God has intrusted to us: we are bound to feed it with all that we find most precious. We should introduce into our existence all imaginable modes, and open every door of the soul to all sorts of knowledge and all sorts of feelings: so long as it does not all go in pell-mell, there is plenty of room for everything.

ONE who has many witnesses of his death can die with courage.

I ENVY the beasts two things,-their ignorance of evil to come, and their ignorance of what is said about them.

DOES not experience prove that influence over men's minds is gained only by offering them the difficult, nay, the impossible, to perform or believe? Offer only things that are reasonable, and all the world will answer, "We knew as much as that." But enjoin things that are hard, impracticable; paint the Deity as ever armed with the thunder; make blood run before the altars: and you will win the multitude's ear, and everybody will say of you, "He must be right, or he would not so boldly proclaim things so marvelous."

A SURE means of not yielding to the desire to kill yourself is to have always something to do.

OPINION rules the world, and wise men rule opinion.

ALL nature is nothing but mathematics.

TO MAKE a good book, one must have a prodigious length of time and the patience of a saint.

THE human race would be too unhappy if it were as common to commit atrocious things as it is to believe them.

Most men die without having lived.

WHO ought to be the king's favorite? The people.

I KNOW no great men except those who have rendered great services to the human race.

YES, without doubt, peace is of more value than truth; that is to say, we must not vex our neighbor by arguments: but it is necessary to seek the soul's peace in truth, and to tread under foot the monstrous errors which would perturb it, and render it the prey of knaves.

CONTROVERSY never convinced any man; men can be influenced by making them think for themselves, by seeming to doubt with

them, by leading them as if by the hand, without their perceiving it. A good book lent to them, which they read at leisure, produces upon them surer effects, because they do not then blush to be subjugated by the superior reason of an antagonist.

WE ARE in this world only to do good in it.

THE more you know, the less sure you are.

I

COUNTRY LIFE

From the Correspondence>

TO MADAME DU DEFFAND

OWE life and health to the course I have taken.

If I dared

I have lived

I would believe myself wise, so happy am I. only since the day I chose my retreat; every other kind of life would now be insupportable to me. Paris is necessary to you; to me it would be deadly: every one must remain in his element. I am very sorry that mine is incompatible with yours, and it is assuredly my only affliction. You wished also to try the country: it is not suitable to you. The taste for proprietorship and labor is absolutely necessary when you live in the country. I have very extensive possessions, which I cultivate. I make more account of your drawing-room than of my grain-fields and my pastures; but it was my destiny to end my career between drills, cows, and Genevese.

TO DUPONT

VAST rustic house, with wagons loaded with the spoils of the

A fields, coming and going by four great gateways. The pil

lars of oak which sustain the whole frame are placed at equal distances upon pedestals of stone; long stables are seen on the right and on the left. Fifty cows, properly fastened, occupy one side, with their calves; the horses and oxen are on the other side: their fodder falls into their racks from immense mows above. The floors where the grain is threshed are in the middle; and you know that all the animals lodged in their several places in this great edifice have a lively sense that the forage, the hay, the