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The mind never unbends itself so agreeably, as in the conversation of a well chosen friend. There is indeed no blessing in life that is any way comparable to the enjoyment of a discreet and virtuous friend. It eases and unbends the mind, it clears and improves the understanding, engenders thought and knowledge, animates virtue and good resolution, soothes and allays the passions, and finds employment for most of the vacant hours of life.

Friendship's the chiefest good, the balm of life,

The bane of faction, antidote of strife,

The gem that virtuous breasts alone can grace, The sign of patience, and the seal of peace.

Of all associations, there is none so firm and noble, as when virtuous hearts are linked together by a correspondence of manners, and freedom of conversation.

The rare qualities of friendship are virtue, piety, good sense; thereon are founded admiration and esteem,and sensibility must still support it.

A friend is a precious jewel, within whose bosom we may unload our sorrows, and unfold our secrets.

It will be very fit for all that have entered into any strict friendship, to make one special

article in the agreement. That they shall mutually admonish and reprove each other.

GRATITUDE.

OH, how amiable is gratitude! especially

when it has the Supreme Benefactor for its object. I have always looked upon gratitude as the most exalted principle that can actuate the heart of man. It has something in it noble, disinterested, and (if I may be allowed the term) generously devout. Repentance indicates our nature fallen, and prayer turns chiefly upon a regard to one's self. But the exercise of gratitude subsisted in Paradise, when there was no fault to deplore; and will be perpetuated in heaven, when God shall be "all in all."

Demosthenes said, it becometh him, who receiveth a benefit from another man, for ever to be sensible of it; but him that bestowed it, presently to forget it. He is unjust, said Socrates, who does not return deserved thanks for any benefit, whether the giver be a friend or foe.

There is no vice nor failing of man, that doth so much unprinciple humanity, as ingrat

itude; since he who is guilty of it lives unworthy of his own soul, that hath not virtue enough to be obliged, nor to acknowledge the due merits of the obliger.

It is as common a thing for gratitude to be forgetful, as for hope to be mindful.

Without good nature and gratitude, man had as well live in a wilderness as in a civil society.

He who receives a good turn, should never forget it, he who does one, should never remember it.

It is the character of an unworthy nature, to write injuries in marble, and benefits in dust.

He that preaches gratitude, pleads the cause both of God and man'; for without it we can neither be sociable nor religious.

It is the glory of gratitude, that it depends only on the good-will: If I have will to be grateful, says Seneca, I am so.

If gratitude is due from man to man, how much more from man to his Maker? The Supreme Being does not only confer upon us those bounties which proceed more immediately from his hand, but even those benefits which are conveyed to us by others. Every blessing we enjoy, by what means soever it may be derived upon us, is the gift of Him who is the great Author of Good and Father of Mercies.

Gratitude, when exerted towards one another, naturally produces a very pleasing sensation in the mind of a grateful man: it exalts the soul into rapture, when it is employed in this great object of gratitude; on this benificent Being, who has given us every thing we hope for.

Ungenerous the man, and base of heart, Who takes the kind, and pays th' ungrateful part.

GENEROSITY.

OBSERVE the various actions and tempers of men, and pass by human infirmities with a generous greatness.

Good nature is the very air of a good mind, the sign of a large and generous soul, the peculiar soil on which virtue prospers. There is far more satisfaction in doing, than receiving good. To relieve the oppressed, is the most glorious act a man is capable of; it is in some measure doing the business of God and Providence; and is attended with a heav enly pleasure, unknown but to those that are beneficent and liberal.

It is not in the power of a good man to refuse making another man happy, where he has both ability and opportunity.

It is

Goodness is generous and diffusive. largeness of mind and sweetness of temper; modest and sincere, inoffensive and obliging. Where this quality is predominant, there is a noble forwardness for public benefit; an ardor to relieve the wants, to remove the oppressions, and better the condition of all mankind.

No character is more glorious, none more attractive of universal admiration and respect, than that of helping those who are in no condition of helping themselves.

We read a pretty passage (says Philologas) of a certain cardinal, who, by the multitude of his generous actions, gave occasion for the world to call him, The patron of the poor.' This ecclesiastic prince had a constant custom once or twice a week to give public audience to all indigent people in the hall of his palace, and to relieve every one according to their various necessities, on the motions of his own bounty. One day a poor widow, encouraged by the fame of his generosity, came into the hall of this cardinal, with her only child, a beautiful maid, about fifteen years of age. When her turn came to be heard, among a crowd of petitioners, the cardinal discerning 'the marks of an extraordinary modesty in her face and carriage, as also in her daughter, he encouraged her to tell her wants freely, she blushing, and not without tears, thus addressed herself to him: "My lord, I owe for the

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