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 miserable, but few men good J .' He spoke of the affectation that men had to accuse themselves of petty faults or weaknesses, in order to exalt themselves into notice for any extraordinary talents which they might possess ; and instanced Waller, which he said he would record if he lived to revise his life. Waller was accustomed to say that his memory was so bad he would sometimes forget to repeat his grace at table, or the Lord's Prayer 2, perhaps that people might wonder at what he did else of great moment ; for the Doctor observed, that no man takes upon himself small blemishes without supposing that great abilities are attributed to him ; and that, in short, this affectation of candour or modesty was but another kind of indirect self- praise, and had its foundation in vanity 3. Frank bringing him a note, as he opened it he said an odd thought struck him, that 'one should receive no letters in the grave 4. 5 His talk was in general very serious and devout, though occasionally cheerful : he said, ' You are all serious men, and I will tell you something. About two years since I feared that I had neglected God, and that then I had not a mind to give him : on which I set about to read Thomas a Kempis 5 in Low Dutch, which I accomplished,

1 Ante, i. 38. 5 ' He was,' says Hawkins (p. 544),

2 'Tout le monde se plaint de sa 'for some time pleased with Kempis's me'moire, et personne ne se plaint de tract De Imitatione Christi, but at son jugement.' La Rochefoucauld, length laid it aside, saying, that the Maximes, No. 89. main design of it was to promote

3 'All censure of a man's self is monastic piety, and inculcate eccle- oblique praise. It is in order to siastical obedience.'

show how much he can spare. It Milman in his History of Latin

has all the invidiousness of self- Christianity, vi. 559, speaks of * the

praise, and all the reproach of false- sublime selfishness of the Imitation

hood.' Life, iii. 323. of Christ' See also ib. p. 484.

' Nous n'avouons de petits deTauts Thackeray wrote of it on Christmas

que pour persuader que nous n'en Day, 1849 : * The scheme of that

avons pas de grands.' La Roche- book carried out would make the

foucauld, Maximes, No. 334. wor ld the most wretched, useless,

' This note was from Mr. Davies dreary, doting place of sojourn

the bookseller, and mentioned a there would be no manhood, no love,

present of some pork ; upon which no tender ties of mother and child,

the Doctor said, in a manner that no use of intellect, no trade or

seemed as if he thought it ill-timed, science, a set of selfish beings crawl-

" Too much of this," or some such ing about avoiding one another

expression.' J. HOOLE. Life, iv. 413. and howling a perpetual miserere*

and

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