Page:The Adventures of David Simple (1904).djvu/334

 cannot perfectly approve, he then immediately falls on the great wickedness of all mankind, and sets himself to work to argue every virtue out of the world. The inconsistency of his behaviour makes his character in the world very various; for people who have been witnesses of some parts of his conduct take him for the best of creatures; whilst others, who have known some of his worst actions, think him the vilest. It is not to be wondered at that he should be thus inconsistent with himself, for he has no fixed principles to act by: he gives way to every inclination that happens to be uppermost; and as it is natural for people to love to justify themselves, his conversation turns greatly on the irresistibleness of human passions, and an endeavour to prove that all men act by them. But people who have the reputation of wit or sense should take great care what they say or do, for the sake of others who are apt to be influenced by their example, and form their sentiments by their precepts. "The last of the six characters I promised to give you, and the contrast to this gentleman, is a very odd one. His understanding is very indifferent, but he has a strong inclination to be thought both witty and wise; he envies the other, because he finds that, with all his faults, his company is more coveted than his own; and therefore, as he finds he cannot equal him in wit and entertainment, he fixes on wisdom and discretion, and exults in the superiority he imagines these give him; so that instead of being, like the other, hurried into actions by his own inclinations, he deliberates so long and weighs so nicely every circumstance that may attend whatever is proposed to him, that he puzzles his brain, and bewilders himself in his own wisdom, till he does not know how to act at all; and often, by these methods, loses opportunities of doing what would be very much for his advantage while he is considering whether he