t you. Above all, keep your temper. If you lose your
temper, victory will be deprived of its credit, and defeat will be more
disgraceful. At the same time you will run a double chance of being
defeated, without having the wit to see, or the manliness to own it.
Believe me, my dear nephew, (to adopt the very words of one of the most
sagacious and distinguished of modern statesmen) "that the arms with
which the ill dispositions of the world are to be combated, and the
qualities by which it is to be reconciled to us, and we reconciled to
it, are moderation, gentleness, a little indulgence to others, and a
great deal of distrust of ourselves; which are not qualities of a mean
spirit, as some may possibly think them, but virtues of a great and
noble kind, and such as dignify our nature as much as they contribute to
our repose and fortune; for nothing can be so unworthy of a
well-composed soul, as to pass away life in bickerings and litigations,
in snarling and scuffling with every one about us. Again and again, my
dear,--we must be at peace with our species; if not for their sakes, yet
very much for our own[43:1]."

But my letter grows long, and I must hasten to conclude it. Read
repeatedly Cowper's lively poem on conversation, which seems to me to
have much of the spirit and accurate moral taste of Horace, with the
elevation derived from Christianity. Read, too, if you can lay your hand
on it, Bishop Horne's paper on conversation, in the Olla Podrida. In
these two essays you will find many of the sentiments which I have
expressed, only given in a much more engaging manner. In the 78th and
83d Numbers of the Idler, many common faults in conversation are exposed
with a degree of humour, in which our great moralist did not very
frequently indulge.

I remain,
My dear Nephew,
Your affectionate Uncle.

FOOTNOTES:

[34:1] Ecclus. xix. 8.

[37:1] Ephes. v. 4. and Coloss. iii. 8.

[38:1] Prov. xiv. 9.

[43:1] Prior's Life of Burke, p. 215. Second edition.

LETTER IV.

AGAINST YIELDING TO THE INFLUENCE OF NUMBERS.

MY DEAR NEPHEW,

When I advised you to fall in, so far as you reasonably can, with the
wishes and inclinations of those with whom you associate, you
understood, I trust, that compliance should never go so far, as to
involve the slightest sacrifice of truth or of principle. When carried
to this culpable extent, it becomes an instance of weak and unmanly
cowardice.

One of the greatest dang