144 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



" outrunning their neceffities. Add, befîdes, to 

 " the difguft which always follows fatiety, that 

 *' pride, which fprings from their opulence, and 

 ** which the leaft pîivation wounds, even when 

 *' the greateft enjoyments have ceafed to flatter 

 *' it. The perfume of a thoufand rofes only 

 ** pleafes for a fingle moment j but the pain in- 

 " Aided by one of their thorns, lafts a long time 

 ** after the wound is received. To the rich, one 

 *' misfortune, in the midft: of many enjoyments, is 

 " a thorn furrounded by flowers ; but, on the con- 

 ** trary, to the poor, one pleafure, in the middle 

 " of many calamities, is a flower furrounded on 

 ** every fide by thorns. They find a poignant re- 

 " lifh in their enjoyments. Every effcâ: is height- 

 " ened by it's contraft; Nature has balanced all 

 ** things equally. Every thing confidered then, 

 " Which ftate do you conceive to be preferable, that 

 *' of having almoft nothing to hope for, and all 

 *' to fear, or, that of having nothing to fear, 

 " and every thing to hope for ? The firft of thefe 

 ** fl:ates is that of the rich ; the fécond, that of 

 •* the poor. Thefe extremes, however, are equally 

 *' difficult to be fupported by Man, whofe happi- 

 " nefs confifts in mediocrity and virtue." 



Paul. 

 ** What do you underftand by the word virtue ?" 



The 



