X84 ON TALE-BEARING. 0£t. 12, 



In a particuhr manner, tend to render the unhappy 

 perfon himfclf who pra<Slife^ it, the moft miferable of 

 all beings. 



But fearing I ftiould tranfgrefs your limits, I fliall 

 only obferve, that fmce the evil tendencies of this dcf- 

 picable habit are fo numerous, let young perfons be 

 cautioned to guard againft it with the utmoft attention ; 

 for when it has been once fufFered to grow into a ha- 

 bit, it is a diflficult tafk indeed to lay it afide. 

 I am, Sir, 

 Your conftant reader and humible fervant, 



URANIA. 



Detached Obfervatioiis. ■ 



They tell me that fuch a one hates me. Should I 

 upon that account fet myfclf to hate him .'' I would 

 not be fo befotted an enemy to myfelf. I will endea- 

 vour to deprive him of his hatred of me. 



We are too much afraid of being defpifed, and too 

 little dread being hated. We dilcover in this the bad- 

 nefs of our heart, but we a<D: at the fame time contrary 

 to our true intereft ; for it imports us much more to be 

 beloved than to be efteemed. Friendfliip is the fourcc 

 of the moft folid advantages we can derive from other 

 men. It is not to thoie we only efteem we take pleafure 

 in doing good. Efteem by itfelf is not at all beneficent. 



Probity and juftice are the foundations of fociety; 



they form its furety Goodnefs and beneficence, its 



utility ; — gentlenefs and politenefs, its charms. 



I have fometimes feen free-thinkers, men of talents, 

 difputing about religion with knowing theologians, and 

 if a movement of compaffion had not llopt It, I Ihould 

 have been tempted to laugh. It feemed as if I liftened 

 to a woman difputing with a geographer about tlie ex- 

 jftence of the Antinodes. 



