Addrefs to the Society. 51 



fhare of the great bulk of mankind, and great epochs or 

 extraordinary circumftances to call thofe talents into a£lion> 

 but very few can hope for political fame, while their purfuits 

 .have a direct tendency to injure the fineft feelings of the mind, 

 and to add poignancy to the mod painful paflions. 



The thorough-paced party>politician concurs in many 

 meafures that he does not approve, he confides in men that 

 he fecretly defpifes — ^he oppofes the meafures of his antagonift, 

 though his reafon tells him they are proper — His fins of 

 omiffion and commiffion daily flare him in the face, and if 

 ever he finds time to pray, he mufl confefs in the words of 

 the Common Prayer, " That he has done thofe things which 

 he ought not to have done, and left undone thofe things zvhich he 

 ought to have done ;" while with a diflruftful eye he is compelled 

 to guard againfl the defeftion of his partizans, he indulges 

 the moft rancorous refentment againfl his antagoniiis : thus, 

 jealoufy and hatred, thofe painful pafTions, are nourifhed like 

 the vulture that feeds on the liver of Prometheus, to prey 

 on his vitals. Rural life is exempt from thefe evils. The 

 hufbandman hates no one, becaufe he dreads no rival. If 

 his neighbour's field is more produftive than his own, he 

 borrows a ufeful leiTon, and turns his profperity to his own 

 advantage : Two important maxims are ever in his mind — 

 Firll, that the earth yields nothing to the idle and the 

 negligent — Second, that though labour will do much, yet the 



