It is when we most suffer that we most believe the existence of _that Power_ which can wound or heal. INFIRMITIES OF GENIUS. The infirmities of genius are often mistaken for its privileges. INDULGENCE TOWARDS OTHERS. If we examined our own faults attentively, we should have less time to detect, and more inclination to pardon, those of others. AFFECTIONS. The affections of some hearts resemble the sacred Indian tree, whose pendant branches make themselves a root and a tie to the earth. APPETITE. The rich suffer from want of appetite, the poor from excess. PARDON. Great injuries pardoned preclude the enjoyment of happiness between the pardoner and pardoned; for the one is vested with a superiority that wounds the self-love of the other, who, though he may admire the generosity of him who forgives, can love him no more. SOCIETY. People use in society a set of commonplace subjects and thoughts, which they exchange, as they expend the small coin with which they have provided their purses for the day; reserving deep feeling, and elevated sentiments, for home consumption, as they reserve their wealth for themselves, rather than for their friends. FAME. High fame’s a target, at which all let fly The darts of envy. Who can miss a mark That seems but rear’d to tempt a practised hand, Off’ring the aim that most allures mankind? FORTITUDE AND RESIGNATION. Fortitude enables us to encounter trials, and resignation to bear them. The brave man possesses fortitude, but the Christian only has resignation. FAULTS. We are more prone to murmur at the punishment of our faults than to lament them. FORGIVENESS. Forgiveness is a salve for the wounds inflicted by unkindness; while rancour but serves to keep them unhealed. POLISHED MEN. The society of polished men, like smooth, even roads, renders the journey of life more easy and agreeable, but that of unpolished men, like rough roads, makes all its ruts and inequalities painfully felt. RESIGNATION. Resignation is sometimes mistaken for happiness, though never found until its death. ANGER. Anger banishes reflection, but its consequences recall it. SOCIETY. “Be prosperous and happy, never require our services, and we will remain your friends.” This is not what society says, but it is the principle on which it acts. LIFE.