Good Heaven! what other reward can you ask! "But is it
not a reproach upon the economy of Providence that such a one, who is
a mean, dirty fellow, should have amassed wealth enough to buy half a
nation?" Not in the least. He made himself a mean, dirty fellow, for
that very end. He has paid his health, his conscience, and his liberty
for it. Do you envy him his bargain? Will you hang your head in his
presence, because he outshines you in equipage and show? Lift up your
brow with a noble confidence, and say to yourself, "I have not these
things, it is true; but it is because I have not desired, or sought
them; it is because I possess something better. I have chosen my lot!
I am content, and satisfied." The most characteristic mark of a great
mind is to choose some one object, which it considers important, and
pursue that object through life. If we expect the purchase, we must
pay the price.'
'There is a pretty passage in one of Lucian's dialogues, where Jupiter
complains to Cupid, that, though he has had so many intrigues, he was
never sincerely beloved. "In order to be loved," says Cupid, "you must
lay aside your aegis and your thunder-bolts; you must curl and perfume
your hair, and place a garland on your head, and walk with a soft
step, and assume a winning, obsequious deportment.
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