At Length, It Is Neglectful Even Of That Silence Which Is Consistent With True Modesty, But By Its Independence Of All Confidence In Its Disclosures, Makes That Which It Imparts So Private To The Hearer, That It Becomes The Care Of The Whole World That Modesty Be Not Infringed.

To the man who cherishes a secret in his breast, there is a still greater secret unexplored.

Our most indifferent acts may be matter for secrecy, but whatever we do with the utmost truthfulness and integrity, by virtue of its pureness, must be transparent as light.

In the third satire, he asks: -

"Est aliquid quo tendis, et in quod dirigis arcum? An passim sequeris corvos, testave, lutove, Securus quo pes ferat, atque ex tempore vivis?"

Is there anything to which thou tendest, and against which thou directest thy bow? Or dost thou pursue crows, at random, with pottery or clay, Careless whither thy feet bear thee, and live _ex tempore_?

The bad sense is always a secondary one. Language does not appear to have justice done it, but is obviously cramped and narrowed in its significance, when any meanness is described. The truest construction is not put upon it. What may readily be fashioned into a rule of wisdom, is here thrown in the teeth of the sluggard, and constitutes the front of his offence. Universally, the innocent man will come forth from the sharpest inquisition and lecturing, the combined din of reproof and commendation, with a faint sound of eulogy in his ears.

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