The CDPD Public Domain Collection for CDTV 3/CDPDIII.bin/books/franklin/1757

Text File | 1992-07-31 | 14KB | 295 lines

        _Poor Richard Improved_
        1757

        COURTEOUS READER,
        As no temporal Concern is of more Importance to us than
_Health_, and that depends so much on the Air we every Moment
breathe, the Choice of a good wholesome Situation to fix a Dwelling
in, is a very serious Affair to every Countryman about to begin the
World, and well worth his Consideration, especially as not only the
_Comfort_ of Living, but even the _Necessaries of Life_, depend in a
great Measure upon it; since a Family frequently sick can rarely if
ever thrive. -- The following Extracts therefore from a late Medical
Writer, Dr. _Pringle_, on that Subject, will, I hope, be acceptable
and useful to some of my Readers.

        I hear that some have already, to their great Advantage, put in
Practice the Use of Oxen recommended in my last. -- 'Tis a Pleasure
to me to be any way serviceable in communicating useful Hints to the
Publick; and I shall be obliged to others for affording me the
Opportunity of enjoying that Pleasure more frequently, by sending me
from time to time such of their own Observations, as may be
advantageous if published in the Almanack.
                                         _I am thy obliged Friend,_
                                                 RICHARD SAUNDERS.
                                 _______

        _How to make a_ STRIKING SUNDIAL, _by which not only a Man's
own Family, but all his Neighbours for ten Miles round, may know what
o Clock it is, when the Sun shines, without seeing the Dial._

        Choose an open Place in your Yard or Garden, on which the Sun
may shine all Day without any Impediment from Trees or Buildings.  On
the Ground mark out your Hour Lines, as for a horizontal Dial,
according to Art, taking Room enough for the Guns.  On the Line for
One o' Clock, place one Gun; on the Two o' Clock Line two Guns, and
so of the rest.  The Guns must all be charged with Powder, but Ball
is unnecessary.  Your Gnomon or Style must have twelve burning
Glasses annex'd to it, and be so placed as that the Sun shining
through the Glasses, one after the other, shall cause the Focus or
burning Spot to fall on the Hour Line of One, for Example, at one a
Clock, and there kindle a Train of Gunpowder that shall fire one Gun.
At Two a Clock, a Focus shall fall on the Hour Line of Two, and
kindle another Train that shall discharge two Guns successively; and
so of the rest.

        Note, There must be 78 Guns in all.  Thirty-two Pounders will
be best for this Use; but 18 Pounders may do, and will cost less, as
well as use less Powder, for nine Pounds of Powder will do for one
Charge of each eighteen Pounder, whereas the Thirty-two Pounders
would require for each Gun 16 Pounds.

        Note also, That the chief Expence will be the Powder, for the
Cannon once bought, will, with Care, last 100 Years.

        Note moreover, That there will be a great Saving of Powder in
cloudy Days.

        Kind Reader, Methinks I hear thee say, _That it is indeed a
good Thing to know how the Time passes, but this Kind of Dial,
notwithstanding the mentioned Savings, would be very expensive; and
the Cost greater than the Advantage._ Thou art wise, my Friend, to be
so considerate beforehand; some Fools would not have found out so
much, till they had made the Dial and try'd it. -- Let all such learn
that many a private and many a publick Project, are like this
_Striking Dial_, great Cost for little Profit.
                                 ______

        He that would rise at Court, must begin by Creeping.

        Many a Man's own Tongue gives Evidence against his
Understanding.

        Nothing dries sooner than a Tear.

        Tis easier to build two Chimneys, than maintain one in Fuel.

        _Anger_ warms the Invention, but overheats the Oven.

        It is Ill-Manners to silence a Fool, and Cruelty to let him go
on.

        Scarlet, Silk and Velvet, have put out the Kitchen Fire.

        He that would catch Fish, must venture his Bait.

        Men take more pains to mask than mend.

        One _To-day_ is worth two _To-morrows._
                                 _______

        Since Man is but of a very limited Power in his own Person, and
consequently can effect no great Matter merely by his own personal
Strength, but as he acts in Society and Conjunction with others; and
since no Man can engage the active Assistance of others, without
first engaging their Trust; And moreover, since Men will trust no
further than they judge one, for his _Sincerity_, fit to be trusted;
it follows, that a discovered Dissembler can atchieve nothing great
or considerable.  For not being able to gain Mens Trust, he cannot
gain their Concurrence; and so is left alone to act singly and upon
his own Bottom; and while that is the Sphere of his Activity, all
that he can do must needs be contemptible.

        Sincerity has such resistless Charms,
        She oft the fiercest of our Foes disarms:
        No Art she knows, in native Whiteness dress'd,
        Her Thoughts all pure, and therefore all express'd:
        She takes from Error its Deformity;
        And without her all other Virtues die.
        Bright Source of Goodness! to my Aid descend,
        Watch o'er my Heart, and all my Words attend.
                   _______

        The way to be safe, is never to be secure.

        Dally not with other Folks Women or Money.

        Work as if you were to live 100 Years, Pray as if you were to
die To-morrow.
                                 ______

        It is generally agreed to be Folly, _to hazard the Loss of a
Friend, rather than lose a Jest._ But few consider how easily a
Friend may be thus lost.  Depending on the known Regard their Friends
have for them, Jesters take more Freedom with Friends than they would
dare to do with others, little thinking how much deeper we are
wounded by an Affront from one we love.  But the strictest Intimacy
can never warrant Freedoms of this Sort; and it is indeed
preposterous to think they should; unless we can suppose Injuries are
less Evils when they are done us by Friends, than when they come from
other Hands.

        Excess of Wit may oftentimes beguile:
        Jests are not always pardon'd -- by a Smile.
        Men may disguise their Malice at the Heart,
        And seem at Ease -- tho' pain'd with inward Smart.
        Mistaken, we -- think all such Wounds of course
        Reflection cures; -- alas! it makes them worse.
        Like Scratches they with double Anguish seize,
        Rankle in time, and fester by Degrees.

        But sarcastical Jests on a Man's Person or his Manners, tho'
hard to bear, are perhaps more easily borne than those that touch his
Religion.  Men are generally warm in what regards their religious
Tenets, either from Tenderness of Conscience, or a high Sense of
their own Judgments.  People of plain Parts and honest Dispositions,
look on Salvation as too serious a Thing to be jested with; and Men
of speculative Religion, who profess from the Conviction rather of
their Heads than Hearts, are not a bit less vehement than the real
Devotees.  He who says a slight or a severe Thing of their Faith,
seems to them to have thereby undervalued their Understandings, and
will consequently incur their Aversion, which no Man of common Sense
would hazard for a lively Expression; much less a Person of good
Breeding, who should make it his chief Aim to be well with all.

        Like some grave Matron of a noble Line,
        With awful Beauty does Religion shine.
        Just Sense should teach us to revere the Dame,
        Nor, by imprudent Jests, to spot her Fame.
        In common Life you'll own this Reas'ning right,
        That none but Fools in gross Abuse delight:
        Then use it here -- nor think the Caution vain;
        To be _polite_, Men need not be profane.
                                 ______

        _Pride_ breakfasted with _Plenty_, dined with _Poverty_, supped
with _Infamy._


        Retirement does not always secure Virtue; _Lot_ was upright in
the City, wicked in the Mountain.

        _Idleness_ is the Dead Sea, that swallows all Virtues: Be
active in Business, that _Temptation_ may miss her Aim: The Bird that
sits, is easily shot.

        _Shame_ and the _Dry-belly-ach_ were Diseases of the last Age;
this seems to be cured of them.
                                 ______

        In studying Law or Physick, or any other Art or Science, by
which you propose to get your Livelihood, though you find it at first
hard, difficult and unpleasing, use _Diligence, Patience_ and
_Perseverance_; the Irksomness of your Task will thus diminish daily,
and your Labour shall finally be crowned with Success.  You shall go
beyond all your Competitors who are careless, idle or superficial in
their Acquisitions, and be at the Head of your Profession. --
_Ability_ will command _Business_, _Business Wealth_; and _Wealth_ an
easy and honourable _Retirement_ when Age shall require it.

        Near to the wide extended Coasts of _Spain_,
        Some Islands triumph o'er the raging Main;
        Where dwelt of old, as tuneful Poets say,
        _Slingers_, who bore from all the Prize away.
        While Infants yet, their feeble Nerves they try'd;
        Nor needful Food, till won by Art, supply'd.
        Fix'd was the Mark, the Youngster oft in vain,
        Whirl'd the misguided Stone with fruitless Pain:
        'Till, by long Practice, to Perfection brought,
        With easy Sleight their former Task they wrought.
        Swift from their Arm th' unerring Pebble flew,
        And high in Air, the flutt'ring Victim slew.
        So in each Art Men rise but by Degrees,
        And Months of Labour lead to Years of Ease.
                                 ______

        Tho' the Mastiff be gentle, yet bite him not by the Lip.

        Great-Alms-giving, lessens no Man's Living.

        The royal Crown cures not the Head-ach.

        Act uprightly, and despise Calumny; Dirt may stick to a Mud
Wall, but not to polish'd Marble.

                          PARADOXES.

        I. The _Christians_ observe the _first_ Day of the Week for
their _Sunday_, the _Jews_ the _Seventh_ for their Sabbath, the
_Turks_ the _sixth_ Day of the Week for the Time of their Worship;
but there is a particular Place of the Globe, to which if a
_Christian_, _Jew_, and _Turk_ sail in one and the same Ship, they
shall keep the Time for their Worship on different Days, as above,
all the Time they are sailing to that particular Place; but when they
arrive at that Place, and during the Time they remain at it, they
shall all keep their Sabbath on one and the same Day; but when they
depart from that Place, they shall all differ as before.

        II. There is a certain Port, from which if three Ships depart
at one and the same time, and sail on three particular different
Courses, till they return to the Port they departed from; and if in
one of these Ships be _Christians_, in the second _Jews_, and in the
third _Turks_, when they return to the Port they departed from, they
shall differ so with respect to real and apparent Time, that they all
shall keep their Sabbath on one and the same Day of the Week, and yet
each of them separately shall believe that he keeps his Sabbath on
the Day of the Week his Religion requires.
                                 ______

        The _Borrower_ is a Slave to the _Lender_; the _Security_ to
_both._

        Singularity in the right, hath ruined many: Happy those who are
convinced of the general Opinion.

        Proportion your Charity to the Strength of your Estate, or God
will proportion your Estate to the Weakness of your Charity.

        The Tongue offends, and the Ears get the Cuffing.
                                 ______

        Some antient Philosophers have said, that Happiness depends
more on the inward Disposition of Mind than on outward Circumstances;
and that he who cannot be happy in any State, can be so in no State.
To be happy, they tell us we must be content.  Right.  But they do
not teach how we may become content.  _Poor Richard_ shall give you a
short good Rule for that.  _To be content, look backward on those who
possess less_ _than yourself, not forward on those who possess more._
If this does not make you _content_, you don't deserve to be _happy._

                                 ______

        Sleep without Supping, and you'll rise without owing for it.

        When other Sins grow old by Time,
        Then Avarice is in its prime,
        Yet feed the Poor at _Christmas_ time.
                       ______

        _Learning_ is a valuable Thing in the Affairs of this Life, but
of infinitely more Importance is _Godliness_, as it tends not only to
make us happy here but hereafter.  At the Day of Judgment, we shall
not be asked, what Proficiency we have made in Languages or
Philosophy; but whether we have liv'd virtuously and piously, as Men
endued with Reason, guided by the Dictates of Religion.  In that Hour
it will more avail us, that we have thrown a Handful of Flour or
Chaff in Charity to a Nest of contemptible Pismires, than that we
could muster all the Hosts of Heaven, and call every Star by its
proper Name.  For then the Constellations themselves shall disappear,
the Sun and Moon shall give no more Light, and all the Frame of
Nature shall vanish.  But our good or bad Works shall remain for
ever, recorded in the Archives of Eternity.

        Unmov'd alone the _Virtuous_ now appear,
        And in their Looks a calm Assurance wear.
        From East, from West, from North and South they come,
        To take from the most righteous Judge their Doom;
        Who thus, to them, with a serene Regard;
        (The Books of Life before him laid,
        And all the secret Records wide display'd)
        "According to your Works be your Reward:
        Possess immortal Kingdoms as your Due,
        Prepar'd from an eternal Date for you."