Strictures on the oxopoßix, or Fear of Home.

Though this disease be very common in these times wherein "watering places," as they are called, continue so much in vogue, and as it is not noticed by the Faculty, I call the attention of the reader to this subject for a few minutes. The fear of staying at home is certainly an endemic disease; and at times, high and low, rich and poor, gentle and simple, are suffering under this influenza, till the cure, a dangerous though common one, called "deficiens crumena," puts an end to the fever. When I see Bath and Cheltenham filled with aged spinsters, widows, and old bachelors, who seem afflicted by no malady, save those which are produced by a life of solitude and celibacy, I readily excuse such idle wanderers, and indeed compassionate

"These solitary flies,

"No hive have they of hoarded sweets :—”

But when I see a large domestic circle of young persons of both sexes, I lament that the xpix should have infected so interesting a group. Yet some allowance must be made for these: their dwellings in the country may be thin in neighbours, or abounding with married persons only, and Bath and Cheltenham may then supply the dearth of lovers in their neighbourhood. Such a

temporary emigration from home is then useful, and perhaps necessary. Home is home though never so homely, is an old and true saying; and the Philosophic Latin Poet has spoken on this subject with his usual knowledge of the human mind and disposition.

Quod petis, hic est,

Est Ulubris, animus si te non deficit æquus.

This equal balance of the mind is the lot of few, for according to the opinion of the greatest philosophers among the Greeks, the love of vanity is founded on the debility of our nature. This Saint Vitus's dance after pleasure, this stare loco nescit, rages most where the mind has too much or too little bias, when no employment can fit it, or when the burden of it is too great for its strength. Of this disease, and such I consider it, I have in vain looked into the Materia Medica for a cure; but I think I have found one in the Materia Philosophica of an eminent Mind-doctor in antiquity. As. he is a great poet as well as sage, perhaps his recipe may not be disagreeable to the taste of the reader. The lines are well known to the classical reader, and the English scholar will not disdain to peruse the elegant version of Creech. The poet having stated that if men knew what was the matter with them when under the pressure of self-weariness, they would not run from one place

to another in vain, but find employment the best cure for their disease, thus 'proceeds

Did they know this, as they all think they know,
They would not lead such lives as now they do.
One tired at Home' forsakes his stately seat,
Aud seeks some melancholy, close retreat,
And soon returns; for prest beneath his load
Of cares, he finds no happiness abroad.
Others, with full as eager haste, retire,
As if their father's house were all on fire,
To their small farm; but yet scarce enter'd there,
They grow uneasy with their usual care;
Or seeking to forget their grief, lie down
To thoughtless rest, or else return to Town.
They all do strive to shun themselves; in vain,
For troublesome he sticks close, the cares remain,
For they ne'er know the cause of all their pain:
Which, if they did, how soon would all give o'er
Their fruitless toys, and study nature more.
That is a noble search, and worth our care,
On that depends eternal hope or fear;
That teaches how to look beyond our fate,
And fully shews us all our future state.

Lucret. b. 3, end.

Nothing is new under the sun. How well does this ancient writer describe the loungers at our public places, and their ignorance of themselves! Do we not see Noblemen and Noblewomen, leaving their stately mansions in the country, to hide themselves in close-pent lodgings at Brighton and Margate, and then running back to London again in the same hurry and unsteadiness, for the want of EMPLOYMENT?

Lovers

If

Are in general a vile set of mendicants, and, like most beggars, very humble till they gain the objects of their petition: they then discredit your favours, by the licentious abuse of them. lovers in a manly manner would solicit a lady's hand, there would be no occasion for all the whining and mumping of these amorous mendicants, and openness and honour on both sides would form the basis of this confidential treaty.

Tutors.

When an ingenious and learned tutor sits among a dull and heavy class of pupils, exerting himself to instruct them by all his powers of explanation, he reminds me of an active rider seated on a dull jade of an horse; his limbs and whole body are in the utmost state of activity, yet it is manifest to the spectators that he gets on very slowly, and is riding much faster than his horse.

In some cases the reverse may take place, the tutor may be a very dull man, or a very ignorant though a conceited one, and yet the blame attaches to the pupil, however attentive or bright in intellect he may prove. Such a pupil is very unfortunately employed in his attendance on such a deficient instructor; he is attempting to draw

water out of a well that has a bad spring, and after trying to get Truth out of it, he begins to find that she never was put in there.

Miseries.

Some persons who have received real or imaginary injuries, are very fond of detailing them before company, from whom they neither expect nor can receive any assistance, relief, or even pity. Such men should resort to a consultation of lawyers they remind one of some invalids who detail their infirmities in mixed companies, as if they were composed totally of medical men. Surely, in both cases, injuries and maladies are subjects of business, not conversation. Writers of travels and voyages are very apt to amuse their readers by the miseries they meet with in their journies.

Sentimentality.

It would be as pernicious in private life for an individual to act under the direction of his feelings and sentiments, instead of establishing moral principles; as it would be, in public life, for a legislator or lawyer to leave the rules of law, and determine by his own private opinions of equity. Jus dicere et non dare controuls the greatest powers of judicature in this country. My Lord Coke in his