[_two rules_] AN IMPUDENT MAN Is one, whoſe want of Money and want of Wit have engaged him beyond his Abilities. The little Knowledge he has of himſelf being ſuitable to the little he has in his Profeſſion has Made him believe himſelf fit for it. This double Ignorance has made him ſet a Value upon him- ſelf, as he that wants a great deal appears in a better Condition, than he that wants a little. This renders him confident, and fit for any Undertaking, and ſometimes (ſuch is the con- current Ignorance of the World) he proſpers In it, but oftner miſcarries, and becomes ri- diculous; yet this Advantage he has, that as nothing can make him ſee his Error, ſo he is fortified with his Ignorance, as barren and rocky Places are by their Situation, and he will rather believe that all Men want Judgment, ------------------------------------------------------------------------ than himſelf. For as no Man is pleaſed, that has an ill Opinion of himſelſ, Nature, that finds out Remedies herſelf, and his own Eaſe render him indefenſible of his Defects¬—From hence he grows impudent; for as Men judge by Compariſon, he knows as little what it is To be defective, as what it is to be excellent. Nothing renders Men modeſt, but a juſt Know- ledge how to compare themſelves with others; and where that is wanting, Impudence supplies the Place of it: for there is no Vacuum in the Minds of Men, and commonly, like other Things in Nature, they ſwell more with Rare- faction than Condenſation. The more Men know of the World, the worſe Opinion they have of it; and the more they underſtand of Truth, they are better acquainted with the Difficulties of it, and conſsequently are the leſs confident in their Aſſertions, eſpecially in mat- ters of Probability, which commonly is ſquint- ey’d, and looks nine Ways at once. It is the Office of a juſt Judge to hear both Parties, and he that conſiders but the one Side of Things can never make a juſt Judgment, though he may by Chance a true one. Impudence is the Baſtard of Ignorance, not only unlawfully, ------------------------------------------------------------------------ but inceſtouſsly begotten by a Man upon his own Underſtanding, and laid by himſelſ at his own Door, a Monſter of unnatural Pro- duction; for Shame is as much the Propriety of human Nature (though overſeen by the Philoſsophers) and perhaps more than Reaſon, Laughing, or looking aſquint, by which they diſtinguish Man from Beaſts; and the leſs Men have of it, the nearer they approach to the Nature of Brutes. Modeſty is but a noble Jealouſy of Honour, and Impudence the Proſ- titution of it; for he, whoſe Face is proof againſt Infamy, muſt be as little ſenſible of Glory. His Forehead, like a voluntary Cuck- old’s is by his Horns made Proof againſt a Bluſh. Nature made Man barefaced, and civil Cuſtom has preſerved him ſo; but he that’s im- pudent does wear a Vizard more ugly and de- formed than Highway Thieves diſguiſe them- ſelves with. Shame is the tender moral Con- ſcience of good Men. When there is a Crack In the Skull, Nature herſelf with a tough horny Callus repairs the Breach; ſo a flaw’d Intellect is with a brawny Callus Face ſupplied. The Face is the Dial of the Mind; and where they Do not go together, ‘tis a Sign, that one or Both are out of Order. He that is impudent ------------------------------------------------------------------------ is like a Merchant, that trades upon his Cre- dit without a Stock, and if his Debts were known, would break immediately. The Inſide of his Head is like the Outſide; and his Peruke as naturally of his own Growth, as his Wit. He paſſes in the World like a Piece of Counter- feit Coin, looks well enough until he is rubbed and worn with Uſe, and then his Copper Com- plexion begins to appear, and nobody will take Him, but by Owl-light. ------------------------------------------------------------------------