THE BANQUET OF FAMINE.
Of all prophecies, none are, perhaps, so frequently erroneous as those
on which we are most apt to venture in endeavouring to foretell the
effect of outward events on the characters of men. In no form of our
anticipations are we more frequently baffled than in such attempts to
estimate beforehand the influence of circumstance over conduct, not only
in others, but also even in ourselves. Let the event but happen, and
men, whom we view by the light of our previous observation of them, act
under it as the living contradictions of their own characters. The
friend of our daily social intercourse, in the progress of life, and the
favourite hero of our historic studies, in the progress of the page,
astonish, exceed, or disappoint our expectations alike. We find it as
vain to foresee a cause as to fix a limit for the arbitrary
inconsistencies in the dispositions of mankind.
But, though to speculate upon the future conduct of others under
impending circumstances be but too often to expose the fallacy of our
wisest anticipations, to contemplate the nature of that conduct after it
has been displayed is a useful subject of curiosity, and may perhaps be
made a fruitful source of instruction.
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