When on a fragile plank embarked thy all:
So bends beneath its weight the o'erburdened wain,
And the crushed axle spoils the scattered grain.
The golden mean of conduct should confine
Our every aim,—be moderation thine!"
—E. 954-962.
After this fashion the poet proceeds to give the advice on marriage which has been already quoted, and which probably belongs to an earlier portion of the poem. From this he turns to the duties of friendship, still regulated by caution and an eye to expediency. It is better to be reconciled to an old friend with whom you have fallen out than to contract new friendships; and, above all, to put a control on your countenance, that it may betray no reservations or misgivings. A careful and temperate tongue is commended, and geniality at a feast, especially a club feast, for
Be not morose, nor grudge a liberal share:
Where all contributing the feast unite,
Great is the pleasure, and the cost is light."
—E. 1009-1012.
And now come some precepts of a ceremonial nature, touching what Professor Conington justly calls "smaller moralities and decencies," some of which, it has been suggested, savour of Pythagorean or of Judaic obligation, whilst all bespeak excessive superstition. Prayers with unwashen hands, fording a river without propitiatory prayer, paring the nails off your "bunch
