discover the true one, by the alteration it occasioned in the countenance of the person.  ’Volto sciolto con pensieri stretti’, is a most useful maxim in business.  It is so necessary at some games, such as ‘Berlan Quinze’, etc., that a man who had not the command of his temper and countenance, would infallibly be outdone by those who had, even though they played fair.  Whereas, in business, you always play with sharpers; to whom, at least, you should give no fair advantages.  It may be objected, that I am now recommending dissimulation to you; I both own and justify it.  It has been long said, ’Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare’:  I go still further, and say, that without some dissimulation no business can be carried on at all.  It is simulation that is false, mean, and criminal:  that is the cunning which Lord Bacon calls crooked or left-handed wisdom, and which is never made use of but by those who have not true wisdom.  And the same great man says, that dissimulation is only to hide our own cards, whereas simulation is put on, in order to look into other people’s.  Lord Bolingbroke, in his “Idea of a Patriot King,” which he has lately published, and which I will send you by the first opportunity, says very justly that simulation is a stiletto,—­not only an unjust but an unlawful weapon, and the use of it very rarely to be excused, never justified.  Whereas dissimulation is a shield, as secrecy is armor; and it is no more possible to preserve secrecy in business, without same degree of dissimulation, than it is to succeed in business without secrecy.  He goes on, and says, that those two arts of dissimulation and secrecy are like the alloy mingled with pure ore:  a little is necessary, and will not debase the coin below its proper standard; but if more than that little be employed (that is, simulation and cunning), the coin loses its currency, and the coiner his credit.

Make yourself absolute master, therefore, of your temper and your countenance, so far, at least, as that no visible change do appear in either, whatever you may feel inwardly.  This may be difficult, but it is by no means impossible; and, as a man of sense never attempts impossibilities on one hand, on the other, he is never discouraged by difficulties:  on the contrary, he redoubles his industry and his diligence; he perseveres, and infallibly prevails at last.  In any point which prudence bids you pursue, and which a manifest utility attends, let difficulties only animate your industry, not deter you from the pursuit.  If one way has failed, try another; be active, persevere, and you will conquer.  Some people are to be reasoned, some flattered, some intimidated, and some teased into a thing; but, in general, all are to be brought into it at last, if skillfully applied to, properly managed, and indefatigably attacked in their several weak places.  The time should likewise be judiciously chosen; every man has his ‘mollia tempora’, but that is far from being all day long; and you would choose your time very ill, if you applied to a man about one business, when his head was full of another, or when his heart was full of grief, anger, or any other disagreeable sentiment.