Chapter V: Letter V: 400 (3)

He who doesn't take care of his credit will soon have none to take care of.

431

There are two directly opposite reasons why some men cannot get credit--one is because he is not known--the other because he is.

432

THE CRITIC.

The critic stood with scornful eye
Before a picture on the wall:
"You call this art? Now see that fly,
It is not natural at all.

It has too many legs, its head
Is far too large--who ever saw
A fly like that, so limp and dead,
And wings that look as if they--pshaw!"

And with a gesture of disgust
He waved his hand, when lo! the fly
Flew from the picture. "Ah! some dust,"
The critic said, "was in my eye."

--_Henry Coyle._

Some one has said that finding fault is done on a smaller capital than any other business, and it is a very fascinating business, too, for people of--small calibre.

433

A man must serve his time to every trade,
Save censure; critics all are ready-made.

--_Byron._

434

The culture of a man is like the changing of raw material into the manufactured article. The uncultured man is comparatively helpless and worthless.

--_The Religious Telescope._

435

Curiosity! who hath not felt
Its spirit, and before its altar knelt?

436

Custom forms us all;
Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed belief
Are consequences of our place of birth.

--_Hill._

D

437

_Daughter._--To a father waxing old nothing is dearer than a daughter; sons have spirits of higher pitch, but less inclined to sweet endearing fondness.

--_Euripides._

438

BEREFT OF AN ONLY DAUGHTER.

This day my loved one leaves me, and my heart
Is heavy with its grief: the streams of sorrow,
Choked at the source, repress my faltering voice.
I have no words to speak; mine eyes are dimmed
By the dark shadows of the thoughts that rise
Within my soul. If such the force of grief
In an old hermit parted from his nursling,
What anguish must the stricken parent feel
Bereft forever of an only daughter!

Weep not my daughter, check the gathering tear
That lurks beneath thine eyelid, ere it flow
And weaken thy resolve; be firm and true--
True to thyself and me, the path of life
Will lead o'er hill and plain, o'er rough and smooth,
And all must feel the steepness of the way,
Tho' rugged be thy course, press boldly on.

Honor thy betters; even be respectful
To those above thee. Should thy wedded lord
Treat thee with harshness, thou must never be
Harsh in return, but patient and submissive.
Be to thy menials courteous, and to all
Placed under thee considerate and kind:
Be never self-indulgent, but avoid
Excess in pleasure; and, when fortune smiles
Be not puffed up. Thus to thy husband's house
Wilt thou a blessing prove, and not a curse.

439

See here it is dawning
Another bright day:
Think wilt thou let it
Slip uselessly away?

440

He mourns the dead who lives as they desire.

--_Dr. E. Young._

441

One of the Fathers said: "That there is but this difference between the death of old and young men,--that old men go to death, and death comes to young men."

--_Bacon._

442

THE REPROOF OF A FOOL.

There was a certain nobleman who kept a fool, to whom he one day gave a staff, with a charge to keep it till he should meet with one who was a greater fool than himself. Not many years after, the nobleman fell sick, even unto death. The fool came to see him: his lord said to him--"I must shortly leave you." "And whither are you going?" said the fool. "Into another world," replied his lordship. "And when will you come again? Within a month?" "No." "Within a year?" "No." "When then?" "Never." "Never!" said the fool, "and what provision hast thou made for thy entertainment there, whither thou goest?" "None at all." "No!" said the fool, "none at all! Here then, take my staff; for with all my folly, I am not guilty of any such folly as this."

443

The divinity who rules within us, forbids us to leave this world without his command.

--_Cicero._

444

When a man dies, they who survive him, ask what property he has left behind. The angel who bends over the dying man, asks what good deeds he has sent before him.

445

Happy is, or ought to be, the man who owes nothing.

446

If you would avoid paying debts, avoid incurring them.

447

But wealth and power have no immortal day,
For all things ripen only to decay.

448

DECISION.

Lose this day loitering,--'t will be the same story
To-morrow, and the next more dilatory;
The indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting over days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute,
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated,--
Begin,
And then the work
Will be completed.

--_J. W. Von Goethe._

449

Let him that hath done the good office conceal it; let him that hath received it disclose it.

450

NOBLE DEEDS.

He built a house, time laid it in the dust;
He wrote a book, its title now forgot;
He ruled a city, but his name is not
On any tablet graven, or where rust
Can gather from disuse, or marble bust.
He took a child from out a wretched cot,
Who on the state dishonor might have brought,
And reared him to the Christian's hope and trust.
The boy to manhood grown, became a light
To many souls, preached for human need
The wondrous love of the Omnipotent.
The work has multiplied like stars at night
When darkness deepens; every noble deed
Lasts longer, than a granite monument.

--_Sarah H. Bolton._

451

"He wishes well" is worthless, unless the deed go with it.

--_Plautus._

452

_Deformed._--Mock not at those who are misshapen by nature. He that despiseth them despiseth God that made them.

--_Dr. Fuller._

453

Away with delay! it always injures those that are prepared.

--_Lucan._

454

Do not delay: the golden moments fly!

--_Longfellow._

455

True delicacy, that most beautiful heart-leaf of humanity, exhibits itself most significantly in little things.

456

Nothing prevents our being natural so much as the desire to appear so.

--_Rochefoucauld._

457

Remember that your dependents have seldom a full power of replying to you; and let the recollection of that make you especially considerate in your dealings with them.

--_Sir Arthur Helps._

458

Honorable descent is in all nations greatly esteemed; besides, it is to be expected that the children of men of worth will be like their fathers.

--_Aristotle._

459

When any great design thou dost intend,
Think on the means, the manner, and the end.

--_Sir J. Denham._

460

The desires of man increase with his acquisitions.

--_Dr. Johnson._

461

DESTINY.

Ships that pass at night, and speak each other in passing,
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness:
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.

--_Longfellow._

462

INSCRIPTION FOR A SUN-DIAL.

The shadow by my finger cast
Divides the future from the past:
Before it sleeps the unborn hour
In darkness, and beyond thy power:
Behind its unreturning line,
The vanished hour, no longer thine:
One hour alone is in thy hands--
The Now on which the shadow stands.

--_Henry Van Dyke._

463

RISE ABOVE YOUR DIFFICULTIES.

Not till after the death of a member of Parliament, a prominent county magistrate, the owner of large estates, and an active, public-spirited man in all local and national matters, was it known by those who had not seen him, that it was but the misshapen block of a man that had lived this active, manly life.

He was born with neither legs nor arms. After his death his story was told: how he resolved, when but a boy, to act and live as did other boys, without regard to his horrible misfortune; how he persisted in studying every book, in learning every game, in joining in every amusement possible to him, with his companions. How, to the last year of his life, he held himself to be as responsible as other men, and bravely paid every tithe of duty to God and to his fellows.

Even in lesser matters in life he pressed to the front. He was the most genial, witty guest at social dinner tables. Strapped to his horse, he hunted foxes in Yorkshire, or tigers in India, and with his brothers made long journeys in other parts of the world. Everywhere his cheerfulness and gaiety gave new life to duller souls.

Is there no lesson for us all in the life of this gallant gentleman?

--_Youth's Companion._

464

Dr. Roux, the celebrated French physician, said: "The greater part of preparation for the digestion of food takes place in the mouth."

465

True dignity exists independent of--
"Studied gestures or well-practiced smiles."

466

We have all met with a great many disappointments, and if we live much longer, shall likely meet with many more.

467

_Discontented People._--You have such a February face,
So full of frost, of storm, and cloudiness.

468

'Tis not my talent to conceal my thoughts,
Or carry smiles and sunshine in my face,
When discontent sits heavy at my heart.

--_Addison._

469

Discontent is a man's, and a woman's, worst enemy.

470

DISCONTENT.

Thinkest thou the man whose mansions hold
The worldling's pomp, and miser's gold,
Obtains a richer prize
Than he, who, in his cot at rest,
Finds heavenly peace a willing guest,
And bears the promise in his breast
Of treasures in the skies?

--_Mrs. Sigourney._

471

Be discreet in all things, and so render it unnecessary to be mysterious about anything.

--_Wellington._

472

Thy friend has a friend, and thy friend's friend has a friend;--be discreet.

473

Woe unto him that increaseth that which is not his!

--_Habakkuk 2, 6v._

474

No man's disposition will alter, say what we may.

475

Shut not thy purse-strings always against distress.

--_Charles Lamb._

476

Thou, who feelest not for the distress of others,
Meritest not to be called by the name of man.

477

It is better occasionally to be deceived in people than for one to be always distrustful.

478

God and the doctor we alike adore
In times of danger, only,--not before:
The danger past, both are alike requited;
God, is alas!--forgotten, and the doctor--slighted.

--_Anon._

479

Did you never observe that dogs have not the power of comparing? A dog will take a small bit of meat as readily, when both are before him.

--_Dr. Sam'l Johnson._

480

THE FAITHFUL DOG.

When wise Ulysses, from his native coast
Long kept by wars, and long by tempests tost,
Arrived at last, poor, old, disguised, alone,
To all his friends, and ev'n his queen, unknown:
Chang'd as he was with age, and toils, and cares,
Furrow'd his rev'rend face, and white his hairs,
In his own palace forc'd to ask his bread,
Scorn'd by those slaves his former bounty fed,
Forgot of all his own domestic crew;
The faithful _dog_ alone his master knew!
Unfed, unhous'd, neglected, on the clay
Like an old servant, now cashier'd he lay;
And, tho' e'en then expiring on the plain
Touch'd with resentment of ungrateful man,
And longing to behold his ancient lord again.
Him, when he saw--he rose, and crawl'd to meet,
'Twas all he could, and fawn'd, and kiss'd his feet,
Seized with dumb joy: then, falling by his side,
Own'd his returning lord, look'd up, and died.

--_Pope._

481

Food remains for three days in the stomach of the dog, because God knew that his food would be scanty.

--_From the Talmud._

482

If you are in doubt whether to write a letter or not--don't! The advice applies to doubts in life besides that of letter writing.

--_Zoroaster._

483

Our doubts are traitors,
And make us love the good we oft might win,
By fearing to attempt.

--_Shakespeare._

484

THE ORPHAN BOY'S DREAM.

The room is old--the night is cold,--
But night is dearer far than day;
For then, in dreams, to him it seems
That she's returned who's gone away!
His tears are pass'd--he clasps her fast,--
Again she holds him on her knee;
And, in his sleep, he murmurs deep,
"Oh! mother, go no more from me!"

485

_Dreams._--Children of night, of indigestion bred.

--_Churchill._

486

We sacrifice to dress, till household joys
And comforts cease. Dress drains our cellar dry,
And keeps our larder lean; puts out our fires,
And introduces hunger, frost and woe,
Where peace and hospitality might have reign'd.

--_Cowper._

487

Those who think that in order to dress well, it is necessary to dress extravagantly or grandly, make a great mistake. Nothing so well becomes true feminine beauty as simplicity.

No real happiness is found
In trailing purple o'er the ground.

--_Geo. D. Prentice._

488

_Numbers vi, 3._--"He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink."

A heathen king, who had been for years confirmed in the sin of drunkenness by the evil practices of white men on the Sandwich Islands, had been led to forsake the dreadful habit. He said lately to a missionary, "suppose you put four thousand dollars in one hand, and a glass of rum in the other; you say, you drink this rum, I give you four thousand dollars, I no drink it; you say you kill me, I no drink it."

489

THE RIGHT ANSWER.

In an address to a temperance society, Admiral Capps told a story which is printed in the New York _Tribune_.--A man who had ruined his health with alcohol sat looking sadly at his wife, to whom he had made many promises of reform.

"Jenny," he said, "you are a clever woman, a courageous, good woman. You should have married a better man than I am."

She looked at him, thin-limbed and stoop-shouldered, prematurely old, and answered, quietly, "I did, James."

490

_Genesis ix, 21_--"Noah drank of the wine, and was drunken."

A person in Maryland, who was addicted to drunkenness, hearing a considerable uproar in his kitchen one night, felt the curiosity to step without noise to the door, to know what was the matter; when he found his servants indulging in the most unbounded roars of laughter at a couple of negro boys, who were mimicking himself in his drunken fits!--as how he reeled and staggered--how he looked and nodded--and hiccupped and tumbled. The pictures which these children of nature drew of him, and which had filled the rest with such inexhaustible merriment, struck him with so salutary a disgust, that from that night he became a perfectly sober man, to the great joy of his wife and children.

491

From drink, with its ruin, and sorrow and sin,
I surely am safe if I never begin.

492

Pray tell me whence you derive the origin of the word dun? The true origin of this expression owes its birth to one Joe Dunn, a famous bailiff of the town of Lincoln, England, so extremely active, and so dexterous at the management of his rough business, that it became a proverb, when a man refused to pay his debts, "Why don't you Dun him?" that is, why don't you send Dun to arrest him? Hence it grew a custom, and is now as old as since the days of Henry VII.

--_Mulledulcia._

493

Knowledge is the hill which few may hope to climb;
Duty is the path that all may tread.

--_Lewis Morris._

494

When a minister preaches his sermon, he should do so fearlessly, i. e. like a man who cuts up a big log,--let the chips fall where they may.

495

Do what you ought, come what may.

--_French._

496

_Duty_:--I hate to see a thing done by halves; if it be right, do it boldly; if wrong, leave it undone.

--_Gilpin._

497

Whosoever contents himself with doing the little duties of the day, great things will, by-and-by, present themselves to him for their fulfilment also.

--_Howard Pyle._

498

We make time for duties we love.

--_Unknown._

E

499

One should choose a wife with the ears, rather than with the eyes.

--_Spanish._

500

What is told in the ear, is often heard a hundred miles off.

--_Chinese._

501

'Tis easy for any man who has his foot unentangled by sufferings, both to exhort and to admonish him that is in difficulties.

--_Aeschylus._

502

If you take things easy when you ought to be doing your best work, you will probably have to keep hard at work when you might be taking it easy.

503

Nothing is easy to the unwilling.

--_From the German._

504

He that eats longest lives longest.

505

Half of what we eat is sufficient to enable us to live, and the other half that we eat enables the doctors to live.

--_Dr. Osler._

506

Economy is the easy chair of old age.

507

He that will not economize may some day have to agonize.

--_Confucius._

508

Economy is no disgrace; it is better living on a little, than living beyond your means.

509

In abundance prepare for scarcity.

--_Mencius._

510

Lay up something for a rainy day; it may be needed some day.

511

Economy is something like a savings-bank, into which we drop pennies and get dollars in return.

--_H. W. Shaw._

512

Take care to be an economist in prosperity: there is no fear of your being one in adversity.

--_Zimmerman._

513

For age and want, save while you may,
No morning sun lasts a whole day.

514

Economy is too late at the bottom of the purse.

515

Spend not when you must save,
Spare not when you must spend.

--_Italian._

516

Every man must educate himself. His books and teacher are but helps; the work is his.

--_Webster._

516a

Scottish Education. "A boy was compelled by the poverty of his parents to leave school and take temporary work as an assistant to Lady Abercombie's gardener. When his services were no longer required, the lady gave him a guinea and said, 'Well, Jack, how are you going to spend your guinea?' 'Oh my lady,' he replied, 'I've just made up my mind to tak' a quarter o' Greek, for I hadna got beyond Latin when I left school."

--_Dr. J. Herr._

517

Nearly all things are difficult before they are easy.

--_From the French._

518

There is as much eloquence in the tone of voice, in the eyes, and in the air of a speaker, as in his choice of words.

--_Rochefoucauld._

519

EXTERNAL SIGNS OF EMOTIONS AND PASSIONS.

One would not imagine who has not given particular attention, that the body should be susceptible to such variety of attitudes and emotions, as readily to accompany every different emotion with a corresponding expression. Humility for example, is expressed naturally by hanging the head; arrogance, by its elevation; and languor or despondence, by reclining it to one side. The expressions of the hands are manifold by different attitudes and motions; they express desire, hope, fear; they assist us in promising, in inviting, in keeping one at a distance; they are made instruments of threatening, of supplication, of praise, and of horror; they are employed in approving, in refusing, in questioning; in showing our joy, our sorrow, our doubts, our regret, and our admiration.

--_Lord Hames._

520

The evil one does not tempt people whom he finds suitably employed.

--_Jeremy Taylor._

521

To be employed is to be happy.

--_Gray._

522

Do good to thy friend, that he may be more thy friend; and unto thy enemy, that he may become thy friend.

523

He who has a thousand friends,
Has never a one to spare,
And he who has one enemy,
Will be apt to meet him everywhere.

524

_Boswell said of Dr. Johnson_--"Though a stern true-born Englishman, and fully prejudiced against all other nations, he had discernment enough to see, and candour enough to censure, the cold reserve too common among Englishmen towards strangers. 'Sir,' said he, (Johnson) 'two men of any other nation who are shown into a room together, at a house where they are both visitors, will immediately find some conversation. But two Englishmen will probably go each to a different window, and remain in obstinate silence. Sir, we as yet do not enough understand the common rights of humanity.'"

525

Rochefoucauld said, "The truest mark of being born with great qualities is being born without envy."

526

If we did but know how little some enjoy the great things they possess, there would not be so much envy in the world.

527

All matches, friendships, and societies are dangerous and inconvenient, where the contractors are not equal.

--_Estrange._

528

Equivocation is first cousin to a lie.

--_From the French._

529

What has been done amiss should be undone as quickly as possible.

530

Beware of errors of the mouth.

--_Hindu._

531

The man who never makes any blunders, seldom makes any good hits.

532

_Etiquette._--Good taste rejects excessive nicety; it treats little things as little things, and is not hurt by them.

533

Certain signs precede certain events.

--_Cicero._

534

AVOIDING THE SUGGESTION OF EVIL.

Sir Peter Lely made it a rule never to look at a bad picture, having found by experience that whenever he did so, his pencil took a tint from it. Bishop Home said of the above: "Apply this to bad books and bad company."

535

I am endowed by God with power to conquer all evil.

_Ursula._

536

How quickly and quietly the eye opens and closes, revealing and concealing a world!

537

OTHER'S EYES.

Achilles: This is not strange, Ulysses,
The beauty that is borne here in the face
The bearer knows not, but commends itself
To other's eyes: nor doth the eye itself,
That most pure spirit of sense behold itself,
Not going from itself, but eye to eye oppos'd
Salutes each other.

--_Shakespeare._

538

The silent upbraiding of the eye is the very poetry of reproach; it speaks at once to the imagination.

--_Mrs. Balfour._

539

Eyes are more accurate witnesses than ears.

--_Plautus._

540

Old men's eyes are like old men's memories; they are strongest for things a long way off.

541

The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should never want a fine house nor fine furniture.

--_Franklin._

542

The eyes are the windows of the soul.

--_Hiram Powers._

543

We always weaken whatever we exaggerate.

--_La Harpe._

544

He who has seen much of the world, is very prone to exaggeration.

545

Every man is bound to tolerate the act of which he has himself given the example.

--_Phaedrus._

546

Noble examples excite us to noble deeds.

547

He who makes excuses, himself accuses.

548

A man must often exercise, or fast, or take physic, or be sick.

--_Sir W. Temple._

549

I am no longer the fool I was, I have learned by experience.

550

All is but lip-wisdom, which wants experience.

--_Sir Philip Sidney._

551

Among all classes of society we see extravagance keeping pace with prosperity, and indeed outstripping it, realizing Archbishop Whately's paradox: "The larger the income, the harder it is to live within it."

--_Hugh S. Brown._

F

552

A clouded face
Strikes deeper than an angry blow.

553

FACE PICTURES.

We write our lives upon our faces, deep,
An autograph which they will always keep.
Thoughts cannot come and leave behind no trace
Of good or ill; they quickly find a place
Where they who will may read as in a book,
The hidden meaning of our slightest look.

554

Nature has written a letter of credit on some men's faces which is honored wherever it is presented.

--_Thackeray._

555

The surest way not to fail, is to determine to succeed.

--_Sheridan._

556

THE MOUNTAIN FLOWER.

In Ross-shire, Scotland, there is an immense mountain gorge. The rocks have been rent in twain, and set apart twenty feet, forming two perpendicular walls two hundred feet in height. On either side of these natural walls, in crevices where earth has collected, grow wild flowers of rare quality and beauty. A company of tourists visiting that part of the country were desirous to possess themselves of specimens of these beautiful mountain flowers; but how to obtain them they knew not. At length they thought they might be gathered by suspending a person over the cliff by a rope. They offered a Highland boy, who was near by, a handsome sum of money to undertake the difficult and dangerous task. The boy looked down into the awful abyss that yawned below, and shrunk from the undertaking; but the money was tempting. Could he confide in the strangers? Could he venture his life in their hands? He felt that he could not; but he thought of his father, and, looking once more at the cliff, and then at the proffered reward, his eyes brightened, and he exclaimed: "I'll go if my father holds the rope." Beautiful illustration of the nature of faith.

557

Faith builds a bridge from this world to the next.

--_Dr. Young._

558

To be trusted is perhaps a greater compliment than to be loved.

559

He who believes in nobody knows that he himself is not to be trusted.

--_Auerbach._

560

Trust not him that hath once broken faith.

--_Shakespeare._

561

It goes a great way toward making a man faithful, to let him understand that you think him so.

--_Seneca._

562

All that a man gets by being untruthful is, that he is not believed when he speaks the truth.

563

Telling an untruth is like leaving the highway and going into a tangled forest. You know not how long it will take you to get back, or how much you will suffer from the thorns and briers in the wild woods.

564

There is no greater mistake in social life than indulging in over-familiarity. Intercourse, even between intimate friends, should have some dignity about it.

565

A family is a little world within doors; the miniature resemblance of the great world without.

--_J. A. James._

566

Where can one be happier than in the bosom of his family?

--_Young._

567

FAMILY REUNION.

We are all here--
Father, mother, sister, brother,
All who hold each other dear.
Each chair is filled, we're all at home;
To-night let no stranger come.
It is not often thus around
Our old, familiar hearth we're found
Blessed, then, the meeting and the spot:
For once be every care forgot;
Let gentle peace assert her power,
And kind affection rule the hour:
We're all, all here.

--_Charles Sprague._

568

Farewell! a word that must be, and hath been--
A sound which makes us linger;--yet--farewell.

--_Byron._

569

FAREWELL.

If thou dost bid thy friend farewell,
But for one night though that farewell may be,
Press thou his hand in thine.
How canst thou tell how far from thee
Fate or caprice may lead his steps ere that to-morrow comes?
Men have been known lightly to turn the corner of a street,
And days have grown to months,
And months to lagging years, ere they
Have looked in loving eyes again . . . . . .
Yea, find thou always time to say some earnest word
Between the idle talk, lest with thee henceforth,
Night and day, regret should walk.

--_Unknown._

570

MAN AND THE FARM.

It is a common complaint that the farm and farm life are not appreciated by our people. We long for the more elegant pursuits, or the ways and fashions, of the town. But the farmer has the most sane and natural occupation, and ought to find it sweeter, if less highly seasoned, than any other. He alone, strictly speaking, has a home. How many ties, how many resources, he has!--his friendship with his cattle, his team, his dog, his trees; the satisfaction in his growing crops, in his improved fields; his intimacy with nature, with bird and beast, and with the quickening elemental forces; his co-operations with the cloud, the sun, the seasons, heat, wind, rain, frost. It humbles him, teaches him patience and reverence. Cling to the farm, make much of it, put yourself into it, bestow your heart and brain upon it.

--_John Burroughs._

571

A HINT TO A FARMER.

Shun thou seats in the shade, nor sleep till the dawn! in the
season
When it is harvest-time, and your skin is parched in the sunshine.

572

MY FATHER.

How beautiful is the following picture by Caroline Anne Bowles, only child of Captain Charles Bowles, of Blackland, England. Born 1787:

My father loved the patient angler's art,
And many a summer's day, from early morn
To latest evening, by some streamlet's side,
We two have tarried; strange companionship!
A sad and silent man; a joyous child!
Yet those were days as I recall them now
Supremely happy. Silent though he was,
My father's eyes were often on his child
Tenderly eloquent--and his few words
Were kind and gentle. Never angry tone
Repulsed me if I broke upon his thoughts
With childish question. But I learned at last,
Learned intuitively to hold my peace.
When the dark hour was on him, and deep sighs
Spoke the perturbed spirit--only then
I crept a little closer to his side,
And stole my hand in his, or on his arm
Laid my cheek softly: till the simple wile
Won on his sad abstraction, and he turned
With a faint smile, and sighed and shook his head,
Stooping toward me; so I reached at last
Mine arm about his neck and clasped it close,
Printing his pale brow with a silent kiss.

--_From Littell's Living Age._

573

_Love for a Father._--In the year 1773, a gentleman in England, whose health was rapidly declining, was advised by his physicians to go to Spa for the recovery of his health. His daughters feared that those who had only motives entirely mercenary would not pay him that attention which he might expect from those who, from duty and affection united, would feel the greatest pleasure in ministering to his ease and comfort; they, therefore, resolved to accompany him. They proved that it was not a spirit of dissipation and gaiety that led them to the springs, for they were not to be seen in any of the gay and fashionable circles; they were never out of their father's company, and never stirred from home, except to attend him, either to take the air or drink the waters; in a word, they lived a most recluse life in the midst of a town then the resort of the most illustrious and fashionable personages of Europe. This exemplary attention to their father procured these three amiable sisters the admiration of all the visitors at Spa, and was the cause of their elevation to that rank in life to which their merits gave them so just a title. They were all married to noblemen: one to the Earl of Beverly, another to the Duke of Hamilton, and a third to the Duke of Northumberland. And it is justice to them to say that they reflected honor on their rank, rather than derived any from it.

--_Arvine._

574

MY FATHER.

I have a Father!
It needeth not that I should see His face,
When each new day brings token of His grace.
Who can deny the Power that brings to pass
The yearly miracle of springing grass?
Who can withhold allegiance, that sees
The harvest glory of the fruited trees?

575

Confessing a fault makes half amends.
Denying one doubles it.

576

Not to repent of a fault, is to justify it.

--_Pliny._

577

Whoever thinks a faultless one to see
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er will be.

--_Pope._

578

_Faults._--Every man has a bag hanging before him, in which he puts his neighbors' faults, and another behind him in which he stows his own.

--_Shakespeare._

579

Better find one of our own faults,
Than ten
Of our neighbor's.

580

A GREAT MAN'S FAULTS.

Lord Bolingbroke was one evening at a large party. Political subjects were talked of, and the conversation finally turned on the famous Duke of Marlborough. Every one had something to say against him, many blaming his avarice. Bolingbroke was silent. One of the company inquired, "How is it that you say nothing? You knew him better than all of us, and could tell us a good deal about him." Bolingbroke replied, "He was a great man, and I have forgotten all his faults."

581

Each should be sure of an untarnished name,
Before he ventures others' faults to blame.

582

The greatest of faults, is to be conscious of none.

583

Wink at wee (little) faults; Your ain are muckle.

--_Scotch._

584

He who asks timidly courts a refusal.

585

There is pleasure in meeting the eyes of one on whom you are going to confer a favor.

--_La Bruyere._

586

FAVORITISM.

A little figure glided through the hall.
"Is that you, Pet?" the words came tenderly.
A sob--suppressed to let the answer fall,--
"It isn't Pet, mama, it's only me."

The quivering baby-lips! They had not meant
To utter any word that could plant a sting,
But to that mother-heart a strange pang went;
She heard, and stood like a convicted thing.

One instant, and a happy little face
Thrilled 'neath unwonted kisses rained above;
And from that moment "Only Me" had place
And part with Pet in tender mother-love.

587

We like better to see those on whom we confer benefits, than those, alas! from whom we receive them.

588

It is not the quantity of the meat but the cheerfulness of the guests, which makes the feast.

--_Lord Clarendon._

589

Feast to-day with many makes fast to-morrow.

--_Plautus._

590

FEASTING AND FASTING.

Accustom early in your youth
To lay embargo on your mouth;
And let no rarities invite
To pall and glut your appetite;
But check it always, and give o'er
With a desire of eating more;
For where one dies by inanition,
A thousand perish by repletion:
To miss a meal sometimes is good,--
It ventilates and cools the blood.

--_Raynard._

591

Every young man has a fine season in his life when he will accept no office, and every young woman has the same in hers, when she will accept no husband; by and by they both change, and often take one another into the bargain.

--_Richter._

592

FIDELITY.

He was--True as the needle to the pole,
Or as the dial to the sun.

593

MY OWN FIRESIDE.

Let others seek for empty joys
At ball or concert, rout or play;
Whilst, far from fashion's idle noise,
Her gilded domes, and trappings gay,
I while the wintry eve away,--
'Twixt book and lute the hours divide
And marvel how I e'er could stray
From thee--my own Fireside!

594

All that a fish drinks goes out at the gills.
(Spent as soon as got.)

595

Did we not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never hurt us.

--_Rochefoucauld._

596

_Boswell_: "No quality will get a man more friends than a disposition to admire the qualities of others. I do not mean flattery, but a sincere admiration." _Johnson_: "Nay, Sir, flattery pleases very generally. In the first place, the flatterer may think what he says to be true; but in the second place, whether he thinks so or not, he certainly thinks those whom he flatters of consequence enough to be flattered."

--_Boswell's Johnson._

597

_Flowers._--These children of the meadows, born of sunshine and of showers!

--_Whittier._

598

_Flowers._--Pretty daughters of the Earth and Sun.

599

What a desolate place would be a world without a flower! It would be a face without a smile--a feast without a welcome Are not flowers the stars of the earth? and are not the stars we see at night the flowers of heaven?

600

It is my faith that every flower which blows
Enjoys the air it breathes.

--_Wordsworth._

601

How many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

--_Gray._

602

I never cast a flower away,
The gift of one who cared for me;
A little flower--a faded flower,
But it was done reluctantly.

--_L. E. Landon._

603

Flowers are the pledges of fruit.

--_From the Danish._

604

He who gives advice to a fool, beats the air with a stick.

605

None is a fool always, everyone sometimes.

606

_Infallible Test._--A theological student, supposed to be deficient in judgment, was asked by a professor, in the course of a class examination, "Pray, how would you discover a fool?" "By the questions he would ask," was the rather stunning reply.

607

One never needs one's wits so much as when one has to do with a fool.

608

Nothing is so silly as to insist on being the only person who is right.

609

How ill white hairs become a fool and jester.

610

If all fools wore white caps, the majority of us would look like a flock of geese.

611

Young folks tell what they do, old ones what they have done, and the others (fools) what they intend to do.

612

Where force prevails, right perishes.

--_Spanish._

613

If there is a harvest ahead, even a distant one, it is poor thrift to be stingy of your seed-corn!

--_Carlyle._

614

A FOREST IDYL.

Stranger, if thou hast learned a truth which needs
No school of long experience, that the world
Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen
Enough of all its sorrows, crimes and cares
To tire thee of it, enter this wild wood
And view the haunts of Nature. The calm shade
Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze
That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balm
To thy sick heart.

--_Bryant._

615

A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.

616

If there be
One of you all that ever from my presence
I have with sadden'd heart unkindly sent,
I here, in meek repentance, of him crave
A brother's hand, in token of forgiveness.

617

'Tis easier for the generous to forgive
Than for the offender to ask it.

618

THE ALTERNATIVES.

A gentleman went to a friend, in great anger at a real injury he had received, which he intended to resent. After relating the particulars, he enquired if it would not be _manly_ to resent it? His friend replied, "Yes; it would doubtless be _manly_ to resent it, but it would be _godlike_ to forgive it."

619

FORGIVENESS.

How beautifully falls
Forgiveness--'tis the attribute of God--
From human lips that bless'd word, Forgive;
Thrice happy he whose heart has been so schooled
That he can give it utterance; it imparts
Celestial grandeur to the human soul,
And maketh man an angel.

620

We forgive just as long as we love.

621

FORGIVE.

Hast thou a grudge within thy breast,
Which time will not repair?
Is hatred still a lurking guest
To intercept thy prayer?
"Forgive, and thou shalt be forgiven"
Is the decree of heaven.

"Till seven times! shall I forgive?"
Was asked our gracious Lord,
List to his answer, heed and live,
"Seventy times seven" 's His word.
"Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven;"
Doubt not the word of heaven.

--_Unknown._

622

He that cannot forgive others, breaks down the bridge over which he must pass himself, for every one has need to be forgiven.

--_Lord Herbert._

623

The world never forgives; it is only God and our mothers that can do that.

--_Ellen F. Fowler._

624

Forgiveness that covers only part of the wrong, is like two fingers given in a handshake.

--_Wells._

625

SUPPOSE YOU TRY FORGIVENESS.

The story is told of a British soldier who had broken every rule of the army and on whom every form of punishment had been inflicted without avail. He sinned again. His commanding officer was in despair as to what should be done. A fellow officer said, "Suppose you try forgiveness." The guilty soldier was summoned. On being asked what he had to say in palliation of his offense, he hung his head and replied: "Nothing, except I'm very sorry." "Well," said the officer, "We have decided to forgive you." The culprit looked dazed, burst into tears, saluted, and went out to become one of the best soldiers in the army.

--_From The Rise of a Soul._
By James I. Vance.

626

Individuals sometimes forgive, but bodies and societies never do.

627

Nothing is more dangerous to men than a sudden change of fortune.

--_Quintilian._

628

The continuance of good fortune forms no ground of ultimate security.

629

Fortune gives too much to many, but to none enough.

--_Martial._

630

Good-fortune comes to some people while they are asleep, i. e., without their seeking it.

631

Good fortune that comes seldom, comes more welcome.

--_Dryden._

632

How often it is, in the twinkling of an eye one vicissitude of fortune follows another.

--_Horatius._

633

That which we acquire with most difficulty, we retain the longest; as those who have earned a fortune are usually more careful of it than those who have inherited one.

--_Cotton._

634

Fortune knocks once at least at every one's door.

635

If fortune favors you, do not be too elated; if she frowns, do not despond too much.

636

Manners often make fortunes.

637

Fortune sometimes makes quick despatch, and in a day
May strip you bare as beggary itself.

--_Cumberland._

638

_The Result of Fortune_:--The generality of men sink in virtue as they rise in fortune.

--_Sir J. Beaumont._

639

Don't live in hope with your arms folded. Fortune smiles on those who roll up their sleeves and put their shoulders to the wheel.

640

Whil'st fortun'd favour'd; friends, you smil'd on me:
But, when she fled, a friend I could not see.

--_Burton._

641

GOD IN THE HEART.

Collins, the freethinker, met a plain countryman going to church. He asked him where he was going. "To church sir." "What to do there?" "To worship God." "Pray, whether is your God a great or little God?" "He is both, sir." "How can He be both?" "He is so great that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, and so little that He can dwell in my heart." Collins declared that this simple answer had an effect upon his mind such as all the volumes which learned men had written against him had not.

642

The bird once out of hand is hard to recover.

--_From the Danish._

643

FREEDOM WEEPS.

A time like this demands
Strong minds, stout hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office cannot kill,
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy,
Men who possess opinion and a will,
Men who have honor, men who will not lie,
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And scorn his treacherous flatteries without winking,
Tall men, sun crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking;
For while the rabble with their thumb worn creeds,
Their large professions, and their little deeds
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps!

--_Unknown._

644

He who attacks an absent friend, or who does not defend him when spoken ill of by another--that man is a dark character; beware of him.

645

Be my friend, and teach me to be thine!

646

TIMON'S SOLILOQUY.

My shadow, wheresoe'er I wend,
Is with me, like a flattering friend.
But chiefly when the sun in June
Is climbing to its highest noon,
My fond attendant closes near,
As I were growing still more dear;
And then, to show its love complete,
Falls even servile at my feet,
Where, proud of place, it scarcely nods
Before the temple of the Gods.
But when the evening sun descends,
It seems to seek for other friends,
Making a dial of the town,
To tell that Timon's day goes down;
And when the stormy night comes on,
I look, and lo! my shade is--gone.

--_Atlantic Monthly._

647

Ah, how good it feels;
The hand of an old friend!

648

If you want enemies, excel others; if you want friends, let others excel you.

649

A man may have a thousand intimate acquaintances and not a friend among them all. If you have one friend, think yourself happy.

650

Go slowly to the entertainment of your friends, but quickly to their misfortunes.

651

LEAVE A FRIEND.

Leave a friend! So base I am not. I followed him in his prosperity, when the skies were clear and shining, and will not leave him when storms begin to rise; as gold is tried by the furnace, and the baser metal is shown, so the hollow-hearted friend is known by adversity.

--_Metastasio._

652

Do not lose sight of old attachments for the sake of making new friendships.

653

A man who is fond of disputing, will, in time, have few friends to dispute with.

654

AN OLD RHYME.

I once had money and a friend,
By both I set great store;
I lent my money to my friend,
He was my friend no more.

If I had my money and my friend,
As I had once before,
I'd keep my money to myself,
And lose my friend no more.

--_Living Age._

655

If you have a friend worth loving,
Love him. Yes, and let him know
That you love him, ere life's evening
Tinge his brow with sunset glow;
Why should good words ne'er be said
Of a friend till he is dead?

656

It is more dishonorable to distrust a friend than to be deceived by him.

--_Rochefoucauld._

657

No life is so strong and complete, But it sometimes yearns for the smile of a friend.

--_Wallace Bruce._

658

He was never a friend who ceased to be so--for a slight cause.

--_Seneca._

659

A friend cannot be known in prosperity; and an enemy cannot be hidden in adversity.

660

When a friend asks, there should be no tomorrow.

661

The best mirror is an old friend.

662

I am not of that feather to shake off my friend when he must need me. I do know him, a gentleman that well deserves a help, which he shall have: I'll pay the debt and free him.

--_Shakespeare._

663

A cut or slight from a foe or stranger, may be scarred over, but a stab from a friend you love hardly ever heals.

--_H. L. Meader._

664

He that telleth thee that thou art always wrong, may be deceived; but he that saith that thou art always right, is surely not telling the truth.

665

No man can be happy without a friend, nor be sure of his friend till he is unfortunate.

666

He that ceases to be a friend never was a good one.

667

A FRIEND THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER.

One there is above all others,
Well deserves the name of Friend!
His is love beyond a brother's,
Costly, free, and knows no end:
They who once His kindness prove,
Find it everlasting love!

--_Newton._

668

If you wink at your friend's vices you make them your own.

669

Without a friend the world is but a wilderness.

--_German._

670

Absolute friends are very rare.

671

Friends, but few on earth, and therefore dear.

--_Pollok._

672

It is to chance we owe our relatives, to choice our friends.

673

Equals make the best friends.

674

False friends are like our shadows, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade.

--_Bovee._

675

There are plenty acquaintances in the world, but very few real friends.

--_Chinese._

676

By my skill I have got many acquaintances, my manners very many friends.

677

Friends are lost by calling often, and calling seldom.

678

CHOOSING FRIENDS.

We ought always to make choice of persons of such worth and honor for our friends, that, if they should even cease to be so, they will not abuse our confidence, nor give us cause to fear them as enemies.

--_Addison._

679

Let us make the best of our friends while we have them, for how long we shall keep them is uncertain.

680

Friends are like melons. Shall I tell you why?
To find one good, you must a hundred try.

--_Claude Mermet._

681

Friends are sometimes like titled husbands, easy to get, if you have enough money.

--_H. L. Meader._

682

Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.

683

My treasures are my friends.

684

Without friends, no one would choose to live, even if he had all other good things.

685

Old friends and old ways ought not to be disdained.

--_Danish._

686

FRIENDS--PAUCITY OF

Friends, but few on earth, and therefore dear.

--_Pollok._

687

The poor man's assets are his friends.

688

Purchase not friends by gifts; when thou ceasest to give such will cease to love.

--_Fuller._

689

RECOGNITION IN HEAVEN.

Baxter said:--"I must confess, as the experience of my own soul, that the expectation of loving my friends in heaven principally kindles my love to them while on earth. If I thought I should never know, and consequently never love them after this life, I should number them with temporal things, and love them as such; but I now delightfully converse with my pious friends, in a firm persuasion that I shall converse with them forever; and I take comfort in those that are dead or absent, believing that I shall shortly meet them in heaven, and love them with a heavenly love."

690

A gift kept back where it was hoped, often separateth chief friends.

691

Strange to say,--I am the only one of my friends I can rely upon.

--_Terence._

692

There is no living without friends.

--_Portuguese._

693

True friends anticipate each other's wants.

694

Friends are sometimes like mushrooms, they spring up in out-of-the-way places.

695

At the gate of abundance there are many brothers and friends; at the gate of misfortune there is neither brother nor friend.

696

It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell a man of his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see the stain of sin upon him, and to go to him alone and speak painful truths in touching, tender words,--that is friendship, and a friendship as rare as it is precious.

697

Henceforth there shall be no other contention betwixt you and me, than which shall outdo the other in point of friendship.

698

Cultivate your neighbor's friendship; he needs you and you need him.

699

Friendship often ends in love;
But love, in friendship
--Never.

700

Renewed friendships require more care than those that have never been broken.

--_Rochefoucauld._

701

_Need for making Acquaintance._--If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man should keep his friendship _in constant repair_.

--_Sam'l Johnson._

702

Suspicion kills friendship.

--_Hugh Black._

703

Who friendship with a knave hath made,
Is judg'd a partner in the trade.

704

What need of years, long years, to prove
The sense of friendship, or of love!

705

There is truly nothing purer and warmer than our first friendship, our first love.

--_Jean Paul Richter._

706

The permanency of most friendships depends upon the continuity of good fortune.

707

Quickly made friendships, are often eagerly and quickly ended.

708

FRIENDSHIP--RARITY OF.

Rare is true love: true friendship is still rarer.

--_Rochefoucauld._

709

Real friendship is like a sheltering tree.

710

He is my friend that helps me, and not he that pities me.

711

Friendship has a power
To soothe affliction in her darkest hour.

--_H. Kirke White._

712

O summer friendship,
Whose flattering leaves, that shadow'd us in
Our prosperity, with the least gust drop off
In th' autumn of adversity!

--_Massinger._

713

THE HIGHER FRIENDSHIP.

Love Him, and keep Him for thy Friend, who, when all go away, will not forsake thee, nor suffer thee to perish at the last.

--_Thomas A'Kempis._

714

True friendship is one of the greatest blessings upon earth; it makes the cares and anxieties of life sit easy; provides us with a partner in every affliction to alleviate the burthen, and is a sure resort against every accident and difficulty that can happen.

715

True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.

--_Colton._

716

Those who speak always and those who never speak, are equally unfit for friendship.

717

He who never gives advice, and he who never takes it are alike unworthy of friendship.

718

He who is worthy of friendship at all will remember in his prosperity those who were his friends in his adversity.

719

Value the friendship of him who stands by you in a storm; swarms of insects will surround you in the sunshine.

720

No matter how poor and mean a man is, his friendship is worth more than his hate.

721

Good fruit never comes from a bad tree.

--_Portuguese._

722

There is nothing like fun, is there? I haven't any myself, but I do like it in others.

--_Haliburton._

723

_Groping for the Door._--O door, so close, yet so far off!

--_Miss Mulock._

724