Chapter VI: Letter V: 400 (4)

If you would have your name chime melodiously in the ears of future days, cultivate faith, and not doubt, giving unto every man credit for the good he does, and never attribute base motives to beautiful acts.

--_Unknown._

725

_Future_:--The future does not come from before to meet us, but comes streaming up from behind over our heads.

--_Rahel._

726

_Future--to be met without Fear_:--Look not mournfully into the past,--it comes not back again; wisely improve the present,--it is thine; go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear, and with a manly heart.

--_Longfellow._

G

727

One thing obtained with difficulty is far better than a hundred things procured with ease.

--_The Talmud._

728

Gain, has oft, with treacherous hopes led men to ruin.

--_Sophocles._

729

Either hand must wash the other;
If you take, then you must give.

730

Gain has a pleasant odor.

731

Prefer loss before unjust gain; for that brings grief but once; this forever.

--_Chilon._

732

Gain at the expense of reputation should be called loss.

733

No pains, no gains.

--_Italian._

734

It is impossible to be just, if one is not generous.

--_Joseph Roux._

735

Justice should precede generosity.

736

Generosity should never exceed ability.

--_Cicero._

737

A GENTLEMAN.

Show me the man who can quit the brilliant society of the young and listen to the kindly voice of age, who can hold cheerful converse with one whom years have deprived of charms. Show me the man of generous impulses, who is always ready to help the poor and needy; who treats unprotected maidenhood as he would the heiress surrounded by the protection of rank, riches and family; who never forgets for an instant the delicacy, the respect, that is due a woman in any condition or class. Show me such a man and you show me a gentleman--nay, more, you show me a true Christian.

738

It's not the gay coat makes the gentleman.

739

The man who is kind and obliging and is ready to do you a favor without hope of reward, who speaks the truth--is a gentleman,

In any garb,
And wherever he may be found.

740

Propriety of manners and consideration for others are the two main characteristics of a gentleman.

741

REAL AND ARTIFICIAL GENTLEMEN.

A friend of mine, not long ago, coming over from Ireland, heard a man asking, in reference to another, who he was. "I don't know," was the reply; "but he's quite a gentleman. He always wears a tall hat." Indeed, there are those who seem to be incapable of valuing their fellow-men by anything except their clothes. A story is told of a Persian prince, which well illustrates such worldliness. Dressed as a poor man, this prince went to a feast. He was pushed here and there, could not get to the table, and had soon to withdraw. On going home, he dressed himself in his best, placing jewelled slippers on his feet, and putting on a cloth-of-gold cloak. Then he returned to the feast, where matters were immediately altered. The guests made room, and the host, rushing up, cried, "Welcome, my lord! What will your lordship please to eat?" The prince's answer was very expressive. Stretching out his foot, so that his slipper sparkled and glittered, he took his golden robe in his hand, and said with bitter irony, "Welcome, my lord coat! welcome, most excellent robe! What will your lordship please to eat? For," said he, turning to his surprised host, "I ought to ask my coat what it will eat, since the welcome was solely to it."

742

We never teach men to be gentlemen, but we teach them everything else; and they never pique themselves so much on all the rest, as on knowing how to be gentlemen. They pique themselves only on knowing the one thing they have not learnt.

743

The true gentleman is he who does not plume himself on anything.

--_Rochefoucauld._

744

Let him speak who received; let the giver hold his peace.

745

Give freely to him that deserveth well and asketh nothing; and that is a way of giving to thyself.

--_Fuller._

746

Better a penny given with a smile than a pound given with a frown.

747

To give so as to bestow a favor and not create an obligation, is a delicate art.

748

He gives twice who gives quickly, according to the proverb; but a gift not only given quickly but unexpectedly, is the most welcome of all.

749

He who sedulously attends, pointedly asks, calmly speaks, coolly answers, and ceases when he has no more to say, is in possession of some of the best mental gifts of mankind.

750

THE BEST GIFTS.

The best of gifts to mortal man is health;
The next, the bloom of beauty's matchless flower;
The third is blameless and unfraudful wealth;
The fourth with friends to use youth's joyous hour.

--_Millman._

751

THE DYING GIRL TO HER LOVER.

Fare thee well, love, fare thee well,
From the world I pass away,
Where the brightest things that dwell
All deceive and all decay;
Cheerfully I fall asleep
As by some mysterious spell,
Yet I weep to see thee weep--
Fare thee well, love, fare thee well!

Tell of me, love, tell of me,
Not amid the heartless throng,
Not when passion bends the knee,
Not where pleasure trills the song.
But when some most cherish'd one
By your side at 'eve shall be,
Ere your twilight tales are done,
Tell of me, love, tell of me!

Leave me now, love, leave me now,
Not with sorrow, not with sighs,
Not with clouds, love, on thy brow,
Not with tears, love, in thine eyes.
We shall meet, we know not where,
And be blest, we dream not how,
With a kiss and with a prayer
Leave me now, love, leave me now!

--_By Winthrop M. Praed._

752

ADVICE TO A GIRL.

Never love unless you can
Bear with all the faults of man!
Men sometimes will jealous be
Though but little cause they see,
And hang the head as discontent,
And speak what straight they will repent.

Men, when their affairs require,
Must awhile themselves retire;
Sometimes hunt, and sometimes hawk,
And not ever sit and talk:----
If these and such-like you can bear,
Then like, and love, and never fear!

--_Thomas Campion._

753

THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS.

The Princess of Wales has decided views on the education of children. Her Royal Highness, it appears, strongly objects to "cramming" children with useless learning, which she declares is a mere waste of time.

The Princess considers it harmful to force a child in studies which are distasteful to it, and that the child should be allowed to abandon that study, and take up one it likes better.

Similarly, she disapproves of advanced arithmetic for girls. She considers that all that most girls need ever know about arithmetic, is addition and subtraction, "enough to know how to do their housekeeping and pay their debts," she says.

--_London Paper._

754

No one can give what he has not.

--_Latin._

755

Not every one that dances is glad.

--_French._

756

THE HOUR GLASS

Is an emblem of human life. Behold! how swiftly the sands run, and how rapidly our lives are drawing to a close! We cannot, without astonishment, behold the little particles which are contained in this machine; how they pass away almost imperceptibly! And yet, to our surprise, in the short space of an hour, they are all exhausted. Thus wastes man! To-day he puts forth the tender leaves of hope; to-morrow, blossoms, and bears his blushing honors thick upon him; the next day comes a frost, which nips the shoot; and when he thinks his greatness is still aspiring, he falls, like autumn leaves, to enrich our mother earth.

757

_The Greatness of God._--Said Dr. Guthrie, "If philosophy is to be believed, our world is but an outlying corner of creation; bearing, perhaps, as small a proportion to the great universe, as a single grain bears to all the sands of the seashore, or one small quivering leaf to the foliage of a boundless forest." Yet even within this earth's narrow limits, how vast the work of Providence! How soon is the mind lost in contemplating it! How great that Being whose hand paints every flower, and shapes every leaf; who forms every bud on every tree; who feeds each crawling worm with a parent's care, and watches like a mother over the insect that sleeps away the night in the bosom of a flower; who throws open the golden gates of day, and draws around a sleeping world the dusky curtains of the night; who measures out the drops of every shower, the whirling snowflakes, and the sands of man's eventful life; who determines alike the fall of a sparrow and the fate of a kingdom; and so overrules the tide of human fortunes, that whatever befall him, come joy or sorrow, the believer says--"It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good."

758

But as it is written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

--_I Cor. 2, 9v._

759

Every little blade of grass declareth the presence of God.

--_From the Latin._

760

THE FATHER'S LOVE.

Rest and be still:
Nought happens thee but of His blessed will.
There's not a wind that blows,
There's not a lily grows
Without His bidding--and His child shall He
Forget and leave uncomforted? Nay, see
How not a small brown sparrow (sorry thing!)
Without His hand can droop or raise a wing!
And thou art better far unto thy God!
Lo! if He calls thee to a way untrod
Where stones and rugged places tear thy feet,
And bitter herbs alone are for thy meat,
Or if He set thee high, and with a song
Fill thy rejoicing mouth, and make thee strong;
Yet know thou this: He loves thee just as dear
When dimpling laughter lights thy face, or tear
With bitter tear goes chasing down thy cheek,
And thy poor heart may break but cannot speak!

Rest and be still.
God hath not good and ill.
All that He sends is good, altho' our eye
For weeping scarce His rainbow can descry.
He is our Father, and His name is Love.
E'en when thy grief is greatest--look above!
Look up! look up! and thou shalt surely see
A Father's loving face down-bent to thee!

--_Deborah._

761

The more a man denies himself, the more he shall obtain from God.

--_Horace._

762

THE LOVE OF GOD.

The following beautiful lines were composed in 1779, by a distinguished scholar--at the time partially insane.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
Were the whole earth of parchment made,
Were every single stick a quill,
Were every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God alone,
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor would the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from earth to sky.

763

Whoever devotes himself to the veneration of God, whatever road he may choose, will come to God, and that the means to this, is, to avoid hurting any living being.

Be true and thou shalt be free;
Truth belongs to thee, and thy success to the creator.

_From the Persian._
--_By David Shea and A. Troy._

764

Who comes to God an inch, through doubtings dim,
In blazing light God will
Advance a mile to him.

--_Sayings of Rabia._

765

A gold key is apt to open every door.

--_Massinger._

766

THE GOLDEN RULE.

If I should see
A brother languishing in sore distress,
And I should turn and leave him comfortless
When I might be
A messenger of hope and happiness--
How could I ask to have what I denied
In my own hour of bitterness supplied?

If I might share
A brother's load along the dusty way,
And I should turn and walk alone that day--
How could I dare,
When, in the evening watch, I knelt to pray
To ask for help to bear my pain and loss,
If I had heeded not my brother's cross?

And so I know
That day is lost wherein I fail to lend
A helping hand to some wayfaring friend;
But if it show
A burden lightened by the cheer I sent,
Then do I hold the golden hours well spent,
And lay me down to sleep in sweet content.

767

GOLF AND MATRIMONY.

"As an illustration of the enthusiasm with which golf is pursued by its votaries," says _Harper's Weekly_, "the following anecdote is told of a well known Scotch author, and a young friend of his. The two had spent the whole day on the links, and had had some close and exciting matches; as they left for home the elder man remarked:

"'Do you think ye could play again to-morrow, laddie?'

"'Well,' answered the youth, 'I was going to be married to-morrow, but I can put it off.'"

768

All things come round to him who will but wait and work.

769

Every person is responsible for all the good within the scope of his abilities.

770

Doing good is the only certainly happy action of a man's life.

--_Sir P. Sidney._

771

The pleasure of doing good is the only one that never wears out.

772

The good we have received from a man requires us to be tender of the evil he does us.

773

Seeking others' good, we find our own.

774

What is the difference between being good and bad? The good do not yield to temptations, and the bad do.

The definition was so simple and so wise, that Leonard was more struck with it than he might have been by an elaborate sermon.

--_Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart._

775

TOO LATE.

And as each day, that ne'er returns,
But joins the past,
Comes and goes by, the rich man toils
Hard at his task,--
No time for thought or anything
But just his wealth.
Can he be dreaming life's for aye?
Now fails his health,
And death comes in and beckons him away.

Good that was in his hands to do,
He left undone,
Forgetting, in his race for wealth,
Life's setting sun!
His thoughts all lay in how to make
One dollar seven:
And then, too late, he found, for gold
There's no demand in heaven.

776

GOOD-BY.

"Farewell! farewell!" is often heard
From the lips of those who part:
'Tis a whispered tone,--'tis a gentle word,
But it springs not from the heart.
It may serve for the lover's closing lay,
To be sung 'neath a summer sky;
But give to me the lips that say
The honest words, "Good-by!"

"Adieu! adieu!" may greet the ear,
In the guise of courtly speech:
But when we leave the kind and dear,
'Tis not what the soul would teach.
Whene'er we grasp the hands of those
We would have forever nigh,
The flame of friendship bursts and glows
In the warm, frank words, "Good-by."

The mother, sending forth her child
To meet with cares and strife,
Breathes through her tears, her doubts, and fears
For the loved one's future life.
No cold "adieu," no "farewell," lives
Within her choking sigh,
But the deepest sob of anguish gives,
"God bless, thee, boy! 'Good-by!'"

--_Anonymous._

777

The sign of goodness in the young is to love the old; and in the old to love the young.

778

To all, to each, a fair good night,
And pleasing dreams, and slumbers light.

--_Sir Walter Scott._

779

The Cross is the guarantee of the Gospel; therefore it has been its standard.

--_Amiel._

780

There is so much bad in the best of us,
And so much good in the worst of us,
That it hardly behooves any of us,
To talk about the rest of us.

--_Robert Louis Stevenson._

781

_Leviticus xix. 16._--"Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people."

At a small town in ----shire lives a decent honest woman, who has for more than forty years gained her livelihood by washing in gentlemen's families. She gives the highest satisfaction to all her employers, and has, in several instances, been the whole of that time in the employ of the same families. Indeed, those whom she has once served never wish to part with her. She has one distinguishing excellency, it is this: through all this course of years,--forty--she has never been known, by either mistress or servant, to repeat in one house what was said or done in another.

--_John Whitecross_, _Edinburgh, 1835_.

782

Tale-bearers, as I said before, are just as bad as the tale-makers.

--_Sheridan._

783

The inquisitive are the funnels of conversation; they do not take in anything for their own use, but merely to pass it to others.

--_Steele._

784

What future misery ought they to endure who talk of what is not good in others.

--_Chinese Maxim._

785

If families have no sons devoted to letters, whence are the governors of the people to come?

(Necessity for general education.)

--_Chinese._

786

He governs best who governs least.

--_Latin._

787

GRACE.

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some that want it, but canna get it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.

--_Burns._

788

REBUKED BY A KING.

The king of one of the Friendly Islands became a Christian, and once went on board of a British vessel, where he was invited to dine with the officers. Observing he did not taste his food, the Captain inquired the cause; when the simple native replied, that he was waiting for the blessing to be asked. All felt rebuked, and the king was desired to say grace, which he did with becoming solemnity.

789

Expect not praise from the mean,
Neither gratitude from the selfish.

790

THANKS--FOR FAVORS.

Your bounty is beyond my speaking;
But though my mouth be dumb, my heart shall thank you;
And when it melts before the throne of mercy,
My fervent soul shall breathe one tear for you,
That heaven will pay you back, when most you need,
The grace and goodness you have shown to me.

791

God judges your gratitude more by your hands than by your hymns.

792

Many a thanksgiving sermon mistakes glorification of self for gratitude to God.

793

May we look around us with pleasure,
And above us with gratitude.

794

GRATITUDE.

Nought so becomes a man as gratitude
For good received; Noble deeds are still
The offspring of benevolence, whilst he
With whom remembrance dies of blessings past
Is vile and worthless.

--_Sophocles, born 496, B. C._

795

It is much better to make presents in articles than in money, because gratitude for the latter is spent as soon as that is.

--_Jean Paul Richter._

796

Gratitude, we find in the dictionary, but not often in the heart of man.

797

When the tree is felled, its shadows disappear.

(Desertion of the great by their parasites.)

--_Chinese._

798

AGAINST EXCESSIVE GRIEF.

(From a letter addressed to the Countess of Essex on the loss of her only daughter.)

"I know no duty in religion more generally agreed on, nor more justly required by God Almighty, than a perfect submission to His will in all things; nor do I think any disposition of mind can either please Him more, or become us better, than that of being satisfied with all He gives, and contented with all He takes away. None, I am sure, can be of more honor to God, nor of more ease to ourselves. For, if we consider Him as our Maker, we cannot contend with Him; if as our Father, we ought not to distrust Him: so that we may be confident whatever He does is intended for good; and whatever happens that we interpret otherwise, yet we can get nothing by repining, nor save anything by resisting.

Submission is the only way of reasoning between a creature and its Maker; and contentment in His will is the greatest duty we can pretend to, and the best remedy we can apply to all our misfortunes."

799

GOD'S SURE HELP IN SORROW.

Leave all to God,
Forsaken one, and stay thy tears;
For the Highest knows thy pain,
Sees thy sufferings and thy fears;
Thou shalt not wait His help in vain;
Leave all to God!

Be still and trust!
For His strokes are strokes of love,
Thou must for thy profit bear;
He thy filial fear would move,
Trust thy Father's loving care,
Be still and trust!

Know God is near!
Though thou think Him far away,
Though His mercy long have slept,
He will come and not delay,
When His child enough hath wept,
For God is near!

Oh, teach Him not
When and how to hear thy prayers;
Never doth our God forget;
He the cross who longest bears
Finds his sorrows' bounds are set;
Then teach Him not!

If thou love Him,
Walking truly in His ways,
Then no trouble, cross or death
E'er shall silence faith and praise;
All things serve thee here beneath,
If thou love God.

_From the German of Anton Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick, 1667. Translation of Catherine Winkworth, 1855._

800

He grieves more than is necessary who grieves before it is necessary.

--_Seneca._

801

"A great Latin poet said nearly two thousand years ago:

'If you would draw tears from the eyes of others,
Yourself the sign of grief must show.'"

--_From W. J. Bryan's speech in Japan._

802

They truly mourn that mourn without a witness.

--_R. Baron._

803

There is no grief that time will not soften.

--_Cicero._

804

He mourns indeed who mourns when he's alone.

805

"Maybe the remark of a child I once overheard helped me to learn to complain and grumble as little as possible," said Dr. Burt. "While I was studying at Wilbraham Academy I spent a few days with this child's father, a good man but a chronic growler. We were all sitting in the parlor one night, when the question of food arose. The child, a little girl, told cleverly what each member of the household liked best. Finally it came to the father's turn to be described as to his favorite dish.

'And what do I like, Lucy, my pet?' he said, laughingly.

'You,' said the little girl, slowly--'well, papa, dear, you like most anything we haven't got.'"

806

Guilt is always cowardly.

--_From the Latin._

807

Dr. Guthrie tells an anecdote in which he humorously introduces a Brechin citizen, alive in his youthful days:--"An honest countryman came one day to Mr. Linton (head master of the grammar school) with a halflin[807:A], a long, empty chap, who had taken it into his head that he would have some little learning. Said the father, 'Mr. Linton, ye see, my laddie's fond o' lear'[807:B], and I'm thinking o' makin' a scholar o' him.' 'But,' said Mr. Linton, looking at the youth, and not seeing any sign that there was much in him, 'What are you to make of him?' 'You see, Mr. Linton,' rejoined the father--and it showed how sound the old Scotchman was--'if he gets grace, we'll make a minister o' him!' 'Oh, but,' says Mr. Linton, 'if he does not get grace, what will you make of him then?' 'Weel, in that case,' said the parent, 'if he disna get grace, we'll just mak' a dominie o' him! '"

--_From Memoir._

FOOTNOTES:

[807:A] Half-grown.

[807:B] Learning.

807a

_Dr. Guthrie to his Son_: "I saw an adage yesterday, in a medical magazine, which is well worth your remembering and acting on, it is this wise saying of the great Lord Bacon's:--'Who asks much learns much.' I remember the day when I did not like by asking, to confess my ignorance. I have long given up that, and now seize on every opportunity of adding to my stock of knowledge."

--_From Memoir of Dr. Guthrie._

H

808

HA AND AH!

Ha, is an exclamation denoting surprise or joy; ah, an exclamation expressive of pity or grief.

--_Fuller._

809

How use doth breed a habit in a man!--

--_Shakespeare._

810

HOW TO CORRECT A BAD HABIT.

Penn was once advising a man to leave off his habit of drinking intoxicating liquors.

"Can you tell me how to do it?" said the slave of his appetite.

"Yes," answered Penn. "It is just as easy as to open thy hand, friend."

"Convince me of that and I will promise, upon my honor, to do as you tell me."

"Well, my friend," said the great Quaker, "when thou findest any vessel of intoxicating liquor in thy hand, open the hand that grasps it before it reaches thy mouth, and thou wilt never be drunk again."

The man was so pleased with the plain advice that he followed it.

--_Monthly Magazine._

811

You need not wrestle and strive with the old habit, only just be persistent in forming the good one, and the bad one will take care of itself.

--_Ursula._

812

Habit is like a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it.

--_Horace Mann._

813

No man is free who is a slave to any kind of useless habit.

--_Seneca._

814

Habit, if not resisted soon, becomes necessity.

--_St. Augustine._

815

Habit with him was all the test of truth,
"It must be right: I've done it from my youth."

--_Crabbe._

816

INNOCENCE AND GUILT.

A painter, desiring to paint a picture of Innocence, found a beautiful boy playing at the side of a stream, who became his model. He painted him kneeling, with his hands clasped in prayer. The picture was prized as a very beautiful one. Years passed away, and the artist became an old man. He had often thought of painting a counterpart, the picture of guilt, as a companion to the other; and at last he executed it. He went to a neighboring prison, and there selected the most degraded and repulsive man he could find. His body and eye were wasted; vice was visible in his very face. But what was the artist's surprise when, on questioning the man as to his history, he found that it was he who, as a lovely boy, had kneeled for him as the model of Innocence! Evil habits had gradually changed him, not only in heart and mind, but in face and form.

817

All habits gather by unseen degrees.
As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.

--_Dryden: Ovid._

818

Old habits are hard to break; new habits are hard to make.

819

Taste may change; our inclinations never change.

820

Habits are soon assumed--acquired--but when we strive to strip them off,--if of long standing--'tis being flayed alive!

--_Cowper._

821

To stop the hand, is the way to stop the mouth.
(If a man will not work, neither shall he eat.)

--_Chinese._

822

ELOQUENCE OF THE HANDS.

The hands are, by the very instincts of humanity, raised in prayer; clasped in affection; wrung in despair; pressed on the forehead when the soul is "perplexed in the extreme;" drawn inward, to invite; thrust forth objectively, to repel; the fingers point to indicate, and are snapped in disdain; the palm is laid upon the heart, in invocation of subdued feeling, and on the brow of the compassioned in benediction. The expressive capacity of the hands was never more strikingly displayed than in the orisons (prayer) of the deaf and dumb. Their teacher stood with closed eyes, and addressing the Deity by those signs made with the fingers which constitute a language for the speechless. Around him were grouped more than a hundred mutes, following with reverent glances every motion. It was a visible, but not an audible, worship.

823

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HAND.

A dispute arose among three ladies as to which had the most beautiful hands. One sat by a stream, and dipped her hand into the water and held it up; another plucked strawberries until the ends of her fingers were pink; and a third gathered violets until her hands were fragrant. An old, haggard woman, passing by, asked, "Who will give me a gift, for I am poor?" all three denied her; but another who sat near, unwashed in the stream, unstained with fruit, unadorned with flowers or perfume, gave her a little gift, and satisfied the poor woman. Then the woman asked them what was the subject of their dispute; and they told her, and lifted up before her their beautiful hands. "Beautiful indeed!" she exclaimed, as she saw them. But when they asked her which was the most beautiful, she said: "It is not the hand that is washed clean in the brook; it is not the hand that is coloured with crimson tints; it is not the hand that is perfumed with fragrant flowers; but the hand that gives to the poor, that is the most beautiful."

824

TRUE HAPPINESS.

True happiness
Consists not in the multitude of friends,
But in the worth and choice: nor would I have
Them popular:
Let them be good that love me, though but few.

--_Ben Jonson._

825

Happiness consists in being perfectly satisfied with what we have got, and with what we haven't got.

826

Happiness consists not in possessing much, but in being content with what we possess. He who wants little, always has enough.

827

A cottage will hold as much happiness as would stock a palace.

--_Hamilton._

828

With "gentleness" his own character, "comfort" in his house, and "good temper" in his wife, the earthly felicity of man may be said to be complete.

--_From the German._

829

What dangers threaten a great reputation!
Far happier the man of lowly station.

830

We are happy in this world just in proportion as we make others happy.

831

A HAPPY COUPLE.

I think you the happiest couple in the world; for you are not only happy in one another, but happy in yourselves, and by yourselves.

--_Congreve._

832

Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of heaven; and every countenance bright with smiles, and glowing with innocent enjoyment, is a mirror transmitting to others the rays of a supreme and ever-shining benevolence.

--_Washington Irving._

833

To rejoice in the happiness of others is to make it our own; to produce it, is to make it more than our own. There is happiness in the very wish to make others happy.

--_Dr. Chalmers._

834

Unmixed happiness is not to be found in this world.

835

Hatred always hurts the hater most of all.

836

It is the nature of the human disposition to hate him whom you have injured.

--_Tacitus._

837

I am almost frozen by the distance you are from me.

838

If a man makes me keep my distance, the comfort is, he keeps his at the same time.

839

Health is rightly appreciated only when we are sick.

--_German Proverb._

840

A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.

841

He that is well does not know how rich he is.
Better a healthy beggar, than a sick king.

--_German Proverb._

842

It is better to have less wealth and more health.

843

Health is so necessary to all duties, as well as pleasures of life, that the crime of squandering it is equal to the folly.

844

HEALTH.

Thou chiefest good,
Bestow'd by Heaven, but seldom understood.

--_Lucan._

845

The only way for a rich man to be healthy is, by exercise and abstinence, to live as if he were poor.

--_Sir W. Temple._

846

An innocent heart suspects no guile.

--_Portuguese._

847

A BROKEN HEART.

Dr. Mitchell of Philadelphia, in lecturing to his pupils upon the diseases of the heart, narrated an anecdote to prove that the expression "broken heart" was not merely figurative. On one occasion, in the early period of his life, he accompanied, as surgeon, a packet that sailed from Liverpool to one of the American ports. The captain frequently conversed with him respecting a lady who had promised to become his bride on his return from that voyage. Upon this subject he evinced great warmth of feeling, and showed Dr. Mitchell some costly jewels, ornaments, etc., which he intended to present as bridal presents. On reaching his destination, he was abruptly informed that the lady had married some one else. Instantly the captain was observed to clap his hand to his breast, and fall heavily to the ground. He was taken up, and conveyed to his cabin on board the vessel. Dr. Mitchell was immediately summoned; but, before he reached the poor captain, he was dead. A postmortem examination revealed the cause of his unfortunate disease. His heart was found literally torn in twain! The tremendous propulsion of blood, consequent upon such a violent nervous shock, forced the powerful muscle tissues asunder, and life was at an end. The heart was broken.

848

Every heart has its secret sorrow, which the world knows not; and oftentimes we call a man cold when he is only sad.

849

PARTING.

To know, to esteem, to love,--and then to part,
Makes up life's tale to many a feeling heart.

--_Coleridge._

850

Some men's hearts are as great as the world, and still have no room in them to hold the memory of a wrong.

851

How small is the human heart, and yet even there, God enters in.

852

A ROYAL HEART.

Ragged, uncomely, and old and gray,
A woman walked in a Scottish town;
And through the crowd, as she wound her way,
One saw her loiter and then stoop down,
Putting something away in her old, torn gown.
"You are hiding a jewel!" the watcher said--
(Ah, that was her heart, had the truth been read.)
"What have you stolen?" he asked again;
Then the dim eyes filled with a sudden pain,
And under the flickering light of the gas
She showed him her gleaning. "It's broken glass,"
She said. "I hae lifted it up frae the street
To be oot o' the rood o' the bairnies' feet!"
Under the fluttering rags astir
That was a royal heart that beat!
Would that the world had more like her
Smoothing the road for its bairnies' feet!

--_W. H. Ogilvie._

853

IS IT INSTINCT?

Ye who know the reason, tell me
How is it that instinct
Prompts the heart to like or not like
At its own capricious will?
Tell me by what hidden magic
Our impressions first are led
Into liking or disliking,
Oft before a word is said?

Why should smiles sometimes repel us?
Bright eyes turn our feelings cold?
What is it that comes to tell us
All that glitters is not gold?
Oh! no feature, plain or striking,
But a power we cannot shun
Prompts our liking and disliking,
Ere acquaintance hath begun.

Is it instinct? or some spirit
Which protects us, and controls
Every impulse we inherit,
By some sympathy of souls?
Is it instinct? is it nature?
Or some freak or fault of chance,
Which our liking or disliking
Limits to a single glance?

Like presentiment of danger,
Though the sky no shadow flings;
Or that inner sense, still stranger,
Of unseen, unuttered things?
Is it? oh! can no one tell me,
No one show sufficient cause
Why our likings and dislikings
Have their own instinctive laws?

854

_The Bitterness of Estrangement._--To be estranged from one whom we have tenderly and constantly loved, is one of the bitterest trials the heart can ever know.

--_Prynne._

855

There is no place where weeds do not grow, and there is no heart where errors are not to be found.

856

We open the hearts of others when we open our own.

857

Earth hath nothing more tender than a woman's heart, when it is the abode of piety.

858

And yet when all is thought and said,
The heart still overrules the head.

859

The All-Seeing Eye, whom the sun, moon and stars obey, and under whose watchful care even comets perform their stupendous revolutions--pervades the inmost recesses of the human heart, and will reward us according to our merits.

860

There's many a good bit o' work done with a sad heart.

861

To meet, to know, to love--and then to part,
Is the sad tale of many a human heart.

--_Coleridge._

862

The heart is a small thing, but desireth great matters. It is not sufficient for a kite's (bird of the hawk kind) dinner, yet the whole world is not sufficient for it.

--_Quarles._

863

MY HEART.

The heart resembles the ocean! has storm, and ebb and flow;
And many a beautiful pearl lies hid in its depths below.

--_Heine._

864

The turnpike-road to people's hearts, I find,
Lies through their mouths; or I mistake mankind.

--_Dr. Warton._

865

The merry heart goes all the day,
While a sad one tires in a mile-a.

--_Shakespeare._

866

DISSENSION BETWEEN HEARTS.

Alas! how slight a cause may move
Dissension between hearts that love--
Hearts that the world in vain had tried,
And sorrow but more closely tied;
That stood the storm when waves were rough,
Yet in a sunny hour fell off,
Like ships that have gone down at sea,
When the ocean was all tranquility!
A something light as air--a look--
A word unkind or wrongly taken;
Oh, love that tempests never shook,
A breath--a touch like this hath shaken.

--_Thomas Moore._

867

Men, as well as women, are much oftener led by their hearts than by their understandings; indeed nine times in ten it is so.

868

HEAVEN.

If God hath made this world so fair,
Where sin and death abound,
How beautiful, beyond compare,
Will Paradise be found!

--_Montgomery._

868a

Let others seek earth's honors; be it mine
One law to cherish, and to track one line--
Straight on towards heaven to press with single bent,
To know and love my God, and then to die content.

--_Newman._

869

Many a man who prides himself on doing a cash business, regards his debts to Heaven with indifference.

870

THE DELIGHTS OF HEAVEN.

"Of the positive joys of heaven we can form no conception; but its negative delights form a sufficiently attractive picture,--no pain; no thirst; no hunger; no horror of the past; no fear of the future; no failure of mental capacity; no intellectual deficiency; no morbid imaginations; no follies; no stupidities; but above all, no insulted feelings; no wounded affections; no despised love or unrequited regard; no hate, envy, jealousy, or indignation of or at others; no falsehood, dishonesty, dissimulation, hypocrisy, grief or remorse. In a word," said Professor Wilson, "to end where I began, no sin and no suffering."

871

BELIEVE AND LIVE.

O how unlike the complex works of man,
Heaven's easy, artless, unencumbered plan!
No clustering ornaments to clog the pile;
From ostentation, as from weakness free,
It stands majestic in its own simplicity.
Inscribed above the portal, from afar,
Conspicuous as the brightness of a star,
Legible only by the light they give,
Stand the soul-quickening words--Believe and Live.
Too many, shocked at what should charm them most,
Despise the plain direction, and are lost.
Heaven on such terms! (they cry with proud disdain,)
Incredible impossible, and vain!
Rebel, because 'tis easy to obey;
And scorn, for its own sake, the gracious way.

872

IS THAT ALSO THINE?

A beautiful reply is recorded of a peasant, whose master was displaying to him the grandeur of his estates. Farms, houses, and forests were pointed out in succession, on every hand, as the property of the rich proprietor, who summed up finally by saying, "In short, all that you can see, in every direction, belongs to me." The poor man looked thoughtful for a moment; then, pointing up to heaven, solemnly replied, "And is _that_, also, thine?"

873

THE BETTER LAND.

"I hear thee speak of the better land,
Thou callest its children a happy band:
Mother! oh where is that radiant shore?
Shall we not seek it and weep no more?
Is it where the flower of the orange blows,
And the fire-flies glance through the myrtle boughs?"
"Not there, not there, my child!"

"Is it where the feathery palm trees rise,
And the date grows ripe under sunny skies?
Or 'midst the green islands of glittering seas,
Where fragrant forests perfume the breeze,
And strange, bright birds, on their starry wings
Bear the rich hues of all glorious things?"
"Not there, not there, my child!"

"Is it far away, in some region old,
Where the rivers wander o'er sands of gold?--
Where the burning rays of the ruby shine,
And the diamond lights up the secret mine,
And the pearl gleams forth from the coral strand?
Is it there, sweet mother, that better land?"
"Not there, not there, my child!"

"Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy!
Ear hath not heard its deep songs of joy;
Dreams cannot picture a world so fair--
Sorrow and death may not enter there;
Time doth not breathe on its fadeless bloom,
For beyond the clouds and beyond the tomb,
It is there, it is there, my child!"

--_Mrs. Hemans._

874

Plants look up in heaven, from whence
They have their nourishment.

875

Help, when we meet them,
Lame dogs over stiles.

876

It is not enough to help an erring brother out of the mire,--we must help to get him upon a rock.

877

History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

--_Gibbon._

878

My precept to all who build is, that the owner should be an ornament to the house, and not the house to the owner.

--_Cicero._

879

HOME.

Cling to thy home! if there the meanest shed
Yield thee a hearth and shelter for thy head,
And some poor plot, with vegetables stored,
Be all that Heaven allots thee for thy board,--
Unsavory bread, and herbs that scattered grow
Wild on the river brink or mountain brow,
Yet e'en this cheerless mansion shall provide
More heart's repose than all the world beside.

--_From the Greek of Leonidas._

880

DEFINITIONS OF "HOME."

Having offered a prize for the best definition of "Home," London _Tit-Bits_ recently received more than five thousand answers. Among those which were adjudged the best were the definitions as follows:

A world of strife shut out, a world of love shut in.

Home is the blossom of which heaven is the fruit.

The best place for a married man after business hours.

Home is the coziest, kindliest, sweetest place in all the
world; the scene of our purest earthly joys, and deepest
sorrows.

The place where the great are sometimes small, and the small
often great.

The father's kingdom, the children's paradise, the mother's
world.

881

The ornaments of a home are the friends who frequent it.

--_Emerson._

882

God hath often a great share in a little house, and but a little share in a great one.

883

Home is the grandest of all institutions.

--_Spurgeon._

884

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble, and full of care;
To stay at home is best.

--_Longfellow._

885

There's little pleasure in the house when our gudeman's awa'.

--_W. J. Mickle._

886

How many fine, well furnished and pretentious houses we now see around us, occupied and owned by successful people, in which there is hardly a market-basket full of books! Evidently showing that the material is of more importance than the intellectual.

--_Observer._

887

We neglect the things which are placed before our eyes, and regardless of what is within our reach, we pursue whatever is remote. This is frequently and properly applied to the rage for visiting foreign countries, in those who are absolutely unacquainted with their own.

Abroad to see wonders the traveler goes,
And neglects the fine things which lie under his nose.

888

A man without a home is like a bird without a nest.

889

Many a home is nothing but a furnished house.

890

ONE'S OWN HOME.

Travel is instructive and pleasant, but after all there is nothing so enjoyable as the independence and the luxury of one's own home. Travel is pleasant, but home is delightful!

891

Without hearts, there is no home.

--_Byron._

892

A man unconnected is at home everywhere; unless he may be said to be at home nowhere.

--_Dr. Sam'l Johnson._

893

HOME--DEVOID OF LOVE.

He enter'd in his house--his home no more,
For without hearts there is no home--and felt
The solitude of passing his own door
Without a welcome.

--_Byron._

894

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

--_Payne._

895

THAT LAND THY COUNTRY.

There is a land, of every land the pride,
Beloved by Heaven o'er all the world beside;
Where brighter suns dispense serener light,
And milder moons emparadise the night;--
There is a spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest
Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside
His sword and sceptre, pageantry and pride,
While in his softened looks benignly blend
The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend;--
"Where shall that land, that spot of earth, be found?"
Art thou a man?--a patriot?--look around!
O, thou shalt find, where'er thy footsteps roam,
That land thy country, and that spot thy home!

--_Sir Walter Scott._

896

It is a great happiness, if after being absent from home for a time you find no troubles awaiting your return.

897

Filling a house with bargains is apt to keep a couple from owning the house in which they place them.

898

'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark
Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw near home;
'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark
Our coming, and look brighter when we come.

--_Byron._

899

My house, my house, though thou art small,
Thou art to me a palace.

900

TRUE NATURE OF HOME.

This is the true nature of home--it is the place of Peace; the shelter not only from all injury, but from all terror, doubt and division. In so far as it is not this, it is not home; so far as the anxieties of the outer life penetrate into it * * * it ceases to be home; it is then only a part of that outer world which you have roofed over and lighted fire in.

--_John Ruskin._

901

THE WANDERER'S RETURN.

He seeks the tranquil scenes of early days,
Leaving the dazzling haunts of vain ambition;
And now, he longs to meet a kindly gaze
And hear a warm and cheering recognition.

How changed he seems! Though still in manhood's prime,
Long hath he striven with care, want, and danger;
Their iron grasp has wrought the work of Time,
And all who view him, deem him as a stranger.

He meets with one who knew him when a boy:
How oft, beneath yon trees, in summer weather,
They sat, and pictured scenes of future joy,
When they should tread the far-off world together!

They stand upon the old familiar spot:
One feels long vanished memories steal o'er him;
The other sees, yet recognizes not
His blithe companion in the form before him.

Next comes a friend who in his wavering youth
His footsteps had upheld with patient guiding;
Wise in his counsel, steadfast in his truth,
Prompt in his praise, and gracious in his chiding.

Hath he, indeed, discarded from his mind
The object of his care and admonition?
He hath not--yet he casts no glance behind;
The wanderer fails to make his recognition.

What, doth his image live indeed with none?
Have all expelled him from their recollection?
Lo! a sweet lady comes--the cherished one
To whom he breathed his vows of young affection.

He views her--she has lost the airy grace
And mantling bloom that won his boyish duty;
And yet a winning charm pervades her face,
In the calm radiance of its mellowed beauty.

Can she forget? Though others pass him by,
Failing his former features to discover,
Will not her faithful heart instruct her eye
To recognize her dear, her long-lost lover?

Oh! in that grief-worn man, no trace remains
Of the gay, gallant youth from whom she parted;
A brief and careless glance alone she deigns
To the poor sufferer, chilled and broken-hearted;

Who feels as though condemned to lead henceforth
A strange, a sad, a separate existence,
Gazing awhile on those he loves on earth,
But to behold them fading in the distance.

Lo! a pale matron comes, with quiet pace,
And aspect of subdued and gentle sadness;--
Fondly she clasps him in a warm embrace,
And greets him with a burst of grateful gladness!

"Praise be to Heaven!" the weary wanderer cries,
"All human love is not a mocking vision:
Through every change, in every varied guise,
The son still claims his mother's recognition!"

--_From the Danish, by Mrs. Abdy._

902

HOME.

Home's not merely four square walls,
Though with pictures hung and gilded;
Home is where affection calls,
Filled with shrines the heart hath builded!
Home! go watch the faithful dove,
Sailing 'neath the heaven above us;
Home is where there's one to love!
Home is where there's one to love us!

Home's not merely roof and room,
It needs something to endear it;
Home is where the heart can bloom,
Where there's some kind lip to cheer it!

What is home with none to meet,
None to welcome, none to greet us?
Home is sweet,--and only sweet--
When there's one we love to meet us.

903

Beware of those who are homeless by choice! You have no hold on a human being whose affections are without a tap-root!

--_Southey._

904

I am as homeless as the wind that moans
And wanders through the streets.

--_Longfellow._

905

GIVE GOOD MEASURE.

When I was a young man, there lived in our neighborhood one who was universally reported to be a very liberal man, and uncommonly upright in his dealings. When he had any of the produce of his farm to dispose of, he made it an invariable rule to give good measure, over good, rather more than could be required of him. One of his friends, observing him frequently doing so, questioned him why he did it, told him he gave too much, and said it would not be to his own advantage. Now mark the answer of this man. "God Almighty has permitted me but one journey through the world; and when gone I cannot return to rectify mistakes."

906

To be honest and faithful is to belong to the only aristocracy in the world--and the smallest.

--_Israel Zangwill._

907

COMMERCIAL HONESTY.

On one occasion the first Napoleon being informed that a certain army contractor had cheated the government by supplying the troops with very inferior and insufficient food, sent for him to inquire into the affair. "How is this?" said the Emperor: "I understand you have been violating your contract." "Sire," was the answer, "I must live." "No," replied the monarch, "I do not see the _must_. It is not necessary that you should live; but it is necessary that you should do right."

908

Too much assertion gives ground of suspicion; truth and honesty have no need of loud protestations.

909

REUBEN AND SANDY.

Can any one who was present ever forget the broken voice and streaming tears with which he (Dean Stanley) told the story of two little Scotch boys, Reuben and Sandy? The story was as follows: "On a cold winter day, a gentleman in Edinburgh had, out of pity, bought a box of matches from a poor, little, shivering boy, and, as he had no pence, had given him a shilling, of which the change was to be brought to his hotel. Hours passed by, and the boy did not return. Very late in the evening a mere child came to the hotel. 'Are you the gentleman that bought the matches frae Sandy?' 'Yes.' 'Well, then, here's fourpence out o' yer' shillin'; Sandy canna come. He's verra ill. A cart ran over him and knocked him doon, and he lost his bonnet and his matches and yer sevenpence, and baith his legs are broken, and the doctor says he'll dee; and that's a'.' And then, putting down the fourpence on the table, the poor child burst into great sobs. 'So I fed the little man,' said the narrator; 'and I went with him to see Sandy. The two little things were living almost alone; their father and mother were dead. Poor Sandy was lying on a bundle of shavings. He knew me as soon as I came in, and said, 'I got the change, sir, and was coming back, and then the cart knocked me down, and both my legs were broken; and oh, Reuby, little Reuby, I am sure I am dying, and who will take care of you when I am gone? What will ye do?' 'I took his hand, and said I would always take care of Reuby. He understood me, and had just strength enough to look up as if to thank me; the light went out of his blue eyes. In a moment,

He lay within the light of God,
Like a babe upon the breast,
Where the wicked cease from troubling
And the weary are at rest.'"

910

_Honesty._--If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.

--_Dr. Johnson._

911

The birthplace of a man does him no honor,
But a man may do honor to his birthplace.

912