Chapter IX: Letter V: 400 (7)

The rules were to be enforced by the nurses. The performance of the tasks was left to the honor of the children, and in addition there was a list of things they must not do.

There were occasional lapses of memory as regards the forbidden things, and some carelessness in carrying out the tasks, for royal children, despite the severity of their training, are children still. But in the main they respected their mother's wishes and commands, and took no advantage of her absence. Upon one occasion, however, they were sorely tempted. This was when their loving and beloved grandmother, Queen Alexandria, brought them a big box of bonbons. But when the sweets were offered to them, one child after another reluctantly but firmly declined to take any.

"We like them, but mother has forbidden us to eat them," explained the eldest prince.

"You can have the sugar-plums if I say you may," said the indulgent queen. "I will tell mama all about it when she returns."

Prince Eddie wavered momentarily, then reiterated his refusal.

"We'd like them," he sighed, "but that's what mother said."

The queen was slightly annoyed by this opposition.

"But if I say you may--" she said.

Prince Eddie stood his ground, a hero between two fires--the wishes of his adored mother, and those of his almost equally adored grandmother. His sister and his brothers followed his lead. When the queen went away she put the bonbons on the nursery table and there they stayed for months untouched, a handsome monument to the thoroughness of the princess' training and the respectful love and devotion of her children.

--_The Youth's Companion._

1400

Better the child should cry than the mother sigh.

--_Danish._

1401

THE DARING OF A MOTHER.

In Scotland a peasant woman had a child a few weeks old, which was seized by one of the golden eagles, the largest in the country, and borne away in its talons to its lofty eyrie on one of the most inaccessible cliffs of Scotland's bleak hills; the mother, perceiving her loss, hurried in alarm to its rescue, and the peasantry among whom the alarm spread, rushed out to her aid; they all came to the foot of the tremendous precipice; the peasants were anxious to risk their lives in order to recover the little infant; but how was the crag to be reached? One peasant tried to climb, but was obliged to return; another tried and came down injured; a third tried, and one after another failed, till a universal feeling of despair and deep sorrow fell upon the crowd as they gazed upon the eyrie where the infant lay. At last a woman was seen, climbing first one part and then another, getting over one rock and then another, and while every heart trembled with alarm, to the amazement of all, they saw her reach the loftiest crag, and clasp the infant rejoicingly in her bosom. This heroic female began to descend the perilous steep with her child; moving from point to point; and while everyone thought that her next step would precipitate her and dash her to pieces, they saw her at length reach the ground with the child safe in her arms. Who was this female? Why did she succeed when others failed? It was The Mother of The Child.

--_Cumming._

1402

FUNERAL OF A MOTHER.

The Rev. George Crabbe when describing the funeral of "The Mother," in his passing glance at the half-interested spectators, says:--

Curious and sad, upon the fresh-dug hill
The village lads stood, melancholy still.

and in his description of the return to the house:--

Arrived at home, how then they gazed around.
In every place where she no more was found;
The seat at table she was wont to fill;
The fireside chair, still set, but vacant still;
The garden walks, a labor all her own;
The latticed bower, with trailing shrubs o'ergrown:
The Sunday pew she filled with all her race--
Each place of hers, was now a sacred place,
That while it called up sorrows in the eyes,
Pierced the full heart, and forced them still to rise.

--_From the Eclectic Magazine._

1403

A MOTHER'S LOVE.

Children, look in those eyes, listen to that dear voice, notice the feeling of even a single touch that is bestowed upon you by that gentle hand. Make much of it while yet you have that most precious of all good gifts, a loving mother. Read the unfathomable love of those eyes; the kind anxiety of that tone and look, however slight your pain.

In after-life you may have friends, fond, dear, kind friends; but never will you have again the inexpressible love and gentleness lavished upon you which none but a mother bestows. Often do I sigh in my struggles with hard, uncaring world, for the sweet, deep security I felt when, of an evening nestling in her bosom, I listened to some quiet tale, suitable to my age, read in her tender and untiring voice. Never can I forget her sweet glances cast upon me when I appeared asleep, never her kiss of peace at night. Years have passed away since we laid her beside my father in the old church yard; yet still her voice whispers from the grave, and her eye watches over me, as I visit spots long since hallowed to the memory of my mother.

1404

The mother's heart is the child's school-room.

1405

He who takes the child by the hand, takes the mother by the heart.

1406

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.

1407

Each mother is a historian; she writes not the history of empires or of nations on paper, but she writes her own history on the imperishable mind of her child. That tablet and that history will remain indelible when time shall be no more. That history each mother shall meet again, and read, with eternal joy, or unutterable grief, in the coming ages of eternity.

1408

MOTHERS AND MEN.

That it is the mother who moulds the man is a sentiment beautifully illustrated by the following recorded observation of a shrewd writer:--

"When I lived among the Choctaw Indians, I held a consultation with one of their chiefs respecting the successive stages of their progress in the arts of civilized life; and among other things he informed me, that at their start they made a great mistake,--they only sent boys to school. These boys came home intelligent men; but they married uneducated and uncivilized wives, and the uniform result was, the children were all like their mothers. The father soon lost all his interest both in wife and children. 'And now,' said he 'if we would educate but one class of our children, we should choose the girls; for, when they become mothers, they educate their sons.'"

1409

MOTHER.

Can'st thou, mother, for a moment think
That we, thy children, when old age shall shed
Its blanching honors on thy weary head,
Could from our best of duties ever shrink?
Sooner the sun from his high sphere should sink,
Than we, ungrateful, leave thee in that day
To pine in solitude thy life away,
Or shun thee, tottering on the grave's cold brink.
Banish the thought!--where'er our steps may roam,
O'er smiling plains, or wastes without a tree
Still will fond memory point our hearts to thee,
And paint the pleasures of thy peaceful home;
While duty bids us all thy griefs assuage
And smoothe the pillow of thy sinking age.

--_Henry Kirke White._

1410

MY MOTHER.

My mother! when I learned that thou wast dead,
Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed?
I heard the bells tolled on thy burial day,
I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away;
And, turning from my nursery window, drew
A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu!
Thus many a sad to-morrow came and went,
Till, all my stock of infant sorrow spent,
I learned at last submission to my lot:
But though I less deplored thee, ne'er forgot.

--_Cowper._

1411

An ounce of mother is worth more than a pound of clergy.

--_Spanish Proverb._

1412

A MOTHER'S EXAMPLE.

It was a judicious resolution of a father, as well as a most pleasing compliment to his wife, when, on being asked by a friend what he intended to do with his girls, he replied: "I intend to apprentice them to their mother, that they may learn the art of improving time, and be fitted to become wives, mothers, heads of families, and useful members of society." Equally just, but very different, was the remark of an unhappy husband--his wife was vain and thoughtless--"It is hard to say, but if my girls are to have a chance of growing up good for anything, they must be sent out of the way of their mother's example."

1413

A MOTHER'S SORROWS.

My son! my son! I cannot speak the rest--
Ye who have sons can only know my fondness!
Ye who have lost them, or who fear to lose,
Can only know my pangs! none else can guess them;
A mother's sorrows cannot be conceived
But by a mother!

1414

Pomponius Atticus, who pronounced a funeral oration on the death of his mother, protested that though he had resided with her sixty-seven years, he was never once reconciled to her; "because," said he, "there never happened the least discord between us, and consequently there was no need of reconciliation."

1415

THE MOTHER'S HOPE.

Is there, when the winds are singing
In the happy summer time--
When the raptured air is ringing
With earth's music heavenward springing,
Forest chirp and village chime--
Is there, of the sounds that float
Unsighingly, a single note
Half so sweet, and clear, and wild,
As the laughter of a child?

--_Laman Blanchard._

1416

_A True Estimate of a Mother._--To a child, there is no velvet so soft as a mother's lap, no rose so lovely as her smile, no path so flowery as that imprinted with her footsteps.

1417

TURF FROM MY MOTHER'S GRAVE.

The following simple, beautiful lines contain an unadorned statement of a fact in the experience of a friend, who is fond of wandering in the Scotch highland glens:

As I came wandering down Glen Spean,
Where the braes are green and grassy,
With my light step I overtook
A weary-footed lassie.

She had one bundle on her back,
Another in her hand,
And she walked as one who was full loath
To travel from the land.

Quoth I, "my bonnie lass!"--for she
Had hair of flowing gold,
And dark brown eyes, and dainty limbs,
Right pleasant to behold--

"My bonnie lass, what aileth thee,
On this bright summer day,
To travel sad and shoeless thus
Upon the stony way?

"I'm fresh and strong, and stoutly shod,
And thou art burdened so;
March lightly now and let me bear
The bundles as we go."

"No, no!" she said, "that canna be,
What's mine is mine to bear,
Of good or ill, as God may will,
I take my portioned share."

"But you have two and I have none;
One burden give to me;
I'll take _that_ bundle from thy back
That heavier seems to be."

"No, no!" she said; "_this_, if you will,
_That_ holds--no hand but mine
May bear its weight from dear Glen Spean
'Cross the Atlantic brine!"

"Well, well! but tell me what may be
Within that precious load
Which thou dost bear with such fine care
Along the dusty road?

"Is it some present rare
From friend in parting hour;
Perhaps, as prudent maidens wont,
Thou tak'st with thee thy dower?"

She drooped her head, and with her hand
She gave a mournful wave;
"Oh, do not jest, dear sir--it is
Turf from my mother's grave!"

I spoke no word; we sat and wept
By the road-side together:
No purer dew on that bright day
Was dropt upon the heather.

--_John Stuart Black._

1418

When we are sick, where can we turn for succor,
When we are wretched where can we complain?
And when the world looks cold and surly on us
Where can we go to meet a warmer eye
With such sure confidence as to a mother?

1419

Is there a heart that music cannot melt?
Alas! how is that rugged heart forlorn.

--_Beattie._

1420

Music loosens a heart that care has bound.

1421

No music is so charming to my ear as the requests of my friends, and the supplications of those in want of my assistance.

--_Caesar._

1422

His very foot has music in't,
As he comes up the stair.

--_Burns._

N

1423

For art may err, but nature cannot miss.

--_J. Dryden._

1424

Our nature exists by motion; perfect rest is death.

1425

Good-nature, like a bee, collects honey from every herb. Ill-nature, like a spider, sucks poison from the sweetest flower.

1426

Good-nature is the beauty of the mind, and, like personal beauty, wins almost without anything else.

--_Hanway._

1427

If you want to keep your good looks, keep your good nature.

1428

NATURE.

No ordinance of man shall override
The settled laws of nature and of God;
Not written these in pages of a book,
Nor were they framed to-day, nor yesterday;
We know not whence they are; but this we know,
That they from all eternity have been,
And shall to all eternity endure.

--_Sophocles, born 495 B. C._

1429

Every one follows the inclinations of his own nature.

--_Propertius._

1430

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the universe, and feel
What I am can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

--_Lord Byron._

1431

Who can paint
Like nature? Can imagination boast,
Amid its gay creation, hues like hers?

--_J. Thomson._

1432

Tender handed stroke a nettle
And it stings you for your pains;
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
And it soft as silk remains;
Thus it is with vulgar natures,
Use them kindly, they rebel:
But be rough as nutmeg graters,
And the rogues obey you well.

--_Aaron Hill._

1433

Where is there a sharper arrow than the sting of unmerited neglect?

1434

'Tis wisely said
To know thyself: equally profitable it is
To know thy neighbors!

1435

Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

--_Proverbs 3, 28v._

1436

_Very Few Live by Choice._--Every man is placed in his present condition by causes which acted without his foresight, and with which he did not always willingly co-operate; and therefore you will rarely meet one who does not think the lot of his neighbor better than his own.

--_Dr. Johnson in Rasselas._

1437

We ought to do at once and without delay whatever we owe to our neighbors; to make them wait for what is due to them, is the essence of injustice.

1438

A BIRD'S NEST.

It wins my admiration
To view the structure of this little work--
A bird's nest. Mark it well, within, without;
No tool had he that wrought; no knife to cut,
No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert,
No glue to join; his little beak was all;
And yet how neatly finished!--What nice hand,
And every implement and means of art,
And twenty years' apprenticeship to boot,
Could make me such another? Fondly then
We boast of excellence, whose noblest skill
Instinctive genius foils.

--_Hurdis._

1439

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

--_Ecclesiastes 1, 9v._

1440

He knocks boldly at the door who brings good news.

1441

The most ridiculous nicknames are often the most adhesive.

--_Haliburton._

1442

Coolness and counsel come in the night, and both are of God.

--_Arab Proverb._

1443

Quiet night, that brings
Rest to the laborer, is the outlaw's day,
In which he rises early to do wrong,
And when his work is ended, dares not sleep.

--_P. Massinger._

1444

Night is the time for rest;
How sweet, when labors close,
To gather 'round an aching breast
The curtain of repose.
Stretch the tir'd limbs and lay the head
Down on our own delightful bed!

--_Jas. Montgomery._

1445

Learn to say No! and it will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin.

--_Spurgeon._

1446

_Duty._--A wise man who does not assist with his counsels, a rich man with his charity, and a poor man with his labor, are perfect nobodies in a commonwealth.

--_Swift._

1447

IMPORTANT.

Nobody likes to be nobody;
But everybody is pleased to think himself somebody.
And everybody is somebody:
But when anybody thinks himself to be somebody,
He generally thinks everybody else to be nobody.

1448

By doing nothing we learn to do ill.

--_Watts._

1449

The young are fond of novelty.

1450

So easily are we impressed by numbers, that even a dozen wheelbarrows in succession seem quite imposing.

--_Richter._

O

1451

A CLEVER "TURN."

Lord Elibank, the Scotch peer, was told that Dr. Johnson, in his dictionary, had defined oats to be food for horses in England, and for men in Scotland. "Ay," said his lordship, "and where else can you find such horses and such men?"

1452

_Deuteronomy xxi, 20._--"This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice."

"I well remember," says a writer on Christian education, "being much impressed by a sermon about twenty years ago, in which the preacher said, were he to select one word as the most important in education, it should be the word, obey. My experience since has fully convinced me of the justice of the remark. Without filial obedience everything must go wrong. Is not a disobedient child guilty of a manifest breach of the Fifth Commandment? And is not a parent, who suffers this disobedience to continue, an habitual partaker in his child's offense against that commandment?"

1453

_Obedience._--Obedience, promptly, fully given, is one of the most beautiful things that walks the earth.

--_Dr. Raleigh._

1454

Wise, modest, constant, ever close at hand,
Not weighing, but obeying all command,
Such servant by a monarch's throne may stand.

1455

An extraordinary haste to discharge an obligation is a sort of ingratitude.

--_La Rochefoucauld._

1456

Most men remember obligations, but not often to be grateful for them. The proud are made sour by the remembrance, and the vain silent.

1457

To John I ow'd great obligation,
But John unhappily thought fit
To publish it to all the nation:
Sure John and I are more than quit.

--_Prior._

1458

People newly emerged from obscurity, generally launch out into indiscriminate display.

--_Jean Ingelow._

1459

Obstinacy is will asserting itself without being able to justify itself. It is persistence without a plausible motive. It is the tenacity of self-love substituted for the tenacity of reason or conscience.

--_Amiel._

1460

Thrice happy they who have an occupation.

--_Byron._

1461

An oil-jar can be used again for nothing but oil.

(A man should follow what he was bred to.)

--_Chinese._

1462

Others may use the ocean as their road,
Only the British make it their abode:--
They tread the billows with a steady foot.

--_Waller._

1463

To call people peculiar is only a polite way of calling them disagreeable.

--_W. S. Murphy._

1464

WORDS.

Time to me this truth has taught
('Tis a treasure worth revealing,)
More offend by want of thought
Than by want of feeling.

--_Charles Swain._

1465

A dog's obeyed in office.

--_Shakespeare._

1466

A bad man in office is a public calamity.

--_French._

1467

Omissions, no less than commissions, are oftentimes branches of injustice.

--_Antoninus._

1468

It has been shrewdly said, that, when men abuse us, we should suspect _ourselves_, and when they praise us, _them_.

1469

No liberal man would impute a charge of unsteadiness to another for having changed his opinion.

--_Cicero._

1470

SELF-CONFIDENCE.

Men often lose opportunities by want of self-confidence. Doubts and fears in the minds of some rise up over every event, and they fear to attempt what most probably would be successful through their timorousness; while a courageous, active man, will, perhaps with half the ability, carry an enterprise to a prosperous termination.

1471

Men spend their lives in anticipations, in determining to be vastly happy at some period or other, when they have time. But the present time has one advantage over every other--it is our own. Past opportunities are gone; the future may never come to us.

--_Colton._

1472

To let slip a favorable opportunity is the greatest proof of imbecility.

1473

He loses all who loses the right moment.

1474

OPPORTUNITY.

Master of human destinies am I;
Fame, love, and fortune on my footsteps wait,
Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate
Deserts, and seas remote, and, passing by
Hovel, and mart, and palace, soon or late,
I knock unbidden once at every gate.
If sleeping, wake; if feasting, rise
Before I turn away. It is the hour of fate,
And those who follow me, gain every state
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
Save Death, but those who doubt, or hesitate,
Condemned to failure, penury, and woe,
Seek me in vain, and uselessly implore.
I answer not, and I return no more.

--_U. S. Senator John J. Ingalls, of Kansas._

1475

OPPORTUNITY.

There is no man whom Fortune does not visit at least once in his life; but when she does not find him ready to receive her, she walks in at the door, and flies out at the window.

--_Cardinal Imperiali._

1476

_Didn't Know the Place._--A young man who left his native city to study medicine in Paris, and had been applying his time and the paternal remittances to very different purposes, received a visit from his father, who intended making a short stay in the capital to inspect its wonders. During an afternoon stroll together, the day after the elder's arrival, the father and son happened to pass in front of a large colonnaded building. "What is that?" said the senior, carelessly. "I don't know, but we'll inquire," answered the student. On the query being put to an official, he shortly replied: "That? It is the School of Medicine."

1477

The opportunity is often lost by deliberating.

--_Syrus._

1478

We must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.

--_Shakespeare._

1479

Four things come not back.
The spoken word,
The sped arrow,
The past life,
And the neglected opportunity.

1480

To-day is the opportunity for enjoyment and work; knowest thou where thou wilt be to-morrow? Time flies swiftly away, and we with it.

--_Gleim._

1481

OPPRESSORS--EVERYWHERE.

There are sharks in the ocean, and wolves in the forest, and eagles in the air, and tyrants on thrones, and tormentors in cottages.

--_Dr. J. Hamilton._

1482

All orators are dumb when beauty pleadeth.

--_Shakespeare._

P

1483

Ambitious parents sometimes try to make lawyers, doctors, preachers and statesmen out of boys nature meant for plowmen. How often do we find misfits! There is nothing more pitiable than to see a man whose mind and heart are completely wrapped up in one thing and yet condemned by circumstances to do another.

1484

The cavalry captain Kurtzhagen was invited to dine with King Frederick II. "From what noble house are you descended?" asked the king. "From none whatever," replied Kurtzhagen. "My parents are only poor country people, but I would not exchange them for any other parents in the world." "Well said," replied the king. "Woe to him who is so mean as to be ashamed of his parents."

1485

"Father," said a young man on his death-bed, "you have been very good to me. You have given me a fine education, and you have placed me in a fine social position; you have done everything for me in a worldly sense; but, dear father, you never told me much of a hereafter. Now I am dying."

1486

If any one toil for a parent, it is not fitting to bear remembrance of the toil.

1487

The good conduct of the father and mother is the blessing of the children.

1488

ALL FOOLS NOW.

A little Boston girl was encouraged by her parents to study so much that her brain gave way, and she is now an idiot. This is a sad result, but the parents must find some consolation in the thought that they have made their daughter like themselves.

1489

It so falls out, that,
What we have we prize, not to the worth,
While we enjoy it; but being lack'd and lost,
Why, then, we rack the value, then we find
The virtue that possession would not show us,
Whilst it was ours.

--_Shakespeare._

Note: Applicable to one's parents.

1490

PARTING.

We twain have met like the ships upon the sea,
Who hold an hour's converse, so short, so sweet;
One little hour! and then, away they speed
On lonely paths, through mists, and cloud, and foam,
To meet no more.

--_A. Smith._

1491

PARTING FROM FRIENDS.

When forc'd to part from those we love,
Though sure to meet to-morrow;
We yet a kind of anguish prove,
And feel a touch of sorrow.
But oh! what words can paint the fears
When from those friends we sever,
Perhaps to part for months--for years--
Perhaps to part for ever.

1492

Control your passion or it will control you.

--_Horace._

1493

Nothing overcomes passion sooner than silence.

--_French._

1494

Remember, three things come not back;
The arrow sent upon its track--
It will not swerve, it will not stay
Its speed; it flies to wound or slay;
The spoken word, so soon forgot
By thee, but it has perished not;
In other hearts 'tis living still,
And doing work for good or ill;
And the lost opportunity
That cometh back no more to thee.
In vain thou weep'st, in vain dost yearn,
These three will never more return.

1495

Let by-gones be by-gones; let the past be forgotten.

--_Dr. Webster._

1496

Every one utters the word "past" with more emotion than "future."

--_Richter._

1497

The beaten path is the safe one.

--_From the Latin._

1498

A pearl is often hidden in an ugly shell.

--_Chinese._

1499

The pen is the tongue of the mind.

--_Cervantes._

1500

HOW TO WAKE THE PEOPLE.

An old peasant in a German village had to leave his children alone in the house for the day. "If a thief comes," he said to them, "do not cry 'Thief!' For everybody will be afraid and will say to himself: 'After all, it's not my property that's being taken.' No, my children; shout 'Fire!' The whole village will run to help you, for everybody will be afraid the fire will spread."

--_Saturday Evening Post._

1501

Perfection none must hope to find
In all this world--in man or woman-kind.

1502

As the sun's shadow shifts, so there is no permanence on earth.

--_Chinese._

1503

By persevering, mountains will often become only mole hills.

1504

SCOTTISH PERSEVERANCE.

Scottish perseverance has itself become proverbial; we remember to have met with a story which is said to be connected with the foundation of an opulent mercantile house which has flourished for some generations. Saunders, the traveler, entered a shop in London and enquired for the head of the house; one of the clerks asked what he wanted; the answer of Saunders was, as usual, a question, "Want ye aught in my line, sir?" "No," was the prompt reply, accompanied by a look of contempt at the itinerant Scotch merchant. "Will ye no tak' a look o' the gudes, sir?" was Saunders' next query. "No, not at all; I have not time. Take them away--take them away!" "Ye'll aiblins (perhaps) find them worth your while, and I doubt na but ye'll buy," said Saunders; and he proceeded to untie and unstrap his burden. "Go away--go away!" was reiterated more than once by the clerk, but the persevering Scot still persisted. The master of the establishment overheard all that had taken place, and now he stepped forward, and, moved by some compunction for the treatment the traveler had received, and some admiration, too, for the patience and perseverance of the man, he consented to look over the contents of the pack, found them to be exactly the goods he was in want of, purchased them all, and gave a very large order; and thus, says Chambers, who tells the story, assisted in the foundation of a large mercantile house.

But is not this the stuff of which also the Livingstones and the Macleods are made? Was not this the spirit which set the brave Sir Walter Scott to work, when sinking into his later years, to overtake his fearful loss of one hundred thousand pounds? Is it not a commentary upon that especial proverb which we have said so illustrates the Scottish character, "He that tholes (or endures) overcomes?"

--_Chambers Journal._

1505

Better ask twice than lose your way once.

1506

THE FATE OF PETITIONS.

Petitions not sweeten'd
With gold, are but unsavoury, oft refused;
Or if received, are pocketed, never read.

--_Massinger._

1507

Jenny Lind was frequently known to pass unobserved from her residence, as if to make a visit, and had been traced to the back lanes and cottages of the poor, whose wants she ascertained and relieved. Several times she had been remonstrated with, and warned by her intimate friends against being imposed upon. She always replied, "Never mind; if I relieve ten, and one is worthy, I am satisfied."

1508

NAME OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN.

A philanthropist, when a candidate for the ministry, was traveling on one occasion from Strasbourg. It was in the winter time. The ground was deeply covered with snow, and the roads were almost impassable. He had reached the middle of his journey and was among the mountains; and by that time was so exhausted that he could stand erect no longer. He was rapidly freezing to death, and sleep began to overpower him. He commended himself to God, and yielded to what he felt to be the sleep of death. He knew not how long he slept, but suddenly became conscious of some one rousing him. Before him stood a wagon-driver in his blue blouse, and the wagon not far away. His rescuer gave him a little wine and food, and the spirit of life returned. He then helped him upon the wagon, and brought him to the next village. Oberlin, the philanthropist, was profuse in his thanks, and offered money, which his benefactor refused. "It is only a duty to help one another," said the wagoner; "and it is the next thing to an insult to offer a reward for such a service." "Then," said Oberlin, "at least tell me your name, that I may have you in thankful remembrance before God." "I see," said the wagoner, "that you are a minister of the Gospel. Please tell me the name of the Good Samaritan." "That," said Oberlin, "I cannot do; for it was not put on record." "Then," replied the wagoner, "until you can tell me his name, permit me to withhold mine."

1509

_A Sensible Answer._--A story is told about Wendell Phillips--a story that must have made even the serious-minded Abolitionist laugh heartily: He was in a hotel in Charleston, had breakfast in his room, and was served by a slave. Mr. Phillips spoke to him as an Abolitionist, but the waiter seemed to be more concerned about the breakfast than about himself. Finally Mr. Phillips told him to go away, saying that he could not bear to be waited upon by a slave.

The other remonstrated: "Scuse me, massa, but I's obliged to stay yere, 'cause I's 'sponsible fo' de silverware."

1510

MY FIRST PATIENT.

A lady sent for me in haste to come and see,
What her condition for a cure might be.
Dear me! a patient--what a happy tone,
To have a patient, and one all my own--
To have a patient and myself be feed,
Raised expectations very high indeed--
I saw a practice growing from the seed.

--_Wm. Tod Helmuth._

1511

Fretting is the doctor's best friend all over the whole world.

1512

Temperance and toil are the two real physicians of mankind.

1513

The purse of the patient frequently, alas! protracts his cure.

--_Zimmerman._

1514

Physic, for the most part, is nothing else but the substitute of exercise and temperance.

--_Addison._

1515

To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is Godlike.

1516

The thirsty earth soaks up the rain
And drinks and gaps for drink again;
The plants suck in the earth, and are
With constant drinking fresh and fair.

--_A. Cowley._

1517

THE BREVITY OF PLEASURES.

Pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed;
Or, like the snow-fall in the river,
A moment white, then melts forever.

--_Burns: Tam O'Shanter._

1518

There is a certain dignity to be kept up in pleasures as well as in business.

1519

The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.

--_Charles Lamb._

1520

To make pleasures pleasant, shorten them.

--_Buxton._

1521

Pleasures make folks acquainted with each other, but it takes trials and griefs to make them know each other.

1522

Our sweetest pleasures--oft
Are in our memories.

1523

A man would have but little pleasure if he did not sometimes flatter himself.

1524

The most delicate, the most sensible of all pleasures, consist in promoting the pleasures of others.

--_La Bruyere._

1525

ONE WAY OF AVOIDING PNEUMONIA.

When the fire in your room goes out, drop your pen, or, if reading, your book, and go out too; If you remain, and continue your work, you may regret it. Many a student in the universities, anxious to get on with his studies, has worked in a cold room and paid the penalty with--Pneumonia, ending sometimes in death.

--_Observer._

1526

Modern poets mix much water with their ink.

--_Goethe._

1527

Avoid all haste; calmness is an essential ingredient of politeness.

--_Alphonse Karr._

1528

A BUDDING CHESTERFIELD.

A small boy was at a table where his mother was not near to take care of him, and a lady next to him volunteered her services. "Let me cut your steak for you," she said; "if I can cut it the way you like it," she added, with some degree of doubt. "Thank you," the boy responded, accepting her courtesy; "I shall like it the way you cut it, even if you do not cut it the way I like it."

1529

TRUE POLITENESS.

The following beautiful incident is related of the late Prince consort. On one occasion a humble but very worthy man who had befriended the Prince in early life called to see him, and was invited to come to the family table. He began to eat with his knife, as he had always been accustomed to do, and this excited a little quiet merriment among the young people. Prince Albert looked round upon them, as if to say, "Stop that!" and at once began himself to eat with his knife, and continued to do so to the end of the meal. After dinner, one of the children asked him why he did so. The Prince replied: "It is well enough for us to observe the etiquette of the day; but it is far more important to avoid insulting people. I wanted my old friend to enjoy his dinner, which he could not have done had he seen you laughing at him. He is accustomed to use his knife, and it would doubtless be quite difficult for him to use the fork instead."--This was genuine politeness, and the world would be happier if the same feeling were always shown.

1530

Politeness is as natural to delicate natures as perfume is to flowers; it smoothes wrinkles.

1531

Ceremonies are different in every country; but true politeness is everywhere the same.

--_Goldsmith._

1532

_Dr. Johnson_:--"Politics are now nothing more than means of rising in the world. With this sole view do men engage in politics, and their whole conduct proceeds upon it."

--_Boswell's Johnson._

1533

Few, save the poor, feel for the poor.

1534

Poor folks' wisdom goes for little.

--_Dutch._

1535

He that thinks he can afford to be negligent, is not far from being poor.

--_Dr. Johnson._

1536

Poor and content, is rich and rich enough;
But riches, is as poor as winter,
To him that ever fears he shall be poor.

1537

Speak gently, kindly, to the poor;
Let no harsh term be heard;
They have enough they must endure,
Without an unkind word.

--_George W. Hangford._

1538

The poor, the humble, and your dependents, will often be afraid to ask their due from you: be the more mindful of it yourself.

1539

The poor, who envies not the rich, who pities his companions in poverty, and can spare something for him that is still poorer, is, in the realms of humanity, a king of kings.

1540

The man who says, "Let me wait a little, when I have something to spare, I will relieve the poor," will never relieve them.

1541

THE COMPLAINTS OF THE POOR.

"And wherefore do the poor complain?"
The rich man ask'd of me:
"Come, walk abroad with me," I said,
"And I will answer thee."

'Twas evening, and the frozen streets
Were cheerless to behold;
And we were wrapp'd and coated well,
And yet we were a-cold.

We met an old, bareheaded man,
His locks were thin and white;
I ask'd him what he did abroad
In that cold winter's night.

The cold was keen, indeed, he said--
But at home no fire had he;
And therefore he had come abroad
To ask for charity.

We met a young barefooted child,
And she begged loud and bold;
I asked her what she did abroad
When the wind it blew so cold.

She said her father was at home,
And he lay sick abed;
And therefore was it she was sent
Abroad to beg for bread.

We saw a woman sitting down
Upon a stone to rest;
She had a baby at her back,
And another at her breast.

I ask'd her why she loiter'd there,
When the night-wind was so chill;
She turn'd her head, and bade the child
That scream'd behind, be still--

Then told us that her husband served,
A soldier, far away;
And therefore to her parish she
Was begging back her way.

I turn'd me to the rich man then,
For silently stood he;
"You ask'd me why the poor complain
And these have answer'd thee!"

--_Old Magazine._

1542

The world caresses the rich, though vulgar and ill-bred, and avoids the poor man of merit in the threadbare coat.

1543

ONE "ALWAYS RIGHT;" THE OTHER, "NEVER WRONG."

A worthy old Ayrshire farmer had the portraits of himself and his wife painted. When that of her husband, in an elegant frame, was hung over the fireplace, the gudewife remarked in a sly manner: "I think, gudeman, noo that ye've gotten your picture hung up there, we should just put in below't, for a motto, like, 'Aye richt!'"

"Deed may ye, my woman," replied her husband in an equally pawkie tone; "and when ye get yours hung up over the sofa there, we'll just put up anither motto on't, and say, 'Never wrang.'"

1544

Not every man who has an easy place has a soft pillow.

1545

CONCEALING POVERTY.

If rich, it is easy enough to conceal our wealth; but, if poor, it is not quite so easy to conceal our poverty. We shall find it less difficult to hide a thousand guineas, than one hole in our coat.

1546

Poverty is the only burden which grows heavier when loved ones help to bear it.

1547

Poverty is in want of much, but avarice of everything.

--_Publius Syrus._

1548

POVERTY.

A poor man resembles a fiddler, whose music, though liked, is not much praised, because he lives by it; while a gentleman performer, though the most wretched scraper alive, throws the audience into raptures.

1549

The love of power is an instinct of the human heart.

--_Tacitus._

1550

Power often goes before talent.

--_From the Danish._

1551

When power puts in its plea,
The laws are silent.

--_Massinger._

1552

A partnership with men in power is never safe.

--_Phaedrus._

1553

And (strange to tell) he practised what he preached.

--_Armstrong._

1554

Praise is the best diet for us after all.

--_Sydney Smith._

1555

Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present.

--_Johnson._

1556

The love of praise, howe'er concealed by art,
Reigns more or less and glows in every heart.

--_Dr. E. Young._

1557

Most persons are like Themistocles that never found himself so well contented, as when he heard himself praised.

1558

PRAISE.

How could my tongue
Take pleasure, and be lavish in thy praise!
How could I speak thy nobleness of nature!
Thy open, manly heart, thy courage, constancy
And inborn truth, unknowing to dissemble!
Thou art the man in whom my soul delights
In whom, next heaven, I trust.

1559

_Self-Praise._--It is a sign that your reputation is small and sinking, if your own tongue must praise you.

1560

The sweetest of all sounds is,--praise!

1561

No man ever praised two persons equally--and pleased them both.

1562

DIRECTED IN A DREAM.

A zealous divine, who had prayed earnestly that God would teach him the perfect way of truth, was directed in a dream to go to a certain place, where he would find an instructor; when he came to the place, he found a man in ordinary attire, to whom he wished a good morning.

"I never had a bad morning," replied the man. "That is very singular; I wish you may always be as fortunate." "I was never unfortunate," said he. "I hope you may always be as happy," said the divine. "I am never unhappy," said the other. "I wish," said the divine, "that you would explain yourself a little."

"That I will cheerfully do," said the other; "I said that I never had a bad morning, for every morning, even if I am pinched with hunger, I praise God. If it rains, or snows, or hails, whether the day is serene or tempestuous, I am still thankful to God, and therefore I never had a joyless morning. If I am miserable in outward circumstances, and despised, I still praise God; you wished that I might always be fortunate, but I cannot be unfortunate, because nothing befalls me but according to the will of God, and I believe that His will is always good, in whatever He does or permits to be done. You wished me always happy, but I cannot be unhappy, because my will is always resigned to the will of God."

The divine, astonished at the man's answers, asked him whence he came.

"I came from God," he replied. "Where did you find Him?" "Where I left the world." "Where did you leave God?" "With the pure in heart." "What are you?" "I am a king." "Where is your kingdom?" "It is within my bosom. I have learned to rule my appetites and passions, and that is better than to rule any kingdom in the world."

"How were you brought into this happy condition?"

"By secret prayer, spiritual meditation and union with God; nothing below God could satisfy my desires; I have found Him, and in Him I have found Peace and Rest."

--_Old Magazine._

1563

A PRAYER "FOR ABSENT RELATIVES AND FRIENDS."

"Our Father, in Thy mercy
Hear our anxious prayer:
Keep our loved ones now far absent
'Neath Thy care."

1564

NO ROOF ON THE HOUSE.

A laborer went to work for a wealthy farmer. It was regarded as something of a favor to be employed by him, as he was a prompt and liberal paymaster, and was look'd upon by his neighbors as a very superior farmer. The man remained with him only a few days.

"I'm told you've left farmer P," said a neighbor.

"Yes, I have," was the reply.

"Was the work too hard for you?"

"There was nothing to complain of on that score."

"What then? Were the wages too low?"

"No."

"Why did you leave?"

"There was no roof on the house!" And he went on his way, leaving the questioner to ponder on the strange answer he had given.

The man's meaning may be found in the saying of an old writer, who affirms that a dwelling in which prayer is not offered up to God daily, is like a house without a roof, in which there cannot be either peace, safety, or comfort.

--_Old Magazine._

1565

Prayer in the morning is the key that opens to us the treasures of God's mercies and blessings; in the evening it is the key that shuts us up under his protection and safeguard.

1566

When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words, than thy words without heart.

--_Bunyan._

1567

A QUAINT OLD PRAYER.

"Oh, that mine eyes might closed be
To what concerns me not to see;
That deafness might possess mine ear
To what concerns me not to hear;
That love my tongue might always tie
From ever speaking foolishly!
But what are wishes! Lord, mine eye
On Thee is fixed. To Thee I cry.
Wash, Lord, and purify my heart
And make it clean in every part;
And when 'tis clean, Lord, keep it, too,
For that is more than I can do."

--_Unknown._

1568

_Rev. Thomas Guthrie_:--"As an ambassador for Christ, I regard a preacher of the Gospel as filling the most responsible office any mortal can occupy. His pulpit is, in my eyes, loftier than a throne; and of all professions, learned or unlearned, his, though usually in point of wealth the poorest, I esteem the most honorable. That office is one angels themselves might covet."

--_From Memoir of Dr. Guthrie._

1569

When the preacher seeks fame he is sure to find folly.

1570

Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest violence.

1571

He who never leaves his country is apt to be full of prejudices.

--_Goldoni._

1572

_Enjoy the Present._--Our advantages fly away:
Gather flowers while ye may.

1573

YESTERDAY, TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW.

We cannot change yesterday--that is clear,--
Or begin on to-morrow until it is here;
So all that is left for you, and me,
Is to make to-day as sweet as can be.

1574

Many delight more in giving of presents than in paying their debts.

--_Sir Philip Sidney._

1575

People who strive to appear to be what they are not, only succeed in being nothing.

1576

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

1577

Thou art proud; believest thou thyself to be one of the more exalted beings?

1578

Proud people seldom have friends. In prosperity they know nobody; in adversity nobody knows them.

1579

Never be too much elated.

--_From the Latin._

1580

How little do they know of human nature, who imagine, that pride is likely to be subdued by adversity.

--_Sir Arthur Helps._

1581

Be unable at all times to forsake your principles.

1582

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PRINCIPLES.

Mrs. Campbell, a Scotch lady, was recommended as sub-governess to the Princess Charlotte, and the old King George III formed a high opinion of her. She felt reluctant to accept the post, urging her deficiency in the necessary accomplishments. "Madame," said the king, "I hope we can afford to purchase accomplishments, but we cannot buy principles."

1583

What may be dune at ony time, will be dune at nae time.

--_Scotch._

1584

Professing, without practising, will never do us any good.

1585

Honor and profit do not always lie in the same sack.

--_George Herbert._

1586

_Lord Chatham_: "I would have inscribed on the curtains of your bed, and the walls of your chamber, this:--If you do not rise early, you can make progress in nothing."

1587

My deeds, and speeches, sir,
Are lines drawn from one centre; what I promise
To do, I'll do.

--_Shakespeare._

1588

There is no piety in keeping an unjust promise.

--_From the French._

1589

When you have promised to do any good office, the right of the thing promised, hath passed over from you to another; consequently, you will esteem yourself obliged to stand to the performance of your word, though it may be to your own prejudice.

1590

A man who means to keep his promises can't afford to make many.

--_Rousseau._

1591

He that gives away his property before death must prepare to suffer.

1592

FULFILMENT OF A PROPHESY.

The minuteness and accuracy of God's program of the ages is often overlooked. There is a singular and striking instance of this in the triumphal entry of our Lord into Jerusalem. [1592:A]The command to go into the village nearby and bring the colt that would be found tied there, was in fulfillment of a prophesy made five hundred years before by Zachariah, 9th chapter, 9th verse:--"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion: shout O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."--That same donkey colt was so essential to the transaction of that day, that the pageant could not have gone on without it.

--_Rev. L. W. Irwin._

FOOTNOTES:

[1592:A] _Mark xi, 2v._

1593

Let those who propose, be willing to perform.

1594

As distant prospects please us, but when near,
We find but desert rocks, and fleeting air.

--_Sir Sam'l Garth._

1595

Now that I have a sheep and a cow, everybody bids me good morrow.

1596

Prosperity often creates selfishness.

--_Thos. D. Brown._

1597

Hard work is still, and always will be, the only road to prosperity.

1598

If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone.

1599

In ascending the hill of prosperity, may we never meet a friend.

1600

Prosperity makes friends;
Adversity tries them.

--_Publius Syrus._

1601

Prosperity makes some friends, and what is too true, many enemies.

1602

Prosperity in business is not always a sign or proof of the rectitude of one's principles.

1603

It shows a weak mind not to bear prosperity as well as adversity, with moderation.

1604

We are pleased with one who instantly assents to our opinions; but we love a proselyte.

--_Sir. A. Helps._

1605

JAPANESE PROVERBS.

He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is humble. Teach him.

* * * * *

He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep. Wake him.

* * * * *

He who knows, and knows that he knows, is a wise man. Follow him.

1606

Punctuality is one of the characteristics of politeness. He who does not keep his appointments promptly, is hardly fit for the society of gentlemen.

1607

Punctuality begets
Confidence
and Respect.

--_From the German._

1607a

PUNCTUALITY AS A VIRTUE.

It is neither polite nor honest to be behind hand when one can just as easily be on time. An artist solicited and obtained permission to paint a portrait of Queen Victoria. The hour and place for the important undertaking were named. Promptly the queen was present; but the artist was not when the hour came. He arrived at length, but too late, for her majesty had departed, leaving a message that she would not return. The queen had kept her promise, but the artist had failed to keep his, and thus lost the rare chance to win both fame and fortune.

--_T. J. MacMurray._

1608

_Lord Nelson used to say_: "I have always been a quarter of an hour before my time, and it has made a man of me."

1609

_Horace Mann said_:--Unfaithfulness in the keeping of an appointment is an act of dishonesty. You may as well borrow a person's money as his time.

1610

To be unpunctual is sometimes considered a mark of consequence by little great men, but the truly great have always thought differently.

1611

Purposes, like eggs, unless they be hatched into action, will run into decay.

--_Smiles._

1612

CONSUMPTION OF THE PURSE.

I can get no remedy against the consumption of the purse: borrowing only lingers and lingers it out, and I find the disease is incurable.

--_Shakespeare._

1613

Who has an empty purse must have a sweet tongue.

1614

Not to oversee workmen is to leave them your purse open.

--_Franklin._

Q

1615

_Quakerwise._--"William, thee knows I never call any bad names; but, William, if the mayor of the city were to come to me and say, 'Joshua, I want thee to find me the biggest liar in the city,' I would come to thee and put my hand on thy shoulder, and say to thee, 'William, the mayor wants to see thee.'"

1616

THE BEST TIME TO QUARREL.

In Lanarkshire, there lived a sma' laird named Hamilton, who was noted for his eccentricity. On one occasion, a neighbor waited on him, and requested his name as an accommodation to a bill for twenty pounds at three months date, which led to the following characteristic and truly Scottish colloquy:

"Na, na, I canna do that."

"What for no', laird? Ye hae dune the same thing for ithers."

"Ay, ay, Tammas, but there's wheels within wheels ye ken naething aboot; I canna do 't."

"It's a sma' affair to refuse me, laird."