Part 5
Take the child to church, whether he likes it or not. What he likes has nothing to do with it; what is best for him is the only question.
--_Bishop Vincent._
326
There are two classes of people in the church; the one is made up of those who do the hard work of the church, and the other of those who sit at home and--criticise.
--_Lutheran Weekly._
327
Men are dependent on circumstances, and not circumstances on men.
--_Herodotus._
328
A great merchant was asked by what means he contrived to realize so large a fortune as he possessed. His reply was: "Friend, by one article alone, in which thou may'st deal too if thou pleasest--civility."
329
Civility is a desire to receive civility, and to be accounted well-bred.
--_Rochefoucauld._
330
The clergyman who lives in the city may have piety, but he must have taste.
--_Emerson._
331
AN IDEAL.
Before me on the mantel-block, There ticks a busy little clock-- The measurer of time. It never stops or tries to shirk; Unceasingly it plies its work With zeal almost sublime.
Oh could I work as steadily, Oh could I just as faithful be, As this minute machine-- My life would be filled with success, with industry, with usefulness, and happiness serene.
_M. in Hampden-Sidney Magazine._
332
I do not envy a clergyman's life as an easy life, nor do I envy the clergyman who makes it an easy life.
--_Dr. Johnson._
333
A clergyman should never come tired before his people, but rather like an engine when it leaves the round-house, oiled, equipped with fuel and water, and with all its strength waiting to be put forth.
334
In his last annual report, President Eliot states that the average age of students entering Harvard is eighteen years of age and ten months. He then intimates that if students could be induced to enter college earlier, as they did in Emerson's time, there would be fewer failures.
335
When musing on companions gone We doubly feel ourselves alone.
336
"Aye gang (always go) wi' them that's better than yerself."
--_Old Scotch Saying._
If this was done generally, there would be a levelling up, instead of a levelling down.
337
Pleasant company shortens the miles.
338
COMPENSATION.
Mothers of many, with envious eyes, Gaze as I drive through the evening cool, Swift as I pass them, we mingle our sighs, For my arms are empty--and theirs over-full.
"See her," they say, "with her laces and pearls! All for the rich! 'Tis the world's common rule. We have but rags for our boys and our girls; Empty our pockets--her coffers are full."
Mothers! To yours, tender voices reply, Little ones' hands at your skirts softly pull; Widowed and lonely and childless am I, Empty my heart--though my coffers are full.
--_Gus Gordon._
339
POOR AND RICH.
Art thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers? O sweet content! Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplexed? O punishment!
340
Every one must see daily instances of people who complain, from a mere habit of complaining.
--_Graves._
341
A compliment is usually accompanied with a bow, as if to beg pardon for paying it.
--_J. C. Hare._
342
Illuminate me with a ray of your intelligence!
343
Deference is the most complicate, the most indirect, and the most elegant of all compliments.
344
_Legitimate Sport_--Those who fish for compliments deserve to get a bite.
345
To attempt to advise conceited people is like whistling against the wind.
--_Hood._
346
Never seem wiser, nor more learned, than the people you are with.
347
I've never any pity for conceited people, because I think they carry their comfort about with them.
348
Conceit may puff a man up, but never prop him up.
--_Ruskin._
349
Many persons are obliged to their imagination for more than three-fourths of their importance.
350
Discuss your plans with many, decide on them with few, or by yourself.
351
Between right and wrong never waver a moment.
--_From the German._
352
Confidence always gives pleasure to the man in whom it is placed.
353
No one so sure but he may miss.
--_Dutch._
354
Don't cry hurrah till you are over the bridge.
--_From the German._
355
Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom.
--_Wm. Pitt._
356
He who knows the road, can ride at full trot.
--_From the Italian._
357
Never put much confidence in those who put no confidence in others.
--_Hare._
358
A good conscience is sometimes sold for money, but never bought with it.
359
Money dishonestly acquired is never worth its cost, while a good conscience never costs as much as it is worth.
360
A clear conscience is a good pillow.
--_Kingsley._
361
A quiet conscience makes one so serene!
362
Conscience is the chamber of justice.
--_Origen._
363
Conscience may be said to be the voice of God within us.
--_Aughey._
364
Conscience, that sound of God in the human heart, whose "still small voice" the loudest revelry can not drown.
--_W. H. Harrison._
365
_Consistency_--Thou art a jewel!
366
Is there no constancy in earthly things? No happiness in us, but what must alter?
367
Do even as you will, that this dispute live not between us as a consuming fire forever!
368
CONTENTION--AVOIDING OF.
Where two discourse, if the one's anger rise, The man who lets the contest fall is wise.
--_Plutarch._
369
"I never complained of my condition but once," said an old man, "when my feet were bare and I had no money to buy shoes; but I met a man without feet, and became contented."
370
It is right to be contented with what we have, but never with what we are.
--_Sir James Mackintosh._
371
A favorite saying of the beloved Dr. John A. Broaddus was: "It is better to like what you have, than to have what you like."
--_Christian Observer._
372
If you live according to nature, you never will be poor; if according to the world's caprice, you never will be rich.
373
Happy the man, whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air In his own ground.
374
Since we have loaves, let us look not for cakes.
--_Spanish._
375
To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much--impossible.
--_Marie Ebner Eschenbach._
376
If thou hast but little, make it not less by murmuring.
--_Quarles._
377
Contentment will make a cabbage look as fair as a palace.
--_W. Secker._
378
May we never murmur without a cause, nor have cause to murmur.
379
He that is rich need not live sparingly, and he that can live sparingly need not be rich.
380
Some have too much, yet still do crave; I have little, and seek no more: They are but poor, though much they have, And I am rich with little store; They poor, I rich; they beg, I give; They lack, I have; they pine, I live.
--_Sir Edward Dyer, (Died 1607.)_
381
If all the gems of earth were mine And wealth and power were to me sent, How infinitely poor I'd be Without content.
--_Annie W. McCoy._
382
Is it possible to find perfect contentment? Some one once said:--"The secret of perfect contentment is, that there isn't any."
383
"It is a great blessing to possess what one wishes," said one to an ancient philosopher, who replied, "It is a greater blessing still, not to desire what one does not possess."
384
Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires, makes a wise and happy purchase.
--_J. Balgury._
385
He that deserves nothing should be content with anything.
386
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
--_Epictetus._
387
When the well is dry, then we all know the worth of water.
388
In conversation avoid the extremes of Forwardness and Reserve.
--_Cato._
389
_Conversation._--To please others we should talk on subjects they like and that interest them; avoid disputes, seldom ask questions, and never let them see that we pretend to be better informed than they are.
--_Rochefoucauld._
390
The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit.
--_Sir W. Temple._
391
Conversation is the music of the mind; an intellectual orchestra, where all the instruments should bear a part, but where none should play together.
--_Colton._
392
Never argue in society; if any person differs from you, bow, and turn the conversation.
--_Beaconsfield._
393
I never, with important air, In conversation overbear.
--_Gay's Fables._
394
One of the best rules in conversation is, never say a thing which any of the company can reasonably wish had been left unsaid.
--_Swift._
395
_Conversation._--As it is the mark of great minds to say many things in a few words, so it is that of little minds to use many words to say nothing.
"So much they talked, so very little said."
396
To say nothing charmingly is a great gift.
397
_Conversation._--In general those who nothing have to say contrive to spend the longest time in doing it.
--_An Oriental Apologue._
398
With thee conversing, I forget all time.
--_Milton._
399
It is better to turn back than to go astray.
--_From the German._
400
He who converses with no one, learns nothing.
401
As rust corrupts iron, so envy corrupts man.
--_Antisthenes._
402
_Corporations have no souls_:--Lord Chancellor Thurlow said, "that corporations have neither bodies to be punished, nor souls to be condemned; they therefore do as they like."
403
Corruption is a tree, whose branches are Of an unmeasurable length: they spread Ev'rywhere; and the dew that drops from thence Hath infected some chairs and stools of authority.
--_Beaumont and Fletcher._
404
The thatched cottage where one is merry, is preferable to a palace where one weeps.
--_From the Chinese._
405
Good counsel never comes too late.
--_German._
406
From a safe port 'tis easy to give counsel.
407
He that winna be counselled canna be helped.
--_Scotch._
408
In many counsellors there is safety.
--_From the Latin._
409
Cheerful looks make every dish a feast, And 'tis that, that crowns a welcome.
--_Massinger._
410
The countenance is frequently more expressive than the tongue.
411
A pleasing countenance is no slight advantage.
--_Duport._
412
A smiling countenance indicates courtesy, joy, good humor and happiness.
413
The character of a man's native country is as strongly impressed on his mind as its accent is on his tongue.
--_Rochefoucauld._
414
RURAL LIFE.
The fact that the following verses are heard to-day proves their "convenience," to say the least, for they were written by William Livingston in 1747:----
Mine be the pleasure of a rural life, From noise remote, and ignorant of strife, Far from the painted belle and white-gloved beau, The lawless masquerade, and midnight show, From lapdogs, courtiers, garters, stars, Fops, fiddlers, tyrants, emperors, and czars!
--_Christian Advocate_
415
THE COUNTRY.
A breath of unadulterated air, The glimpse of a green pasture, how they cheer The citizen, and brace his languid frame. Even in the stifling bosom of the town; A garden, in which nothing thrives, has charms That soothe the rich possessor. And are these not all proofs that man immured In cities, still retains his inborn inextinguishable Thirst of rural scenes, compensating his loss By supplemental shifts the best he may?
416
LOVE OF COUNTRY.
Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, "This is my own--my Native Land!" Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned As home his footsteps he hath turned From wandering on a foreign strand? If such there breathe, go--mark him well; For him no minstrel raptures swell; High though his titles, proud his name, Boundless his wealth as wish can claim-- Despite those titles, power and pelf, The wretch, concentred all in self, Living, shall forfeit fair renown, And, doubly dying, shall go down To the vile dust from whence he sprung, Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.
--_Sir Walter Scott._
417
The wise men of Greece were asked which was the best governed country. Clemenese replied, "the people who have more respect for the laws than the orators."
418
He who loves not his country, can love nothing.
419
A great deal of talent is lost to the world for the want of courage.
--_S. Smith._
420
Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy.
--_Emerson._
421
The courtesy with which I receive a stranger, and the civility I show him, form the background on which he paints my portrait.
422
Courtesy on one side, never lasts long.
423
Men dream in courtship, but in wedlock wake.
--_Pope._
424
_Courtship and Marriage._--"Their courtship was carried on in poetry." Alas! many a pair have courted in poetry, and after marriage lived in prose.
--_Foster._
425
Courtship may be said to consist of a number of quiet attentions, not so pointed as to alarm, nor so vague as not to be understood.
--_Sterne._
426
_Covetousness._--A young man once picked up a sovereign lying in the road. Ever afterward, in walking along, he kept his eye fixed steadily upon the ground in hopes to find another. And in the course of a long life he did pick up, at different times, a goodly number of coins, gold and silver. But all these years, while he was looking for them, he saw not that the heavens were bright above him, and nature beautiful around. He never once allowed his eye to look up from the mud and filth in which he sought his treasure; and when he died--a rich old man--he only knew this fair earth as a dirty road to pick up money as you walk along. Thus you see the desire of having is the sin of covetousness.
--_Dr. Jeffrey._
427
The coward only threatens when he is secure.
--_Goethe._
428
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
429
Credit, like a looking-glass, broken once, is gone, alas!
430
He who doesn't take care of his credit will soon have none to take care of.
431
There are two directly opposite reasons why some men cannot get credit--one is because he is not known--the other because he is.
432
THE CRITIC.
The critic stood with scornful eye Before a picture on the wall: "You call this art? Now see that fly, It is not natural at all.
It has too many legs, its head Is far too large--who ever saw A fly like that, so limp and dead, And wings that look as if they--pshaw!"
And with a gesture of disgust He waved his hand, when lo! the fly Flew from the picture. "Ah! some dust," The critic said, "was in my eye."
--_Henry Coyle._
Some one has said that finding fault is done on a smaller capital than any other business, and it is a very fascinating business, too, for people of--small calibre.
433
A man must serve his time to every trade, Save censure; critics all are ready-made.
--_Byron._
434
The culture of a man is like the changing of raw material into the manufactured article. The uncultured man is comparatively helpless and worthless.
--_The Religious Telescope._
435
Curiosity! who hath not felt Its spirit, and before its altar knelt?
436
Custom forms us all; Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed belief Are consequences of our place of birth.
--_Hill._
D
437
_Daughter._--To a father waxing old nothing is dearer than a daughter; sons have spirits of higher pitch, but less inclined to sweet endearing fondness.
--_Euripides._
438
BEREFT OF AN ONLY DAUGHTER.
This day my loved one leaves me, and my heart Is heavy with its grief: the streams of sorrow, Choked at the source, repress my faltering voice. I have no words to speak; mine eyes are dimmed By the dark shadows of the thoughts that rise Within my soul. If such the force of grief In an old hermit parted from his nursling, What anguish must the stricken parent feel Bereft forever of an only daughter!
Weep not my daughter, check the gathering tear That lurks beneath thine eyelid, ere it flow And weaken thy resolve; be firm and true-- True to thyself and me, the path of life Will lead o'er hill and plain, o'er rough and smooth, And all must feel the steepness of the way, Tho' rugged be thy course, press boldly on.
Honor thy betters; even be respectful To those above thee. Should thy wedded lord Treat thee with harshness, thou must never be Harsh in return, but patient and submissive. Be to thy menials courteous, and to all Placed under thee considerate and kind: Be never self-indulgent, but avoid Excess in pleasure; and, when fortune smiles Be not puffed up. Thus to thy husband's house Wilt thou a blessing prove, and not a curse.
439
See here it is dawning Another bright day: Think wilt thou let it Slip uselessly away?
440
He mourns the dead who lives as they desire.
--_Dr. E. Young._
441
One of the Fathers said: "That there is but this difference between the death of old and young men,--that old men go to death, and death comes to young men."
--_Bacon._
442
THE REPROOF OF A FOOL.
There was a certain nobleman who kept a fool, to whom he one day gave a staff, with a charge to keep it till he should meet with one who was a greater fool than himself. Not many years after, the nobleman fell sick, even unto death. The fool came to see him: his lord said to him--"I must shortly leave you." "And whither are you going?" said the fool. "Into another world," replied his lordship. "And when will you come again? Within a month?" "No." "Within a year?" "No." "When then?" "Never." "Never!" said the fool, "and what provision hast thou made for thy entertainment there, whither thou goest?" "None at all." "No!" said the fool, "none at all! Here then, take my staff; for with all my folly, I am not guilty of any such folly as this."
443
The divinity who rules within us, forbids us to leave this world without his command.
--_Cicero._
444
When a man dies, they who survive him, ask what property he has left behind. The angel who bends over the dying man, asks what good deeds he has sent before him.
445
Happy is, or ought to be, the man who owes nothing.
446
If you would avoid paying debts, avoid incurring them.
447
But wealth and power have no immortal day, For all things ripen only to decay.
448
DECISION.
Lose this day loitering,--'t will be the same story To-morrow, and the next more dilatory; The indecision brings its own delays, And days are lost lamenting over days. Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute, What you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated,-- Begin, And then the work Will be completed.
--_J. W. Von Goethe._
449
Let him that hath done the good office conceal it; let him that hath received it disclose it.
450
NOBLE DEEDS.
He built a house, time laid it in the dust; He wrote a book, its title now forgot; He ruled a city, but his name is not On any tablet graven, or where rust Can gather from disuse, or marble bust. He took a child from out a wretched cot, Who on the state dishonor might have brought, And reared him to the Christian's hope and trust. The boy to manhood grown, became a light To many souls, preached for human need The wondrous love of the Omnipotent. The work has multiplied like stars at night When darkness deepens; every noble deed Lasts longer, than a granite monument.
--_Sarah H. Bolton._
451
"He wishes well" is worthless, unless the deed go with it.
--_Plautus._
452
_Deformed._--Mock not at those who are misshapen by nature. He that despiseth them despiseth God that made them.
--_Dr. Fuller._
453
Away with delay! it always injures those that are prepared.
--_Lucan._
454
Do not delay: the golden moments fly!
--_Longfellow._
455
True delicacy, that most beautiful heart-leaf of humanity, exhibits itself most significantly in little things.
456
Nothing prevents our being natural so much as the desire to appear so.
--_Rochefoucauld._
457
Remember that your dependents have seldom a full power of replying to you; and let the recollection of that make you especially considerate in your dealings with them.
--_Sir Arthur Helps._
458
Honorable descent is in all nations greatly esteemed; besides, it is to be expected that the children of men of worth will be like their fathers.
--_Aristotle._
459
When any great design thou dost intend, Think on the means, the manner, and the end.
--_Sir J. Denham._
460
The desires of man increase with his acquisitions.
--_Dr. Johnson._
461
DESTINY.
Ships that pass at night, and speak each other in passing, Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness: So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another, Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.
--_Longfellow._
462
INSCRIPTION FOR A SUN-DIAL.
The shadow by my finger cast Divides the future from the past: Before it sleeps the unborn hour In darkness, and beyond thy power: Behind its unreturning line, The vanished hour, no longer thine: One hour alone is in thy hands-- The Now on which the shadow stands.
--_Henry Van Dyke._
463
RISE ABOVE YOUR DIFFICULTIES.
Not till after the death of a member of Parliament, a prominent county magistrate, the owner of large estates, and an active, public-spirited man in all local and national matters, was it known by those who had not seen him, that it was but the misshapen block of a man that had lived this active, manly life.
He was born with neither legs nor arms. After his death his story was told: how he resolved, when but a boy, to act and live as did other boys, without regard to his horrible misfortune; how he persisted in studying every book, in learning every game, in joining in every amusement possible to him, with his companions. How, to the last year of his life, he held himself to be as responsible as other men, and bravely paid every tithe of duty to God and to his fellows.
Even in lesser matters in life he pressed to the front. He was the most genial, witty guest at social dinner tables. Strapped to his horse, he hunted foxes in Yorkshire, or tigers in India, and with his brothers made long journeys in other parts of the world. Everywhere his cheerfulness and gaiety gave new life to duller souls.
Is there no lesson for us all in the life of this gallant gentleman?
--_Youth's Companion._
464
Dr. Roux, the celebrated French physician, said: "The greater part of preparation for the digestion of food takes place in the mouth."
465
True dignity exists independent of-- "Studied gestures or well-practiced smiles."
466
We have all met with a great many disappointments, and if we live much longer, shall likely meet with many more.
467
_Discontented People._--You have such a February face, So full of frost, of storm, and cloudiness.
468
'Tis not my talent to conceal my thoughts, Or carry smiles and sunshine in my face, When discontent sits heavy at my heart.
--_Addison._
469
Discontent is a man's, and a woman's, worst enemy.
470
DISCONTENT.