DESPAIR. nostrils, and gnashes the teeth; the head is pressed down upon the breast; heart too hard to permit tears to flow; arms are sometimes bent at the elbows; the fists clench'd hard; the veins and muscles swollen; the skin livid; the whole body strained and violently agitated; while groans of inward torture are more frequently uttered than words. If any words are spoken, they are few, and expressed with a sullen eager bitterness; the tones of the voice often loud and furious, and sometimes in the same pitch for a considerable time. This state of human nature is too terrible, too frightful to look, or dwell upon, and almost improper for representation: for if death cannot be counterfeited without too much shocking our humanity, despair, which exhibits a state ten thousand times more terrible than death, ought to be viewed with a kind of reverence to the great Author of Nature, who seems sometimes to permit this agony of mind, as a warning to avoid that wickedness, which produces it: it can hardly be Bring me to my trial when you will. Died he not in his bed? where should he die? The weariest and most loathed worldly life, Crities are like a kind of flies, that breed In wild big-trees, and, when they're grown up, feed Virtue and Vice. Every man has actually within him, the seeds of every virtue and every vice; and the proportion, in which they thrive and ripen, depends, in general, upon the situations in which he has been, and is placed, and his life. Anecdote. Filial Piety. Valerius Maximus relates, that a woman of distinction, having been condemned to be strangled, was carried to prison, in order to be put to death; but the jailor was so struck with compunction, that, resolving not to kill her, he chose to let her die with hunger; meanwhile, he permitted her daughter to visit her in prison, taking care that she brought nothing to eat. Many days passing by, and the prisoner still living, the jailor at length,suspecting something, watched the daughter, and discovered that she nourished her mother with her own milk. He informed the authorities, and they the people; when the criminal was pardoned, and the mother and daughter maintained at the public expense; while a temple was erected-SACRED TO FILIAL PIETY. Varieties. 1. The mind should shine through the casket, that contains it; its eloquence must speak in the cheek; and so distinctly should it be wrought in the whole countenance, that one might say, the body thinks, as well as feels; such oratory will never cloy; it is always enchanting, never the same. 2. A gentleman, lecturing before a lyceum, remarked: a lady, when she married, lost her personal identity-her distinctive character-and was like a dew-drop swallowed by a sunbeam. 3. Let ignorance talk, learning hath its value. 4. Where mystery is practiced, there is generally something bad to conceal, or something incompatible with candor, or ingenuousness, which form the chief characteristic of genuine innocence. 5. The worst man is often he, who thinks himself the best. 6. A benefit is a good office, done with intention and judgment. 7. He, who punishes an enemy, has a momentary delight; but he who forgives him, has an abid ing satisfaction. Despair shall round their souls be twin'd, And drink the vigor of their mind: As round the oak rank ivy cleaves, Steals its sap, and blasts its leaves. Like yonder blasted boughs, by lightning riven, Perfection, beauty, life, they never know, But frown on all, that pass, a monument of woe the eyes are cast down,the arms hang lax, som etimes a little raised, suddenly to fall again; the hands open, the fingers spread, the voice plaintive, and frequently inter rupted with sighs. But when immoderate, it Say that again; the shadow of my sorrow! 'Tis very true, my grief lies all within; There-lies the substance; For the great bounty, that not only giv'st Now, had he seen her in her winding-sheet, The voice of pity-sooth'd, and melted her, For forms of government, let fools contest; Love of Justice. A sense of justice aloud be the foundation of all our social qualities. In our most early intercourse with the world, and even in our most youthful amusements, no unfairness should be found. That sacred rule, of doing all things to others, according as we wish they would do unto us, should be engraved on our minds. For this end, we should impress ourselves with a deep sense of the original and natural equality of man. Anecdote. When king Agrippa was in a private station, he was accused, by one of his servants, of speaking ill of Tiberius, and was condemned by the emperor to be exposed in chains before the palace gate. The weather being hot, he was thirsty, and called to Caligula's servant, Thaumastus, who was passing with a pitcher of water, to give him some drink; assuring him, if he got out of his captivity, he would pay him well. Tiberius dying, Caligula succeeded him, and set Agrip. pa at liberty, making him king of Judea, in which situation, he remembered the glass of water, sent for Thaumastus, and made him controller of his household. Varieties. 1. The following is the title of a book, published in England, in Cromwell's time: "Curious custards, carefully conserved for the chickens of the covenant, and sparrows of the spirit, and the sweet swallows of salvation." 2. Superabundant prosperity, tends to involve the human mind in darkness: it takes away the greatest stimulus to exertion, represses activity, renders us idle, and inclines us to vice. 3. Venture not on the precipice of temptation; the ground may be firm as a rock under your feet, but a false step, or a sudden blast, may be your destruction. 4. Discretion has been termed the better part of valor; and diffidence, the better part of knowledge. 5. To combine profundity with perspicuity, wit with judgment, sobriety with vivacity, truth with novelty, and all of them with liberality, are six very difficult things. 6. Disguise it as we will, tyranny is a bitter thing. 7. What accident gains, accident may take away. Seems, madam! nay, it is: I know not seeme Its solitude, and nothing more diverts it There is a kind of character in thy life- Both thanks and praise. Maxims. 1. We shall never be free from debt, till we learn not to be ashamed of industry and economy. 2. All should be taught how to earn, save and enjoy money. 3. Teach children to save everything; not for their own use exclusively, for this would make them selfish; teach them to share everything with their associates, and never to destroy anything. 4. True economy can be as comfortable with a little, as extravagance can with much. 5. Never lessen good actions, nor aggʻi vate evil ones. 6. Good works are a rock; ill ones a sandy foundation. 7. Some receive praise, who do not deserve it. 8. It is safer to learn, than to teach. 9. He, who conceals his opinion, has nothing to answer for. 10. Reason, like the sun, is common to all. Anecdote. The late king of England, being very fond of Mr. Whiston, celebrated for his various strictures on religion, happened to be walking with him one day, in Hampton Court gardens, during the heat of his persecution. As they were talking upon this subject, his majesty observed, "That however right he might be in his opinions, it would be better, if he kept them to himself." "Is your majesty really serious in your advice?" answered the old man. "I really am," replied the king. "Why, then," says Whiston," had Martin Luther been of this way of thinking, where would your majesty have been at this time?" Varieties. 1. What are the three learned professions? 2. Great minds can attend to little things; but little minds cannot attend to great things. 3. To marry a ruke, in hopes of reforming him, and to hire a highwayman, in hopes of reclaiming him, are two very dangerous experiments. 4. A clear idea, produces a stronger effect on the mind, than one that is obscure and indistinct. 5. Those that are teaching the people to read, are doing all they can to increase the power, While Chaos, hush'd, stands listening to the noise, and extend the influence of those that write: And wonders at confusion not his own. I look'd, I listen'd, dreadful sounds I hear, Mourners. Men are often ingenious, in making themselves miserable, by aggravating, beyond bounds, the evils, which they are compelled to endure. "I will restore thy daughter again to life," said an eastern suge to a prince, who grieved immoderately for the loss of a beloved child; "provided, thou art able to engrave on her tomb, the names of three persons, who have never mourned." The prince made inquiry after such persons; but found the inquiry vain, and was silent. for the child-will read to please his teachers, but the man-to please himself. 6. A faithful friend, that reproveth of errors, is preferable to a deceitful parasite. 7. He that follows nature, is never out of the way. 8. Time, patience, and industry, are the three grand masters of the world. If music be the food of love, play on; O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou. SURPRISE, WONDER, AMAZEMENT. 480. An uncommon object produces wonder; if it appears suddenly, it begets surprise, which continued, produces amazement, and if the object of wonder comes gently to the mind, and a.orts the attenLon by its beauty and grandeur, it excites admiration, which is a mixture of approbation and wonder; so sure is the observation of the poet; Late time shall wonder, that my joys shall raise; For wonder is involuntary praise. WONDER OR AMAZEMENT-opens the eyes and makes them appear very prominent: sometimes it raises them to the skies; but more frequently fixes them upon the object, if it be present, with a fearful look: the mouth is open and the hands held up nearly in the attitude of fear; and if they old anything, they drop it immediately, and unconsciously; the voice is at first low, but so emphatical that every word is pronounced slowly and with energy, though the first access of this passion often stops all utterance; when, by the discovery of something excellent in the object of wonder, the emotion may be called admiration, the eyes are raised, the hands are lifted up, and elapp'd together, and the voice elevated with expressions of rapture. Thou art, O God the life and light Of all this wondrous world we see ; Are but reflections caught from thee. Through golder vistas into Heaven, destruction, of suffering and resisting, of sensibility and insensibility! Importance of Early Principles. If men's actions are an effect of their principles, that is, of their notions, their belief, their persuasions, it must be admitted, that principles-early sown in the mind, are the seeds, which produce fruit and harvest in the ripe state of manhood. How lightly soever Some men may speak of notions, yet, so long us the soul governs the body, men's notions must irfluence their actions, more or less, as they are stronger or weaker: and to good or evil, as they are better or worse. Anecdote. Cyrus, the great king of Persia, when a boy, being at the court of his grandfather As-ty-a-ges, engaged to perform the office of cup-bearer at table. The duty of this office required him to taste the liquor, before presenting it to the king; but without performing this duty, Cyrus delivered the cup to his grandfather; who observed the omission, which he imputed to forgetfulness. "No," said Cyrus, "I purposely avoided it: because I feared it contained poison: for lately, at an entertainment, I observed that the lords of your court, after drinking it, be came noisy, quarrelsome and frantic." Varieties. 1. In every departure from truth, it is the deceit and hypocricy we exert, to compass our purpose, that does the evil, more than the base falsehood, of which we are guilty. 2. It is a strong proof of the want of proper attention to our duty, and of a deficiency of energy and good sense, to let an opportunity pass, of doing or getting good, without improving it. 3. Of all the passions, jealousy is that which exacts the hardest service, and pays the bitterest wages; its service is to watch the success of a rival; its wages-to be sure of it. 4. Base envy withers at another's joy, and hates that excel lence it cannot reach. 5. How does the mental and bodily statures of the ancients, compare with those of the moderns? 6. It seems like a law of order, that no one shall be long remembered with affection, by a race whom he has never benefitted. 7. The char ity, that relieves distressed minds, is far superior to that, which relieves distressed bodies. 8. Think'st thou-it is honorable-for a noble man still to remember wrong? 9. This is the monstrosity of love, that the will-is infinite, and the execution-confined; that the desire-is boundless, and the act-a slave to limit. What's in a name; that which we call a rose. Anecdote. Pulpit Flattery. One of the first acts, performed by the young monarch, George the Third, after his accession to the throne of England, was, to issue an order, prohibiting any of the clergy, who should be called before him, from paying him any compliments in their discourse. His majesty was led to this, from the fulsome adulation which Dr. Thomas Wilson, prebendary of Westminster, thought proper to deliver, in the royal chapel; and for which, instead of thanks, he received a pointed reprimand; his majesty observing, "that he came to hear the praise of God, and not his own." feeling, that perfect community of the heart's secrets and the mind's thoughts, which binds two beings together more closely, more dearly than the dearest of human ties; more than the vow of passion, or the oath of the altar. It is that confidence which, did we not deny its sway, would give to earthly love a permanence that we find but very seldom in this world. Love. The brightest part of love is its confielined a little forward, and the hand, with the dence. It is that perfect, that unhesitating relipalm downwards, just raised to meet the inclina-ance, that interchange of every idea and every tion of the body, and then let fall again with apparent timidity and diffidence; the eye is sometimes lifted up, and then immediately cast downward, as if unworthy to behold, the object before it; the eyebrows drawn down in the most respectful manner; the features, and the whole body and limbs, all composed to the most profound gravity; one portion continuing without much change. When veneration rises to adoration of the Almighty Creator and Redeemer, it is too sacred to be imitated, and seems to demand that humble annihilation of ourselves, which must ever be the consequence of a just sense of the Divine Majesty, and our own unworthiness. This feeling is always accompanied with more or less of awe, according to the object, place, &c. Respect-is but a less degrees of veneration, and is nearly allied Varieties. 1. Some misfortunes' seem to be inevitable; but they generally proceed from our want of judgment, and prudence. 2. Ignorance of the facts, upon which a science is based, precludes much proficiency in that science. 3. Trade, like a restive horse, is not easily managed; where one is carried to the end of a successful journey, many are thrown off by the way. 4. No accident can do harm to virtue; it helps to make it manifest. 5. True faith is a practical principle; it is doing what we understand to be true. 6. It is very difficult to talk and act like a madman, bu not like a fool. 7. Rely not on the companions of your pleasure; trust not the associates of your health and prosperity; it is only in the hour of adversity, that we learn the And thought is lost, ere thought can soar so high, sincerity of our friends. 8. The genuine fecl- This world-is all a fleeting show, There's nothing true-but Heaven! And love, and hope, and beauty's bloom, From wave-to wave-we're driven, When usefulness, and pleasure join, ings of human nature, are always the same; Admit impediments. Love is not love, Or bends with the remover to remove : That looks on tempests, and is never shaken; Whose worth's unknown, altho' his height be ta |