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LOOK TO THE EVENT.

CHARACTER OF TYRANTS.

It is the part of wisdom to wait to see the final result of things; for God often tears up by the roots the prosperous, and overwhelms with misery those who have reached the highest pin-vices are combined, they lead to the most nacle of worldly happiness.

For insolence is the natural result of great prosperity, while envy and jealousy are innate qualities in the mind of man. When these two

HEAVY PUNISHMENTS FOR GREAT CRIMES.

enormous crimes: some atrocities are committed from insolence, and others from envy. Princes ought to be superior to all such feelings; but, alas!

The gods inflict heavy punishment on great we know that this is not the case. The noble and crimes.

So Psalms (xlv. 18)-" Come, behold the works of the Lord what desolations He hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the charict in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God."

the worthiest are the object of their jealousy, merely because they feel that their lives are a reproach to them; with the most abandoned they rejoice to spend their time. Calumny they drink in with greedy ears. But what is the most paradoxical of all, if thou showest them merely

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL respectful homage, they take umbrage because

BOY.

They who are skilled in archery bend their bow only when they are preparing to use it; when they do not require it, they allow it to remain unbent, for otherwise it would be unserviceable when the time for using it arrived. So it is with man. If he were to devote himself unceasingly to a dull round of business, without breaking the monotony by cheerful amusements, he would fall imperceptibly into idiocy, or be struck by paralysis. It is the conviction of this truth that leads to the proper division of my time.

CUSTOM.

Such is the force of custom; and Pindar seems to me to have spoken with peculiar propriety when he observed that custom was the universal Sovereign.

UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE.

It is no doubt pleasant to hear of the prosperity of a friend and ally; but, as I know the envious nature of Fortune, and how jealous she is of our success, thou must not be surprised that I feel some apprehensions respecting thee. In fact, if I could be allowed to choose for myself, and for those dear to me, I should prefer that the gale

blew sometimes favorable and sometimes adverse. I would rather that my life was checkered with good and evil than that I should enjoy an uninterrupted course of good fortune. I do not remember of having ever heard of a man remarkable for a long run of good luck who did not in the end close his life with some extraordinary calamity. If, then, thou wilt attend to my advice, thou wilt provide the following remedy against the excess of thy prosperity. Consider in thy own mind on what thou placest the highest value, and the loss of which thou wouldst most deplore; cast this from thee, so that there may be no possibility of If thy good fortune still continue, thou wilt do well to repeat the remedy.

its return.

BETTER TO BE ENVIED THAN PITIED.

thou art not sufficiently humble; whereas, if thou bend the knee with the most submissive looks, thou art kicked away as a flatterer.

ENVY.

Envy is implanted by nature in man.

So Proverbs (xiv. 30)—“ Envy is the rottenness of the bones."
FORCE OF LITTLE AVAIL.

For where wisdom is required, force is of little avail.

t POWERS OF MIND STRENGTHEN AND GROW WEAK WITH THE BODY.

For the powers of the mind gather strength with those of the body; and in the same way, as old age creeps on, they get weaker and weaker. till they are finally insensible to everything.

BENEFITS OF DISCUSSION.

Unless a variety of opinions are laid before us, we have no opportunity of selection, but are bound of necessity to adopt the particular view which may have been brought forward. The purity of but when we have carefully compared it with othgold cannot be ascertained by a single specimen ; ers, we are able to fix upon the finest ore.

So Thomson ("Liberty," Part ii.)

"Friendly free discussion calling forth
From the fair jewel Truth its latent ray.

DELIBERATION AND FORETHOUGHT.

For my own part, I have found from experience that the greatest good is to be got from forethought and deliberation; even if the result is not such as we expected, at all events we have the feeling that we have done all in our power to merit success, and therefore the blame must be attached to fortune alone. The man who is foolish and inconsiderate, even when fortune shines upon him, is not the less to be censured for his want of sense. Dost thou not see how the thunderbolts of heaven lay prostrate the mightiest animals, while they pass

Thou hast learned by experience how much over the weak and insignificant? The most splenbetter it is to be envied than pitied.

POWER IS PRECARIOUS.

did palaces and the loftiest trees fall before these weapons of the gods. For God loves to humble the mighty. So also we often see a powerful army

Power, which many so assiduously court, is in melt away before the more contemptible force. its nature precarious.

For when God in His wrath sends His terrors

among them, they perish in a way that is little worthy of their former glory. The Supreme Being allows no one to be infinite in wisdom but Himself.

So Psalms (cxlvii. 5, 6)-"Great is our Lord, and of great power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifteth up the meek: He casteth the wicked down to the ground." And Mark (x. 27)-" With God all things are possible."

CALUMNY.

Calumny is a monstrous vice; for, where parties indulge in it, there are always two that are actively engaged in doing wrong, and one who is subject to injury. The calumniator inflicts wrong by slandering the absent; he who gives credit to the calumny, before he has investigated the truth, is equally implicated. The person traduced is doubly injured-first by him who propagates, and secondly by him who credits, the calumny.

DREAMS.

Dreams, in general, take their rise from those incidents which have most occupied the thoughts during the day.

DEATH IS THE REFUGE OF THE UNFORTUNATE.

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and hates him in secret; nor is he willing to give One man envies the success in life of another, him good advice when he is consulted, except it be by some wonderful effort of good feeling, and there are, alas! few such men in the world. A real friend, on the other hand, exults in his friend's happiness, rejoices in all his joys, and is ready to afford him his best advice.

So James (iii. 16)-"Where envying is, there is confusion and every evil work."

PRUDENCE AND RASHNESS.

Those who are guided by reason are generally successful in their plans; those who are rash and precipitate seldom enjoy the favor of the gods.

So Ecclesiastes (v. 2)-"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few."

KINGS HAVE LONG ARMS.

For the power of a king is superhuman, and his

Brief as this life is, there is no one in the multi-hand is very long. tude, nor yet in the whole universe, that has been so happy at all times as not repeatedly to have prayed for death rather than life. Heavy trials in worldly affairs, the pangs of disease, render the short span of life of too long duration. Thus death, when life becomes a burden, is a delightful hiding-place for wearied man; and the Divinity, by giving us pleasures, and thereby inducing us to wish for length of days, may in reality be considered as doing us an injury.

CIRCUMSTANCES COMMAND MEN. Remember that men are dependent on circumstances, and not circumstances on men.

GREAT RESULTS FROM GREAT DANGERS. Great results usually arise from great dangers. So Acts (xiv. 22)-"That we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."

66 WE KNOW IN PART."

Can one who is mortal be infallible? I believe that he cannot.

So 1 Corinthians (xiii. 9)—" For we know in part and we prophesy in part."

INACTIVITY CONDEMNED.

It is better by a noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half of the evils which we anticipate, than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what may happen.

So 1 Thessalonians (i. 6)—“Having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost."

A WISE MAN RECEIVES A KINDNESS.

Wherefore it is not to be supposed that a wise man should refuse a kindness that is offered to him, but rather be anxious to embrace it.

THE WILL of providence CANNOT BE RESISTED. My friend, it is vain for man to contend with the will of Providence; though the words of the wise are seldom listened to. Many of the Persians think as I do, but, forced by necessity, they yield to what they find it impossible to avoid. This is one of the saddest evils to which mankind is subject, that the advice of the wise is little attended to.

So Hebrews (xii. 5)—“ My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him." CHARACTER OF MEN DEPENDS ON THE NATURE AND CLIMATE OF THE COUNTRY.

It is a law of Nature that faint-hearted men should be the fruit of luxurious countries, for we never find that the same soil produces delicacies and heroes.

HESIOD.

FLOURISHED PROBABLY ABOUT B.C. 850. HESIOD, a celebrated poet, was a native of Asera, in Boeotia, whither his father had emigrated from the Eolian Cuma, in Asia Minor. The early years of the poet were spent in the mountains of Bootia, in the humble capacity of a shepherd; but his circumstances seem to have improved, as we find him engaged on the death of his father, in a lawsuit with his brothers, respecting the property left by his father. The judges of Ascra gave judgment against him, and in consequence of this he left his native city, and retired to Orchomenos, where he spent the remainder of his life. The ancients attributed to Hesiod a variety of works, but few of them have come down to us. The "Works and

H

Days" is considered the most valuable, not so much from its own intrinsic worth as for having suggested to Virgil the idea of the Georgics. Its style is plain and homely, without much poetical imagery or ornament; but it must be looked upon as the most ancient specimen of didactic poetry.

WISE KING.

The people all look up to him as he administers justice with impartial judgment; with wise words quickly he calms even the wildest tumult, for kings are endued with wisdom that they may easily quell factious deeds when the people are misled by demagogues, soothing them with soft words; as he goes through the city all hail him as a god, with gentlest awe, and he stands conspicuous midst the assembled council.

THE BARD.

Blessed is he whom the Muses love! sweetly do his words flow from his lips. Is there one afflicted with fresh sorrow, pining away with deep grief? then if the minstrel, servant of the Muses, sings the glorious deeds of men of yore, the praise of the blessed gods who dwell in Olympus, quickly does he forget his sorrows, nor remembers aught of all his griefs; for the gifts of these goddesses swiftly turn his woes away.

THE DRONES.

As when bees in close-roofed hives feed the drones, partners in evil deeds, the former all day long, to the setting sun, their murmuring labors ply, filling the pure combs; while the drones, remaining within, reap the labors of others for their

own maws.

SLEEP AND DEATH.

There dwell Sleep and Death, dread gods, the progeny of gloomy Night; the sun never looks upon them with its bright rays, neither when he mounts the vault of heaven nor when he descends; the former in silence passes over the earth and the wide expanse of sea, giving pleasure to mortals; of the other, iron is the heart, and his brazen breast is merciless; whomsoever of men he first seizes he holds, and is hostile even to the immortal gods.

FATE OF MAN DETERMINED BY GOD.

By whom mortal men are raised to fame or live obscurely, noble or ignoble, by the will of Jove; with ease he lifts or brings low, with ease he dims the brightest name and ennobles the meanest; with ease high-thundering Jove, who dwells on high, makes the crooked straight and unnerves the strong.

So 1 Samuel (ii. 7, 8)-"The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He hath set the world upon them." And Psalms (cxiii. 7, 8)--" He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people." And Luke (1 51-53)—" He hath showed strength with His arm: He hath

scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away."

EMULATION IS GOOD.

Emulation is good for mankind.

THE ENVIOUS.

The potter envies the potter, the carpenter the carpenter, the poor is jealous of the poor, and the bard of the bard.

HALF BETTER THAN THE WHOLE.

Fools that they are, they know not how much the half is better than the whole, nor how great pleasure there is in wholesome herbs-the mallow and the asphodel.

GOD LAUGHS AT VAIN DESIGNS.

Thus he spoke; and the sire of men and gods out-laughed.

So Psalms (ii. 4)-"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." And Milton, "Paradise Lost " (Bk. v. 735)—

"Mighty Father, thou my foes Justly hast in derision, and secure, Laugh'st at their vain designs and tumults vain."

THE WORLD FULL OF ILLS.

For the earth is full of woes, and also the sea; diseases go about noiselessly, bearing of themselves sorrows to mortals night and day, since Jove has taken from them the power of speech; so impossible is it to avoid the will of Jove.

EASY DEATH.

They died as if overcome with sleep.

GUARDIAN SPIRITS.

These are the aërial spirits of great Jove, beneficent, walking over the earth, guardians of mankind; they watch our actions, good and bad, passing everywhere over the earth, invisible to mortal eyes; such royal privilege they possess. So Psalms (xci. 11)-" For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."

JUSTICE AND RIGHT PREVAIL.

For insolence is unsuited to wretched mortals, often even the high and powerful allow themselves to be carried away by arrogance, and, yielding to this feeling, subject themselves to misery and losses. On the other hand, the road leading to justice is the safer; justice at last gets the better over wrong: this truth even the fool knows by experience.

THE UPRIGHT GOVERNOR.

Those who administer the laws with justice to strangers and natives, never transgressing what is right, by these the city flourishes in peace, and the people prosper. Peace is a good nursing-mother

to the land, nor does far-seeing Jove send among them troublous war.

A SINNER.

Oft a whole state suffers for the acts of a bad man, who breaks the laws of heaven and devises evil. On them Jove brings great calamity, both famine and pestilence, and the people perish.

THE WICKED BRING EVIL ON THEMSELVES.

What calamities does a man contriving evil for his neighbor bring upon himself! An evil design is worst for the contriver. The eye of Jove, that sees and knows all things, looks upon these things if he wills it, nor is it concealed from him what kind of justice a state administers.

ROAD TO WICKEDNESS EASILY FOUND.

EVIL GAINS EQUAL TO A LOSS. Do not make unjust gains; they are equal to a loss.

EVERY LITTLE ADDS TO THE HEAP. For if thou addest little to little, and doest so often, soon it will become a great help to him who gathers, and he will thus keep off keen hunger.

66 ONE SOWETH AND ANOTHER REAPETH." They reap the labors of others, for their own belly. line in his "Hymn to Ceres" Callimachus, the poet of Alexandria (circ. 200 B.C.), has a (187)"And those who ploughed the field shall reap the corn." Thomas Fuller, an excellent quoter of and commentator on proverbs, better than any moralist we know, purveys an antidote to bitterness at seeing others reap what we ourselves have sown, in his "Holy State." "The preacher of the Word," he says, "is in some places like the planting of together, it comes afterwards. And grant that God honoreth woods, where, though no profit is received for twenty years not thee to build His temple in thy parish, yet thou mayest with David provide metals and materials for Solomon thy successor to build it with."

MONEY IS LIFE.

Money is life to us wretched mortals.

HOW TO CHOOSE A WIFE.

It is easy for thee to get associates in wickedness; the road is smooth, and the dwellers are all around thee. But the immortal gods have placed the sweat of the brow before virtue: long and steep is the path that leads to it, and rough at first; but when the summit is reached, then it is easy, however difficult it may have been. That man is by far the wisest who is able of himself, to determine what is best both for the present moment and for the future: next, he is wise who yields to good advice; but he that is not wise him- In the spring-time of life, neither much above self, nor can hearken to wisdom, is a good-for-nor below thirty, lead home thy wife. Marriage nothing man. at this age is seasonable. Thy wife should be in her nineteenth year. Marry a virgin, that thou mayest teach her discreet manners, and be sure to marry thy neighbor's daughter, acting with all prudence, lest thou marry one who may prove a source of pleasure to thy neighbors. For there is nothing better than a good wife, and nothing worse than a bad one, who is fond of gadding about. Such a one roasts her husband, stouthearted though he may be, without a fire, and hands him over to a premature old age.

Milton, in his "Essay on Education," seems to have imitated this passage-"I shall detain you now no longer in the demonstration of what we should not do, but straight conduct you to a hill-side, where I will point you out the right path of a virtuous and noble education; laborious indeed at the first ascent, but also so smooth, so green, so full of goodly prospect and melodious sounds on every side, that the harp of

Orpheus was not more charming."

THE SLUGGARD.

Both gods and men are indignant with him who lives a sluggard's life like to the stingless drones, who lazily consume the labors of the bees.

LABOR NO DISGRACE.

Work is no disgrace, but idleness is a disgrace.

SHAME.

It is not well for false shame to accompany the needy, shame that both injures greatly and aids mankind; false shame leads to poverty, but confidence to wealth; wealth should not be got by plunder: what is given by God is far better.

So Ecclesiasticus (iv. 21)-"For there is a shame that bringeth sin; and there is a shame which is glory and grace."

A BAD NEIGHBOR.

A bad neighbor is as great a misfortune as a good one is a blessing.

RETURN LOVE FOR LOVE.

Return love for love, and assist him who assists thee; give to him who gives to thee, and give not to him who gives not.

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NO PLEASURE IN THE DEATH OF THE WICKED." I wish rather my people's safety, than that they should perish.

HOMER, the greatest epic poet of Greece, lived at so remote a period that his existence is considered by some as a myth. At all events, he lived beyond what may be regarded the strictly histor-Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but ical epoch of Greek literature, the date of the period when he flourished varying no less than 500 years (from B.C. 1184-684). Many towns claimed to be his birth-place, but Smyrna seems to have established the best claim: he is said to have died at Ios, one of the Cyclades.

ANGER.

O goddess! sing of the deadly wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought unnumbered woes upon the Greeks, and hurled untimely many valiant heroes to the viewless shades.

So Ezekiel (xxxiii. 11)-"Say unto them, As I live, saith the that the wicked turn from his way and live:" and 2 Peter (iii. 9)-"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness: but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." repentance;" and 1 Timothy (ii. 4)—" Who will have all men

66 GLORY NOT IN THY WISDOM."

If thou art stronger, some deity, I believe, has bestowed this gift on thee.

The idea is found in Jeremiah (ix, 23)—“Thus saith the

Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man

So Proverbs (xxvii. 4)—" Wrath is cruel, and anger is out- glory in his riches;" and in 1 Corinthians (iv. 7)—" For who rageous."

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maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?"

THE GODS.

Those who revere the gods, the gods will bless. So Proverbs (xv. 29)—“The Lord is far from the wicked: but He heareth the prayer of the righteous: " and John (ix. 31)— "Now we know that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth.”

THE SCEPTRE OF THE KING.

Yea, by this sceptre, which shall never again put forth leaves and branches, since first it left its parent trunk upon the mountain-side, nor will it blossom more, since all around, in very truth, has the axe lopped both leaf and bark; and now 'tis borne emblem of justice by the sons of the Greeks, those who watch over the laws received from Jove.

WORDS SWEETER THAN HONEY.

From whose tongue, also, flowed the stream of speech sweeter than honey.

So Psalms (cxix. 103)-" How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

THINE ENEMIES WILL REJOICE.

In very truth, what joy for Priam, and the song of Priam, and what exultation for the men of Troy, if they should hear of feuds between you!

So Psalms (lxxxix. 42)—" Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice;"

and 2 Samuel (i. 20)—“ Publish it not in the streets of Askelon;

lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.”

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