The following day one of the society met him in the road, and said to him: "Thou hast showed an unseemly and perverse disposition. Didst thou not know, O self-opinionated boy, that it is through obedience men attain to honor?” He began to weep, and replied: "O friend of my soul and enlightener of my heart, it is in earnestness and in sincerity that I have acted thus. "I found in that sacred building neither dust nor defilement; only myself was polluted in that holy place. "Therefore, immediately I drew back my foot, feeling that to withdraw myself was to cleanse the mosque from dirt and rubbish." For the devotee there is only one path, to submit his body to humiliation. Thine exaltation must come from choosing self-abasement; to reach the lofty roof there is no ladder save this. MORAL EDUCATION AND SELF-CONTROL. (From the "Garden of Perfume.") My theme is rectitude, and self-government, and good habits; not the practising-ground, and horsemen, and mace, and ball. Thine enemy is the spirit which dwelleth with thyself; why seek in a stranger one to contend with? He who can bridle his spirit from that which is forbidden hath surpassed Rustam and Sam in valor. Chastise thou thyself like a child with thine own rod, and brain not others with thy ponderous mace. An enemy will suffer no harm from one like thee, unless thou art able to overcome thyself. The body is a city full of good and evil; thou art the Sultan, and reason is thy wise Vizier. In this city, side by side, live base men, self-exalted,Pride and Sensuality, fierce Passions; Contentment, Conscientiousness, men of good name; Lust and Ambition, Robbery and Treachery. When the Sultan maketh the bad his familiars, where can the prudent find a place of rest? Appetite, and Greediness, and Pride, and Envy, cleave to thyself as the blood in thy veins, and the soul in thy vitals. If these enemies have once obtained the mastery of thee, they rush out, and will overpower all thy discretion. There need be no contest with appetite and passion, if so be that Reason hold out a sharp claw. The chief who knoweth not how to manage his enemy will hardly save his chieftainship from his enemy's hand. What need can there be in this book to say much? A little is enough for him who goeth right to his mark. KEEP YOUR OWN SECRET. (From the "Garden of Perfume.") SULTAN TAKISH once committed a secret to his slaves, which they were enjoined to tell again to no one. For a year it had not passed from his breast to his lips; it was published to all the world in a single day. He commanded the executioner to sever with the sword their heads from their bodies without mercy. One from their midst exclaimed: "Beware! slay not the slaves, for the fault is thine own. "Why didst thou not dam up at once what at first was but a fountain? What availeth it to do so when it is become a torrent?" Take heed that thou reveal not to any one the secret of thy heart, for he will divulge it to all the world. Thy jewels thou mayst consign to the keeping of thy treasurer; but thy secret reserve for thine own keeping. Whilst thou utterest not a word, thou hast thy hand upon it; when thou hast uttered it, it hath laid its hand upon thee. Thou knowest that when the demon hath escaped from his cage, by no adjuration will he enter it again. The word is an enchained demon in the pit of the heart; let it not escape to the tongue and the palate. It is possible to open a way to the strong demon; to retake him by stratagem is not possible. A child may untether "Lightning," but a hundred Rustams will not bring him to the halter again. Take heed that thou say not that which, if it come to the crowd, may bring trouble to a single individual. It was well said by his wife to an ignorant peasant:"Either talk sensibly or hold thy tongue." THE GRASS AND THE ROSE. (From the "Rose-Garden.") I SAW Some handfuls of the rose in bloom, I said, "What means this worthless grass, that it Then wept the grass, and said, "Be still! and know, Mine is no beauty, hue, or fragrance, true; But in the garden of the Lord I grew." His ancient servant I, Reared by his bounty from the dust: I'll in his favoring mercy trust. Nor fund of worship, yet he will When aid is past, he'll save me still. Me, too, thy ancient slave, forgive. Hapless is he who from this haven turns; A WITTY PHILOSOPHER REWARDED. (From the "Rose-Garden.") A POET went to the chief of a band of robbers and recited a panegyric upon him. He commanded them to strip off his clothes and turn him out of the village. The dogs, too, attacked him in the rear. He wanted to take up a stone, but the ground was frozen. Unable to do anything, he said, "What a villanous set are these, who have untied their dogs and tied up the stones." The chieftain heard this from a window, and said with a laugh, "Philosopher! ask a boon of me." He replied, "If thou wilt condescend to make me a present, bestow on me my own coat." COUPLET. From some a man might favors hope: from thee HEMISTICH. We feel thy kindness that thou lett'st us go. The robber chief had compassion on him. He gave him back his coat, and bestowed on him a fur cloak in addition; and further presented him with some dirhams. THE PENALTY OF STUPIDITY. (From the "Rose-Garden.") A MAN got sore eyes. He went to a horse-doctor, and said, "Treat me." The veterinary surgeon applied to his eyes a little of what he was in the habit of putting into the eyes of quadrupeds, [and] he became blind. They carried the case before the judge. He said, "No damages are [to be recovered] from him if this fellow were not an ass, he would not have gone to a farrier." The object of this story is, that thou mayst know that he who intrusts an important matter to an inexperienced person will suffer regret, and the wise will impute weakness of intellect to him. The clear-seeing man of intelligence commits not Although the mat-weaver is a weaver, People will not take him to a silk factory. CHARLES AUGUSTIN SAINTE-BEUVE. SAINTE-BEUVE, CHARLES AUGUSTIN, a noted French literary critic, born at Boulogne-sur-Mer, December 23, 1804; died at Paris, October 13, 1869. After completing his education, he studied medicine, and when the "Globe" was founded in 1827, he contributed to it many historical and literary articles. His articles on the French poetry of the sixteenth century were issued in book form in 1828, and were followed by a third volume, "Vie, Poesies et Pensées de Joseph Delorme " (1829-53). Another volume, "Les Consolations" (1830), reflects his most intimate thoughts. He contributed to the "Revue de Paris," and also to the "Revue des Deux Mondes." In 1840 he was made keeper of the Mazarin Library, and a member of the Academy in 1845. In that year he accepted the chair of French literature in the University of Liège, where he gave a series of lectures on Chateaubriand and his contemporaries, afterward published in two volumes. Returning to Paris, he began in the "Constitutional" his celebrated "Causeries du Lundi," which he continued for three years. In 1857 he held a similar post for the "Moniteur." These articles, with others entitled "Nouveaux Lundis," were subsequently published in twenty-eight volumes. In 1854 he was given the chair of Latin poetry at the College of France, and from 1858 to 1861 was lecturer on French literature at the École Normale Supérieure. Sainte-Beuve was admitted to the Legion d'Honneur in 1859. His other works are a novel, "Volupté" (1834); "Pensées d'Août" (1837), and seven volumes of "Portraits Contemporains," contributed originally to the "Revue de Paris" and the "Revue-des Deux Mondes." A CRITIC'S ACCOUNT OF HIS OWN CRITICAL METHOD. (From the "Nouveaux Lundis.") IT is understood then that to-day [July 22, 1862] you will allow me to enter into some details about the course and method that I have thought best to follow in studying books and talents. For me, literature-literary production is not distinct, or at least not separable, from the rest of the man and from its en |