2. The cheek of the peasant I clothe with health, And yield the sturdy yeoman wealth; I give the spirit of commerce wings, Owe every atom to me they've got ; And the prince at the banquet, and the hind at his board, 3. Man may boast of his creaturely might- By the charm of his touch, and the spell of his word; But I am the sole and mighty source Whence flows the tide of his boasted force Whatever his right, and whoever he be, 4. I am the giver of all that's good, And have been since the world has stood. Where's there wealth on ocean, or beauty on land, That claims a being, but 's traced to me? 5. And whence, says the Christian, dost thou obtain For know that the treasures which come from thy sod CHAPTER XXIX. MARROW OF GOOD SENTIMENTS. WITHOUT a friend, the world is but a wilderness; a man may have a thousand intimate acquaintances, and not a friend amongst them all. If you have one friend, think yourself happy. When once you profess yourself a friend, endeavor to be always such. He can never have any true friends who is always changing them. Nothing more engages the affections of men, than a handsome address and graceful conversation. Complaisance renders a superior amiable, an equal agreeable, and an inferior acceptable. Excess of ceremony shows want of breeding. That civility is best which excludes all superfluous formality. Ingratitude is a crime so shameful, that the man was never yet found who would acknowledge himself guilty of it. There cannot be a greater treachery than first to raise a confidence and then deceive it. No man hath a thorough taste of prosperity to whom adversity never happened. It is as great a point of wisdom to hide ignorance as to discover knowledge. Pitch upon that course of life which is the most excellent, and habit will render it the most delightful. No man was ever cast down with the injuries of fortune, unless he had before suffered himself to be deceived by her favors. None more impatiently suffer injuries than those that are most forward in doing them. By taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior. A more glorious victory cannot be gained over another man than this, that when the injury began on his part, the kindness should begin on ours. We should take a prudent care for the future, but so as to enjoy the present. It is no part of wisdom to be miserable to-day, because we may happen to be more so to-morrow. Some would be thought to do great things, who are but tools and instruments; like the fool who fancied he played upon the organ, when he only blew the bellows.. Though a man may become learned by another's learning, he never can be wise but by his own wisdom. He who wants good sense is unhappy in having learning, for he has thereby more ways of exposing himself. It is ungenerous to give a man occasion to blush at his own ignorance in one thing, who perhaps may excel us in many. No object is more pleasing to the eye than the sight of a man whom you have obliged; nor any music so agreeable to the ear as the voice of one that owns you for his benefactor. The temperate man's pleasures are durable, because they are regular; and all his life is calm and serene, because it is innocent. An angry man who suppresses his passions, thinks worse than he speaks; and an angry man that will chide, speaks worse than he thinks. A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence, which costs us nothing. It is the infirmity of little minds to be taken with every appearance, and dazzled with everything that sparkles; but great minds have but little admiration, because few things appear new to them. The failings of good men are commonly more published in the world than their good deeds; and one fault of a deserving man will meet with more reproaches than all his virtues praise. Such is the force of ill-will and ill-nature. It is harder to avoid censure than to gain applause; for this may be done by one great or wise action in an age,but to escape censure a man must pass his whole life without saying or doing one ill or foolish thing. CHAPTER XXX. THE DEMON OF THE STUDY. 1. THE Brownie sits in the Scotchman's room, 2. The shade of Denmark fled from the sun, And the Cocklane ghost from the barn-loft cheer, The fiend of Faust was a faithful one, Agrippa's demon wrought in fear, And the devil of Martin Luther sat 3. The Old Man of the Sea, on the neck of him Twined closely each lean and withered limb, But he drank of the wine, and Sinbad cast 4. But the demon that cometh day by day Is a sorrier one than any whose names 5. No bearer of burdens like Caliban, W 6. A stout old man with a greasy hat Slouched heavily down to his dark red nose, And two gray eyes enveloped in fat, Looking through glasses with iron bows. 7. He comes with a careless "how d'ye do?" 8. And then he reads from paper and book, 9. The price of stocks, the auction sales, 10. I cross my floor with a nervous tread, I whistle and laugh and sing and shout, And stir up the fire to roast him out; 11. I've crossed the Psalter with Brady and Tate, And laid the Primer above them all, I've nailed a horse-shoe over the grate, |