Page images
PDF
EPUB

statesman, may draw from them excellent counsel. And it may with confidence be asserted, that any man that sallies out into the complicated business of life, deeply impressed with the influence of this little volume, and taking its rules for his regulating chart, will conduct himself gracefully in every posșible situation, and attain that honour, happiness, and prosperity, which are the necessary fruit of that prudence which it inspires.

What glory is this for the royal sage their author! His personal glory, that of his wealth and his conquests, has disappeared; but the fame of the man "who filled the world with proverbs," is fresh in every land. How much higher a glory is this than that of the vulgar multitude of kings and oppressors ! The memorials of Assyrian monarchs, their towers, their walls, gardens, and sepulchres, are extinguished, mouldered down into the very soil that supported them, having left not a trace; the monuments of Egyptian tyranny exist only as immense encumbrances on the earth, testifying to future ages their enormous inutility, and recalling (if they ever recall) the names of their founders only to be execrated as the debasers of the human race to the rank of beasts of burden: but the name of Solomon shall be ever uttered with

admiration and blessing, as that of one who not only ennobled humanity by his splendid personal example, but still continues, by the influence of his heavenly wisdom, to refine, and elevate, and render happy, our nature; a name imperishable throughout earth and her islands, so long as wisdom is "the principal thing."

Anonymous.

However

A BLACK cloud makes the traveller mend his pace, and mind his home; whereas a fair day and a pleasant way waste his time, and that stealeth away his affections in the prospect of the country. others may think of it, yet I take it as a mercy, that now and then some clouds come between me and my sun, and many times some troubles do conceal my comforts; for I perceive, if I should find too much friendship in my inn, in my pilgrimage, I should soon forget my father's house, and my heritage.

Dr. Lucas.

DREAMS OF THE DEPARTED.

SWEET thoughts oft come unto the lonely-hearted,
Like the soft cadence of an angel's strain
Thoughts of the lovely and the dear departed,

Whose smile will ne'er be seen on earth again.

As the last light of Summer evening, beaming
O'er the calm bosom of the silent sea,

So seem those loved ones, in these hours of dreaming,
From their high homes to cast their looks on me.

The deep sweet pleasure of that strange communion, Gives to the soul a season of delight,

Displaying brightly that eternal union,

With those whose forms have faded from our sight.

I would not give those whispers of deep feeling,
Which tell the spirit it is not alone

That calmness o'er the heart so gently stealing

For all the pleasures on life's pathway strewn.

For I have felt, that to my soul was given,
In those still hours of dreamy reverie,
A foretaste of the hallow'd joys of heaven,
Love and re-union through eternity.

Anonymous.

HEAT gotten by degrees, with motion and exercise, is more natural, and stays longer by one, than what is gotten all at once by coming to the fire. Goods acquired by industry prove commonly more lasting than lands by descent.

Fuller.

WHEN I see leaves drop from their trees in the beginning of Autumn, just such, think I, is the friendship of the world, while the sap of maintenance lasts, my friends swarm in abundance; but in the Winter of need, they leave me naked.

Warwick.

LOVE OF HOME.

WHATEVER strengthens our attachments, is favourable both to individual and national character.

Our

home our birth-place - our native land! Think for a while what the virtues are, which arise out of the feelings connected with these words; and if thou hast intellectual eyes, thou wilt then perceive the connexion between topography and patriotism. Show me a man who cares no more for one place than another, and I will show you in the same person one who loves nothing but himself. Beware of those who are houseless by choice! You have no hold on a human being whose affections are without a tap-root. Vagabond and rogue are convertible terms; and with how much propriety, any one may understand, who knows what are the habits of the wandering classes, such as gipsies, tinkers, and potters.

Anonymous.

« PreviousContinue »