L'ENVOY OF THE POET. Folly and humankind agree so well, THE POET'S CHOR US TO FOOLS. Come, cheer up fools, these welcome tidings greet, For now the world is yours, there's room for bliss ; Such countless numbers shall fit out a fleet, Instead of manning only one Navis. SECTION LXIII. DESCRIPTION OF A WISE MAN Hated by fools, and fools to hate; La più gloriosa di tutte le vittorie à vincer se medesimo. SHOW me the man, less read in Romans, Greeks, Show me the man, so temperate and cool, Glad to instruct where knowledge is desir'd, Show me the man, who with great fools ne'er vies, Show me the being, so well understood, Show me this man; or, if I ask too much, * And, 'mid the crash of worlds-true* Rara Avis, View the great wreck of Stultifera Navis.† Happy would the annotator conceive himself, was he but enabled to adduce a single instance, wherein he might display to his readers, a Rara Avis like that described by the poet; but, unfortunately, neither the page of history, nor his own converse with mankind, has yet empowered him to note down, in his vocabulary, a single instance of the kind; every individual, either from tradition, or, after his actual association with him, having proved in some measure impregnated with the mania of folly, not even to spare the sages of antiquity; who either lost their reason in the mazes of research, or had some latent spark of animal depravity attached to their lives. The conduct of Cincinnatus, perhaps, is as much characterized by wisdom as that of any famous individual recorded in the annals of history, since he displayed his love for content, Huomo contento à più rico del mondo; yet even the mode of action which he adop ted, may be arraigned by sceptics on the score of selfishness, since it was his duty to dispense for the common good, the virtues which adorned his character, instead of retiring from the scene of action, to bury his glories in a turnip field. Should any mortal feel so enamoured of the character above depicted, as to become desirous of realizing this Rara Avis in himself, I will lay down a rule of action, which, if pursued, cannot fail of producing the desired end: |