famous, even in a prince; and virtue, honorable, even in a peasant. 3. Prefer loss-to unjust gain, and solid sense to wit. 4. He, that would be well spoken of himself, must speak well of others. be mended. 6. A sound mind is not to be shaken 5. If every one would mend himself, we should all with popular applause. 7. The best way to see divine light, is to put out our own 8. Some blame themselves for the purpose of being praised. 9. Nothing needs a trick, but a trick; sincerity loathes one. 10. As virtue has its own reward, so 446. OUR FIELD. The orator's field is the Maxims. 1. Poverty of mind is often conaniverse of mind and matter, and his sub-cealed under the garb of splendor. 2. Vice-is in. jects, all that is known of God and man. Study the principles of things, and never rest satisfied with the results and applications. All distinguished speakers, whether they ever paid any systematic attention to the principles of elocution or not, in their most successful efforts, conform to them; and their imperfections are the results of deviations from these principles. Think correctly-rather than finely; sound conclusions are much better than beautiful conceptions. Be useful, vice has its own punishment. rather than showy; and speak to the purpose, or not speak at all. Persons become eminent, by the force of mind-the power of thinking comprehensively, deeply, closely, usefully Rest more on the thought, feeling, and expression, than on the style; for language is like the atmosphere-a medium of vision, intended not to be seen itself, but to make other objects seen; the more transparent however, the better. Hast thou, in feverish, and unquiet sleep,- Not e'en a bush—to save thee, shouldst thou sweep And jagged ridge above, that seems as sand, What is Worth: The spirit of the age says,-"Worth-means wealth; and wisDOM-the art of getting it." To be rich is considered, by most persons-a merit; to be poor, an offence. By this false standard, it is not so important to be wise and good, as to be rich in worldly wealth; thus it is, every thing, as well as every person, has its price, and may be bought or sold; and thus--do we coin our hearts into gold, and exchange our souls-for earthly gain. Hence, it is said "a man is worth so much;"-i. e. worth just as much as his property or money, amount to, and no more. Thus, wealth, worth, or gain, is not applied to science, to knowledge, virtue, or happiness; but to pecuniary acquisition; as if nothing but gold were gain, and everything else were dross Thus the body-is Dives, clothed in purple and fire linen, and faring sumptuously every day; while the mind-is Lazarus, lying in rags at the gate, and fed with the crumbs, that fall from the tables of Time and Sense. 447. VOCAL MUSIC. In vocal music, there Varieties. 1. Instead of dividing man. s a union of music and language—the lan- kind into the wise and foolish, the good and uage of affection and thought; which in- wicked, would it not be better to divide them cludes the whole man. Poetry and music into more or less wise and foolish, more or are sister arts; their relationship being one less good or wicked? 2. It was a proof of of heaven-like intimacy. The essence of low origin, among the ancient Romans, to poetry consists in fine perceptions, and vivid make mistakes in pronouncing words; for it expressions, of that subtle and mysterious indicated that one had not been instructed by analogy, that exists between the physical and a nursury maid: what is the inference? moral world; and it derives its power from That those maids were well educated; parthe correspondence of natural things with ticularly, in the pronunciation of the Latin spiritual. Its effect is to elevate the thoughts language, and were treated by families as and affections toward a higher state of ex-favorites. How many nursery maids of our istence. Anecdote. A powerful Stimulous. When Lord Erskine made his debut, at the bar, his agitation almost overcame him, and he was Just about to sit down. "At that moment," said he, "I thought I felt my little children tugging at my gown, and the idea roused me to an exertion, of which I did not think myself capable." Tis not enough-your counsel still be true; day enjoy such a reputation, and exert such an influence? Indeed, how many mothers occupy such a pre-eminence? Let wisdom and affection answer, and furnish the remedy. 3. The purest and best of precepts and examples should be exhibited to our youth, in the development of their minds, and the for mation of their characters. The seas are quiet, when the winds are o'er; 448. THE HUMAN VOICE. Among all Maxims. 1. Blind men must not undertake to the wonderful varieties of artificial instru- judge of colors. 2. Gamesters and race-horses nevments, which discourse excellent music, er last long. 3. Forgiveness and smiles are the where shall we find one that can be compared best revenge. 4. They, are not our best friends, to the human voice? And where can we who praise us to our faces. 5. An honest man's find an instrument comparable to the human word is as good as his bond. 6. Never fich for mind? upon whose stops the real musician, praise; it is not worth the bait. 7. None but a the poet, and the orator, sometimes lays his good man can become a perfect orator. 8. Cultivate a love of truth, and cleave to it with all your hands, and avails himself of the entire comheart. 9. Female delicacy is the best prefervative pass of its magnificent capacities! Oh! the of female honor. 10. Idleness is the refuge of length, the breadth, the height, and the depth weak minds, and the holliday of fools. of music and eloquence! They are high as heaven, deep as hell, and broad as the uni verse. THE POWER OF IMAGINATION. The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen, The Trine in Man. There are three things of which human beings consist, the soul, the mind and the body; the inmost is the soul, the mediate is the mind, and the ultimate the body: the first is that which receives life from Him, who is life itself; the second, is the sphere of the activities of that life; and the third, is the medium through which those activities are manifested: but it should be remembered, that there is, as the apostle says, "a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." Varieties. 1. Nature-makes no emendations; she labors for all: her's is not mosaic work. 2. The more there is prosaic in 449. CICERO AND DEMOSTHENES. An rator, addressing himself more to the pas-orators, poets and artists, the less are they sions, naturally has much passionate ardor; natural; the less do they resemble the copi whilst another, possessing an elevation of ous streams of the fountain. 3. The more style and majestic gravity, is never cold, there is of progression, the more there is of though he has not the same vehemence: truth, and nature; and the more extensive, in this respect do these great orators differ. general, durable, and noble is the effect: Demosthenes-abounds in concise sublimity; thus is formed the least plant, and the most Cicero,-in diffuseness: the former, on ac- exalted man. 4. Nature is everywhere simcount of his destroying, and consuming ev-ilar to herself; she never acts arbitrarily, erything by his violence, rapidity, strength, never contrary to her laws: the same wisand vehemence, may be compared to a hurri-dom and power produce all varieties, agreeacane, or thunderbolt: the latter, to a wide ble to one law, one will. Either all things extended conflagration, spreading in every are subject to the law of order, or nothing direction, with a great, constant, and irre- Home! how that blessed word—thrills the car' sistible flame. Anecdote. Envy and Jealousy. Colonel With illustration simple, yet profound, and with unfaltering zeal Impassioned fervor-of a mind, deep fraught In it-what recollections blend! It tells of childhood's scenes so dear, And speaks-of many a cherished friend O! through the world, where'er we reon, Though souls be pure-and lips be kind, The heart-with fondness-turns to home, Still turns to those-it left behind. The bird, that soars to yonder skies, Though nigh to heaven, still seems unblessed; Downward-to its own much-loved nest. Heave, where it started into birth. my And should affection-shed one tear, heart. Should friendship-linger round my tomb; The tribute will be doubly dear, When given by those of "home, sweet home." 450. POETRY-may be written in rhyme, Maxims. 1. It is tter to do and not promor piank verse. Rhyme is the correspond- ise, than to promise and not perform. 2. A benefit ence of sounds, in the ending of two (or is a common tie between the giver and receiver mere successive or alternate words or sylla- 3. The consciousness of well doing is an ample rebles of two or more lines, forming a couplet wird. 4. As benevolence is the most sociable of or triplet: see the various examples given. all virtues, so it is the most extensive. 5. Do not Rythmus, in the poetic art, means the rela- postpone until to-morrow, what ought to be done tive duration of the time occupied in pro-to-day. 6. Without a friend, the world is but a nouncing the syllables; in the art of music wilderness. 7. The more we know our hearts, the it signifies the relative duration of the sound, less shall we be disposed to trust in ourselves. 8 that enters into the musical composition: Obedience is better than sacrifice, and is insepera see measures of speech and song. bly wedded to happiness. 9. We should not run out of the path of duty, lest we run into the path of danger. 10. He doeth much, that doeth a thing well. Lo! the poor Indian,-whose untutored mind, oratory. Even age itself-is cheered with music; Hath been to me-a more familiar face I learned the language-of another world. Enous to live in tempest; die in port. Anecdote. Moro, duke of Milan, having displayed before the foreign embassadors his magnificence and his riches, which excelled those of every other prince, said to them: "Has a man, possessed of so much wealth and prosperity, anything to desire in this world?" One thing only," said one of them, "a nail to fix the wheel of fortune." disgraced society, that of swearing admits of Swearing. Of all the crimes, that ever the least palliation. No possible benefit can be derived from it; and nothing but perverseever have suggested it; yet such is its preness and depravity of human nature, would valence, that by many, it is mistaken for a fashionable acquirement, and considered, by unrefecting persons, as indicative of energy and decision of character. those who are in the love, and under the inVarieties. 1. Duty sounds sweetly, to fluence of truth and goodness: its path does not lead thro' thorny places, and over cheerless wastes; but winds pleasantly, amid green meadows and shady groves. 2. A new truth is, to some, as impossible of discovery, as the new world was to the faithless cotem. poraries of Columbus; they do not believe in such a thing; and more than this, they will not believe in it: yet they will sit in judg ment on those who do believe in such a contraband article, and condemn them without mercy. THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. The thoughts are strange that crowd into my brain, Deep-calleth unto deep. And what are we, Say, what can Chloe want? she wants a heart, 452. OBSERVATIONS. No one can ever Maxims. 1. A people's education, is a n become a good reader, or speaker, by reading in a book; because what is thus acquired is more from thought than from feeling; and of course, has less of freedom in it; and we are, from the necessity of the case, more or less constrained and mechanical. What we hear, enters more directly into the affectuous part of the mind, than what we see, and becomes more readily a part of ourselves, i.e. becomes conjoined instead of being adjoined: relatively, as the food which we eat, digests and is appropriated, and a plaster that is merely stuck on the body. Thus, we can see a philosophic reason why faith is said to come by hearing, and that we walk by faith, and not by sight: i. e. from love, that casts out the fear that hath torment; that fear which enslaves body and mind, instead of making both free. tion's best defence. 2. Let not the sun go down Ever distinguish substances-from sound; His peace-branch--o'er a flood of sorrow. Conceptions. Would it not be well for metaphysicians to distinguish between the conception of abstract truth, and the conception of past perception, by calling the latter-mental perception, as contradistinguished from all other? Anecdote. Rouge. A female, praising the beautiful color, used by the artist on her miniature, was told by him, that he did not doubt she was a woman of good taste; for they both bought their rouge at the same shop. True philosophy discerns A ray of heavenly light-gilding all forms And wheels his throne, upon the rolling worlds. Pursuit of Knowledge. He, that en larges his curiosity after the works of nature, demonstrably multiplies the inlets to happiness; therefore, we should cherish ardor in the pursuit of useful knowledge, and remember, that a blighted spring makes a barren year, and that the vernal flowers, however beautiful and gay, are only intended by nature as preparatives to autumnal fruits. : Varieties. 1. Business letters should al- Slander-meets no regards from noble minds I shall not look upon his like again. 454. INFLECTIONS AND INTONATIONS. Maxims. 1. The wise man thinks he knows The author is perfectly satisfied, that most but little; the fool thinks he knows it all. 2. He, of his predecessors have depended entirely who cannot govern himself, cannot govern others. 00 much upon the inflections, to produce 3. He is a poor wretch, whose Lopes are confined variety, instead of upon the intonations of to this world. 4. He, who employs himself well, the voice: the former, invariably makes mecan never want for something to do. 5. Umbrage chanical readers and speakers; while the should never be taken, where offence was never latter, being founded in nature, makes natu- intended. 6. Deride not the unfortunate. 7. In ral ones: the one is of the head, and is the conversation, avoid the extremes of talkativeness result of thought and calculation; and the with the willfulness of their clients. 9. Good booke and silence. 8. Lawyers' gowns are often lined other of the heart, and is the spontaneous cfare the only paper currency, that is better than fusion of the affections: the former spreads silver or gold. 10. No man may be both accuser, a tail before the mind; the latter takes it and judge. 11. At every trifle-scorn to take offence. away. Is it not so? Choose ye. Nature Anecdote. A Rose. A blind man, having anows a great deal more than art; listen to a shrew for his wife, was told by one of his her leachings and her verdict. friends, that she was a rose. He replied, "I do not doubt it; for I feel the thorns daily." There are two hearts, whose movements thrill That, pulse to pulse, responsive still, No marvel woman should love flowers, they bear So much of fanciful similitude To her own history; like herself, repaying, With such sweet interest, all the cherishing, That calls their beauty, and their sweetness forth; And, like her, too, dying-beneath neglect. 455. IGNORANCE AND ERROR. How frequently an incorrect mode of pronunciation, and of speaking, is caught from an ignorant nurse, or favorite servant, which infects one through life! so much depends on first impressions and habits. Lisping, stammering, and smaller defects, often originate in the same way, and not from any natural defect, or impediment. If parents and teachers would consider the subject, they might see the importance of their trust, and be induced to fulfill their respective offices in a conscientious manner: to do wrong, in any way, is a sin. Association of Ideas. We may trace the power of association-in the growth and development of some of the most important principles of human conduct. Thus, under the feudal system, appeals from the baronial tribunals were first granted to the royal courts, in consequence of the delay, or refusal of justue; afterwards, they were taken, on account of the injustice or iniquity of the sentence. In the same way, a power, appealed to from necessity, is at length resorted to from choice; till finally, what was once a privilege is, in certain cases, exacted as an obligation. This principle is full of political and social wisdom, and cannot be too deeply studied by those, who wish to analyze the cnuses and motives of human conduct. The purest treasure,—mortal ties afford, Laconics. He who would become distinguished in manhood, and eminently useful to his country, and the world, must be contented to pass his boyhood and youth in obscurity,-learning that which he is to practice, when he enters upon the stage of action. There are two kinds of education; the liberal and the servile; the former puts us in possession of the principles and reasons of actions and things, so far as they are capable of being known or interrogated: the latter stops short at technical rules and methods, without attempting to understand the reasons or principles on which they are grounded. Varieties. 1. We may apprehend the works and word of God, if we cannot fully comprehend them. 2. A man passes, for what he is worth. The world is full of judgment-days; and into every assembly, that a man enters, in every action he attempts, he is guag'd and stamp'd. 3. It is base, and that is the one base thing in the universe, to receive favor, and render none. 4. How shall we know, that Washington—was the most prudent and judicious statesman, that ever lived? By carefully observing his actions, and comparing them with those of other meri, in like circumstances. 5. The union of science and religion, is the marriage of earth and heav en. 6. Mankind can no more be stationary than an individual. 7. The virtue of women is often the love of reputation and quiet. SATAN'S SUPPOSED SPEECH TO HIS LEGIONS. Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf? |