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But let it look on eagles, to discern how mean a thing. it is.

And all things hang upon comparison; to the greater, great is small:

Neither is there anything so vile, but somewhat yet is viler :

On all sides is there an infinity: the culprit at the gallows hath his worse;

And the virgin martyr at the stake need not look far for a better.

Therefore see thou that thine aim reacheth unto higher than thyself:

Beware that the standard of thy soul wave from the loftiest battlement':

For pride is a pestilent meteor, flitting on the marshes of corruption,

That will lure thee forward to thy death, if thou seek. to track it to its source:

Pride is a gloomy bow, arching the infernal firmament, That will lead thee on, if thou wilt hunt it, even to the dwelling of despair.

Deep calleth unto deep, and mountain overtoppeth mountain,

And still shalt thou fathom to no end the depth and height of pride:

For it is the vast ambition of the soul, warped to an idol object,

And nothing but a Deity in Self can quench its insatiable thirst.

Be aware of the smiling enemy, that openly sheatheth

his weapon,

But mingleth poison in secret with the sacred salt of hospitality:

For pride will lie dormant in thy heart, to snatch its secret opportunity,

Watching, as a lion-ant, in the bottom of its toils. Stay not to parley with thy foe, for his tongue is more potent than his arm,

But be wiser, fighting against pride in the simple panoply of prayer.

As one also of the poets hath said, let not the Proteus escape thee;

For he will blaze forth as fire, and quench himself in likeness of water;

He will fright thee as a roaring beast, or charm thee as a subtle reptile.

Mark amid all his transformations, the complicate deceitfulness of pride,

And the more he striveth to elude thee, bind him the closer in thy toils,

Prayer is the net that snareth him; prayer is the fetter that holdeth him:

Thou canst not nourish pride, while waiting as an almsman on thy God,

Waiting in sincerity and trust, or pride shall meet thee even there;

Yea, from the palaces of Heaven, hath pride cast down his millions.

Root up the mandrake from thy heart, though it cost thee blood and groans,

Or the cherished garden of thy graces will fade and perish utterly.

of Experience.

I knew that age was enriched with the hard-earned wages of knowledge,

And I saw that hoary wisdom was bred in the school of disappointment:

I noted that the wisest of youth, though provident and cautious of evil,

Yet sailed along unsteadily, as lacking some ballast of the mind:

And the cause seemed to lie in this, that while they considered around them,

And warded off all dangers from without, they forgat their own weakness within.

So steer they in self-confidence, until, from the multitude of perils.

They begin to be wary of themselves, and learn the first lesson of Experience.

I knew that in the morning of life, before its wearisome journey,

The youthful soul doth expand, in the simple luxury of

being;

It hath not contracted its wishes, nor set a limit to its

hopes:

The wing of fancy is unclipt, and sin hath not seared the feelings:

Each feature is stamped with immortality, for all its desires are infinite,

And it seeketh an ocean of happiness, to fill the deep hollow within.

But the old and the grave look on, pitying that generous youth,

For they also have tasted long ago the bitterness of hope destroyed:

They pity him, and are sad, remembering the days that

are past,

But they know he must taste for himself, or he will not give ear to their wisdom,

For Experience hath another lesson, which a man will do well if he learn,

By checking the fight of expectation, to cheat disappointment of its pain.

Experience teacheth many things and all men are his scholars :

Yet is he a strange tutor, unteaching that which he hath taught.

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Youth is confident, manhood wary, and old age confident

again:

Youth is kind, manhood cold, and age returneth unto kindness

For youth suspecteth nought, till manhood, bitterly learned,

Mistrusteth all, overleaping the mark; and age correcteth his excess.

Suspicion is the scaffold unto faith, a temporary needful eyesore,

By which the strong man's dwelling is slowly builded up behind;

But soon as the top-stone hath been set to the well-proved goodly pyramid,

The scaffold is torn down, and well-timed trust taketh its long leave of suspicion.

A thousand volumes in a thousand tongues, enshrine the lessons of Experience,

Yet a man shall read them all, and go forth none the wiser:

For self-love lendeth him a glass, to color all he

conneth,

Lest in the features of another he find his own com

plexion.

And we secretly judge of ourselves as differing greatly from all men,

And love to challenge causes to show how we can master their effects:

Pride is pampered in expecting that we need not fear a common fate,

Or wrong-headed prejudice exulteth, in combating old experience:

Or perchance caprice and discontent are the spurs that goad us into danger,

Careless, and half in hope to find there an enemy to joust with.

Private experience is an unsafe teacher, for we rarely learn both sides,

And from the gilt surface reckon not on steel beneath : The torrid sons of Guinea think scorn of icy seas,

And the frost-bitten Greenlander disbelieveth suns too hot.

But thou, student of Wisdom, feed on the marrow of the matter;

If thou wilt suspect, let it be thyself; if thou wilt expect, let it not be gladness.

Of Estimating Character.

Bashly, nor ofttimes truly, doth man pass judgment on his brother;

For he seeth not the springs of the heart, nor heareth the reasons of the mind.

And the world is not wiser than of old, when justice was meted by the sword,

When the spear avenged the wrong, and the lot decided the right,

When the footsteps of blinded innocence were tracked by burning ploughshares,

And the still condemning water delivered up the wizard

to the stake:

For we wait, like the sage of Salamis, to see what the end will be,

Fixing the right or the wrong, by the issues of failure

or success,

Judge not of things by their events; neither of character by providence;

And count not a man more evil, because he is more unfortunate:

For the blessings of a better covenant lie not in the sunshine of prosperity,

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