Alike if itself be crooked, or the bow be strung awry;

And the mind which were excellent in one way, but foolishly toileth in another,

What is it but an ill-strung bow, and its aim a crooked arrow ?

By knowledge of self, thou provest thy powers; put not the racer to the plough,

Nor goad the toilsome ox to wager his slowness with the fleet:

Consider thy failings, heed thy propensities, search out thy latent virtues,
Analyze the doubtful, cultivate the good, and crush the head of evil;
So shalt thou catch with quick hand the golden ball of opportunity;
The warrior armed shall be ready for the fray, beside his bridled steed;
Thou shalt ward off special harms, and have the sway of circumstance,
And turn to thy special good the common current of events;

Choosing from the wardrobe of the world, thou shalt suitably clothe thy spirit,

Nor thrust the white hand of peace into the gauntlet of defiance :
The shepherd shall go with a staff, and conquer by sling and stone;
The soldier shall let alone the distaff, and the scribe lay down the sword,
The man unlearned shall keep silence, and learn one attribute of wisdom;
The sage be sparing of his lessons before unhearing ears:
Calm shalt thou be, as a lion in repose, conscious of passive strength,
And the shock that splitteth the globe, shall not unthrone thy self-possession.

Acquaint thee with thyself, O man! so shalt thou be humble:

The hard hot desert of thy heart shall blossom with the lily and the rose; The frozen cliffs of pride shall melt as an iceberg in the tropics;

The bitter fountains of self-seeking be sweeter than the waters of the Nile.

But if thou lack that wisdom,-thy frail skiff is doomed,

On stronger eddy whirling to the dreadful gorge;

Untaught in that grand lore,—thou standest, cased in steel,

To dare with mocking unbelief the thunderbolts of heaven.

For look now around thee on the universe, behold how all things serve

thee;

The teeming soil, and the buoyant sea, and undulating air,

Golden crops, and bloomy fruits, and flowers, and precious gems,
Choice perfumes, and fair sights, soft touches, and sweet music:
For thee, shoaling up the bay, crowd the finny nations,

For thee, the cattle on a thousand hills live, and labour, and die :

Light is thy daily slave, darkness inviteth thee to slumber;

Thou art served by the hands of Beauty, and Sublimity kneeleth at thy feet:

Arise, thou sovereign of creation, and behold thy glory!

Yet more, thou hast a mind; intellect wingeth thee to heaven,

Tendeth thy state on earth, and by it thou divest down to hell;

Thou hast measured the belt of Saturn, thou hast weighed the moons of Jupiter,

And seen, by reason's eye, the centre of thy globe;

Subtly hast thou numbered by billions the leagues between sun and sun, And noted in thy book the coming of their shadows:

With marvellous unerring truth thou knowest to an inch and to an instant, The where and the when of the comet's path that shall seem to rush by at thy command:

Arise, thou king of mind, and survey thy dignity!

Yet more, for once believe religion's flattering tale;

Thou hast a soul, aye, and a God,—but be not therefore humbled:

Thy Maker's self was glad to live and die—a man;

The brightest jewel in his crown is voluntary manhood:

By deep dishonour and great price, bought he that envied freedom,
But thou wast born an heir of all, thy Master scarce could earn.
O climax unto pride, O triumph of humanity,

O triple crown upon thy brow, most high and mighty Self!

Arise thou Lord of all, thou greater than a God !—

How saidst thou, wretched being?-cast thy glance within ;
Regard that painted sepulchre, the hovel of thy heart.

Ha! with what fearful imagery swarmeth that small chamber;
The horrid eye of murder scowling in the dark,

The bony hand of avarice filching from the poor,

The lurid fires of lust, the idiot face of folly,

The sickening deed of cruelty, the foul, fierce orgies of the drunken,
Weak contemptible vanity, stubborn stolid unbelief,

Envy's devilish sneer, and the vile features of ingratitude,—

Man, hast thou seen enough? or are these full proof

That thou art a miracle of mercy, and all thy dignity is dross?

Well said the wisdom of earth, O mortal, know thyself;

But better the wisdom of heaven, O man, learn thou thy God:

By knowledge of self thou art conusant of evil, and mailed in panoply to

meet it:

By knowledge of God cometh knowledge of good, and universal love is at thy heart.

Every creature knoweth its capacities, running in the road of instinct,
And reason must not lag behind, but serve itself of all proprieties:

The swift to the race, and the strong to the burden, and the wise for right direction;

For self-knowledge filleth with acceptance its niche in the temple of utility: But vainly wilt thou look for that knowledge, till the clue of all truth is in thy hand,

For the labyrinth of man's heart windeth in complicate deceivings:
Thou canst not sound its depths with the shallow plumb-line of reason,
Till religion, the pilot of the soul, have lent thee her unfathomable coil :
Therefore, for this grand knowledge, and knowledge is the parent of do-
minion,

Learn God, thou shalt know thyself; yea, and shalt have mastery of all things.

OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

Shame upon thee, savage monarch-man, proud monopolist of reason;
Shame upon creation's lord, the fierce ensanguined despot :

What, man! are there not enough, hunger, and diseases, and fatigue,—
And yet must thy goad or thy thong add another sorrow to existence ?
What! art thou not content thy sin hath dragged down suffering and

death

On the poor dumb servants of thy comfort, and yet thou must rack them

with thy spite?

The prodigal heir of creation hath gambled away his all,—

Shall he add torment to the bondage, that is galling his forfeit serfs?
The leader in nature's pæan himself hath marred her psaltery,
Shall he multiply the din of discord by overstraining all the strings?
The rebel hath fortified his stronghold, shutting in his vassals with him—
Shall he aggravate the woes of the besieged by oppression from within?
Thou twice deformed image of thy Maker, thou hateful representative of

Love,

For very shame be merciful, be kind unto the creatures thou hast ruined; Earth and her million tribes are cursed for thy sake;

Earth and her million tribes still writhe beneath thy cruelty:

Liveth there but one among the million that shall not bear witness against

thee?

A pensioner of land or air or sea, that hath not whereof it will accuse

thee?

From the elephant toiling at a launch, to the shrew-mouse in the harvest

field,

From the whale which the harpooner hath stricken, to the minnow caught

upon a pin,

From the albatross wearied in its flight, to the wren in her covered nest, From the death-moth and lace-winged dragon-fly, to the lady-bird and the

gnat,

The verdict of all things is unanimous, finding their master cruel :
The dog, thy humble friend, thy trusting, honest friend;

The ass, thine uncomplaining slave, drudging from morn to even ;
The lamb, and the timorous hare, and the laboring ox at plough;

The speckled trout, basking in the shallow, and the partridge, gleaning in

the stubble,

And the stag at bay, and the worm in thy path, and the wild bird pining

in captivity,

And all things that minister alike to thy life and thy comfort and thy pride, Testify with one sad voice that man is a cruel master.

Verily, they are all thine, freely mayst thou serve thee of them all;
They are thine by gift for thy needs, to be used in all gratitude and kind

ness:

Gratitude to their God and thine,—their Father and thy Father,
Kindness to them who toil for thee, and help thee with their all:

For meat, but not by wantonness of slaying; for burden, but with limits

of humanity;

For luxury, but not through torture; for draught, but according to the strength:

For a dog cannot plead his own right nor render a reason for exemption,
Nor give a soft answer unto wrath, to turn aside the undeserved lash;
The galled ox cannot complain, nor supplicate a moment's respite;
The spent horse hideth his distress, till he panteth out his spirit at the
goal;

Also, in the winter of life, when worn by constant toil,

If ingratitude forget his services, he cannot bring them to remembrance:

Behold, he is faint with hunger; the big tear standeth in his eye;
His skin is sore with stripes, and he tottereth beneath his burden;
Hig limbs are stiff with age, his sinews have lost their vigour,
And pain is stamped upon his face, while he wrestleth unequally with toil;
Yet once more mutely and meekly endureth he the crushing blow;
That struggle hath cracked his heart-strings, the generous brute is dead!
Liveth there no advocate for him? no judge to avenge his wrongs?

No voice that shall be heard in his defence? no sentence to be passed on his oppressor?

Yea, the sad eye of the tortured pleadeth pathetically for him:

Yea, all the justice in heaven is roused in indignation at his woes:
Yea, all the pity upon earth shall call down a curse upon the cruel :
Yea, the burning malice of the wicked is their own exceeding punishment.
The Angel of Mercy stoppeth not to comfort, but passeth by on the other
side,

And hath no tear to shed when a cruel man is damned.

OF FRIENDSHIP.

As frost to the bud, and blight to the blossom, even such is self-interest to friendship:

For Confidence cannot dwell where Selfishness is porter at the gate.

If thou see thy friend to be selfish, thou canst not be sure of his honesty; And in seeking thine own weal, thou hast wronged the reliance of thy friend.

Flattery hideth her varnished face when Friendship sitteth at his board;
And the door is shut upon Suspicion, but Candour is bid glad welcome.
For Friendship abhorreth doubt, its life is in mutual trust,

And perisheth, when artful praise proveth it is sought for a purpose.
A man may be good to thee at times, and render thee mighty service,
Whom yet thy secret soul could not desire as a friend;

For the sum of life is in trifles, and though, in the weightier masses,
A man refuse thee not his purse, nay, his all in thine utmost need,
Yet, if thou canst not feel that his character agreeth with thine own,
Thou never wilt call him friend, though thou render him a heart full of
gratitude.

A coarse man grindeth harshly the finer feelings of his brother;