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AND for yon grave-faced folly, need not far to look for her
How seriously on trifles dote those leaden eyes,

How ruefully she sigheth after chances long gone by,

How sulkily she moaneth over evils without cure!

I have known a true-born mirth, the child of innocence and wisdom,
I have seen a base-born gravity, mingled of ignorance and guilt :
And again, a base-born mirth, springing out of carelessness and folly,
And again, a true-born gravity, the product of reflection and right fear
The wounded partridge hideth in a furrow, and a stricken conscience
would be left alone;

But when its breast is healed, it runneth gladly with its fellows:
Whereas the solitary heron, standing in the sedgy fen,

Holdeth aloof from the social world, intent on wiles and death.

NEED but of light philosophy to dare the world's dread laugh;
For a little mind courteth notoriety, to illustrate its puny self:
But the sneer of a man's own comrades trieth the muscles of courage
And to be derided in his home is as a viper in the nest:

The laugh of a hooting world hath in it a notion of sublimity,
But the tittering private circle stingeth as a hive of wasps.
Some have commended ridicule, counting it the test of truth, (25)
But neither wittily nor wisely; for truth must prove ridicule :
Otherwise a blunt bulrush is to pierce the proof armour of argument,
Because the stolidity of ignorance took it for a barbed shaft.
Softer is the hide of the rhinoceros than the heart of deriding unbelief
And truth is idler there than the Bushman's feathered reed:

A droll conceit parrieth a thrust that should have hit the conscience,
And the leering looks of humour tickle the childish mind;
For that the matter of a man is mingled most with folly,

Neither can he long endure the searching gaze of wisdom.

It is pleasanter to see a laughing cheek than a serious forehead,
And there liveth not one among a thousand whose idol is not pleasure
Ridicule is a weak weapon, when levelled at a strong mind;

But common men are cowards, and dread an empty laugh.

Fear a nettle, and touch it tenderly,-its poison shall burn thee to the

shoulder;

But grasp it with bold hand,-is it not a bundle of myrrn?

Betray mean terror of ridicule, thou shalt find fools enough to mock

thee;

But answer thou their laughter with contempt. and the scoffers will lick

thy feet.

OF COMMENDATION.

THE praise of holy men is a promise of praise from their Master;
A forerunning earnest of thy welcome,--Well done, faithful servant;
A rich preludious note, that droppeth softly on thine ear,

To tell thee the chords of thy heart are in tune with the choirs of heaven.
Yet is it a dangerous hearing, for the sweetness may lull thee into slum.

ber,

And the cordial quaffed with thirst may generate the fumes of presump

tion.

So seek it not for itself, but taste, and go gladly on thy way,

For the mariner slacketh not his sail, though the sandal-groves of Araby

allure him;

And the fragrance of that incense would harm thee, as when, on a summer evening,

The honied yellow flowers of the broom oppress thy charmed sense : And a man hath too much of praise, for he praiseth himself continually; Neither lacketh he at any time self-commendation or excuse.

PRAISE a fool, and slay him: for the canvass of his vanity is spread ;
His bark is shallow in the water, and a sudden gust shall sink it:
Praise a wise man, and speed him on his way; for he carrieth the ballast
of humility,

And is glad when his course is cheered by the sympathy of brethren ashore.

The praise of a good man is good, for he holdeth up the mirror of Truth, That Virtue may see her own beauty, and delight in her own fair face: The praise of a bad is evil, for he hideth the deformity of Vice,

Casting the mantle of a queen around the limbs of a leper.

Praise is rebuke to the man whose conscience alloweth it not:

And where conscience feeleth it her due, no praise is better than a little. He that despiseth the outward appearance, despiseth the esteem of his

fellows;

And he that overmuch regardeth it, shall earn only their contempt:

The honest commendation of an equal no one can scorn, and be blame

less,

Yet even that fair fame no one can hunt for and be honoured:

If it come, accept it and be thankful, and be thou humble in accepting; If it tarry, be not thou cast down; the bee can gather honey out of rue : And is thine aim so low, that the breath of those around thee

Can speed thy feathered arrow, or retard its flight?

The child shooteth at a butterfly, but the man's mark is an eagle;
And while his fellows talk, he hath conquered in the clouds.

Ally thee to truth and godliness, and use the talents in thy cnarge;
So shalt thou walk in peace, deserving, if not having.

With a friend, praise him when thou canst; for many a friendship hath

decayed,

Like a plant in a crowded corner, for want of sunshine on its leaves:
With another, praise him not often-otherwise he shall despise thee;
But be thou frugal in commending; so will he give honour to thy judg

ment:

For thou that dost so zealously commend, art acknowledging thine own inferiority,

And he, thou so highly hast exalted, shall proudly look down on thy es

teem.

WILT thou that one remember a thing?—praise him in the midst of thy advice;

Never yet forgat man the word whereby he hath been praised.

Better to be censured by a thousand fools, than approved but by one man

that is wise;

For the pious are slower to help right, than the profane to hinder it:
So, where the world rebuketh, there look thou for the excellent,
And be suspicious of the good, which wicked men can praise.
The captain bindeth his troop, not more by severity than kindness,

And justly, should recompense well-doing, as well as be strict with an offender;

The laurel is cheap to the giver, but precious in his sight who hath won it,
And the heart of the soldier rejoiceth in the approving glance of his chief
Timely given praise is even better than the merited rebuke of censure,
For the sun is more needful to the plant than the knife that cutteth out a
canker;

Many a father hath erred, in that he hath withheld reproof,

But more have mostly sinned, in withholding praise where it was due: There be many such as Eli among men; but these be more culpable than Eli,

Who chill the fountain of exertion by the freezing looks of indifference: Ye call a man easy and good, yet he is as a two-edged sword;

He rebuketh not vice, and it is strong: he comforteth not virtue, and it fainteth.

There is nothing more potent among men than a gift timely bestowed,
And a gift kept back where it was hoped, separateth chief friends:
For what is a gift but a symbol, giving substance to praise and esteem?
And where is a sharper arrow than the sting of unmerited neglect?

EXPECT not praise from the mean, neither gratitude from the selfish ;
And to keep the proud thy friend, see thou do him not a service:
For, behold, he will hate thee for his debt: thou hast humbled him by
giving;

And his stubbornness never shall acknowledge the good he hath taken from thy hand:

Yea, rather will he turn and be thy foe, lest thou gather from his friend

ship,

That he doth account thee creditor, and standeth in the second place,
Still, O kindly feeling heart, be not thou chilled by the thankless,
Neither let the breath of gratitude fan thee into momentary heat.
Do good for good's own sake, looking not to worthiness nor love;
Fling thy grain among the rocks, cast thy bread upon the waters,
His claim be strongest to thy help, who is thrown most helplessly upon

thee,

So shalt thou have a better praise, and reap a richer harvest of reward.

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