PREFATORY. TROUGHTS that have tarried in my mind, and peopled its inner chambers, The sober children of reason, or desultory train of fancy; Clear running wine of conviction, with the scum and lees of speculation; Corn from the sheaves of science, with stubble from mine own garner; Searchings after truth, that have tracked her secret lodes, And come up again to the surface-world, with a knowledge grounded deeper; Arguments of high scope, that have soared to the keystone of heaven, And thence have swooped to their certain mark, as the falcon to its quarry; The fruits I have gathered of prudence, the ripened harvest of my musings, These commend I unto thee, O docile scholar of Wisdom; These I give to thy gentle heart, thou lover of the right. What though a guilty man renew that hallowed theme, And strike with feebler hand the harp of Sirach's son? What though a youthful tongue take up that ancient parable, And utter faintly forth dark sayings as of old? Sweet is the virgin honey, though the wild bee have stored it in a reed; And bright the jewelled band that circleth an Ethiop's arm; I will rise to the noblest themes, for the soul hath an heritage of glory: The feverish shadows of time, and the mighty substance of eternity. COMMEND thy mind unto candour, and grudge not as though thou hadst a teacher, Nor scorn angelical Truth for the sake of her evil herald; Heed not him, but hear his words, and care not whence they come, Or the mind of pride conceive, and the mouth of folly speak them. I come a man of peace, to comfort, not to combat ; With soft, persuasive speech to charm thy patient ear, Giving the hand of fellowship, acknowledging the heart of sympathy: And Charity not be a stranger at the board that is spread for brothers. PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY. FIRST SERIES. THE WORDS OF WISDOM. FEW and precious are the words which the lips of wisdom utter: blessed, Which Thought carefully tendeth, in the kindly garden of the heart; YET more for the half is not said—of their might, and dignity, and value; For life-giving be they and glorious, redolent of sanctity and heaven; As the fumes of hallowed incense, that veil the throne of the Most High; As the beaded bubbles that sparkle on the rim of the cup of immortality; As wreaths of the rainbow spray, from the pure cataracts of Truth; Such, and so precious, are the words which the lips of Wisdom utter. YET Once again, loving student, suffer the praises of thy teacher, [their peers; |