and ecclesiastical establishments. The votes of the judicious are, A still greater, because a more gen- we doubt not, against that folly, so fashionable, and so fascinating, of novel-reading; but the practice of the majority is clearly on the other side; and against measures, which they can neither approve nor prevent, all that the minority can perform, is to assert the arguments of truth, and to enter the protest of reprobation. PRIDE. eral fault, is the misrepresentation of human characters and human life. Love, resistless love, is there considered as the general agent in terrestrial transactions; as the sole distributor of good and evil, of happiness and misery, to mankind. Personal attachment conceived at sight, and matured in a moment, bears down alike the distinctions of rank and the maxims of prudence; and, by the magic wand of the genins of From Memoirs of Richard Cumberland romance, the daughter of the cottager is exalted into a countess, and A MAN shall sin against the whole the laborer at the anvil or the mine, decalogue, and in this world escape soon graces the court and the draw-with more impunity, than the proud fellow, who offends against no coming-room. The hero and heroine mandment, yet provokes you to detest are involved in distresses in which him. I know not how to liken him to no other mortals ever were involv- any thing alive, except it be to the meled, and generally delivered by ancholy mute recluse of the convent of means by which none but them- La Trappe, who has no employment in life but to dig his own grave, no other selves ever were delivered. They society but to keep company with his are, however, always married at own coffin. If I look for his resemlast, and attain, in the possession of blance amongst the irrationals, I should each other, such happiness as no compare him to a poor disconsolate ass, human being ever yet attained, and whom nobody owns and nobotly be friends. The man who has a cudgel such as Nature and Providence, with bestows it on his back, and when he all their bounty never will bestow. brays out his piteous lamentations, the dissonance of his tones provoke no compassion; they jar the ear, but never move the heart. By the constant perusal of narratives of this description, the youth of both sexes are encouraged to cherish expectations that never can be realized, and to form notions of each other, which painful experience will every day refute. The mind too, by exercising only its weaker powers, becomes enervated and enfeebled, disgusted with the tumult of business, or the roughness of contradiction, the most valuable season of life is spent in the sport of musing, instead of the labor of thinking, in the indulgence of the fairy visions of hope, and the reveries of a perverted imagination, instead of the pursuit of science, the formation of maxims of wisdom, and the establishment of the principles of moral duty. A certain duke of Alva about a cen tury ago was the most popular man in Spain: the people perfectly adored him. He had a revolution in his power every day that he stept without his doors. The prime minister truckled to him; the king trembled at him. How he acquired this extraordinary degree of influence was a mystery that seemed to puzzle all conjecture--not by his eloquence, or those powers of declamation, which captivate a mob; the illustrious personage could not string three sentences together into common sense or uncommon nonsense: wit he had none, and virtue he by no means abounded in; few men in Spain were supposed to be more unprincipled; if you conceived it was by his munifitold you no man bought his popularity cence and generosity, he could have so cheap, for when the secret came out, he confessed, that the whole mystery consisted in his wearing out a few more hats in the year than others sacrificed, who did not take off their's so often. princes, whose wanton cruelty often stained their divan, their table, and their bed, with the blood of their favorites, there is a saying recorded of a young nobleman, that he never departed from the sultan's presence without satisfying himself whether his head was still on his shoulders. Roman Empire. "Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoicks encountered him." I knew a gentleman, who was the very immediate contrast to this Spanish duke; he was a man of strict morality, who fulfilled the duties and observed the decorum of his profession in the most exemplary manner; in his meditative walk one summer-morning he was greeted by a country fellow with the customary salutation: "Good morning to you, sir!-a fine day-a pleasant walk to you!"-"I don't know you," he Commenting on this scripture replied, "why do you interrupt me with your familiarity? I did not speak passage, the elegant author of the to you; put your hat upon your head, Lay Preacher with that strength of and pass on!"-" So I will," cried the expression and brilliancy of metafellow, "and never take it off again to phor peculiar to himself, describes such a proud puppy, whilst I have a the impertinence which has assumhead upon my shoulders." There nev-ed the name of philosophy. er was a hat stirred to that man from that day, and if had he fallen into a ditch, I question if there would have been a hand stirred to have helped him out of it. Attacked by such enemies, St. Paul, I pity thee. Compared with the sophistical jargon of their tongues, the buffetings of Satan were the soft strokes of a feath er. Encountered by Philosophers. What a perilous meeting! To be stoned at Iconium, to die in prison at Philippi, or smart at all her whipping-posts were more tolerable than to hear one moment, the abstract impertinence, the visionary theories of a cold and closet reasoner. His head is the web of a spider, his heart is the ice of Spitzbergen, his plans are the projects of Laputa, and his arguraents turbid as a hypochondriac's dream. If I should be asked which was the most unlucky adventure in Paul's pilgrimage, I must reply, this interview with the philosophic babblers of Athens. None of his perils, and I think he enumerates eight varieties, matical philosophy. Ill-fated aposwith the peril of pragcan compare tle! the Epicureans and the Stoicks, encountering you, were worse company than the barbarians of Melita, on whose rude coast you were stranded. Your night and day in. the deep; your weariness and magistrate in any country. "O te watchings; your frequent fasts, and felicem, Marce Porci, a quo rem suspension in the basket of Damas- improbam petere nemo audet!" cus, even if it were like Falstaff's How great was thy happiness, Cato, buck-basket, were light afflictions, that no one dared to insult thee with but for a moment, to the growl of an unseemly request! the Stoick, and the lullaby of the Epicurean. Port Folio, No. 32, THE AUSTERITY OF OLD MEN. THERE is nothing more unjust than the ill temper which many old people shew against young men. An attempt to check the merriment and sportiveness of youth, is not less preposterous than to be angry with the spring of the year, because it produces nothing but blossoms, and to expect from that early season the fruits of autumn. How different was the humour of Anaxagoras the Greek philosopher! That amiable old man, at the point of death, was asked by the citizens of Lampsacus, what dying command he would wish to enjoin them. His request was, that every year during the whole month in which he died, all the children in the city should be permitted to keep holiday. Diogenes Laertius, who relates this story; adds, that this custom was observed in his remembrance. INTEGRITY. Montesquieu compares the despotism of the East to a tree which the savage cuts down, that he may gather its fruit. Of authors, it has been said justly, that they had the whole world to contend with; and were destitute of any one that would plead in their favor. SINGULAR COMFORT. BOILEAU one day met the servant of his friend who had been long and frequently afflicted with the gout. On enquiring how his master was (whom he knew to be of a quick temper,) the valet replied, that his master was then under a fit of his old complaint. "He swears a good deal, then," observed the poet, "O yes, Sir," said the valet, with much simplicity, "it is the only comfort my poor master has in his illness." A disposition to repine at our situation in life is too prevalent. It is by comparison alone, that we can truly estimate our good or ill fortune, and in whatever difficulty we may be involved from that source, we may derive consolation. A highly celebrated author furnishes the following passage. "My lot might have been that of a slave, a savage or a peasant, nor can I reflect without pleasure, on the bounty of nature which cast my PLINY, in his preface to his Nat-birth in a free and civilized country, ural History, has bestowed a panegyric on the integrity of Cato, the just application of which would confer honor on the character of any in an age of science and philosophy, in a family of honorable rank and decently endowed with the gifts of fortune." Gibbon. Pope's Homer, and the Arabian | imagination; and then he sees with Nights Entertainments, are two the eyes of his imagination; and books which always please, by the hears with the ears of his imaginamoving pictures of human man- tion; and then he can be led where ners, and specious miracles; nor one pleases. was I then (in boy-hood) capable of discerning that Pope's translation is a portrait endowed with every merit, excepting that of likeness to the original. Ibid. ARISTOTLE. There is much talk (says Pope in one of his letters) of fine sense, refined sense, and exalted sense, but for common use give me a little common sense. GENIUS AND TALENT. In the Lexicon of Suidas is the following sublime passage, which describes the genius and talent of IN a part of the world which is very that great father of ancient philos- little known to the generality of Map ophy. The fine turn of the ex-makers, Mathematicians, or travelpression carries with it evident proof of its originating from some Greek writer of the purest ages. "Aristotle was the secretary of Nature he dipped his pen in intellect." In an apology for vagrants, the writer pleading for writers, and of which the latitude has been disputed for a succession of ages by Philosophers of almost every denomination, resided two noblemen of large estates, the one called Genius, and the other Talent. They lived upon a friendly footing, so as both were fond when they could start some fresh game, of sporting, and never happier than they considered the contiguity of their estates as an important advantage; and each had from his earliest youth pos sessed the liberty of hunting on the premises of his neighbour. This priv lege was long exercised by them without interruption, till a litigious AttorPerhaps on some inhospitable shore ney, of the name of Criticism, came to The houseless wretch, a widow'd partial view of both the estates. The dosettle in a valley which opened a par "The friendless, homeless objects of despair," thus beautifully describes the causes which may have produced their wretchedness. ent bore ; Who, then, no more by golden pros. pects led, Of the poor Indian begg'd a leafy bed. MAN OF GENIUS. A STUPID man cannot readily be persuaded out of his senses--what he sees he sees, and neither more nor less but 'tis the easiest thing in the world to catch hold of a man of genius-you have nothing to do but to appeal from his senses to his mains of Talent were laid out in a neat and handsome style, and the nicest care was constantly bestowed on their cultivation; but the territories of Genius were more wild and diversified, in many places much overrun with weeds, which the richness of the soil very quickly matured, and in other quarters commanding prospects the icism was a precise old fellow, full of most magnificent and extensive. Critrules and wise laws, near sighted, used. spectacles, and had no less a turn for modern gardening than for musty law. He was always taking walks round the two estates, and with an impertinent curiosity endeavoring to acquaint himself with their boundaries; but as they were spread over a very large tract, he any one of his airings. In course of could not manage to include them in time, by now and then meeting our Hast thou seen my son, Chalid? Yes; he was at school, and was reading to his master in the Koran with great fluency, and in a most impressive tone. How is Chalid's mother? As well as thou canst wish; and there is not a creature, either male or female, in all Arabia, who manages a house better, or can weave more skil. fully, or bears a higher character for mildness and benevolence. Hast thou also seen my camel, that carries out water? roblemen in these rambles, he contrived to introduce himself to them, and received obliging invitations from both. But he soon disgusted Genius, by the petty alterations that he was always suggesting in some part of the grounds, and by the frequent panegy rics that he bestowed on the superior correctness with which Talent had disposed his paterres. While, on the other hand, he offended Talent, by an officious proposal to survey his grounds, assist him with his advice, and settle the limits of both estates, which neither the proprietors should pass. Genius and Yes; it is in the best condition. Talent perceived that after the lapse of The man hearing all this welcome so many years in which the estates had intelligence concerning his wife, his been for all the purposes of mutual con- son, and his property, was so rejoiced venience, almost equally the property of that he began to eat with still greater each, a division or restriction must be appetite, but offered the languishing highly prejudicial to both. And Criti- Arab not a single morsel. This unforcism, displeased at the mode in which tunate wretch, tormented with the his offers were received, revenged him- pangs of hunger, was now ashamed of self in a thousand invidious camparisons his flattery, and said to himself, “I must and false assertions, by which he suc-attack this covetous and insatiable felceeded iu creating a mutual jealousy in Genius and Talent. They became distrustful of each other, and for a number of years they have never been seen to gether; though both agree in treating Criticism, the author of their coolness, with the most marked neglect. And this is the reason why Criticism, who was always testy, has proved himself so constant an enemy to the projects of Genius, and to the operations of Talent. THE HUNGRY ARAB. A Tale from the Tohfet al Mojailis. AN Arab, who was travelling through the desert, was almost exhausted with hunger and thirst, when he unexpectedly perceived a man who had spread his cloak upon the ground and was taking his repast with an excellent appetite. The Arab saluted him, according to custom, and sat down beside him. "Whence comest thou?" asked the stranger. "From the village," replied the famished Arab, hoping that he should be invited to partake." Hast thou seen my house?" continued the former. "Yes," answered the Arab; "it is beautiful and magnificent; its roof reaches to the sky, and its court is delightful as the plains of Paradise." Hast thou seen my shepherd's dog? O, yes! He watches thy herds and "thy flocks with such vigilance that not a wolf dares to approach them. low in another way." At this moment a dog came up; allured by the smell of the victuals, he stood still and wagged his tail. "Yes," said the hungry Arab, "if thy dog were still alive, he would have wagged his tail exactly in the same. manner."-"Alas!" exclaimed the man, "is my dog dead? How did he perish?" By drinking the blood of thy camel! said the Arab. What! did my camel die too? No, replied the Arab, they killed it for the funeral dinner of Chalid's mother. O, heavens ! is Chalid's mother dead? Yes, answered the Arab. Of what disorder did she die! Of what disorder? she struck her head with such violence against Chalid's tomb, that she died of the wound. What! my son dead to? A violent earthquake demolished thy house, said the Arab, and he was bu ried beneath the ruins. Grief and horror at this melancholy intelligence, deprived the stranger of his appetite; he ceased to eat, rose from his repast, left his provisions behind him, and hastened home with all possible dispatch, while the hungry Arab sat down and regaled himself. Erratum in our 18th No. Trans. of the Ode, 4th line from the last, for "care" read "case" of life, &c. |