490. WEE PING is the expression, or manifestation, of sorrow, grief, anguish or joy, by out-cry, or by shedding tears; a lamentation, be wailing, bemoaning: we may weep each other's woe, or weep tears of joy; so may the rich groves weep odorous gum and balm; there is weeping amber, WEEPING. Historians. We find but few historians of all ages, who have been dilgent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method, to take on trust, what they distribute to the public; by which means, a falsehood, once received from a famed writer, becomes traditional to posterity. Anecdote. Washington and his Mother. Young George was about to go to sea, as a midshipman; every thing was arranged, the vessel lay out opposite his father's house, the little boat had come on shore to take him off, and his whole heart was bent on going. Af ter his trunk had been carried down to the boat, he went to bid his mother farewell, and he saw the tear bursting from her eye. How and weeping grounds: crying-is an audible ex-ever, she said nothing to him; but he saw that pression, accompanied, or not, with tears; but weeping always indicates the shedding of tears; and, when called forth by the sorrows of others, especially, it is an infirmity of which no man would be destitute. 491. Whither shall I return? Wretch that I am! to what place shall I betake my. self? Shall I go to the capital? Alas! it is Overflow'd with my brother's blood! or, shall I return to my house? yet there, I behold my mother-plunged in misery, weeping and despairing. 2. I am robbed! I am ruined! Omy money! my guineas! my support! my all is gone! Oh! who has robbed me? who has got my money? where is the thief? A thousand guineas of gold! hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo! 3. I cannot speak-and I could wish you would not oblige me, it is the only service I ever refused you: and tho' I cannot give a reason why I could not speak, yet I hope you will excuse me without reason. Had it pleased heaven To try me with affliction; had it rained I am not prone to weeping, as our sex Why tell you me of moderation? The grief is fine, full, perfect, that I taste, [it ? As that which causeth it: How can I moderate If I could temporize with my affection, Or brew it to a weak and colder palate, The like allayment could I give my grief; My love admits no qualifying dross: No more my grief, in such a precious loss. When our souls shall leave this dwelling, The glory of one fair and virtuous action Is above all the scutcheons on our tomb, Or silken banners over us. his mother would be distressed if he went, and perhaps never be happy again. He just turned round to the servant and said, "Go and tell them to fetch my trunk back; I will not go away, to break my mother's heart." His mother was struck with his decision, and she said to him, "George, God has promised to bless the children, that honor their parents, and I believe he will bless you. Varieties. 1. Timotheus - an ancient teacher of oratory, always demanded a double fee from those pupils, who had been taught by others; for, in this case, he had not only to plant, but to root out. 2. He, that shortens the road to knowledge, lengthens life. 3. Never buy, or read bad books; for they are the worst of thieves; because they rob you of your money, your time, and your principles. 4. Theocracy is a government by God himself; as, the government of the Jews; democracy is a government of the people. 5. Without the intenseness and passion of study, nothing great ever was, or ever will be accomplished. 6. Who can tell where each of the natural families begins, or where it ends? 7. To overcome a bad habit, one must be conscious of it; as well as know how to accomplish the object. 8. The best defenders of liberty do not generally vociferate loudly in its praise. 9. Domestic feuds can be appeased only by mutual kindness and forbearance. 10. Volumes of arguments avail nothing against resolute determination; for convince a man against his will, and he is of the same opinion still. When William wrote his lady, to declare, Who never fasts, no banquet e'er enjoys. Shoots o'er his features, as the sudden gust Crisps the reluctant lake, that lay so calm Beneath the mountain shadow; or the blast Ruffles the autumn leaves, that, drooping, cling Faintly, and motionless to their lov'd boughs. What avails [pain, Valor or strength, though matchless, quelled with Which all subdues, and makes remiss the hands Of mightiest? Sense of pleasure we may well Spare out of life, perhaps, and not repine; But live content, which is the calmest life; But pain is perfect misery, the worst Of evils! and, excessive, overturns All patience. And not a virtue in the bosom lives That gives such ready pay as patience gives; Is found in the bruised and wounded rind Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam! afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; Or, on wide-waving wings expanded, bear The flying chariot-through the fields of air. The brave-do never shun the light; Just are their thoughts, and open are their tempers; Truly, without disquiet, they love, or hate; Still are they found-in the fair face of day; And heaven-and men-are judges of their actions. Proverbs. 1. The true economy of everything is to gather up the fragments of time, as well as of materials. 2. The earlier children are taught to be useful, the better; not only for themselves, but for all others. 3. Consider that day as lost, in which something has not been done for the benefit of others, as well as for yourself. 4. False pride, or foolish ambition, should never induce us to live beyond our income. 5. To associate with influential and genteel people, with an appearance of equality, has its advantages; especially, where there are sons or daughters just entering on the stage of action; but, like all other external advantages, they have their proper price, and may be bought too dearly; "never pay too much for the whistle." 6. Never let the cheapness of an article tempt you to purchase it, if you do not really need it; for nothing is cheap, that we do not want. 7. Vanity and pride must yield to the dictates of honesty and prudence. Miscellaneous. Great Britain-has dotted over the surface of the globe, with her possessions and military posts; and her morning drum-beat, following the sun, and keeping company with the hours, circle the earth daily, with one unbroken strain of the martial airs of England. The steam-engine is on the rivers, and the boatman may rest upon his oars; it is in the highways, and begins to exert itself along the courses of land-conveyances; it is at the bottom of mines, a thousand feet below the surface of the earth; it is in the mill and in the workshop of the traders; it rows, it pumps, it excavates, it ploughs, it carries, it draws, it lifts, it hammers, it spins, it weaves, it prints; and seems to say to artisans, Leave your manual labor, give over your bodily toil, use your skill and reason to direct my power, and I will bear toil, with no muscle to grow weary, no nerve to relax, no breast to feel faintness. VARIETIES. Cease, mourners; cease complaint and weep no Preach patience to the sea, when jarring winds, Full of high feeding, madly hath broken loose, And bears down all before him. The day shall come, that great avenging day, Strike! strike the tyrants, and avenge my tears. ACUTE PAIN, 493. Bodily, or mental, signifies a high degree of pain, which may appropriately be called AGONY, or ANGUISH; the agony is a severe and permanent pain; the anguish an overwhelming pain: a pang-is a sharp pain, and generally of short continuance the pangs of conscience frequently trouble the person who is not hardened in guilt; and the pangs o disappointed love are among the severest to be borne: "What pangs the tender breast of Dido tear!" COMPLAINING (as when one is under violent pain,) distorts the features, almost closes the eyes; sometimes raises them wistfully; opens the mouth, gnashes the teeth, draws up the upper lip, draws down the head upon the breast, and contracts the whole body: the arms are violently bent at the elbows, and the fists clenched, the voice is uttered in groans, lamentations, and sometimes in violent screams: extreme torture producing fainting and death. Oh, rid me of this torture, quickly there, [breath: But now, streamed like a bath, with her thick A lawyer could not have been heard, nor scarce, Another woman, such hail of words she let fall. 2. What! the rogue who robb'd me? do hang him, drown him, burn him, flay him alive. 3. Hold your tongue, we don't want to hear your nonsense about eating; hold your tongue, and answer the questions, which the justice is going put to you, about the money I lost, and which I suppose you have taken. Hide not thy tears: weep boldly—and be proud O, who can hold a fire in his hand, By thinking on the frosty Caucasus? Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite, By a bare imagination of a feast? Or wallow naked in December snow, By thinking on fantastic summer's heat O, no! the apprehension of the good, Gives but the greater feeling to the worse: Fell sorrow's tooth doth never rankle more, Than when it bites, but lanceth not the sore. Anecdote. A rich Campanian lady, fond of pomp and show, being on a visit to Cornelia, the illustrious mother of the Gracchii, displayed her jewels and diamonds ostentatiously, and requested that Cornelia should show her jewels. Cornelia turned the conversation to another subject, till her sons should return from the public schools; and when they had entered their mother's apartment, she, pointing to them, said to the lady, "These are my jewels; the only ornaments I admire." Laconics. 1. If we complained less, and tried to encourage and help each other more, we should find all our duties more easily performed. 2. Happiness-consists in the delight of perform ing uses for the sake of uses: that is, doing good for the sake of good, instead of the love of reward, which is a selfish feeling: all selfish feelings pro duce unhappiness in the degree they are entertained. 3. If we would be happy, we must put away, as far as we can, those thoughts and feelings, that have reference to self alone, and cultivate the higher ones, that have reference to the good of others, as well as ourselves. 4. To do good, for the sake of delight in doing good, is a selfish motive; but to do good to others, for the sake of making them happy, and, in doing it, for5. If we get ourselves, is a heavenly motive. would act from right motives, we must endeavor to put away every feeling, that is purely selfish ; in doing which, every effort will give us strength, like the repeated efforts of a child, in learning to walk. 6. Parents should keep their children from every association that may tend to their injury, either in precept or practice. 7. Love is omnipo tent. care that Varieties. 1. That profusion of language, and poverty of thought, which is called being spontaneous, and original, is no proof of simplicity of heart, or freedom of understanding; there is more paper than gold, more words than ideas, in this " less wealth." 2. Combined with goodness and truth, ORATORY is one of the most glorious distinctions of man; it is a power, influences all: it elevates the affections and thoughts to enthusiasm; and animates us in joy, and soothes us in sorrow; instructs, guides, and persuades us. 3. To resolve a proposition into its simplest elements, we must reason a posteriori; by observing the relation of sequences, we are enabled to supply antecedents, involving the same relation; thus, amounting to the simplest state of a proposition. What nothing earthly gives, or, can destroy, The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 494. A mixed passion, consisting of wonder, mingled with pleasing emotions; as veneration,love, esteem, takes away the familiar gesture and expression of simple love: it is a compound passion, excited by something novel, rare, great, or excellent, either of persons or their works thus we ADMIRATION. view the solar system with admiration. It keeps the respectful look and attitude; the eyes are wide open, and now and then raised towards heaven; the mouth is open; the hands lifted up; the tone of voice rapturous; speaks copiously and in hyperboles. Admirationis looking at any thing attentively with appreciation; the admirer suspends his thoughts, not from the vacancy, but from the fullness of his mind he is riveted to an object, which temporarily absorbs his faculties: nothing but what is good and great, excites admiration; and none but cultivated minds are very susceptible of it; an ignorant person cannot admire: because he does not appreciate the value of the thing: the form and use must be seen at any rate. How beautiful the world is! The green earth, covered with flowers-the trees, laden with rich blossoms the blue sky and the bright water, and the golden sunshine. The world is, indeed, beautiful; and He, who made it, must be beautiful. It is a happy world. Hark! how the merry birds sing-and the young lambs-see! how they gambol on the hill-side. Even the trees wave, and the brooks ripple, in glad ness. Yon eagle!-ah! how joyously he soars up to the glorious heavens-the bird of America. "His throne-is on the mountain-top; The midway sun-is clear and bright; It is happy-I see it, and hear it all about me-nay, I feel it here, in the glow, the eloquent glow of my own heart. He who made it, must be happy. It is a great world! Look off to the mighty ocean, when the storm is upon it; to the huge mountain, when the thunder and the lightnings play over it; to the vast forest, the interminable waste; the sun, the moon, and the myriads of fair stars, countless as the sands upon the sea-shore. It is a great, a magnificent world,-and He, who made it, oh! HE is the perfection of all loveliness, all goodness, all greatness, all glory. R2 How this grace Speaks his own standing! what a mental power Old men and beldames, in the streets, Do prophecy upon it dangerously; Young Arthur's death is common in their mouths; And he that speaks doth gripe the hearer's wrist; Another lean unwash'd artificer Cuts off his tale, and talks of Arthur's death. Anecdote. It was so natural for Dr. Watts to speak in rhyme, that even at the very time he wished to avoid it, he could not. His father was displeased at this propensity, and threatened to whip him, if he did not leave off making verses. One day, when he was about to put his threat in execution, the child burst into tears, and on his knees, said: Pray father, do, some pity take, And I will no more verses make. Varieties. 1. What is a better security against calumny, and reproach, than a good conscience? 2. What we commence-from the impulse of virtue, we too often continue from the spur of ambition; avarice, herself, is the offspring of independence and virtue. 3. Wealth, suddenly acquired, will rarely abide; nothing but quiet, consistent industry, can render any people prosperous and happy. 4. Did you ever think seriously of the design, and uses of the thumb? 5. Music, in practice, may be called the gymnastics of the affections. 6. The difference between honor, and honesty--seems to be principally in the motive; as the honest man does that from love and duty, which the man of honor does, for the sake of character. 7. If there be any thing, which makes one ridiculous, to beings of superior faculties, it must be pride. 8. As is the mother, so is the daughter; think of this O ye mothers, and improve. The rich are wise: He that upon his back rich garments wears, ADMIRATION AND ASTONISHMENT, 495. Implies confusion, arising from surprise, &c. at an extraordinary, or unexpected event: astonishment signifies to strike with the overpowering voice of thunder; we are surprised if that does, or does not happen, which we did, or did not expect; astonishment may be awakened by similar events, which are more unexpected, and more unaccountable: thus, we are astonished to find a friend at our house, when we supposed he was hundreds of miles distant; or to hear that a person has traveled a road, or crossed a stream, that we thought impassable. These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, Almighty! thine this universal frame, Thus wondrous fair! Thyself, how wondrous, Unspeakable! who sitt'st above these heavens, To us-invisible, or dimly seen [then! In these thy lowest works: yet these declare Fair Portia's counterfeit? What demi-god Seem they are in motion? Here are sever'd lips, Anecdote. While Thucidydes was yet a boy, he heard Herodotus recite his histories, at the olympic games, and is said to have wept exceedingly. The "Father of Historians," observing how much the boy was moved, congratulated his father, on having a child of such promise, and advised him to spare no pains in his education. Thucidydes became one of the best historians of Greece. Maxims. 1. Never consider the opinions o others in a matter that does not concern them. 2. It is of but little use to argue a point with one, whose mind is made up on the subject. 3. Beware of objections, founded on wrong ideas. 4. A woman's conclusions are generally proof against the most eloquent reasonings. 5. Look within, instead of without, for the true criterion of action, and be manly and independent. 6. Let the square and rule of life be-Is it right? 7. Be cautious in yielding your better judgment to the wishes of others. 8. We generally err, in undertaking-what we do not understand. 9. They will surely be wise, who profit by experience. 10. A clear head-makes sure work. Temperance. Happy are they that have made their escape from the drinking custom of the world, and enrolled their names amongst the friends of Temperance; for, by so doing, they have most probably escaped from an early death. Death, not only of the body, but of the soul, for the habit of intoxication is calculated to destroy both. Varieties. 1. When once you profess yourself a friend, be always such. 2. Blame not, before you have examined: understand, then rebuke. 3. Some people will never learn anything; for this reason, they understand everything too soon. 4. Who can calculate the importance of learning to say, No. 5. By following the order of Providence, and obeying the laws of life and being, we shall not become fatigued. 6. Abstraction, is the power, which the understanding has, of separating the combinations, which are presented to it; it is also called the power of considering qualities, or attributes of one object, apart from the rest. 7. There is a Providence in the least of man's thoughts and actions; yea, in all his common and trifling concerns. Words are like leaves; and where they most a- |