ADVERSARY.

When all was still in the destroying hour;

No sign of man-no vestige of his power? S. ROGERS.

ADVERSARY.--Disputing without an It may be thought that to vindicate the permanency of truth is to dispute without an adversary.-Beattie.

ADVERSARY.-The

The adversary, Satan, or the devil, so called by way of eminence.-BEATTIE.

ADVERSITY-Apostrophised.

Adversity! thou thistle of life, thou too art crowned-first with a flower, then with down.-Foster.

ADVERSITY.-Bruised with

A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;
But were we burden'd with like weight of
pain,

As much, or more, we should ourselves complain.-SHAKSPEARE.

ADVERSITY.-The Benefits of

By adversity are wrought

The greatest works of admiration;
And all the fair examples of renown
Out of distress and misery are grown.
DANIEL.

ADVERSITY.-Comfort with

Adversity is not without comfort and hopes.-LORD BACON.

ADVERSITY.-A Hymn to

Daughter of Jove, relentless power,

Thou tamer of the human breast,
Whose iron scourge and torturing hour,
The bad affright, afflict the best!
Bound in thy adamantine chain
The proud are taught to taste of pain,
And purple tyrants vainly groan
With pangs unfelt before, unpitied and
alone.

When first thy sire to send on earth
Virtue, his darling child, design'd,
To thee he gave the heavenly birth

And bade to form her infant mind.
Stern rugged Nurse! thy rigid lore
With patience many a year she bore:
What sorrow was thou bad'st her know,
And from her own she learn'd to melt at
other's woe.

Scared at thy frown terrific, fly

Self-pleasing Folly's idle brood,
Wild laughter, noise, and thoughtless joy,
And leave us leisure to be good.

ADVERSITY.

Light they disperse, and with them go The summer friend, the flattering foe; By vain prosperity received

To her they vow their truth, and are again believed.-T. GRAY.

ADVERSITY-preferred to Prosperity.

If adversity hath killed his thousands, prosperity hath killed his ten thousands; therefore adversity is to be preferred. The one deceives, the other instructs; the one miserably happy, the other happily miserable; and therefore many philosophers have voluntarily sought adversity and so much commend it in their precepts. Demetrius, in Seneca, esteemed it a great infelicity that in his lifetime he had no misfortune. Adversity then is not so heavily to be taken, and we ought not in such cases so much to macerate ourselves.-BURTON.

ADVERSITY.-Struggling with

Sir Walter Scott was sitting at a writingdesk covered with papers, and on the top was a pile of bound volumes of the Moniteur,-one, which he was leaning over as my brother and I entered, was open on a chair, and two others were lying on the floor. As he rose to receive us, he closed the volume which he had been extracting from, and came forward to shake hands. He was, of course, in deep mourning, with weepers and other trappings of wo, but his countenance, though certainly a little wobegonish, was not cast into any very deep furrows. His tone and manner were as friendly as heretofore, and when he saw that we had no intention of making any attempt at sympathy or moanification, but spoke to him as of old, he gradually contracted the length of his countenance, and allowed the corners of his mouth to curl almost imperceptibly upwards, and a renewed lustre came into his eye, if not exactly indicative of cheerfulness, at all events of well-regulated, patient, Christian resignation. My meaning will be misunderstood if it be imagined from this picture that I suspected any hypocrisy, or an affectation of grief in the first instance. I have no doubt, indeed, that he feels, and most acutely, the bereavements which have come upon him; but we may fairly suppose, that among the many visitors he must have, there may be some who cannot understand that it is proper, decent, or even possible, to hide those finer emotions deep in the heart. He immediately began conversing in his usual style-the chief topic being Captain Denham (whom I had recently seen in London) and his book of African Travels, which Sir Walter had evidently read with much attention. * After

* *

ADVERSITY.

sitting a quarter of an hour, we came away, well pleased to see our friend quite unbroken in spirit-and though bowed down a little by the blast, and here and there a branch the less, as sturdy in the trunk as ever, and very possibly all the better for the discipline-better, I mean, for the public, inasmuch as he has now a vast additional stimulus for exertion-and one which all the world must admit to be thoroughly noble and generous.-CAPT. HALL.

ADVERSITY.-The Use of

Adversity, like winter weather, is of use to kill those vermin which the summer of prosperity is apt to produce and nourish.— ARROWSMITH.

ADVICE.-Agreeable

There is nothing so difficult as the art of making advice agreeable; and indeed all the writers, both ancient and modern, have distinguished themselves among one another according to the perfection at which they arrived in this art. How many devices have been made use of to render this bitter portion palateable! Some convey their instructions to us in the best chosen words, others in the most harmonious numbers, some in point of wit, and others in short proverbs. —ADDISON.

ADVICE.-Easy to Give

It is easy for a man to give advice to his neighbour, but to follow it one's self is not so easy. As a proof of this, I have known physicians lecturing their patients most eloquently on the benefits of abstinence; then, if they are themselves overtaken by disease, doing the very same things which they would not allow their patients to do. Theory and practice are very different.PHILEMON.

ADVICE. Few can Receive

If there are few who have the humility to receive advice as they ought, it is often because there are few who have the discretion to convey it in a proper vehicle, and to qualify the harshness and bitterness of reproof by an artful mixture of sweetening ingredients.-SEED.

ADVICE-Freely Given.

Nothing is given so ungrudgingly as advice.-LA ROCHEFOUCAULD.

ADVICE-must be Gentle.

Our advice must not fall like a violent storm, bearing down and making those to droop whom it is meant to cherish and refresh. It must descend as the dew upon

AFFECTATION.

the tender herb, or like melting flakes of snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon and the deeper it sinks into the mind. -SEED.

ADVISER.-The Sacred Office of an

No office can be more sacred than that of an adviser, especially if it has relation to the highest interests of man.-DR. DAVIES.

ADVOCATE.-The Business of an

An advocate in court is employed to defend his client. He does not begin by admitting his guilt, or in any way basing his plea on the conceded fact that he is guilty; his proper business is to show that he is not guilty, or, if he be proved to be so, to see that no injustice is done him. -A. BARNES.

ADVOCATE.-A Faithful

A faithful advocate can never sit without clients. Nor do I believe that any man could lose by it in the end, that would not undertake a cause he knew not honest. A goldsmith may gain an estate as well as he that trades in every coarser metal. An advocate is a limb of friendship; and further than the altar he is not bound to go. And it is observed of as famous a lawyer as I think was then in the world, the Roman Cicero, that he was slain by one he had defended, when accused of the murder of his father. Certainly he that defends an injury is next to him that commits it. And this is recorded, not only as an example of ingratitude, but as a punishment for patronizing an ill cause.-FELTHAM.

ADVOCATE.-A Great

O Pollio! thou the greatest defence
Of sad, impleaded innocence,
On whom, to weigh the grand debate,
In deep consult the fathers wait. -HORACE.

AFFABILITY.-The Efficacy of

Affability is of a wonderful efficacy or power in procuring love.-ELYOT. AFFECTATION.-The Artificial Ugliness

of

The fool is never more provoking than when he aims at wit, the ill-favour'd of our sex are never more nauseous than when they would be beauties, adding to their natural deformity the artificial ugliness of affectation.-WYCHERLEY.

AFFECTATION.-The Cure of

When Cicero consulted the oracle at Dei. phos, concerning what course of studies he

AFFECTIONS.

gates of the city, one of them carrying their father, and the other their mother.ARVINE.

AFFECTION.-Maternal

Just as the diminutive wren will fight hard in her nest for her young against the hungry owl, or just as a hen will gather her chickens beneath her wings, and herself bravely meet and repel the swoop of the ravenous eagle, so will maternal affection nerve her who gave us birth to shield us from all dangers which imperil either our bodies or our souls. Hence maternal affection, for this and other reasons, is truly sublime and God-like !-DR. DAVIES.

AFFECTION.-Paternal

Socrates was once surprised by Alcibiades, playing with his children. The gay patrician rather scoffed at him for joining in such sports; to which the philosopher replied "You have not such reason as you imagine to laugh so at a father playing with his child. You know nothing of that affection which parents have to their children; restrain your mirth till you have children of your own, when you will, perhaps, be found as ridiculous as I now seem to you to be."-ARVINE.

AFFECTION.-The Power of

Affection is the savage beast,
Which always us annoyeth;
And never lets us live in rest,
But still our good destroyeth :
Affection's power who can suppress,
And master when it sinneth,
Of worthy praise deserves no less,
Than he that kingdoms winneth.
BRANDON.

AFFECTIONS.-The Cultivation of the

It appears unaccountable that our teachers generally have directed their instructions to the head, with very little attention to the heart. From Aristotle down to Locke, books without number have been composed for cultivating and improving the understanding; but few, in proportion, for cultivating and improving the affections.--KAIMES.

AFFECTIONS.-The Fascination of the

None of the affections have been noted to fascinate and bewitch, but love and envy. -LORD BACON.

AFFECTIONS.-Household

If ever household affections and loves are graceful things, they are graceful in the poor. The ties that bind the wealthy and

AFFLICTED.

the proud to home may be forged on earth, but those which link the poor man to his humble hearth are of the true metal, and bear the stamp of heaven. The man of high descent may love the halls and lands of his inheritance as a part of himself, as trophies of his birth and power; the poor man's attachment to the tenement he holds, which strangers have held before, and may to-morrow occupy again, has a worthier His root, struck deep into a purer soil. household gods are of flesh and blood, with no alloy of silver, gold, or precious stones; he has no property but in the affections of his own heart; and when they endear bare floors and walls, despite of rags, and toil, and scanty meals, that man has his love of home from God, and his rude hut becomes a solemn place.-DICKENS.

AFFLICTED.-God Regards the

On heaven's high throne He sits, whose watchful eye

Regards th' afflicted, when unfeeling pride Denies that justice which the law asks for them.-ÆSCHYLUS.

AFFLICTION.-The Benefit of

It is related of one, who, under great severity, had fled from the worst of masters to the best (I mean he had sought rest in the bosom of Jesus Christ, the common Friend of the weary and the heavy-laden), that he was so impressed with a sense of the benefit he had derived from affliction, that lying on his death-bed, and seeing his master stand by, he eagerly caught the hands of his oppressor, and kissing them, said "These hands have brought me to heaven." Thus many have had reason to bless God for affliction, as being an instrument in his hand of promoting the welfare of their immortal souls !—BUCK.

So do the winds and thunder cleanse the

air;

So working bees settle and purge the wine;

So lopp'd and pruned trees do flourish;
So doth the fire the drossy gold refine.
SPENSER.
AFFLICTION.-The Best Remedy for

The best remedy for affliction is submitting to Providence. Must is a hard nut to crack, but it has a sweet kernel. "All things work together for good to them that love God." Whatever falls from the skies is, sooner or later, good for the land: whatever comes to us from God is worth having, even though it be a rod. Therefore, let is plough the heaviest soil with our eye on

AFFLICTIONS.

the sheaves of harvest, and learn to sing at our labour while others murmur.SPURGEON.

AFFLICTION.-Brothers in

Affliction's sons are brothers in distress, A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss!-R. BURNS.

AFFLICTION.-Consolation Given in

Before an affliction is digested, consolation comes too soon; and after it is digested, it comes too late; but there is a mark between these two, as fine, almost, as a hair, for a comforter to take aim at.-STERNE.

AFFLICTION.-The Fire of

As we sometimes hold a crooked stick over the fire to straighten it, so God holds us over the fire of affliction to make us more straight and upright.-T. WATSON. AFFLICTION.-Look up in

If affliction grasps thee rudely,

And presents the rack and cup, Drink the draught and brave the torture,Even in despair look up!—CHEster. AFFLICTION.- Prayer with

The spirit of prayer does not necessarily come with affliction. If this be not poured out upon the man, he will, like a wounded beast, skulk to his den and growl there.— R. CECIL.

AFFLICTIONS.-Christians in

Stars shine brightest in the darkest night; torches are better for beating; grapes come not to the proof till they come to the press; spices smell best when bruised; young trees root the faster for shaking; gold looks brighter for scouring; juniper smells sweetest in the fire; the palm-tree proves the better for pressing; chamomile, the more you tread it, the more you spread it. Such is the condition of all God's children: they are then most triumphant when most tempted; most glorious when most afflicted; most in favour of God when least in man's and least in their own: as their conflicts, so their conquests; as their tribulations, so their triumphs ; true salamanders, that live best in the furnace of persecution : so that heavy afflictions are the best benefactors to heavenly affections; and where afflictions hang heaviest, corruptions hang loosest; and grace, that is hid in nature, as sweet water in rose-leaves, is then most fragrant when the fire of affliction is put under to distil it out.-BOGATZKY.

AFFLICTIONS.

AFFLICTIONS.-The Effects of

Afflictions sent by Providence, melt the constancy of the noble-minded, but confirm the obduracy of the vile. The same furnace that hardens clay, liquifies gold; and in the strong manifestations of divine power, Pharoah found his punishment, but David his pardon.-COLTON.

AFFLICTIONS.-The Necessity of

When Mr. Cecil was walking in the Botanical Gardens of Oxford, his attention was arrested by a fine pomegranate tree, cut almost through the stem near the root. On asking the gardener the reason of this, "Sir," said he, "this tree used to shoot so strong that it bore nothing but leaves; was therefore obliged to cut it in this manner; and when it was almost cut through, then it began to bear plenty of fruit." The reply afforded this inquisitive student a general practical lesson, which was of considerable use to him in after life, when severely exercised by personal and domestic afflictions. Alas! in many cases, it is not enough that the useless branches of the tree be lopped off, but the stock itself must be cut-and cut nearly through -before it can become extensively fruitful. And sometimes the finer the tree, and the more luxuriant its growth, the deeper must be the incision.-J. A. JAMES.

AFFRONT.-Freedom Construed into an

Captious persons construe every innocent freedom into an affront.-CRABBE.

AFFRONTS.-The Forgiveness of

As affronts are next door neighbours to insults, they are seldom forgiven or forgotten, except, perhaps, by the young.-E. DAVIES.

AFTERNOON.-A Sultry

No sound nor motion of a living thing The stillness breaks, but such as serve to soothe,

Or cause the soul to feel the stillness more.
The yellow-hammer by the wayside picks,
Mutely, the thistle's seed; but in her flight,
So smoothly serpentine, her wings out-
spread

To rise a little, closed to fall as far,
Moving like sea-fowl o'er the heaving

waves,

With each new impulse chimes a feeble

note.

The russet grasshopper at times is heard, Snapping his many wings, as half he flies, Half hovers in the air. Where strikes the sun,

With sultriest beams, upon the sandy plain,

AGE.

Or stony mount, or in the close, deep vale,
The harmless locust of this western clime,
At intervals, amid the leaves unseen,
Is heard to sing with one unbroken sound,
As with a long-drawn breath, beginning
low,

And rising to the midst with shriller swell,
Then in low cadence dying all away.
Beside the stream, collected in a flock,
The noiseless butterflies, though on the
ground,

Continue still to wave their open fans Powdered with gold, while on the jutting twigs

The spindling insects that frequent the banks,

Rest with their thin transparent wings outspread

As when they fly. Ofttimes, though seldom seen,

The cuckoo, that in summer haunts our groves,

Is heard to moan, as if at every breath
Panting aloud.

high,

The hawk, in mid-air

On his broad pinions sailing round and round,

With not a flutter, or but now and then, As if his trembling balance to regain, Utters a single scream, but faintly heard, And all again is still.-C. WILCOX.

AGE. The Advance of

The advance of age is at first unperceived; but it is, nevertheless, certain and rapid; and when it is realized, it seems to approach almost with the speed of light and life at last seems to end soon after its commencement.-DR. DAVIES.

AGE. The Calm of

How quiet shows the woodland scene! Each flow'r and tree, its duty done, Reposing in decay serene,

Like weary men when age is won; Such calm old age as conscience pure And self-commanding hearts insure; Waiting their summons to the sky, Content to live, but not afraid to die. KEBLE.

AGE. The Characteristics of each

Each succeeding age and generation leaves behind it a peculiar character, which stands out in relief upon its annals, and is associated with it for ever in the memory of posterity. One is signalized for the invention of gunpowder, another for that of printing; one is rendered memorable by the revival of letters, another by the reformation of religion; one is marked in history by the conquests of Napoleon, another is rendered illustrious by the dis