PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY. PREFATORY. THOUGHTS, 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 the lees of specu lation; 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, 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; The passions of puny man; the majestic characters of God; 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 angelic Truth for the sake of her evil herald; Heed not him, but hear his words, and care not whence they come; 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: |