Therefore use meekness with discretion, casting not pearls before swine. For a fool will tread upon thy neck, if he seeth thee lying in the dust; And there be companies and seasons where resolute bearing is but duty. If a good man discloseth his secret failings unto the view of the profane, What doeth he but harm unto his brother, confirming him in his sin: There is a concealment that is right, and an open-mouthed humility that erreth; There is a candour near akin to folly, and a meekness looking like shame. Masculine sentiments, vigorously holden, well become a man; But a weak mind hath a timorous grasp, and mistaketh it for tenderness of conscience. Many are despised for their folly, who put it to the account of their religion, And because men treat them with contempt, they look to their God for glory: But contempt shall still be their reward, who betrayed their Master unto ridicule, Reflecting on Him in themselves, meanness and ignorance and cowardice. A Christian hath a royal spirit, and need not be ashamed but unto One: Among just men walketh he softly, but the world should see him as a champion. His humbleness is far unlike the shame that covereth the profligate and weak, When the sober reproof of virtue hath touched their tingling ears; It is born of love and wisdom, and is worthy of all honour, And the sweet persuasion of its smile changeth contempt into reverence. A man of a haughty spirit is daily adding to his enemies : He standeth as the Arab in the desert, and the hands of all men are against him: A man of a base mind daily subtracteth from his friends, For he holdeth himself so cheaply, that others learn to despise him. But where the meekness of self-knowledge veileth the front of self-respect, Humility bringeth no excuse; she is welcome to God and man: Her countenance is needful unto all, who would prosper in either world; And the mild light of her sweet face is mirrored in the eyes of her cem panions, And straightway stand they accepted, children of penitence and love. As when the blind man is nigh unto a rose, its sweetnes is the herald of its beauty, So when thou savourest humility, be sure thou art nigh unto merit. A gift rejoiceth the covetous, and praise fatteneth the vain, And the pride of man delighteth in the humble bearing of his fellow, bestow. OF PRIDE. DEEP is the sea, and deep is hell, but Pride mineth deeper; It is coiled as a poisonous worm about the foundations of the soul. And spurn at its very being, while it nestleth the deeper in thy bosom of its capacities, But in viewing the heights above thee, thou shalt be taught thy littleness; Could an emmet pry into itself, it might marvel at its own anatomy, But let it look on eagles, to discern how mean a thing it is. And all things hang upon comparison; to the greater, great is small : On all sides is there an infinity: the culprit at the gallows hath his worse, Source: Pride is a gloomy bow, arching the infernal firmament, That will lead thee on, if thou wilt hunt it, even to the dwelling of despair. Deep calleth unto deep, and mountain overtoppeth mountain, And still shalt thou fathom to no end the depth and the height of pride; For it is the vast ambition of the soul, warped to an idle object, Be aware of the smiling enemy, that openly sheatheth his weapon, Stay not to parley with thy foe, for his tongue is more potent than his arm, Yea, from the palaces of Heaven, hath pride cast down his millions. OF EXPERIENCE. I KNEW that age was enriched with the hard-earned wages of knowledge, And I saw that hoary wisdom was bred in the school of disappointment: noted that the wisest of youth, though provident and cautious of evil, Yet sailed along unsteadily, as lacking some ballast of the mind: And the cause seemed to lie in this, that while they considered around them; And warded off all dangers from without, they forgat their own weakness within. So steer they in self-confidence, until, from the multitude of perils, They begin to be wary of themselves, and learn the first lesson of Experience. I knew that in the morning of life, before its wearisome journey, But they know he must taste for himself, or he will not give ear to their wisdom. For Experience hath another lesson, which a man will do well if he learn. By checking the flight of expectation, to cheat disappointment of its pain. Experience teacheth many things, and all men are his scholars: But soon as the top-stone hath been set to the well-proved goodly pyramid, The scaffold is torn down, and well-timed trust taketh its long leave of suspicion. A thousand volumes in a thousand tongues, enshrine the lessons of Experience, Yet a man shall read them all, and go forth none the wiser: For self-love lendeth him a glass, to colour all he conneth, Lest in the features of another he find his own complexion. And we secretly judge of ourselves, as differing greatly from all men, And from the gilt surface reckon not on steel beneath : And the frostbitten Greenlander disbelieveth suns too hot. But thou, student of Wisdom, feed on the marrow of the matter; If thou wilt suspect, let it be thyself; if thou wilt expect, let it not be gladness. OF ESTIMATING CHARACTER. RASHLY, nor ofttimes truly, doth man pass judgment on his brother; For he seeth not the springs of the heart, nor heareth the reasons of the mind. And the world is not wiser than of old, when justice was meted by the sword, When the spear avenged the wrong, and the lot decided the right; When the footsteps of blindfold innocence were tracked by burning ploughshares, And the still condemning water delivered up the wizard to the stake: Behold that daughter of the world; she is full of gaiety and gladness; She is queen of the fools of fashion, and ruleth the revels of luxury: She careth not if there be a God, or a soul, or a time of retribution; ness; |