The squirrel's jealous care planteth the fir-cone and the filbert;
Years pass, and the sterile rock is rank with tangled herbage;
The wild vine clingeth to the briar, and ivy runneth green among the corn,
Lordly beeches are studded on the down, and willows crowd around the
And the tall pine and hazel thicket shade the rambling hunter.
Shall the rock boast of its fertility? shall it lift the head in pride?—
Shall the mind of man be vain of the harvest of its thoughts?
The savage is that rock; and a million chances from without,
By little and little acting on the mind, heap up the hotbed of society;
And the soul, fed and fattened on the thoughts and things around it,
Groweth to perfection, full of fruit, the fruit of foreign seeds.
For we learn upon a hint, we find upon a clew,
We yield a hundred-fold; but the great sower is Analogy.
There must be an acrid sloe before a luscious peach,
A boll of rotting flax before the bridal veil,
An egg before an eagle, a thought before a thing,
A spark struck into tinder, to light the lamp of knowledge,
A slight, suggestive nod, to guide the watching mind,
A half-seen hand upon the wall, pointing to the balance of Comparison.
By culture, man may do all things, short of the miracle-Creation:
Here is the limit of thy power-here let thy pride be stayed: [sown;
The soil may be rich, and the mind may be active, but neither yield un-
The eye cannot make light, nor the mind make spirit:
Therefore it is wise in man to name all novelty invention;
For it is to find out things that are, not to create the unexisting:
It is to cling to contiguities, to be keen in catching likeness,
And with energetic elasticity to leap the gulfs of contrast.
The globe knoweth not increase, either of matter or spirit:
Atoms and thoughts are used again, mixing in varied combinations:
And though, by moulding them anew, thou makest them thine own,
Yet have they served thousands, and all their merit is of God.
SEAMS of thought for the sage's brow, and laughing lines for the fool's face;
For all things leave their track in the mind; and the glass of the mind Seest thou much mirth upon the cheek? there is then little exercise of virtue ;
For he that looketh on the world cannot be glad and good:
Seest thou much gravity in the eye? be not assured of finding wisdom;
For she hath too great praise, not to get many mimics.
There is a grave-faced folly; and verily, a laughter-loving wisdom:
And what if surface-judges account it vain frivolity?
There is, indeed, an evil in excess, and a field may lie fallow too long;
Yet merriment is often as a froth, that mantleth on the strong mind;
And note thou this for a verity-the subtlest thinker, when alone,
From ease of thoughts unbent, will laugh the loudest with his fellows;
And well is the loveliness of wisdom mirrored in a cheerful countenance;
Justly the deepest pools are proved by dimpling eddies;
For that a true philosophy commandeth an innocent life,
And the unguilty spirit is lighter than a linnet's heart:
Yea, there is no cosmetic like a holy conscience:
The eye is bright with trust, the cheek bloomed over with affection,
The brow unwrinkled by a care, and the lip triumphant in its gladness.
AND for yon grave-faced folly, need not far to look for her.
How seriously on trifles dote those leaden eyes!
How ruefully she sigheth after chances long gone by!
How sulkily she moaneth over evils without cure!
I have known a true-born mirth, the child of innocence and wisdom,
I have seen a base-born gravity, mingled of ignorance and guilt;
And again, a base-born mirth, springing out of carelessness and folly;
And again, a true-born gravity, the product of reflection and right fear.
The wounded partridge hideth in a furrow, and a stricken conscience
would be left alone;
But when its breast is healed, it runneth gladly with its fellows;
Whereas the solitary heron, standing in the sedgy fen,
Holdeth aloof from the social world, intent on wiles and death.
NEED but of light philosophy to dare the world's dread laugh;
For a little mind courteth notoriety, to illustrate its puny self:
But the sneer of a man's own comrades trieth the muscles of courage,
And to be derided in his home is as a viper in the nest:
The laugh of a hooting world hath in it a notion of sublimity,
But the tittering private circle stingeth as a hive of wasps.
Some have commended ridicule, counting it the test of truth,*
But neither wittily nor wisely, for truth must prove ridicule :
Otherwise a blunt bullrush is to pieree the proof armour of argument,
Because the stolidity of ignorance took it for a barbed shaft.
Softer is the hide of the rhinoceros than the heart of deriding unbelief,
And truth is idler there than the Bushman's feathered reed:
A droll conceit parrieth a thrust that should have hit the conscience,
And the leering looks of humour tickle the childish mind;
For that the matter of a man is mingled most with folly,
Neither can he long endure the searching gaze of wisdom.
It is pleasanter to see a laughing cheek than a serious forehead,
And there liveth not one among a thousand whose idol is not pleasure.
Ridicule is a weak weapon, when levelled at a strong mind;
But common men are cowards, and dread an empty laugh. [shoulder;
Fear a nettle, and touch it tenderly-its poison shall burn thee to the
But grasp
it with bold hand-is it not a bundle of myrrh?
Betray mean terror of ridicule, thou shalt find fools enough to mock thee;
But answer thou their laughter with contempt, and the scoffers will lick
thy feet.
THE praise of holy men is a promise of praise from their Master;
A forerunning earnest of thy welcome-Well done, faithful servant,
A rich preludious note, that droppeth softly on thine ear,
To tell thee the chords of thy heart are in tune with the choirs of heaven.
Yet is it a dangerous hearing, for the sweetness may lull thee into slumber,
And the cordial quaffed with thirst may generate the fumes of presumption.
* "Ridicule, the test of truth."] One of the weakest points in the Shaftes bury philosophy, which would weigh principles against puns.
So seek it not for itself, but taste, and go gladly on thy way,
For the mariner slacketh not his sail, though the sandal-groves of Araby [evening,
And the fragrance of that incense would harm thee, as when, on a summer The honied yellow flowers of the broom oppress thy charmed sense; And a man hath too much of praise, for he praiseth himself continually; Neither lacketh he at any time self-commendation or excuse.
PRAISE a fool, and slay him; for the canvas of his vanity is spread;
His bark is shallow in the water, and a sudden gust shall sink it:
Praise a wise man, and speed him on his way; for he carrieth the ballast
of humility,
[ashore.
And is glad when his course is cheered by the sympathy of brethren
The praise of a good man is good, for he holdeth up the mirror of Truth,
That Virtue may see her own beauty, and delight in her own fair face;
The praise of a bad man is evil, for he hideth the deformity of Vice,
Casting the mantle of a queen around the limbs of a leper.
Praise is rebuke to the man whose conscience alloweth it not:
And where Conscience feeleth it her due, no praise is better than a little. He that despiseth the outward appearance, despiseth the esteem of his
And he that overmuch regardeth it, shall earn only their contempt: The honest commendation of an equal no one can scorn, and be blameless, Yet even that fair fame no one can hunt for, and be honoured:
If it come, accept it, and be thankful; and be thou humble in accepting; If it tarry, be not thou cast down; the bee can gather honey out of rue: And is thine aim so low, that the breath of those around thee
Can speed thy feathered arrow, or retard its flight?
The child shooteth at a butterfly, but the man's mark is an eagle:
And while his fellows talk, he hath conquered in the clouds.
Ally thee to truth and godliness, and use the talents in thy charge;
So shalt thou walk in peace, deserving, if not having. [decayed,
With a friend, praise him when thou canst; for many a friendship hath
Like a plant in a crowded corner, for want of sunshine on its leaves:
With another, praise him not often-otherwise he shall despise thee;
But be thou frugal in commending; so will he give honour to thy judg.
ment;
[inferiority,
For thou that dost so sedulously commend, art acknowledging thine own
And he, thou so highly hast exalted, shall proudly look down on thy esteem.
WILT thou that one remember a thing?-praise him in the midst of thy Never yet forgat man the word whereby he hath been praised. [advice; Better to be censured by a thousand fools, than approved but by one man
For the pious are slower to help right, than the profane to hinder it:
So, where the world rebuketh, there look thou for the excellent,
And be suspicious of the good, which wicked men can praise.
The captain bindeth his troop not more by severity than kindness,
And justly should recompense well-doing, as well as be strict with an
offender;
The laurel is cheap to the giver, but precious in his sight who hath won it,
And the heart of the soldier rejoiceth in the approving glance of his chief.
Timely-given praise is even better than the merited rebuke of censure,
For the sun is more needful to the plant than the knife that cutteth out a
Many a father hath erred, in that he hath withheld reproof, [canker;
But more have mostly sinned in withholding praise where it was due:
There be many such as Eli among men; but these be more culpable
than Eli,
Who chill the fountain of exertion by the freezing looks of indifference;
Ye call a man easy and good, yet he is as a two-edged sword; [fainteth.
He rebuketh not vice, and it is strong: he comforteth not virtue, and it
There is nothing more potent among men than a gift timely bestowed,
And a gift kept back where it was hoped, separateth chief friends;
For what is a gift but a symbol, giving substance to praise and esteem?
And where is a sharper arrow than the sting of unmerited neglect?
EXPECT not praise from the mean, neither gratitude from the selfish;
And to keep the proud thy friend, see thou do him not a service:
For, behold, he will hate thee for his debt; thou hast humbled him by
giving;
[from thy hand;
And his stubbornness never shall acknowledge the good he hath taken
Yea, rather will he turn and be thy foe, lest thou gather from his friendship
That he doth account thee creditor, and standeth in the second place.
Still, O kindly-feeling heart! be not thou chilled by the thankless,
Neither let the breath of gratitude fan thee into momentary heat.
Do good for good's own sake, looking not to worthiness nor love;
Fling thy grain among the rocks, cast thy bread upon the waters, [thee-
His claim be strongest to thy help, who is thrown most helplessly upon
So shalt thou have a better praise, and reap a richer harvest of reward.
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