Or casting his anchor so widely, that the granite reef is just within

the tether.

Untaught in science, he is but half alive, stupidly taking note of

nothing,

Or listening with dull wonder to the crafty saws of an empiric; Simple in the world, he trusteth unto knaves; and then, to make amends for folly,

Dealeth so shrewdly with the honest, they cannot but suspect him for a thief;

With an unknown God, he maketh mock of reason, fathering contrivance on chance,

Or doting with superstitious dread on some crooked image of his

fancy;

But ignorant of Self, he is weakness at heart; the keystone crumbleth into sand,

There is panic in the general's tent, the oak is hollow as hemlock; Though the warm sap creepeth up its bark, filling out the sheaf of

leaves,

Though knowledge of all things beside add proofs of seeming vigor,

Though the master-mind of the royal sage feast on the mysteries of

wisdom,

Yet ignorance of self shall bow down the spirit of a Solomon to

idols;

The storm of temptation, sweeping by, shall snap that oak like a

reed,

And the proud luxuriance of its tufted crown drag it the sooner to the dust.

YOUTH, confident in self, tampereth with dangerous dalliance, Till the vice his heart once hated hath locked him in her foul embrace :

Manhood, through zeal of doing good, seeketh high place for its occasions,

Unwitting that the bleak mountain-air will nip the tender budding of his motives;

Or painfully, for love of truth, he climbeth the ladder of science, Till pride of intellect, heating his heart, warpeth it aside to delu

sion.

The maiden, to give shadow to her fairness, plaiteth her raven

hair,

Heedlessly weaving for her soul the silken net of vanity:

The gray-beard looketh on his gold, till he loveth its yellow smile, Unconscious of the bright decoy which is luring his heart unto

avarice:

Wrath avoideth no quarrel, jealousy counteth its suspicions,
Pining envy gazeth still, and melancholy seeketh solitude,

The sensitive broodeth on his slights, the fearful poreth over hor

rors,

The train of wantonness is fired, the nerves of indecision are un

strung,

Each special proneness unto harm is pampered by ignorant indul

gence,

And the man, for want of warning, yieldeth to the apt temptation.

A SMITH at the loom, and a weaver at the forge, were but sorry craftsmen ;

And a ship that saileth on every wind never shall reach her port; Yet there be thousands among men who heed not the leaning of

their talents,

But, cutting against the grain, toil on to no good end;

And the light of a thoughtful spirit is quenched beneath the bushel of commerce,

While meaner plodding minds are driven up the mountain of philosophy:

The cedar withereth on a wall, while the houseleek is fattening in a hotbed,

And the dock, with its rank leaves, hideth the sun from violets.
To every thing a fitting place, a proper, honorable use;

The humblest measure of mind bright in its humble sphere;
The glowworm, creeping in the hedge, lighteth her evening torch,
And her far-off mate, on gossamer sail, steereth his course by that

star;

But ignorance mocketh at proprieties, bringing out the glowworm at noon,

And setteth the faults of mediocrity in the full blaze of wisdom.
Ravens croaking in darkness, and a skylark trilling to the sun,
The voice of a screech-owl from a ruin, and the blackbird's whistle
in a wood,

A cushion-footed camel for the sands, and a swift reindeer for the

snows,

A naked skin for Ethiopia, and rich, soft furs for the Pole;
In all things is there a fitness; discord with discord hath its music;
And the harmony of nature is preserved by each one knowing his

place.

THE blind at an easel, the palsied with a graver, the halt making for the goal,

The deaf ear tuning psaltery, the stammerer discoursing elo

quence,

What wonder if all fail? the shaft flieth wide of the mark

Alike if itself be crooked, or the bow be strung awry;

And the mind which were excellent in one way, but foolishly toileth

in another,

What is it but an ill-strung bow, and its aim a crooked arrow?

By knowledge of self, thou provest thy powers; put not the racer to the plough,

Nor goad the toilsome ox to wager his slowness with the fleet: Consider thy failings, heed thy propensities, search out thy latent

virtues,

Analyze the doubtful, cultivate the good, and crush the head of

evil;

So shalt thou catch with quick hand the golden ball of opportunity, The warrior armed shall be ready for the fray, beside his bridled

steed;

Thou shalt ward off special harms, and have the sway of circumstance,

And turn to thy special good the common current of events;

Choosing from the wardrobe of the world, thou shalt suitably clothe

thy spirit,

Nor thrust the white hand of peace into the gauntlet of defiance: The shepherd shall go with a staff, and conquer by sling and stone; The soldier shall let alone the distaff, and the scribe lay down the

sword;

The man unlearned shall keep silence, and earn one attribute of wisdom;

The

sage be sparing of his lessons before unhearing ears:

Calm shalt thou be, as a lion in repose, conscious of passive

strength,

And the shock that splitteth the globe, shall not unthrone thy selfpossession.

ACQUAINT thee with thyself, O man! so shalt thou be humble:
The hard, hot desert of thy heart shall blossom with the lily and the

rose;

The frozen cliffs of pride shall melt as an iceberg in the tropics; The bitter fountains of self-seeking be sweeter than the waters of the Nile.

But if thou lack that wisdom,- thy frail skiff is doomed.

On stronger eddy whirling to the dreadful gorge;

Untaught in that grand lore, -thou standest cased in steel,

To dare with mocking unbelief the thunderbolts of heaven.

For look now around thee on the universe, behold how all things serve thee;

The teeming soil, and the buoyant sea, and undulating air,
Golden crops, and bloomy fruits, and flowers, and precious gems,
Choice perfumes and fair sights, soft touches and sweet music ;
For thee, shoaling up the bay, crowd the finny nations,

For thee, the cattle on a thousand hills live, and labor, and die;
Light is thy daily slave, darkness inviteth thee to slumber;
Thou art served by the hands of Beauty, and Sublimity kneeleth at
thy feet;

Arise, thou sovereign of creation, and behold thy glory!

Yet more, thou hast a mind: intellect wingeth thee to heaven, Tendeth thy state on earth, and by it thou divest down to hell; Thou hast measured the belt of Saturn, thou hast weighed the moons of Jupiter,

And seen, by reason's eye, the centre of thy globe;

Subtly hast thou numbered by billions the leagues between sun and

sun,

And noted in thy book the coming of their shadows;

With marvellous, unerring truth thou knowest to an inch, and to an

instant,

The where and the when of the comet's path that shall seem to rush by at thy command:

Arise, thou king of mind, and survey thy dignity!

Yet more,

for once believe religion's flattering tale;

Thou hast a soul, ay, and a God, but be not therefore humbled;
Thy Maker's self was glad to live and die- -a man;
The brightest jewel in his crown is voluntary manhood;

By deep dishonor and great price bought he that envied freedom,
But thou wast born an heir of all thy Master scarce could earn.
O climax unto pride, O triumph of humanity,

O triple crown upon thy brow, most high and mighty Self!
Arise, thou Lord of all, thou greater than a God!-

How saidst thou, wretched being?

cast thy glance within;

Regard that painted sepulchre, the hovel of thy heart.

Ha! with what fearful imagery swarmeth that small chamber;

The horrid eye of murder scowling in the dark,

The bony hand of avarice, filching from the poor,

The lurid fires of lust, the idiot face of folly,

The sickening deed of cruelty, the foul, fierce orgies of the drunken, Weak, contemptible vanity, stubborn, stolid unbelief,

Envy's devilish sneer, and the vile features of ingratitude, ·

Man, hast thou seen enough? or are these full proof

That thou art a miracle of mercy, and all thy dignity is dross ?

WELL said the wisdom of earth, O mortal, know thyself;
But better the wisdom of heaven, O man, learn thou thy God:
By knowledge of self thou art conusant of evil, and mailed in pano-
ply to meet it;

By knowledge of God cometh knowledge of good, and universal love is at thy heart.

Every creature knoweth its capacities, running in the road of in

stinct,

And reason must not lag behind, but serve itself of all proprieties; The swift to the race, and the strong to the burden, and the wise for right direction;

For self-knowledge filleth with acceptance its niche in the temple of utility;

But vainly wilt thou look for that knowledge, till the clew of all truth is in thy hand,

For the labyrinth of man's heart windeth in complicate deceivings; Thou canst not sound its depths with the shallow plumb-line of

reason,

Till Religion, the pilot of the soul, hath lent thee her unfathomable coil;

Therefore, for this grand knowledge, and knowledge is the parent of dominion,

Learn God, thou shalt know thyself; yea, and shalt have mastery

of all things.

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