16. Mystery magnifies danger, as a fog the sun; the hand that warned the eastern prince,* derived its horrifying influence from the want of a body.

17. True friendship is like sound health,—the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.

18. Young folks tell what they do,-old ones what they have done, and fools what they will do.

19. From principles is derived probability; but truth is obtained only from facts.

20. The volume of nature is the book of knowledge, and he becomes most wise, who makes the most judicious selection. 21. Title and ancestry render a good man more illustrious ;but an ill one more contemptible. Vice is infamous, though in a prince; and virtue honorable, though in a peasant.

22. What you keep by you, you may mend and change;— but words once spoken can never be recalled.

23. What is the most constant of all things?-hope ;-because it still remains with man, after he has lost every thing else.

24. A just man should account nothing more precious than his word, nothing more venerable than his faith,—and nothing more sacred than his promise.

25. A hypocrite is hated by the world for seeming what he is not: but he will be condemned by his Creator for not being what he seems.

26. The greatest friend of truth, is time, her greatest enemy is prejudice, and her constant companion is humility.

27. When you have nothing to say, say nothing;—a weak defence strengthens your opponent, and silence is less injurious than a bad reply.

28. When the million applaud you, seriously ask yourself what harm you have done-when they censure you, what good?

29. Mental pleasures never cloy; unlike those of the body, they are increased by repetition; approved of by reflection; and strengthened by enjoyment.

30. Vice stings us, even in our pleasures,-but virtue consoles us, even in our pains.

31. Let fame be regarded, but conscience much more. It is an empty joy to appear better than you are ;—but a great blessing to be what you ought to be.

* See the 5th chapter of Daniel.

32. The first ingredient in conversation, is truth;-the next, good sense; the third, good humour; the last, wit.

33. The man of virtue, is an honor to his country,—a credit to human nature,—and a benefactor to the world. He is rich without oppression,-charitable without ostentation, courteous without deceit,-and brave without vice.

34. The difference there is betwixt honor and honesty, seems to be chiefly in the motive. The honest man does that from duty, which the man of honor does for the sake of character.

35. Men's evil manners live in brass;-their virtues we write in water.

36. Fine sense, and exalted sense, are not half so valuable as common sense. There are forty men of wit for one man of sense; and he that will carry nothing about him but gold, will be every day at a loss for want of ready change.

37. A wise man will desire no more than what he may get justly, use soberly,-distribute cheerfully, and live upon contentedly.

38. You have obliged a man;-very well. What would you have more? Is not the consciousness of doing good a sufficient reward?

39. Agesilaus, king of Sparta,* being asked the means of establishing a high reputation, answered,-" Speak well, and act better.'

40. Cowards die many times; the valiant never taste of death but once.

41. If you want your business done, go;-if not, send. 42. Cruel men are the greatest lovers of mercy-avaricious men of generosity-and proud men of humility;-that is to say, -in others,-not in themselves.

43. He that is good, will infallibly become better; and he that is bad, will as certainly become worse;-for vice, virtue, and time, are three things that never stand still.

44. Socrates being asked what was the best mode of gaining a high reputation, replied, "To be what you appear to be." 45. If the spring put forth no blossoms,-in summer there will be no beauty, and in autumn no fruit. So if youth be trifled away without improvement,-manhood will be contemptible, and old age miserable.

* Sparta, a state of ancient Greece.

LESSON LXXXVI.

Select Paragraphs.

1. BE studious, and you will be learned. Be industrious and frugal, and you will be rich. Be sober and temperate, and you will be healthy. Be virtuous, and you will be happy.

2. Man, if he compare himself with all that he can see, is at the zenith of power;-but if he compare himself with all that ae can conceive, he is at the nadir of weakness.

3. We esteem most things according to their intrinsic merit; -it is strange MAN should be an exception. We prize a horse for his strength and courage,-not for his furniture. We prize a man for his sumptuous palace, his great train, his vast revenue;-yet these are his furniture, not his mind.

4. The kindnesses, which most men receive from others, are like traces drawn in the sand. The breath of every passion sweeps them away, and they are remembered no more. But injuries are like inscriptions on monuments of brass, or pillars of marble, which endure, unimpaired, the revolutions of time.

5. Man, always prosperous, would be giddy and insolent ;always afflicted, would be sullen or despondent. Hopes and fears, joy and sorrow, are therefore, so blended in his life, as both to give room for worldly pursuits, and to recall from time to time the admonitions of conscience.

6. He, who would pass the latter part of his life with honor and decency, must, when he is young, consider that he shall one day be old, and remember when he is old, that he has once been young.

*

7. The pensionary De Witt, being asked how he could transact such a variety of business without confusion, answered, —that he never did but one thing at a time.

8. He, who governs his passions, does more than he who commands armies. Socrates, being one day offended with his servant, said," I would beat you if I were not angry."

9. No rank in life precludes the efficacy of a well timed compliment. When Queen Elizabeth† asked an Ambassador how he liked her ladies, he replied, "It is hard to judge of stars in presence of the sun."

John De Witt, the famous pensionary of Holland, was born at Dort, in Holland, 1625. He was the greatest genius of his time, and the ablest politician; but was barbarously murdered by a mob, in 1672.

+ Elizabeth, queen of England, was born 1533, and commenced her reign in 1558. She was a person of accomplished manners, and a well cultivated mind. She died in 1603.

10. We too often judge of men by the splendor, and not by the merit of their actions. Alexander demanded of a pirate whom he had taken, by what right he infested the seas?"By the same right," replied he, boldly, "that you enslave the world. I am called a robber, because I have only one small vessel; but you are styled a conqueror, because you command great fleets and armies."

11. Francis I.* consulting with his Generals how to lead his army over the Alps into Italy,-Amarel, his fool, sprung from a corner, and advised him to consult rather,—how to bring it back.

12. Men are too often ingenious in making themselves miserable, by aggravating, beyond bounds, the evils which they are compelled to endure. "I will restore thy daughter again to life," said an eastern sage to a prince who grieved immoderately for the loss of a beloved child,-" provided thou art able to engrave on her tomb, the names of three persons who have never mourned." The prince made inquiry after such -but found the inquiry vain,-and was silent.

persons;

13. When Dariust offered Alexander ten thousand talents to divide Asia equally with him, he answered," the earth cannot bear two suns,-nor Asia two kings." Parmenio, a friend of Alexander's, hearing the great offer Darius had made, said,——“ were I Alexander, I would accept it,"“ so would I,” replied Alexander, "were I Parmenio."

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14. When Agesilaus, king of Sparta, heard any one praised, or censured, he remarked, " that it was as necessary to know the characters of the speakers, as the characters of those who were the subjects of their opinions."

15. Alcibiadest was one day boasting of his wealth and immense estates in the presence of Socrates. This wise Athenian, in order to repress his ostentatious spirit, led him to a map, and desired him to point out Attica. After searching for some time, Alcibiades, with some difficulty, discerned it ;-Socrates then requested him to look for his own estate; the young man replied, that he should not be able to find it, in so small a space.

*Francis I., king of France in A. D. 1515. He is known as the opponent and rival of Charles V., emperor of Germany,-also, as the patron of the arts and sciences. He died 1547.

+ Da-ri'-us III., the last king of the ancient Persian Empire. He was conquered by Alexander the Great, and at last treacherously assassinated by Bessus, his own general, B. C. 331

Pronounced Al-se-bi'-a-dees, an illustrious Athenian General, and a disciple of Socrates. He died B. C. 404, aged 46.

"Why, then," replied Socrates, "are you so inflated with pride, concerning a mere point of land?"

16. No hero makes so distinguished a figure in ancient history as Alexander the Great.* His courage was undaunted,his ambition boundless,-his friendship ardent,-his taste refined;—and, what is very extraordinary, he appears to have conversed with the same fire and spirit with which he fought. Philip, his father, knowing him to be very swift, wished him to run for the prize at the Olympic Games. "I would comply with your request," ,” said Alexander, "if kings were to be my

competitors."

17. L'Estrange,† in his Fables, tells us that a number of boys were one day watching frogs at the side of a pond ;—and that, as any of them put their heads above water, they pelted them down again with stones. One of the frogs, appealing to the humanity of the boys, made this striking observation ;—“ Children, you do not consider, that though this may be sport to you. it is death to us."

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18. One day, when the moon was under an eclipse, she complained thus to the sun of the discontinuance of his favors: My dearest friend," said she, "why do you not shine upon me as you used to do?" "Do I not shine upon thee?" said the sun;" I am very sure I intend it." "Oh no!" replies the moon, "but I now perceive the reason. I see that dirty planet, the earth, has got between us."

19. To a man of an exalted mind, the forgiveness of injuries is productive of more pleasure and satisfaction, than obtaining vengeance. The emperor Adrian,‡ one day, seeing a person who had injured him in his former station, thus addressed him: "You are safe;-I am Emperor."

20. Cyrus, when a boy, being at the court of his grandfather, Astyages, engaged to perform the office of cup-bearer at table. The duty of this officer, required him to taste the liquor before

* A king of Macedon.

+ Pronouneed Le-Strange, an English gentleman, born 1616, and died 1705.

Adrian, a Roman emperor, in A. D. 117. He was distinguished for his personal accomplishments and mental acquirements. He reigned prosperously 22 years, and died in the 63d year of his age.

Cyrus the Great, king of Persia. He dethroned his grandfather, Astyages, established the Persian empire, took Babylon, liberated the Jews,and was at last killed in the battle against Tomyris, queen of the Massagetæ, B. C. 530.

5 Pronounced As-ti ́-a-gees, a king of Media, 594 B. C.