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In DARKNESS FROM EXCESSIVE SPLENDOUR BORN,
By Gods unseen, unless through lustre lost.
His Glory, to created Glory, bright

As that to central horrors; He looks down
On all that soars; and spans immensity!

There's nothing here but what as nothing weighs :
The more our Joy, the more we know it vain,
And by SUCCESS are tutored to DESPAIR:
Nor is it only thus, but must be so.

Who knows not this, though grey is still a Child!
Loose, then, from Earth the grasp of fond desire,
Weigh anchor, and some happier clime explore.

From POPE'S" ESSAY ON MAN."

All NATURE is but ART-unknown to Thee;
All Chance-Direction which thou canst not see;
All Discord-Harmony not understood;

All partial Evil--Universal good;

And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite,
One Truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

FROM THE SAME.

Better for us, perhaps, it might appear,
Were there all Harmony, all Virtue here:
That never air or Ocean felt the wind;
That never passion discomposed the mind:
But All subsists by Elemental Strife,
And PASSIONS are the elements of Life.

And, says the same Poet,

His life is healthful, and his conscience clear,
Because-He wants a thousand pounds a year.

THE PARABOLE,

Or, SIMILE. This, the most frequent and familiar of FIGURES, takes a wider compass than the direct METAPHOR, and is freely used by Writers of every grade as an apt and ready medium for illustration, and serves well both for ornament and delight. It may be simple, or compound.

When One thing is likened to another, the Comparison is simple; as when Cicero says, “As swallows are present with us in summer, but are gone in winter, so false friends attend us in the sunshine of Prosperity, but in the winter of Affliction they all flee away.”

It is compound when one thing is likened to two or more. Ex.—As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.

Also in this Simile of St. Paul,-“ Though I speak with the tongues of Men and of Angels, and have not Charity, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”

The FIGURE, however, is often extended, as in the following Scriptural Extract:

"I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the Lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon." His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the Olive tree. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the Vine, and the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon."

This sublime passage, as we see, contains a cluster of comparisons.

This FIGURE serves for instructive illustration, as, when cautioned not to overprize the temporal gifts of Providence, the sacred Teacher admonishes us, as Strangers and Pilgrims, not to set our affections on Worldly things, and enforces his advice by the apt comparison of a Traveller journeying towards his native country, and not over-solicitous as to his entertainment on the road; when at a good Inn, he will not slight the accommodations it offers, but freely enjoy them, yet not so as

to value any wayside refreshment above the solid comforts of his home, or be unmindful of the rich inheritance that awaits him at his journey's end.

It has been aptly said, The malicious slander of Envy, and of ill tongues, cast upon a good man, are but as the breath that dims the lustre of the diamond; it may, for a while, obscure its brilliancy, but the gem is unimpaired, and quickly restored to its intrinsic beauty and of the varieties in character it has been well observed that "Shining characters are not always the most agreeable ones; The mild radiance of the emerald is by no means less pleasing than the glare of the ruby."

SIMILES are often apt and short. Ex.

A MULTITUDE, A TORRENT, and a FLAME,
Are three WILD MONSTERS, very hard to tame.

Good habits are very pleasant companions.

Judgment is the throne of Prudence,
And Silence is its Sanctuary.

A small leak will sink a great ship.

To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first.

The One-eyed Man is a King among the blind.

The tongue is like a Racehorse, which goes the faster the less weight it carries.

A priceless jewel in a thrice-barred chest,

Is a brave spirit in a loyal breast.

Society is the School of Wisdom.

Solitude is the Temple of Virtue.

Of wild beasts, the Slanderer bites the sorest;
Of tame beasts, the Flatterer.

Those who are always purposing, and not doing, resemble the statue of St. George, always mounted, never going on.

G

THE VILLAGE PASTOR AND HIS FLOCK.- GOLDSMITH.

To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given,
But all his serious thoughts had rest in Heaven.
"As some tall Cliff, that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head."

ALEXANDER THE GREAT.-BELCHAM.
Hark! From the Earth's remotest bounds,
Young AMMON's peerless Fame resounds;
Not the loud Torrent louder roars,
Or wider Devastation pours.

On GANGES' banks the CHIEF appears;
The affrighted Flood his thunder hears;
That, from his hand resistless hurled,
Bows to his beck the Eastern world.

In a proud blaze of armour drest,
He boasts himself supremely blest:
Mad, to Divinity he towers,

While o'er him Death tremendous lowers.

BREATHLESS AT BABYLON HE LIES,
Whom Earth's domain could not suffice;
A Tomb, an Urn, the God contain,
And close his Triumphs and his Reign.
So in Night's blue serene, a Star
Sublime, conspicuous, beaming far,
Shoots to the Earth a length of rays,
And in a moment ends its blaze.

ENGLAND DESCRIBED.--SHAKESPEARE.

This royal Throne of Kings, this sceptred Isle,
This Earth of Majesty, this Seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-Paradise :

This Fortress, built by Nature for herself,

Against Infection and the hand of War;
This happy breed of Men, this little World;
This precious stone set in the silver Sea;
Which serves it in the office of a wall;
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the Envy of less happy Lands.

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O England, Model to thy inward greatness,
Like little Body with a mighty Heart-

What might'st thou do, that Honour would thee do,
Were all thy Children kind and natural.

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England never did, nor never shall,
Lie at the foot of a proud Conqueror,
But when it first did help to wound itself.

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Come the three-quarters of the World in Arms,

And we shall shock them: nought shall make us rue, If England to itself do rest but true.

FALSE CONFIDENCE AND ITS FRUITS.-PRIOR.

On Pleasure's flowing brink we idly stray,
Masters as yet of our returning way;

Seeing no danger, we disarm our Mind,

And give our conduct to the Waves and Wind:
Then in the flowery mead, or verdant shade,
To wanton dalliance negligently laid,

We weave the chaplet, or we crown the bowl,
And smiling see the nearer Waters roll,
Till the strong gusts of raging Passion rise,
Till the dire Tempest mingles Earth and Skies;
And, swift unto the boundless Ocean borne,
Our foolish Confidence too late we mourn.

Round our devoted heads the billows beat,

And from our troubled view the lessened Lands retreat.

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