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Unconscious stepped his foot aside,
And crushed the Glow-worm in its pride.

6. God, in his wise and bounteous love,
Has given us talents to improve;
And those who hide the precious store
May do187 much harm, but suffer more.

ANON

XV.

SCRIPTURAL PROVERBS.

1. A FALSE balance is an abomination to the Lord; but a just weight is his delight. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. A man's pride shall bring him low; but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

2. A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger. As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.

3. Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith, than a house full of sacrifices * with strife. Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right. Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. By much slōthfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

4. Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. sluggard! consider her ways and be wise.

* Practise the Exercises under the thirty-second 41 and 42.

Go to the ant, thou He that is slow to elementary sound, pages

anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

5. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord. He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool. He that walketh uprightly, walketh surely; but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. If sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

6. Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread. Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.

7. Say not unto thy neighbor, "Go, and come again,127 and to-morrow I will give," when thou hast it by thee. Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words; there is more hope of a fool than of him. The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. The hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the slōthful shall be under tribute.

8. The labor of the righteous tendeth to life; the fruit of the wicked, to sin. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have

nothing.

9. The slothful man saith, "There is a lion without; I shall be slain in the streets!" The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion. The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools. There is,194 that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing;13 there is, that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

10. There is, that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is, that withholdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to pov

erty. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Where no wood is, then the fire goeth out; so where there is no tale-bearer, the strife ceaseth. When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom.

11. Wine is a mocker; strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armëd

man.

XVI.

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A PASTORAL HYMN.

1. "GENTLE pilgrim, tell me why
Dost thou fold thine arms and sigh,
And wistful cast thine eyes around?
Whither, pilgrim, art thou bound ? ”
2. "The road to Zion's gates I seek;
If thou canst inform me, speak!"

3. "Keep yon right-hand path with care,
Though crags obstruct, and brambles tear:
You just discern a narrow track,

Enter there, and turn not back."

4. "Say where that pleasant pathway leads,
Winding down yon flowery meads?
Song or dance the way beguiles;
Every face is drest in smiles."

5. "Shun with care that flowery way;
"T will lead thee, pilgrim, far astray.'
6. "Guide or counsel do I need?"
7. " Pilgrim, he who runs may read."
8. "Is the way that I must keep
Crossed by waters wide and deep?"

9. "Did it lead through flood and fire,
Thou must not stop — thou must not tire."

10. "Till I have my journey past,

Tell me will the daylight last?
Will the sky be bright and clear
Till the evening shades appear?"

11. "Though the sun now rides so high,
Clouds may veil the evening sky;
Fast sinks the sun, fast wears the day,
Thou must not stop, thou must not stay:
God speed thee, pilgrim, on thy way!"
MRS. BARBAULD.

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1. Soc'-RA-TES, the Greek philosopher, was one of the wisest and best men of antiquity. "He was," says Xen'ophon, the historian, "so pious, that he undertook nothing without asking divine assistance; so just, that he never did the smallest injury to any one, but rendered essential services to many; so temperate, that he never preferred pleasure to virtue; and so wise, that he was able, even in the most difficult cases, without advice, to judge what was expedient and right." He spent his whōle life in endeavoring to make his fellow-creatures better and happier.

2. He was remarkable for the power he had acquired of controlling his disposition to anger, which was naturally great. He desired his friends to apprise him when they saw him ready to fall into a passion. At the first hint of the kind from them, he softened79 his tone, and was silent. Finding himself once in great emotion against127 a slave, "I would beat you," said he, “if I were not angry."

3. Having received a box on the ear, he contented himself by only saying, with a smile, "It is a misfortune not to know when to put on a helmet." On another occasion, meeting a gentleman of rank in the street Socrates saluted him, but the gentleman took no notice of it. Some friends in company with Socrates, observing what passed, told the philosopher "that they were so exasperated at the man's incivility, they had a good mind to resent it."

4. But he very calmly made answer, “If you meet any person on the road in a worse habit of body than yourself, would you think that you had reason to be enraged at him on that account? If not, pray, then, what greater reason can you have for being incensed at a man of worse habit of mind than any of yourselves?"

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5. But, without going out of his own house, he found enough to exercise his patience in all its extent. Xantip'pë, his wife, put it to the severest proofs by her captious, passionate, violent disposition. Never was a woman of so furious and fantastical a spirit, and so bad a temper. There was no kind of abuse or injurious treatment which he had not to experience from her.

6. She was once so transported with rage against him, that she tore off his cloak in the open street. Whereupon his friends told him that such treatment was insufferable, and that he ought to give her a severe drubbing for it. "Yes, a fine piece of sport, indeed," replied he; "while she and I were buffeting one another, you, in your turns, I suppose, would animate us on to the combat:38 while one cried out, Well done, Socrates!' another would say, 'Well hit, Xantip'pë!'"

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7. At another time, his wife having vented all the reproaches her fury could suggest, he went out and sat before the door. His calm and unconcerned behavior did but irritate her so much the more; and, in the excess of her rage, she ran up stairs and emptied a pail of foul water upon his head: at which he only laughed, and said, "So much thunder must needs produce a shower."

8. Notwithstanding his blameless life and great moral worth, Socrates did not escape calumny. There was a set of teachers who had great reputation and influence in Athens, on account of their plausible speeches, though they had no regard for truth, and only aimed at showing off their abilities. These Sophists, as they were called, detested Socrates; for he was unsparing in his efforts to expose their errors, and save the young men from being misled by them.

9. He was, at the same time, disliked by many other persons, on account of his zeal in denouncing certain corruptions in the

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