pady, sometimes quick and sometimes slow. 3. s colour would often come and go. 4. Though he tried to brave Cicero, he could not bear to see the senators quit the bench on which he sat, and, therefore, rushed from the senate-house and city. Apollodorus, the traitor and tyrant, was a cavern of most horrible imaginings: He nourished scorpions in his heart, and was perpetually scared by spectres and the fear of death." Amongst other things his biographer says, "he often fancied the Scythians were flaying him alive, and that he was dancing round the cauldron in which himself was seething." It is said of Cromwell, that he never enjoyed an hour of peace after the decapitation of Charles I.; and as proofs of his distress we are told, 1. That he wore armour under his clothes. 2. He never went and returned by the same route. 3. He never allowed any one to know the time of his going out or of his return. 4. He never slept in the same chamber two successive nights, &c. Though these statements have been contradicted by Carlyle and others, they nevertheless corroborate the general opinion, that vice hath torment." Instances of murderers giving themselves up to justice are very common; and every day the Times newspaper contains the acknowledgment of money which conscience would not allow the hand of fraud to retain. QUOTATIONS.-Guilt hath no holiday.-Lord Bacon. The thief doth fear each bush an officer.-Shakspeare. A guilty conscience who can bear? St. Paul says, the Gentiles have the law of God "written in their hearts; their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another."-Rom. ii. 15. Milton makes Satan say, "Which way I move is hell, myself am hell.” Fear hath torment.-1 John, iv. 18. The wicked flee when no man pursueth.-Prov. xxvii. 1. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked.-Ps. xxxii. 10. There is no peace (saith the Lord) unto the wicked.Isa. xlviii. 22. He that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts, Oh, it is monstrous! monstrous! O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me! Better be with the dead Than in the torture of the mind to lie In restless ecstacy. Oh, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Shakspeare, Nihil tam miseros facit, quam impietas et scelus. Cicero. Maxima peccantiam pœna est, peccavisse.-Seneca. Raro antecedentem scelestum deseruit pede pœna claudo. Animus conscius se remordet. Intuta quæ dedecora. Siculi non invenere tyranni tormentum majus. CONCLUSION.-Let us, therefore, . . THEME XXVIII. A wounded Reputation is seldom cured. INTRODUCTION.-When once a person has lost his character, he is very rarely able to retrieve it again. 1ST REASON.-Crime makes so strong an impression upon the mind of those who are cognisant of it, that it is very seldom forgotten; and, unless a crime be entirely forgotten, the evil impression is not obliterated. 2ND REASON.-A wicked deed is not often an isolated action, but rather one of a series; and, therefore, is not regarded as an accident of moral frailty, so much as the manifestation of a depraved nature. 3RD REASON.-Men may be deceived once by plausible appearances, but would be condemned as fools if they allowed the " same serpent to sting them twice," in con-. sequence of which they view with cautious jealousy every tainted character. 4TH REASON.-There is so much envy, emulation, and ill-nature in the world; so much tattle and idle gossiping, that a wounded reputation is not allowed to heal; but, being made the constant subject of animadversion (especially if the backslider is becoming prosperous), that the wound is kept open, and not unfrequently enlarged by lying rumours. 5TH REASON.-Almost all persons like to flatter their own goodness by comparing it with the weakness of others: And when indiscretion or vice has furnished self-conceit with a 66 flattering unction" of its own superiority, it is unwilling to lose the pleasure of the Pharisee's boast, "Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, or even as this sinner." 6TH REASON.—A man who has once fallen, shows a strong proof of weakness, that he can never be safely trusted: As a horse with broken knces is prejudiced for life. 7TH REASON.-The difficulty of recovering a wounded reputation is so great, that few persons make the attempt, but continue in the downward course with recklessness and despair. SIMILES. The Dog, who invited the Wolf to come and eat his master's sheep.-Esop's fuble. A sheet of paper once blotted, can never be wholly absterged from the stain. A tree, whose trunk has been injured, never recovers from the wound. No patch can restore a torn garment so neatly as not to show the rent. A flower once faded can never be made to resume its beauty and fresh perfume. No cement can join a broken vase so as to leave no mark of the crack. A cask never entirely loses the flavour of the liquor it has received. If the leaf of a book be rent, the injury can never be wholly repaired. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.-The Cretans as a nation, having lost their reputation for veracity, have been stigmatised, even to a proverb, with the cognomen of "liars." Shimei, having been once guilty of treason to king David, was suspected of the same crime against Solomon, when he merely left the kingdom to capture a fugitive slave.-2 Sam. xvi. 5–8, and 2 Kings ii. 39–46. Alcibiades, having lost his honour by neglecting to pay proper attention to a port consigned to his care, never recovered the full confidence of his countrymen, although he won for them many brilliant battles. In the reign of Louis XIV., Colonel Chartreux, who had amassed a vast fortune at the expense of his charac ter, was often heard to say, "he would give all his wealth to regain his good name." Sir Walter Raleigh, being connected with a plot for the purpose of placing Lady Arabella Stuart on the throne, was brought to trial by James I., king of England, and found guilty; he was, however, reprieved, and, after the lapse of twelve years, liberated from prison; but his wounded reputation brought him to the block; for, after his unsuccessful expedition to Guana, he was again arrested on the old offence, and executed in Old Palaceyard, A. D. 1618. Sextus Tarquinius, having excited the indignation of the Romans by his base conduct towards Lucretia, brought such odium against the very name of Tarquin, that not only the king was banished and the kingly office abolished, but even Collatinus the consul was obliged to lay down his office and leave the city, because he happened to bear the hated name of Tarquin. It is customary for persons of damaged reputation to leave the locality where they are known, and live among strangers: not unfrequently they change even their names for the purpose of greater concealment. QUOTATIONS.-Salt is good; but if the salt hath lost its savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? it is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. -Luke, xiv. 34, 35. Give a dog a bad name and hang him. Once bit, twice shy A liar is never to be believed, even when he speaks the truth.―Æsop. Reputation is gained by many acts, but is lost by one. -Lord Bacon. What! wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice? Shakspeare. Know one false step is ne'er retrieved.- Gray. |