The exclusionist* in religion does not see that he shuts the door of heaven on himself in striving to shut out others. Treat men as pawns and nine-pins, and you shall suffer as well as they. If 175 you leave out their heart, you shall lose your own. The senses would make things of all persons-of women, of children, of the poor. The vulgar* proverb," I will get it from his purse or get it from his skin," is sound philosophy. 15. All infractions of love and equity in our social relations 180 are speedily punished. They are punished by fear. Whilst I stand in simple relations to my fellow-man I have no displeasure in meeting him. We meet as water meets water, or as two currents of air mix, with perfect diffusion and interpenetration of nature. But as soon as there is any departure from simplicity, 185 and attempt at halfness, or good for me that is not good for him, my neighbor feels the wrong; he shrinks from me as far as I have shrunk from him; his eyes no longer seek mine; there is war between us; there is hate in him and fear in me. 16. All the old abuses in society, universal and particular, all 190 unjust accumulations of property and power, are avenged in the same manner. Fear is an instructor of great sagacity, and the herald of all revolutions. One thing he teaches, that there is rottenness where he appears. He is a carrion crow; and though you see not well what he hovers for, there is death somewhere. 195 Our property is timid, our laws are timid, our cultivated classes are timid. Fear for ages has boded and mowed and gibbered over government and property. That obscene* bird is not there for nothing. He indicates great wrongs which must be revised. LITERARY ANALYSIS. - 173. shuts the door. Show how the etymological In what sense is the word used here? 175. as pawns and nine-pins. In what manner? Point out the personification; the metaphor. Change the metaphor into plain terms. 194. is a carrion-crow. What is the figure of speech? 196-198. Fear... property. What is the figure of speech ?-Point out vivid ly used words, and explain them. 198. That obscene bird. Meaning what?-Etymology of "obscene ?" 17. Of the like nature is that expectation of change which in- 200 stantly follows the suspension of our voluntary activity. The terror of cloudless noon, the emerald of Polycrates, the awe of prosperity, the instinct which leads every generous soul to impose on itself tasks of a noble asceticism and vicarious* virtue, are the tremblings of the balance of justice through the heart and 205 mind of man. 18. Experienced men of the world know very well that it is best to pay scot and lot as they go along, and that a man often pays dear for a small frugality. The borrower runs in his own debt. Has a man gained anything who has received a hundred favors 210 and rendered none? Has he gained by borrowing, through indolence or cunning, his neighbor's wares, or horses, or money? There arises on the deed the instant acknowledgment of benefit on the one part, and of debt on the other; that is, of superiority and inferiority. The transaction remains in the memory of him- 215 self and his neighbor; and every new transaction alters, according to its nature, their relation to each other. He may soon come to see that he had better have broken his own bones than to have NOTES.-Line 202. the emerald of Po lycrates. The story of Polyc'- In accordance with this advice, Polycrates threw into the sea a seal-ring of extraordinary beauty; but in a few days it was found in the belly of a fish which had been presented to him by a fisherman. However, in the midst of all his prosperity he fell by the most ignominious fate; for, falling into the hands of his enemy Orotes, he was crucified. scot and lot, "a customary contribution laid on subjects according to their ability." -- Cow ELL LITERARY ANALYSIS.-209. The borrower. . . debt. Point out the example of the figure oxymoron. (See Def. 18, i.)—What do you understand by the sentence? 210-212. Has... money? What is the effect of the use of the interrogative form in these two sentences? ridden in his neighbor's coach, and that "the highest price he can pay for a thing is to ask for it." 220 19. A wise man will extend this lesson to all parts of life, and know that it is the part of prudence to face every claimant, and pay every just demand on your time, your talents, or your heart. Always pay; for, first or last, you must pay your entire debt. Persons and events may stand for a time between you and jus- 225 tice, but it is only a postponement. You must pay at last your own debt. If you are wise, you will dread a prosperity which only loads you with more. Benefit is the end of nature. But for every benefit which you receive a tax is levied. He is great who confers the most benefits. He is base-and that is the one base 230 thing in the universe-who receives favors and renders none. In the order of nature, we cannot render benefits to those from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefit we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent, to somebody. Beware of too much good staying in 235 your hand. It will fast corrupt and worm worms. Pay it away quickly in some sort. . . . harm; 20. On the other hand, the law holds with equal sureness for all right action. Love, and you shall be loved. All love is mathematically just, as much as the two sides of an algebraic 240 equation. The good man has absolute good, which, like fire, turns everything to its own nature, so that you cannot do him any but as the royal armies sent against Napoleon, when he approached, cast down their colors and from enemies became friends, so disasters of all kinds, as sickness, offence, poverty, prove bene-245 factors: "Winds blow and waters roll Strength to the brave, and power and deity, As no 250 The good are befriended even by weakness and defect. man had ever a point of pride that was not injurious to him, so no man had ever a defect that was not somewhere made useful LITERARY ANALYSIS.-236. worm worms. Explain this idiomatic expres sion. 250-256. As... him. Point out the contrasted terms of the antithesis.-Show the application of the illustration. to him. The stag in the fable admired his horns and blamed his feet; but when the hunter came, his feet saved him, and afterwards, caught in a thicket, his horns destroyed him. Every man 255 in his lifetime needs to thank his faults. As no man thoroughly understands a truth until he has contended against it, so no man has a thorough acquaintance with the hindrances or talents of men until he has suffered from the one and seen the triumph of the other over his own want of the same. Has he a defect of 260 temper that unfits him to live in society? Thereby he is driven to entertain himself alone, and acquire habits of self-help; and thus, like the wounded oyster, he mends his shell with pearl. . . . 21. The history of persecution is a history of endeavors to cheat nature, to make water run up hill, to twist a rope of sand. 265 It makes no difference whether the actors be many or one, a tyrant or a mob. A mob is a society of bodies voluntarily bereaving themselves of reason, and traversing its work. The mob is man voluntarily descending to the nature of the beast. Its fit hour of activity is night. Its actions are insane, like its whole consti- 270 tution. It persecutes a principle; it would whip a right; it would tar and feather justice by inflicting fire and outrage upon the houses and persons of those who have these. It resembles the prank of boys who run with fire-engines to put out the ruddy aurora streaming to the stars. The inviolate spirit turns their 275 spite against the wrong-doers. The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of fame; every prison a more illustrious abode; every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side. Hours of sanity and consideration 28c are always arriving to communities, as to individuals, when the truth is seen, and the martyrs are justified. . . . 22. We cannot part with our friends. We cannot let our angels go. We do not see that they only go out that archangels may come in. We are idolaters of the old. We do not believe 285 LITERARY ANALYSIS.-263. like... pearl. The pupil cannot fail to note this exceedingly fine image. It illustrates the highest use of metaphor, as at once ornament and argument. 264-282. The history. . . justified. In paragraph 21 point out striking thoughts; felicitous words, phrases, or images. in the riches of the soul, in its proper eternity and omnipresence. We do not believe there is any force in to-day to rival or recreate that beautiful yesterday. We linger in the ruins of the old tent, where once we had bread and shelter and organs, nor believe that the spirit can feed, cover, and nerve us again. We cannot again 290 find aught so dear, so sweet, so graceful. But we sit and weep in vain. The voice of the Almighty saith, “Up and onward for evermore !" We cannot stay amid the ruins. Neither will we rely on the new; and so we walk ever with reverted eyes, like those monsters who look backwards. 295 23. And yet the compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a loss of wealth, a loss of friends, seems at the moment unpaid loss, and unpayable. But the sure years reveal the deep remedial force that underlies all 300 facts. The death of a dear friend-wife, brother, lover-which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a house- 305 hold, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character. It permits or constrains the formation of new acquaintances, and the reception of new influences that prove of the first importance to the next years; and the man or woman who would have remained a sun-310 ny garden-flower, with no room for its roots and too much sunshine for its head, by the falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardener is made the banyan of the forest, yielding shade and fruit to wide neighborhoods of men. LITERARY ANALYSIS.-286. its proper eternity: that is, its own eternity, the eternity which is its property. 296-314. And... men. Express in your own words the lofty thought in paragraph 23. Give the class, grammatically and rhetorically, to which each sentence belongs. Name the last figure of speech, and note with what a fine swell the sentence closes. |