Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

10 mine end, that I should prolong my life? Is my strength, 11 the strength of stones? or is my flesh, of brass? Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?

To him that is afflicted, pity should be showed by 12 his friend; but my brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook; and as a stream of brooks, they pass away; which are blackish by reason of ice and snow. When they wax 13 warm, they vanish: when it is hot they are consumed out of their place: they are turned aside: they go to nothing and perish.

14 In like manner, ye, my brethren, are nothing: ye see my

casting down, and are afraid. Did I say bring unto me? 15 or give a reward for me out of your substance? or deliver

me from the enemies' hands? or redeem me from the hand 16 of the mighty? Teach me, and cause me to understand 17 wherein I have erred, and I will hold my tongue. How 18 forcible are right words! But what doth your arguing 19 reprove? Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches, which are as wind, of one that is desperate? Now, 20 therefore, be content: look upon me; for it is evident unto you, if I lie.

DEFINITIONS, &c.—Balances-scales, steelyards. Define whereof, drinketh up, (consumes,) bray, loweth, unsavory, cut me off, (destroy me,) harden, prolong, deceitfully, blackish, wax, substance, erred, arguing, desperate.

1

SECT. CV.-WISDOM.

WHERE shall wisdom be found? and where is the place 2 of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof, 3 neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth

saith, It is not in me'; and the sea saith, It is not in me. 4 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed 5 for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold 6 of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The

gold and the crystal cannot equal it; and the exchange of 7 it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shal be made of corals, or of pearls; for the price of wisdom is 8 above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

9

Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place

[ocr errors]

98

A SINGULar and affecting DEATH.

of understanding: seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air?-Destruction 10 and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our

ears.

God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the 11 place thereof; for he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven, to make the weight for the winds, and to weigh the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the 12 thunder'; then did he see it and declare it: he prepared it, yea, and searched it out; and unto man, he said, Behold! THE FEAR OF THE LORD: THAT IS WISDOM"; AND TO DEPART FROM EVIL, IS UNDERSTANDING.

DEFINITIONS, &c.-Wisdom-there is an intellectual wisdom, and practical wisdom: the former sees deep into the reasons of things, and from the signs of the times infers rightly, what the future will bring forth: the latter seeks what is just and good, by means that are just and good Define onyx, sapphire, crystal, coral, pearls, rubies, topaz.

SECT. CVI.-A SINGULAR AND AFFECTING DEATH.

BUT awful as this is, cheerless as are the shipwrecked 1 sailor's prospects, what are his feelings compared to the agony of a fond husband and father, who clasps in a last embrace his little world: his beloved wife and child!

Although conscious of the hopelessness of his situation, 2 that to remain by the vessel was death, and to seek the shore, which, now that the day began to dawn, had become visible, was scarcely less perilous'; still every feeling of his noble nature prompted him to action. My friend was a seaman, and a brave one: accustomed to danger, and quick in seizing upon every means of rescuing the unfortunate. But now, who were the unfortunate that called upon him for 4 rescue? who were they whose screams were heard louder than the roaring elements, imploring that aid which no hu5 man power could afford them? His wife and child! 60! 7 heart-rending agony! But why attempt to describe what 8 few can imagine? The subject is too appalling to admit of `amplification, In a word, then, the only boat which could

got at was manned by two gallant tars. Mrs. G———

ild, and its nurse, were lifted into it: it was the

CHRISTIAN INTEGRITY.

$99

11 thought of desperation! The freight was already too much. Mr. G saw this, and knew that the addition of himself 12 would diminish the chances of the boat reaching the shore in safety; and much as he deplored the necessity-horrible as was the alternative, he himself gave the order, “Push off, and make for the land, my brave lads!"-the last words which ever passed his lips! The order was obeyed; but 13 ere the little boat had proceeded fifty yards, (about half the distance to the beach,) it was struck on the quarter by a roller, and capsized; and boat, passengers, and all, enveloped, for a time, in the angry surge! The wretched husband saw 14 but too distinctly what seemed to be the destruction of all that he held dear! But here, alas, and forever, were shut 15 out from him all sublunary prospects! he fell upon the deck powerless senseless: A CORPSE! the victim of a sublime 16 sensibility! But what became of the unhappy wife and child? The answer shall be brief: Mrs. G

was borne 17 through the breakers to the shore, by one of the brave sailors: the nurse was thrown upon the beach, with the 18 drowned infant grasped in her arms. The nurse survived. was taken to a hut senseless, continued delirious 19 many days, but finally recovered her senses, and with them a consciousness of the awful catastrophe which in a moment made her A CHILDLESS WIDOW.

Mrs. G

Definitions, &c.-Define cheerless, shipwrecked, prospects, fond, husband, clasps, embrace, hopelessness, vessel, perilous, still, prompted, brave, danger, quick, seizing, rescuing, screams, imploring, attempt, describe, appalling, amplification, manned, (menned? if I may say so,) gallant, tars, (so called because usually they have much tar on their clothes?) nurse, desperation, freight, too, (beyond?) addition, chances, deplored, shore, alternative, ere, yards, beach, quarter, (about quarter the length of the boat from the stern,) roller, (rolling wave,) capsized, enveloped, distinctly, held, (esteemed?) sublunary, corpse, victim, sensibility, brief, borne, breakers, drowned, survived, hut, delirious, finally, catastrophe, widow.

SECT. CVII.-CHRISTIAN INTEGRITY.

Ir is very common, I know, for young men just commen1 cing business, to imagine that, if they would advance their secular interests, they must not be very scrupulous in binding themselves down to the strict rules of rectitude. They must 2 conform to custom; and if in buying and selling they some

[blocks in formation]

times say the things that are not true, and do the things that are not honest; why, their neighbors do the same'; and, verily, there is no getting along without it. There is so 3 much competition and rivalry, that to be strictly honest, and yet succeed in business, is out of the question.

4

Now if it were indeed so, I would say to a young man, 5" Then, quit your business. Better dig, and beg too, than to tamper with conscience, sin against God, and lose your soul."

But is it so? is it necessary in order to succeed in busi6 ness, that you should adopt a standard of morals, more lax and pliable than the one placed before you in the Bible? 7 Perhaps, for a time, a rigid adherence to rectitude might bear hard upon you'; but how would it be in the end? Possibly, your neighbor, by being less scrupulous than your8 self, may invent a more expeditious way of acquiring a fortune'; if he is willing to violate the dictates of conscience, to lie, and cheat, and trample on the rules of justice and honesty, he may, indeed, get the start of you, and rise suddenly to wealth and distinction'; but would you envy him his riches, or be willing to place yourself in his situation? 9 Sudden wealth, especially, when obtained by dishonest 10 means, rarely fails of bringing with it sudden ruin. Those who acquire it, are of course beggared in their morals, and are often, very soon, beggared in property. Their riches are 11 corrupted; and while they bring the curse of God on their immediate possessors, they usually entail misery and ruin upon their families.

DEFINITIONS, &c.—-Define business, secular, interests, scrupulous, binding, strict, rectitude, conform, buy, sell, verily, competition, out of the question, (impossible?) quit, dig, tamper, standard, lax, pliable, rigid, adherence, invent, expeditious, get the start, rarely, curse, entail.

SECT. CVIII.-ISAAC AND TOBY.

1 ISAAC eyed Toby, fearfully askant,

2

And saw he was a strapper stout and tall,

Then put this question: "Pray, sir, what d'ye want?"
Says Toby, "I want nothing, sir, at all."

"Want nothing! 4 Sir, you've pulled my bell, I vow
As if you'd jerk it off the wire."

[ocr errors]

5

6

7

THE WORLD, 20

Quoth Toby, (gravely making him a bow,)
"I pulled it, sir, at your desire."

"At mine!"-"Yes, yours: I hope I've done it well':
High time for bed, sir: I was hastening to it;

But if you write up, 'Please to ring the bell,'

Common politeness makes me stop and do it."

101

DEFINITIONS, &c.-Eyed-looked at closely. Define askant, strapper, stout, tall, pulled, bell, jerk, wire, quoth, gravely, bow, desire, high time (full time,) write up, (there understood,) politeness. What is common politeness?

Sentences 3d and 6th should be delivered with the rising slide. (See Part 3st, Exercises.)

1

3

SECT. CIX.-THE WORLD.

How beautiful the world is! the green earth covered with flowers, the trees laden with rich blossoms, the blue sky, 2 and the bright water, and the golden sunshine! The world is, indeed, beautiful, and He who made it must be beautiful. It is a happy world. 4 Hark how the merry birds sing! and the young lambs-see how they gambol on the hillside! 5 Even the trees wave, and the brooks ripple, in gladness. 6 Yon eagle-ah! how joyously he soars up to the glorious heavens! the bird of liberty, the bird of America!

7

8

"His throne is on the mountain-top;

His fields the boundless air;

And hoary peaks, that proudly prop

The skies, his dwellings are.

He rises, like a thing of light,

Amid the noontide blaze:

The midway sun is clear and bright';

It cannot dim his gaze."

9 It is happy: I see it and hear it all about me: nay'; I feel it here, in the glow, the eloquent glow of my own heart. 10 He who made it must be happy.

11 It is a great world. Look off to the mighty ocean when the storm is upon it: to the huge mountain, when the 12 thunder and the lightnings play over it: to the vast forest, the interminable waste; the sun, the moon, and the myriads

« PreviousContinue »