Who spread your filthy nets in Truth's fair fane, Canst thou forego the pure ethereal soul Beattie. Stung with disease, and stupified with spleen; And impotent desire, and disappointed pride.-Beattie. Ex cogitatione lætitia et maxima voluptas.-Cicero. Voluptas literarum est pura.-Quintilian. THEME XLVIII. The second Blow makes the Fray. 1ST REASON. One blow may be the stroke of a just chastisement, as when a father strikes his son for some grave offence, a master his pupil, or a magistrate a delinquent. 2ND REASON. It is essential for the very nature of a quarrel, that two parties at least should be hostilely opposed to each other. 3RD REASON. The first blow shows the anger of an assailant to be ripe for the fray; but the return blow is needful to show that his adversary is also prepared to enter the lists with him. 4TH REASON. Though two persons may feel grievously offended at each other, yet if one refuses to fight, no battle will ensue. If a blow be given in such a case, "it is an assault, and not a fray." 5TH REASON.-As kindness begets kindness, so anger stirs up anger, and neither can subsist in an uncongenial element: Thus, without reciprocity, both kindness and wrath must presently die. 6TH REASON.-Every man is ashamed of his anger, and requires the countenance of an adversary to make it easy to him: If no adversary chooses to feel offended, the rage of an angry man is smothered by an intuitive perception of its uselessness and folly. 7TH REASON.-When a blow has been given, if the injured party could make up his mind to receive it with Christian forbearance, and without resentment, "he would heap coals of fire on his (enemy's) head." SIMILES. No lightning can be elicited without the collision of two clouds in a state of antagonistic electricity. No hurricane can ravage a country unless there be two states of atmosphere differing in heat and density. An oak tree which resists the gale is often blown down by the tempest, but the reed which bends to the blast remains uninjured in its bed. As the Isis at its junction with the Thame swells into the great river Thames, so the blow of a defendant, added to that of an assailant, swells into a serious fray. The sea dashes with great fury against a rock which resists its tide; but where nothing impedes its flow and ebb, its undulation is regular and pacific. The electricity contained in a Leyden jar remains undisturbed till a discharging rod is applied. Oil poured on a ruffled sea allays the swelling of the waves, but angry winds provoke them to greater fury. The best way to heal a wound is to wrap it up in its own blood, but to probe it and expose it to irritants is to increase the sore. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. QUOTATIONS.-Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. . . . Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.-Rom. xii. 19–21. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people.-Lev. xix. 18. Say not, "I will do so to him as he hath done to me :" I will render to the man according to his work.—Prov. xxiv. 29; see also xx. 22. Abstain from strife . . . . for a furious man will kindle anger.-Eccles. xxviii. 8. If thou blow the spark it shall burn.-Eccles. xxviii. 12. Ye have heard that it hath been said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth :" But I say unto you, "Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also."-Matt. v. 38, 39. Recompense to no man evil for evil.-Rom. xii. 17; see also 1 Thes. v. 15. Be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing.-1 Pet. iii. 8, 9. Where no wood is the fire goeth out.—Prov. xxvi. 20. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.-Luke, vi. 37. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife.-Prov. xxvi. 21. Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out.Prov. xxii. 10. Leave off contention before it be meddled with.Prov. xvii. 14. It is the glory of a man to pass by an offence.-Prov. xix. 11, A man that revengeth keeps the wounds green which would otherwise heal and do well.-Lord Bacon. He who does the wrong is the aggressor; but he who returns it, the protractor.-Lord Bacon. Forget and forgive. Bear and forbear. Ignoscito sæpe aliis nunquam tibi.—Publius Syrus. Jurgia primum, mox rixæ in prælium exarsere.Tacitus. Et rixa est, ubi tu pulsas, si vapulo tantum.-Juvenal. Omnem memoriam discordiarum oblivione sempiterna delendam censeo.-Cicero. THEME XLIX. Cleanliness is a Pearl of the first INTRODUCTION. water. 1ST REASON.-Cleanliness is an emblem of purity of mind: thus the Church (the Lamb's bride) is described in the book of Revelations, as being arrayed in fine linen, clean and white.-(xix. 8.) 2ND REASON. It is a mark of good breeding. Those who are very ill-clad, and ill-fed, are instinctively averse to cleanliness: 1st, because the warmth of dirt is agreeable to them; and, 2nd, because cleanliness increases hunger, which they cannot allay by food. 3RD REASON. It is a necessary concomitant of politeness and respect. Even the operative and the rustic will wash his body and put on his clean holiday suit, if he wishes to show honour to a day or person. 4TH REASON.—It is a letter of recommendation and a motive of affection. A babe, to be lovely, must also be clean; and even old age is not unamiable, provided it be preserved clean and unsullied: Whereas, dust and filth in either are repulsive and disagreeable. 5TH REASON.It makes us easy to ourselves. Those who are dirty, untidy, and unclean, are ashamed of being seen and taken notice of. 6TH REASON. It is essential for the preservation of health. 1st, It assists digestion. 2nd, It preserves a healthy action of the skin. 3rd, It keeps the pores of the body open for the escape of the insensible perspiration. 4th, It prevents many cutaneous diseases, &c. 7TH REASON.-It conduces to purity of mind and manners; for there exists such an inseparable intimacy betwixt the body and the mind, that it is utterly impossible for one to be long sullied, and for the other to remain uncontaminated. SIMILES.-Spiders and vermin of every description infest a house or room which is neither ventilated nor cleansed. Sewers, drains, and dunghills fill the air with noxious gases, and afford harbourage for every thing disgusting and unclean. Iron, steel, tin, and even silver will soon oxidise, unless they be kept free from damp and every impurity. When a garden is infested with insects and weeds, all its trees and plants lose their vigour and beauty. Rooms ill-ventilated and dirty generate various diseases. Miasmata and malaria are produced by impure effluvia in the air, rising from putrefying substances, and the noxious emanations of stagnant water: nothing is more pernicious to morality, cheerfulness of temper, health, and even life. Clean water makes a sweet, healthy, and exhilarating beverage; but foul water produces cholera, and many other most painful disorders. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. QUOTATIONS.-Cleanliness is next to godliness. Beauty produces love, but cleanliness preserves it.— Addison. Cleanliness promotes both health of body, and delicacy of mind-Addison. |