variety which we perceive with great pleasure, whilst we begin, advance, rest, go back to recruit, approach, obtain, &c.-Lord Bacon. Virtutis laus omnis in actione consistit.-Cicero. CONCLUSION.... THEME LXVII. It is hard for an empty Bag to stand upright. 1ST REASON. Because it contains nothing to give it substantiality: So, also, an empty pretender cannot long maintain a reputation for what he does not deserve. 2ND REASON. An empty bag may, by inflation, be made to stand erect for a short time, but its own weight will cause the sides to collapse again: So the mere pretender may, by boasting words, gain for himself a name ; but, when his claims are to be supported by solid merit, his ephemeral reputation will sink from the weight of the task he has undertaken. 3RD REASON.-If a bag has been inflated, in order to make it look like a sack of corn, every time any one feels it, to ascertain its value, he presses out a portion of the air, and thus renders the deception more apparent: So, also, every time a pretender is questioned, or comes into collision with the well-informed, his arrogant assumption becomes more palpable, till, at last, none can be deceived. 4TH REASON. -If a weight were to fall upon a sack of corn it would make very little impression, and the full sack would remain standing as before; but were it to fall on an inflated bag, the sides would burst, and all the air make its escape: So the honest solid mind is not daunted by rebuffs, or the pressure of unforeseen difficulties; but the empty pretender, conscious of his own ignorance, loses his presence of mind in any sudden emergency, his arrogance gives way, and his "full-blown pride bursts under him." 5TH REASON. A bag filled with air is always more plump and free from wrinkles than a sack of corn: So ignorance and dissimulation always overact their parts.* 6TH REASON. A careless child or a stray gust of wind may knock down an empty bag, but would have no effect upon a sack of corn: So, also, the squandering observation of a child, or a trifle of no moment, may expose the emptiness of an ignorant pretender. SIMILES. The Jackdaw in borrowed plumes.-Esop's fable. The mirage may pass for a lake of water at a distance, but the delusion is discovered immediately a caravan approaches near. The Ass in a Lion's skin.-Esop's fable. Meteors may shine like stars for a little time; but immediately they feel the attraction of our earth, and enter the limits of its atmosphere, they fall, and are no more found. Pyrites look like gold, but are only worthless sulphurets of copper or iron. Mere pretension is like the cypress-tree, which is great and tall, but bears no fruit. French paste jewelry. A cracked vessel may soon be detected even by its sound. The numberless flashy articles palmed upon the public as cheap goods. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. *Thus Cicero says of orators, "they are always most vehement when they have the weakest cause, as men get on horseback when they cannot walk." QUOTATIONS.-Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it.-1 Cor. iii. 13. Whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.-Luke, viii. 18. He who pretends to be more than he is, shall have less than he deserves. Truth has always a fast bottom, but a lie has no legs. Shakspeare. Dissimulation is but short wisdom.-Lord Bacon. Unmerited honours never wear well.-Maunder's proverbs. Utopian schemes ruin the shrewdest schemers.Maunder's proverbs. Those who wade in unknown waters will be sure to be drowned. That which covers thee, discovers thee.-Fielding's proverbs. Quien te cubre, te descubre. Miserum est, aliorum incumbere famæ. Cui non conveniat sua res, ut calceus olim, Ne te quæsiveris extra. Post ubi jam tempus est promissa perfici, Tum coacti necessario se aperiunt.-Terence. Eripitur persona, manet res.-Lucretius. Ne alterius quidem laudis sum cupidus.- Cicero. CONCLUSION. THEME LXVIII. INTRODUCTION... Cast not Pearls before Swine. 1ST REASON. Because it will be loss of time and labour, as they cannot appreciate them. 2ND REASON.--Those who are wise will hold in contempt such wanton folly and waste. 3RD REASON. Swine will trample under foot the most inestimable pearls, as loose chaff or a worthless potsherd: So a scorner will set at naught the wisest counsel, and treat it as "the idle wind which he regards not." 4TH REASON.-If a dog is expecting a bone, or a swine a husk, and you throw to them a jewel, you will irritate their temper, and they may "turn again and rend you :" So, also, a scorner will regard your kindest reproofs as insults, and your wisest counsel as mistaken zeal; will traduce you to his boon companions, rend your fair reputation, and hate you as one that mocketh him. 5TH REASON.You can make better use of your property and time than to waste them both upon scorners. 6TH REASON.God has forbidden such waste as “zeal without knowledge." SIMILES.-Never attempt to wash a blackamoor white. None but a dotard will search for a needle in a bottle of hay.* It was a Chinese idiot who attempted to rub down a crow-bar on a whetstone into a knitting-needle. The Cock and Jewel.-Æsop's fable. The Spaniards say, "To lather an ass's head is only wasting soap." A bottle of hay is a corruption of the French "botte-de foin:" botte is a bundle or truss, and botte de foin means a "truss of hay:" botte-de sounds like bottle. Those who seek to make gold of iron, will make iron of gold. The Japanese of both sexes carry fans from the age of five years, and, as fogs are very prevalent in the island, the following characteristic proverb is very po pular among them: "Never seek to dispel the fog with your fan." Whoso teacheth a fool is as one that glneth a potsherd together, and as he that waketh one from a sound sleep. -Eccles. xxii. 7 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. -Herod "rent" John the Baptist for "casting pearls before him." Mark, vi. 18-27. - See also 1 Kings, xviii. 17, &c. xxi. 20, &c. xxii. 24, &c. 2 Chronicles, xxiv. 20–22. xxv. 15, 16. xxxvi. 17. Acts, xiii. 45-47. QUOTATIONS.-He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.-Prov. ix. 7. If a skilful man hear a wise word he will commend it, and add unto it: But as soon as one of no understanding heareth it, it displeaseth him, and he casteth it behind his back.-Eccles. xxi. 15. Reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee.-Prov. ix. 8 ; see also xv. 12. Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.-Prov. xxiii. 9. The (Israelites) hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and abhor him that speaketh uprightly.-Amos, v. 10. The (wicked) make a man an offender for a word, and lay a share for him that reproveth in the gate.-Isa. xxix. 21. As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool; or (according to the marginal |