Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

resolved to find him out, which he did by displaying a collection of wares, consisting of arms and jewels, before the disguised hero; and when Achilles made choice of a sword in preference to a trinket, he instantly betrayed the warrior through the female dress.

Ulysses, in order to escape going to the Trojan war, pretended to be mad, and yoking an ass and ox to a plough, began to sow salt; but Palamedes placed before his plough the infant Telemachus, and detected the fraud, because Ulysses turned the plough aside.

Tradition says that Queen Sheba, to test the wisdom of Solomon, brought before him six boys and six girls, all equally beautiful, all of a similar age, and dressed exactly alike, and told him to pick out the boys from the girls: The wise king instantly ordered water to be set before them, and discovered the boys by their washing up to the wrists, whereas the girls washed as high as their elbows.

Elijah knew that rain was coming, not by the rush of winds or gathering of clouds, but by a little speck in the heavens no bigger than a man's hand.-1 Kings, xviii, 41-45.

When Mary, Queen of Scots, made her escape from Douglas castle, she was rowed across the lake dressed like a laundress; but when she gave the boatman his fare, the whiteness of her hand betrayed her condition.

The judgment of Solomon.-1 Kings, iii. 16-27

When the Ephraimites wanted to pass in disguise over the passage of Jordan, they were discovered by the men of Gilead, because they said Sibboleth instead of "Shibboleth."-Judg. xii. 5, 6.

When St. Peter gained admission into the judgment hall, he was known to be a disciple of Jesus Christ by his provincial speech.-St. Matt. xxvi. 73.

QUOTATIONS. Many a truth is spoken in jest.

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Daylight will peep through a very small hole.

Trifles light as air

Are to the jealous confirmations strong.-Shakspeare. A carpenter is known by his chips.

Ex pede Herculem (i. e. we may judge of the size of Hercules' stature by merely seeing the foot).

Ex uno disce omnes.

Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.

THEME XVIII. Mental Cultivation conduces to both Health and Happiness.

INTRODUCTION. Literary pursuits are considered by many ignorant persons as dull and unhealthy; but experience testifies that they afford ever-varying and abiding enjoyment, and more than an average portion of good health.

1ST REASON. Mind and body are so intimately connected, that each participates in the health and sickness, the joy and sorrow, of the other; and, therefore, a judicious exercise of the mind contributes to the well-being of the body, no less than health of body increases the vigour of the mind.

2ND REASON.-Mental cultivation helps to balance the animal passions, and keep them under discipline, which greatly injure both health and happiness when suffered to run riot and obtain the mastery.

3RD REASON.-Cultivation of the mind tends to eradicate those vicious inclinations and rude pleasures which are so frequently indulged in by gross and sensual minds, to the injury of happiness and health.

4TH REASON. Education supplies a thousand new sources of enjoyment, to keep the spirit cheerful, and the temper sweet, than which nothing is more essential to happiness and health.

5TH REASON.-Education indues with a new charm the most ordinary objects of life. The stars, the flowers, the very ground we tread on, furnish a stimulus to the wellcultivated mind, which acts upon the nerves, and contributes to the well-being of the body.

[ocr errors]

6TH REASON.-Mental cultivation prevents that dium vita" and ennui which greatly depresses the nervous system, and deranges alike the functions of the mind and body.

7TH REASON. The companions of the well-educated, instead of being gay, dissolute libertines, or dull, unlettered boors, are persons of cultivated minds; and afford new mental pleasures and bodily relaxation.

SIMILES. AS wind not only clarifies the air, but by opening the earth, renders it more prolific; so mental cultivation not only strengthens the mind, but by exciting the intellectual functions diffuses a wholesome influence over the nervous system.

As plants kept from the light not only lose their fine colours, but also their woody strength; so the darkness of ignorance has a baneful influence on the cheerfulness of the mind, as well as on the health of the body

As weariness of the body depresses the mind, so weariness of the mind depresses the animal spirits.

As cultivation of the earth renders the soil more fruitful, and the air more healthy; so cultivation of the mind....

As a genial fire is exhilarating to the spirits, and conducive to health; so is it with mental cultivation.

As the practice of dancing, singing, and rhetoric, increase the appetite, promote digestion, and exhilarate the spirits, contributing to both health and happiness; so education, generally, has a beneficial effect upon the mental and physical functions.

As trees, shrubs, and flowers not only delight the senses, but purify the air (by absorbing carbonic acid and

exhaling oxygen); so mental cultivation delights and purifies the mind, while it supplies a healthy stimulus to the body, and diverts the inclination from pernicious sensual indulgences.

[ocr errors]

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. When Petrarch (the great Italian poet) was at Vaucluse, his friend, the Bishop of Cavaillon, fearing that his too close application to study was the cause of his declining health, locked up the books' and writing desk of the student, saying to him, "I interdict. you from pen, ink, paper, and books, for ten days." Petrarch submitted. The first day passed in the most tedious manner; during the second day he suffered from a violent headache; and on the third he became affected with low fever. The bishop, alarmed at these symptoms, returned Petrarch the key of his library, and the next day he seemed restored to his usual state of health.

The seven famous sages of antiquity all lived to a very advanced age; Cleobulus, the youngest of all, died at the age of 70 years; Thales, at the age of 91; Pittacus, Chilo, and Bias, about 85; Solon, and Periander, at the age of 81 years.

The five English philosophers (all except Sir Francis Bacon, who died at the age of 66 years) lived beyond the average age of man: thus, Roger Bacon lived to the age of 80; the hon. Robert Boyle to 70; Locke to 73; and Sir Isaac Newton to 85.

The same may be said of foreigners: thus, Boerhaave, the famous chemist and botanist, lived to the age of 70 years; Galileo, the astronomer, to 78; Fontenelle (called by Voltaire), the universal genius, to 101, &c. This list might be easily extended to a very great length, and serve to demonstrate that mental cultivation conduces to both health and happiness.

Life assurances for clergymen, who are proverbially men of letters, are considerably less than those for other men a practical illustration this of the acknowledged fact, that mental cultivation conduces to longevity.

Insanity has often been cured by bodily and mental occupation, and has as often been produced by solitary confinement, where there has been no employment for the mind and body.

QUOTATIONS.-Mental stimulus is essential for healthy bodily exercise.-Combe,

One of the rewards of philosophy is long life.-Bacon.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. -Prov. iii. 13, 16, 17.

Get wisdom, get understanding, and the years of thy life shall be many.

A cultivation of learning is required to give a seasoning to life, and make us taste its blessings.-Dryden.

To a mind well cultivated, no part of creation is indifferent; in the crowded city and howling wilderness; in the flowery lawn and craggy mountain; in the murmur of the rivulet and in the uproar of the ocean; in the radiance of summer and gloom of winter; in the thunders of heaven and in the whisper of the breeze, will be found something to rouse or soothe the imagination, to draw forth the affections, and employ the understanding.Beattie.

Animi cultus, quasi quidam humanitatis cibus.-Cicero. Is mihi demum vivere, et frui anima, videtur, qui (aliquo negotio intentus) præclari facinoris aut artis bouæ famam querit.-Sallust.

Studia adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, adversis solatium et perfugium præbent, delectant domi, non impediunt foris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur.-Cicero.

CONCLUSION. Hence ..

« ZurückWeiter »