Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

COUNSEL.

COTTAGE.-Love Gilds the
When hearts are join'd

In virtuous union, love's impartial beams
Gild the low cottage of the faithful swain
With equal warmth, as when he darts his
fires

On canopies of state.-FENTON.

COTTAGE.-Joy in a

Amid the poverty and privations of a cottage, joy is often to be found, which is more to be desired than all the wealth and splendour of a palace.-E. DAVIES.

COTTON.-The History of

The cotton plant was anciently to be found only in Egypt. Certainly, the raw material was introduced into Europe long before the discovery of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope; and it appears that this country was supplied with it, from the Levant, by the Genoese vessels in 1430. The first certain information respecting the cotton manufacturers of England is contained in Lewis Roberts' "Treasures of Traffic," published in 1641, in which he states that "the people of Manchester buy cotton wool that comes from Cyprus and Smyrna, and work the same into fustians, vermilions, and dimities, which are sent to London and sold or exported."-LOARING.

COUCH.-The

The couch! From the day that the bride sanctifies it to the day when the aged mother is borne from it, it stands clothed with loveliness and dignity.-H. W. BEECHER.

COUNSEL.-The Difficulty of Imparting

Men

Can counsel, and speak comfort to that grief

Which they themselves not feel, but tasting it

Their counsel turns to passion, which before

Would give perceptial medicine to rage, Fetter strong madness in a silken thread, Charm ache with air, and agony with words:

No, no! 'tis all men's office to speak patience

To those that wring under the load of sorrow ;

But no man's virtue, nor sufficiency,,
To be so moral, when he shall endure
The like himself: therefore give me no
counsel:

My griefs cry louder than advertisement. Therein do men from children nothing differ.-SHAKSPEARE.

[blocks in formation]

COUNTRY.-The Beauty of the

The beauty of the country surpasses all the grandeur of the city. In the city there are gardens cultivated with floral skill; but they are not half so lovely even as the fields whose swelling grain waves, and nods, and trembles to the whisking wind. In the city, there is, at night-time, the splendour of lamps; but in the country, the moon gives forth its soft and cloudless beams, and bathes every scene in nature in silver glory. In the city, there are sounds of melody and gaiety, such as art contrives and the heart craves for; but in the country, the thrush and the nightingale "discourse music" never yet heard in saloon or palace, but which delights the heart of all privileged to listen to it. In fine, just as sunlight exceeds starlight, so the country, for

COUNTRY.

true and lasting beauty, exceeds the city.— DR. DAVIES.

COUNTRY.-Enjoyment in the

To one who has been long in city pent, 'Tis very sweet to look into the fair And open face of heaven,-to breathe a prayer

Full in the smile of the blue firmament; Who is more happy, when, with heart's content,

Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair And gentle tale of love and languishment? Returning home at evening, with an ear

Catching the notes of Philomel,—an eye Watching the sailing cloudlets' bright

career,

He mourns that day so soon has glided by,

E'en like the passage of an angel's tear That falls through the clear ether silently. KEATS.

COUNTRY.-Health in the

Seldom shall we see in cities, courts, and rich families, where men live plentifully, and eat and drink freely, that perfect health, that athletic soundness and vigour of constitution, which is commonly seen in the country, in poor houses and cottages, where nature is their cook, and necessity their caterer, and where they have no other doctor but the sun and fresh air, and that such a one as never sends them to the apothecary.-DR. SOUTH.

COUNTRY.-The Impression of a

The character of a man's native country is as strongly impressed on his mind as its accent is on his tongue.-LA ROCHEFOU

CAULD.

COUNTRY.-Love for

There is a land, of every land the pride, Beloved by heaven, o'er all the world beside;

Where brighter suns dispense serener light,
And milder moons emparadise the night;
A land of beauty, virtue, valour, truth,
Time-tutor'd age, and love-exalted youth;
The wand'ring mariner, whose eye explores
The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting
shores,

Views not a realm so bountiful and fair,
Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air.
In every clime the magnet of his soul,
Touch'd by remembrance, trembles to that
pole;

For in this land of heaven's peculiar grace,
The heritage of nature's noblest race,
There is a spot of earth, supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest,

[ocr errors]

COUNTRY.

Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside His sword and sceptre, pageantry and pride,

While in his soften'd looks benignly blend The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend :

Here woman reigns; the mother, daughter, wife,

Strews with fresh flowers the narrow path of life;

In the clear heaven of her delightful eye An angel-guard of loves and graces lie; Around her knees domestic duties meet, And fire-side pleasures gambol at her feet. Where shall that land, that spot of earth, be found?

Art thou a man? a patriot? look around; Oh, thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps

roam,

That land thy country, and that spot thy

home!-J. MONTGOMERY.

COUNTRY.-A Noble and Rich Man in the

The most beautiful possession which a country can have-is a noble and rich man, who loves virtue and knowledge;-who, without being feeble or fanatical, is pious, and who, without being factious, is firm and independent;-who, in his political life, is an equitable mediator between king and people, and, in his civil life, a firm promoter of all which can shed a lustre upon his country, or promote the peace and order of the world.-S. SMITH.

COUNTRY.-A Walk in the

To walk with the breeze upon one's brow, to trample the level grass exuberant with freshness, to climb upon the mountain; to follow through the meadows some thread of water gliding under rushes and waterplants,-I give you my word for it, there is happiness in this. At this contact with healthy and natural things, the follies of the world drop off as drop the dead leaves when the spring sap rises, and the young leaves put forth. The pangs of the heart lose their vehemence. The great blue sky which reflects itself in the soul gives it its own peace. The divine goodness, pity, and power wrap us round; it is a halt, as it were, upon the threshold of paradise.— GASPARIN.

COUPLE.-A Contented, yet Useless
While rolling threescore years and one
Did round the globe their courses run,—
If human things went ill or well,-
If changing empires rose or fell,
The morning past, the evening came,
And found this couple just the same,
Nor sister either had nor brother;
They seemed just tallied for each other:

[blocks in formation]

COURAGE,

exercise cool judgment in situations of peril.-S. G. GOODRICH.

COURAGE-Necessary to Talent.

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for the want of courage.-S. SMITH.

COURAGE.-Royal

One arm of the Danube separates the city of Vienna from a suburban part called Leopold-stadt. A thaw inundated this

part, and the ice carried away the bridge of communication with the capital. The population of Leopold-stadt began to be in the greatest distress for want of provisions. A number of boats were collected and loaded with bread; but no one felt hardy enough to risk the passage, which was rendered extremely dangerous by large bodies of ice. Francis II., who was then emperor, stood at the water's edge; he begged, exhorted, threatened, and promised the highest recompenses, but all in vain; whilst, on the other shore, his subjects, famishing with hunger, stretched forth their hands, and supplicated relief. The monarch immediately leaped singly into a boat loaded with bread, and applied himself to the oars, exclaiming-"Never shall it be said that I saw those perish, without an effort to save them, who would risk their all for me!" The example of the sovereign, sudden as electricity, enflamed the spectators, who threw themselves in crowds into the boats. They encountered the sea with success, and gained the suburbs just as their intrepid monarch, with the tear of pity in his eye, held out the bread he had conveyed across the water at the risk of his life.-ARVINE.

COURAGE.-Undaunted

I have determined-the Almighty God being my help and my shield-yet to suffer, if frail life might continue so long, even until the moss shall grow over my eyebrows, rather than violate my faith and my principles.-BUNYAN.

COURT.-The Hardness and Polish of the

The court is like a palace built of marble; I mean that it is made up of very hard and very polished people.-LA BRUYERE.

COURT.-The King makes a

The residence of the king's person and his presence makes the court anywhere; because it is supposed that the king can be nowhere without the exercise of his kingly power, and without his insignia of majesty. -CLARENDON

[blocks in formation]

Courtesy is one of the cheapest exercises of virtue; it costs us even less than rudeness.-J. A. JAMES.

COURTESY-a Necessary Study.

I have seen some people rude by being over-civil and troublesome in their courtesy; though, these excesses excepted, the knowledge of courtesy and good manners is a very necessary study. It is, like grace and beauty, that which begets liking and an inclination to love one another at first sight, and in the beginning of an acquaintance a familiarity; and consequently, that which first opens the door, and introduces us to better ourselves by the examples of others, if there be anything in the society worth taking notice of.-MONTAIGNE.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

t

COURTESY.

COURTESY.-The Pink of

Thou hast most kindly hit it:
A most courteous exposition;
Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy ;-
Pink for flower.-SHAKSPEARE.

COURTIER. A Description of the

A bit of clay, with a ribbon tied round it.-R. CECIL.

COURTIER.-The Fate of a

When I see a gallant ship well rigged, → trimmed, tackled, mann'd, and munitioned, with her top and top-gallant, and her spread sayles proudly swelling with a full gale in faire weather, putting out of the haven into the smooth maine, and drawing the spectators' eyes with a well-wishing admiration; and shortly heare of the same ship splitted against some dangerous rock, or wrecked by some disasterous tempest, or sunk by some leake sprung in her by some accident; it seemeth I see the case of some court favourite, who to-day, like Sejanus, dazzleth all men's eyes with the splendour of his glory, and with proud and potent beake of his powerful prosperity cutteth the waves and ploweth through the prease of the vulgar, and scorneth to fear aught at his keele below, or any cross winds from above, and yet to-morrow, on some storms of unexpected disfavour, springs a leake in his honour, and sinks on the Syrtes of disgrace, or dashed against the rocks of displeasure, is splitted and wrack'd in the Caribdis of infamy, and so concludes his voyage in misery and misfortune.-EARL WARWICK.

COURTIERS.-The Humility of

There is nothing that humbles certain courtiers so much as the presence of the > prince: scarcely can I recognize them as the same men, their features are so changed, and they are so chop-fallen. The proud and arrogant are the most abashed, for they lose most.-LA BRUYERE.

COURTSHIP. The Pleasantness of

The pleasantest part of a man's life is generally that which passes in courtship, > provided his passion be sincere, and the party beloved kind with discretion.-ADDI

SON.

COURTSHIP.-The Use of

By courtship both sides are prepared for all the matrimonial adventures that are to follow.-GOLDSMITH.

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.

"Their courtship was carried on in poetry." Alas! many an enamoured pair

COWARD.

have courted in poetry, and after marriage lived in prose.-FOSTER.

COVETOUSNESS.-The Character of

The character of covetousness is what a man generally acquires more through some niggardness or ill grace, in little and inconsiderable things, than in expenses of any consequence.-POPE.

COVETOUSNESS.-The Earthliness of

A young man once picked up a sovereign lying in the road. Ever afterward, in walking along, he kept his eye fixed steadily upon the ground in hopes to find another. And in the course of a long life he did pick up, at different times, a goodly number of coins, gold and silver. But all these years, while he was looking for them, he saw not that the heavens were bright above him, and nature beautiful around. He never once allowed his eyes to look up from the mud and filth in which he sought his treasure; and when he died-a rich old man-he only knew this fair earth as a dirty road to pick up money as you walk along.-DR. JEFFREY.

COVETOUSNESS.-The Evil of

Covetousness debaseth a man's spirit.ABP. TILLOTSON.

COVETOUSNESS.-Greediness of

Covetousness is so greedy a passion, that it not only attracts to itself its proper objects, but swallows up almost every other affection.-DR. Knox.

COVETOUSNESS.-The Loss Sustained

by

Covetousness, by a greediness of getting more, deprives itself of the true end of getting it it loses the enjoyment of what it has got.-SPRAT.

COVETOUSNESS.-The Sin of

Desire of having is the sin of covetousness. SHAKSPEARE.

COWARD.-The Fear of the

His hand did quake And tremble like a leaf of aspen green, And troubled blood through his pale face

was seen

To come and go, with tidings from his heart,

As it a running messenger had been.
SPENSER.

COWARD.-Scorn for the

The coward, of whatever description, is an object of scorn; whereas, there is a kind of reverence for bravery, even when

« ZurückWeiter »