The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, 4. Nature never did betray The heart that loved her; 't is her privilege, 5. Therefore let the moon Shine on thee in thy solitary walk; And let the misty mountain winds be free If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief, Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts Of tender joy wilt thou remember me, And these my exhortations! 7. Nor, perchance, If I should be where I no more can hear Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams Of past existence, wilt thou then forget That on the banks of this delightful stream 8. Nor wilt thou then forget, That after many wanderings, many years LESSON XCVI. Gradual Approaches of Age. - CRABBE.* 1. Six years had passed, and forty ere the six, Locks of pure brown, displayed the encroaching white; 3. I showed my stranger guest those hills sublime, But said, "The view is poor; we need not climb.” At a friend's mansion I began to dread The cold neat parlor and the gay glazed bed: And must have all things in my order placed. 4. I ceased to hunt; my horses pleased me less 5. My morning walks I now could bear to lose, And blessed the shower that gave me not to choose: In fact, I felt a languor stealing on; The active arm, the agile hand, were gone; Small daily actions into habits grew, And new dislike to forms and fashions new. I loved my trees in order to dispose; I numbered peaches, looked how stocks arose ; 1. How still the morning of the hallowed day! Mute is the voice of rural labor, hushed The plowboy's whistle and the milkmaid's song. * Born 1754; died 1832. + Born 1765; died 1811. The scythe lies glittering in the dewy wreath. 2. Sounds the most faint attract the ear, - the hum Of early bee, the trickling of the dew, The distant bleating midway up the hill. The voice of psalms, the simple song of praise. 4. With dove-like wings Peace o'er yon village broods⚫ The dizzying mill-wheel rests; the anvil's din Hath ceased; all, all around is quietness. Stops, and looks back, and stops, and looks on man, 5. The toil-worn horse, set free, 7. But on this day, embosomed in his home, 8. Hail, Sabbath! thee I hail, the poor man's day: Around the roots; and while he thus surveys He hopes (yet fears presumption in the hope) LESSON XCVIII. Gentleness of Manners with Firmness of Mind. - CHES TERFIELD. 1. I MENTIONED to you, some time ago, a sentence, which I would most earnestly wish you always to retain in your thoughts, and observe in your conduct; it is suaviter in modo, fortiter in re.* I do not know any one rule so unexceptionably useful and necessary in every part of life. 2. The suaviter in modo, alone, would degenerate and sink into a mean, timid complaisance and passiveness, if not supported and dignified by the fortiter in re; which would also run into impetuosity and brutality, if not tempered and softened by the suaviter in modo: however, they are seldom united. 3. The warm, choleric man, with strong animal spirits, despises the suaviter in modo, and thinks to carry all before him by the fortiter in re. He may possibly, by great accident, now and then succeed, when he has only weak and timid people to deal with; but his general fate will be, to shock, offend, be hated, and fail. 4. On the other hand, the cunning, crafty man thinks to gain all his ends by the suaviter in modo only: he becomes all things to all men; he seems to have no opinion of his own, and servilely adopts the present opinion of the present person; he insinuates himself only into the esteem of fools, but is soon detected, and surely despised, by everybody else. The wise man (who differs as much from the cunning as from the choleric man) alone joins the suaviter in modo with the fortiter in re. 5. If you are in authority, and have a right to command, your commands delivered suaviter in modo will be willingly, cheerfully, and consequently well obeyed: whereas, if given * Suaviter in modo (Latin) means Gentleness of manners; Fortiter in re, Firmness in mind. only fortiter, that is, brutally, they will rather, as Tacitus says, be interpreted than executed. 6. For my own part, if I bade my footman bring me a glass of wine, in a rough, insulting manner, I should expect, that, in obeying me, he would contrive to spill some of it upon me and I am sure I should deserve it. A cool, steady resolution should show that, where you have a right to command, you will be obeyed; but, at the same time, a gentleness in the manner of enforcing that obedience should make it a cheerful one, and soften, as much as possible, the mortifying consciousness of inferiority. ~. If you are to ask a favor, or even to solicit your due, you must do it suaviter in modo, or you will give those, who have a mind to refuse you either, a pretence to do it, by resenting the manner; but, on the other hand, you must, by a steady perseverance and decent tenaciousness, show the fortiter in re. 8. In short, this precept is the only way I know in the world of being loved without being despised, and feared. without being hated. It constitutes the dignity of character, which every wise man must endeavor to establish. 9. If, therefore, you find that you have a hastiness in your temper, which unguardedly breaks out into indiscreet sallies, or rough expressions, to either your superiors, your equals, or your inferiors, watch it narrowly, check it carefully, and call the suaviter in modo to your assistance: at the first impulse of passion, be silent till you can be soft. a most 10. Labor even to get the command of your countenance so well that those emotions may not be read in it, unspeakable advantage in business! On the other hand, let no complaisance, no gentleness of temper, no weak desire of pleasing on your part, no wheedling, coaxing, nor flattery, on other people's, make you recede one jot from any point that reason and prudence have bid you pursue; but return to the charge, persist, persevere, and you will find most things attainable that are possible. 11. A yielding, timid meekness is always abused and insulted by the unjust and the unfeeling; but meekness, when sustained by the fortiter in re, is always respected, commonly successful. 12. In your friendships and connections, as well as in your enmities, this rule is particularly useful: let your firmness and vigor preserve and invite attachments to you; but, at the same time, let your manner hinder the enemies of your |