and simplicity will leave the affirmative established by a corrupt majority. It is not without a sigh that a thinking man can pass by a lordly mansion, some sweet retreat, deserted by its falsely refined possessor, who is stupidly carousing in a polluted city. When he sees the chimney without smoke in the venerable house where all the country was once welcomed to partake of1 princely hospitality, he cannot help 2 lamenting that progress of refinement which, in rendering the descendants of the great fine gentlemen, has left them something3 less than men through the defect of manly virtues. The superintendence of a garden might of itself occupy a life elegantly and pleasurably; nothing is better able to gratify the inherent love of novelty, for nature is always renewing her variegated appearance. She is infinite in productions, and the life of man may come to its close before he has seen half the pictures which she is able to display. The taste for gardening in England is at present pure. Nature is restored to her throne, and reigns majestically beautiful in rude magnificence. The country abounds with cultivated tracts truly paradisiacal. But as the contemplative observer roams over the lawn and enjoys the shade of the weeping willow, he is often led to inquire, "Where is now the owner of this wilderness of sweets 25 Happy man!" he exclaims, "to possess such a spot as this, and to be able at all times to taste the pleasure which I feel springing in my bosom." But, alas! the owner is engaged in other scenes. He is rattling over the streets of London, and pursuing all the sophisticated joys which succeed to supply the place where nature is relinquished. If he condescends to pay an annual visit to the retreat, he brings with him all his acquired inclinations; and while he sits at the card-table, or at the banquet, and thinks of little else than promoting his interest at the next election, he leaves the shrub to blossom and the rose to diffuse its sweets in unobserved solitude.—(KNOX, Essays.) ON THE FOLLY OF INCONSISTENT EXPECTATIONS. THIS world may be considered as a great mart of commerce where fortune exposes to our view various commodities, riches, ease, tranquillity, fame, integrity, knowledge. Every thing is marked at a settled price. Our time, our labour, our ingenuity, is 2 so much ready money which we are to lay out to the best advantage. Examine, compare, choose, reject; but stand to your own judgment, and do not, like children, when you have purchased one thing, repine that you do not possess, another which you did not purchase. Such is the force of well-regulated industry, that a steady and vigorous exertion of our faculties, directed to one end, will generally insure success. Would you, for instance, be rich? Do you think that single point worth the sacrificing every thing else to? You may then be rich. Thousands have become so, from the lowest beginnings, by toil and patient diligence, and attention to the minutest articles of expense and profit. But you must give up the pleasures of leisure, of a vacant mind, of a free unsuspicious temper. If you preserve your integrity, it must be a coarse-spun 5 and vulgar honesty. Those high and lofty notions of morals, which you brought with you from the schools, must be considerably lowered, and mixed with the baser alloy of a jealous 1 parfums. 2are.'-'ready money,' argent comptant. -'settled price,' prix fait. &c. 3 to our greatest.' 4 digne qu'on lui sacrifie 5 Simply, grossière (fem.). In and worldly-minded prudence. You must learn to do hard, if not unjust, things; and, as for the nice embarrassments of a delicate and ingenuous spirit, it is necessary for you to get rid of them as fast as possible. You must shut your heart against1 the Muses, and be content to feed your understanding with plain household truths. short, you must not attempt to enlarge your ideas, or polish your taste, or refine your sentiments; but must keep on in 2 one beaten track, without turning aside either to the right hand or to the left. "But I cannot submit to drudgery like this; I feel a spirit3 above it.” 'Tis well; be above it then; only do not repine that you are not rich. Is knowledge the pearl of price? That too may be purchased by steady application, and long solitary hours of study and reflection. Bestow these, and you shall be wise. 66 But," says the man of letters, "what a hardship is it that many an illiterate fellow, who cannot construe the motto of the arms on 5 his coach, shall raise a fortune and make a figure, while I have little more than the common conveniences of life?" Was it in order to raise a fortune that you consumed the sprightly hours of youth in study and retirement? Was it to be rich that you grew pale over the midnight lamp, and distilled the sweetness from the Greek and Roman spring? You have then mistaken yours path and ill-employed your industry. "What reward have I then for all my labours?" What reward! A large comprehensive soul, well purged from vulgar fears, and perturbations, and prejudices; able to comprehend and interpret the works of man, of God.. A rich, flourishing, cultivated mind, pregnant with inexhaustible stores 10 of entertainment and reflection; a per 7 9 petual spring of fresh ideas, and the conscious dignity of superior intelligence. Good Heaven! and what reward ask besides? can you 4 3 "But is it not some reproach upon the economy of Providence, that such a one, who is a mean dirty fellow, should have amassed wealth enough to buy half a nation?" Not in the least.2 He made himself a mean dirty fellow, for that very end. He has paid his health, his conscience, his liberty for it; and will you envy him his bargain? Will you hang your head and blush in his presence because he outshines you in equipage and show? Lift up your brow with a noble confidence, and say to yourself, "I have not these things, it is true; but it is because I have not sought,5 because I have not desired them; it is because I possess something better. I have chosen my lot; I am content and satisfied." You are a modest man, you love quiet and independence, and have a delicacy and reserve in your temper, which renders it impossible for you to elbow your way in the world, and be the herald of your own merits. Be content then with a modest retirement, with the esteem of your intimate friends, with the praises of a blameless heart, and a delicate ingenuous spirit; but resign the splendid distinctions of the world to those who can better scramble for them.7 The man, whose tender sensibility of conscience and strict regard to the rules of morality make him scrupulous &c. scru In French, the language of clear- and fearful of offending, is often heard to complain of the disadvantages he lies under1 in every path of honour and profit. "Could I but get over some nice points, and conform to the practice and opinion of those2 about me, I might stand as fair a chance as others for3 dignities and preferment." And why can you not? What hinders you from discharging this troublesome scrupulosity of yours which stands so grievously in your way? If it be a small thing to enjoy a healthful mind, sound at the very core, that does not shrink from the keenest inspection; inward freedom from remorse and perturbation; unsullied whiteness and simplicity of manners; a genuine integrity, Pure in the last recesses of the mind; if you think these advantages an inadequate recompense for what you resign, dismiss your scruples this instant," and be a slave-merchant, a director, or what you please.7— (MRS. BARBAULd.) " The man to whom &c. inspire scruples and the fear of offending.' But now (and I hope the student's patience is not yet exhausted, as patience is a necessary ingredient for translation as well as for composition)-but now, a third difficulty presents itself, viz., is often heard to complain,' which turn, as we have repeatedly seen above, is not French. With this hint only, however, I shall leave the student himself, this time, to alter once more the last construction which I have set down. 1 'to lie under,' here, éprouver. 2 those who are.' 3 je serais en aussi belle passe que d'autres d'avoir (or, d'obtenir). 4 mettre de côté; or, vous défaire de. Leave out of yours.' 5 Si c'est peu de chose que (page 138, note 7) de. 6 à l'instant. 7 Use the future, and see page 135, note 4. |