anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. 5. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord. He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slauer, is a fool. He that walketh uprightly, walketh surely; but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. If sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. 6. Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine Of making many eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread. books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people. 7. Say not unto thy neighbor, "Go, and come again,127 and to-morrow I will give,” when thou hast it by thee. Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words; there is more hope of a fool than of him. The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. The hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the slōthful shall be under tribute. 8. The labor of the righteous tendeth to life; the fruit of the wicked, to sin. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. The sluggard will not plough" by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. 9. The slōthful man saith, "There is a lion without; I shall be slain in the streets!" The wicked flee when no man pursūeth; but the righteous are bold as a lion. The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools. There is,194 that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing;143 there is, that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. 10. There is, that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is, that withholdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to pov erty. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Where no wood is, then the fire goeth out; so where there is no tale-bearer, the strife ceaseth. When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom. 11. Wine is a mocker; strong drink is raging and whoseever is deceived thereby is not wise. Yet a little sleep, a little. slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armëd" 3. "Keep yon right-hand path with care, 4. "Say where that pleasant pathway leads, 5. "Shun with care that flowery way; Crossed by waters wide and deep?" 9. "Did it lead through flood and fire, Thou must not stop thou must not tire." 10. "Till I have my journey past, Tell me will the daylight last? 11. " Though the sun now rides so high, 1 Soc'-RA-TES, the Greek philosopher, was one of the wisest and best men of antiquity. "He was," says Xen ́ophon, the historian, "so pious, that he undertook nothing without asking divine assistance; so just, that he never did the smallest injury to any one, but rendered essential services to many; so temperate, that he never preferred pleasure to virtue; and so wise, that he was able, even in the most difficult cases, without advice, to judge what was expedient and right." He spent his whole life in endeavoring to make his fellow-creatures better and happier. 2. He was remarkable for the power he had acquired of controlling his disposition to anger, which was naturally great. He desired his friends to apprise him when they saw him ready to fall into a passion. At the first hint of the kind from them, he softened his tone, and was silent. Finding himself once in great emotion against127 a slave, "I would beat you," said he, "if I were not angry." 3. Having received a box on the ear, he contented himself by only saying, with a smile, "It is a misfortune not to know when to put on a helmet." On another occasion, meeting a gentleman of rank in the street Socrates saluted him, but the gentleman took no notice of it. Some friends in company with Socrates. observing what passed, told the philosopher" that they were so exasperated at the man's incivility, they had a good mind to resent it." 4. But he very calmly made answer, "If you meet any per son on the road in a worse habit of body than yourself, would you think that you had reason to be enraged at him on that account? If not, pray, then, what greater reason can you have for being incensed at a man of worse habit of mind than any of yourselves?" 5. But, without going out of his own house, he found enough to exercise his patience in all its extent. Xantip'pë, his wife, put it to the severest proofs by her captious, passionate, violent disposition. Never was a woman of so furious and fantastical a spirit, and so bad a temper. There was no kind of abuse or injurious treatment which he had not to experience from her. 6. She was once so transported with rage against him, that she tore off his cloak in the open street. Whereupon his friends told him that such treatment was insufferable, and that he ought to give her a severe drubbing for it." Yes, a fine piece of sport, indeed," replied he; "while she and I were buffeting one another, you, in your turns, I suppose, would animate us on to the combat:38 while one cried out, Well done, Socrates!' another would say, 'Well hit, Xantip'pë!'" 7. At another time, his wife having vented all the reproaches her fury could suggest, he went out and sat before the door. His calm and unconcerned behavior did but irritate her so much the more; and, in the excess of her rage, she ran up stairs and emptied a pail of foul water upon his head: at which he only laughed, and said, "So much thunder must needs produce a shower." 8. Notwithstanding his blameless life and great moral worth, Socrates did not escape calumny. There was a set of teachers who had great reputation and influence in Athens, on account of their plausible speeches, though they had no regard for truth, and only aimed at showing off their abilities. These Sophists, as they were called, detested Socrates; for he was unsparing in his efforts to expose their errors, and save the young men from being misled by them. 9. He was, at the same time, disliked by many other persons, on account of his zeal in denouncing certain corruptions in the state, by which they profited. In short, he was too honest for his time, and for the people amongst whom he lived. 10. The enemies of Socrates conspired to ruin him, and calumny was the means adopted for this end. The Athenians, like many other ancient nations, worshipped, a great variety of gods; but Socrates was inclined to believe that there was but one true God, the author of all things; although, from a degree of pru. dence, in which he erred, he deemed it best to conform, in some measure, to the superstitions of his fellow-citizens, and to conceal his real opinions. 11. His enemies knew well what the ignorant multitude would think of him, if once convinced that he disbelieved in or despised their gods. They therefore began to insinuate publicly that Socrates did not acknowledge the gods whom the state acknowledged, and that he corrupted the youth of the city with his strange doctrines. 12. His pure life and true wisdom could not save him from the effects of these calumnies. Convinced that he was an impious wretch, the people forgot all their former respect for him, and wished that he should be brought to punishment. When his character had thus been ruined, his enemies came openly for ward, and accused him, before judges, of what, even had it been true, would have been no offence at all. 13. Socrates ably defended himself; but the judges, being prejudiced against him, found him guilty, and condemned him to die by drinking poison. Socrates submitted to the sentence with cheerfulness; showing, in his last moments, the most complete confidence in the belief that death was but a step to a higher and better life. Thus was one of the greatest sages the world ever saw destroyed through the effects of a base calumny, XVIII. THE OLD MAN'S COMFORTS. 1. "You are old, Father William," the young man cried, You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man |