Ah! my good master, said the spaniel, you should never have two aims at once. Had you not been dazzled and seduced by the hope of partridge, you would, most probably, have secured your snipe.

MORAL.-We often miss our point by dividing our atten

tion.

The Fox and the Raven.

1

A Fox, observing 1 a Raven on the branch of a tree, with a fine piece of cheese in her mouth *, began to think how he might possess himself of so delicious a morsel.

Dear Madam, said he, I am glad to see you this morning, your fine shape, and shining feathers, are the delight of my eyes; and would you but favor me with a song †, I doubt not, that your voice, is equal to the rest of your charms.

Deluded with this speech, the Raven opened her mouth to give him a specimen of her pipe, when down dropped the cheese; which, the Fox snatching up, bore away in triumph, leaving1 the Raven to lament her vanity at her leisure.

1

MORAL. Wherever flattery gains admission, it seems to banish common sense.

1. Often should we be ashamed of our best actions, were the world to witness the motives that produce them ‡.

2. Of nothing are we so liberal as of our advice.

3. Better is it to appear to be what we are, than to seem to be what we are not.

4. Those that apply themselves much to little things, seldom become capable of great ones.

5. Every man boasts of his heart, but no one dares to speak well of his head.

In her mouth, in ihrem Schnabel; denn Rabe und Fuchs, so wie alle Wörter gemeinschaftlichen Geschlechts, können nach Belieben als dem männlichen, weiblichen oder sächlichen Geschlechte angehörend, betrachtet werden. S. -C. 19.

Und wenn ihr mir nur den Gefallen thun wolltet, mir etwas vorzusingen. Oft würden wir uns unserer besten Handlungen schämen, wäre die Welt Zeuge ihrer Triebfedern.

1 G. S. 82.

6. There are reproaches which give praise; and there are praises which reproach *.

7. Passion always makes a fool of a man of sense †.

8. Wisdom is to the mind, what health is to the body ‡.

9. In the morning think what thou hast to do; and at night ask thyself what thou hast done.

10. We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well. 11. The good that may be done by riches, is very great, but not so much as by a good example.

12. Vicious habits are a great stain to human nature; every person actuated by reason [], should avoid them.

13. Whatever you dislike in another person, correct in yourself.

14. A idle person is a kind of blank in the creation §; all nature is busy about him.

15. Those who reprove us, are often greater friends to us, than those who praise or indulge us.

16. Some boast of good works they never did; and others promise good works they never intend to do.

17. There is one solid pleasure in life: it is our duty; and yet many make that one a pain.

18. When we act against our conscience, we become the destroyers of our own peace.

19. True happiness is an enemy to pomp and noise.

20. The path of virtue is the path of peace.

21. A person can never be wise or good without taking ¶ pains to become so.

22. The crown of virtue are peace and honor.

23. The gentle mind is like the smooth stream which reflects every object in its fairest colors **.

24. Expect no more from the world than it is able to afford you. It promises more than it bestows.

* Es gibt Vorwürfe, die ein Lob find, und wiederum gibt es Lobsprüche, die ein Vorwurf find.

Leidenschaft macht einen vernünftigen Mann zum Narren.

Weisheit ist dem Geiste, was Gesundheit dem Leibe ist.

|| Every person actuated by reason, jeder vernünftige Mensch.

§ Ift wie ein unausgefüllter Plaß in der Schöpfung.

¶ Without taking pains, wenn er (Jemand nämlich) sich nicht Mühe gibt. ** Ein fanftes Gemüth ist wie der ruhig dahin fließende Strom, in welchem sich alle Gegenstände in ihren schönsten Farben abspiegeln. Oder, da reflect auch wiedergeben“, „zurückwerfen“, „zurückstrahlen" heißt: „der die in ihm sich ab= spiegelnden Gegenstände in ihren schönsten Farben wiedergibt."

25. All our conduct towards man* should be guided by this precept, "Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you."

26. Every leaf, every twig, every drop of water, teems with life.

27. How a seed grows up into a tree, and how the mind acts upon the body, are things which we cannot explain.

28. It is happy for us when we can calmly look back on the past, and forward to the future †.

29. Every thing that we here enjoy, changes, decays, and

comes to an end.

30. Hope, the balm of human life, soothes us under every misfortune.

31. Neither riches nor honors can satisfy the desires of an immortal mind.

32. The slothful man is a burden to himself; his hours hang heavily upon his head.

33. If thy soul thirst for honor, if thy ear hath any pleasure in the voice of praise, raise thyself from the dust whereof thou art made, and exalt thy aim to what is praise-worthy.

34. Endeavor to be first in thy calling, whatever it be; neither let any go before thee in well-doing: envy not the merits of another, but improve thy own talents.

35. Hear the words of Prudence; give heed unto her counsels, and store them in thy heart; all the virtues lean upon her (siehe S. 19 u. 38, Geschlecht): she is the guide of human life.

36. As the branches of a tree return their sap to the root, from whence it arose ||; as a river pours his streams to the sea, whence his spring was supplied §; so the heart of a grateful man returneth benefits received.

37. O thou, who art enamored with the beauty of Truth, hold fast thy fidelity to her, (siehe S. 19 u. 38, Geschlecht) and forsake her not; the constancy of thy virtue shall crown thee with honor¶.

* Towards man, gegen Andere, oder: gegen die Menschen.

† Glücklich sind wir, wenn wir in die Vergangenheit wie in die Zukunft ruhig blicken können.'

Of human life, des menschlichen Lebens.

| Wovon er herstammt.

S Von wo aus seine Quelle gespeis't wurde.

T Du, der du Wohlgefallen an der Schönheit der Wahrheit findest, bewahre beine Treue gegen sie und verlaß sie nicht; die Beständigkeit deiner Lugend wird dich mit Ehren frönen.

38. See that your studies pervade your manners, and that your reading turns to virtue *.

39. There is no condition so bad as not to have its good side.

Indolence.

No other disposition, or turn of mind, so unfits a man for all the duties of life, as Indolence.

He cannot engage himself 1 in any employment or profession, because he will never have diligence enough to follow it; he can succeed in no undertaking, for he will never pursue it; he must be a bad husband, father, and relation, and a worthless friend.

If he is born poor, he will remain so all his life. It should be considered, that nature did not bring us into the world in a state of perfection, but has left us in a capacity for improvement; and we must labor to render ourselves 1 excellent.

There is not in the world, a more useless, idle animal, than the indolent man. I do not know 2 a more melancholy object, than a man, of an honest heart, and fine natural abilities, whose good qualities are thus destroyed by indolence.

Time.

Whatever we see, reminds us of the lapse of time. The day and night succeed each other, the rotation of the seasons varies the year, the sun rises, attains the meridian, declines, and sets; and the moon, every night, changes its form.

The day has been considered as an image of the year, and a year as a representative of life. The morning answers to the spring, and the spring to childhood and youth.

The noon corresponds to the summer, and the summer to the strength of manhood; the evening is an emblem of autumn, and autumn of declining life.

* Laß das Erlernte deine äußern Sitten durchdringen, und das Gelesene dir zur Tugend werden.

1 G. S. 55.

2. S. 26 u. 27.

The night, with its silence and darkness, shows the winter, in which all the powers of vegetation are benumbed; and the winter points out the time when life shall cease, with its hopes and pleasures.

If the wheel of life, which rolls thus silently along, passed uniformly on, we should never mark its approaches to the end of the course. If one hour were like another, if the course of the sun did not show that the day is wasting, days and years would glide unobserved.

Importance of Time.

We all complain of the shortness of time, and yet have much more than we know what to do with. Our lives are often spent either in doing nothing at all, or doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do. We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them.

Though we seem grieved of the shortness of life, we are wishing every period of it to be at an end. The minor longs to be af age, then to be a man of business, then to make up an estate, then to arrive at honors, then to retire.

Thus, as fast as our time runs, we should be very glad, in most parts of our lives, that it ran much faster than it does. Several hours of the day hang upon our hands; nay, we wish away whole years, and travel through time, as through a country filled with many wild and empty wastes, which we would fain hurry over, that we may arrive at those several little settlements, which we have set our hearts upon.

Look before you leap.

1

1. A shepherd was wandering over the fields with his son, and a deep brook flowed between them. The boy wished to go over to his father, but was unable, for the brook was very wide. Then he cut a branch from a bush, placed one end of it in the brook, leaned fearlessly upon it, and with all his 2 might, gave a sudden spring.

1 S. S. 26 u. 27.

2 G. G. 54.