No More Learning

HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, SON OF JAMES
THE FIRST.
ENRY, Prince of Wales, son of James the First,
is one of the happy few, among persons of ex-
alted rank, who have possessed a disinterested
and affectionate friend.
Of the young noblemen, who frequented the Prince's
court, Sir John Harrington deservedly enjoyed the
principal share of his Highness's favour, and even
friendship, being indeed in all respects one of the
most virtuous and accomplished youths of his time,
and an example to those of his rank in all ages. He
was created Knight of the Bath, with the Duke of
York and others, in January, 1603, and was, as soon
as he came to years of discretion, remarkable for his
strict observance of the duties of piety both in public
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? FRIENDSHIP.
139
and private, and his application to the study of polite
learning. At the close of every week he examined
himself, what progress he had made in virtue and
goodness, and what fault he had committed during
the course of it; and kept an exact diary of his life.
His liberality to the distressed was no less remarkable
than his humanity and affability to all. The friend-
ship between the Prince and Sir John Harrington was
cultivated by a correspondence of letters during their
absence from each other, especially while the latter
was on his travels abroad: they are in Latin, and are
still extant.
Soon after Sir John left England, he wrote to the
Prince, regretting his absence from him in strong terms;
adding, that his grief was mitigated in some measure by
these considerations; first, that by his travels in other
countries, and the experience which he might gain by
it, he should some time or other be more qualified to
execute his Highness's commands, which were and
always should be sacred to him. Next that he had op-
portunities of doing justice to the virtues of his High-
ness at the courts of other Princes: he promised to be
careful to keep an exact journal of his travels for the
amusement of his Highness; concluding, that he car-
ried about him day and night in his bosom, and should
for ever do so, and often kissed, that ring, which the
Prince had presented to him, and which he esteemed
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FRIENDSHIP.
as a mark of his Highness's singular favour, in which
he placed the height of all his fortunes.
In another letter, he takes notice, that having now
in the space of seven weeks, travelled through great
part of the Low Countries, and seen three courts of
princes, and as many universities, together with seve-
ral large cities, fortified towns, and strong castles and
forts, he had set down in Latin, as well as he was
able, such observations as he could make, relating to
politics, men eminent for authority, prudence, or
learning, war, the present state of affairs, and the
manners of the people; in order at a proper time to
give an account how he had employed every day, to
his Highness, to whom he devoted both himself and
all his studies. For though he was thoroughly con-
scious of the slenderness of his own abilities, yet he
was unwilling to be one of those, who travel only to
indulge themselves in a shameful pursuit of pleasures,
or with a view of merely gratifying their eyes with
novelties. On the contrary, he assured the prince of
his own resolution to exert his utmost endeavours to
improve himself by experience, that he might be able
to serve his Highness with more dignity and ability.
This alone was the sum of his hopes, and a sufficient
incitement to him to go through all labours and fatigues.
This promising young nobleman survived the Prince,
his patron and friend, but by three months.
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? SECRECY.
"Dost thou so young
Know when to speak, and when to hold thy tongue? "
Dryden.
HE success of many undertakings depends upon
the Secrecy used in their commencement, and
therefore the faculty of retaining within the
mind, matters communicated in confidence, is very im-
portant in little Princes, and is by no means inconsist-
ent with that open frankness in the general conduct,
which is the great charm of youth.
Fenelon, a very wise and experienced man, who
wrote the poem of Telemaque, expressly for the
guidance of the prince his pupil, makes Telemachus
say: "The friends of my father took care to exercise
me early in keeping secrets: from my very childhood,
they confided to me all their anxieties, and conversed
with me upon the most important affairs. I was
enchanted that they should have this confidence in
me; it made me think myself already a man, and
never did I abuse it; never did the slightest word
escape me, that could betray a secret. " The bio-
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SECRECY.
graphers also, of two excellent young princes, Henry,
Prince of Wales, and Louis, Duke of Burgundy, of
both of whom I have related some anecdotes, mention
as a promising trait in their childhood, their power of
retaining the secrets confided to them.
PAPIRIUS PRiETEXTATUS.
APIRIUS Prsetextatus obtained that surname in
commemoration of an action of his, that gave
great satisfaction to the Roman Senate, during
the time that he still wore the Praetexta, a certain
gown appropriated to young men. His father carried
him to the senate-house, where affairs of the greatest
importance were then in debate. On his return, his
mother questioned him as to what had passed, when he
told her that it was a secret matter, which it was not
proper for him to disclose. This only excited the
lady's curiosity the more, and she pressed the lad so
hard, that in order to get rid of her importunities,
he invented a subject of discussion, and told her, that
the senate were debating, whether it would be more
advantageous to the republic to decree, that one
husband should have two wives, or that one wife
should have two husbands. The mother of Papirius
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? SECRECY. 143
was alarmed, and communicated the secret to many
other Roman matrons, who on the morrow went in
a body to the senate house, and presented a petition,
that rather than one man should have two wives, one
woman should marry two husbands. The senators
were in great astonishment at this strange petition,
when young Papirius stepped forth, and unravelled
the mystery: they were much amused at his explana-
tion, and praised his wit and secrecy, but from that
time it was made a law among the senators, that no
son of a senator should be admitted to their meetings,
Papirius excepted.
HEPHjESTION, FRIEND OF ALEXANDER
THE GREAT.
ALEXANDER the Great was not in the habit of
communicating the contents of the letters he
received from his mother Olympias, even to
his friend Hephaestion. But one day, Hephsestion
happened to cast his eye upon one of them, when he
went, according to custom, to read over the king's
shoulder: Alexander did not hinder him from reading
on; only, when he had done, he took his signet ring
from his finger, and pressed it upon the lips of He-
phsestion. He j,knew that the slightest hint would
secure his friend's silence.
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? TRUTH.
"O, Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all temples, the upright heart and pure. "
Milton.
iRUTH is the most beautiful of all things, and the
} love of it so characteristic of a noble mind, that
) in a Prince it is peculiarly becoming.
We have several instances in history, of persons so
celebrated among their fellow-citizens for their strict
adherence to truth, that even in courts of justice their
evidence has been admitted, without the customary
form of administering the oath to them: this is told
of Xenocrates, the philosopher, in ancient, and of Pe-
trarch, the poet, in modern times. And it is said, that
the regard which Cato had to truth was so generally
acknowledged, that it was a common saying among
the Romans: I could not believe such a thing, though
Cato himself should affirm it.
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? TRUTH.
145
THE ABCHDUCHESS MARIE-ANTOINETTE.
|HE Archduchess Marie-Antoinette, was asked by
her mother, the Empress-queen, Maria Theresa,
whether the letters and copies which were shown
as proofs of her improvement were entirely her own
doing. She was very fearful of injuring her governess
by telling the truth, but, notwithstanding, acknow-
ledged, without attempting any evasion, that they had
all been previously traced with a pencil.
THE DAUPHIN, SON OF LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH.
URING the gloomy period of the imprisonment
of the Royal Family of France in the Temple,
the king endeavoured sometimes to exercise and
amuse his children by proposing to them enigmas, and
puzzling questions. "Charles," said he one day, " what
is it that is black and white, weighs scarcely an ounce,
flies day and night like the wind, and tells us many
things without speaking? " "Papa," said the prince,
"I think it is a horse. " "A horse, Charles! " "Well,
papa, a horse may be black and white. " "Yes. " "It
goes quickly, and does not talk. " "True, my little
friend; but a horse weighs a little more than an ounce,
L
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? 146
TRUTH.
and never tells us any thing. " "Ah, I have guessed
it! It is the newspaper. " "Right. I will give you
another. Who is the most interesting lady, the most
beautiful and noble"--" It is mamma," said the Dau-
phin, embracing the queen. --" But I have not finished--who is seldom followed, and often hated? " "Ah,
this is difficult," said the Prince, and he continued
musing. "I know it, papa," said he; "it is the god-
dess Truth; but to tell you the truth, my sister whis-
pered the answer to me. "
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, GRANDSON OF
LOUIS THE FIFTEENTH.
OUIS, Duke of Burgundy, was no less the enemy
of falsehood than of flattery. He owned his
faults candidly, and would not allow them to be
palliated through indulgence, or a weak desire to please
him. Once, when he had been inattentive at his les-
sons, and repeated badly the tasks that had been set
him, a lady happened to enter from the queen, to in-
quire whether the preceptor was satisfied with his
pupil. "Entirely so," was the complaisant reply. As
soon as the lady had left the room, "What, sir," said
the Prince, "do you exhort me never to tell a lie, and
do you lie for me, and in my presence! "
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? TRUTH.
147
JOHN, KING OF FRANCE.
jT was a beautiful saying of John, King of France, that if Justice and Good Faith were banished from
((JUJ the earth, they ought still to find a dwelling-place
in the hearts of kings. And he proved that this was
not merely a sentiment accidentally uttered, but a prin-
ciple of action with him; for Edward the Third, whose
prisoner he was, having allowed him to return to
France, to endeavour to raise the stipulated sum for
his ransom, John, finding this impossible, owing to the
impoverished state of his kingdom, returned to Eng-
land, and gave himself up to his former captivity.
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? FLATTERY.
"Oh, that men's ears should be
To counsel deaf, but not to flattery. "
Shakspeare.
HOWEVER careful the parents of young Princes
ft may be to surround them with persons of integ-
rity, the voice of flattery will notwithstanding
reach them, and no faculty is more important to them,
than the power of discriminating between praise duly
earned, and the adulation of selfish and interested
persons.
We have several examples of Princes, whose innate
singleness of heart, and love of what is exact and true,
have enabled them to detect and despise flattery.
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? FLATTERY.
149
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, GRANDSON OF LOUIS THE FIFTEENTH.
OUIS, Duke of Burgundy, grandson of Louis the
Fifteenth, was a prince of great promise, but died
at the age of nine years, from the effects of a fall.
He had a great aversion to all who flattered him, or
concealed the truth from him. He took a great affec-
tion for one of his valets de chambre, named Tourol.
"How happy is Tourol! " said some one to him, " you
always seem delighted to see him, and allow him to
be continually with you. " "It is true," replied the
Prince; "I love him, because he does not spare me,
but always reminds me when I am going to do any
thing wrong. "
CANUTE THE GREAT.
ANUTE, the greatest and most powerful monarch
of his time, King of Denmark and Norway, as
well as of England, could not fail of meeting
with adulation from his courtiers; and some of them,
breaking out one day in admiration of his grandeur,
exclaimed, that his power was more than human, and
that every thing was possible to him. Upon which
the monarch, it is said, ordered his chair to be set on
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FLATTERY.
the sea-shore, while the tide was coming in; and as
the waters approached, he commanded them to retire
and to obey the voice of him who was lord of all. He
feigned to sit some time in expectation of their sub-
mission, but the sea rolling on, not only wetted the
skirts of his robe, but likewise splashed his limbs; he
then turned to his courtiers, and remarked to them,
that he, like every creature in the universe, was feeble
and impotent, and that power resided with one Being
only, in whose hands were all the elements, and who
alone could say to the ocean, Thus far shalt thou go,
and no farther.
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? JUSTICE.
"Justice, like the liberal light of heaven,
Unpurchased, shines on all. " Thomson.
HE distribution of justice is the peculiar and most
important function of royalty, and as its first
principles are simple and immutable, they can-
not too early form the subject of contemplation to a
young Prince.
"The virtuous soul is a storehouse, in which are
treasured up the rules of action, and the seeds of mo-
rality. All the laws of nations and wise decrees of
state, the statutes of Solon, and the Twelve Tables,
are but a paraphrase upon this standing rectitude of
nature, this fruitful principle of justice, which is ready
to run out and enlarge itself into suitable determina-
tions, upon all emergent objects and occasions. "
Dr. South.
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? 152
JUSTICE.
HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, SON OF JAMES
THE FIRST.
ENRY, Prince of Wales, son of James the First,
was remarkable for his adherence to justice upon
all occasions, and never suffered himself to deter-
mine rashly, or till after a due examination of both par-
ties. This love of justice showed itself very early, in
his favouring and rewarding those among his pages, and
other young gentlemen placed about him, who, by men
of great judgment, were thought to be of the best beha-
viour and most merit. And when he was but a little
above five years of age, and a son of the Earl of Mar,
somewhat younger than himself, falling out with one
of his Highness's pages, did him some wrong, the
Prince reproved him for it, saying, " I love you, be-
cause you are my lord's son, and my cousin; but if
you are not better conditioned, I will love such a one
better;" naming the child who had complained of him.
The love of justice showed itself, as he grew older,
in more important points. In his removal from one
of his houses to another, and in his attendance upon the
king on the same occasions, or in progresses, he would
suffer no provisions or carriages to be taken up for
his use, without full contentment given to the parties.
And he was so solicitous to prevent any person from
being prejudiced or annoyed by himself or any of his
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? JUSTICE.
153
train, that whenever he went out to hawk before har-
vest was ended, he would take care that none should
pass through the corn; and, to set them an example,
would himself rather ride a furlong about.
In the government of his household and manage-
ment of his revenues, the same love of order and jus-
tice was perceptible. He not only gave orders, but
saw almost every thing done himself, so that there
were scarce any of his domestics whom he did not
know by name; and though he loved plenty and mag-
nificence in his house, he restrained them within the
rules of frugality and moderation. He ordered to be
set down in writing the several heads of all his annual
charges; the ordinary expense of his house and his
stables; that of his apparel and wardrobe; his rewards,
and every thing else that was to be issued yearly out
of his coffers. These he compared with his annual
revenue, and so judiciously proportioned them by re-
trenching what he found superfluous, and adding what
was wanting, that he reduced the whole to a certainty,
such as his revenues would defray, besides a yearly
saving of some thousands of pounds, which he reserved
for contingent and occasional exigencies.
By this economy he avoided the necessity of being
rigid to his tenants, either by raising their farms or
fines, or seeking or taking advantage of forfeitures.
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? 154
JUSTICE.
GUSTAVUS THE THIRD OF SWEDEN.
PERSON asked an audience of Gustavus the
Third, the young King of Sweden, and told him he came to apprise him that a certain man at-
tached to the Court was forming projects against his
majesty. The king, aware that the informer was the
enemy of the accused person, dismissed him saying,
"Go and be reconciled to your enemy, and then I may,
perhaps, listen to you, and believe you. "
CYRUS THE GREAT.
ENOPHON tells us, that among the ancient Per-
sians, the boys who frequented the public places
of instruction, passed their time in learning
Justice, and would tell you that they went for that
purpose, as those with us who go to learn letters, tell
you that they go for that purpose. And he gives us
the following dialogue between Cyrus and his mother,
illustrative of this.
When Mandane was about to return home, and
Cyrus expressed his desire to remain in Media with
his grandfather, Mandane said, "But how, child, will
you be instructed here in the knowledge of justice when
your teachers are in Persia? " " 0 mother," said Cyrus,
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? JUSTICE.
155
"that I understand exactly already! " "How so? " said
Mandane. "Because my teacher," said he, " appointed
me judge over others, as being very exact in the know-
ledge of justice myself. But yet, I had some stripes
given me, as not determining right in one judgment
that I gave; the case was this: A bigger boy, who
had a little coat, stripping a less boy who had a larger,
puts upon the little boy the coat that was his own, and
puts on himself the coat that was the little boy's. I
therefore, passing judgment upon them, decreed that it
was best that each should keep the coat that best fitted
him. Upon which my teacher thrashed me, and told
me, that if I had been constituted judge of what fitted
best, I ought to have determined in this manner: but
when I was to judge whose coat it was, then, said he,
it must be inquired what right possession is; whether
he that took a thing by force, should have it, or whe-
ther he who made it, or purchased it, should possess
it; and then he told me, that what was according to
law was just; and that what was contrary to law was
violent: he bid me take notice, therefore, that a judge
ought to give his opinion with the law. So, mother,"
said Cyrus, "I now understand exactly what is just. "
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? GENEROSITY.
"His heart and hand both open, and both free;
For what he has, he gives, what thinks, he shows. "
Shakspeaee.
ENEROUS and liberal habits, whether in refer-
ence to the purse, or to matters of opinion, or to
the construction to be put upon the actions of
others, should be much encouraged in young Princes,
into whose minds nothing narrow or mean should ever
be allowed to creep.
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? GENEROSITY.
157
THE COMTE DE BEAUJOLAIS, BROTHER OF
LOUIS PHILIPPE.
HE Comte de Beaujolais, one of the brothers of
Louis Philippe, the ex-king of the French, was
asked one day, when he was about four years
old, why he always gave his foster sister, when she came
to see him, his prettiest playthings. "Because," re-
plied he, "I like them best myself, and therefore I
think she will like them best. "
LOUIS THE TWELFTH OF FRANCE.
jT was a noble saying of Louis the Twelfth of
France, when he was reminded, on coming to the
throne, that he could now be revenged upon his enemies, "The King of France avenges not the injuries
done to the Duke of Orleans. "
EDWARD THE SIXTH.
HEN Prince Edward, afterwards Edward the
Sixth, was about five years old, his godfather
Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, sent him
as a present, a complete little table service in polished
silver, worked in a superior manner: there were
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? 158 GENEROSITY.
dishes, plates, drinking-cups, spoons, every thing, in
short, necessary for a dinner, and all in a miniature
size. The attendant who took this pretty present
to the Prince, said to him, "See what has been sent
to your Highness! but you must not let any one touch
them but yourself, or they will soon be spoiled. "
"What are you saying, my dear Spindbrok? " replied
the royal child; "I would rather never have a play-
thing, than be obliged to keep it to myself. "
CYRUS THE GREAT AND CRCESUS, KING
OF LYDIA.
RCESUS once suggested to Cyrus, that by the
multitude of presents he made, he would be a
beggar, while it was in his power to lay up mighty
treasures of gold for his own use: Cyrus then asked
him thus: "What sums do you think I should now
have in possession, if I had been hoarding up gold
as you bid me, ever since I have been in power? "
And Croesus, in reply, mentioned a mighty sum.
Then Cyrus said, "Well, Croesus, do you send with
Hystaspes here, some person in whom you have con-
fidence; and do you, Hystaspes, go about to my
friends, tell them that I am in want of money for a
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? GENEROSITY.
159
certain affair, and bid them furnish me with as much
as they are each of them able to do, and tell them to
write down the sum they can spare me, sign it, and
deliver the letter to the officer of Croesus to bring me. "
When they had gone round, Croesus found, upon cal-
culation, many times the sum that he had told Cyrus
he might now have had in his treasury, if he hoarded.
When it appeared to be thus, Cyrus said, "You see,
Croesus, that I have my treasures too; but you bid me
hoard them up, to be envied and hated for them: you
bid me place hired guards upon them, and in them to
put my trust; but I make my friends rich, and reckon
them to be treasures to me, and guards both to myself,
and to all things of value that belong to us, and such
as are more to be trusted, than if I set up a guard of
hirelings. "
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? GRATITUDE AND ATTACHMENT.
"A grateful mind,
By owing owes not, but still pays; at once,
Indebted and discharged. " Milton.
F it is the duty of the lowest and the poorest to
remember with gratitude benefits conferred, how
much more is it incumbent upon Princes, who
have great things in their power, to return with grati-
tude and attachment the anxious cares that have been
bestowed upon their early years, and to seek to re-
ward those, to whom they owe not only their mental
and personal acquirements, but their virtuous habits
and inclinations.
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? GRATITUDE AND ATTACHMENT, 161
LOUIS THE SEVENTEENTH.
NE day the brutal Simon, in one of his fits of
rage, rushed upon his victim, the unfortunate
little Dauphin, and would have felled him to the
ground, with a heavy iron bar that he had in his hand,
but for the interference of M. Naudin, a surgeon, who
was then attending the wife of Simon. The next time
M. Naudin came to visit his patient, the Prince went
up to him, and presenting him a pear which he had
reserved from his homely supper, said to him, "I
have nothing to give you but this pear, to prove my
gratitude to you: accept it, pray: you will make me
so happy! "
THE FIRST DAUPHIN.
HE first Dauphin, elder son of Louis the Six-
teenth, while suffering under his last illness,
showed great attachment to M. de Bourset, his
valet de chambre. He asked him one day for a pair of
scissors, but this gentleman represented to him, that
he had been forbidden to let him have them. He en-
treated so much, that at length a pair was put into his
hands. He then cut off a lock of his hair, which he
folded very carefully in paper, and presenting it to
M. de Bourset, said: "This is the only present I can M
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? 162
GRATITUDE AND
make you, Sir, having nothing of my own; but when
I am dead, you shall present this token to my papa
and mamma; it will remind them of me, and then I
hope they will remember you. "
ALEXANDER, EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.
HE attachment of Alexander, Emperor of Russia,
for his preceptor, La Harpe, was rather filial
than that of a pupil; his greatest delight was in
his society, and he would cling round his neck in the
most affectionate embraces, by which frequently his
clothes were covered with powder. "See, my dear
Prince," La Harpe would say, "what a figure you
have made yourself. " "Oh, never mind it," Alexander
replied, "no one will blame me for carrying away all
I can from my dear preceptor. "
HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, SON OF JAMES
THE FIRST.
HE following letter from Henry, Peince of
Wales, then about twelve years old, to his
father, James the First, proves the regard
and gratitude he had for his master, Mr. Newton;
and his suit was successful with the King.
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? ATTACHMENT.
163
Sir,
Your Majesty commanded me to write to you when
any fit occasion were offered; and now, hearing that,
upon the death of the Archbishop of York, there are
many suitors for preferment, I have taken the bold-
ness to be a suitor also for my master. Not because
I doubt that your Majesty is mindful of your pro-
mise made at Hampton Court, that if he would stay
so long as till the Archbishop were dead, he should
have the Deanery of Durham, but to show the desire I
have to do good to my master. I have learned, among
other good lessons, this out of Pibrac:
"Tu ne scaurois d'assez ample salaire
Recompenser celui, qui t'a soign6
En ton Enfance; et qui t'a enseigne
A bien parler, et sur tout a bien faire. "
And I know perfectly, that my master's hope these
two years past hath rested altogether upon the ex-
pectation of this Deanery. And so, hoping that your
Majesty will both accept of my humble suit, and ex-
cuse my boldness, I kiss your Majesty's hands. Your Majesty's most dutiful and obedient Son,
Henry.
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? LAUDABLE EMULATION.
"If it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive. "
Shakspeare.
OBLE and active minds are ever looking up:
they set high examples before them, and make
all their efforts tend to reach the excellence of
their model. Sloth and Folly only rest in an indolent
and silly self-satisfaction.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-24 14:31 GMT / http://hdl.