MEN-and their Heirs. He who sees his heir in his own child, carries his eye over hopes and possessions lying far beyond his gravestone, viewing his life, even here, as a period but closed with a comma. He who sees his heir in another man's child, sees the full stop at the end of the sentence. Bulwer Lytton. MEN OF BUSINESS-Rarity of. Rare, almost as great poets, rarer, perhaps, than veritable saints and martyrs, are consummate men of business. A man, to be excellent in this way, must not only be variously gifted, but his gifts should be nicely proportioned to one another. He must have in a high degree that virtue which men have always found the least pleasant of virtues-prudence. His prudence, however, will not be merely of a cautious and quiescent order, but that which, being ever actively engaged, is more fitly called discretion than prudence. He requires a great knowledge of character, with that exquisite tact which feels unerringly the right moment when to act. A discreet rapidity must pervade all the movements of his thought and action. He must be singularly free from vanity, and is generally found to be an enthusiast, who has the art to conceal his enthusiasm. MEN OF GENIUS. Helps. The men of genius that I fancy most have erectile heads, like the cobra-di-capello. You remember what they tell of William Pinkney, the great pleader; how in his eloquent paroxysms the veins of his neck would swell, and his face flush, and his eyes glitter, until he seemed on the verge of apoplexy. The hydraulic arrangements for supplying the brain with blood are only second in importance to its own organization. The bulbous-headed fellows that steam well when they are at work, are the men that draw big audiences, and give us marrowy books and pictures. It is a good sign to have one's feet grow cold when he is writing. A great writer and speaker once told me that he often wrote with his feet in hot water; but for this, all his blood would have run into his head, as the mercury sometimes withdraws into the ball of a thermometer. You don't suppose that my remarks made at this table are like so many postage-stamps, do you, each to be only once uttered? If you do, you are mistaken. He must be a poor creature that does not often repeat himself. Imagine the author of the excellent "Know thyself," never piece of advice, alluding to that sentiment again during the MEN OF HONOUR-to be Relied on. Napoleon, in his confidential conversations with me, drew a distinction between a man of honour and a conscientious man, giving his preference to the former, because, he said, we know what to expect from a man who is bound simply and purely by his words and his engagements, while in the other case we depend on his opinions and feelings, which may vary. "He does that which he thinks he ought to do, or which he supposes is best." "Thus," he added, "my father-in-law, the Emperor of Austria, has done that which he believes conducive to the interest of his people. He is an honest man, a conscientious man, but not a man of honour. You, for example, if the enemy had invaded France and stood upon the MILESTONE-Cheering Influence of a. And, when the equinox begins to mutter In fancy, pictures fair of bread and butter, Invigorating tea, and the warm bath For aching feet. Let the shower spit and sputter, Flung thro' the hedge across the loamy path By the keen gasty gale,-they reck not; they Gather encouragment at every mile. Seeking with eager glance beside the way For the inspiriting stone, which-like a smile On a physician's face-kind words doth seem Mouths without hands, maintain'd at vast Stout, once a month, they march, a blustering band, And ever, but in time of need, at hand. MILKMAID-Labours of the. Dryden. find also, that we can exert a voluntary power over these processes, by which we control, direct, and regulate them at our will,-and that when we do not exert this power, the mind is left to the influence of external im Soon as the grey-eyed morning streaks the pressions, or casual trains of association, often skies, My voice proclaims How exquisitely the individual mind (And the progressive powers perhaps no less Of the whole species,) to the external world Is fitted and how exquisitely tooTheme this but little heard of among menThe external world is fitted to the mind; And the creation (by no lower name Can it be called,) which they with blended might Accomplish-this is our high argument.Wordsworth. MIND-Amicability of. His sweetest mind, 'Twixt mildness tempered and low courtesy, Could lean as soon to be as not be kind; Churlish despite ne'er looked from his calm When we turn our serious attention to the economy of the mind, we perceive that it is capable of a variety of processes, of the most remarkable and most important nature. We unprofitable, and often frivolous. We thus MIND-Condition of. But leaves its darken'd dust behind. Byron. The age of a cultivated mind is even more complacent, and even more luxurious, than the youth. It is the reward of the due use of the endowments bestowed by nature; while they who in youth have made no provision for age, are left like an unsheltered tree, stripped of its leaves and its branches, shaking and withering before the cold blasts of winter. In truth, nothing is so happy to itself, and so attractive to others, as a genuine and refined imagination, that knows its own powers, and throws forth its treasures with frankness and fearlessness. Our thoughts, our reminiscences, our intellectual acquirements, die with us to this world; but to this world only. If they are what they ought to be, they are treasures which we lay up for heaven. That which is of the earth, earthly, perishes with rank, honours, authority, and other earthly and ¦ perishable things; but nothing that is worth retaining can be lost. Affections, well-placed and dutifully cherished; friendships, happily formed and faithfully maintained; knowledge, acquired with worthy intent; and intellectual powers that have been diligently improved, are the talents which our Lord and Master has committed to our keeping; these will accompany us into another state of existence, as surely as the soul in that state retains its identity and its consciousness. Southey. MIND-Culture of the. As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without culture, so the mind, MIND. harlot. What was seeking the favour of a Queen, to a man like Bacon, but the mere courtship of harlotry? Compare this age with that of the Republicans; that indeed was an awful age, as compared with our own. England may be said to have then overflowed from the fulness of grand principle- from the greatness which men felt in themselves, abstracted from the prudence with which they ought to have considered whether their principles were, or were not, adapted to the condition of mankind at large. Compare the revolution then effected with that of a day not long past, when the bubbling up and overflowing was occasioned by the elevation of the dregs-when there was a total absence of all principle, when the dregs had risen from the bottom to the top, and thus converted into scum, founded a monarchy to be the poisonous bane and misery of the rest of mankind. It is absolutely necessary to recollect that the age in which Shakspeare lived was one of great abilities applied to individual and prudential purposes, and not an age of high moral feeling and lofty principle, which gives a man of genius the power of thinking of all things in reference to all. If, then, we should find that Shakspeare took these materials as they were presented to him, and yet to all effectual purposes produced the same grand result as others attempted to produce in an age so much more favourable, shall we not feel and acknowledge the purity and holiness of genius—a light which, however it might shine on a dunghill, was as pure as the divine influence which created all the beauty of Coleridge. nature? MIND. MIND-Vast Powers of. That man, It is not from his form in which we trace 'Tis the mind that makes the body rich; So honour peereth in the meanest habit. MIND-Relaxation of. Shakspeare. perfect a piece of work as ever was made. He took it to pieces and put it together again twenty times; no matter of defect was to be discovered, and yet the watch went intolerably. At last, it struck him that possibly the balancewheel might have been near a magnet. On applying a needle to it, he found his suspicions true; here was all the mischief. The steel works in the other parts of the watch had a perpetual influence on its motions; and the watch went as well as possible with a new wheel. If the soundest mind be magnetized by any predilection, it must act irregularly. MIND-Spirituality of. Cecil. Know, sir, that the wings On which my soul is mounted, have long since Borne her too high to stoop to any prey That soars not upwards; sordid and dunghill Minds, composed of earth, in that gross element Fix all their happiness; but purer spirits, Purged and refined, shake off that clog of Human frailty. Beaumont and Fletcher. MIND-Triumph of. It is interesting to notice how some minds seem almost to create themselves, springing up under every disadvantage; and working their solitary but irresistible way through a thousand obstacles. Nature seems to delight in disappointing the assiduities of art, with which it would rear dulness to maturity; and to glory in the vigour and luxuriance of her chance productions. She scatters the seeds of genius to the winds, and though some may perish among the stony places of the world, and some may be choked by the thorns and brambles of early adversity, yet others will now and then strike root even in the clefts of the rock, struggle bravely up into sunshine, and spread over their sterile birth-place all the beauties of vegetation. Washington Irving. Narrow minds think nothing right that is above their own capacity. La Rochefoucauld. MINDS (Great)-Necessity for. The world must have great minds even as great spheres suns. Bailey. MINDS-(Great)-Repose of Really great minds seem to have cast off from their hearts the grave's earth, as well as dissipated the clouds which conceal the heaven from our view, and they thus disclose to themselves and to us a clear and blissful world of everlasting repose. The beauty of such minds appears simple and unagitated, extending, like the blue ether, over the world and time. And it is the repose produced by satisfaction and completion, not exhaustion from the fatigue of continuous endeavour, which gives an expression of serenity to their eyes, and imprints its quiet on their lips. Richter. MINISTER-Description of a. A love benignant he discreetly taught. |