SECTION LXI. OF FOOLS WHO DESPISE MISFORTUNE. Quemcunque miserum videris, hominem scias. CONTEMN not, fool, with ideot laugh, Those pangs which others may endure; From mis'ry's cup thou soon mays't quaff, If others are bereft of store*, And pine in poverty away; the more, Why shouldst thou add one pang The purse-proud, overbearing ostentation of menial minds, when gifted with riches, is one of the acutest torments a liberal and scientific man can experience, who is the sport of untoward fortune; since he has not only to endure the evil from a wretch in every respect his inferior, but also to stifle those generous emotions which a just sense of contempt inspires, when heightened by the polish of education. Want is the scorn of ev'ry wealthy fool, Or if the body should sustain Some direful shock; some dread disguise ; Hast thou the heart to jeer at pain, Canst thou deformity despise * ? If loss of parent or of friend, Excites the pungent thrill of woe; Why should thy folly fear deride, The timid ne'er can harm thy rest; * No folly can be more indecorous than that of deriding any bodily infirmity; for the province of a wise man is to profit by the example, and offer due thanks to the great Father of all, for having spared him from a similar misfortune. †This is a species of barbarity which, though less frequent among fools, is, nevertheless, indulged in at periods, to the utter disgrace of its practitioner, therefore, let the words of Ovid be ever kept in mind, who emphatically saith, Res est sacra miser, t To ridicule the timid, or deride fallen greatness, is Think, fool, altho' thou smil'st this hour, L'ENVOY OF THE POET. The bless'd religious precept ne'er disclaim, THE POET'S CHORUS TO FOOLS. Come, trim the boat, row on each Rara Avis, Crowds flock to man my Stultifera Navis. a certain index of a mean and dastardly spirit; nor can the annotator, however enamoured of Shakspeare, peruse, without a sensation of disgust, those particular scenes in Henry VIII. and the Merchant of Venice; in the former of which drama is conveyed the mean tauntings of the noblemen sent to divest Wolsey of his state offices, while the latter contains the most ungenerous reflections on the religion and misfortunes of the ruined Shylock there, is, however, little doubt, but that the poet, in the latter instance, was guided more by the popular prejudice of those times, than prompted to indulge in mean reflections against the vindictive Israelite from any inherent littleness of mind. SECTION LXII. OF THE FOLLY OF ALL THE WORLD. Ce monde est plein de fous, et qui n'en veut pas voir, Doit se renfermer seul, et casser son miroir. ALL the world's a mass of folly, What creates the infant's joy? All his fervor, all his love; And these pastimes, when grown old, All forgot; absorb'd in gold †. *It is sufficient to annotate this stanza with the words of Horace, Omnes stultos insanire. † From the moment reason begins to assume its em What but wealth is man pursuing, Rear'd in folly's ideot schoolerie, porium, folly and vice equally claim a share of the human mind, because the passions ripen quicker than the intellect, and it was on this account, that Bias, one of the seven sages of Greece, hath said, Οι πλείονες κακος. * It appears very surprising, on the first contemplation, that men should slip into the different stages of existence, indulging in their foibles, without being scarcely ever noticed by those individuals who surround them; yet this is not at all to be wondered at, when we consider that Niminum insanus paucis videatur, eo quod, Maxima pars hominum morbo jactatur eodem. |