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184

TWO KINDS OF REFINEMENT.

vided that we receive it cheerfully, and for the love of his holy Will; where there is least of our own, there is most of God's; the simple and pure acceptance of God's will maketh the purest patience.

The second privilege of this poverty is that it is a Poverty truly poor; Poverty that is commended, cherished, esteemed, succored, and assisted, is not altogether poor, having something of Riches in it; but Poverty which is despised, rejected, reproached, and abandoned, is truly poor. Such is ordinarily the poverty of secular men ; because they are not poor by their own choice, but by necessity, they are not much esteemed; and in that they are not esteemed, their poverty is poorer than that of religious men.

Be not discomforted then, that thou art not so well succored as is requisite, for in this consisteth the excellency of poverty. To have a desire to be poor, and not to receive the inconvenience of it, is too great an ambition, for it is to desire the honor of Poverty, and the commodity of Riches. De Sales.

There are two kinds of refinement: one which demands but little, makes but little ravage in the world; another barbaric, which demands the best of every thing, and finds nothing good enough, which lays waste whole fields for a pineapple, which proves itself the true princess by feeling three peas under twenty feather beds. One is lovely in woman, and easily attained under any circumstances, the other unlovely, under whatever delicate phrases and

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lofty pretensions it is veiled. Does not every false or excessive refinement in outer things partake of this latter kind? Is it a genuine refinement not to be able to endure this, to have a horror of that, to ransack a continent for your table, or send across the seas for your wardrobe? Is it not ungenerous to make such a great hole in the world, to crush so many roses for one fragrant drop? If our women had more faith in character and less in outward means, they would never lend their influence to the pursuit of wealth. Let them hear what one of their countrymen says about wealth.

"Wealth is a great means of refinement, and it is a security for gentleness, since it removes disturbing anxieties; and it is a pretty promoter of intelligence, since it multiplies the avenues for its reception; and it is a good basis for a generous habit of life; it even equips beauty, neither hardening its hand with toil, nor tempting the wrinkles to come early. But whether it provokes greatly that returning passion, that abnegation of soul, that sweet trustfulness, and abiding affection which are to clothe your heart with joy, is far more doubtful."

The

A great chief of the Feejee Islanders paid a visit to a village of serfs with his suite, and called for dinner. inhabitants having received such visits before, knew what sort of guests they had to entertain, and hurried accordingly. In their haste and desire to please, they took the victuals up before they were properly cooked, and brought them in the most humble way. The lazy courtiers and 13

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LOVE OF CHANGE.

tasters informed the chief that the victuals were quite raw, and observed that it was an old offence of that place. The chief flew into a passion, thinking that his dignity was slighted, and ordered the inhabitants to assemble before him. They did so, and it happened to be on a beach

covered with pumice stone. They crawled on their hands and knees, and waited the result of the anger of the great chief. At last he looked out of the door, and began to abuse them, saying he did not know how to punish them, for it was no use to kill them, as they would be glad to get off so easy. One of the chiefs observed that it would be easier for such hardened slaves to make a meal of pumice stone, than for such a chief to eat the pork underdone. The chief said, "Well thought of," and commanded the poor fellows to fall to at once. They immediately obeyed, and despatched such quantities of pumice stone, that you could in a little while observe the stones diminishing, although the beach was thirty or forty yards long. Review.

The great chief Heuheu of Taupo once proclaimed that the splendid volcanic mountain Tongauro, one of the grandest natural objects in the island, was his own backbone. The result of which was that the mountain was 'tabooed.' 1b.

Both in subjects of the intellect and the senses it is to be remembered, that the love of change is a weakness and imperfection of our nature, and implies in it the state

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of probation. And it will be found that they are the weakest-minded and the hardest-hearted men that most love variety and change; for the weakest-minded are those who both wonder most at things new, and digest worst things old; and the hardest-hearted are those that least feel the endearing and binding power of custom, and hold on by no cords of affection to any shore, but drive with the waves that cast up mire and dirt. Ruskin.

No man ever stood lower in my estimation for having a patch in his clothes; yet I am sure there is greater anxiety to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience. I sometimes try my acquaintances by some such test as this; who could wear a patch, or two extra seams only, over the knee. Thoreau.

Wilkinson quotes Diodorus as saying that the ancient Egyptians brought up a child to maturity for thirteen shillings.

It is a fact, says The Bombay Gazette, that the entire population of Hindostan do not average sixpence a year for clothing.

Besides the folly, I do really think there is something fearful in asking whether a man (a soldier too) can live on two hundred pounds a year; it always sounds like insolence to the thousands of good honest men who live on

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twenty; like cruelty to the tens of thousands who live on less than ten. Oakfield.

In India millions live at the rate of eight shillings per man a month, and are quite contented; but what a thing it is that they should be contented! If we wished to state the difference in the most striking way, we might say, discontent is the mischief in England, content in India.

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There is in the English people a fierce resolution to make every man live according to the means he possesses. Taylor's Life of Haydon.

A man with fifty, five hundred, a thousand pounds a day, given him freely, he too, you would say, is or might be a rather strong Worker !

You ask him at the year's end, "Where is your three hundred thousand pounds; what have you realized to us with that?" He answers in indignant surprise, "Done with it? Who are you that ask? I have eaten it, I and my flunkeys, and parasites, and slaves two-footed and fourfooted, in an ornamental manner.” An answer that fills me with boding apprehension, with foreshadows of despair.

Out of the loud piping whirlwind, audibly to him that has ears, the highest God is again announcing in these days; "Idleness shall not be." God has said, man cannot gainsay. Carlyle.

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