Would that my pen or pity could raise these weak, [15]
pitifully poor objects from their choice of self-degrada-
tion to the nobler purposes and wider aims of a life made
honest: a life in which the fresh flowers of feeling blos-
som, and, like the camomile, the more trampled upon,
the sweeter the odor they send forth to benefit mankind; [20]
a life wherein calm, self-respected thoughts abide in
tabernacles of their own, dwelling upon a holy hill, speak-
ing the truth in the heart; a life wherein the mind can
rest in green pastures, beside the still waters, on isles
of sweet refreshment. The sublime summary of an [25]
honest life satisfies the mind craving a higher good, and
bathes it in the cool waters of peace on earth; till it
grows into the full stature of wisdom, reckoning its
own by the amount of happiness it has bestowed upon
others. [30]

Not to avenge one's self upon one's enemies, is the
command of almighty wisdom; and we take this to be

[Page 228.]

a safer guide than the promptings of human nature. [1]
To know that a deception dark as it is base has been
practised upon thee,--by those deemed at least indebted
friends whose welfare thou hast promoted,--and yet
not to avenge thyself, is to do good to thyself; is to take [5]
a new standpoint whence to look upward; is to be calm
amid excitement, just amid lawlessness, and pure amid
corruption.

To be a great man or woman, to have a name whose
odor fills the world with its fragrance, is to bear with [10]
patience the buffetings of envy or malice--even while
seeking to raise those barren natures to a capacity for a
higher life. We should look with pitying eye on the
momentary success of all villainies, on mad ambition
and low revenge. This will bring us also to look on a [15]
kind, true, and just person, faithful to conscience and
honest beyond reproach, as the only suitable fabric out
of which to weave an existence fit for earth and
heaven.

Contagion

Whatever man sees, feels, or in any way takes cog-
nizance of, must be caught through mind; inasmuch
as perception, sensation, and consciousness belong to
mind and not to matter. Floating with the popular
current of mortal thought without questioning the re- [25]
liability of its conclusions, we do what others do,
believe what others believe, and say what others say.
Common consent is contagious, and it makes disease
catching.

People believe in infectious and contagious diseases, [30]