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CHAPTER XXI. P. I.

A DOUBT CONCERNING THE USES OF PHILOSOPHY.

El comienzo de salud

es el saber,

distinguir y conocer

qual es virtud.

Proverbios del Marques de Santillana.

THAT grave reply produced a short pause. It was broken by the boy, who said, returning to the subject, “I have been thinking, father, that it is not a good thing to be a philosopher."

"And what, my son, has led thee to that thought?"

"What I have read at the end of the dictionary, father, There was one philosopher that was pounded in a mortar." "That, Daniel," said the father, "could neither have been the philosopher's fault nor his choice."

"But it was because he was a philosopher, my lad,” said Guy, "that he bore it so bravely, and said, 'Beat on; you can only bruise the shell of Anaxarchus! If he had not been a philosopher they might have pounded him just the same, but they would never have put him in the dictionary. Epictetus in like manner bore the torments which his wicked master inflicted upon him without a groan, only saying, Take care, or you will break my leg;' and when the leg was broken, he looked the wretch in the face, and said, 'I told you you would break it.'"

"But," said the youngster, "there was one philosopher who chose to live in a tub; and another, who, that he might never again see anything to withdraw his mind from meditation, put out his eyes by looking upon a bright brass basin, such as I cured my warts in."

"He might have been a wise man," said William Dove, "but not wondrous wise; for if he had, he would not have used the basin to put his eyes out. He would have jumped into a quickset hedge, and scratched them out, like the man of our town; because, when he saw his eyes were out, he might then have jumped into another hedge and scratched them in again. The man of our town was the greatest phi losopher of the two."

"And there was one," continued the boy, "who had better have blinded himself at once, for he did nothing else but cry at everything he saw. Was not this being very foolish ?"

"I am sure," says William, "it was not being merry and wise." "There was another who said that hunger was his daily food."

"He must have kept such a table as Duke Humphrey," quoth William; "I should not have liked to dine with him.' "Then there was Crates," said the persevering boy; "he had a good estate, and sold it, and threw the money into the sea, saying, 'Away, ye paltry cares! I will drown you, that you may not drown me.'"

"I should like to know," said William, "what the overseers said to that chap, when he applied to the parish for support."

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They sent him off to bedlam, I suppose," said the mother; "it was the fit place for him, poor creature."

"And when Aristippus set out upon a journey, he bade his servants throw away all their money, that they might travel the better. Why, they must have begged their way, and it cannot be right to beg if people are not brought to it by misfortune. And there were some who thought there was no God. I am sure they were fools, for the Bible says so."

"Well, Daniel," said Guy, "thou hast studied the end of the dictionary to some purpose!"

"And the Bible, too, Master Guy!" said Dinah, her countenance brightening with joy at her son's concluding remark. "It's the best part of the book," said the boy, replying to his schoolmaster; "there are more entertaining and surprising things there than I ever read in any other place, except in my father's book about Pantagruel."

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THE elder Daniel had listened to this dialogue in his usual quiet way, smiling sometimes at his brother William's observations. He now stroked his forehead, and looking mildly but seriously at the boy, addressed him thus:

"My son, many things appear strange or silly in themselves if they are presented to us simply, without any notice

when and where they were done, and upon what occasion. If any strangers, for example, had seen thee washing thy hands in an empty basin, without knowing the philosophy of the matter, they would have taken thee for an innocent, and thy master and me for little better; or they might have supposed some conjuring was going on. The things which the old philosophers said and did, would appear, I dare say, as wise to us as they did to the people of their own times, if we knew why and in what circumstances they were done and said.

66 Daniel, there are two sorts of men in all ranks and ways of life, the wise and the foolish; and there are a great many degrees between them. That some foolish people have called themselves philosophers, and some wicked ones, and some who were out of their wits, is just as certain as that persons of all these descriptions are to be found among all conditions of men.

"Philosophy, Daniel, is of two kinds: that which relates to conduct, and that which relates to knowledge. The first teaches us to value all things at their real worth, to be contented with little, modest in prosperity, patient in trouble, equal-minded at all times. It teaches us our duty to our neighbour and ourselves. It is that wisdom of which King Solomon speaks in our rhyme book. Reach me the volume." Then turning to the passage in his favourite Du Bartas, he read these lines:

"She's God's own mirror; she's a light whose glance
Springs from the lightning of his countenance.
She's mildest heaven's most sacred influence;

Never decays her beauties' excellence,

Aye like herself; and she doth always trace

Not only the same path but the same pace.

Without her honour, health and wealth would prove
Three poisons to me. Wisdom from above
Is the only moderatrix, spring and guide,
Organ and honour, of all gifts beside.'

"But let us look in the Bible: ay, this is the place :

"For in her is an understanding spirit, holy, one only, manifold, subtile, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good, quick, which cannot be letted, ready to do good;

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"Kind to man, steadfast, sure, free from care, having all power, overseeing all things, and going through all understanding, pure and most subtile spirits.

"For wisdom is more moving than any motion: she passeth and goeth through all things by reason of her pureness. "For she is the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence, flowing from the glory of the Almighty; therefore can no defiled thing fall into her.

"For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the un

spotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness.

"And being but one she can do all things; and remaining in herself she maketh all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls she maketh them friends of God and prophets.

"For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom. "For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of stars: being compared with the light she is found before it.

"For after this cometh night: but vice shall not prevail against wisdom.'”

He read this with a solemnity that gave weight to every word. Then closing the book, after a short pause, he proceeded in a lower tone

"The philosophers of whom you have read in the dictionary possessed this wisdom only in part, because they were heathens, and therefore could see no further than the light of mere reason could show the way. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and they had not that to begin with. So the thoughts which ought to have made them humble pro duced pride, and so far their wisdom proved but folly. The humblest Christian who learns his duty, and performs it as well as he can, is wiser than they. He does nothing to be seen of men; and that was their motive for most of their actions.

"Now for the philosophy which relates to knowledge. Knowledge is a brave thing. I am a plain, ignorant, untaught man, and know my ignorance. But it is a brave thing when we look around us in this wonderful world to understand something of what we see: to know something of the earth on which we move, the air which we breathe, and the elements whereof we are made: to comprehend the motions of the moon and stars, and measure the distances between them, and compute times and seasons: to observe the laws which sustain the universe by keeping all things in their courses: to search into the mysteries of nature, and discover the hidden virtue of plants and stones, and read the signs and tokens which are shown us, and make out the meaning of hidden things, and apply all this to the benefit of our fellowcreatures.

"Wisdom and knowledge, Daniel, make the difference between man and man, and that between man and beast is hardly greater.

"These things do not always go together. There may be wisdom without knowledge, and there may be knowledge without wisdom. A man without knowledge, if he walk humbly with his God, and live in charity with his neighbours, may be wise unto salvation. A man without wisdom may not find his knowledge avail him quite so well. But it is he

VOL. 1.-10

who possesses both that is the true philosopher.
The more
he knows, the more he is desirous of knowing; and yet the
further he advances in knowledge the better he understands
how little he can attain, and the more deeply he feels that
God alone can satisfy the infinite desires of an immortal soul.
To understand this is the height and perfection of philoso-
phy."

Then opening the Bible which lay before him, he read these verses from the Proverbs:

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My son, if thou wilt receive my words

"So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

"Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

"If thou seekest after her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

"Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

"For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

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'He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is à buckler to them that walk uprightly.

“He_keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.

"Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

"When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

"Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep

thee,

"To deliver thee from the way of the evil.'

"Daniel, my son," after a pause he pursued, "thou art a diligent and good lad. God hath given thee a tender and dutiful heart; keep it so, and it will be a wise one, for thou hast the beginning of wisdom. I wish thee to pursue knowledge, because in pursuing it, happiness will be found by the way. If I have said anything now which is above thy years, it will come to mind in after time, when I am gone, perhaps, but when thou mayst profit by it. God bless thee, my child!"

He stretched out his right hand at these words, and laid it gently upon the boy's head. What he said was not forgotten, and throughout life the son never thought of that bless- ing without feeling that it had taken effect.

THE contemplation of distresses softens the minds of men, and makes the heart better. It extinguishes the seeds of envy and ill-will towards mankind, corrects the pride of prosperity, and beats down all that fierceness and insolence which are apt to get into the minds of the daring and fortunate.

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