Seven hours to law,—to soothing slumber seven,—
Ten to the world allot,—and all to heaven.
LIVING LIFE OVER AGAIN.
Good Sir Thomas Browne says, Though I think no man can live well once but he that could live twice, yet for my own part I would not live over my hours past, nor begin again the thread of my days; not upon Cicero’s ground,—because I have lived them well,—but for fear I should live them worse. I find my growing judgment daily instruct me how to be better, but my untamed affections and confirmed vitiosity make me daily do worse. I find in my confirmed age the same sins I discovered in my youth; I committed many then, because I was a child, and because I commit them still, I am yet an infant. Therefore I perceive a man may be twice a child before the days of dotage, and stand in need of Æson’s bath before threescore.
RHYMING DEFINITIONS.
Fame.—A meteor dazzling with its distant glare.
Wealth.—A source of trouble and consuming care.
Pleasure.—A gleam of sunshine, passing soon away.
Love.—A morning stream whoso memory gilds the day.
Faith.—An anchor dropped beyond the vale of death.