MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS. 369 Senotus confessed this foible of Ids soul ; and with some confu- sion broke out thus : " What ! Senotus, the wise and pious, the modest and the humble, say all this ! Senotus, the venerable man of the episcopal order, and the glory of our church, talk at this rate? O for an eternal succession of such bishops in every see ? But what lesson shall I learn by it ? I will retire to my closet and search inward ; for how many vices soever hung about me, yet I never thought myself a proud man before, but L begin to suspect me now." XXXVIII. Passion and Reason. AMONG the multitude of words that are tittered by the passions, you may sometimes chance to hear the dictates of rea- son : But if you suffer yourself to be ruffled, and return wrath for wrath, you so effectually stop your ears against her softer voice, that you cannot believe there was a syllable of reason in all the discourse of your opponent ; and thus, by indulging a spirit of contradiction, you forbid your own im- provement. Tranquillus is a gentleman of penetrating judgment, and a sedate temper : Astrape is the partner of his life ; a person of good understanding, but her imagination far exceeds; there is great brightness in her conversation, but her passions are warm, and she so far forgets herself, that her voice is sometimes a little elevated, even while company is present. When the clouds gather, and the storm rises, Tranquillus yields to the circumstan- ces of the hour ; he knows it is in vain to debate with a tempest or reprove a whirlwind, but he calmly expects silence and fair weather to-morrow. Many a time has the good man confessed, that he has gained some useful hints of knowledge under those lectures ; .for I have worn out, said lie, many a campaign, I llave learnt to read truth by the flash of gunpowder, and to hearken to good sense, even when the cannons roar. Her admonitions are assist- ants to my virtue, though sometimes they are pronounced louder than was needful. Happy man, who is grown so familiar with wisdom, as to distinguish her voice in the midst of thunders, and to know and venerate that divine sun -beam among whole sheets and vo- lumes of lightning ! Happy man, whose soul never kindles at those flashes, nor cloth he find his tongue inclined to echo to the noise! Astrape indeed would do well to correct her temper ; but one would be almost content to live a month among those storms, if one might but gain by that means tho placid and lovely virtues of Tranquillus.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=