Stay, lady, stay, for mercy's sake,
And hear a helpless orphan's tale,
Ah! sure my looks must pity wake,
'Tis want that makes my cheek so pale.
Yet I was once a mother's pride,
And my brave father's hope and joy;
But in the Nile's proud fight he died,
And I am now an orphan boy.
Poor foolish child! how pleased was I
When news of Nelson's victory came,
Along the crowded streets to fly,
And see the lighted windows flame!
To force me home my mother sought,
She could not bear to see my joy;
For with my father's life 'twas bought,
And made me a poor orphan boy.
The people's shouts were long and loud,
My mother, shuddering, closed her ears;
"Rejoice! rejoice!" still cried the crowd;
My mother answered with her tears.
"Why are you crying thus," said I,
"While others laugh and shout with joy?"
She kissed me--and with such a sigh!
She called me "her poor orphan boy."
--_Mrs. Opie._
149
Emerson said: "Give a boy address and accomplishments, and you give him
the mastery of palaces and fortunes wherever he goes; he has not the
trouble of earning or owning them; they solicit him to enter and
possess."
150
A great man being asked what boys should learn, he replied, "That which
they will use when men."
151
It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others.
--_Montaigne._
152
Eaten bread is soon forgotten.
--_English._
153
Birth is much, but breeding is more.
154
Good breeding consists in having no particular mark of any profession,
but a general elegance of manners.
--_Dr. Johnson._
155
Good breeding is the result of much good sense, some good nature, and a
little self-denial.
156
_Climate_--The climate of Great Britain, as that of no other country in
a like latitude, derives its peculiarity from its situation and from the
prevailing winds, which are from the southwest, except in the months of
April and May. The thermometer for six months in the year averages near
60 degrees, and seldom, if ever, drops below 36 degrees during the
remaining six months, thus affording, according to all authorities, one
of the healthiest climates in the world.
--_Students' Reference Work_,
Edited by Chandler B. Beach, A. M.
157
_The Nobility of Great Britain_--The British nobility is the most
enlightened, the best educated, the wisest, and bravest in Europe.
158
A brother's sufferings claim a brother's pity.
--_Addison._
159
When thy brother has lost all that he ever had, and lies languishing,
and even gasping under the utmost extremities of poverty and distress,
dost thou think to lick him whole again only with thy tongue?
--_South._
160
_A Saying of Napoleon_--Once at St. Helena, when walking with a lady,
some servants came along carrying a load. The lady, in an angry tone,
ordered them out of the way, on which Napoleon interposed, saying,
"Respect the burden, madam." Even the drudgery of the humblest laborer
contributes towards the general well-being of society; and it was a wise
saying of a Chinese Emperor that, "If there was a man who did not work,
or a woman that was idle, somebody must suffer cold or hunger in the
Empire."
--_Dr. H. D. Northrop._
161
No one knows the weight of another's burden.
--_German._
162
The more we help others to bear their burdens, the lighter our own will
be.
163