HIGH up in air, the sea-mew spies
AN oyster lying on the strand,
Gaping with open shell t'inhale
The summer breeze from off the land.
To seize the luscious morsel quick-
With suffen swoop and deadly pick,
The sea-bird darts his horny beak
Between the oyster's shell:
The bird is by the oyster caught!
And nipped so tight and well;
That strive and struggle as he may,
To free his beak, and get away;
He keeps him captive, firmly bound,
Till with return of tide he's downed.
Who to themselves would all appropriate
Of that they see, deserve the sea-mew's fat;
Nor doth he fail to meet it, soon or late,
Whose nose is thrust in everybody's plate.
The Event is often different from the Intent.
DEFEATING our intent and expectation,
In strange revers of that we think to see;
When certain most, -we find ourselves mistaken,
And he is caught, who would the catcher be.
To curb the pride and malice of man's nature,
'Twas wise ordained, that he should sometimes see,-
In his own toils the hunter captive taken;
And he despoiled, who would the spoiler be;-
The evil doer, 'gainst his calculation,
By his own mischief foiled and hurt, alone,
The slander of a neighbour's reputation,
Recoil with deeper wound upon his own.
The same in another sense.
Konst van beswaren, gaet voor't vergaren
How to retain, is more than how to gain.
THE mew is in a fix, as we have seen;
With beak well jamm'd the oyster's shells between:
But what avails the shell-fish his success?
Strange case it is-yet nothing less than true,
His very fortune causes him distress,
Nor knows he with his capture what to do!
A very load to him, a trouble quite,
The catcher would be well rid of the caught,
'Tis almost'gainst his grain to hold him tight-
Yet, to let go- were perhaps with peril fraught!
Just so in life, whom management doth fail,
Success nor riches to their good avail.
HARM seek, harm find.
As you sow, so you must reap.
As you make your bed, so you must lie on it.
Qui mal cherche, mal trouve.
Ut sementem feceris, ita metes. -CICERO.
Comme on fait son lit on se couche.
Tute hoc introisti, tibi omne est exedendum.-TERENCE.
THE Power and the Richer acquired by a life of anxious toil, slip not unfrequently
from their possessor's hands, from defective government, or mismanagement:
because it is easier to acquire power and to gain wealth than to keep and use them
prudently when gotten. An especial virtue is needful to this, more than is required
for the gradual heaping up of riches.
Non labore, sed munificentiâ Domini.
Not by labour, but by the blessing of the Lord.
THE oyster without change of place, or toil,
Propers in peace, and easy takes his spoil:
The sea-mew, restless, sweeps the shore and main
In quest of food, and, little oft to gain:
The oyster toils but little, yet he thrives;
The sea-mew, less from his great toil derives;
And so all labour is in vain, unless
God of His blessing doth our labour bless.
Ecclesiaster IX. 11.
I SAW under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,
neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet
favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
THE Righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be
taken in their own naughtiness. -Proverbs xi.6.
Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof,
when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.-Proverbs xxv. 8.
WITHOUT counsel, purposes are disappointed.-Proverbs xv. 22.
He that is greedy of gain, troubleth his own house. -Proverbs xv. 27.
THE glassie gulfe joyn'd with Earth's globe in one
Gives waters to the rivers, looseth none;
The Sunne that makes so many glorious dayes,
Doth loose no light, and still he wast's his rayes:
The Loadstone to the iron gives vertue rare,
And yet no wayes his owne he doth impaire;
So this my torch can give to others light,
And still, as is his wont, shine perfect bright.
Thus Divine Wisdome doth communicate
Herselfe, that others may participate.
The good more common, better is, and grace
Wisheth, all were partakers of her cafe.
FARLIE'S Emblems.
THE BITER BITTEN
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