WITH rare exception, almost ev'ry one
Is wondrous apt his Neighbour's faults to see;
And yet, however evident his own,
To them he's blind- or thinks that only he
From imperfection and from fault is free.
Derides a fellow-Hunchback passing by;
And points to him, that ev'ry one they meet
May ridicule the man's deformity.
Yet he himself; the Jeerer, what is he?-
A crooked Dwarf, mis-shap'd from head to toe,
With boss behind of such enormity,
As though a mountain on his back did grow!
And what is Man, that he would censor be
Of what which Nature gave his fellow-man!
In what deriving from ourselves, are we
In aught entitled other men to scan?
Shall we assume in figures of our own
To reckon up another man's account!
And carp at him for flaws and faults alone,
When our own ledger shews no small amount!
To ev'ry man, we know to indicate
Wherein he fails-and-strange sagacity!
To make the most unerring estimate
Of what he is-and what he ought to be!
But on himself, who turns his eye? not one!
And though so keen our neighbour's humps to see,
We're blind to that upon our back alone,
E'e though that hump by far the greater be!
It was not thus, my friends, that we were taught
That practice sweet of Love and Charity,
By which the Man-God our Redemption bought,
In pity for our mortal frailty!
Look not in scorn upon thy brother's shape,
If nature chose to vary it from thine;
For though it may resemble more the Ape,
It may have Light within far more divine!
Turn thine eyes inward on thine heart, and se
What flaws are there, what seething germs of ill
That need thy care, left their malignity
Shall render thee one day more hideous still.
Scoffs at his own in more or less degree:
Much wiser he who others' lets alone
And tries his talent to correct his own.
AND why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Thou Hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou
see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.-Matt. vii. 3,5.
QUI d'auntruy parler voudra,
Regarde soy; et il taira.
No ay quien sus faltas entienda,
Como las de su vecino.
Il n'y a personne qui reconnoit ses fautes,
Comme celles de son voisin.
Dal biasima altrui, che se stesso condanna.
Ziehe Dich selber bei der Nase.
Een ander heeft altyt de schult,
Geen mensch en siet syn eygen bult.
CRIMINA qui cernunt aliorum, nec sua cernunt,
Hi sapiunt aliis, desipiuntque sibi. OWENUS.
THERE are those who can see faults of others, but who cannot discern their
own.-These people are wise for others, and fools to themselves.
EST proprium stultitiae, aliorum vitia cernere; oblivisci suorum.-CICERO.
NIHIL turpius est convitio quod in auctorem recidit.-PLUTARCH.
OF all the causes which conspire to blind
Man's ering judgement, and misguided mind,
What the wea head with the strongest bias rules
Is Pride, the never-failing Vice of Fools.
POPE.
IN vaine thou mantles up this light of mine,
Thinking that no man shall perceive it shine.
But all in vaine, flame will it selfe bewray,
And through thy coat, by burning, make his way.
Who in his lower heart doth hurt conceale,
Hoping that nothing shall the same reveale,
He hides the torches of the hellish rout,
Which will at length with violence burst out:
Who doth conceive Orestes' impious thought,
It will ere long to furious fact be brought.
Dissemble what thou can'st, that inward sparke
Will burst forth into Light, though now its darke.
FARLIE'S Emblems.
THE HUNCHBACK SEES NOT HIS OWN HUMP, BUT HE SEES HIS NEIGHBOUR'S
URL_IMAGE uiuc_83931c29eep_pic145.jpg ID uiuc_83931c29eep_emblem032 CHILDREN CHILDREN_SQRT 0