_The Result of Fortune_:--The generality of men sink in virtue as they rise in fortune. --_Sir J. Beaumont._ 639 Don't live in hope with your arms folded. Fortune smiles on those who roll up their sleeves and put their shoulders to the wheel. 640 Whil'st fortun'd favour'd; friends, you smil'd on me: But, when she fled, a friend I could not see. --_Burton._ 641 GOD IN THE HEART. Collins, the freethinker, met a plain countryman going to church. He asked him where he was going. "To church sir." "What to do there?" "To worship God." "Pray, whether is your God a great or little God?" "He is both, sir." "How can He be both?" "He is so great that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, and so little that He can dwell in my heart." Collins declared that this simple answer had an effect upon his mind such as all the volumes which learned men had written against him had not. 642 The bird once out of hand is hard to recover. --_From the Danish._ 643 FREEDOM WEEPS. A time like this demands Strong minds, stout hearts, true faith and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office cannot kill, Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy, Men who possess opinion and a will, Men who have honor, men who will not lie, Men who can stand before a demagogue And scorn his treacherous flatteries without winking, Tall men, sun crowned, who live above the fog In public duty, and in private thinking; For while the rabble with their thumb worn creeds, Their large professions, and their little deeds Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps, Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps! --_Unknown._ 644 He who attacks an absent friend, or who does not defend him when spoken ill of by another--that man is a dark character; beware of him. 645 Be my friend, and teach me to be thine! 646 TIMON'S SOLILOQUY. My shadow, wheresoe'er I wend, Is with me, like a flattering friend. But chiefly when the sun in June Is climbing to its highest noon, My fond attendant closes near, As I were growing still more dear; And then, to show its love complete, Falls even servile at my feet, Where, proud of place, it scarcely nods Before the temple of the Gods. But when the evening sun descends, It seems to seek for other friends, Making a dial of the town, To tell that Timon's day goes down; And when the stormy night comes on, I look, and lo! my shade is--gone. --_Atlantic Monthly._ 647 Ah, how good it feels; The hand of an old friend! 648 If you want enemies, excel others; if you want friends, let others excel you. 649