MORAL. Man does not always know what is best for his own happiness. APPLICATION. A system of compensation prevails throughout the kingdom of nature. Every animal is wonderfully suited for the position it is to fill and for the uses to which it is designed. The Camel affords a remarkable instance of this adaptation. By its broad and spongy foot, its double stomach, and its prolonged endurance of thirst, it is precisely suited for its duties as the ship of the desert. Without its aid, the sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa could not be traversed, and whole districts of the earth would be isolated from communication with each other. Any alteration of its form would disqualify it for its peculiar place among the works of the Creator as the servant of man and the administrator to his wants. The conduct of the Camel in the fable offers a word of caution to those who indulge in unreasonable wishes, and who desire supposed blessings, which, if granted them, would not only tend to increase their own unhappiness, but render them unfit to discharge efficiently their relative duties to society. If happiness has not her seat And centre in the breast, We may be wise, or rich, or great, But never can be blest. It is a source of consolation in the troubles of life to believe in a particular providence, and to trace in the connection of the past events of the individual life proofs of a Divine superintendence. There's a Divinity doth shape our ends, The sun shines still, though it be for a time eclipsed by clouds and darkness. Oftentimes calamities and afflictions prove the heralds and harbingers of blessings. With steadfast zeal thy path of duty run; God never does nor suffers to be done But what thyself would do, couldst thou but see Whether with reason or with instinct blest, Know, all enjoy that power which suits them best. THE Peacock presented a memorial to Juno, complaining that he was hardly used in not having so good a voice as the nightingale, whose sweet notes were agreeable to every ear that heard them; while he himself was laughed at for his ugly, screaming noise, if he did but open his mouth. The goddess, concerned at the uneasiness of her favourite bird, answered him very kindly to this purpose: "If the nightingale is blest with a fine voice, you have the advantage in beauty and personal appearance.' "Ah," says he, "but what avails my silent, unmeaning beauty, when I am so far excelled in voice?" The goddess dismissed him, bidding him consider, that the properties of every bird were differently appointed: to him, beauty had been assigned; to the eagle, strength; to the nightingale, a voice of melody; to the parrot, the faculty of imitation ; and to the dove, innocence. Each of these was contented with his own peculiar quality; and unless he had a mind to be miserable, he must learn to be so too. MORAL. Contentment is the source of every joy. APPLICATION. Men differ as widely from each other in their inward gifts and graces as they do in the colour of their hair or the height of their stature. Each one enjoys some special talent, giving him a facility of language, numbers, music, drawing, eloquence, powers of reflection, or skill in organisation, by which he may discharge the duties of his station and obtain honour in the state of life in which he is placed. Yet a universal discontent prevails, and many seem to think slightly of their own gifts, while they covet those possessed by their neighbours. The complaint of the Peacock, like the petition of the Camel in the preceding fable, is intended to rebuke this failing of discontent, which arises from our vain desires rather than from our real wants, and which has supplied to the poets and moralists of all ages a continual theme for censure and animadversion. Why has not man a microscopic eye? The humblest being born is great, If true to his degree; His virtue illustrates his fate, Then let us daily learn to love For not the eagle, but the dove, Brought peace unto the earth. Honour and shame from no condition rise; |