Whoever envies another confesses his superiority.

-JOHNSON.

Distance is the best remedy against an evil disposed man.

-MAXIM.

To silence envious tongues, be just and fear not.
-SHAKESPEARE.

Desire the good of your neighbour, you will find

it in your house.

-ARABIC PROVERB.

Enjoy thou the prosperity of others,

Although thyself unprosperous; noble men
Take pleasure in their neighbour's happiness.'

*

-"MAHABHARATA."

If every man's internal care

Were written on his brow,

How many would our pity share,

Who raise our envy now.

If all men were to bring their misfortunes together in one place, most would be glad to take his own again rather than take a portion out of the common stock.

Expect not praise without envy until you are dead. Honours bestowed on the illustrious dead, have in them no admixture of envy; for the living pity the dead; and pity and envy, like oil and vinegar assimilate not. -COLTON.

Envy's censure, Flattery's praise,
With unmoved indifference view;

From Indian Wisdom by Monier Williams.

Learn to tread life's dangerous maze,
With unerring virtue's clue.

Keep thy Conscience from offence
And tempestuous passions free,
So, when thou art call'd from hence,
Easy shall thy passage be;
Easy shall thy passage be,

Cheerful thy allotted stay,

Short the account 'twixt God and thee;

Hope shall meet thee on the way.
Truth shall lead thee to the gate,
Mercy's self shall let thee in,
Where its never-changing state,
Full perfection, shall begin.

Oh! envy not thy brother,

*

-LORD MELCOMBE.

When happy seems his lot;
Full many a sorrow doth he know,
Which thou perceivest not.
And outwardly, tho' all is fair,

And thou dost think him blest,

It may be many an anxious care
He feels within his breast.

Oh, envy not thy brother,

Whom fortune doth caress;

Hath this dark world so much of bliss

That thou canst wish it less?
Oh, wouldst thou dim with tears the eye
That beamed with bliss ere while,

Or bid from a fair cheek to fly
Its bright and happy smile?

* From Johnson's Lives of the Poets.

Oh, envy not thy brother

Though thy own heart be sad !

But if he seem more blest than thou,
Still for his joy be glad.

Envy him not, envy him not,

Nor at thy griefs repine,

Perchance that brother's envied lot,
He'd gladly change for thine.

THE ENVIOUS MAN AND THE COVETOUS.

An envious man happened to be offering up his prayers to Jupiter, just in the time and place with a covetous miserable fellow. Jupiter, not caring to be troubled with their impertinences himself, sent Apollo to examine the merits of their petitions, and to give them such relief as he should think proper. Apollo therefore opened his commission, and withal told them that, to make short of the matter, whatever the one asked the other should have it double. Upon this, the covetous man, though he had a thousand things to request, yet forebore to ask first, hoping to receive a double quantity; for he concluded that all men's wishes sympathised with his. By this means, the envious man had an opportunity of preferring his petition first, which was the thing he aimed at; so, without much hesitation, he prayed to be relieved, by having one of his eyes put out; knowing that, of consequence, his companion would be deprived of both.

APPLICATION.

In this fable the folly of those two vices, envy and avarice is fully exposed, and handsomely rallied. The miser, though he has the riches of the world, without stint, laid open to his choice, yet dares not name the

sum, for fear another should be richer than himself. The advantage of a double quantity, by receiving last, is what he cannot bear to lose, and he fares accordingly. The envious man, though he has a power of calling for good things, without measure, to himself or others, yet waves this happy privilege, and is content to punish himself by a very great loss, even that of an eye, that he may bring down a double portion of the like calamity upon another. These are the true tempers of the covetous and envious: one can scarce determine, whether they are more mischievous to themselves, or to the public; but it is manifest that they are highly noxious to both, and should be treated accordingly.*

From Esop's Fables.

48. EXAMPLE.

Example is one of the most potent of instructors, though it teaches without a tongue. It is the practical school of mankind, working by action, which is always more forcible than words.

-SMILES.

Example is far more than precept. It is instruction in action; it is teaching without words.

Example is a living law, whose sway men more than all the written laws obey.

-SEDLEY.

Men trust rather to their eyes than their ears; the effect of precept is therefore slow and tedious, while that of example is summary and effectual.

Nothing is more contagious than a bad example.

-MORAL MAXIM.

One watch set right will do to try many by, but on the other hand, one that goes wrong may be the means of misleading a whole neighbourhood. And the same may be said of the example we individually set to those around us.

He put so much of his soul into his act
That his example had a magnet's force,
And all were prompt to follow whom all loved.