The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume V

PAPERS OF n1IRABEAU BUON.AP.AnTE f.1A)CAI?. 45 upon· the correcting influence that it has upon the heart- It tends to erradicate those bad pm:,:ions, which convert the breast where the_y riot into a pandimonium of turbulent & remorseless recrimination- It subd ucs the rugged spirit of our nature, and prompts the most noble & gcnerom, impulses impulses [sic] lgnor,rnce brntalizes us- Education maJrns us men & exalts us to a station of dignity more compatible ,vith the original design of our Creator- But if it haYe not this correcting influence upon your morals & your conduct, tis in min that you ac- quire it- if it does not make you better members of society- if it do not check the luxurieut gro[w]th of dee- if it do not moderate your arnricc and your ambition and make you houcst in your dealings & honorable- in all your deportment, you had better throw your books in the fire, for they may become a curse to community & no blessing to yourselves- But when education operates upon our prin- ciples as it is intended to do, then do we become- happier and better able to discharge all the duties that we owe to God our neighbor & to our country- But Jet me caution you that your ]earning will never shield you from misfortune-- '!'rouble & vexation is the lot of humanity-and the learned is as obnoxious to them as the ignorant- Every bliss has its bane-- there is not a glad emotion of the heart &C&C- the only difference between the leamrd & the ignorant in this respect is this-the learned can draw, eYen in the midst of affliction, consolation & comfort from his books, which the unlettered cannot draw from any other source- And Jet· me warn you too, not to flatter yourselves, that because you are wise & ,·irtuous, that all honor will be yours- no such a thing- honor falls oftener to the ba<l then it does to the good- for the wicked flatter the corrupt pas- sions of mankind And and [sic] never attempt to correct their ,·ices- for the truth of this I appeal to the knowledge of your purity- No. 89 REVIEW OF A BOOK OF POEUS. L.t.\MAR [Columbus? Georgia, 182-?] [mutilated] but the intellectual fog that prcnlils in the literary world, is penetrated by the arraclictions or ccntilations of his genius- V. 1. P. 326 crown him with "Bays of Apollo & myrtle of Cythera" 332. v.1- We think the work ought to have been prefacecl with 1rn Auto-Biog- raphy- He has done it in part by telling u~ that his father fought at Queheck Shakespeare saith that a Poet's eye "Doth glance from heaven to em-th E. to H-and intleed I belieYc from the Rmldt-n transition which is made in the abo,·e passage from one to the otlwr of thr:,:e places of abode, or regions- that the author':,: nod<lle nhont that time ,\·as really & most truly in "frenzy rolling'' \'ol. t. ~!'i"(i. '•hi,- l'_W:- have been washed in euphra::y" 1. 355 ··can be more grrmalll' to lwr n•:tl ~entiments"-;J.iN- lie breaks olf now into n quiek allPgro & adagio"' The pnrt which the Ge11erals net is that or 11 Hen·ulc1111 warior with hi:,: broad sword or battle axe beating 1lown at 11 ,:ingle lilow whole regiments- 'rhis is ancient manner of lightiug- but modern Gel\: act othcrwis<.> uow- Ever since the "Campaign" or Addison Poets have dii;:cusscd this kind of figure & nHHle otli1;ers ligurr in their real

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