" "But," replied
Jupiter, "I am not willing to resign so much of my dignity." "Then,"
returned Cupid, "leave off desiring to be loved."'
These remarks by Mrs. Barbauld are full of sound philosophy. Who has
not observed, in his circle of acquaintance, and in the recesses
of his own heart, the same inconsistency of expectation, the same
peevishness of discontent.
Says Germanicus, 'There is my dunce of a classmate has found his
way into Congress, and is living amid the perpetual excitement of
intellectual minds, while I am cooped up in an ignorant country
parish, obliged to be at the beck and call of every old woman, who
happens to feel uneasy in her mind.'
'Well, Germanicus, the road to political distinction was as open to
you as to him; why did you not choose it?' 'Oh, I could not consent to
be the tool of a party; to shake hands with the vicious, and flatter
fools. It would gall me to the quick to hear my opponents accuse me of
actions I never committed, and of motives which worlds would not tempt
me to indulge.' Since Germanicus is wise enough to know the whistle
costs more than it is worth, is he not unreasonable to murmur because
he has not bought it?
Matrona always wears a discontented look when she hears the praises of
Clio.
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