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A traveller deferred to supply a nail, and lost his horse's shoe; he delayed to supply the shoe, and his horse became lame; he deferred to regard this lameness,-the horse stumbled, and the traveller was killed.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.-When the Athenians made war with the Syracusans, and were reduced to the last extremity, they deferred to embark for nine days on account of an eclipse of the sun: But the delay was fatal; for at the end of the time, Nicias, the Athenian general, was forced to an engagement, lost his fleet, and suffered a most disastrous defeat.

The Roman historians say, if Hannibal had marched to Rome immediately after the battle of Cannæ, he would have been master of the city: But by delaying at Capua, he lost the opportunity; the Romans rallied with renewed energy, and Hannibal's glory hastened to its set.

The Pretender delayed in Scotland to indulge the foolish vanity of being crowned, and . . . .

Absalom delayed to follow David, according to the treacherous advice of Ahithophel, and instead of crushing his rival, was himself defeated, and slain by Joab in the wood of Ephraim.-2 Sam. xv. xvii. xviii.

When the Scotch had incurred the anger of William III., a proclamation was made requiring all the chieftains to submit to the English government before the 1st of January, 1692. Mac Ian of Glencoe delayed to comply with the demand till the end of December, when the roads were rendered impassable by a storm of snow; so that the unfortunate chief could not by any possibility reach Inverary, where the oath of allegiance was to be tendered, till after the period of indemnity had expired. In consequence of which, Mac Ian, the venerable chieftain, and all his clan, were massacred without mercy.

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Delay not till to-morrow to be wise,

To-morrow's sun to thee may never rise.

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
But once omitted, all the rest of life

Is bound in shallows and in misery.-Shakspeare. Strike while the iron is hot.

Delays are dangerous.

If you will not, when you may,
When you will, you shall have nay.

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Many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.

Procrastination is the thief of time.-Dr. Young.
To-morrow is a period nowhere to be found,
Unless, perchance, in the fool's calendar:
Wisdom disclaims the word, nor holds society
With those who use it.-Cotton.

One to-day is worth two to-morrows, as poor Richard says.-Dr. Franklin.

For age and want save while you may,

No morning sun lasts a whole day.

Il faut battre le fer pendant qu'il est chaud.
Sera nimis vita est crastina, vive hodie.-Mart.
Ille potens sui

Lætusque deget, cui licet in diem

66

Dixisse, VIXI:" cras vel atrâ
Nube polum Pater occupato,

Vel sole puro; non tamen irritum
Quodcunque retro est, efficiet.-Horace.

Dum deliberamus quando incipiendum, incipere jam serum fit.

Carpe diem, quam minime credula postero.-Horace.

Deliberat Roma, perit Saguntum.

Multa cadunt inter calicem supremaque labra.

CONCLUSION. Hence ..

THEME IX. Evil Examples are like pestilential Diseases.

INTRODUCTION. Those who associate with evil companions are exposed to imminent danger of moral corruption even as those who mix with the infected are liable to sicken with the same disease.

1ST REASON.-Man is a creature of imitation. Language, writing, trade, and almost all practical knowledge, are the result of imitation: if the example be vicious, the copy must be faulty likewise.

2ND REASON.-Example is stronger than precept, because example is practical and precept theoretical: Hence, the evil example of wicked companions will soon efface the beneficial influence of the wisest instruction.

3RD REASON. As companions are objects of choice, admiration, and affection, the repulsiveness of vice is lost. sight of amidst so much that is attractive. In short, though the vices of a companion be gross and palpable to others, yet (as Shakspeare says), "a friendly eye cannot see such faults."

4TH REASON.-There is a sympathetic instinct in man, which acts upon companions by some unknown agency. Thus, if one man weeps, laughs, jeers, or even yawns, all who witness it are impelled instinctively with the same passion or desire.

5TH REASON. The mind is generally ashamed of singularity in virtue, and imitates wicked examples from "mauvaise honte," or the dread of being thought "afraid of sin."

6TH REASON. There is, in addition to all this, an actual “virus” in evil examples. Many a wanton and vicious thought, many a foul and sinful word, many a base action and depraved desire, being suggested to the mind by wicked companious, which would never otherwise have occurred to it.

7TH REASON.-Company in sin is a great inducement to evil; as soldiers are braver in battalions, and thieves more daring in gangs.

SIMILES. As a drop of ink will infuse itself over a glass of clear water, and discolour it; so

As the smallest portion of asafoetida will taint the air of the largest room; so . . . .

As leaven spreads through a measure of meal and assimilates the whole to itself; so ....

As the shades of night involve in their own darkness the most beautiful objects in creation; so the evil example of wicked companions . . . .

As the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii from their proximity to Mount Vesuvius were exposed to the fury of the volcano, and buried in its lava; so....

If two streams meet together, one pure and the other brackish, the pure water will always be corrupted at the confluence.

The conflagration of a neighbour's house endangers our own dwelling.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.-Solomon was corrupted by his intercourse with idolatrous nations and wives.

Israel was corrupted by Moabitish women, introduced into the camp by the infamous advice of the prophet Balaam.-Numb. xxv.; xxxi. 16.

The Israelites in Egypt fell into the idolatry of the inhabitants among whom they sojourned.

The hardy troops of Hannibal were corrupted by the luxurious townsmen of Capua.

Dion's son.-Nepos, art. " Dion," chap. iv.

Henry V. acknowledged the force of evil example, by calling together the boon companions of his wildness, when he succeeded to the throne, and saying,

"Presume not that I am the thing I was,
For I have turned away my former self,
So will I those that kept me company;
When thou dost hear I am as I have been
(turning to Falstaff)

Approach me, and thou shalt be as thou wast,
The tutor and the feeder of my riots;
Till then I banish thee, on pain of death,
(As I have done the rest of my misleaders)
Not to come near our person by ten miles.
But, as we hear you do reform yourselves,

We will, according to your strength and qualities, Give you advancement."-King Henry IV. part ii. QUOTATIONS.-Keep bad men company, and you will be of the number.

No one can touch rouge without staining his fingers.
He who touches pitch must expect to be defiled.
Evil communications corrupt good manners.-1 Cor.

XV. 33.

An evil lesson is easily learned.

A rotten apple injures its companions.

Vice is a creature of such hideous mien
That, to be hated, needs but to be seen:
Yet once beheld, familiar with her face,

We first endure, then pity, then embrace.-Pope.
Mala vicina pecoris contagia lædent.— Virgil.
Grave virus munditias pepulit.

Tunc tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet.
Mala consortio bonos mores inquinat.

Corrumpunt bonos mores colloquia prava.

Dociles imitandis turpibus et pravis omnes sumus.
Malorum commercio reddimur deteriores.

Exemplo plus quam ratione vivimus.-Seneca.

Homines amplius oculis quam auribus credunt.-Seneca. Longum iter est per præcepta, breve et efficax per exempla.-Seneca.

Hic niger est, Romane, caveto.

Ut te omnes dii malis exemplis perdans.-Terence.
Non is chusar coll' orso.

CONCLUSION.-Since ....

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