THE ORPHAN BOY. Mother, dear mother! awake, arise, Mother, dear mother! O listen to me, POESY. BY W. G. J. BARKER, ESQ. Say not "in green fields and on breezy hills Poesy lives alone:" although perchance There we perceive her with a quicker glance Of apprehension, her bright presence fills Creation, and throughout its bound instils Into their hearts who love her, ecstasy: Whether thy step be beside mountain rills, Pressing the purple heather light and free, Or among merchants on the noisy mart, Or thou dost sail along the moaning sea, Still from thy bosom she will not depart If thou dost woo her meekly, cheerfully; In woe a solace, and through storms a guide, Over the rudest waste, across the roughest tide. Banks of the Yore. SILENCE AND SILENT FOLK S. BY J. J. REYNOLDS. "Be check'd for silence, But never taxed for speech." SHAKSPERE. The pen is continually moving on behalf of the talking members of the community, those tongue-warriors who make a stir in the world by their oratory. Their sayings and doings are chronicled with eagerness; while, as regards silent people, it is as motionless as their own organs of speech. Now, this is not quite as it should be. The utterance of opinions on a diversity of matters, and conversation on various subjects, being the chief means whereby we are enabled to judge the character of an individual, that of a great babbler is naturally laid open to the commonest observer, for no one who gives full play to his tongue can long conceal his inward self; on the other hand, the votaries of the silent goddess wrap themselves up in such mystery by the seal they set on their lips, that it is with difficulty we form a correct estimate of them. By appearance and physiognomy we frequently are deceived; we are apt to set that man down a sage who is in reality a simpleton, and vice versa. To assist us under these circumstances should rather, then, be the office of the "grey goose-quill." "Silent waters," saith the proverb, "are seldom shallow." This being as much as to say that a silent person is scarcely ever found to be a child of folly, cannot be considered correct. Like a great many other brief sayings, handed down to us by our worthy ancestors, it has its cross. Few there are but will admit that silence is very generally employed as a cloak for ignorance, that thousands of our fellows "Only are reputed wise For saying nothing." Other proverbs tell us that silence is the "sanctuary of truth," and "a cheap virtue." To a certain extent it may be; but is it not sometimes the abode of hypocrisy? and can it be called a virtue when the pronunciation of a word would confer a benefit? Take the case of a being unjustly accused of a crime, and it is in the power of another to clear his character of the stain; surely a closed mouth is no virtue in this in stance. Silence springs from so many different motives, and is so various in duration and occurrence, that it is unwise to deem it a good or bad quality: only by noticing the other characteristics of a man shall we be justified in pronouncing it virtuous or otherwise. Taciturn folks may be divided into six classes, which we will name as follows:-The sage, the ignorant, the bashful, the cautious, the mys terious, and the affected; and in order to the more methodically treating of the subject, we will introduce each class separately to the reader. First, then, The sagely silent.-These are the most distinguished, as they are the most generally silent of all silent people. Where others bridle or give rein to the tongue, according to the company they may be in, these are actuated by the same motives on all occasions, whether asso ciating with persons superior or inferior in rank to themselves. They will as readily attend to the remark of an artisan as to the more elegantly. expressed sentiment of a titled mortal. "Hear much, and say little," is the motto they adopt, and well do they act upon it; not that they are unwilling to join in improving conversation, or to impart any knowledge they may possess. Far from it; but while they permit others to misemploy time in senseless gabble, they will rather remain silently occupied in the endeavour to glean something from what they hear, than introduce subjects more congenial to their own taste, though unsuited to those around them, as many indiscreetly do, to make a vain and pedantic exhibition of learning. Indeed it is this quality of tranquil observation, this determination of storing useful knowledge, which forms the main characteristic of the class, and their distinguishing feature from all others. The sagely-silent are often set down as proud, supercilious creatures, who fancy themselves (as they really are) something above the common. This is an erroneous opinion, showing that its promulgators possess but small acquaintance with their true nature. Arrogance is the last of their faults; they do not pretend to more sense than has fallen to their share; neither are they guilty of despising one of their fellows. They are likewise sneered at as book-worms who have "studied themselves dumb." Granted they may be studious, yet not unsociable; on the contrary, they delight in any other useful employment of a passing hour, and with kindred spirits are as unreserved as the veriest tittletattle retailer could wish. Time they hold too valuable to be squandered away, and hence their dislike to the childish frivolities in which the generality indulge. For these reasons a sagely silent man is seldom a favourite with the other members of society, being frequently left to plod on, unnoticed and unknown, along the path he has chosen. However, this is no source of discontent to him; he owns a well-spring within, of which no one can rob him, and for the loss of which the fullest measure of public applause could not compensate― "Pleasures deep, and tried, and true, Whether to read or write, to think or hear, By the gross million spurned," are his, and in their enjoyment he doubtless feels more true happiness than those ever can who are continually floating about on the deceptive waves of society in search of amusements, which, owing their charms to novelty, lose all zest when that departs. We will pass now to The ignorantly silent, who are not seldom mistaken by the partial observer for those of whom we have just spoken. How widely op posed are they found on a close inspection! The contrast is at once evidenced by the fact that the members of this class are dumb where The bashfully silent.-Thoughtful and thoughtless, learned and ignorant, old and your g people, are to be met with in this class, whose taciturnity springs less from inclination than from the want of common assurance to express their ideas. After the capability of forming sound and just opinions, may be ranked the power of making them distinctly and forcibly understood by others. In fact, it is this latter quality which renders the former of so great value to the possessor. Bashfully silent gentry never possess the two in union, if they can lay claim to either. To be partially timorous of speech has always been considered an advantage rather than a drawback to an orator, since it excites sympathy in the mind of a hearer far more than "The rattling tongue Of saucy and audacious eloquence;' instead of commiseration is engendered: this but to be overmodest is ridiculous-contempt excess of timidity seems in their case a constitutional failing. And another cause of silence the others are more likely to be talkative, and with them is the fear of contradiction; for given to gabble away on subjects which their should they be so bold as to give utterance to a sager brothers would despise. Ignorantly silent sentiment, and another immediately confutes it, people are willing enough to set their tongues they at once yield the point. The courage they clacking in circles where they imagine their had previously summoned up to aid their ignorance will pass unnoticed, and on matters tongues now oozes rapidly out at their fingers' of which they have acquired some slight ink-ends, like that of "fighting Bob Acres." Were ling; but when matters, not dreamt of in their philosophy, are brought forward, the wicket of their lips remains closed, and thus they effectually conceal "A shallow brain behind a serious mask." This silence would be truly meritorious if they would avail themselves of the opportunity thus offered of gaining information. But, no; attention is a faculty they will not exert; they are only sedate, and never make an effort to enlarge their minds by opening their ears. Here is another important distinction between them and the sagely silent class: while the latter are continually spurred by a noble desire of extending their stock of knowledge, the former rest as it were contented in ignorance. If learning is not to be acquired without an expenditure of time and trouble, time and trouble thus bestowed they consider so much wasted. The gain, in their eyes, is unworthy of the pursuit, so paltry is their valuation of knowledge. Hence their minds receive a degree of sloth, not naturally belonging to them; and while the higher powers "first in them unused," we see these very personages eager enough following after riches, leaving not a stone unturned to increase their golden hoard. It has been justly remarked, that ambition is implanted in all of us, and will make its appearance in some shape or other, according to circumstances. Verily, then, the ambition of the ignorantly silent is of a poor, pitiful description, the fruit of a spirit of which they have small reason to be proud.-Next in our list come a hundred false statements made in their hearing, and which their own sense and information inform them to be such, instead of offering one syllable of correction, they will allow the foolish fellow to have his say, convicting themselves of ignorance. It does not follow that such characters are necessarily cowards, or in anywise deficient in manly courage. This may appear strange: nevertheless it is quite as true as that the most arrant poltroons are frequently the most blustering talkers. Nervousness when addressed, and a hesitating method of speaking, are their chief characteristics. They may be easily recognised, and are commonly known by the name of "shy creatures." The cautiously silent now claim our attention. These may be considered distant relations of the sager body of men occupying the first place in these remarks, since they bear a striking resemblance in their discreet and unostentatious manner; but as they do not propose to themselves the same praiseworthy end in their silence viz., the cultivation of the understanding—they cannot of course be numbered in the same category. Still we must bestow on them qualified commendation, for though discretion may be sometimes carried to too great a length, how much better is it to be considerate and careful in the remarks we make and opinions we give, than to pronounce them in the positive and hasty manner of the ignorant. "A fool," said the wise monarch of old, "uttereth all his mind; the wise man keepeth it in till afterwards." * * Proverbs, chap. xxix. v. 11, E The first business of a cautiously silent man, when he finds himself mingling among strangers, is to discover, as far as lies in his power, the occupation, rank, and prevailing turn of mind of each around him. This, from constant habit, he is quickly enabled to do. He then regulates the motions of his own tongue accordingly, taking the utmost pains not to express a sentiment likely to displease the hearer or involve himself. Delighting not in scandal, he seldom repeats the backbiting observations he is compelled to hear; but careful as he may thus seem of another's reputation, it is respect for his own that solely influences his conduct. Unlike the sagely silent, he will not deny a foul aspersion of character, if such denial would lead him into controversy. Enough for him that he is not concerned in the gossip so long as his own merits for honesty and caution pass unsullied, the reputation of a fellow may be ruined by "viperous slander." Cautiously taciturn persons we cannot well fathom. They may be virtuous, they may be artful and vicious; their real dispositions are so hidden that we scarcely know whether to consider them good or evil dwellers in the world. For aught we are aware of, they may be culpable of that in secret which their public behaviour refutes. "Falsehood hath a goodly outside," we are told, and such may be their case their discretion, perchance, is cunning; their silence hypocrisy; and as the few sentences they utter are always in accordance with what another has previously spoken, they may be continually falsifying their own individual opinions. Without a doubt, they are not the persons any one would select as a very particular friend, notwithstanding their taciturnity, which is an admitted desideratum. The flame of friendship must burn dimly, if there be not open-heartedness on both sides; and this the class under consideration cannot be said to pos sess. From the habitual restraint they impose on their tongue, it is impossible for them to speak freely and candidly, even to their most intimate companions. But we must leave our readers to pass their judgment on them and their motives, and say a few words on The mysteriously silent.—Of these there are two kinds that may be designated the silly and the malicious. Specimens of the former are numerous; they are those absurd people who pretend to be the possessors of great secrets, which they long to unfold, but dare not, as though life and death were involved in the matter. These secrets generally prove of small account, or things that every one else has long been aware of. Many a hearty laugh has been raised at their expense; yet their foolish, mysterious be haviour has been known to cause serious disquietude. "Have you heard what has happened to your friend L-?" observes one of these dolts to a timid wight. Lis a friend travelling abroad: the person addressed is naturally anxious to know, and so exclaims "No: what? Tell me, pray? anything of moment?" 66 Oh, that's as you may think," replies Mr. Mysterious Silly. However," he adds, “perhaps I had better not tell you," and then he walks away, or changes the subject; leaving his hearer in a very uneasy state of mind, lest anything of an evil nature had befallen his friend. At length a more charitable mortal acquaints him with the facts of that to which the other alluded; and instead of its being, as his fancy had depicted, some severe loss or illness Lhad undergone, it turns out to be a trivial circumstance of which he had received prior information. Anything of real importance mysteriously silent men are as eager to communicate as another. Whether they think it sagacious to act thus or not, every sensible person will tell them that such conduct is only that of a simpleton. But we must not be too harsh in our censure, or we shall have none left for the other kind who are in truth more richly deserving of it. As among the sagely silent are to be found some of the most honourable of our species, so among the maliciously mysterious we meet with some of the most despicable. Long-tried friendship, spotless reputation, fairest virtue, each has been ruined by them; and how do they affect it? Not by gossiping or open tale-bearing, but by sly hints and crafty insinuations, which carry conviction more quickly than a circumstantially fabricated story. The imagination is always ready to fill up the outline they cunningly draw with inuendoes. For they are but partially taciturn; a silence, however, which is eloquence itself, baneful, alas! in its consequences, and injurious to the best interests of society. Pretending unwillingness to utter their knowings, and a profound respect for others, they present such a mixture of candour and simplicity, we are half inclined to consider them anxious to hide the faults they see than to give them publicity. Sheep outside and wolves within, it is their delight to render another despicable in the eye of the world; and the higher character that other previously bore, is their triumph in his downfal. But enough the happier he was in himself, so much greater of these wretches; we will now write a few words of introduction to the last of the six classes, viz. haughty in their natures, these puffed up creaThe affectedly silent. Supercilious and tures consider their voices too sweet to be heard by the promiscuous crowd, that it is a degradation to talk to persons moving in the humbler walks of life. Poor worms! they forget that no pride is so ill-founded and contemptuous as pride of birth. Address them on subjects they deem beneath their notice, the reply is a sneer; as much as to say-"Talk not to me on such frivolous affairs." If spoken to on matters of deeper import, the same sneer greets you, as much as to say-"I know all about it; but it is not worth my while answering impertinent people." The truth is, this sneer is an ingenious piece of mechanism they have invented, serving to conceal ignorance and learning alike; and the affectation that gives it birth is sufficiently evinced by the alacrity with which they court conversation with members of the higher | circles. There is a class of affectedly silent beings who may be named "the obstinate;" a morose and unsociable race, as unwilling to listen to the outpourings of another's mind as to lay bare their own; for what reason we cannot discern. It may be traced sometimes to a defect of temper, and perhaps often originates in some early discovery of treachery in a friend-than which nothing is more likely to produce misanthropy and distrust. Members of this class are few and far between; nevertheless, more plentiful than there is necessity for the general welfare of the community. In concluding these our remarks on the subject before us, it will be proper to advise our readers that they must not expect every silent person they may meet to possess all the characteristics here allotted to each class. In some he may be wanting, and others he may have, peculiar to himself. The sagely silent man will now and then partake slightly of the cautious, the cautious of the mysterious, the mysterious of the ignorant, and so on; still they will be found the leading features, and as such are above set forth. I go, in my hoard seeking riches for them. Not for me the pale treasure, not mine is earth's pride: The Diver's so hardly-earned fame! what beside ? Read ye e'er of God's might as in my gem-decked home? Count ye wealth as the evidence sole of His pow'r? There are traces more true in the wild mountain |