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Läsebok. N:o 76 — 77.
83
DLet the men of lore appear,
The wisest of the earth.
And expound the words of fear
Which mar our royal mirth».
Chaldæa’s seers are good,
But here they have no skill:
And the unknown letters stood
Untold and awful still.
And Babel’s men of age
Are wise and deep in lore;
But now they were not såge,
They saw — but knew no more.
A captive in the land,
A stranger and a youth,
He heard the king’s command,
He saw that writing’s truth.
The lamps around were bright,
The prophecy in view;
He read it on that night, —
The morrow proved it true.
»Belshazzar’s grave is made,
His kingdom pass’d away,
He, in the balance weigh’d,
Is light and worthless clay.
The shroud, his robe of state,
His canopy the stone;
The Mede is at his gate!
The Persian on his throne!»
Lord Byron.
86. On Contentment.
Contentment produces, in some measure, all those effects
which the alchemist usually ascribes to what they call the
philosopher’s stone; and if it does not bring riches, it does
the same thing, by banishing the desire of them. If it
cannot remove the disquietudes arising from a man’s mind, body,
or fortune, it makes him easy under them. It has, indeed, a
kindly influence on the soul of man, in respect of every being
to whom he stands related. It extinguishes all murmur,
repining, and ingratitude, towards that Being who has allotted
him his part to act in this world. It destroys all inordinate
ambition and every tendency to corruption, with regard to
the community wherein he is placed. It gives sweetness to
his conversation, and a perpetual serenity to all his thoughts.
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