If she but smile, the crystal calm will break
In music, sweeter than it ever gave,
As when a breeze breathes o'er some sleeping lake
And laughs in every wave.
The ripples of awakened song shall die
Kissing her feet, and woo her not in vain,
Until, as once, upon her breast I lie,
Pardoned and loved again.
ON POPULAR KNOWLEDGE.
BY GEORGE S. HILLARD.
Against all institutions for the diffusion of knowledge among the
community, an objection is often urged that they can teach nothing
thoroughly, but only superficially, and that modest ignorance is better
than presumptuous half-knowledge. How frequently is it said that "a little
learning is a dangerous thing." This celebrated line is a striking
instance of the vitality which may be given to what is at least a very
doubtful proposition by throwing it into a pointed form. If anything be a
good at all, it is a good precisely in proportion to the extent in which
it is possessed or enjoyed. A great deal of it is better than a little,
but a little is better than none. No one says or thinks that a little
conscience, or a little wisdom, or a little faith, or a little charity is
a dangerous thing.
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