<h2>CHAP. XXI.<br/> <i>The Benefit of bodily Pain.—Fortitude the Basis of Virtue.—The Folly of Irresolution.</i></h2>
<p>The children had been playing in the
garden for some time, whilst Mrs.
Mason was reading alone. But she was
suddenly alarmed by the cries of Caroline,
who ran into the room in great distress.
Mary quickly followed, and explaining the
matter said, that her sitter had accidentally
disturbed some wasps, who were terrified,
and of course stung her. Remedies were
applied to assuage the pain; yet all the time
she uttered the loudest and most silly complaints,
regardless of the uneasiness she gave
those who were exerting themselves to relieve
her.</p>
<p>In a short time the smart abated, and
then her friend thus addressed her, with
more than usual gravity. I am sorry to see
a girl of your age weep on account of bodily
pain; it is a proof of a weak mind, a proof
that you cannot employ yourself about
things of consequence. How often must I
tell you, that the Most High is educating
us for eternity?</p>
<p>“The term virtue comes from a word
signifying strength. Fortitude of mind
is, therefore, the basis of every virtue,
and virtue belongs to a being, that is
weak in its nature, and strong only in
will and resolution.”</p>
<p>Children early feel bodily pain, to habituate
them to bear the conflicts of the soul,
when they become reasonable creatures.
This, I say, is the first trial, and I like to
see that proper pride which drives to conceal
its sufferings. Those who, when
young, weep if the least trifle annoys them,
will never, I fear, have sufficient strength
of mind to encounter all the miseries that
can afflict the body, rather than act meanly
to avoid them. Indeed, this seems to be
the essential difference between a great and
a little mind: the former knows how to
endure—whilst the latter suffers an immortal
soul to be depressed, lost in its abode;
suffers the inconveniences which attack the
one to overwhelm the other. The soul
would always support the body, if its
superiority was felt, and invigorated by exercise.
The Almighty, who never afflicts but
to produce some good end, first sends
diseases to children to teach them patience
and fortitude; and when by degrees they
have learned to bear them, they have acquired
some virtue.</p>
<p>In the same manner, cold or hunger,
when accidentally encountered, are not
evils; they make <i>us feel what wretches feel</i>,
and teach us to be tender-hearted. Many
of your fellow-creatures daily bear what you
cannot for a moment endure without complaint.
Besides, another advantage arises
from it; after you have felt hunger, you
will not be very anxious to choose the particular
kind of food that is to satisfy it.
You will then be freed from a frivolous
care.</p>
<p>When it is necessary to take a nauseous
draught, swallow it at once, and do not
make others sick whilst you are hesitating,
though you know that you ought to take it.
If a tooth is to be drawn, or any other disagreeable
operation to be performed, determine
resolutely that it shall be done, immediately;
and debate not, when you clearly
see the step that you ought to take. If I
see a child act in this way, I am ready to
embrace it, my soul yearns for it—I perceive
the dawning of a character that will
be useful to society, as it prepares its soul
for a nobler field of action.</p>
<p>Believe me, it is the patient endurance
of pain, that will enable you to refill your
passions; after you have borne bodily pain,
you will have firmness enough to sustain the
still more excruciating agonies of the mind.
You will not, to banish momentary cares,
plunge into dissipation; nor, to escape a
present inconvenience, forget that you should
hold fast virtue as the only substantial good.</p>
<p>I should not value the affection of a person
who would not bear pain and hunger to
serve me; nor is that benevolence warm,
which shrinks from encountering difficulties,
when it is necessary, in order to be useful
to any fellow-creature.</p>
<p>There is a just pride, a noble ambition
in some minds, that I greatly admire. I
have seen a little of it in Mary! for whilst
she pities others, she imagines that she
could bear their inconveniences herself; and
she seems to feel more uneasiness, when she
observes the sufferings of others, than I
could ever trace on her countenance under
the immediate pressure of pain.</p>
<p>Remember you are to bear patiently the
infirmities of the weakest of your fellow-creatures;
but to yourselves you are not to
be equally indulgent.</p>
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