Page:Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse.pdf/75

 Between the disputed pleasures of memory and anticipation, I do not hesitate to give a decided preference to the first. One presents a vivid picture of the future; the other a faithful transcript of the past. The brilliancy of the first attracts for a time, but reason perceives it to be drawn by the mutable pencil of fancy, that the curtain of futurity rests upon it, and involves it in darkness. She looks on the tablet of memory; its traces are less glaring, but more perfect; they dazzle less, but are not fictitious. One charms us while we are under the sway of fancy, the other while we are controlled by reason; and we are taught to feel those to be the highest pleasures, which are tasted by a mind rational and serene. On this part of the subject, I will borrow the beautiful expressions of a poet:

To you, my young friends, who are acquiring an education, I cannot express the peculiar worth and importance of memory. Of what use will it