, 1879-10-18
JOHN PLOUGRMAN's TALk:
PLAIN ADVICE FOR PLAIN PEOPLE
By {. II. sPCRGEoN
On Keeping One, Eye, opru.

/ By c. II. >PCRGEON.
! On Keeping One, Eyes Open.
To get through this world a man must
look about him, and even sleep with one eve
| open for there are many bats for fishes,
many nets for birds. and many traps for men.
| While foxes are SO common We must not he
geese There is very great difference in
this matter among people of my acquaint-
ance many See more with one eve than
others with two, and many have tine ewes
and cannot see jot. All heads are not
sense boxes. Some are 50 cunning that they
J suspect everybody. and So live all their lives
, in miserable fear of their neighbors: others
are So simple that every knave takes them
! II, and makes his penny OF them. One man
! tries to see through brick wal. and hurts
| his ewes while another finds cut a hole III
It, and sees rs far as he pieaseS. Some work
at the mouth OF furnace, and are never
| scorched /: and others burn their hands at the
/ fire when they only mean 10 warll them.
| Now, II Is true that no one can give another
experience, and We must all pick up wit for
ourselves: vet shall venture to give some
of the homeiy cautions which have served
my turn, and perhaps they may be of use to
others as they have been 10 me.
Nobody Is more like an honest man than
a thorough rogue When you see man with
great deal of religion displayed III his shop
window, you may depend upon 1t he keeps a
very small stock OF 1t within. Do not choose
your friend by his looks handsome shoes
often pinch the feet. Don't be fond of COM
| pllmentS: remember, Thank you. pussy,
and thank. you, pussy, killed the cat.
| Don't believe in the man who talks most
! for mewing eats are very seldom good nous
ers BY no means put yourself IN another
persons power If you put your thumb be-
tween two grinders, they are very apt TO
| bite Drink nothing without seeing 1t sign
/ nothing without reading it, and make sure
that it means no more than it says. Don I
20 to law unless y0u have nothing to lose
lawyers houses are bull, on fools heads. In
any business, never wade INTO water where
! Won canno5 see the bottom Put no depeud-
ence upon the label of a bag and count
money after your own kin. See the sack
| opened before you buy what Is III 1t for he
who trades III the dark asks to be cheated.
| Keep clear of the man who does not value
| h $ own character Beware Of every one
who swears he who would blaspheme his
| Maker would make no bones of lying or steal
| ing. Beware of no man more than OF your
| self: We carry our worst enemies within us
,, When new opinion or doctrine comes be
| fore You, do rot bite till you know whether
| IL is bread or a stone and do not be sure
! that the gingerbread Is good because Of the
gilt on it. Never shout hollo till you are
| quite out Of the wood and don't cry fried
! fish till they are caught III the net. There 5
always time enough to boast-wait a little
longer Don't throw away dirty water till
Won have got clean keep on at scraping the
| roads till yOu can get better work (; tor the
poorest pay Is better than none, and the
humblest office is better than beng out OF
employment Always give up the road to
bulls and madmen and never fight with n
coal HEAVIER or contend with base charac-
ter for they will be sure to blacken you.
Neither trust nor contend,
| Nor lay wagers, nor lend,
And You may depend
| You'll have peace tO your end.
| cannot say quite so much as that old rhyme
does. for there's more than that wanted TO
give peace, but certainly it viii help to It,
Nerer ride brol,cn-kneed horse: the trader
who has once been fraudulent bankrupt Is
not the man for yOu to deal with. y rex
ETY. char Is 4 dangerous seat. Be shy OF
people who are over-polIte, and don't he too
| fast with those who are forward and rough
When YOU suspect a design III anything, be
| on vuur guard set the trap As soon as you
smell Il rat, but mind you don't catch your
| own fingers in it. Have very little t" do with
A baaster. for his beer is all froth, ana though
he brags that all his goods, and even his cop
| per kettles, are gold and silver, You Will soon
| find out that bOaster and a liar are iIrst
cousins Commit all your secrets to no man !;
trust III God with all your heart, but let
YOUR confidence III friends be weighed IN the
| balances of prudence, seeing that men are
but men. and al men are frail- Trust not
great weights to slender threads ct be
not ever-more suspicious, for suspicion Is
| co;yarIly virtue at best. Men are not
angels. remember that but they are not dew
| lis. and it is too bad to think them So. One
| thing be sure of, never believe III any priest
| of any religion. for before a man could be
bad enough to pretend TO be priest, he
must have hardened MS heart and blinded
his conscience to the most horrible degree.
| Our governors imprisOn gipsies Tor telling
| fortunes, and yet they give fat Lvlngs 10
varahonds who deceive the people III much
| weirhtier things. Bad company, saId the
| thief as he went to the glllows between the
hangman and priest a very honest speech
and a very true word, though spoken III Jest
| II is the ignorance OF fools which keeps the
pot boring for priests May Col clean TINS
land of the plague of their presence ana
make me1 wise enough to see through theif
crafty devices. Lastly, my advice TO all IS
Remember that good wisdom Is that which
| Will turn out 70 he wise III the end seek 1t,
friends, and seek If at the hands OF the wIsest
| of all teachers, the Lord Jesus