Year: 1870

you Will say, nad. Dettef menu MS
own smock, and let the parson alone


but l take leave to look about me
and speak my mind, for cat may
look at king, and fool may give
wise men good advice. If l speak toe
plainly, please remember that an
old dog cannot alter his way OF
barking, and he who has long been
used to plough straight furrow, is
ve4y apt to speak in the same
straightforward manner


ON GOOD NATURE AND FIRMNEss.


Do not be all sugar, or the world
will suck you down; but do not be
all vinegar, or the world will spit
you out. There is medium in all
things, only blockheads 90 to eX-
tremes. We need not be all rock or
all sand, all iron or all wax. We
should neither fawn upon everybody
like silly lapdogs, nor fly at all per-
sons like surly mastiffs. Blacks and
whites go together to make up a
world, and hence on the point of
temper we have all sorts of people
to deal with. Some are as an old
shoe, but they are hardly ever worth
more than the other one of the pair;
and others take fire as fast as tinder
at the smallest offence, and are as
dangerous as gunpowder. To have
a fellow going about the farm as
cross with everybody as bear with
sore head, with a temper as sour
as verjuice and as sharp as razor,
looking as surly as a butchers dog,
is great nuisance, and yet there
may be some good points about the
man, so that he may be man for
all that; but poor soft Tommy, as
green as grass, and as ready to bend
as willow, is nobody's money end
everybody's scorn. A man must
have a backbone, or how is he to
hold his head up? but that backbone
must bend, or he will knock his bcow
against the bean.


There is a time to do as Others
wish, and time to refuse. We may
make ourselves asses, and then every
body will ride us; but, if we would
be respected, we must be our own
masters, and not let others saddle
us as they think fit. If we try to
please everybody, We shall be like a
toad under harrow, and never have
peace; and, if we play lacquey to all
our neighbors, whether good or bad,
we shall be thanked by no one, for
we shall soon do as much harm as
good. He that makes himself a
sheep, will find that the wolves are
not all dead. He who lies on the
ground must expect to be trodden
on. He who makes himself mouse,
the cats will eat him. If you let
your neighbors put the calf on your
shoulders, they will soon clap on the
COW. We are to please our neigh
Dor for his good to edification, but
this is quite another matter.


There are old foxes about whose
mouths are always watering for
young geese, and if they can cozen
them to do just what they wish,
they soon make their market out of
them. What jolly good fellow you
will be called, if you will make your
self a hack for your friends, and
what q Benjamin's mess will they
soon bring you into! Out of that
mess you will have to get all alone,
for your old friends will be sure to
say to you, Goodbye, basket, I've
carried all my apples" or they will
give their good wishes and nothing
more, and you viii find out that fair
words won't feed cat, nor butter
your bread, nor fill your pocket.
Those who make so very much of
you either mean to cheat YOU, or
else are in need of you; when they
have sucked the orange they will
throw the peel away. Be wise, then,
and look before you leap, lest a
friends advice should do you more
mischief than an enemy's slander.
The simple believeth every word; !;
but the prudent man looketh well to
his going Go with your neigh
Dor as far as good conscience will
go with you, but part company
where the shoe of conscience begins
to pinch your foot. Begin with your
friend as you mean 10 go on, and let
him know very early that you are
not a man made of putty, but one
who has judgment of his own, and
means to use it. Pull up the mo-
ment you find you are out of the
road, and take the nearest way back
at once. The way to void great
faults is to beware of small ones,
therefore pull up in time if you
would not be dragged into the ditch
by your friend. Better offend your
acquaintance than lose your charac-
ter and hazard your soul. Don't be
| dSlldillctt W VAIN uoWll uIudSdlll
Lane. Never mind being called a
turncoat when you turn from bad
courses; better to turn in time than
to burn in eternity. Do not be per,
suaded to ruin yourself-it is buy,
ing gold too dear to throw oneself
away to please our company. Put
your foot down where you mean tC


stand, and let no man move you


from the right. Learn to say, ''No,'


and it will be of more use to you
than to be able to read Latin.


A friend to everybody is often tc


nobody, or else in his simplicity h,
rahs his family to help strangers
and becomes brother to beggar
There is wisdom in generosity, as il
everything else, and some had neet
: go to school to learn it. A kind
: hearted soul may be very cruel t.
! his own children, while he takes tn,
: bread out Of their mouths to give t,
: those who call him n generous fel
5 low, but laugh at his folly. Yer,
, often he that his money lends, lose
, both his gold and his friends, and h
e who is surety is never sure. TAX
e John Ploughman's advice, and neve