Year: 1873




!, Some are blessing, Others are curse
Some viii bear cOnjugating a. good
better, best; others a. bad. worse


worst and others will bear no com


parison at all, for it is hard to tel


what they are; something akin to th
Irishman's flea, now here, now there
: now you have him, now Won don't
They set their sails to catch the popu
= lar breeze, no matter where or how i


blows. The favorable features Of 50


ciety are pleasant 10 speak Of an'
write about, vet we cannot shut ou


eye to the fact. that she has som,
grave deformities, which can only b.
remedied by the unpleasant task o


calling the peoples attention to them
There are some people who, Will,
they are not openly vile or amenablt
20 law, are a curse to the neighbor


hood in which they live. For convent


encc sake we will divide them into
classes. One class, of an almost in
describabie order, are the vain talk
ers," spoken Of in the Bible Busy
bodies in other mems matters" AL


ways ready to poke their nose ia
where it is not wanted; breaking
ruthlessly into a conversation between
two or more parties, thereby showing z
their lack of manners as well as OF
brains. They are perfect sycophants,
running with the popular tide 9th
ers of the same class who inhabit oGr
neighborhood, like the Athenians OF
old, are ever on the vie to tell or hear
some new thing. They are never sat
isfed unless they have somebody 5
name TO handy about Should Mr.
So-and-so sneeze in Miss Run
About's presence, away she goes to
Mr.. Stretchet, ceiling him how Mr..
So-and-so sneezed a great awkward,
unmannerly sneeze right in her face /;
he drops Madam Gossip a word that
Mr. SO-and-so sneezed himself into
fits; she runs over TO Mr.. Chatterbox
and him the astounding news, how
Mr.. So-and-so was diving from the
effects of sneezing fit; old Madam
Rumor hears it next. how S0-and-so
died from sneezing fit, caused by a
very bad cold So it runs on. widen
ing out like the eddies Of a mill-pound


No doubt but they will have him bu-
ried before they are through. Why
Is 1t that some people viii persist in
minding everybody-else's business
but their own | suppose, as the
Irishman said, Iii is the nature of the
beast" oh! it is no harm to talk
over things" There is more harm
than We think for; enough, as many
have experienced, to cause bitter
heart-burnings. grief, alienation and
hatred enough 10 mar the peace
and quiet of any neighborhood He
is wise man who knows Uhea to
speak and hO,g to speak Another
class seem TO be somewhat under the
sway Of the green-eyed monster
They take every occasion that offers
itself TO cast out little innuendoes,
filings, hyper critical criticisms against
those whom they feel are their super
iors in the social circle or in talent.
They are ever ready to throw out
some remark calculated to disparage
them in the estimation of others
They do not seem TO realize that they
are exposing their own weakness and
laying themselves liable to be regard
ed as Insignificant by men of thought
and consideration. Speak evil of no
man, - is a preeept of the Christian
law, which works more than one way.
1t is not our interiors we are apt to be
envious Of Another class, YOU can
tell the moment YOU see them; they
look like the breaking up of a frosty
morning in March; their faces wear a
most woe-begone expression. They
smile, but it is more like the sudden
gush Of snow storm in mid-winter.
than the warm genial ray of loving
heart. Their presence throws, as it
were, a wet blanket over the happy
mirth of any company they enter
From their talk You would think that
the universe itself was out Of order.
and everything was going to rack and
ruin The country is in a state Of
anarchy, our rulers are all rogues, our
tax-satherers are all thieves, and cor
ruption is holding high carnival over
the land. Are they members of the
church, even there their malarious in
huence is felt Nothing is going
right-the church is going down-the
candle-stick of the Lord is going to be
removed" From their talk YOU would
be lea to infer that they are the only
saints in the congregation, and all the
rest are sinners; "the Elders are de-
linquent and cold. the members are
recreant and dead" Oh, if they
were in Office, they would make things
straight. Should they condescend to
go to prayer-meeting, it is only to con-
stantly tremble, least some young in
experienced convert, moved by the
enthusiasm of his first love, should
venture to tell what Jesus has done
for him. Should be happen, in his
embarrassment, to make a lapsus I'm
quar-, our cynical brother or sister are
so mortified that they scarcely recov-
er from the shock in a month. You,
taking it for granted that they are the
very paragon of perfection, benevo-
lence and love. call upon them with
the expectation Of obtaining some
thing to aid on the cause Of missions,
but come away disappointed They
have got nothing for Won" "Chari-
ty begins at home" You have had
your labor for your pains, except you
get an intimation that things are 90
ing wrong. which indeed YOU realize
to be the ease a few minutes after /;
for, passing out, down the street a
young son of theirs rushes rudely bv
with an awful oath upon his lips
You are shocked. surprised. and make
inquiry and find out that he is one of
the worst characters in town. Alas.
for human nature. When we meet
with an experience like this, we are
reminded of The mote and the baem,
the gnat and the camel our Saviour
alluded to; and of line in Burns
about seeing ourselves as others see
US" fpeople would look more at
home and less abroad to find faults
and crums to grumble over, we would