if

you

think these advantages an inadequate recompense for what you resign: dismiss your scruples this instant, and be a slave-merchant, a parasite, or,-what you please."

To those whose gloom arises from more general views of life, the following verses, from an English periodical, may suggest wiser and more correct sentiments :

THE WORLD.

"Talk who will of the world as a desert of thrall,
Yet, yet, there is bloom on the waste;

Though the chalice of life hath its acid and gall,
There are honey drops, too, for the taste.

"We murmur and droop, should a sorrow-cloud stay,
And note all the shades of our lot;
But the rich scintillations that brighten our way,
Are basked in, enjoyed, and forgot.

"Those who look on mortality's ocean aright
Will not moan o'er each billow that rolls,
But dwell on the glories, the beauties, the might,
As much as the shipwrecks and shoals.

"How thankless is he, who remembers alone
All the bitter, the drear, and the dark!

Though the raven may scare, with its wo-boding tone,
Do we ne'er hear the song of the lark?

"We may utter farewell, when 'tis torture to part;
But, in meeting the dear one again,

Have we never rejoiced, with that wildness of heart,
Which outbalances ages of pain?

"Who hath not had moments so laden with bliss,
When the soul, in its fulness of love,

Would waver, if bidden to choose between this
And the Paradise promised above?

Though the eye may be dimmed with its grief-drop awhile,
And the whitened lip sigh forth its fear,

Yet pensive, indeed, is that face, where the smile

Is not oftener seen than the tear.

"There are times when the storm-gust may rattle around ;
There are spots where the poison-shrub grows;
Yet are there not hours when nought else can be found
But the south wind, the sunshine, and rose ?

"O haplessly rare is the portion that's ours,
And strange is the path that we take,

If there spring not beside us a few precious flowers,
To soften the thorn and the brake.

"The wail of regret, the rude clashing of strife,
The soul's harmony often may mar;

But I think we must own, in the discords of life,
'Tis ourselves that oft waken the jar.

"Earth is not all fair, yet it is not all gloom;
And the voice of the grateful will tell,

That He who allotted Pain, Death, and the Tomb,
Gave Hope, Health, and the Bridal as well.

"Should fate do its worst, and my spirit, oppressed,
O'er its own shattered happiness pine,

Let me witness the joy in another's glad breast,
And some pleasure must kindle in mine.

"Then say not the world is a desert of thrall;

There is bloom, there is light on the waste,
Though the chalice of life hath its acid and gall,
There are honey-drops, too, for the taste."

It

25. Self-respect, humility.—Pride, vanity, haughtiness, love of dominion, conceit, pedantry.-Self-respect is not a very happy term for this trait of character. means such a sense of the dignity of man's nature, as will be an effectual preservative against its debasement. "A due sense of the dignity of man," says Dr. Young, in the 'Centaur not Fabulous," "evidently includes the whole of our duty. It inspires high veneration and great gratitude to God who gave it; it inspires a reverence for ourselves, which is of the utmost moment to our character and peace; and it inspires a proper regard for all mankind, as equal sharers in it; which regard would prevent infinite mischief, and banish half the miseries of life." Selfrespect always looks forward, never behind. It looks upward, to a high standard of perfection, which it has formed in its own mind, and towards which it continually strives with all its energies. When we do look back on our course, it should be with humility; it should be to compare our doings with the standard we have set before us. Our feeling should be, not pride, that we have done so much, but mortification, that we have so far fallen short, and determined resolution to do better, in future. Haughtiness is the abuse of the sentiment of self-respect.

It looks on the rest of mankind as inferior, instead of joint occupants of the dignified station in which God has placed us. Love of dominion requires no explanation. Vanity, conceit, and pedantry refer to displays of our fancied gifts or acquirements. Vanity commonly relates to the body, conceit, to the mind; pedantry is a boastful display of learning. All three are disgusting, and can only excite contempt.

26. Desire of excellence.-Jealousy, envy.—He, who possesses this virtue, desires to be elevated, but not by the depression of others. His object is the improvement of his own mind. The jealous and the envious also desire to rise, but it is at the expense of their neighbors, hose acquirements and possessions are to them a source of pain. Desire of excellence is a source of happiness; jealousy and envy, of nothing but wretchedness.

27. Simplicity.-Bashfulness, affectation, ostentation. -These qualities relate to manners. Simplicity of manners arises from a proper degree of humility. Its possessor is not puffed up with ideas of his own consequence. Bashfulness, affectation, and ostentation, all spring from the same root, too much self-contemplation, and overweening ideas of our own consequence.

28. Neatness.-Foppery, love of display. These traits relate, chiefly, to clothing and furniture. They are intimately connected with those in the last article, exhibiting nearly the same state of mind.

29. Docility.-Indocility.-Docility, or teachableness, always accompanies true knowledge. The more one knows, the clearer he sees his own deficiencies, and the more anxious he will be to remove them. On the contrary, the ignorant are indocile, having generally a high opinion of their own acquirements.

30. Obedient temper.-Impatience of control.-The obedient and tractable child is beloved by all, and is in the surest way of acquiring wisdom; whereas impatience of control leads to innumerable evils. In adult age, the virtuous trait appears in a conformity to the laws of God and of our country.

III. Duties to Others.

SEC. I. JUSTICE.

31. Truth.-Falsehood, perjury.—Truth is one of the most important of the virtues. A man of truth is one who is true to his God, to himself, to his fellow-men. This is not a mere verbal nicety. Does not the man who is unfaithful to his duties practically deny, though not in express words, his obligations to perform them? A liar is the most despicable and wretched of all characters. Even the lowest and most depraved consider themselves disgraced, when charged with the guilt of lying. How important, then, how sacred, is the duty of training youth in a strict regard to truth! [And yet, how sadly defective the practice! In many families, nay, may we not say in most, the whole system of family government is founded upon lies. Children are cheated in their amusements, in their food, and in their dress. If a child has to take physic, he is told that it is something good for him to drink; if reluctant, he is told that his mother will go and leave him, or that he shall be sent away, or some other such lie. Sooner or later, all these will infallibly be discovered to be deceptions by the child, and then, what must be his moral impressions, when he finds that his parents, who almost stand to him in the place of the Deity, pay no regard to truth? Another fertile source of mischief is the practice of pacifying children with promises never performed, nay, in many cases, never intended to be performed. If it be necessary, for instance, to take any thing from them, they are reconciled by the promise of something else, a promise which is instantly forgotten, as a matter of no consequence. But it is a matter of the very first consequence. Children are the very last persons to whom promises should be broken, because they cannot comprehend the reasons, if any there be, why they are not kept. Such promises should be scrupulously redeemed, though at a great inconvenience, and even when inadvertently made; for the child's moral habit is of infinitely more importance than

any such inconvenience can be to the parent. Another most injurious practice is the exaction of promises from children. When a child acts improperly, the uniform course, both of parents and children, is to demand, on pain of punishment, a promise of better behavior. But, if the consequences were better considered, this would be the last course that would be adopted. For, as it is almost certain, from the thoughtlessness and forgetfulness natural to childhood, that this promise will be broken, we are thus leading him into a habit of disregarding his pledged word. Besides, it is wholly unnecessary. When does a law or a lawgiver require a promise of obedience? Never. The question to a child, if any be necessary, when he has acted wrong, should be, Are you good now? not, Will you be good? Let us, then, consider it an undeviating rule, that promises are never to be exacted from children; but that, on the contrary, they are to be discouraged from offering them lightly and inconsiderately. As soon as they are of a fit age to understand it, the sacred nature of a promise ought to be explained to them, and they should be advised, rarely thus to pledge their honor; but, when their word has once passed, to hold it inviolate as an oath. What a beneficial change would the general adoption of such a rule produce in society ! what a mass of evil would it not prevent! and what possible inconvenience could it produce !]

32. Sincerity.-Exaggeration, deceit.-There are many persons, who, although they would scruple to tell a direct falsehood, yet have no hesitation in using language which may convey a false impression. This is deceit, the opposite of sincerity, which avoids every means of deceiving, whether by silence, speech, or action. He only is the man of truth, who will not intentionally deceive in any manner, whatever. There is another species of falsehood, which is but too prevalent, namely, the spirit of exaggeration, by which circumstances are magnified or lessened. So general is this practice, that we can place but little dependence upon facts, not received from first hand. "Accustom your children," says Dr. Johnson, "constantly to this: if a thing hap