conversation learn, as near as you can, where the skill or excellence of any person lies; put him upon talking on that subject; observe what he says, keep it in your memory, or commit to writing. By this means you will glean knowledge from every one with whom you converse, and at an easy rate acquire what may be of use to you on many occasions.

7. When you are in company with light, vain, impertinent persons, let the observing of their failings make you the more cautious both in your conversation with them and in your general behavior, that you may avoid their errors.

8. If any one whom you do not know to be a person of truth, sobriety, and weight, relates strange stories, be not too ready to believe or report them; and yet, unless he is one of your familiar acquaintances, be not too forward to contradict him.

9. If the occasion requires you to declare your opinion, do it modestly and gently, not bluntly nor coarsely. By this means you will avoid giving offense, or being abused for too much credulity.

SIR MATTHEW HALE.

LIII. THE SOLITARY REAPER,

1. Behold her single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen for the vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.

2. No nightingale did ever chant
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travelers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands;

No sweeter voice was ever heard
In spring-time from the cuckoo bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

3. Will no one tell me what she sings?
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago;

Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss or pain,
That has been, and may be again?

4. Whate'er the theme, the maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o'er the sickle bending;
I listened till I had my fill,
And as I mounted up the hill
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

LIV.-A FABLE.

1. A young man once picked up a sovereign lying in the road. Ever afterward, as he walked along, he kept his eye steadily fixed on the ground, in the hope of finding another.

2. And, in the course of a long life, he did pick up, at different times, a large amount of gold and silver. But all these days, as he was looking for them, he saw not that heaven was bright above him and nature was beautiful around.

3. He never once allowed his eyes to look up from the mud and filth in which he sought the treasure; and when he died, a rich old man, he only knew this fair earth of ours as a dirty road in which to pick up money as you walk along.

THEODORE PARKER.

LV.-CHEERFULNESS.

1. It is not enough for the preservation of health that our bodies are properly nourished, that we are fitly clothed, that we take exercise and enjoy rest, that we are cleanly in our persons and live in open and airy situations. All these things are useless if our temper and passions be not properly regulated and controlled.

2. It is useless to make a good meal of fit and nourishing diet, unless the mind is quiet and composed after it. A sally of passion, or a fit of sulkiness, spoils the digestion, and it would be better to go without food; because this not only prevents food undergoing its usual changes, but it may lay the foundation of lingering disease.

3. But it is not alone after we have taken food that

passions and bad temper may injure us. We can not even eat if we yield to them. We lose our appetites, the stomach gets disordered, and the most delicate meal Is rejected. Unless the temper be serene and cheerful we eat without an appetite, what we eat we can not digest, and food rather does us harm than good.

4. A happy-minded and amiable child is one of the

most beautiful and lovable of all God's creatures; the very sight of him has a tendency to soften our hearts and call into play our best affections. But God permits us all to be happy if we will seek happiness through Him.

5. Who that has been duly instructed in the way of true happiness, or who that has proper regard for his health and comfort, will indulge in bursts of violent passion, in fits of anger, or in sullenness? To do so is one of the greatest follies one can be guilty of. We can enjoy nothing when our hearts are filled with bad thoughts, because as our internal feelings are bright or gloomy, so will every thing around us appear.

6. If, then, we are cheerful and contented, all nature siniles with us: the air seems more balmy, and the sky more clear; the meadows have a brighter gleam, the trees a richer foliage, and the flowers a more fragrant smell; the birds sing more sweetly, and the sun, moon and stars all appear more beautiful. We take our food with relish, and, whatever it may be, we enjoy it. We feel better for it, stronger, livelier and fitter for exertion.

7. Now, if we are ill-tempered and discontented, there is nothing which pleases us. We quarrel with our food, with our dress, with our amusements, with our companions, and with ourselves. Nothing comes right for us. The weather is either too hot or too cold, too dry or too damp. Neither sun, moon nor stars have any beauty; and the fields are barren, the flowers scentless, and the birds silent. We move alone, neither loving nor beloved.

S. Besides robbing ourselves of comfort and health, and becoming hateful to ourselves and to all around us, by passion and bad temper, we also unfit ourselves for performing our public and private duties. The passionate man and the passionate child will become suchis not fit to mingle in society. He is always making himself enemies, and giving pain to himself and family.

9. Nor is this all. Every one who indulges in bad temper, and gives way to morose and sour feelings, sets a mischievous example to all around him, and spreads a baneful influence over all his associates. The affections become weakened, confidence is destroyed, health is injured, nervous and painful diseases are created, and all comfort is banished from his dwelling.

10. Let us always bear in mind that if we would preserve health, we must be good-tempered; that if we would enjoy the beauties of nature and the comforts of life, we must be good-tempered; that if we would be useful to ourselves and to others, we must be good-tempered; and that if we desire to show ourselves worthy of the blessings which our Heavenly Father showers down upon His children, we must be good-tempered, thankful, contented and cheerful.

LVI. BETTER THAN GOLD.

1. Better than grandeur, better than gold,
Than rank or titles a hundredfold,
Is a healthful body, a mind at ease,
And simple pleasures that always please.
A heart that can feel for a neighbor's woe,
And share his joy with a friendly glow,
With sympathies large enough to infold
All men as brothers, is better than gold.

2. Better than gold is the sweet repose

Of the sons of toil when their labors close;
Better than gold is the poor man's sleep,
And the balm that drops on his slumbers deep.
Better than gold is a thinking mind,
That in realms of thought and books can find
A treasure surpassing Australian ore,

And live with the great and the good of yore.