3. Think of all these things, and learn to be thankful, that you are counted worthy to bear a small portion of sufferings, to find your union and relation to the suffering people of God.

7. Calumny.

1. Evil speaking, back-biting, &c., are among the worst of evils; they are the destroyers of true friendship and gospel love; the poisoners of bliss. Retire from the evil speaker, shut your mouth, eyes and ears when in his presence, lest he get that from you which he will convey to others, with which he will seek to harm you.

2. "Calumniators, are those who have neither good minds nor good understandings." "We ought not to think ill of any one until we have positive proof; and even then we should not expose them to others. We ought to attend to our own business, and not meddle with the affairs of others, unless applied to, or to render a service."

3. "We know not whether the bearer of tales, or the receiver is most criminal, for one produces the other. We should equally disdain to relate and to hear slander. If no other means of shunning a gossip offers, we should stop our ears; for the receiver is as bad as the thief."

4. "Look on slanderers as direct enemies to civil society; as persons without honor, honesty or humanity. Whoever entertains you with the faults of others, perhaps designs to serve you in a similar manner. To

accuse another who is not present, to answer for himself, is mean, sneaking, cowardly and base."

MENTAL FRIEND.

8. Choice of Company.

1. "Endeavor, as much as you can, to keep good company, and the company of your superiors; for you will be held in estimation, according to the company you keep. Human nature is such a mixing property, that it generally flows together with that which comes in contact with it; and "the mind, like the body, partakes of the dispositions of the company we keep. It is not possible he can have a good disposition, who associates in bad company."

9. Conversation.

1. Those who contradict others upon all occasions, and make every assertion a matter of dispute, betray, by this behavior, a want of acquaintance with good breeding. He, therefore, who wishes to appear amiable with those he converses with, will be cautious of such expressions as these; "That can't be true;” “The affair is as I say;" "If what you say is true, &c." "That must be false." You might as well tell a man he lies at once, and thus impeach his veracity; and this every one knows is absurd. It is equally as rude, to be proving every trifling assertion with a bet or a wager, "I'll bet you fifty of it, and so on: "this is wholly out of the way for Believers.

as,

2. "Make it then, a constant rule in matters of no great importance, complaisantly to submit your opinion

to that of others. Always look at a person when you speak to them: otherwise, you will be thought conscious of some guilt; besides, you lose the opportunity of reading their countenances, from which you will much better learn the impressions your discourse makes upon them, than you possibly can from their words; for words are at the will of every one, but the counte. nance is frequently involuntary."

3. "If when speaking to a person, you are not heard, and should be desired to repeat what you have said, do not harshly raise your voice in the repetition, lest you should be thought angry; it was probably owing to the hearers inattention."

MANUAL OF GOOD MANNERS.

10. Mimicry.

1. "As to a mimic or a wag, he is little else than a buffoon, who will distort his mouth and his eyes, to make people laugh. Be assured, that in doing as he would be done by, no person ever demeaned others to make sport, and no person who has a regard for his character ever demeaned himself by any awkward ways to make sport.

2. Mimicry is the favorite amusement of little minds, and the contempt of great ones. Never practice it yourself, nor encourage it in others. It is an insult on the person you mimic; and insults are hard to be forgiven."

MANUAL OF GOOD MANNERS.

11. Tattling.

1. "Secrecy is another characteristic of good breeding. Be careful how you tell in one company, what

you see or hear in another; much more, never to divert the present company at the expense of the last. Things apparently indifferent may, when often repeated and told abroad, have much more serious consequences, than imagined. In conversation, it is the general expectation of those with whom you converse, that what they say will not be repeated; and a person though not enjoined to secrecy, will be excluded from company, if found to be a tattler; besides, he will draw himself into multitudes of difficulties, and every one will be afraid to speak before him."

2. "Whispering in company, is another act of ill breeding. It seems to insinuate, either that the persons whom we would not wish should hear, are unworthy of our confidence, or it may lead them to suppose we are speaking improperly of them; on both accounts, therefore, abstain from it."

MENTAL FRIEND.

12. Awkward Speech.

1. "There is also an awkwardness of speech, that ought to be, and may be guarded against; such as forgetting names, and mistaking one name for another. To speak of, What d'ye call him, or You know who, O friend May, or What's her name, or How d'ye call her, is extremely awkward and vulgar. It is the same to begin a story, without being able to finish it, breaking off in the middle, with, I have forgot the rest. 2. Our voice and manner of speaking should likewise be attended to. Some mumble over their words, so as not to be intelligible; and others speak so fast, as

not to be understood; and in doing this, will sputter and spit in your face; some bawl as though they were speaking to the deaf: others speak so low, as scarcely to be heard; and many put their face so close to yours, as to offend you with their breath.

3. "All these habits are horrid and disgusting; but may be easily corrected with care. They are the vulgar characteristics of a low bred youth, or are proofs, that very little pains have been bestowed upon their education."

13. Vulgar Language.

1. " Vulgar language is a distinguishing mark of bad company and education. The conversation of a low bred person is filled with by words, and hackneyed sayings. Instead of observing that tastes are different, and that most persons have one peculiar to themselves, "What is one man's meat, is another's

he will say,
poison : or
woman said when she kissed the cow."

Every one to their liking, as the old

2. He has ever some favorite word, which he introduces on all occasions, right or wrong, such as " vastly angry," "vastly kind," "devilish ugly," "devilish "immensely great," "immensely little," &c. or he interrupts you while speaking, with "be sure," or "surely" at every sentence.

kind;

3. "He affects to use hard words, to give him the appearance of a man of learning; but frequently mistakes their meaning, and seldom if ever, pronounces