Eems.

Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 138, 2 March 1877, Page 7

Eems.

— 0- silt should not discourage us if our kindness is unacknowledged ; it has its influence still. The man who contents himself to day with that which he has, will content himself to-morrow with that which he may have. Happy are those that learn early by the hard way of life what every man must learn first or last, or go ashore a wreck— namely,. self*i 4 estraint. | Caution in crediting} reserve in speakI ing, and revealing oneself to very few I are the best securities both of peace and j good understanding with the world and ! theinward peace of our own minds. As winter, by stripping the leaves from around us, makes us gee the distant regions they formerly concealed ; so old nge robs us of our enjoyments only to enlarge the prospect of eternity before us. What you attempt, do with all your strength. Determination is omnipotent. If the prospect be somewhat darkened, put the fire of resolution to your soul, and kindle a flame that nothing but death can extinguish. The young should be taught from their earliest years the duty of paying little attentions to each other and a 1 about them, as a virtue that goes deeper than superficiality, and that does more than merely give pleasure to the recipient. Friendship is that attribute of the soul by which it gives light, sweetness, flavour, health, hope, courage, joy* and profit. It is the act of one soul in showing its compassion for another by that which it will do and by that which it will suffer for the other. A man says, " I have thrown away forty years ; 1 have wasted my Whole life" — because the thing at which he aimed has been lost. As if a man's life consisted in the abundance of exterior things which he possesses ! As if a man's life were not hidden in his own self ! It is astonishing how much one without money may give. A kind word, a helping hand — tho warm sympathy that rejoices with those nhat rejoice, and weeps with those who weep. No man is so poor, no woman is so poor, as not to be able to contribute largely to the happiness of those around them. Life has a certain duration, and there is allotted to every man a certain round of duties; and as, in a journey, a man divides the distance into two stages, according to the time in which he has to accomplish it, so a man ought to look forward to the day of dying, in order to accomplish in this life the things that are to be accomplished. Civility is to a man -what beauty is to a woman. It creates an instantaneous impression in his behalf, while the opposite quality excites as quick a prejudice against him. It is a real ornament, the most beautiful dress that a man or woman can wear, and worth more as a means of winning favour than the finest clothes and jewels ever •worn. Talent is something*, but tact is everything. Talent is serious, soher, grave, and respectable j tact is all that and more too. It is not a seventh sense, but is theJife of all the five. It is the open eye, the quick ear, the judging taste, the keen smell, and the lively touch ; it is the interpretpr of all riddles, the surmounter of all difficulties and re-» aiover of all obstacles. " I have thee, 0 man !" says the Gorgon of disaster. " Not yet ! " says the man of hope, with a smiling face, and eludes his grasp. The Hercules of misfortune strikes with a mighty club, but the deft-footed man of cheer and courage steps aside, and it is the ground that is beaten— not he. This buoyant, happy temperament carries a man through difficulties that would whelm an army. " It is truly said by some one, that the mysteries of matrimony should be c*« , plored with great care. While the bond is only a beau knot it cannot be easily untied, and the consequences are simply a tew tears, an hour of parting, and a flesh wound in the heart that is quickly healed. But, when the priest puts his hand on the beau knot and converts it into a marriage tie, then the '" riohef or poorer/ the " better or worse," admits of no compromise. The Trials otf LitfE; — If you do not bring any strain to bear upon timber, one kind is as good as another. A splinter of a broom is as gcod as the best flsll if you do not put any weight upon it — if you lay it down on the carpet and do not do anything with it. The only thing which shows the relative excellence of the different sorts is a pressure brought to bear upon them. Lead is as good as iron, or iron as good as steel, so long as they are not subject to any trial of their strength. And it is when men are tried in life 1 that what they ate is made to appear. School-Life. — Early school-life should do much to gniird against the rudeness and coarseness which turn domestic life intt> bitterness, and prepare the way for outbreaks of violence. A constant stream ot refining influence should flow through the minds of the pupils; Everything 1 favourable in the reading-book, in history, or in the incidents of the school-room should be tttilised-for this end» By all means at our command let us seek to refine and elevate*' '" 'Our aim-must be to give a softening tinge to the character, like the mellow bloom on the dark rich clusters of the vine,