Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 575, 8 May 1858, Page 4

Miscellaneous.

"Don't Speak so Cnoss!"—"Don't speak so cross!" said one little boy to another. " Don't speak so cross !—there's no use in it!" We set the juvenile speaker down as an embryo philosopher. In sooth, whatever the point involved in the boyish difficulty which made occasion for the remark, he might probably be

considered at, maturity. What more could Solomon have said on the occasion! True, he has put it on record- that a " soft answer turneth away wrath ;" and this being taken as true —and everybody knows it to be so—-it is evidence in faTour of the superiority of. the law of kindness over that of wrath, r But our young street philosopher said pretty much the same thing substantially . when he said, '.' Don't speak so cross!—there's no use in it." On the contrary, it invariably does much harm. Is a man angry ? It inflames his ire still more, and confirms in his enmity him who, by a kind W°, .a, a Senile and pleasing demeanour, might be converted into a friend. It is, in fact an addition of fuel to the flame-already kindled; ; And what do you gain by it?: ;Nothing desirable, certainJy, unless discord, strife contention.hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness be desirable. The boy spake the " words ot truth and soberness" when he said "Don't speak so cross!—there's no use in it " Laziness is a great evil. This truth is clearly evinced by the conduct of too many of our species. _ Idleness is bad enough of itself in all conscience, but when meivare not satisfied with idling away their own time, and are found annoying their friends and acquaintances by frequent and lengthy; visits to their places of business,;^ is intolerable. Young man, you are just starting out on the theatre of life; do not let it be said of you as it has been truly said of others, "He has no energy." - If you are out of employment, seek for it again; and if you do not succeed, still keep trying, and our word for it you will not fail to prosper. At any rate, do not weary the patience of your friends by sitting about their counting-houses and shops, yawning and wishing for that which is impossible; : De* pend upon it; a life of industry is the most cheerful situation in which you can be placed. Wobth Remembrance.—Rowland Hill said, " I would give nothing for the Christianity of a man whose very dog and cat were not the better for .his religion." Sleep.—The brain expends its energies and. itself during the hours of wakefulness, and thesaare recuperated during sleep ; if the recuperation does not' equal the expenditure, the brain withers—this is insanity. Thus it is that, in early English history, persons who were condemned to death by being prevented from sleep - ing always died raving maniacs • thus it is also that those who are starved to death become insane ; the brain is not nourished, and they cannot sleep. The practical inferences are three— Ist. Those who think most, who do most brain work, require most sleep. 2nd. That time " saved" from necessary sleep is infallibly destructive .to mind, body, and estate. 3rd. Give yourself, your children, your servants, give all that are under you the fullest amount of sleep they will take, by compelling them to go to bed at some regular early hour, and to rise in the morning the moment they awake, and wifckin a fortnight nature, with almost the regularity of the rising sun, will unloose the bonds of sleep the moment enough repose has been secured for the-wants of. the system^ This is the only safe and sufficient rule; ami as to the question, how much sleep any one requires, each must be a rule for himself; great nature will never fail to write it out to the observer under the regulations just given.

Maxims.—l. Persevere against *. discouragement. 2. ■Keep your temper. ,3. Employ leisure in study, and always have some wprk on hand. 4. Be punctual ancl .methodical in business, and never procrastinate! 5. Preserve self possession, and do not be talked out of a conviction. 6. Rise early and be an economist brtime. 7. Never be in a hurry. 8. Maintain dignity without the appearance of Pride; manner is something with everybody and every thing. with'some. ■ ,9. Be guarded in discourse, attentive and slow to speak. 10. Never acquiesce in immoral or pernicious opinion. 11. Be not forward to assign reasons to those who have no right to ask. 12,- Think nothing in conduct unimportant and indifferent. '".. IS. .Rather set than follow examples. 14i Practise strict temperance. 15. And, in all your transactions, remember the final account.

What Jews can do besides Make Money. —Who composed 'II Barbiere ?' Eossini—-a Jew ! Who is there that admires not the hearfc-stirrinsr music of the 'Huguenot' and the f Prophete'? The composer is Meyerbeer— a Jew ! Who has not been spell-bound by the sorcery of 'Die Judinp' by, Halevy—a . Jew 1 Whxrthat, at Munich, has . stood before the weeping Koningsparke, whose harp silently hung on the willows by the waters of Babylon, but lias confessed the liand- of a master in that all but matchless picture ? The artist is Bendemann—a Jew I ' Who has not heard of -•the : able and freespoken apostle of liberty, Boerne—a Jew! Who has not been enchanted with the beautiful fictions of lyric poetry, and charmed with the graceful melodies, so to speak, of one of Israel's sweetest singers, Heme —a Jew ..I Who has not listened with breathless ecstasy to the melting music of the 'Midsummer -Night's Dream p Who has not wept with' Elijah,' prayed with 'Paul,' and Triumphed with ' Stephen ?' Do you ask who created those wondrous harmonies P Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy! who, alas that I must so write it, was a Jew! , ■ ' ;

Shams.—The sham lady and gentleman do not know that politeness is the legitimate result of two things—good nature and good sense—and that it is therefore wholly distinct from any fictitious circumstance of birth, education, wealth, or talent. Many a nobleman is less polite than a ploughman, many a servant, many a millionaire, and many an artist might take lessons in politeness of a labouring man. It mast be confessed, however, that, at a superficial glance, education seems to make the distinction, but education only modifies our na-

ture, and the inherently vulgar (that is, the illnatured and stupid), when off their guard, drop the mask that a little schooling and worldly training puts on them, and display their true selfishness of character^. a An American Scaeeckow.—A number of boys were talking about scarecrows. " Scarecrows? he! he! he!" said one of the party, an overgrown, slab-sided, spoony-looking youth; « He!" says he, evidently in reply to some re-, marks that had preceded his, " you don't know anything about scarecrows; if you'd seen one that uncle Ben made, I guess you'd think so too. Why, uncle Ben made one, and set it up in daddy's corn field, that frightened the feathers off every crow that looked at it; and one crow that had been pecking round the field for two or three days, after he had seen it, actually broaght back all the corn he had stolen." The Poetical and Pbacticai-.—An editor and his wife were walking out in the bright moonlight one evening. Like all editors' wives, she was of an exceedingly poetical nature, and said to her mate. " Notice that moon, how bright and calm and beautiful." "■ Couldn't think of noticing it," returned the editor, " for anything less than the usual rates, a dollar and fifty cents for twelve lines."— -American paper. Deink Bitten.—-A man rather fond^ of liquor was bitten by a rattlesnake in Virginia lately. Dr. Thomas, of Monticello, administered a quart of brandy, and a gallon and a-half of whisky, without causing intoxication. The patient wanted more, but it was refused, and in twenty-four hours he was well. The next day Mr. H., his next door neighbour, was passing along, and saw him, with his pants rolled up to his knees, barefooted, and wading round in. some weeds and grass with his feet. H. asked if he had lost anything. " No, sir." " What are you doing then ?" "I am hunting a snake. There aint any liquor only what Dr. Thomas has, and he won't let me have any^ unless I am snake bit, so I am hunting one !"