Mock not, nor jest at anything of importance; break no jests that are sharp-biting, and if you deliver anything witty, and pleasant, abstain from laughing thereat yourself.

Use no reproachful language against any one, neither curse, nor revile.

Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of any.

In your apparel, be modest, and endeavor to accommodate nature, rather than to procure admiration; keep to the fashion of your equals, such as are civil and orderly with respect to times and places.

Play not the peacock, looking everywhere about you to see if you be well decked, and if your shoes fit well, if your stockings sit neatly, and clothes handsomely. Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you

esteem your own reputation, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for it is a sign of a tractable and commendable nature; and in all causes of passion, admit reason to govern.

Be not immodest in urging your friend to discover a secret.

Speak not injurious words neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none, although they give occasion.

Be not forward, but friendly and courteous; the first to salute, hear, and answer; and be not pensive when it is a time to converse.

Go not thither, where you know not whether you shall be welcome or not. Give not advice without being asked, and when desired, do it briefly.

Think before you speak, pronounce not imperfectly, nor bring out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly.

When another speaks, be attentive yourself, and disturb not the audience. If any hesitate in his words, help him not, nor prompt him, without being desired; interrupt him not, nor answer him, till his speech is ended.

Treat with men at fit times about business, and whisper not in the company of others.

Be not curious to know the affairs of others, neither approach to those that speak in private.

Undertake not what you can not perform, but be careful to keep your promise.

Be not angry at table, whatever happens, and if you have reason to be so, show it not; put on a cheerful countenance, especially if there be strangers, for good humor makes one dish of meat a feast.

When you speak of God, or His attributes, let it be seriously in reverence. Honor and obey your natural parents, although they be poor.

HOE OUT YOUR ROW.

One sultry day a farmer's boy
Was hoeing in the field of corn,
And anxiously had waited long

To hear the welcome dinner-horn.
The welcome call was heard at last,

And down he quickly dropp'd his hoe.
The farmer shouted in his ear,

"Hoe out your row! Hoe out your row!"

Although a hard one was the row,

And farmers paid but meager hire,
The lad had work'd from early morn,
And now beginning well to tire;
"I can," said he, and manfully

He seized again his fallen hoe.

The good man, pleased, now smiled to see
The farmer's boy hoe out his row.
The lad the text remember'd long,
And often proved the moral well,
That perseverance to the end,

At last will always nobly tell.
Take courage then, resolve you can,
And strike an earnest, vigorous blow;
In life's great field of varied toil,
Hoe out your row, hoe out your row.

LESSON XCIV.

THE COUNTRY FAITH.

Here in the country's heart
Where the grass is green,
Life is the same sweet life
As it e'er hath been.

Trust in God still lives,

And the bell at morn

Floats with a thought of God

O'er the rising corn.

The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or his daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him perhaps when he needs it most.

A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure set