"Wait koii the Fuuit.
ir3
pain 11s designed malevolence. Near the
close of the reign of George the Second
of England a beautiful countess was one
day conversing wilh the King upon the
subject of sliows, and thoughtlessly re
marked thai the show which she most
wished to see was n coronation There
mark, though inadvertently made, struck
the King in a tender spot. I am indebted
to a writer on etiquette for the above illus
tration, and the same authority (I have for
gotten his name if, indeed, lever knew it)
tells u story of a nearly similar character
which aptly illustrates this habit that
some people have of unmeaningly wound
ing the feelings of those with whom they
may be conversing. A certain Bishop
Burnett of England was one day dining
with Prince Eugene of France. Upon
being asked by the Prince how long it
had been since he had left France, the
Bishop replied thai he had last been in
France in the same year that the Countess
of Soissons was imprisoned for poisoning
a person. The Countess was, as the Bish
op very well knew if he had taken a mo
ment for reflection, the Prince's mother.
How many times do we feel like rebuking
people of this sort in words similar to
those of Gertrude to her son in the play
of Hamlet. "Oh Hamlet thou hast cleft
my heart in twain 1" Words, even care
lessly said, may cut to the quick of oue's
feelings.
Egotism should be avoided in couversa
lion. How many poisons do we meet ev
ciy day who run talk upon ou other sub
ject than their own particular hobbies, or
their own clever-doings, like that conceit
ed old Antiquary in the novel of the
same name, llemcmber that it is egotism
and conceitedness in any degree in socie
ty, that
'KatlgueK-lhu fine
FJauntf, and goes down nu unregarded thing."
If a person has done a deed worthy of be
iug trumpeted abroad, others will take the
trouble to do the trumpeting for him. If
lie has not done anything that others
would care to make public, it will not in
the least rid down to his honor if ho at
tempt to make it public himself. That
ancient poet who used to say to ncnrly ev
ery one whom he met after he had written
any new poem, "Now I will go and put
chains along all tho bridges in town to
keep my brother poets from drowning
themselves," is only an exaggerated exam
ple of tlie egotism which we quite fre
quently meet with in our conversations
with others.
Conversation heads the list as a means
of pleasure and education. ' In conver
sation we eat each other up," says E. P.
Whipple in rather a homely figure, ''and
this intellectual caunabalism results, if
the conversation be good, in nn increase
of mental substance to all." It is conver
sation that most widely disseminates
knowledge and vital thought, and tends
most to the intellectual development of
mankind. If we were all Alexander Sel
kirks, and had nothing more intellectual
with which to converse than our goats
and cats, we would very soon all be fools.
It is intelligent conversation that keeps us
mentally alive, and furnishes us with our
most refined pleasure; so let us improve
upon the art and make it one of the lofti
est standards of culture. Uiiiel.
WAIT FOR THE FRUIT.
There seems to be, on the part of man,
a wonderful longing for speedy returns.
The man who is willing to wait for the
fruit of his labors to ripen seems to be an
exception to the general rule. At best,
we are but short-sighted creatures; and
were we willing to let time have its course,
and to await the development of that
which we were unable to explain, then
could we with reason look for the spoils,
for the victory would be won, and the ene
my vanquished. Yes, lie who has learned
the lesson of contentment is he who
lives the happy life. Neither would we
discountenance ambition. At first sight
it may seem that contentment and ambi
tion arc somewhat conflicting in their na
ture. But when rightly blended and as-