Good sir, or madam, whosoever thou mayest be, to whom this volume shall come, cast it not aside, but read it. Its quaint, curious, and helpful selections have been gathered through many years of careful research on both sides of the Atlantic. They will make thee wiser and better, and will conduce to the growth of thy mind, and the health of thy body. Let this book be to thee a magazine of literary food, of which thou shalt partake, and which thou shalt assimilate and digest to the constant increase of thy well being.

The gathering of this bouquet of literary gems has been a work of pleasure, but the compiler shall say nothing of himself for, "the least that one can say of himself is still too much."

Abilities—No man's abilities are so remarkably shining, as not to stand in need of a proper opportunity, a patron, and even the praises of a friend, to recommend them to the notice of the world.

—Pliny.

Abuse is the weapon of the vulgar.

—Goodrich.

It is told of Admiral Collingwood that on his travels he carried a bag of acorns, and dropped one wherever there seemed a likely spot for an oak to grow, that England might never lack ships.

—English Newspaper.

Acquaintances—It is easy to make acquaintances, but sometimes difficult to shake them off, however irksome and unprofitable they are found, after we have once committed ourselves to them.

Acquaintance softens prejudices.

Many persons I once thought great, dwindle into very small dimensions, on a short acquaintance.

—Bacon.

—Shakespeare.

All may do what has by Man been done.

—Young.

An act, by which we make one friend, and one enemy, is a losing game; because revenge is a much stronger principle than gratitude.

All the world practices the art of acting.

—Petronius Arbiter.

Do what you can, when you cannot do what you would.

A good action performed in this world receives its recompense in the other, just as water poured at the root of a tree appears again above in fruit and flower.

If the world were to see our real motives, we should be ashamed of some of our best actions.

Our actions are our own; their consequences belong to Heaven.

—Francis.

What thou intendest to do, speak not of, before thou doest it.

There is as much eloquence in the tone of voice, in the eyes, and in the air of a speaker, as in his choice of words.

—Rochefoucauld.

Actions—What I must do, is all that concerns me, and not what people think.

—Emerson.

An actor, when asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury why actors were more successful in impressing their auditors than preachers, replied, "Actors speak of things imaginary as if they were real, while you preachers too often speak of things real as if they were imaginary."

ON LEAVING, AFTER A SHORT VISIT.

—W. Shenstone.

Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.

—Carlyle.

Adversity does not take from us our true friends; it only disperses those who pretended to be so.

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.

—Horace.

He who never was acquainted with adversity, has seen the world but on one side, and is ignorant of half the scenes of nature.

In prosperity the proud man knows nobody; in adversity nobody knows him.

—From Scottish-American.

The finest friendships have been formed in mutual adversity.

—Latin.

It is a disingenuous thing to ask for advice, when you mean assistance; and it will be a just punishment if you get that which you pretended to want.

—Sir A. Helps.

Before giving advice we must have secured its acceptance, or rather, have made it desired.

—Amiel.

There is nothing more difficult than the art of making advice agreeable.

Every man, however wise, sometimes requires the advice of a friend in the affairs of life.

—Plautus.

He who gives advice to a self-conceited man, stands himself in need of counsel.

Pouring water on a duck's back. (Fruitless counsel or advice).

—Chinese.

Most people, when they come to you for advice, come to have their own opinions strengthened, not corrected.

CLERICAL AFFECTATION.

The Cure of Affectation—Is to follow nature. If every one would do this, affectation would be almost unknown.

—J. Beaumont.

Affectation of any kind, is lighting up a candle to our defects.

—Locke.

Affectation is the vain and ridiculous attempt of poverty to appear rich.

—Lavater.

—Observer.

AFFLICTION.

—Longfellow.

Affliction—For every sort of suffering there is sleep provided by a gracious Providence, save that of sin.

—J. Wilson.

—Burns.

Affronts—Young men soon give, and soon forget affronts; old age is slow in both.

—Addison.

Old age is a joy, when youth has been well spent.

THE APPROACH OF AGE.

Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.

G. W. Curtis.

Men are as old as they feel, and women as they look.

Italian.

—Bloomfield.

Old age and faded flowers, no remedies can revive.

—Chinese.

Goethe said: "It is only necessary to grow old to become more indulgent. I see no fault committed that I have not committed myself."

Elderly people look back upon the friends, relatives and acquaintances of thirty, forty or fifty years ago, and say, "There are no friends now-a-days like the old friends of long ago." It is natural for them to think this way, particularly when most of the old friends are dead; but the fact is, that there are friends as true now as ever.

—Dryden.

Do you seek Alcides' equal? There is none but himself.

—Seneca.

EVIDENTLY UNSATISFACTORY.

"When I look at my congregation," said a London preacher, "I say, 'Where are the poor?' When I count the offertory in the vestry I say, 'Where are the rich?'"

ALMSGIVING.

At table, discussing with some friends the subject of raffles, Bishop Wescott said that he objected to them as part of the gambling question, and also on wider grounds. He objected to all the "side means" which were sometimes combined with sales of work for "getting money out of people." Such money, he thought, as distinct from that which is given, was not wanted nor acceptable.

—The Contemporary Review.

The following Hawaiian alphabet, consisting of twelve letters, was in use, and had been for something like a hundred years, when the compiler visited the Islands in 1886. It was given to the Hawaiians by the missionaries, viz.:

THE AMBITIOUS MAN.

A slave has but one master; the ambitious man has as many masters as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortune.

—La Bruyere.

How easy it is to be amiable in the midst of happiness and success!

—Madame Swetchine.

To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.

Amusements—The mind ought sometimes to be amused, that it may the better return to thought, and to itself.

—Phaedrus.

—Addison.

THE QUEST OF ANCESTORS.

A few years ago a well-known Bostonian, the descendant of an honored family, began the ancestral quest with expert assistance. All went merry as a marriage bell for a time, when suddenly he unearthed an unsavory scandal that concerned one of his progenitors. Feeling a responsibility for the misdeeds of his great-grandfather, he ordered all investigation stopped, and the disagreeable data destroyed; but he had delved too far. His genealogist had told a friend, and the secret was out beyond recall.

—D. O. S. Lowell.

MERIT FROM ANCESTORS.

He who constantly boasts of his ancestors, confesses that he has no virtue of his own.

—Charron.

Never mind who was your grandfather. What are you?

—Persian.

Have nothing to do with men in a passion, for they are not like iron, to be wrought on when they are hot.

Anger generally begins with folly, and ends with repentance.

—Pythagoras.

He who subdues his anger, conquers his greatest enemy.

A fit of anger is as fatal to dignity as a dose of arsenic to life.

—J. G. Holland.

It is much better to reprove, than to be angry secretly.

Catch not too soon at an offence, nor give too easy way to anger; the one shows a weak judgment, the other a perverse nature.

He who can suppress a moment's anger, may prevent a day of sorrows.

Nothing can be more unjust, or ridiculous, than to be angry with others because they are not of our opinion.

When a man grows angry, his reason flies out.

—Spanish.

Animals are such agreeable friends—they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.

—George Eliot.

HIS CREATURES.

The daughter of an army officer, whose life had been spent in the far west, told the following anecdote: "Indians, when they accept Christianity, very often hold its truths with peculiar simplicity.

"There was near our fort an old chief called Tassorah. One day, when I was an impulsive girl, I was in a rage at my pony, and dismounting, beat him severely. The old man stood by, silent for a moment.

Kindness to animals is no unworthy exercise of benevolence. We hold that the life of brutes perishes with their breath, and that they are never to be clothed again with consciousness. The inevitable shortness then of their existence should plead for them touchingly. The insects on the surface of the water, poor ephemeral things, who would needlessly abridge their dancing pleasure of to-day? Such feelings we should have towards the whole animate creation.

—Sir Arthur Helps.

THE GRACIOUS ANSWER.

(The first half of each stanza should be subdued; the last half confident and full of assurance.)

Anxiety is the poison of human life.

Beware, as long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance.

—La Fontaine.

Appearance—Thou art after all what thou art. Deck thyself in a wig with a thousand locks; ensconce thy legs in buskins an ell high; thou still remainest just what thou art.

—Goethe.

A man's reception depends very much upon his coat.

APPEARANCES OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD.