“Madame S. was so weak at the time of her marriage that she could hardly stand upright at the altar. Now, after using several bottles of my medicine, she is capable of throwing the smoothing iron at her husband without missing him once.” A GENEROUS NATURE.—Generosity is in nothing more seen than in a candid estimation of other men’s virtues and good qualities.—_Barrow._ SAVING HABITS.—Take care to be an economist in prosperity; there is no fear of not being one in adversity. THE MIND’S SWEETNESS. Let thy mind’s sweetness have his operation Upon thy body, clothes, and habitation. —_George Herbert._ BY FITS AND STARTS. The rogue and fool by fits is fair and wise, And even the best by fits what they despise. —_Pope._ WHAT IS WIT? True wit is nature to advantage dressed, What oft was thought but ne’er so expressed. —_Pope._ SELF-KNOWLEDGE.—It is not until we have passed through the furnace that we are made to know how much dross is in our composition. FLUENT SPEECH.—The common fluency of speech in most men and most women, says Dean Swift, is owing to a scarcity of matter and scarcity of words; for whoever is a master of language, and hath a mind full of ideas, will be apt, in speaking, to hesitate upon the choice of both; whereas common speakers have only one set of ideas and one set of words to clothe them in, and these are always ready at the mouth. So people come faster out of church when it is almost empty than when a crowd is at the door. AN OBJECTION TO HATRED.—Plutarch says, very finely, that a man should not allow himself to hate even his enemies; for if you indulge this passion on some occasions it will rise of itself on others.—_Addison._ AMUSEMENT FOR THE WISE. Amusement is not an end, but a means—a means of refreshing the mind and replenishing the strength of the body; when it begins to be the principal thing for which one lives, or when, in pursuing it, the mental powers are enfeebled, and the bodily health impaired, it falls under just condemnation. Amusements that consume the hours which ought to be sacred to sleep, are, therefore, censurable. Amusements that call us away from work which we are bound to do are pernicious, just to the extent to which they cause us to be neglectful or unfaithful. Amusements that rouse or stimulate morbid appetites or unlawful passions, or that cause us to be restless or discontented, are always to be avoided. Any indulgence in amusement which has a tendency to weaken our respect for the great interests of character, or to loosen our hold on the eternal verities of the spiritual realm, is so far an injury to us. FISH AGAINST FRY. The following _jeu d’esprit_ was suggested by an action at law some years ago, in which the parties were a Mr. Fry and a Mr. Fish:—