also quite true that these embellishments of social life do not compensate for the more solid attainments; and that mere manner, however deferential and admirable, cannot be the equivalent of a knowledge of any trade, calling, or profession. Some men, by dint of extraordinary ability, despite boorish, uncouth manners, have succeeded in the attainment of fame and fortune; but how much sooner would their labours have been crowned with success had they been known for suavity and the grace of manners? Numerous anecdotes are told of Abernethy, who added to his wonderful surgical skill a manner and brusqueness which would have utterly destroyed a man of less ability. It is related that upon one occasion a lady that had called professionally to consult him was so annoyed by his rude manners that she threw his fee upon the table, and said sharply, “I had heard of but never witnessed your vulgar rudeness before." He had written a prescription. "What am I "Anything you to do with this?" the lady asked. like: throw it on the fire if you will." She did so, and left the apartment. Abernethy hastily followed to return the fee. The lady did not condescend to notice him, and he flung the money after her! A lady upon another occasion complained that when she lifted her arm higher than usual the pain was intense. "Then why do you lift it higher than usual?" was the gruff response. Had Abernethy been a man of no special ability, his rudeness and boorish manners would speedily have left him without patients. But he has not been the only man who has exhibited rudeness in social life, and thereby lost much of the influence and happiness which a contrary course would have secured. Gentleness, however, does not imply the forfeiture of any manly quality, or the giving up of any principle or position that ought to be maintained. Blair well said that "gentleness, which belongs to virtue, is to be carefully distinguished from the mean spirit of cowards and the fawning assent of sycophants. It removes no just right from fear; it gives up no important truth from flattery; it is, indeed, not only consistent with a firm mind, but it necessarily requires a manly spirit and a fixed principle in order to give it any real value.” Tennyson, in one of his sweet and suggestive verses, describes the power of gentleness:— "An accent very low In blandishment, but a most silver flow Right to the heart and brain, though undescribed, Burke never spoke more truly than when he said: "Manners are of more importance than laws. Upon them, in a great measure, the laws depend. The law touches us but here and there, now and then. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. They give the whole form and colour to our lives. According to their quality, they aid morals, they supply them, or they totally destroy them." But manners and politeness cannot be acquired as a branch of knowledge, as a language or a science can be acquired; manners, like good temper, must become the habit of life-the habit which is confiding, generous, graceful, self-denying, trustful, thoughtful of others, and not lost in self. These graces, which make life a poem, cannot be put on and off at will. Many a battle against selfishness must be fought in their attainment; but when acquired the sweetest aroma of life will be enjoyed, and roseate happiness accompany daily duty. 66 XVII. Lives that are not Successful. They who are most weary of life, and yet are most unwilling to die, are such who have lived to no purpose-who have rather breathed than lived."-CLARENDON. "Not many lives, but only one, have we— Frail, fleeting man! How sacred should that one life ever be That narrow span! Day after day filled up with blessed toil, M BONAR. UCH of the misery and wretchedness of life is occasioned by false views, wrong purposes, and unattainable pursuits. Instead of being content with the condition in which Providence has placed them, many pine and covet some other state, and suppose happiness only to be found when that is attained. Let, however, the desired goal be reached, and the attainment of happiness is still in the distance-it is still the unattained. The poet expressed the universal experience when he said, "Man never is, but always to be blest." The satisfactions of life are not here, but yonder; life is spent in the pursuit, and when it is ended the prize has not been gained. This experience is multiplied by ten thousand examples, and yet the throng rush along the same path, realize the same experience, and meet with the same disappointments. The exposure of the illusion does not disenchant. The illusion of fame and fortune, ease and pleasure, attracts multitudes of votaries. The supreme good is centred in their attainment; and when they are attained, as possibly they may be, like the fabled apples they are found fair and beautiful to look upon, but within nothing but ashes and disappointment. The illusion of what is called respectability has drawn many to destruction-drawn them from useful manual labour, from healthful industrial country employments to respectable town situations and positions, in which the hands remain unsoiled and wages and profits increase. "To the inexperienced youth," said Henry Ward Beecher, "the city is a wonderful and awe-inspiring place. He has heard of its wealth, and to him it is immeasurable. He has heard of its splendours, and they dazzle his imagination. He has heard of its pleasures, and he can scarcely conceive of its enjoyments. He has heard of its curiosities till his imagination runs riot. Those that last year worked in coarse clothes by his side come home in an untimely hour this year so finely dressed, and such gentlemen, that the poor farmer's boy despises his hard hands in comparison with the white hands of the new-comers, and longs for an open door by which he may leave his labour and drudgery and rush upon the career of a |