They that praise thee, seduce thee.

Buy the truth, and sell it not.

who, because she cannot defend the house like a dog,
labour as an ox, or bear burdens as a horse, doth
therefore yet play tricks, and provoke laughter. Thou
mayest be sure that he that will in private tell thee
thy faults is thy friend, for he adventures thy dislike,
and doth hazard thy hatred; for there are few men
that can endure it, every man for the most part
delighting in self-praise, which is one of the most uni-
versal follies that bewitcheth mankind.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

THE HEIGHT OF HONOUR.

No man to offend

Ne'er to reveal the secrets of a friend;
Rather to suffer, than to do a wrong,

To make the heart no stranger to the tongue;
Provoked, not to betray an enemy,
Nor at his meat I choke with flattery;
Blushless to tell wherefore I wear my scars,
Or for my conscience, or my country's wars;
To aim at just things; if we've wildly run
Into offences, wish them all undone ;
'Tis poor, in grief for a wrong done, to die—
Honour to dare to live, and satisfy.

MASSINGER.

Before honour is humility.

Be not wise in thine own eyes.

A man is known by the company he keeps.

Choose your friends with care.

ON THE CHOICE OF FRIENDS.

HERE is nothing more becoming any wise man than to make choice of friends, for by them thou shalt be judged what thou art. Let them, therefore, be wise and virtuous, and none of these that follow thee for gain; but make election rather of thy betters than thy inferiors, shunning always such as are poor and needy; for, if thou givest twenty gifts, and refuse to do the like but once, all that thou hast done will be lost, and such men will become thy mortal enemies. Take also special care that thou never trust any friend or servant with any matter that may endanger thine estate, for so shalt thou make thyself a bond-slave to him that thou trustest, and leave thyself always to his mercy; and be sure of this, thou shalt never find a friend in thy young years whose conditions and qualities will please thee after thou comest to more discretion and judgment, and then all thou givest is lost, and all wherein thou shalt trust such a one will be discovered. Such, therefore, as are thy inferiors will follow thee but to eat of thee, and when thou leavest to feed them they will hate thee; and such kind of men, if thou preserve thy estate, will always be had. And if thy friends be of better quality than thyself,

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.

True friends are tried by adversity.

A friend sticketh closer than a brother.

Keep sound wisdom and discretion.

thou mayest be sure of two things: the first, that they
will be more careful to keep thy counsel, because they
have more to lose than thou hast; the second, they
will esteem thee for thyself, and not for that which
thou dost possess. But if thou be subject to any
great vanity or ill, then therein trust no man;
for every
man's folly ought to be his greatest secret. And,
although I persuade thee to associate thyself with thy
betters, or at least with thy peers, yet remember always
that thou venture not thy estate with any of those great
ones that shall attempt unlawful things; for such men
labour for themselves, and not for thee; thou shalt be
sure to part with them in the danger, but not in the
honour; and to venture a sure estate in present, in
hope of a better in future, is mere madness: and
great men forget such as have done them service
when they have obtained what they would, and will
rather hate thee for saying thou hast been a means of
their advancement than acknowledge it.

When thou shalt read and observe the "Stories
of all Nations," thou shalt find innumerable examples
of the like. Let thy love be to the best, so long as
they do well; but take heed that thou love God, thy
country, thy prince, and thine own estate before all
others for the fancies of men change, and he that
loves to-day hateth to-morrow; but let reason be thy
schoolmistress, which shall ever guide thee right.
SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

Better an open enemy than a false friend.

All are not friends that speak fair.

The boy is father of the man.

First impressions are lasting.

YOUTHFUL IMPRESSIONS.

HE impression that every man makes upon his age and country is not so much determined by the events and associations of his manhood, as by the ruling principles or passions of his boyhood and youth; so that youth is the bud of which manhood is the flower; and, as it were, the present is the faithful type and prophet of the most distant future.

It is an eventful moment when the masterpiece of the sculptor's skill is being cast in the mould, for soon it shall harden, and whatever be its faults or its virtues, it must go down to posterity unchanged. It is an hour of thrilling interest when a nation's destinies hang trembling in the balance, and a word or act may shape them for unborn generations. But, oh! where, in the case of an individual, is there a period so eventful, so fraught with tremendous consequences for good or evil, as when the youth pauses upon the threshold of active life, and yields his plastic mind to the abiding impress of truth or error, and forms those habits which shall be interwoven with the whole texture of his coming existence?

Could the young man who is disposed to trifle with solemn truth have the future unveiled to his view, and see this or that evil practice embittering a

Youth is the season of promise.

Honest youth makes happy age.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Get wisdom.

career that is now so full of hope-see the silken
threads of sinful pleasure turning into cords that shall
strangle his soul's life-see the luxuriant harvest of
disgrace, poverty, wretchedness, that shall spring
from the seeds he so recklessly sows, he would surely
be aroused to sober reflection. Or could he who now
struggles successfully against temptation, look beyond
the present conflict and victory, and trace their bene-
ficent effects upon the confirmed principles of man-
hood and old age, he would surely be inspired with
fresh strength, nor think the most hard-earned conquest
dearly bought.

Let this thought, then, be lodged deeply in every
youthful mind, that NOW is the crisis of life-that
every hour of time, every habit of thought, feeling, or
action, the book or paper you read, the words you
hear, the companions you associate with, the purposes
you cherish each makes its indelible mark, and all
combine and work together in forming you for future
honour, usefulness, and happiness, or for shame, misery,
and death.

COLLYER.

AVOIDING evil is but one half of our work; we must
also do good. One act of beneficence, one act of real
usefulness, is worth all the abstract sentiment in the
world, and that humanity is despicable which can be
contented to pity where it might assuage.

Hear instruction, and be wise.

Enter not into the path of the wicked.