“A nimble tongue often trips.  The rule of the tongue is a great attainment.  The language of truth is direct and plain.  Truth is never evasive.  Flattery is the food of vanity.  A virtuous mind loathes flattery.  Vain persons are an easy prey to parasites.  Vanity easily mistakes sneers for smiles.  The smiles of the world are deceitful.  True friendship hath eternal views.  A faithful friend is invaluable.  Constancy in friendship denotes a generous mind.  Adversity is the criterion of friendship.  Love and fidelity are inseparable.  Few know the value of a friend till they lose him.  Justice is the first of all moral virtues.  Let justice hold, and mercy turn, the scale.  A judge is guilty who connives at guilt.  Justice delayed is little better than justice denied.  Vice is the deformity of man.  Virtue is a source of constant cheerfulness.  One vice is more expensive than many virtues.  Wisdom, though serious, is never sullen.  Youth is the season of improvement.”—­Dillwyn’s Reflections, pp. 4-27.

   “Oh! my ill-chang’d condition! oh, my fate! 
    Did I lose heaven for this?”—­Cowley’s Davideis.

LESSON II.—­PARSING.

“So prone is man to society, and so happy in it, that, to relish perpetual solitude, one must be an angel or a brute.  In a solitary state, no creature is more timid than man; in society, none more bold.  The number of offenders lessens the disgrace of the crime; for a common reproach is no reproach.  A man is more unhappy in reproaching himself when guilty, than in being reproached by others when innocent.  The pains of the mind are harder to bear than those of the body.  Hope, in this mixed state of good and ill, is a blessing from heaven:  the gift of prescience would be a curse.  The first step towards vice, is to make a mystery of what is innocent:  whoever loves to hide, will soon or late have reason to hide.  A man who gives his children a habit of industry, provides for them better than by giving them a stock of money.  Our good and evil proceed from ourselves:  death appeared terrible to Cicero, indifferent to Socrates, desirable to Cato.”—­Home’s Art of Thinking, pp. 26-53.

   “O thou most high transcendent gift of age! 
    Youth from its folly thus to disengage.”—­Denham’s Age.

LESSON III.—­PARSING.

“Calm was the day, and the scene, delightful.  We may expect a calm after a storm.  To prevent passion is easier than to calm it.”—­Murray’s Ex., p. 5.  “Better is a little with content, than a great deal with anxiety.  A little attention will rectify some errors.  Unthinking persons care little for the future.”—­See ib. “Still waters are commonly deepest.  He laboured to still the tumult.  Though he is out of danger, he is still afraid.”—­Ib. “Damp air is unwholesome.  Guilt often casts a damp over our sprightliest hours.  Soft bodies