COMPLIMENTS.

Compliments are said by some to be inadmissible.  But between equals, or from those of superior position to those of inferior station, compliments should be not only acceptable but gratifying.  It is pleasant to know that our friends think well of us, and it is always agreeable to know that we are thought well of by those who hold higher positions, such as men of superior talent, or women of superior culture.  Compliments which are not sincere, are only flattery and should be avoided; but the saying of kind things, which is natural to the kind heart, and which confers pleasure, should be cultivated, at least not suppressed.  Those parents who strive most for the best mode of training their children are said to have found that it is never wise to censure them for a fault, without preparing the way by some judicious mention of their good qualities.

SLANG.

All slang is vulgar.  It lowers the tone of society and the standard of thought.  It is a great mistake to suppose that slang is in any manner witty.  Only the very young or the uncultivated so consider it.

FLATTERY.

Do not be guilty of flattery.  The flattery of those richer than ourselves or better born is vulgar, and born of rudeness, and is sure to be received as emanating from unworthy motives.  Testify your respect, your admiration, and your gratitude by deeds more than words.  Words are easy but deeds are difficult.  Few will believe the former, but the latter will carry confirmation with them.

SCANDAL AND GOSSIP.

Scandal is the least excusable of all conversational vulgarities.  Envy prompts the tongue of the slanderer.  Jealousy is the disturber of the harmony of all interests.  A writer on this subject says:  “Gossip is a troublesome sort of insect that only buzzes about your ears and never bites deep; slander is the beast of prey that leaps upon you from its den and tears you in pieces.  Slander is the proper object of rage; gossip of contempt.”  Those who best understand the nature of gossip and slander, if the victims of both, will take no notice of the former, but will allow no slander of themselves to go unrefuted during their lifetime, to spring up in a hydra-headed attack upon their children.  No woman can be too sensitive as to any charges affecting her moral character, whether in the influence of her companionship, or in the influence of her writings.

RELIGION AND POLITICS.

Religion and politics are topics that should never be introduced into general conversation, for they are subjects dangerous to harmony.  Persons are most likely to differ, and least likely to preserve their tempers on these topics.  Long arguments in general company, however entertaining to the disputants, are very tiresome to the hearers.