a sufficient reason.

author: “but why do you charge me more for printing this time than usual?”

publisher: “because the compositors were constantly falling asleep over your novel.”

living happily together.—a few more smiles of silent sympathy, a few more tender words, a little more restraint on temper, may make all the difference between happiness and half-happiness to those we live with.

friendship.

well-chosen friendship, the most noble

of virtues, all our joys makes double

and into halves divides our trouble.

denham.

how they closed the day.

when dr. walsham how was rector of whittington, an old woman, on the occasion of his first visit, said to him—

“the old man and me, sir, never go to bed without singing the evening hymn. not that i’ve any voice left, for i haven’t, and as for him, he’s like a bee in a bottle, and then he don’t humour the tune, for he don’t rightly know one tune from another, and he can’t remember the words, neither, so when he leaves out a word i puts it in, and when i can’t sing i dances, and so we get through it somehow.”

showing and seeing.—behaviour is a mirror in which everyone shows and might see her own image.—goethe.

mental exertion.

a lady took her irish maid to task for carelessness and forgetfulness. “why is it, mary,” said she, “that you keep on making the same mistakes over and over again? why don’t you try to remember what i tell you?”

the day happened to be very warm, so mary returned the quaint reply, “sure, ma’am, i can’t be aggravatin’ me moind this hot weather.”

consolation.—there never was a night which was not followed by a morning, nor a winter which was not succeeded by a summer. a most consoling reflection, this, to those distressed in the night and winter of spiritual trial and trouble.