13. Be not immoderate in urging your friend to dis cover a secret. 14. If two contend together, take not the part of either unconstrained, and be not obstinate in your own opinion; in things indifferent, be of the major side. 15. Speak not in an unknown tongue in company, but in your own language, and as those of quality do, and not as the vulgar; sublime matters treat seriously. 16. In dispute, be not so desirous to overcome, as [you are] to give liberty to each one to deliver his opinion; and submit to the judgment of the major part, especially if they are judges of the dispute. 17. Be not angry at table, whatever happens, and if you have reason to be so, show it not; put on a cheerful countenance, especially if there be strangers, for good humor makes one dish of meat a feast. II. 18. When you meet with one of greater quality than yourself, stop and retire, especially if it be at a door or any strait place, to give way to him to pass. 19. They that are in dignity, or in office, have in all places precedency; but, while they are young, they ought to respect those who are their equals in birth, or other qualities, though they have no public charge. 20. It is good manners to prefer them, to whom we are to speak, before ourselves, especially if they be above us, with whom in no sort we ought to begin. 21. In writing or speaking, give to every person his due title, according to his degree and the custom of the place. 22. Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty. 23. Be not forward, but friendly and courteous; the first to salute, hear, and answer; and be not pensive when it is time to converse. 24. When your superiors talk to anybody, hearken not, neither speak, nor laugh. 25. When you speak of God or his attributes, let it be seriously, in reverence. Honor and obey your natural parents, although they be poor. III. 26. In your apparel, be modest, and endeavor to accommodate nature, rather than to procure admiration; keep to the fashion of your equals, such as are civil and orderly with respect to times and places. 27. Play not the peacock, looking everywhere about you to see if you be well decked, if your shoes fit well, if your stockings set neatly, and clothes handsomely. 28. Think before you speak; pronounce not imperfectly, nor bring out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly. 29. Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your promise. 30. When you deliver a matter, do it without passion, and with discretion, however mean the person may be you do it to. 31. Be not tedious in discourse; make not many digressions nor repeat often the same manner of dis course. 32. Use no reproachful language against any one, neither curse, nor revile. 33. Let your countenance be pleasant, but in serious matters somewhat grave. IV. 34. Being to advise or reprehend any one, consider whether it ought to be in public or private, presently or at some other time, in what terms to do it; and, in reproving, show no signs of choler, but do it with sweetness and mildness. 35. Mock not nor jest at anything of importance; break no jests that are sharp-biting; and if you deliver anything witty and pleasant, abstain from laughing thereat yourself. 36. Associate yourselves with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone, than in bad company. 37. Utter not base and frivolous things among grave and learned men; nor very difficult questions or subjects among the ignorant; nor things hard to be believed. 38. Speak not of doleful things in time of mirth, nor at the table; speak not of melancholy things, as death and wounds; and if others mention them, change, if you can, the discourse. Tell not your dreams but to your intimate friends. 39. Break not a jest where none takes pleasure in mirth; laugh not aloud, nor at all without occasion. Deride no man's misfortune, though there seems to be some cause. 40. Go not thither where you know not whether you shall be welcome or not. Give not advice without being asked; and when desired, do it briefly. 41. Treat with men at fit times about business, and whisper not in the company of others. V. 42. Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of any. 43. Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none, although they give occasion. 44. Detract not from others, neither be excessive in commending. 45. Be not apt to relate news, if you know not the truth thereof. In discoursing of things you have heard, name not your author always. A secret dis cover not. 46. Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another, though he were your enemy. 47. When a man does all he can, though it succeeds not well, blame not him that did it. 48. Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for it is a sign of tractable and commendable nature; and, in all causes of passion, admit reason to govern. 49. Gaze not on the marks or blemishes of others, and ask not how they came. What you speak in secret to your friend, deliver not before others. George Washington. FOR PREPARATION.-I. These maxims were compiled by Washington when thirteen years old. His biographer says of him: "His intercourse with men, private and public, in every walk and station, was marked with a consistency, a fitness to occasion, a dignity, decorum, condescension, and mildness and respect for the claims of others, and a delicate perception of the nicer shades of civility, which were not more the dictates of his natural good sense and incomparable judgment than the fruits of a long and unwearied discipline." These maxims are not arranged here in the order that Washington arranged them, but are classified under the following heads: (1.) Those which relate to behavior in company (1 to 17); (II.) those which relate to treatment of superiors in rank, fortune, or age (18 to 25); (II.) those which relate to personal appearance and bearing or demeanor (26 to 33); (IV.) those which relate to proper regard for the occasion, or the needs and desires of those present (34 to 41); (v.) those which relate to gossip, consideration to be shown toward others—those, in short, which are based on the Golden Rule (42 to 49). See "Manners at the Table " (CXXVI.). II. Writ'-ings (rit'-), qual'-i-ty, en-děav'-or (-děv'-), as-sō'-ci-āte (-shi-), ăt’-tri-būte, eön-sciençe (-shens), pre-çed-en-cy. III. Name-words are sometimes made out of describing-words. Thus, th added to true makes truth (e being dropped), the name of the quality; thus, too, length from long (o becoming e); health from hale; wealth from well or weal; width from wide; warmth from warm. Can you think of any others? There are many words and IV. Discourse, reprove, deride, flatterer. phrases in this piece used in old-fashioned (obsolete or obsolescent) significations; e. g., major side (14), deliver (16), greater quality (rank) (18), strait (narrow), dignity (position of influence) (19), etc. V. Condense the above rules, if possible, so as to make five general ones. XLVII. MORNING SOUNDS. 1. But who the melodies of morn can tell? The wild brook babbling down the mountain's side; The hollow murmur of the ocean-tide; |