Make no comparisons, and if any of the company be commended for any brave act or virtue, commend not another for the same.

When your superiors talk to anybody, hearken not; neither speak nor laugh.

Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust.

Be not angry at table whatever happens, and if you have reason to be so, show it not, but put on a cheerful countenance, especially if there be strangers; for good humor makes one dish of meat a feast.

When you speak of God or his attributes, let it be seriously and with reverence. Honor and obey your natural parents, although they be poor.

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

com pre hen'sive, covering much in a tract'a ble, easily led or managed.

O, a dainty plant is the ivy green,
That creepeth o'er ruins old!

On right choice food are his meals, I ween.
In his cell so lone and cold.

The wall must be crumbled, the stone decayed, To pleasure his dainty whim;

And the mouldering dust that years have made Is a merry meal for him.

Creeping where no life is seen,

A rare old plant is the ivy green.

Fast he stealeth on, though he wears no wings,
And a staunch old heart has he!

How closely he twineth, how tight he clings
To his friend the huge oak tree!
And slyly he traileth along the ground,
And his leaves he gently waves,
And he joyously twines and hugs around
The rich mould of dead men's graves.
Creeping where no life is seen,

A rare old plant is the ivy green.

Whole ages have fled, and their works decayed,
And nations scattered been;

But the stout old ivy shall never fade
From its hale and hearty green.
The brave old plant in its lonely days
Shall fatten upon the past;

For the stateliest building man can raise
Is the ivy's food at last.

Creeping where no life is seen,

A rare old plant is the ivy green.

ween, think.

A QUEER SEARCH

JONATHAN SWIFT

Gulliver, who tells this story, says that he was caught in a far-off land by a people called Lillipu'tians. They were only six inches high, and were at first greatly frightened at this huge sailor.

THE Emperor desired I would not take it ill if he gave orders to certain officers to search me; for I might carry about me several weapons, which must be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person. I said his Majesty should be satisfied, for I was ready to strip myself and turn up my pockets before him. This I delivered part in words and part in signs.

He replied that, by the laws of the kingdom, I must be searched by two of his officers; that he knew this could not be done without my consent and assistance; that he had so good an opinion of my generosity and justice, as to trust their persons in my hands; that whatever they took from me should be returned when I left the country, or paid for at the rate which I would set upon them.

I took up the two officers in my hands, put them first into my coat-pockets, and then into every other pocket about me. In one of my fobs there was a silver watch, and in the other a small quantity of gold in a purse. These gentlemen having pen, ink, and paper about them, made an exact inventory of

everything they saw; and, when they had done, desired I would set them down, that they might deliver it to the Emperor. This inventory I afterwards translated into English, and is word for word as follows:

"In the right coat-pocket of the great man-mountain, after the strictest search, we found only one great piece of coarse cloth, large enough to be a foot-cloth for your Majesty's chief room of state. In the left pocket we saw a huge silver chest, with a cover of the same metal, which we, the searchers, were not able to lift. We desired it should be opened, and one of us stepping into it, found himself up to the mid-leg in a sort of dust, some part whereof flying up to our faces set us both a-sneezing for several times together.

"In his right waistcoat pocket we found a prodigious bundle of white, thin substance, about the bigness of three men, tied with a strong cable, and marked with black figures - which we humbly conceive to be writings - every letter almost half as large as the palm of our hands. In the left there was a sort of engine, from the back of which were extended twenty long poles, resembling the palisadoes before your Majesty's court, wherewith we conjecture the man-mountain combs his head; for we did not always trouble him with questions, because we found it a great difficulty to make him understand us.

"In the large pocket on the right side of his middle cover (so I translate the word by which they meant my breeches) we saw a hollow pillar of iron, about the length of a man, fastened to a strong piece of timber, larger than the pillar; and upon one side of the pillar were huge pieces of iron sticking out, cut into strange figures, which we know not what to make of. In the left pocket, there was another engine of the same kind.

"In the smaller pocket on the right side were several round, flat pieces of white and red metal of different bulk. Some of the white, which seemed to be silver, were so large and so heavy that my comrade and I could hardly lift them.

"In the left pocket were two black pillars irregularly shaped. We could not without difficulty reach the top of them as we stood at the bottom of his pocket. One of them was covered, and seemed all of a piece; but at the upper end of the other there appeared a white and round substance about twice the bigness of our heads. Within each of these was enclosed a prodigious plate of steel, which, by our orders, we obliged him to show us, because we apprehended they might be dangerous engines. He took them out of their cases, and told us that in his own country his practice was to shave his beard with one of these, and to cut his meat with the other.

"There were two pockets which we could not