I CANNOT swallow the sea for the sake of the fish.

To subscribe to a long creed for the sake of one article in it, or to put up with a heap of ill-conduct for a litfie benefit, or to go into an evil trade for temporary gain, will all come under this sentence.

I can't work for nothing, and find thread.

He did so who gave a lecture with free admission, and paid the hire of the hall and his own expenses. "I do not like you, Dr. Fell; The reason why I cannot tell; But this I know, and know full well — I do not like you, Dr. Fell."

Prejudice cannot give a reason for its own existence; but there it is. "I don't care" is a deadly snare.

When youth grows reckless shipwreck is near. "I feel as queer as Dick's hat-bard."

This was too long to go round his hat once, and not long enough to go round twice; and so, according to his own description, it was neither one thing nor the other. Has not the reader sometimes felt somehow, nohow', all sorts, and out of sorts ?

I have a fine cloak, but I left it in France.

The man has everything somewhere else, but nothing for immediate use. This sort of talk is common, but silly.

I have other fish to fry.

A good reason for leaving second-rate things alone. Fry your own fish, and don't be in a hurry to lend your frying-pan.

I much commend to make a foe into a friend..

This is the Christian way of conquering enemies. May we understand the divine art of which our Lord Jesus was the great example !

I saw an honest lawyer and a white crow.

Are they equally rare? So one would gather from an epitaph which comes to our mind : — "God works wonders now and then.

Here lies a lawyer, an honest man." Even he is dead, or rather, even "here he lies." Let us hope that all this is mere fun. No doubt the good people who are called lawyers are as honest as others; though I once knew a gentleman who used to sigh for a day's shooting in Lincoln's Inn Fields. He had doubtless been unfortunate in his transactions with gentlemen of the long robe. "I saw" is ten times better than "I heard."

Because the eyes are not so likely to be deceived. "Seeing is believing"; but hearing is deceiving, when we only hear. "I was taken by a morsel," says the fish.

How small a crumb has served to bait the hook of the great destroyer of souls ! May we newer have to lament as the fish did !

I wet well how the word wags.

He is most loved that hath most bags. "I'll try, I'll try."

He'll rise by-and-by.

Perseverance is the pledge of success.

I've lived too near a wood all my life to be afraid of an owl.

Spoken to one who !is threatening you, and yet is a nobody. It is not a speech that we should recommend.

Idle bodies are generally busybodies.

And busybodies are nobodies, except that they are nuisances to everybody.

Idle brains are addled brains.

Out of them comes nothing but folly, or worse. "Of idleness comes no goodness." The thoughts of an idler are barren.

Idle men are the devil's playmates, And he is so ashamed of their idleness that he sets them to work.

Idle people are dead people that you can't bury.

The more's the pity. We have to endure their carcasses above ground. An idler is the sepulcher of all that is good.

Idle people take the most pains.

They cause themselves double work by trying to do the thing easily.

Idle young, needy old.

The Germans say, "Idleness has poverty £or wages," and the Dutch, "Idleness is hunger's mother/' Noteworthy is the other old saying, "Idleness is the key of beggary."

Idleness and vice are twin brothers.

They are the Siamese twins of immorality.

Idleness breeds sleep, and sleep breeds idleness.

This, of course, is to be taken cum grano salis. To sleep as much as nature requires is not idleness.

Idleness is hard work to those who are not used to it, and dull work to those who are.

Idleness is the devil's bolster.

When we lay our heads on it, we are very near to the evil one. It is not the devil's conch of ease as some say, for it is a disease, and brings a world of uneasiness with it.

Idleness is the mother of all vices.

It produces a state of mind which is favorable to every form of evil.

Say a fellow is lazy, and nothing worse remains to be said of him.

Idleness is the shipwreck of chastity, and the root of all evil.

If a cow gives milk, it need not play the pianO.

Persons who can do their proper work are not to be censured because they cannot display accomplishments, or do other things which are not in their line.

If a dog is vicious, tie him up short;.

That he may have small space in which to do mischief. Some men must be dealt with very carefully, and we must see that they have not the opportunity of doing us wrong.

If a donkey brays at you, don't bray at him.

Which you will do if you answer railing by railing. Take as- a specimen and a warning the following: An American editor speaks of his rival as "mean enough to steal the swill from a blind hog !"

That rival retorts by saying, "He knows he lies: I never stole his swill." Do not fall into the style, (we had almost said sty) of these editors.

If a feel has success it ruins him.

His head is turned, and he becomes more of a feel than before.

Want of ballast renders even a fair wind a great danger.

If a mouse lives in a cat's ear, the mouse is very daring, or the cat is very dull.

When fellows thieve under the, eye of the police, or other watchers, there is something strange about it.

If a nag is meant to go, Do not keep his feed too low.

And when a servant is worked hard, don't stint him in wages. A miserly farmer once said to his man, "A fat horse can't work, you know, John. Neither can't? lean 'un, Maister," said poor John, who had reason for knowing, for he had never a chance of being anything else but lean as a strap.

If a thing be easy, do it as well as if it were hard.

This would prevent; slovenly work. Let the hare keep to the course as steadily as the tortoise, and she will win grandly.

If a woman were as swift of foot as of tongue, she would catch enough lightning to kindle the fire in the morning.

These wicked observations are shamefully plentiful. Do women really talk more than men? If they do, is it because they have more to tell? Or are men so stupid as to need often telling If a word is worth a shilling, silence is worth two.

If all men lie, speak you the truth.

There is the more reason that you should do so. Surely truth should have one advocate:

If an ass goes a-traveling, he won't come home a horse.

Persons who go abroad may come home as ignorant as they went out. Unless we carry brains with us, we shall bring none home. A dunce that hath been sent to roam Is still a dunce when he comes home.

If better were in, better would come out.

The man would talk more sense if he had more sense.

If cold, don't scold; if warm, don't storm.

The weather should not have such an effect upon us as to make ns ill-tempered. We must not be so mercurial as to go up and down with the temperature.

If England sink, 'twill be by drink.

This is the sin which swells the revenue, but also brings unnumbered ills upon us. The heathen might picture an Englishman with a bottle in one hand, and a Bible in the other. Such inconsistency is inconsistent with God's blessing.

If envy were a fever, half the world would be ill.

Let us hope that this is too sweeping; but certainly our fever hospitals would never hold all the patients.

If every feel were crowned, we should all be kings.

If every unwise man died, no one would be buried; for there would be no. one to dig a grave.

If everyone would mend one, all would be mended.

If flies will dip into people's cream jugs, they will get drowned.

Meddling and pilfering will have evil consequences to men as well as flies. Those who taste every man's broth will burn their mouths.

If folly were grief, every house would weep.

If fools ate no bread, corn would be cheap.

If fools went not to market, who would buy the bad goods ?

Many of the preceding proverbs were evidently written by an ancient Thomas Carlyle. When a man knows exactly how many fools there are, may he not be one of the confraternity P How else could he be so well acquainted with the statistics of the community ?

If God bolts the door, do not get through the window.

Don't go where it is evident that you cannot go without doing wrong. Take to heart the warnings of providence, which are often as plain as if we heard voices front ]leaven.

If God did not mean to hear us, he would not bid us pray.

If God has helped thee, help thy neighbor.

If husband and wife fall out, they had better fall in again.

For they must go on together, and they may as well make matters as agreeable as possible. The French say that "No one marries without repenting it "; but this, we trust, is not true. It is far better, and far easier, to repent of the quarrel than of the marriage. "If I drink beer, it makes me queer." And so it ought'er, — Try pure water.

If I e'er shall married be, Somewhere in the world is she:, Whom the Lord ordains for me; So for her I now will pray, And continue every day. "Bless her, Lord !" my heart shall say.

The idea of this rhyme is borrowed from "Proverbial Philosophy."

If I have not done well, will you do better ?

A question which should not be used in self-defense; but should suggest itself to anyone who censures the conduct of another. "If I rest I rust," says the key.

We find it so: even industrious people grow a bit rusty when out of work. As for idlers, they are nothing but rust.

If I think my wife is fair, What need other people care "If, If, If," Very small, very stiff.

Only one syllable, and yet "if" stubbornly stops many things If :it were not for "if" I should, be rich as Rothschild.

If it cannot be better, 'be glad it's no worse.

Thus will there always be room for gratitude.

If it must be done, do it, and have done.

A rebuke for shilly-shallying, such as you see in some people who never come to the point.

If it rained porridge, the lazy man would have no basin.

If it rains to-day, it will keep on till it leaves off.

A safe prophecy. Given as a specimen of the only kind uninspired prophecy which has anything in it worth a momen attention.

Neither Mother Shipton, nor Dr. Dee, nor the astrologers, nor the soothsayers, nor the spiritualists, can see any further into a millstone than other blind people.

If it rains — well ! If it shines — well !

This is the contented man's feeling. He leaves the skies an& clouds with him who manages them far better than short-sighted mortals could. "I wish you a good day," said the divine to the peasant. The answer was, "Sir, every day is a good day to me, for God sends it."

If it's dirt to me, it's not clean to my neighbor.

I ought not, therefore, to ask him to do what I would not do myself. Wrong for me its wrong for my servant.

If it's nothing to you, say nothing about it.

You are poking your nose into other people's business, and you may get an uncomfortable punch.

If Jack drinks the wages, Jill cannot save them.

Economy must begin with the beer money The money spent drink just makes the difference between comfort and want.

If Jack were better, Jill would not be so bad.

Often the husband creates the wife's faults, and vice versa.

If Johnny does not learn it, John will not know it.

Education is best received in early days, and especially the moral Dart of it. Teach Polly, and Mary will know.

If lies were Latin, learned men would be common.

Perhaps this saying was suggested by the other, “Lies and Latin go round the world.” Many who know no Latin are proficients in the other universal tongue, which is not one of the dead languages.

If love ands fault, it is that fault may not be found by others.

The most amiable reason for criticizing a husband or a friend.

If men had not slept, the tares would not have been sown among the wheat.

If men would think, They'd give up drink.

On the other hand, while drink sways them they will not think.

If money be not thy servant it will be thy master.

If my aunt had been a man she would have been my uncle.

Wonderful news! Almost as striking as the information that the Dutch have taken Holland. Sometimes we are obliged to rebuke great wonder-makers with some such sentence.

If on your journey you want speed Give the mare an extra feed.

If one door shuts, another will opera Often have I heard good men declare that this is true, and I It&re rejoiced with them in hearing of the goodness of God in pro-riding for his servants new openings 'when others have closed.

If one sheep break the hedge, a dozen will follow.

True of men also. One who was forty years a shepherd of sheep, and then forty years a shepherd of men, was wont to say that his second flock was the more sheepish and more apt to wander of the two.

If others say how good are you, Ask yourself if it is true.

Modestly suspect yourself. Also suspect others of having some object in flattering you.

If others' purses be more fat, Why should we groan and grieve at that ?

If prayers were puddings, many men would starve.

And others would be reduced to skin and bone.

If sin be in fashion, let; us be out of fashion.

If slighted, slight the slight, and love the slighter.

This is conduct worthy of a noble mind.

If the beans are blighted, the peas must pay for it.

One crop makes up for another. All parts of our business do not fail at the same time. Therefore, let us cheer up.

If the best man's faults were written on his brow, he would wear a broadbrimmed hat.

And feel as great an objection, to taking it off as the Quaker did when he met Charles II.

If the camel once gets his nose into the tent his whole body will enter.

Allow the beginnings of evil, and the rest will follow as a matter of course. Give intrusive people a chance, and they will take a world of liberties.

If the cap fit wear it.

Whenever a rebuke comes home to the conscience, profit by it.

If the devil be the vicar, don't be his clerk.

If the devil catch men idle, he sets them to work. "He will find them work to do, He will pay them wages too." If the eye do not admire, the heart, will not desire.

If the man is ugly, he blames the looking-glass.

It does not reflect him fairly, so he says; the fact being that it is too accurate. When a sermon is too true it is too personal.

If the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain.

If circumstances will not yield to you, you must yield to the circumstances, or let the matter alone.

If the sun shines on me, what matters the moon ?

If God's blessing be ours, we can afford to do without the smiles of men.

If there were no fools, there would be no wars.

It may be no wonder that foolish monarchs should go t;o war, but the marvel is that their subjects should be so eager to spill their blood in quarrels which very little concern them.

If they call thee reaper, whet thy scythe.

Try to deserve the credit which is given you. What's in a name?

Make it a reality.

If things were to be done twice, all would be wise.

True in many instances; but some persons are more foolish the second time than at the first.

If thou wilt love, thou shalt be loved.

It is so in the domestic circle generally; but out in the wide wide world the most loving have oftentimes been the most hated.

If thou wilt not learn, nobody can teach thee.

If thou wouldst reap :money sow money.

To hope to conduct trade without outgoings is absurd; and yet some are so stingy that they starve their business, and it dies under their hand. You can't make the pot boil and yet save your sticks.

If to do were as easy as to know, how good men would be ! If two men ride a horse, one must ride behind.

The question of position should be settled before starting, for it will be awkward to arrange it afterwards. In partnerships of all sorts this is to be thought of.

If we cannot all gather a sheaf, let us each glean an ear. If we did not flatter ourselves, nobody else could.

Flatteries from others would be nauseous to us, and would not be offered.

If wet, don't fret; if dry, don't cry.

In any case be not unduly troubled, especially by matters of weather which you cannot alter.

If wisdom's ways you wisely seek, Five things observe with care:

Of whom you speak, to whom you speak, And how, and when, and where Here we have the five, points of courtesy and caution in conversation. To observe them would save a world of trouble.

If wishes were dishes, beggars would dine.

If wishes would bide, beggars would ride. "How many sick ones wish they were healthy ! How many poor men wish they were wealthy ! How many ugly ones wish they were pretty ! How many stupid ones wish they were witty ! How many bachelors wish they were married ! How may Benedicts wish they had tarried ! Single or double, life's full of trouble; Riches are stubble, pleasufo's a bubble !"

If with the law you once begin, Twill strip you to the very skin.

Burton says, "He that goes to law does as the sheep does that in a storm runs to a briar," He loses his wool while seeking his shelter.

Our weekly satirist once said, "He who is fond of maintaining an action wi11 soon be without the means of maintaining himself."

If you agree to carry the calf, they'll make you carry the cow.

A yielding spirit is apt to be imposed upon.

If you always say "No," you'll never be wed; If you always say "Yes," you'll be horribly bled, The right use of these monosyllables is a main point of practical wisdom.

If you are a beauty, do without paint.

If you are deaf to God's voice, he'll be deaf to yours.

If you are in great haste, wait a bit.

Sound advice ! You may blunder into great evils, if you do not take time to consider. The Kashmiri saying is, "If he delays he will come quickly: but if he hastens he will come slowly" The more haste the less speed, If you are kind to the creature, be not unkind to the Creator.

Alas ! few think of Him, of whom they should think most.

If you are losing money, save some by giving it away.

The following story will explain the proverb : — Mr. Thornton, of Clapham, was waited upon by a minister, to whom he gave the liberal subscription of £15. Before the grateful clergyman left the house the mail came in, and brought information that Mr.

Thornton, through a storm at sea, had lost more than £20,000. He remarked to the minister that after so heavy a loss he must ask for his cheque to be returned to him. The :minister handed it back with a heavy heart; for his case was one of great need. Mr. Thornton, to his astonishment, gave him a cheque for £50, and added, "The Lord seems resolved to deprive me of much of my wealth, and therefore I must make haste to use what remains to :me. Before I lose all, ! must save Some."

If you are weak, you need not be willful.

But usually these two things go together, and fools are generally obstinate. He that is weak in the head is often headstrong.

If you argue, pray that it may be with those who can understand you.

Otherwise it will not be a fair debate, but a mere jangle, very trying to the temper.

If you blacken others, it does not whiten yourself.

If you blow out another man's candle, it will not light your own.

If you box a boy's ears, you'll addle his brains.

This common form of chastisement should for ever be abandoned.

If you cannot drive the engine, you can clear the road.

Every man may contribute something to the common-weal.

If you cannot find water in the sea, where will you look ?

If God does not help you, who can? Why go to the strip, ams when the ocean of mercy is before you ?

If you cannot have the best, make the best of what you have.

If you cannot paint, grind the colors.

Do something towards that grand work of art — a renovated world.

If you can't be clever., you may be clean.

If you can't bite, don't show your teeth.

Don't threaten beyond your power. The Hindoos tell of a certain custom-house official who had no legs, but he used to threaten travelers who tried to evade the duties by saying what he would do when he got up. At length his secret was found out, and he became the butt of ridicule.

If you can't get a loaf, don't throw away a cake.

If you can't get crumb, you must fain eat crust.

If you can't help, don't hinder.

If you can't take things easy, take them as easy as you can.

Some are naturally so nervous that this is all we can say to them with any hope of their following out our advice. Don't let nervousness be more than need be. If you must fidget, Please to abridge it.

If you come uncalled, you may sit unserved.

Those who intrude cannot expect to be welcomed. There are no such guests at the banquet of divine love.

If you command, and hope to be obeyed, Observe yourself the laws yourself has made.

Obviously wise advice: yet we know law-makers who are the first to break their own rules, and seem to think that having been so good as to draw up the regulations they had clone their part, and could not be expected to pay any further attention to them.

If you could run as you drink, you would catch a hare.

True of many who support the brewers and wine dealers.

If you deal with a fox, look out for tricks.

Make your dealings few and brief, or you may learn to be tricky while watching against tricks.

If you don't like crab-apples, don't plant crab-trees.

If you prefer peace and quietness, be peaceful and quiet. A member of the Peace Society must not break the peace himself. Married people should not create causes for contention, lest contention should spoil their union.

If you don't open the door to the devil he goes away.

If you don't say it you'll not have to unsay it.

A capital reason for silence where the prudence of speech is doubtful. You can't make me unsay what I never have said, Nor make me get up if I've not gone to bed.

If you don't touch the rope you won't ring the bell.

Do not place in his way the temptation which leads a man to sin, nor name the topic which makes your companion angry, nor play with causes whose results are mischievous.

If you eat all for breakfast, what will you do for dinner ?

Thrift should begin with youth, that there may be some little provision for old age.

If you fall out with the only road,, which way will you go ?

There is one way to heaven; and if you refuse it, what will you do ?

If you get the best of whisky, it will get the best of you. A clever American saying. Very true.

If you have a diamond[necklace, don't hang it on a sow's neck.

Give your love and your approbation to worthy objects. Do not devote your life's powers to a mean object.

If you have a good seat, keep it.

In running about for change sake, or pressing up for ambition's sake, you are apt to have your seat withdrawn, and yourself on the ground.

If you have an iron hand, wear a velvet glove.

Let strength be veiled with courtesy..

If you have no beef, thank God for beans.

Another .proverb of the same sort; says, "If you can't get chicken, enjoy your onion."

If you have no money, you must have manners.

It will be all the more incumbent upon you to behave courteously if you are needing help.

If you have no son, don't give him a name.

Don't act a boastful part. It's ill for either a king or a cobbler to talk of things he has not.

If you have two hands, beware of having a third.

That third is a little behind-hand, which has ruined, in many cases, the work of the other two hands, If you hold the stirrup, Satan will mount the saddle.

If you jump into a well, don't blame providence if it leaves you there.

He who is lazy, and comes to the workhouse, should not lay' his poverty at the door of Providence.

If you let a dog kiss you, it will lick you all over the face.

Some people know no medium, at carry affection and everything else to an intolerable excess. You cannot make people what an old farmer used to call, "judgmatical."

If you let the devil into the cart, you'll have to drive him home.

Begin with a sinful action, and the force of circumstances will urge you onward. Better not commence a drive to hell. It is easy to let the devil in, but hard to turn him out.

If you live with dogs, you will learn to howl.

And so if you live with the quarrelsome you will be apt to grow cantankerous ; and with the mean you will get to be mean before you know it. Don't take lodgings in such kennels.

If you love independence, do not live in dependence.

Some would like to have all they can get from others, and yet enjoy the freedom of men who support themselves. This is unreasonable, At the same time there are persons who err in the other direction, and are so independent that you cannot depend upon them.

If you lose your temper don't look for it.

It is not worth finding; do without such a temper. Remember the story of the man who gave his master notice because he could not stand his temper. "But," said the master, "you had better stay, James; for you know I am no sooner out of temper than I'm in again." "No, sir," said the servant, "I cannot stay; for the trouble is, that no sooner are you in a good temper than you're out again." A boiling temper may soon cool down; but, in the mean~ while, those who have been scalded do not forget it quite so easily.

If you love liberty, don't keep it all for yourself.

Allow other people to be as free as you are. In the name of liberty of conscience much illiberaltry is displayed. We have quite enough to do if we use our own liberty well.

If you love me show it.

This is but a reasonable demand, whether it comes from our fellowservant or from our great Master.

If you make a good profession, make good your profession.

This proverb should be appointed to be read in churches.

If you meddle with dirt, some of it will stick.

Stick to your own hands, remember. Few touch a foul business without being fouled.

If you meddle with many things, you will muddle them all.

Some few seem to be able to manage many things; but, as a rule, if we have too many irons in the fire, some of them burn.

Concentration Of energy is needful to any great success.

If you miss one post, don't run your head against another.

A certain doctrine you may not receive, but don't rush to the opposite extreme.

If you mock the lame, you may limp the same.

Nothing can be more cruel and mean than to ridicule the afflicted; and it seems a very natural judgment that those who do so should suffer a similar calamity.

If you must fly, fly well.

There is no need for you to attempt the unusual; but, if you do venture upon such things, mind that you justify the attempt.

If you pay nothing, don't grumble about the score.

When a thing is absolutely gratis, one is hardly at liberty to criticize; and yet some men will murmur anyhow. Even if hanged at the country's expense they would not like it.

If you pay your servant badly, he will pay himself.

How often are pilferings the result of paltry wages !

If you play with cats, expect to be scratched.

Among rough or wicked companions we may look for harm; and we shall get it, whether we look for it or not.

If you play with dirt, you will foul your fingers.

If you play with the bull, you will feel his horns.

If you put butter by the fire, expect it to melt.

Expose youths to temptation, and wonder not if they yield.

If you put more water in the pot, put in more tea.

More work will require more grace; more speech more thought, more care more prayer.

If you raise one ghost you will have the churchyard in motion.

One cannot do a certain measure of evil and stop there; the ball once set a-rolling goes further than we thought.

If you rake a dunghill, you will raise no lavender. Offensive subjects are better let alone.

If you ride the horse, you ought to pay for his shoeing.

Certainly. If you hear a man preach, you ought to support him; if you have a wife, you should maintain her; if you have a govern. merit, you should pay for its expenses; if you use a man's time, you should pay him for it.

If you say A, you'll have to say B.

Yielding to one evil demand will only bring another upon you. Go not one step in a way in which it would be wrong to go two.

If you say nothing, nobody will repeat it.

If you seek flowers, you must sow seeds.

If you sell the cow, .you sell her milk too.

If you renounce a truth you will lose all the comfort of it.

If you shut out love, love will shut out you.

When it comes to that, a man is in a poor ease. He generally becomes a snarling misanthrope, whom it is wise to let alone. He sings, "I care for nobody, and nobody cares for me."

If you sow thorns, you will not reap roses.

If you squeeze a flint, you will get no juice.

Press some as much as you like, and they will give you nothing.

If you swallow the church, swallow the steeple.

It is a rebuke for those who do the major part of a wrong thing, and then stickle at seine small point.

If you tell everybody your business, the devil will do it for you.

Thus say the Italians; and they do but express what experience proves true. The Creoles says "Eat everything, drink everything, but don't tel1 everything."

If you touch pitch you'll blacken yourself.

See Ecclesiasticus 13:1. This is not Scriptures as some suppose, but it is sound sense notwithstanding.

If you trust before you try, You'll repent before you die.

If you turn sweep you must wear black.

If you walk on a tight-rope, you will need a balancing-pole.

Great prudence is needed when the path is perilous. A man may safely be rich or great if grace gives prudence; but not else.

If you want a boy to move fast; say: "Now, my man !"

When, on the other hand, you would stir an aged person, you may shout: "Now, young man !" In either case the person puts his best foot foremost to seem to be what you call him, If you want a good servant, wait on yourself.

There will be no wages to pay, and you will receive neither warning nor sauce. In this respect "self is the man."

If you want a pretense to whip a dog, say that he ate the frying-pan.

When a malicious desire to rail at a person has taken possession of a mad, it matters not how gross the falsehood; it will be used without remorse, Remember the story of the wolf and the lamb at the stream.

If you want easier traveling, mend your ways.

A right life is the happiest after all.

If you want the cart to go, you must grease the wheels.

Give workmen encouragement. Practically aid desirable objects.

Golden oil will help the cart-wheel wonderfully.

If you want to die, take a quack's medicine.

Especially take those remedies which are said to cure everything, from corns to consumption. What cures Mary may kill Martha; and when a medicine is said to be equally good for everything, be sure that it is good for nothing.

If you want to know what a pound is worth, try to borrow one. He said "a trifle"' when he borrowed it of me; A pound's no trifle now when I'd a borrower be.

If you wear the ribbon blue, Mind you're to your purpose true.

If you were a cat, you would hunt for mice.

People say: "If I were he, I should do so and so." Nonsense. If you were he, you would do as he does.

If you wish to be well — as you do, I've no doubt — Just open the windows before you go out.

Some people are as afraid of the fresh air as if it were poison. If the air could come into our rooms both by day and night, it would bring health with it.

If you won't do better to-day, you'll do worse to-morrow.

We shall either grow ripe or rotten. In the road of morals, we axe always going forward or backward.

If you would be a smith, begin with blowing the fire.

He is the best workman who has gone through all the grades, and worked at every part of the trade. So in holy service, our young people should begin with easy and lowly work, and then advance to more difficult labors.

If you would be graceful, be full of grace.

If you would be obeyed willingly, command kindly.

If you would drink pure water, go to the fountain-head.

Read the Scriptures. Both preachers and books may err, but not the inspired Book. This is the well of doctrine undefiled. The old Bibles have in them this rhyme : — "Here is the Judge that stintes the strife, When men's devices faile; Here is the bread that feedes the life, That death cannot assaile." If you would have a friend, be a friend.

For friendship feeds on friendship, and starves if it finds itself alone.

If you would keep right, mind what you write. Verba scripts manent. Words written remain, and can be produced in evidence. Put not things in black and white If they will not bear the light.

If you would know, and not be known, live in a city.

If you would shun the sin, shun the temptation. "They that fear the adder's sting will not come near his hissing." If you don't want to fall into the river, keep off the bank.

If you'd learn patience superfine, Go you to fish with rod and line.

Yes, Isaac Walton must have been the happiest of martyrs, the gentlest of killers. But what perseverance his followers exhibit! Oh, the joys of angling ! "Still with patience on the shore, They clear the line, and try once more; And thus they toil from morn to night; But then they get — Get what? A BITE. 'Ere they get their fish to shore, He snaps the line, they're balked once more.

Then home they go: their tale is told, That they have caught — Caught what? A COLD." If you've breath to spare, cool your pudding.

Don't spend breath in talking, but turn it to some useful account.

Oh that some would be sensible enough to do this !

If you've no good reason for doing it, you've one good reason for letting it alone.

If your brother is a donkey, what are you ?

If your children you will pet, They will surely make you fret.

Some children have had :reason to think, in after-life, that if their parents had loved them wisely, they would also have whipped them well. Yet, too much Cain is apt to kill Abel.

If your head is in the lion's mouth, get it out as quick as you can.

Such a risk ought not to be prolonged. By all means make matters right when you see that you are altogether in the power of a great adversary, be he human or diabolical.

If your husband is a dog, don't be a cat.

If you are, you will lead a eat-and-dog life.

If your wife is crust, mind that you are crumb.

Be resolved to be specially patient and gentle when you see that there is irritation in your partner. Mr. Shelly, a clergyman at Cambridge in the seventeenth century, is described as "an oldfashioned, good man." He made 'the following rhymes on a sudden, as he was going to preach in his parish church, in answer to one of his parishioners, who asked:. "How long, sir, have you and Mrs.

Shelly been married ?" "Fifty years and three, Together in love, lived we:

Angry both at once none ever did us see.

This was the fashion God taught us, and not fear:

When one was in a passion, The other could forbear." If your wife is flint, don't be steel.

Or, if you are so, don't try the effect of striking.

If your wife is short stoop to her.

If youth be sick of the will-not;s, old age is in danger of dying of the shallnots.

If youth but knew what age would crave.

Most surely it would try to save. "Ifs" and "buts" spoil many a good character.

Ignorance confessed sets all dispute at rest.

This is a flue conclusion of controversy; and if we were not too proud we might end many a debate in this manner.

Ignorance is the mother of impudence.

The father is pride.

Ignorance is the mother of superstition.

Not of devotion, as has been ignorantly asserted.

Ignorance shuts its eyes, and swears that it sees.

None are more positive than those who know nothing.

Ill doers are ill deemers.

They measure other men's corm with their bushel; and, as they know their own baseness, they reckon that all others are like themselves.

Ill-gotten gain is no gain.

It brings a curse with it, and seldom lasts to the third generation.

Ill habits gather by unseen degrees, As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.

Ill husbandry trusteth to him and to her; Good husbandry putteth itself all astir.

Those who leave their business to others very soon find that it is gone from themselves altogether. Do not say "Go," but "Come along." This will make all the difference between a clean farm and a slovenly one.

Ill huswifery lieth Till nine of the clock; Good huswifery trieth To rise with the cock.

Ill in kits is worse in cats.

For old people to do wrong is inexcusable, but youth may be pleaded as some little apology.

Ill-matched horses draw badly.

If one pulls and the other jibs, it is a bad thing for the family coach.

Husband and wife should be of one mind, and specially in religion. "Be ye not unequally yoked."

Ill news files fast enough.

Hence, "no news is good news"; for, if there had been bad to hear, we should have heard it. PeopLe seem more eager to publish the evil than the good; probably because they are evil.

Ill weeds always grow apace; Folly runs a rapid race.

Ill won is generally ill worn.

A righteous fatality seems to prevent the dishonest from enjoying their plunder. He who steals eels finds them turn to snakes. Illgotten goes rotten. What the devil brings the devil takes away.

Ill words are bellows to the fire of anger.

He that is quiet causeth no riot.

Ills that God blesses are my good; All unblest good is ill; And all is right that seems most wrong If it be God's dear will,, A fine distich, which deserves to be, made proverbial, seeing it is a conglomerate of proverbs, and full of grace. It has been wisely said that "ills are wells when God blesses them."

Imitate the best, not the worst Our propensity to imitate is very strong, hence the importance of selecting a good model. Johnson says that no man becomes great by imitation, but we doubt it: in the beginning of life the imitation of a good model leads on to originality.

Improve time in time while time doth last; For all time is no time when time is past.

Impatience is the sting of affliction.

And this we put into it ourselves What folly '.

In a calm sea we are all good sailors.

We suppose that we can endure trouble with great equanimity; but when it really comes, we are as much vexed by it as others are, In a fiddler's house one learns to dance.

The motion of the music makes the feet move almost involuntarily.

When one gets into a :family one is apt to fall into the ways of the house.

In a large flock there will be one lame sheep.

Large families are seldom without one weak child. In religious communities we may look for a proportion of feeble souls.

In a leopard we expect spots.

In irreligious men we look for fil habits, which could not be tolerated in members of churches.

In strangers' company beware; Of both thy tongue and purse take care.

In a walking newspaper the leading article is scandal Our advice is — do not take it in, nor do anything else to increase the circulation of the red rag.

In buying a horse expect to be sold.

In choice of bride let grace preside.

We fear that as a rule nature has far more to do with it than grace.

In company guard your tongue, in solitude your heart.

Our words need watching; but so also do our thoughts and imaginations, which grow most active when we are alone.

In conduct don't make trifles of trifles.

Regard the smallest action as being either right or wrong, and make a conscience of little things.

In deep waters men find great pearls.

Our worst troubles are often our greatest enrichments.

In every beginning think of the end.

In that case many things would be quitted in their beginnings, or no one would wish to encounter the end.

In every fault there is folly.

It is always unwise to sin.

In fair weather prepare for foul The beauty of our English weather is, that when it is bad, we may hope that it will soon change. Its fault is, that when it is good, we may be pretty sure it will soon alter.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

It is so with a certain order of expenses: once begin and you must go on, and cannot pull up when you would.

In giving and taking, It's easy mistaking.

Therefore allowances should be made for error. Say not: "It is a fraud," but judge it to be a mistake. Count money twice, even after your own kin. Keep correct books. When you err yourself, let it be against yourself.

In half the affairs of this busy life (As that same day I said to my wife), Our troubles come from trying to put The left-hand shoe on fhe right-hand foot.

A little adjustment would save a world of trouble; but common sense is very uncommon sense. We put salt upon the plum-pudding and grumble at its taste; we mix the unsuitable, and the result is uncomfortable.

In judging what a boy will be, Mark what he is in infancy.

For the child is the father of the man. Quick eyes may see the future life of the man in the little ways of the child.

In law there's many a loss without a gain, but never a gain without a loss.

In Orange everything grows except oranges.

A name is frequently a mere name. Orange is too cold a region for the orange tree: the province bears the name of the fruit it cannot grow. Some Christians have little that is Christian about them.

Some "Brethren" are sadly unbrotherly. Surnames are said to go by contraries: "Mr. Make peace was bred an attorney."

In showers, the umbrella at home is of no use.

It is like the Dutchman's anchor. When the storm came on he said that he had a first-rate anchor at home.

In spending spare, Of debts beware.

In talks prefer quality to quantity.

Don't utter sheer nonsense, such as Dr. Darwin alludes to in his lines: — "Hear the pretty ladies talk, Tittle tattle, tittle tattle !

Like their pattens when they walk, Pittle pattie, pittle pattle." In the coldest flint there is hot fire.

Persons who seem slow and patient have still a temper, and will fire up if too much provoked. Let us be careful not to arouse dormant passion. It's ill waking sleeping tigers.

In the end things will mend.

Time sides with patience, heals sorrows, and moves difficulties; therefore let us "learn to labor and to wait."

In the evening one may praise the day.

But it is well to see how things look as the hours pass away. Some acts which, seemed to promise well at first may not in the long rain turn out to be quite so wise as they looked.

In the front they bear the brunt.

No one who considers his own ease or pleasure should desire to be a leading man: he is little more than the chief drudge, while he is supposed to be a king.

In the wedding cake hope is the sweetest of the plums.

In this life repentance is never too late.

On the other hand, it is never too soon. It is also to be remembered that God, who will accept late repentance, may never give it.

In trade, competition prevents imposition.

No doubt the public are gainers, though tradesmen grumble.

Industry is a fine fire for frozen lingers.

Flowing rivers seldom freeze, and men and boys who keep diligently at work keep themselves warm.

Industry is the parent of independence.

Ingratitude is the basest of vices.

No one ever owns to it: even the devil would not defend it.

Ingratitude wearies benevolence.

Yet let it not succeed with us. This is its natural tendency, but we must take an antidote, and "do good to the unthankful."

Injure not another whilst help thou dost borrow.

This reminds us of Herbert's verse : — "Bees work for man, and yet they never bruise Their master's flower, but leave it, having done, As fair as ever and as fit for use:

So both the flower doth stay and honey run." Injuries slighted are very soon righted.

But when they are laid to heart they become of exaggerated importance, and it is difficult to deal with them.

Innocence needs no eloquence.

It pleads its own cause; and yet in too many cases, in this rough world, "innocence is no protection."

Inquire and inquire; for report is a liar.

Instruction in truth is destruction of error.

Insults are very much what we make them.

They are like bad coins: we cannot help their being offered to us, but we need not take them.

Intentions which die are pretensions which lie. Intending, intending, but never amending, Pretending, pretending; lies not worth defending.

The wheel is turned round, but no progress is found.

Into courts of law and courtings of love go cautiously.

Well may you go cautiously, for you cannot return easily. These things are like mouse-traps — easy to enter, but hard to leave.

It cannot always be honeymoon.

Therefore eat up the moon and keep the honey: some eat all the honey, and have nothing left but the moon.

It can't come out of the sack, if it's not in it.

If not in the brain, you cannot produce it. Pope says : — "You beat your pate, and fancy wit will come:

Knock as you please; there's nobody at home." It grieves one dog that another goes into the kitchen.

He would like to go there on his own account, and he envies one who is more favored than himself. Or if he himself has a free pass to the kitchen he wants no one else to share with him.

It is a bad coat that will not bear brushing.

Yet some people will not bear with half a word of correcting.

It is a fortunate head that newer ached.

Where is such a head? It is to be feared that it has a deal of aching to come It is a good horse that never stumbles, And a good wife that never grumbles.

If a man has such treasures, let him treat them well, and wish that they may live for ever.

It is a great blessing to know your blessings.

We are apt to be like swine under an oak, eating the acorns, but never praising the tree; better to be like the little chick, which, when it drinks, lifts its head towards heaven.

It is a long lane that has no turning.

It is a mad hare that will be caught with a drum.

He must be of the same sort who is made religious by a band of music. If such there be let the drum be beaten still.

It is a poor bee that makes no more honey than it eats.

This, of course, depends, in a measure, upon the season and the position of the hive. A little honey costs more labor when flowers are few, than a great deal in good weather among the heather.

It is a sin to steal a pin.

So said Chubbins; and then Padley topped it by adding — "It is a greater to steal a 'tater."

It is a very easy thing To make a man into a king; But ever since the world began, 'Tis hard to make a king a man.

It is always dark just under a lamp.

Thus Orientals declare the injustice of their rulers. Is it not also true, that, near a great truth, there is a mystery ?

It is an ill house where the hen crows.

It is unnatural and uncomfortable to see the wife domineering over the husband. Hood makes a poor little man say : — '' And when I speak, my voice is weak; But hers, she makes a gong of it:

For I am short, and she is tall, And that's the short and long of it." It is an ill wool that will not take a dye.

Most men are too ready to be influenced; but, if we find one who is impervious to all teaching, what is to be clone with him?

It is bad combing where there is no hair.

Trading in a district where there are no customers, preaching where there are few people, or teaching where there seems to be no understanding — any one of these is hard.

It is bad mustard that never bites the tongue.

If a preacher never touches the conscience, what is the good of him ?

It is barely possible to bear with a bear.

Yet you may as well bear with the creature, for, in resisting him, it is more than barely possible that you may lay bare your temper, and become a bear yourself.

It is best to make the best of the worst.

If fortune give thee less than she has done, Then make less fire, and walk more in the sun. — Sir R. Baker.

It is better to be puffed at than to be puffed up.

It is better to deserve praise than to receive it.

The noblest characters can be formed by missing deserved honor; but to receive praise is perilous even when it is our due.

It is better to feed five drones than starve one bee.

Therefore in distributing alms, it is better to be deceived by the bad than to neglect the deserving.

It is better to wear a shabby coat than lose a good conscience. Havelock said: "I humbly trust I should not change my opinions and practice, though it rained garters and coronets as the reward of apostasy." Bravely spoken!

It is better to whistle than whine; It is better to laugh than to cry; For though it be cloudy, the sun will soon shine In the blue, and the beautiful sky.

It is bitter fare to eat one's own words.

It is cheaper to give one shilling than to lend five.

It is cheaper to lend one shilling than to give five.

Lending and giving come to much the same thing, and thus the smaller the investment the better.

It is cruel to smite those with our tongues whom God has smitten with his hand.

Hence no unkind word should be said of the deformed, or the unfortunate, or those whose gifts are small.

It is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one going.

Setting up an establishment is simple enough, but to keep the affair going costs far more money than we could have thought.

It is easier to find a wife than to feed a wife.

They are very dear to their husbands. You have no right to drag a loving woman into poverty. Do not seek a housekeeper till you can see the means of keeping the house.

It is easier to go up hill rapidly, than to go down hill gracefully.

In the heyday of success prosperity may be admirably borne; and yet in times of loss and decline the man may fail to display a noble and patient spirit.

It is easier to hurt than to heal.

It is easier to leave home than to come back again.

True. To his cost, many a wanderer has found it so.

It is easier to make money than to keep it.

Money is like an icicle, soon found at certain seasons, and soon melted under other circumstances. How often we see a man wise enough to grow rich, but very foolish with his riches !

It is easier to pull down than to build.

The reformer's work is easy so long as he destroys, but to reconstruct is difficult.

It is easy to fetch water when a river is near.

Ought we not then to find all the grace we need? Prayer is the bucket, and the river of life is close at hand.

It is eight ounces of the one, and half a pound of the other.

They are alike guilty. They are both in the same boat. They are much of a muchness.

It is good fish enough if we could but catch it.

It is good to be deaf of one ear.

It is wise not to hear some things, or to act as if we did not hear them. A man who could not explain himself at last lost his temper, and said to his fellow-traveler, "How dull you are! Why the matter is as simple as A B C." "It may be so," said the other, "but suppose I am D E F?" It is well sometimes to be in that condition.

It is good to get out of the net, but better not to get into it; Watchfulness against sin is better than repentance after sin.

It is hard to be high and humble.

To be eminent for riches or rank, and yet to be lowly, is what only grace can teach us to be.

It is hard to be idle and innocent. "Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do." It is hard to get two heads under one hat.

Two men will seldom think alike. Two sets of opinions cannot meet in one man.

It is hard to talk sense, but harder to find listeners if you do.

Nonsense charms the multitude; plain truth is despised.

It is idle to spread a plaster where there is no sore.

Vain is it to administer religious consolation where the conscience never smarted under a sense of sin, It is more easy to be wise for others than for yourself.

We come across persons noted for giving judicious advice to others whose lives are failures as to themselves. We remember one such who was a sort of Solomon, and yet made a hash of the home department in a way which was a warning to all who knew him.

It is never too late to learn; It is never too late to turn.

It is never too late to mend; It is always too soon to rend.

It is no joke to bear with a man who is all jokes.

It is not enough to run, you must start in time.

Neither is this enough; you must run the right way, and keep on in it.

It is not every couple that is a pair.

Alas ! many are coupled together who will no more unite than oil and water. Of many a wife it may be said: "She is his fate, but not his mate."

It is not everyone that is lying in lavender like Paddy's pig, Or feeding in clover like the British lion It is not the lead, but the overload, which kills the horse.

The little too much is the last straw which breaks the camel's back.

Very few think of this in reference either to men or horses.

It is poor work fishing without bait, Or trying to convert people when there is nothing in your gospel that is worth having.

It is sometimes harder to get a penny out of a full purse than ten shillings out of a purse that is half empty.

Benevolence does not increase with wealth. We have known it to go the other way. The guinea heart has the shilling purse, and the shilling heart the guinea pocket.

It is sure to be dark if you shut your eyes.

When men don't want to understand, the subject is sure to be beset with difficulties.

It is the bright day that brings out the adder.

Prosperity develops pride and other vices, and men are then seen who else would hide away.

It is the frog's own croak that betrays him.

If foolish people would not talk, their folly would not be known.

It is the master-wheel which makes the mill go round.

The master force in our nature will set in motion all the rest, whether for good or for evil.

It is the truth that makes a man angry.

One came to me in a high passion because of what another had said of him; for, said he, "I should not have minded if it had been true." "Nay," said I, " then you should have minded." I have heard of another that when one said, "You need not be angry, for it is not true," "All !" said he, "there's the rub of it, it is true" If the charge is true, we ought not to be angry, but ashamed.

It is the truth that blocks the way of bad men, and balks their designs. They can't get over it. It would be fine for them if the Bible could be proved to be false; but its solemn teachings are their stumbling, and hence their hatred of sound doctrine.

It is too late to cover the well when the child is drowned.

It is well to spend a penny to save a pound.

There is great economy in a wise expenditure. Don't spoil the house for a tenpenny nail.

It may be hard to work, but it must be harder to want.

It is harder to need bread than to knead it, and Better to grind hard at the mill than to have no meal to grind, and more pleasant to carry a load of wood than to have no wood for the hearth.

It may be little, and yet every bit of the little may be bad.

The same may possibly be true of a little wife, a little strife, a little clique, and a little sneak, etc., etc.

It may be true, it may be true; But has it aught to do with you ?

If not, do not rush in where the peaceful fear to tread.

It must be a very bad cause if the lawyer is ashamed of it.

How well it would be if they all acted like one of whom I have read : — "A pious attorney, being asked how he could conscientiously plead for some of his clients, replied, 'Sir, I have not for many years undertaken a cause which I could not pray for; and I never lost a case for which I could pray.'" This attorney is deceased, and we are not able to, mention the place of his burial.

It needs great wisdom to play the fool.

It needs greater wisdom not to play the fool.

Both proverbs are true. The court fools of the olden times were not fools, or they would soon have lost their heads as well as their caps and bells. He who never commits a folly has great wisdom indeed.

It needs more skill than I can tell, To play the second fiddle well.

Any one can take the lead, or at least everybody thinks he can; but he who will gracefully remain second to another exhibits rare virtues, and deserves far more honor than he usually gets.

It needs much skill, to wield the quill, Those who think of writing for the press had better think again.

It never rains but it pours.

When things do come they frequently come in plenty; especially when trials come, the downpour is generally very heavy.

It requires many brains to deal with a blockhead.

Because you have to find judgment both for him and for yourself, and you are never sure that he understands an agreement when it is made.

It takes a good many mice to frighten a cat.

Addressed to little men when they set themselves against one who knows his power.

It takes a long time to say nothing.

He who has really nothing to say will speak on and on as if he were wound up like a clock, and must keep on till he had run down.

It takes all sorts of people to make up a world.

We must, therefore, bear with the eccentric; and in general, make use of such people as come in our way. But really some odd folks are odd indeed, and we wonder what next we shall see.

It takes four living men to carry a dead man out of the house.

Yes, and to get rid of worldlings and hypocrites out of the Lord's house is a great tax on the energies of living Christians. Four living men were better employed in bringing a sick soul before the Lord Jesus than in hearing out an Ananias or a Sapphira.

It takes many a lead of earth to bury the truth.

And then it will rise again.

It takes many feathers and more big words to make a pound.

It takes many gallons of water to fill a sieve.

Instruction may be poured into the mind of a forgetful person, and yet he is never the wiser.

It takes two to make a quarrel.

The Rev. John Clark, of Frome, was a man of peace, He was asked one day, by a friend, how he kept himself from being involved in quarrels. He answered, "By letting the angry person always have the quarrel to himself." This saying seems to have had some influence on some of the inhabitants of that town; for, when a quarrel has been likely to ensue, they have said, "Come, let us remember old Mr. Clark, and leave the angry man to quarrel by himself."

This is an old story. Is it true of Frome now ?

It's a bad bargain when both sides lose.

Yet it happens so occasionally — in marriage, to wit, and in war.

It's a great thing to do a little thing well.

A man's entire character and capacity may be seen in a small matter quire as well as in a greater affair. We ought to do our best in all that we do.

It's a great weariness to do nothing.

There is no fatigue like that of one who is tired of having nothing to do. When Napoleon was slowly withering away, from disease and ennui together, on the rock of St. Helena, it was told him that one of his old friends, an ex-colonel in his Italian army, was dead. "What disease killed him ?" asked Napoleon. "That of having nothing to do," it was answered. "Enough," sighed Napoleon, "even had he been an emperor."

It's a pity to be grey before you're good.

It's a silly mouse that falls in love with a cat.

Yet it happens. Infatuated women marry villains, who devour all their estate and then forsake them.

It's a silly pig that's proud of its ring.

That ring in the nose, which proves him to be a doer of mischief, the foolish pig is supposed to prize as an ornament. There are men who glory in their shame.

It's all very fine, To give what's not thine.

Servants and others need warning against that kind of generosity which amounts to thieving. Persons who flourish with large donations and are deep in debt, are worse.

It's an ill bird that fouls its own nest.

To revile your family, your church, your trade, your country, is a very unsavoury thing It's an ill wind that blows nobody good.

The worst calamities to the many, bring benefit to the few.

It's bad for a rat when he's too big for his hole.

There are such people, much too great for their position, and therefore quite unable to enjoy the comforts which might be theirs.

Poor rats, they can't get into their holes !

It's bad going to market with an empty purse.

It's bad when the tail wags the dog.

When the least and lowest control affairs, it is unnatural and unprofitable.

It's easier to deal with a whole fool than with half a fool.

In the first instance you set the man aside; but, in the second, the case is not had enough for that. When a man gets into an asylum, the matter is easy; but what of those who are mad, but not quite mad enough to be confined :? They are plentiful as blackberries.

It's easy to put the pot on, but is there anything in it ?

To act the big man is easy, but to be really great is another matter.

It's good sailing with wind and tide.

It's hard blowing at cold coals.

And harder warming frozen souls.

It's hard keeping shop where there are no customers.

One grows weary with waiting, when, as the Chinese say, "You have only sold a couple of cucumbers in three days."

It's hard to be bitten by your own dog.

You have fed him, and he owns you as master, and yet he bites you.

Some of us know all about this, and cannot soon forget the pain; yet we are not mad.

It's hard to get a pound of butter out of a dog's mouth.

Or to obtain your money when certain persons have once managed to grasp it. A friend assured me that he was acquainted with many funds, but that in all his life he had never received a penny from the fund calledREFUND.

It's hard to get the leaven out of the dough.

Indeed, it is impossible. How is sin to be gotten out of the nature of man, except by a miracle of grace ?

It's hard to make a good thing of a bad marriage.

So hard that he who is happily mated may rejoice that he has not so hard a problem to work out. If tied thou be To a sour apple tree, I pity thee and I pity she; But right glad I be That it is not me.

It's hard to pluck a magpie, and not make her scream.

When you are exposing faults, those who are personally touched are sure to cry out, and to express great indignation at your personalities, your uncharitableness, your inaccuracy, or something.

It's hard to turn in a narrow road.

But if you are truly in the straight and narrow way which leadeth unto life, you have no need to turn, and, indeed, you must not.

It's "Hobson's choice" — the next or none. Hobson, the carrier of Cambridge, let out horses to the young collegians, and he would have the horses go out in turns, When a young gentleman wanted to take another horse than the one whose turn it was, the old carrier would answer, "This, or none." For many people, it would be a great blessing if they had a Hobson to choose for them, for they do not know their own minds.

It's hope that cheers us, but it's soap that cleans us.

Both articles are cheap, and may be used to advantage.

It's ill jesting with God's judgments.

Anything which has to do with divine things should be regarded as beyond the range of jesting. He must be hard pressed for mirth who can make merry with sacred things. Remember Belshazzar.

It's ill living where everybody knows everybody. A village is a hive of glass, There nothing unobserved can pass It's ill putting fair glove on foul hand.

Pretending to purity while covered with sin is sheer hyperisy.

It's ill when the physician had need be the patient.

Note what Selden says upon such a case. "Preachers say, ' Do as I say, not as I do.' But if a physician had the same disease upon him that I have, and he should bid me do one thing, and he do quite another, could I believe him ?"

It's mean to say what you don't mean.

It's no use diving deep to bring up a broken pot.

Making a great search after something not worth knowing.

It's no use killing nettles to grow docks.

If we only supplant one evil by another the gain is small.

It's no use mending the tank when the water's gone.

An Eastern way of describing the common fault of being wise too late. "I know how he could have been saved," cried a slow-minded creature, after his friend had been drowned.

It's no use playing the cornet to a cow.

She has no ear for such music. There are plenty of instances in which want of taste on the part of the person will render all the instructor's efforts vain.

It's no use pumping a dry well.

It's much the same if you ask Mr. Screwmaker for a donation.

It's no use sparing at the spigot, and letting it run at the bunghole.

Some are mightily economical in trifles, and yet indulge in expensive vices.

It's no use running from the bear to the wolves.

A change of loan-offices is no great gain; neither is a change of vices, or prodigalities, or ill companions.

It's not always the worst fish that bites first.

No: a very excellent convert may come forward at the very first time of asking. There are first that shall be first.

It's not always the worst fish that bites last.

Therefore persevere, for there are good converts yet to come. and "there are last that shall be first."

It's not the bonnet, but the head that's in it. Yet you may depend upon it, Heads are judged of by the bonnet.

It's not "What has she ?" but "'What is she?"

Seek a fortune in a wife rather than with a wife.

It's pleasant to see it rain when you're in the dry.

A cruel and selfish observation; but there is truth in it. We are interested by the account of wars which should make us weep, and we read with avidity stories which ought to excite our horror. We are pleased to hear of others sailing on the sea, even though we should be sick if we were there ourselves. A writer speaks of the peculiar pleasure of seeing two strong men pulling the oars at a splendid rate on a hot day, while you coolly survey them from the cushioned seats of your beat.

It's the old pot that makes the good soup.

A Conservative sentiment this, but we fully agree with it as regards the old gospel.

It's too late to cast anchor when the ship is on the rocks.

When at last the soul is ruined by sin, and the mind is losing consciousness, the time for faith is over.

It's too late to cry when your head's off.

When the catastrophe has come, and the trader is a bankrupt, it will be of no use for him to cry out. Better see to the matter at once, while you are yet able to pay your way, and your head is still on your shoulders; unless, indeed, it is so poor a head that the old saw applies: "You have a head, and so has a pin." SAYINGS OF A MORE SPIRITUAL SORT.

I have a great need of Christ; but I have a great Christ for my need.

If Christ and thy heart are one, sin. and thy heart are two.

We cannot hold to our Lord, and yet love that which he hates.

If Christ be sweet to thee, sin will be bitter to thee.

If Christ hath made us kings, why do we live as beggars ?

Which we do, if, through unbelief, we miss the comforts which are stored up in his Word.

If God be our guide, he'll be our guard.

If God bids thee ride, he'll find thee a horse.

We are not called to a work for which we have no capacity. If God means a man to preach, he gives him thought, voice and common sense. Alas ! men attempt what they were not meant for; and then we see in the pulpit — "The intent of kindly nature foiled, A tailor or a butcher spoiled." If God lights the candle, Satan cannot blow it out.

This reminds us of the old Reformation picture of a candle with the Pope, Honks, and the Devil all puffing at it.

If God's mercies are not loadstones, they will be millstones.

If they do not draw us to God and his salvation, they will sink us under a load of condemnation.

If God's to-day be too soon for thy repentance, thy to-morrow may be too late for his acceptance.

If God's work, 'twill aye endure; If man's, ' tis not a moment sure.

This is the famous saying of Gamaliel. — Acts 5:39.

If in God you delight, You'll have songs in the night.

If Jesus help thee, none can hinder thee.

If our best is bad, what must our worst be ?

A humbling consideration for every soul that would know its true condition before God.

If sin were not deceitful, it would never be delightful.

If it could be seen in all its native deformity, men would loathe it.

If study makes men of us, prayer will make saints of us.

If the love of God sets us to work, the God of love will find us wages.

God is a sure paymaster, though be does not always pay at the end of every week.

If thou wilt not pray for thyself, who can pray for thee?

If thou wilt spin, God will find thee yarn.

Holy work is God's work, and he will provide for it. So have I found it. — C. H. S.

If thou wouldst preserve thy faith, labor to increase thy faith.

If we did what we should, God would do what we would.

Prayer would be heard if we'd hearken to the Word.

If you are God's child, behave yourself accordingly.

If you are not a sinner, Christ is not your Savior.

If you cannot go to the house of the Lord, go to the Lord of the house.

If you have Chosen God, God has chosen you.

For your choice of God is the result of his grace, which flows to you because of his choice of you.

If you have found Christ, he has found you.

Of that you may be quite sure, for we may truly say to our Lord; No sinner can be Beforehand with thee; Thy grace is most sovereign, Most rich, and most free, If you have grace, you have none to boast of.

That which we receive as a free favor, how can we boast of it, as though we had not so received it ?

If you have to swim, the depth is of no consequence.

Since the godly man must swim the sea of life by faith, the depth of his necessity is a very small item. If we trust at all, Let us trust for all.

If you lose a penny for Christ he will give you a round.

But do not seek to have it so, lest it should prove that he returned your offering because he would not accept it at your hands.

If you starve the preacher, how can he feed you ?

If you were not strangers here, the dogs of the world would not bark at you.

If you would know the heart of your sin, you must know the sin of your heart.

An old divine says, "You say, 'I have my faults, but at bottom I have a good heart.' Alas ! it is this that deceives you, for your heart is the worst part of you."

In Adam's fall We sinned all.

This is unfashionable doctrine, but none the less true. Some call the fall a fable, but of such we shrewdly suspect that all their religion is fabulous.

In God's works we see his hand, but in his Word his face.

In one sin there are many sins.

The first sin is a specimen of this. It would be hard to say which was the chief point in Adam's transgression — unbelief, pride, presumption, self-will, selfishness, irreverence, or dishonesty.

In sermons, the less of man the more of God.

In weighty matters wait on God.

And count nothing too light to be brought to the mercy-seat. "Bring hither the ephod" was David's cry, and true believers should imitate his wise example.

Inordinate affection brings extraordinary affliction.

We are punished for idolatry through our idols.

Invited guests bring no provisions with them.

Why, then, should sinners hesitate to come to Christ, because they are empty-handed. One who was invited to tea by a poor woman carried two cakes with him, but the good creature was so wounded thereby that he deeply regretted it. Will we insult our Savior by such an act as even a poor woman might resent ?

Inward guilt makes outward fear.

It is a great sin to love a small sin.

It is better to obey God than to work miracles.

Obedience is the hall-mark of faith, and the proof of grace; but Judas and others worked miracles, and were lost.

It is easier to build temples than. to be temples.

It is God's will that I should not do mine own will.

If I will make God's will my will, my will will be God's will.

It is not every one who looks like a Christian that lives like a Christian.

It is terrible to be born if not born again.

It is the Christians' joy to give Christ joy.

It is the devil's masterpiece to make us think well of ourselves.

Yet we do this so naturally that we hardly need his help in the business.

It were better for us to have no being than not to have a new being.

It's all in vain to paint the dead.

To color a dead profession of religion with appearances of piety is terrible folly.

It's hard sailing when there is no wind.