46 FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 



I AM a thorough believer in temperance. 

 Perhaps temperance is a more or less elas 

 tic term. It is universally understood that 

 this climate of ours is a temperate climate. 

 Yesterday morning the thermometer stood 

 at five degrees below zero ; this morning it 

 stood at forty-five degrees above. It is in 

 averaging these that you find the temper 

 ance. Temperance seems to require an 

 accent, and the accent yesterday morning 

 was quite sharp. 



&quot;Give me neither poverty nor riches,&quot; 

 was the prayer of Agur. And we all say 

 Amen, but sometimes we find the accent 

 too low, and sometimes too high though, 

 to tell the truth, we rarely notice the latter. 

 Each of us, at least, is sure that Agur was 

 quite sound when he continued, &quot;Feed me 

 with food convenient for me.&quot; About this 

 there is no mistake, and we know what is 

 convenient. 



And, after all, I am convinced that when 

 we have gone the round of a goodly assort- 



