would be wrong to remain contented. It may also 

 happen that we are in a situation where real evils 

 press upon us. We may be injuring our health 

 by living in a damp house; or we may have a hole 

 in our clothes, which might be easily mended. 

 In these circumstances, it is equally wrong to be 

 contented. If all men from the beginning of the 

 world had felt contented as they were, and had 

 submitted patiently to evils easily remedied, the 

 earth would have still been the residence only of 

 savages. 



True contentment is to be patient and happy in 

 the situation which is suited to our faculties and 

 means, and under evils which no exertion or care 

 can remedy. All admire this kind of content- 

 ment, and every good man endeavours to prac- 

 tise it. 



One who does not easily content himself with 

 any good which he may reach, is said to be 

 ambitious. A useful end is served, under Provi- 

 dence, by ambitious men ; but they themselves 

 never can be truly happy, for they never are quite 

 content. Give them one thing, they wish for 

 another ; whatever honours they may attain, they 

 long for more. Alexander, when he had conquered 

 a large part of the world known in his time, wept 

 when he reflected that there were no more worlds 

 to conquer. In high station, and in the posses- 

 sion of great wealth, there is always danger, and 

 consequently uneasiness ; while the man who is 

 contented with a moderate share of the good 

 things of life, lives in ease and safety. It is good, 

 therefore, to be, upon the whole, of a contented 

 frame of mind, though not to be too easily con- 

 tented, or to be contented under evils which we 

 can remove. 



PRACTICAL MORALITY. 





Anger. 



We have been so constituted by our Almighty 

 Creator, that whatever offends any of our feelings 

 excites anger or resentment ; and whatever pleases 

 any of our feelings excites benevolence and kind- 

 ness. If, for instance, we witness-a just or honest 

 action, our sense of justice is pleased, and this 

 raises a kind feeling ; whereas, if we witness a 

 very unjust action, our sense of justice is sure to 

 be offended, and we then feel angry. Anger, it 

 may thus be seen, is a feeling intended to have a 

 use in our nature. It is a sensation designed to 

 counteract whatever is wrong or offensive. We 

 should be very pitiful creatures if we did not feel 

 indignant at any instance of cruelty or injury, or 

 at any insult that might be offered to persons and 

 things which we hold in respect. Though it is 

 allowable to be angry on proper occasions, we are 

 strongly called upon to keep our anger within the 

 bounds of reason, and to take care that it does 

 not prompt us to rash and vindictive actions. 

 To encourage or nurse angry feelings against any 

 one is generally condemned. The acts which 

 anger prompts depend very much on the general 

 character of an individual. The rude rustic 

 expresses his rage in sharp and loud scolding, or in 

 blows. The polished gentleman avoids blows and 

 scolding, but uses smooth sarcasms, or challenges 

 the offender to a fight with deadly weapons. Is 

 either of these modes of expressing anger right ? 

 They are both alike wrong. Railing, satire, 



No. 



and fighting can do no good, but will certainly 

 make things worse than before. The true way to 

 give vent to just anger is to state your feelings on 



the occasion, in calm but firm language, such as 

 may produce correction without leading to further 

 evil. It is of importance to our comfort that we 

 should encourage a mild and patient disposition, 

 rather than a fretful, irritable, and revengeful one. 

 The world is so ordered that many things offensive 

 to us must occur every day of our lives ; and if we 

 were to fret and fume at every one of these, we 

 should be truly miserable in ourselves, and a 

 source of discomfort to all around us. Good- 

 temper, or the power of bearing crosses gently and 

 patiently, is one of the most valuable of all 

 qualities. 



To be able readily to overlook and forgive an 

 injury, is a mark of an amiable disposition. That 

 very liability to err which all of us are under, 

 strongly calls on us to be ready to pardon offences 

 in one another. While revenge aggravates the 

 original evil, forgiveness does very much to remove 

 it By such means we make our enemy our 

 friend; others, influenced by our example, are 

 induced to be merciful, and easily reconciled : 

 and thus good-will and peace are spread over the 

 earth. 



Self-respect 



A man who habitually acts in accordance with 

 the dictates of his conscience learns to respect 

 himself, and to avoid doing anything which may 

 tend to injure that feeling. Self-respect is a 

 feeling based upon a true knowledge of one's 

 self. The more a man understands his own 

 character and capabilities, and comprehends the 

 real object of his earthly existence, the more 

 earnestly and hopefully will he seek to discharge 

 the various duties of life, to make the best pos- 

 sible use of his time and abilities, and to fur- 

 nish, by his own example, a practical illustration 

 of the advantages derivable from the adoption 

 of a proper line of conduct. If he be ignorant, 

 he will endeavour to acquire knowledge, either 

 from the teaching of others or by his own efforts. 

 The man who has learned to respect himself 

 always obtains the reputation of being a trust- 

 worthy servant or a good employer, according to 

 his condition in life. It could hardly be other- 

 wise, for self-respect is inconsistent with the 

 acquisition of low or degrading habits. The man 

 who allows himself to become a gambler, a drunk- 

 ard, or a swindler ceases to entertain a feeling of 

 respect for himself; and when that feeling has 

 once disappeared, the work of reclamation be- 

 comes difficult, if not hopeless. On the other 

 hand, when a man begins to entertain a sense of 

 the state of degradation to which he has become 

 reduced, and determines to make an effort to 

 recover his lost position in society, his feelings of 

 self-respect increase with every endeavour on his 

 part to pursue a better and nobler course of life. 

 The man who, as a drunkard, was not ashamed 

 to wear a tattered coat and waste his hours in 

 the public-house, becomes, after the adoption of 

 sober habits, reluctant to wear the badge of vice 

 and poverty, or to fritter away his time in idle 

 and profitless indulgence, because, in his case, 

 they would form an insult to the feelings of self- 

 respect which have become awakened within 

 him. 



But self-respect must not be confounded with 

 SELF-LOVE, a passion which becomes productive 

 of good or evil, according to the manner in which 



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