214 Clear Skies and Cloudy. 



them : out of hearing, how frequently this 

 dearest friend is stabbed in the back ! How 

 very wonderful and incomprehensible is this 

 charm of the inexact, and how very unnecessary ! 



It may be objected that too precise statement 

 would prove like the old-time Quaker garb, so 

 monotonous that it would be depressing, and 

 gayety shut out from the world. This seems 

 reasonable at first glance, but if we practise 

 moderation of speech and correctness of as- 

 sertion, even very mildly, it will be found not 

 so funereal as imagined. Our thoughtless chat- 

 ter may be likened to the glare of sunshine ; 

 our sober conversation to the refreshing shade. 



Here is another view of the subject, and by 

 no means an unimportant one. The world at 

 large would be less ignorant if fact and theory- 

 could forever be kept separate and apart until 

 the latter has passed its probationary stages and 

 been raised to the state of fact-hood. But they 

 are not kept apart and radically distinct, they 

 keep knowledge in a turmoil, and prove, sadly 

 enough, that where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly 

 to be wise. Those who read our newspapers 

 and periodical publications find it difficult to 



