FUETHEE EXPERIENCES OF MR. STALE c 
when he might be glad of the consideration of his 
friends, and never forget the old saying, “Do as you 
would be done by.’^ Every word you say may be 
likened to seed sown which will spring up and bear 
some fruit, it may be very trifling and unimportant, 
it might be so light and fragile that it would appear 
to find no resting-place, but it will for all that. Just 
look at the seeds of the Spanish needle and white 
weed, how very light and trifling specks they seem 
to be, when one or two are first seen scattered over 
your clearing ; if neglected see the after results, and 
their cost. Just one or two of these w^hite weeds, 
which you might have pulled up, when walking along, 
put in your pocket, and carried off, will, if allowed 
to remain and shed their seed, spread over the whole 
estate, destroy your coffee, or entail any amount of 
expenditure in keeping them under. And just so it 
is with the first seeds of gossip and tattling : nip them 
in the bud, put them in your pocket, to be afterwards 
put in the fire, and say nothing. While keeping your 
estate clean and clear of weeds, don’t forget to keep 
your house clean and clear of gossip and tattling ! 
Be careful of the weeds, the letting in of evil in 
any shape, however small, it be to your estate, or your 
bungalow, for, like the letting out of pent-up water, 
none can foresee what damage they, or it, will cause. 
Be careful also of your friends ! We have all read 
of Job, and his friends, how they came to comfort 
him, and bow they did it and human nature in this 
respect, as in many others, is very much the same 
still. We have all heard, and are used too, the modern 
expression, “Save me from my friends” — but the 
phrase is far from being modern, is as old as the very 
oldest writing, as the book of Job itself, which is 
said by some to have been the first manuscript writ- 
ten of the Scriptures. We need not caution any to 
be careful of their enemies: let them alone for that, 
they are wideawake on that point* We are armed, 
in self-defence, against the attacks of enemies, while 
our bosom is bared to a friend. What if, from the 
force of circumstances, he should become unfriendly ? 
and at once pierce you through, in your most vulner- 
able point, of which he was well aware, when he was 
a friend ; for there is an evil, not in becoming too 
friendly, but in becoming too intimate ; for however 
similar any two may be, in their natures and habits, 
all must admit, that there are depths in the human 
heart which ought to be kept silent, dark, even from 
a friend, in case his friendship should cease. Just as 
in the old saying — “Too much familiarity breeds 
contempt” — so, very excessive friendship will frequently 
defeat its own purpose, and degenerate into imprudent 
