l nations of humanity, and
in all varieties of mind. On the throne of the prince, in the chair of
the president, in the gathering of Parliament or Congress, in the
counting-house and in the store, in the tradesman's shop and the
lawyer's office, in the school, the college, the lecture-room, and even
in the precincts of the house of God, you may find the spirit of the
grumbling talker. Heaven, perhaps, is the only place in the universe
where he cannot be found.

9. The grumbling talker _can rarely improve or make things better, even
if he tries_. Place him to fill the office which he says is so
ineffectively filled by some one else, and its functions will be
neglected or far more ineffectively performed. He "can preach a better
sermon than the minister preached the other Sunday morning." Let him
try, and others judge. He "can superintend the Sunday-school with more
authority and keep better order than he who now is in that position."
Place him there, and see what are the results.

In forty-nine instances out of fifty in which the grumbler has been
taken as a substitute for the one against whom he has complained, there
has been failure, through his want of competency for the place.

It is not, however, often that he reaches his end by his grumbling. He
frustrates his own wish. Sound judgment in others pronounces against
him. Wisdom knows that weakness is the main element of grumbling; that
to instal in office a person who is a grumbler will not cure him; that
one evil is better than two--his grumbling out of office than his
grumbling in, with an inefficient performance of its duties.

His grumbling is sometimes so chronic and habitual, that no one takes
any notice of him. He attracts far more attention when he is out of this
rut than when he is in it. The majority know that things are right when
he grumbles; but when he is silent they suspect them to be wrong, and
when he approves they are quite sure.

10. The grumbling talker _includes everything within his grumbling_. He
grumbles against God and His Providence, His Word and His ministers. The
devil does not even please him. He grumbles about politics, religion,
the Church, the state, books, periodicals, papers. He grumbles against
trade, commerce, money; against good men and bad men; against good women
and bad women; against babes and children, young ladies and old maids.
He grumbles about the weather, about time, life, death, things present,
and things to come. It