from little fountains flow--
Tall oaks from little acorns grow?"

And do not the "small beginnings" of instruction lay the foundation of
man's or woman's character?

The following lines are a solemn admonition against this sin, spoken by
one who had committed it and fallen under its terrible punishment:--

"My sin, Ismenus, has wrought all this ill;
And I beseech thee to be warned by me,
And do not lie, if any man should ask thee
But how thou dost, or what o'clock 'tis now;
Be sure thou do not lie, make no excuse
For him that is most near thee; never let
The most officious falsehood 'scape thy tongue;
For they above (that are entirely Truth)
Will make the seed which thou hast sown of lies
Yield miseries a thousandfold
Upon thine head, as they have done on mine."

XXIII.

_THE CENSORIOUS._

"Judging with rigour every small offence."--HAYWARD.

He is a judge passing sentence upon persons and things without justice
or charity. Benevolent works in Church or State are failures unless he
has been a prominent party in their execution. Personal motives are
weighed in the balance and found wanting. Thoughts, ere they are
expressed, are even seen and censured. Actions are pronounced false and
defective. Appearances are judged as realities, and realities as
nonentities. Things straight are seen as crooked, and things beautiful
as deformed. Where wiser men perceive order, strength, utility, he
perceives confusion, weakness, and uselessness. An enterprise of which
the community approve and co-operate in he stands aloof from, and
satisfies his unhappy disposition with carping criticisms and ungenerous
censures. A neighbour who does not reach his standard of moral
excellence in character and action he pronounces lax in principles and
delinquent in life. One who does not agree with him in his peculiar
views of some disputed doctrine of Christian faith or principle of
Church discipline he judges to be little better than a heretic or a
heathen.

It seems the instinct of his nature to find fault. He hears no preacher,
reads no book, looks upon no work of art, without some expression of
disapproval. God, Providence, the Bible, Religion, do not escape his
sharp and keen criticisms. His perception is so fine and his taste so
exquisite that points of failure which a generous mind would overlook he
discerns and speaks of with unfailing fidelity. He would at any time
rather rub his nose against