at was absurd, profane, impure;
Held within modest bounds, the tide of speech
Pursues the course that Truth and Nature teach;
No longer labours merely to produce
The pomp of sound or tinkle without use;
Where'er it winds, the salutary stream,
Sprightly and fresh, enriches every theme,
While all the happy man possessed before,
The gift of nature, or the classic store,
Is made subservient to the grand design
For which heaven formed the faculty divine.
So, should an idiot, while at large he strays,
Find the sweet lyre on which an artist plays,
With rash and awkward force the chords he shakes,
And grins with wonder at the jar he makes;
But let the wise and well-instructed hand
Once take the shell beneath his just command:
In gentle sounds it seems as it complained
Of the rude injuries it late sustained,
Till, tuned at length to some immortal song,
It sounds Jehovah's name, and pours His praise along."

Such is my model talker. Another hand may have drawn a different one:
perhaps much better, _or_ perhaps much worse.

Some, in looking at him, may be disposed to think that he is too
antiquated, too precise, too spiritual, too scripturified; not enough
broadness, strength, liberty. Before this judgment is formed, let there
be a further examination of the entire character.

"But it is all very well to give an ideal picture. We want the reality,
and where can he be found?" That is perfectly true. The _reality_ is
wanted in every family, society, church, and nation in the wide world.
My reader, do you see and approve the ideal? Then aim at the _reality_,
and to be the first model human talker that has ever lived in this
Babel-talking world. Mark well the failings of others in the use of
their tongues, and strive to avoid them in your own. A heart and head
united in being right will do almost everything in making the tongue
right. When the interior of a watch is in order, it will generally
indicate the right time: when a man in the belfry wisely pulls the rope
attached to a bell, it will give a proper sound: when a musician is
perfect in his art, and his instrument in tune, the music he plays will
agree thereto. So, reader, is it with the tongue, when the "man of the
head and heart" are perfect in Christ Jesus. Seek, and obtain this, and
you will be among those who "OFFEND NOT IN WORD."

"What! never speak one evil word,
Or rash, or idle, or unkind?
O how shall I, most g