wer puts in its plea,
The laws are silent.

--_Massinger._

1552

A partnership with men in power is never safe.

--_Phaedrus._

1553

And (strange to tell) he practised what he preached.

--_Armstrong._

1554

Praise is the best diet for us after all.

--_Sydney Smith._

1555

Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present.

--_Johnson._

1556

The love of praise, howe'er concealed by art,
Reigns more or less and glows in every heart.

--_Dr. E. Young._

1557

Most persons are like Themistocles that never found himself so well
contented, as when he heard himself praised.

1558

PRAISE.

How could my tongue
Take pleasure, and be lavish in thy praise!
How could I speak thy nobleness of nature!
Thy open, manly heart, thy courage, constancy
And inborn truth, unknowing to dissemble!
Thou art the man in whom my soul delights
In whom, next heaven, I trust.

1559

_Self-Praise._--It is a sign that your reputation is small and sinking,
if your own tongue must praise you.

1560

The sweetest of all sounds is,--praise!

1561

No man ever praised two persons equally--and pleased them both.

1562

DIRECTED IN A DREAM.

A zealous divine, who had prayed earnestly that God would teach him the
perfect way of truth, was directed in a dream to go to a certain place,
where he would find an instructor; when he came to the place, he found a
man in ordinary attire, to whom he wished a good morning.

"I never had a bad morning," replied the man. "That is very singular; I
wish you may always be as fortunate." "I was never unfortunate," said
he. "I hope you may always be as happy," said the divine. "I am never
unhappy," said the other. "I wish," said the divine, "that you would
explain yourself a little."

"That I will cheerfully do," said the other; "I said that I never had a
bad morning, for every morning, even if I am pinched with hunger, I
praise God. If it rains, or snows, or hails, whether the day is serene
or tempestuous, I am still thankful to God, and therefore I never had a
joyless morning. If I am miserable in outward circumstances, and
d