GEMS.

Character (literally a mark), the sum of qualities that go to make up a person. From Gr. charassō, I cut or engrave. Cognates: Characterise, characteristic.

Loam, clay containing animal or vegetable matter. Loam is a doublet of lime.

Immediate, closest or nearest. From Lat. in, not, and medius, middle. Cognates: Medium, mediate; intermediate, intermediary.

Filches, steals. (Said to be a form of pluck, p and ƒ being both

labials; and the ck was pro

bably softened by N.-Fr. influence into ch.) Privacies, private thoughts and feelings. From Lat. privo, I take away or separate. Cognates: Private, privateer, privation, privative, privycouncil, privilege.

Charity, love or good - feeling towards others. From Fr. charité; from Lat. carus, dear.

Loth, unwilling. Cognates: Loathe, loathing, loathsome.

CHARACTER AND REPUTATION.

1. The best rules to form a young man are-to talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon what has passed in company, to distrust one's own opinions, and to value others that deserve it.Sir William Temple.

2. Actions, looks, words, steps, form the alphabet by which you may spell characters.—Lavater,

3. You may depend upon it that he is a good man whose intimate friends are all good.-Lavater.

4. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear.—Socrates.

5. The two most precious things on this side the grave are our reputation and our life. But it is to be lamented that the most contemptible whisper may deprive us of the one, and the weakest weapon of the other. A wise man, therefore, will be more anxious to deserve a fair name than to possess it, and this will teach him so to live as not to be afraid to die.—Colton.

6. A man's reputation is like his shadow, which sometimes follows, and sometimes precedes him, and which is occasionally longer, occasionally shorter, than he is.— From the French.

7. The purest treasure mortal time affords
Is spotless reputation; that away,

Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay.

Shakspeare.

8. The most trifling actions that affect a man's credit are to be regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months longer; but if he sees you at a billiard-table, or hears your voice at a tavern, when you should be at work, he sends for his money the next day.-Franklin.

9. Whatever disgrace we have merited, it is almost always in our power to re-establish our reputation.-La Rochefoucauld.

10. Good name, in man and woman,

Is the immediate jewel of their souls.

Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;

'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands: But he that filches from me my good name,

Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.-Shakspeare.

CONDUCT.

11. I will govern my life and my thoughts as if the whole world were to see the one and to read the other; for what does it signify to make anything a secret to my neighbours, when to God (who is the searcher of our hearts) all our privacies are open ?-Seneca.

12.

13.

Love all, trust a few,

Do wrong to none; be able for thine enemy
Rather in power than use; and keep thy friend
Under thy own life's key; be checked for silence,
But never taxed for speech.-Shakspeare.

Only add

Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add faith,
Add virtue, patience, temperance, add love—
By name to come, called charity—the soul
Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loth
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess

A paradise within thee, happier far.-Milton.

NOTES.

Sir William Temple (1628-1699), | Caleb Charles Colton (1780–1832),

EXERCISES.-1. Write a short paper on 'Character,' expanding the ideas in 1, 3, 4, and 6.

2. Write a short paper on 'Conduct,' expanding the ideas in 11 and 12.

3. Explain the following sentences and phrases, and give synonyms for the single words: (1) The most contemptible whisper. (2) Spotless. (3) Immediate jewel. (4) Filches. (5) Be able for thine enemy rather in power than use. (6) Be checked for silence, but never taxed for speech. (7) Deeds to thy knowledge answerable. (8) Love, by name to come, called charity.

4. Parse the words in the following sentence: 'You may

depend upon it that he is a good man whose intimate friends

are all good.'

5. Analyse the following sentence:

Hard by, a cottage chimney smokes
From betwixt two aged oaks,
Where Corydon and Thyrsis, met,
Are at their savoury dinner set

Of herbs and other country messes,

Which the neat-handed Phillis dresses.

6. Give all the words you know connected with the following English words: Best1; hear; own; other; weak; wise2; follow; make; name; life; open.

7. Write all the derivatives you know from the following Latin words: Ago, I act or do (root ag, stem act), compound with in and re; cedo, I go (root ced, stem cess), compound with con, pro, re, se, and note when the English word is spelled cede or ceed; possideo, I possess (root possid, stem possess).

8. Write sentences containing the following words: Allege; inquire; investigate; test.

9. Write sentences containing the following phrases: Enlist esteem; compel admiration; act from a simple motive; face the displeasure of the multitude.

Phantom, appearance. From Gr. | Transient, passing. From Lat.

phaino, I appear. Cognates: Phantasm, phantasy (through Fr.), fancy; phenomenon. Récords, things written or imprinted on the mind. From Lat. recordor, I register; from re, again, and cor (cord-is), the heart. Cognates: Cordial, cordiality.

transeo (transit-um), I pass

over. Cognates: Transit; transitory.

Wiles, sly artifices. Cognate : Wily. (The N.-Fr. form is guile.

Compare ward and

guard; warden and guardian; wise and guise; war and guerre, etc.)

1. She was a phantom of delight

When first she gleamed upon my sight;

A lovely apparition, sent

To be a moment's ornament:
Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;
Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful dawn-
A dancing shape, an image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and waylay.

2. I saw her upon nearer view-
A spirit, yet a woman too:
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin liberty;

A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A creature, not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food-
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.

3. And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill:
A perfect woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a spirit still, and bright
With something of an angel-light.

Wordsworth (1770-1850).

EXERCISES.-1. Parse the first four lines of the first verse. 2. Analyse the first six lines of the second verse. 3. Paraphrase the third verse.