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MORALS. |
267 |
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insanity, for it converts into a curse those very advantages upon which it is founded. If a person is seen to he proud of any possession, he becomes the object of envy, malice and detraction. And thus, what might be the instrument of attaching friends and promoting the happiness of others, draws around the individual a host of enemies, and turns human kindness into effervescent bitterness and spleen.
Rut how shall we correct this evil passion, so rife and ready in the human heart, where it has even the least encouragement ? The boy will plume himself upon his new jacket: the girl will seek to dazzle her companions with her new bonnet. The rich proprietor of the lordly mansion will look haughtily down upon the shed of his humble neighbor. The luxurious occupant of the coach will peep superciliously out of the window upon the man that toils through the dust on foot. These things will sometimes be, and how shall we prevent or mitigate these evils ? There are two considerations, which, if duly impressed upon the minds of parents, and properly inculcated upon children, will go far towards accomplishing this object. In the first place, wealth, beauty, power and station are not essential to happiness, nor do they, as the world goes, ordinarily bring |
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