February 25

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.—PROV. iii, 27.

Be quick to praise; be slow to scorn:

For what the future holds, who knows?

F. D. SHERMAN.

The praise which comes from the lips of some one we love is not likely to make us vain, but rather gives that self-confidence without which self-respect is hardly possible. The heartache and discouragement which a sensitive girl often feels from petty fault-finding can hardly be appreciated, and what use is all the condemnation and censure unless it leads the individual to better things another time? If we can so measure our fault-finding and equalize it with commendation for the good things that really are, we are far more likely to benefit the child than by the meaningless complaint, which too often carries a painful sting. It is a terrible thing to break down the confidence and faith youth has in itself. It is natural that the young should be hopeful. It is a part of youth to look forward. Gentle praise from one we love lightens the burden which each one of us is called on to bear. It smoothes away the discouragement and perplexities from the path. Those men who have been the most powerful agents in progress and good have been those who believed in men, and who somehow touched the well-springs of their nature, and thereby lifted them to higher things. Those who attempted to influence by fierce denunciation have seldom exerted great power. The Divine power of love, which always lifts up, has ever been the greatest force in all the experience of the world. New York Tribune.