Page:Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse.pdf/103

 to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits," is most justly styled "the wisdom that cometh from above."

 

THERE are few constitutional misfortunes that lead to more unhappiness and disgrace than a wavering, unsettled disposition. In all its aspects of ambiguous expression, variable opinion, and contradictory behaviour, it is blameable and hideous. It is always open to censure, and is often the parent of deceit, dissimulation, and treachery. Let its first appearance in infancy and childhood be checked as the harbinger of much sorrow; let its earliest shoots be crushed, or they will spring up to misery and shame. As indecision of character has often ruined the most brilliant prospects, so an habit of dissimulation has darkened and defaced many minds which nature formed fair and beautiful. As we are travellers in a country where many paths tangled 