42 CHARITY.

vices of others, he seldom spoke of them.
He never came to his parents and teachers,
exaggerating the naughty ‘things that his
playmates had done. On the contrary,
when he spoke of his friends, it was gene-
rally to tell some pleasast thing they had
said or done. When he felt bound to notice
another’s fault, he did it only from a sense
of duty, and always with reluctance, and in
mild terms.

Now Frederick was quite the reverse of all
this. He loved dearly to tell tales. Every
day he came home from school, giving an
account of something wrong that had been
done by his playmates, or brothers and sis-
ters. He never told any good of them, but
took delight only in displaying their faults.
He did not tell his parents or teacher these
things from a sense of duty, but from a love
* of telling unpleasant tales. And, what was
the worst part of it all, was this: Frederick’s
love of tale-bearing grew upon him, by in-
dulgence, till he would stretch the truth,
2: make that which was innocent in one of
his little friends.appear to be wicked. He
seemed to have no eye for pleasant and good