OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD. 25

he should sleep at his mother's. Mrs. Ellis gladly accepted
the captain's offer. She knew William would be thoroughly
taught farming at Captain Stout's. She was not one of
those who expect their children will be taught morals and
manners away from home; this, she knew, was home
work. Neither did she expect the captain's present
happy state of mind would be invariable. She knew that
a temper in which a man has stiffened for years cannot
be changed by a single impulse, but she relied on William
to bear and forbear with the captain's infirmities. Good
Mrs. Ellis had found out, from her own observation, the
truth expressed by a great moral writer, that "the nearer
we approach perfection, the easier do we bear with the
imperfections of others."
 The captain concluded with reiterating the praises of
William. Mrs. Ellis listened with tears, and, in reply to
the old man's repeated asseveration that Will "was a
wonderful boy," she meekly said, "I have long thought,
captain, if people would but practise the laws of Christ,
they would make a change in this world that would seem
miraculous."
 We assure those of our young friends who are anxious
to know how Willie Ellis fared at Captain Stout's, that
the old man's temper did soften by degrees under the
constant influence of his fidelity and gentleness. The
soft south wind will melt the hardest ice. We advise
any who may have crusty-tempers to deal with to imitate
Willie Ellis.





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