is a vast record of the changes in pronunciation which have been brought
about by affected people as well as careless and ignorant people. "'Tis
true 'tis pity, and pity 'tis 'tis true." But you cannot change it by
spelling "balance" with two _ls_, or "sure" with an _h_. Be accurate in
your spelling. Restrict yourself to such words as you can spell, and you
will soon improve if you are guilty of such errors. In conclusion, if
you go fishing and catch three perch and one black bass, say that you
caught those fish, and not that you caught three black bass and one
perch. Right there is where you can form habits that will shine out in
your face as you grow to the full dignity of manhood. You see I lay
special stress on habit. The Duke of Wellington said that habit was ten
times nature. Horace Mann said
"HABIT IS A CABLE.
We weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it." Dr.
Locke said with a wonderful knowledge of life: "Habit works more
constantly and with greater facility than reason; which, when we have
most need of it, is seldom fairly consulted, and more rarely obeyed."
Thus, you see, when a man is spoken of as a person "of good habits," it
means something more than is usually conceived. It means he is under
chains which he cannot break--and, in reality, that he could not be a
bad man without suffering and discomfort.