When thou dost eat from off this plate,
I charge thee be thou temperate;
Unto thine elders at the board
Do thou sweet reverence accord;
And, though to dignity inclined,
Unto the serving-folk be kind;
Be ever mindful of the poor,
Nor turn them hungry from the door;
And unto God, for health and food
And all that in thy life is good,
Give thou thy heart in gratitude.
246
Words of praise are almost as necessary to warm a child into a genial
life as acts of kindness and affection. Judicious praise is to children
what the sun is to flowers.
--_Bovee._
247
What the child says out of doors, he has learned indoors.
248