Of all the qualifications for conversation, humility, if not the most
brilliant, is the safest, the most amiable, and the most feminine. The
affectation of introducing subjects with which others are unacquainted,
and of displaying talents superior to the rest of the company, is as
dangerous as it is foolish.
There are many who never can forgive another for being more agreeable
and more accomplished than themselves, and who can pardon any offence
rather than an eclipsing merit. The fable of the nightingale should be
ever had in remembrance, as it conveys a most useful lesson replete with
valuable instructions. Had the silly warbler conquered his vanity, and
resisted the temptation of shewing a fine voice, he might have escaped
the talons of the hawk. The melody of his singing was the cause of his
destruction; his merit brought him into danger, and his vanity cost him
his life.
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