the circumstances. One man will tire people more in five minutes than another will in an hour. When a sermon is long and dull it is generally because enough time has not been given to its preparation. The preacher had not time to be short-that is to say, to concentrate his matter ; or, if the sermon were extempore, perhaps no landing-place had been arranged, and the only wonder is that land should ever have been reached. Dr. Johnson heard a fishmonger complain of the stupidity of eels who would not lie still when he was skinning them alive. In the same way will curates complain of the impiety of people who will not sit still when they are preaching them to death. It is true that many of these preachers are earnest men, but a saint in the pulpit makes a martyr in the pew if he does not know when to leave off. There is no greater tyrant than "one whom the music of his own sweet voice doth ravish like enchanting harmony." People do not turn a visit into a visitation when they have learned the art of leaving off. Why should a visitor add more last words after getting up to go? A high official used to say to lingerers of this kind: "I must apologise for keeping you so long and taking up your time. May I ask you to shut the door from the outside?" A busy clergyman hung up in a conspicuous place in his study the Scriptural motto, "The Lord bless thy goings out." A Chinese host has this advantage over European ones, that he can give a hint to go to a visitor who is becoming a bore. When he drinks tea or fingers his cup, it means that he thinks the interview had better come to an end. A man whom I never wished to see used continually to telephone to the hotel where I was living that he was coming to visit me, and when would I be at home? To use the telephone in this way is to make it an instrument of torture. Why would not the man leave off trying to find me at home, when his card would have pleased me more than his presence? A clergyman forced a visit upon a dying man who did not wish to see him, and asked, "Do you know the greatness of God?' "Yes," was the reply, "and the littleness of man.” This made the parson think that it was time to leave. It is a good rule of diet that whatever harms more than helps should be left alone. We should form the habit of eating and drinking about one half of what we could eat and drink. The man who eats little eats much, for he lives longer to eat. In college I lessened my power of attention by reading too long at a time and not leaving off when I could no longer attend. It is not what we read but what we remember that is important, and it is not what we eat but \ what we digest that does us good. The old rule is a good one-to leave off eating when we still feel a little hungry. Bad habits, and especially that of the immoderate use of intoxicating liquor, first draw, then drag, and then haul. Woe to the person who does not leave off before the hauling or even the dragging stage begins! Many people, especially women, seem to think that they are justified in gambling as long as they win, but that it is wicked not to leave off when they begin to lose. The truth is, gambling is a luxury which should be left alone altogether by those who cannot afford useless luxuries, and left off by those who can when they are in danger of excess. It is a shame for a man to go too far, as it is called, with a girl. He should leave off, if he does not mean anything, before her affections are engaged. In reference to eating, drinking, gambling, flirting, and most other things, wisdom says: "Nothing too much; the half is more than the whole, learn to leave off." A great book is a great evil, so I must leave off before this one becomes evil. CHAPTER XXXI DYING WITH DIGNITY THE art of leaving off does not give a cue as to when we ought and must quit this stage of existence; but, as Dr. Johnson said, "The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die." Sir Richard Grenville said: "A day less or more on sea or shore, we die-does it matter when?" The old man has warmed both hands before the fire of life and is ready to depart. On his deathbed the famous actor Quin said: “I could wish this last tragic scene were over, but I hope to go through it with becoming dignity." 66 Long not for death, nor hanker after life; If we live as we ought dying will take care of itself. The last thing a sensible man thinks of is death. I heard a woman remark to a rich woman who travelled about, but said she feared to die alone in a hotel : "Do not think or worry about how, when, where you are to die; leave all that to God to settle for you." 66 A Scotch minister said to a God-fearing member of his congregation who was dying, Well, my friend, how do you feel yourself today?" 'Very weel, sir," was the calm and solemn answer; very weel, but just a wee bit 66 66 confused wi' the flittin'." People are not afraid to die, but they want to live for different reasons. Strong ties bind them to earth; they do not like to leave old companions. A peasant, ninety years old, was dying, and had so much pined to see his old bedridden wife once more that they had carried her to where he lay. He pressed his shrunken hand upon her hand, and in a husky voice said to her, Come soon," and not long after he passed 66 away. 66 When Louis XIV. lay dying, Why weep you?" he asked those who surrounded his deathbed. "Did you think I should live for ever?" Then, after a pause, "I thought dying had been harder." When death is bitter it is so, as a general rule, far more by reason of anxiety and remorse than from physical causes. A man, for instance, can scarcely die easy if he is leaving a widow and family for whom provision has not been |