The Egotist

Tho grcatost pest of society is tha ogotist, whose constant use of the vowol "I" rcndors himself anythirig but aa agrceable companion, and if you aro not ill-brod enough to teil hiin that his con- vcrsutioxi is nöt agreoablo to you, you must hum hm to' tho, end. . If ho is an author, hc wilt continue to ring in your cars how many periodicals he contributes to, how high ho is paid for his ftrtioles, how much the editors think of llim, and how many papors copy hia productions. But you will iiüver ünd hira to bc candid enough to teil you whun ha has an articlo rejected. That Í3 not the ogotist's nature. He can find plenty of fault with other people's brain-wctrlc; but nono with his own. If you göod-naturedly point otlt his short coruiings, you, make an cnemy of him, and in his shallow brain ho puts you down as a persou without judgiuent or taste. lï tho egotist be a professional singer, he will ilw:iys desire to "warblo" a few songs bef oi o you. His wholo convorsation is about the reputation he has, and what tho preaa and public say abotít him. Thero was a case of a singer, who waa traveling through one of our large States, and, putting on a great many braggadocia airs, asked a porson if ho had nover rcad any of tho notiees of his performan- ces. JL110 other answerud that ho had, and forthwith produced a paper. It wasn't a vory complinréntary notice, as you will seo : " Wc havo heaxd Mr. D sing, and wc have heard au owl hoot. We prei'ur tho owl." Any one but an cgotist would havo boon taken down by thnt, büt not so with tho singor. He pronouncod it all the work of a rival, who wantod to be as great a singor as ho was, and couldn't. Bat, cgotism is not confined entirely to public lite. It pervades the domestio circle as well. You'll find mothera praising up their own children, much to tho detriment of others, until ono would imagine hera wiro quito a modol to follow. If hur Bob doos so, it must be right, and she can see no impropriety in anythiiig lier Grace does. Can you wonder that the children put on airs, and think thomselves porfcetion, whon suoh iieas have boen ongrafted into them ever sinco they can rumomber. It is natural we should think more of uur kith and kin, but it is tho hight of rudenewto boast about thom. Wc all likc; praise ; it onoouragea us to do botter ; but how it spoils all a person's talonta and mcrits for him to hratj about them. There must bc plonty of other topics of convorsation to talk about in this world than ourselves, so wa should not have to fall back upou that. I had rathcr havo for a friend tho dryest convcrsationalist