Unlucky Compliments

We do not agree with those cultivators of gruinpiness who denounce all compliments, classing them under the head of flattery. It would be a dingy world if we never said civil things to one another. If one can honestly praise a friend's work, or his conduct, wby should he not do so 'i If he tells me ho liked iny last literary effort, I feel encouraged, and applaud his taste ; if he informa me that I am looking well, I conclude tht certain symptoms which had raised disquieting suspicions wero all nervous faney ; if he tells me that he often regrets seeing so little of me, I truly believo that he thinks so at the time. I do iiot seek to tickle others with false phrases; why should I suspect them of being less sincere '( I am 8peaking, of course, of the words of the mouth, not the conventionalities of the pen. For I own that I am not, the humble servaut of all the correspondents to whom I profess obedience ; and when I present my compliments in writing I mean nothing at all, or at any rate am in perfect ignorance as to what my meaning is. By-the-bye, I have known very young men who, in answering a first invitation, have presen ted their complemeüts to the lady who proposed herself their hostess. And why not f It ït is a dance, their legs are required, and legs ars couipleuients; so are ears, and tongues. and storaachs. Keally, the substitution of an " e" for an " i" inakes' the phrase sense, which it was not before. But a genuine compliment, withagood foundation of truth, and expressed neatlv and aptly, is a moral bonbon, and whole"some enough in moderation, though of course excess in all sweets is cloying. It is not everybody, however, who knows how to manufacture the article, or how to adininister it. If you are any way deficiënt in tact, or given at all to blunder, you had better let complinients alone altogether, or you may possibly sting the object of your good-will instead of tickling him, as intended, as the Marquis of Senneterre stung Poinsinet. The marquis, who was blind, went to hear the opera of "Enelinde," which caused a furor at Paris in Ahe reign of Louis XY., and being very much pleased, asked his attendant who wrote it. " Monsieur Poinsinet," was the reply. " I should like to speak to him," said the marquis. So afterward, in the crush-room, Monsieur Poinsinet was introduced to the blind nobleraan, who embraced him with effusion, and said : " My dear sir, accept my warmest thanks for the pleasure you have afforded me. Your opera is full of beauty, the music is delicious. Oh, what a misfortune that you had to set it to such trashy words I Now, unfortunately, it was the libretto, and not the music, of which poor Monsieur Poinsinet was the author. Louis XrV., who, like niany humbler rhy mesters, soinewhat overrated his poeti cal powers, showed a copy of verses to Boiltau, and asked his oandid opinión of them. " Ah, sire," said the poet, " I am more convinced than ever that nothing is impossible to your majesty ; you desired to write some poor rhymes, and you havo succeeded in making them positively dedetestable !" But perhaps thero was a spice of malice in this reply; though, if so, Boileau played with edged toolg with a vengeance. The worst blunder in what was intended for a pretty speech that wo ever heard of, however, was perpetrated in modern times by a dignitary of the ehurch, who was asked to marry a young couple in a country place where he hap penud to be staying, and was also called upon to propose the health of the bride and bridegroom at the subsequent breakfast. Now, the host and hostess were noted in the country round as the most genial and the happiest couple that had ever gono hand-iu-hand through life ; bo the good divine thought he might as well turn this to account in his speech. " To sum up all our good wishes for the happy pair whom we havo 6een united this morning," he said, in conclusión, " we cannot, 1 am sure, do botter than express a desire that the result of their union may prove stiïctly analagous to that of the parents of the' fair brido.' Whereupon the " fair bride" went into hysterics, the bridegroom's eyes flashed daggers; the bridesmaids cólored and looked down; the master of the house blew his nose yiolently. He who had caused all this commotion wisely sat down and held his peace, wondering at the effect of his innocent compliment to the host and hostess. He soon, however, found some one to enlighten him. " She is not their daughter at all," his informant explained, " but a niece who carne to live with them when her own father and mother were divorced I"