alive.
Serve him with venison, and he chooses fish;
With sole; that's just the sort he would not wish.
Alas! his efforts double his distress,
He likes yours little, and his own still less.
Thus, always teasing others, always teased,
His only pleasure is--to be displeased.

If we find ourselves getting into this state of mind, it is high time
to inquire what is wrong with us.

Another form of ill-temper is passion.--Some people are very subject to
this development. They are "gunpowdery," and when a small spark
touches them they fly out, and there is a blaze. It is a very unlovely
feature of a man's character, and if people in a passion could only see
themselves in a glass, their eyes flashing, their brow contracted and
their features distorted, they would feel that they have cause to be
ashamed of themselves. After having been in what is called "a towering
rage," there often comes to a man the feeling expressed in the words,
"I have made a great ass of myself." If we have done so, we should
resolve never to make ourselves ridiculous again.

Perhaps the worst form of ill-temper is sulkiness.--This is passion not
dying out, but continuing to smoulder like the embers of a fire where
there is no flame. A sullen disposition is as bad a sign of something
being wrong as there could well be. It is like what the doctors call
"suppressed gout." The disease has got driven into the system, and has
taken so firm a hold that it cannot easily be dislodged. Better a man
whose temper bubbles over and is gone, than the man who cherishes it in
his bosom and allows, not the sun of one day, but of many days, to go
down on his wrath.

A word or two is perhaps necessary, in addition to what has been said,
as to the means by which good temper is to be preserved and bad temper
avoided.

I. _We should cherish a deep and strong detestation of the evil
effects of bad temper in all its forms_.--(_a_) It has a bad effect
physically. It produces consequences injurious to health. The man who
indulges in it habitually cannot do so with impunity. Doctors
constantly warn their patients to refrain from irritating disputes, and
to avoid men and things likely to provoke their anger. (_b_) It has a
bad effect socially. The bad-tempered man is seldom a favorite with
society. Men eventually dislike him and shun him as a nuisance. His
family, if he has one, come to regard him with dread rather than love.
(_c_) It has a bad eff