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namely in their writings. It informs them of the various manners and customs, and wonders of the world, without their being at the trouble of travelling over it. Even if separated from their books, and from society, the industrious in gathering knowledge are never lonely, for they still enjoy an interesting companion in their own recollections and reflections.

This is but a faint sketch of the manifold advantages of industry, but it may be enough to awaken the mind to the truth, that without industry, and that well directed, life cannot be enjoyed, or even preserved.

In humble adoration, we may be permitted to add, that God is industrious! In earth, air, and skies, we see the beneficent Spirit of nature ever-working, producing the fruits of the earth, and guiding the orbs of heaven. Let every man, therefore, follow the example of his Maker, and say in the words attributed to Jesus Christ, "My Father worketh, and I work.”

EXTRACTS.

PROVERBS, VI., 4 to 11. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.-Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.-Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise; which having no guide, overseer, or ruler; Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.-How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.-Chap. X., 1. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.-4. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.-5. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.-16. The labour of the righteous tendeth to life; the fruit of the wicked to sin.-26. As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.

XII., 12. He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread; but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.— 24. The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.-XIII., 4. The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made_fat.11. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.-XIV., 23. In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.-XV., 19. The way of the slothful man is an hedge of thorns; but the way of the righteous is made plain.—XVIII., 9. He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.-XIX., 15. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.-24. A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.-XX., 4. The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. -13. Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.-XXI., 5. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.-25. The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.-XXII., 29. Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men.-XXIII., 12. Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. -XXIV., 30 to 34. I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding:-And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.-Then I saw, and considered it well; I looked upon it, and received instruction.-Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding at the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.-XXVII., 23 and 24. Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds,-For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation ?-XXVIII., 19. He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.

ECCLESIASTIC, IX., 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, where thou goest.-X., 18. By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.-XI., 6. In the morn

ing sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

1 THES. III., 10 to 12. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy bodies.-Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. -14. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

CONFUCIUS. - Endeavour to imitate the wise, and never discourage thyself, how laborious soever it may be: for if thou canst arrive at thine end, the pleasure thou wilt enjoy in the attempt will recompense all thy pains.-He that in his studies wholly applies himself to labour and exercise, and neglects meditation, loses his time; and he that only applies himself to meditation, and neglects labour and exercise, does only wander and lose himself. -The first can never know any thing exactly; his knowledge will be always intermixed with doubts and obscurities; and the last will only pursue shadows; his knowledge will never be certain, it will never be solid. Labour, but slight not meditation: meditate, but slight not labour.— Learn what thou knowest already, as if thou hadst never learned it: things are never so well known but that we may forget them.

ISOCRATES +.-Enure your body to labour, and your mind to wisdom, that by the one you may be able to execute your resolutions, and by the other determine what you ought to do for your advantage and interest. Spend your leisure hours in hearing good discourses: by so doing you will learn, with ease

* Confucius, the celebrated Chinese philosopher, was born in the kingdom of Lou, which is at present the province of Chan Long, 551 years before the birth of Christ. His extensive knowledge and great wisdom made him every where known his integrity and the splendor of his virtues made him beloved: kings were governed by his counsels, and the people reverenced him as a saint. He died in the 73d year of his age.

+ Isocrates, a celebrated Greek orator and moralist, was born at Athens 436 years before Christ, and died at the age of 98. He was distinguished by the number and fame of his pupils, and by his wealth. He was intimate with Philip of Macedon, bnt was displeased with his ambition. He has always been much admired for the sweetness and graceful simplicity of his style, for the harmony of his expressions, and the prudence of his advice.

and facility, what has cost others a great deal of labour and pains to find out. It would be as great a shame not to learn an useful discourse, as not to receive a good present which your friends should make you.-Those things you have attained the knowledge of must be retained by practice, and at the same time you must take care to inform yourself of those things of which you are ignorant.-Have a necessary regard to all that relates to the support of life; but cultivate your mind as much as you can, for a handsome mind is a noble thing, though shut up in an ordinary body. Enure yourself to voluntary labour, that you may be the better able to undergo what necessity shall lay upon you.-Take time to deliberate and advise; but lose no time in executing your resolutions. It belongs to Heaven to prosper our undertakings; but it is our business carefully to consider what we do.

CICERO*.-Cato, son of Marcus, who was near of the same age with Publius Scipio, the first that had the surname of Africanus given him, tells us it was a usual saying of his, that he was never less idle, than when he was idle; nor less alone, than when he was alone. A noble and excellent sentence indeed, and worthy of so great and wise a person; by which it appears, that in the midst of leisure he could think of business, and was used when alone to converse with his own thoughts; so that he never was properly idle, and needed no company to entertain him in solitude.

SENECA +.-There is no man so miserable as he that is at a loss how to spend his time. He is restless in his thoughts;

* Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of the greatest men of antiquity, whether we consider him as an orator, a statesman, or a philosopher, was born at Arpinum, a city anciently of the Samnites, but now part of the kingdom of Naples, Jan. 3, in the 647th year of Rome, about 107 years before Christ. In his very active life, the most striking incident is his detection of the conspiracy of Catiline and his accomplices for the subversion of the commonwealth, during Cicero's consulship. For his conduct in this affair he was honoured with the glorious title of Pater Patriæ," Father of his Country. He was assassinated on the 7th of December, about ten days from the settlement of the triumvirate, after he had lived 63 years, 11 months, and 5 days. His works will ever be the standard of true eloquence, and his philosophical treatises are an invaluable treasure of good sense, virtue, and true philosophy.

+ Lucius Seneca. This celebrated stoic philosopher was born at Cordova, A. D. 12; and was put to death by his pupil, the tyrant Nero, A. D. 65, under a pretence of his being engaged in a plot against him. Nero allowing him to choose his mode of death, he preferred bleeding; but, although he opened several veins, the hermorrhage was insufficient to destroy life. He then took poison, but that also failing, he was removed to a hot bath, and there suffocated

unsteady in his counsels; dissatisfied with the present; solicitous for the future: whereas he that prudently computes his hours and his business, does not only fortify himself against the common accidents of life, but improves the most rigorous dispensations of Providence to his comfort.-It is for young men to gather knowledge, and for old men to use it; and assure yourself, that no man gives a fairer account of his time, than he that makes it his daily study to make himself better.-He that would make his travels delightful, must make himself a temperate companion. A great traveller was complaining that he was never the better for his travels, "That's very true," said Socrates, "because you travelled with yourself." Now, had not he better have made himself another man, than to transport himself to another place?

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LESSON 2.-ECONOMY.

WE have seen that in all states of society and conditions of life, our daily wants require daily labour for their supply but we also see that the exercise of labour is liable to long interruptions from various causes, and that extra supplies are often requisite to sustain fortuitous calamities: extra supplies, therefore, must be raised and saved in favourable times to supply deficiences in times of adversity; and as the rewards of this Economy are certain and considerable, where property is secure, they encourage further economy and enterprize. The arts and blessings of civilization then rapidly expand, and the savings of individuals collectively produce the wealth of nations.

Until within these few years, the working classes, however well disposed, had but few opportunities to save

by an excess of steam, While bleeding he continued to deliver philosophical instructions, which were eagerly written down by his pupils. His wife Paulina, determining to share the fate of her husband, opened her veins; but her wounds were bound up, and she lived a few years longer in sorrow and solitude. The works of Seneca have ever been held in the highest estimation by the wise and just, and must ever command a foremost place among ethical writings. Thoughts more just, or better expressed, are no where found.

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