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LESSON LXXX.

PREVALENCE OF POETRY.- PERCIVAL.

The world is full of poetry, the air
Is living with its spirit; and the waves
Dance to the music of its melodies,

And sparkle in its brightness. Earth is veiled,
And mantled with its beauty; and the walls,
That close the universe with crystal in,
Are eloquent with voices, that proclaim
The unseen glories of immensity,
In harmonies, too perfect, and too high,
For aught but beings of celestial mold,
And speak to man in one eternal hymn,
Unfading beauty, and unyielding power.

2. The year leads round the seasons, in a
Forever charming, and forever new,
Blending the grand, the beautiful, the gay,
The mournful, the tender, in one strain,

choir

Which steals into the heart, like sounds, that rise
Far off, in moonlight evenings, on the shore
Of the wide ocean, resting after storms;
Or tones that wind around the vaulted roof,
And pointed arches, and retiring aisles
Of some old, lonely minster, where the hand,
Skillful, and moved with passionate love of art,
Plays o'er the higher keys, and bears aloft
The peal of bursting thunder, and then calls,
By mellow touches, from the softer tubes,
Voices of melting tenderness, that blend
With pure and gentle musing, till the soul,

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Commingling with the melody, is borne,
Rapt, and dissolved in ecstasy, to heaven.

'Tis not the chime and flow of words, that move In measured file, and metrical array;

"T is not the union of returning sounds,
Nor all the pleasing artifice of rhyme,
And quantity, and accent, that can give
This all-pervading spirit to the ear,

Or blend it with the movings of the soul.
'Tis a mysterious feeling, which combines
Man with the world around him, in a chain
Woven of flowers, and dipped in sweetness, till
He taste the high communion of his thoughts,
With all existence, in earth and heaven,

That meet him in the charm of grace and power.

'Tis not the noisy babbler, who displays, In studied phrase, and ornate epithet,

And rounded period, poor and vapid thoughts,
Which peep from out the cumbrous ornaments
That overload their littleness. Its words

Are few, but deep and solemn; and they break
Fresh from the fount of feeling, and are full
Of all the passion, which, on Carmel, fired
The holy prophet, when his lips were coals,
His language winged with terror, as when bolts
Leap from the brooding tempest, armed with wrath,
Commissioned to affright us, and destroy.

LESSON LXXXI.

VALUABLE HINTS FOR STUDENTS.-TODD.

1. The human mind is the brightest display of the power and skill of the Infinite mind with which we are acquainted. It is created and placed in this world to be educated for a higher state of existence. Here its faculties begin to unfold, and those mighty energies, which are to bear it forward to unending ages, begin to discover themselves. The object of training such a mind should be, to enable the soul to fulfill her duties well, here, and to stand on high vantage-ground, when she leaves this cradle of her being, for an eternal existence beyond the grave.

2. Most students need encouragement to sustain, instruction to aid, and directions to guide them. Few, probably, ever accomplish any thing like as much as they expected or ought; and it is thought one reason is, that they waste a vast amount of time in acquiring that experience which they need.

3. The reader will please bear in mind, that the only object here contemplated is, to throw out such hints and cautions, and to give such specific directions, as will aid him to become all that the fond hopes of his friends anticipate, and all that his own heart ought to desire. Doubtless, multitudes are now in the process of education, who will never reach any tolerable standard of excellence. Probably some never could; but in most cases, they might. The exceptions are few. In most cases young men do feel a desire, more or less strong, of fitting themselves for respectability and usefulness.

4. You may converse with any man, however distinguished for attainments, or habits of application, or power of using what he knows, and he will sigh over the remembrance of the past, and tell you, that there have been many fragments of time which he has wasted, and many opportunities which he

has lost forever. If he had only seized upon the fleeting advantages, and gathered up the fragments of time, he might have pushed his researches out into new fields, and, like the immortal Bacon, have amassed vast stores of knowledge.

5. The mighty minds which have gone before us, have left treasures for our inheritance; and the choicest gold is to be had for the digging. Hence, all that you ever have, must be the result of labor-hard, untiring labor. You have friends to cheer you on; you have books and teachers to aid you, and multitudes of helps. But after all, disciplining and educating your mind, must be your own work. No one can do this but yourself; and nothing in this world, is of any worth, which has not labor and toil as its price.

6. The first and great object of education is, to discipline the mind. Make it the first object to be able to fix and hold your attention upon your studies. He who can do this, has mastered many and great difficulties; and he who cannot do it, will in vain look for success in any department of study. To effect any purpose in study, the mind must be concentrated. Patience, too, is a virtue, kindred to attention; and without it, the mind cannot be said to be disciplined. Patient labor and investigation, are not only essential to success in study, but are an unfailing guarantee to success.

7. In addition to attention and patient perseverance, the student should learn to think and act for himself. True originality consists in doing things well, and doing them in our own way. A mind, half-educated, is generally imitating others; and no man was ever great by imitation. Let it therefore be remembered, that we cannot copy greatness or goodness by any effort. We must acquire them, if ever attained, by our own patience and diligence.

8. Students are also in danger of neglecting the memory. This is a faculty of mind too valuable to be neglected; for by it

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wonders are sometimes accomplished. He who has a memory, that can seize with an iron grasp, and retain what he reads,— the ideas, simply, without the language, and judgment to compare and balance, will scarcely fail of being distinguished. Why has that mass of thought, observation, and experience, which is embodied in books by the multitude of minds which have gone before us, been gathered, if not, that we may use it, and stand on high ground, and push our way still further into the boundless regions of knowledge? Memory is the grand store-house of the mind, capable, both of vast improvement and enlarged capacity, in proportion as it is properly cultivated.

LESSON LXXXII.

INDOLENCE AND WANT OF ORDER. — ARTHUR.

1. More young men are hindered from arriving at positions of honor and eminent usefulness, by indolence and want of order, than from any other cause. Nothing great is ever achieved, except by industry and earnest application, combined with an orderly arrangement of all the means necessary to the accomplishment of the object in view.

2. From this, may be clearly seen, the importance of habits of industry and order. Without them, little can be done; with them, almost every thing. An active and energetic mind may achieve much, even where there is great want of order; but indolence chains a man down, and keeps him fast in one position; it is, therefore, the most serious defect of the two, and should be striven against with unwearying perse

verance.

3. The want of an adequate purpose, is what makes a man indolent. The Indian will spend days and weeks in slothfulness and inactivity, and to an observer, seem the most