There is so much to be said in favour of keeping on. Apart from any ultimate benefit, the habit of occupation is a perpetual charm, preserving the mind from a host of irritations and discontents. Sailors, when in danger of shipwreck, find it best to keep on making efforts to save themselves, even if they perish at last, rather than to sit still and think about the horrors of their situation. Far better to swim badly than not to swim at all, if there be a chance of escaping drowning. For one devil that tempts the busy man, there are a hundred circumventing the idle one.

The question is sometimes asked, whether a man may learn to be persevering for if perseverance be of such value and benefit, why should not all possess it? The answer is, that a man may learn to persevere if he will. Timid people have learnt how to subdue their timidity, cowards have become brave by dint of trying, and the feeble have felt that strength may be gained by proper exercise. So a man may learn perseverance. To do this, he must begin by believing that he can do it. He must not be disheartened at the outset by certain stock phrases which seem to tell against him, such as "prerogative of genius," or "predominance of the natal star;" he must set these down as "cabalistic nonsense," and confide in the assurance that "diligence overcomes all." Truly has it been said, that "there are few difficulties that hold out against real attacks; they fly, like the visible horizon, before those who advance. A passionate desire and unwearied will can perform impossibilities, or what seem to be such to the cold and feeble. If we do but go on, some unseen path will open upon the hills. Nothing good or great is to be attained without courage and industry. Resist unto the end. may be truly said of difficulty, what is fabulously said of the devil-Talk of it, think of it, and forthwith it will be present to you; for one substance of it, as the poet says of grief, there are at least twenty shadows. Let no one doubt that perseverance may be learned until he has tried bravely and honestly for a year.

It

To those who can and do persevere, we would say :-Go on; but see that what you strive for is worth the effort. Remember that there is a false as well as a true perseverance, and it is possible to waste the energies of a life on unworthy objects. By their fruits shall ye know them." We are commanded to be "diligent in business," but this is not the

66

whole. We must persevere with our inward life as well as our outward life: there should be harmony between the two, if we are to feel that each day, as it passes, has helped to refine our mind, soften our heart, or heighten our love of justice.

To those who persevere only by fits and starts—now hot, now cold-we would say, "Never give up." Do not lose courage or grow weary. Slow as the tortoise crept, he reached the goal before the sleeping hare. If you cannot run, walk; if you cannot fly, plod. Plodding, humble as it seems, has done wonders, and will do more yet. Consider, furthermore, that when the reward comes, it is scarcely ever such as we had anticipated. We may have aimed at getting rich the riches do not come. But, instead thereof, we find ourselves rich in mind; conscious of having striven manfully to do the duty that lay before us, and in so doing have armed ourselves with a reliant spirit, which passes by small trials, and looks on great ones with calm courage. View it as we will, the conclusion is inevitable, that perseverance is its own reward

Never give up! there are chances and changes
Helping the hopeful a hundred to one,
And through the chaos High Wisdom arranges
Ever success-if you'll only hope on:
Never give up! for the wisest is boldest,

Knowing that Providence mingles the cup;
And of all maxims the best, as the oldest,

Is the true watchword of-Never give up!

ADVICE TO A RECKLESS YOUTH.

WHAT Would I have you do? I'll tell you, kinsman :
Learn to be wise, and practise how to thrive,
That would I have you do; and not to spend
Your coin on every bauble that you fancy,
Or every foolish brain that humours you.
I would not have you to invade each place,
Nor thrust yourself on all societies,
Till men's affections, or your own desert,
Should worthily invite you to your rank.
He that is so respectless in his courses,
Oft sells his reputation at cheap market.
Nor would I should melt away yourself

you

In flashing bravery, lest, while you affect
To make a blaze of gentry to the world,
A little puff of scorn extinguish it,
And be left like an unsavoury snuff,
Whose property is only to offend.

you

I'd ha' you sober, and contain yourself;
Not that your sail be bigger than your boat
But moderate your expenses now (at first),
As you may keep the same proportion still.
Nor stand so much on your gentility,

;

Which is an airy and mere borrow'd thing
From dead men's dust and bones; and none of yours.
Except you make, or hold it.

ADVANTAGES OF READING.

If I were to pray for a taste which should stand me in stead under every variety of circumstances, and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to me through life, and a shield against its ills, however things might go amiss, and the world frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading. I speak of it, of course, only as a worldly advantage, and not in the slightest degree as superseding or derogating from the higher office, and surer and stronger panoply of religious principles, but as a taste, an instrument, and a mode of pleasurable gratification. Give a man this taste and the means of gratifying it, and you can hardly fail of making a happy man, unless, indeed, you put into his hands a most perverse selection of books. You place him in contact with the best society in every period of history-with the wisest, the wittiest, with the tenderest, the bravest, and the purest characters that have adorned humanity. You make him a denizen of all nations, a contemporary of all ages. The world has been created for him. It is hardly possible but the character should take a higher and better tone from the constant habit of associating in thought with a class of thinkers, to say the least of it, above the average of humanity. It is morally impossible but that the manners should take a tinge of good breeding and civilization from having constantly before one's eyes the way in which the best bred and the best informed men have talked and conducted themselves in their intercourse with each other. There is a gentle but perfectly irresistible coercion in a habit of reading, well directed, over the whole tenor of a man's character and conduct, which is not the less effectual because it works insensibly, and because it is really the last thing he dreams of. It cannot, in short, be better summed up than in the words of the Latin poet

"Emollit mores, nec sinit esse feros."

It civilizes the conduct of men, and suffers them not to remain barbarous.

RULES FOR READING.

READ the best books which wise and sensible persons advise, and study them with reflection and examination, that is, ask yourselves, Do I understand what I read? Do I benefit by it? Do I become wiser and better thereby? Read with a firm determination to make use of all you read; do not, by reading, neglect a more immediate or more important duty; do not read with a view of making a display of your reading. Do not read too much at a time. Reflect on what you have read, and let it be a nourishment of the heart and soul, moderately enjoyed and well digested.