away, on a holiday, a certain amount of nervous energy, which he will never feel the want of till he is seventy; and then, how much he will need it! It is curious, but true, that a bottle of champagne, at twenty, may intensify the rheumatism of threescore. It is a fact, that overtasking the eyes at fourteen may necessitate the aid of spectacles at forty, instead of eighty.

no error.

2. We advise our young readers to be saving of health for their old age; for the maxim holds good with regard to health as to money, "Waste not, want not." It is the greatest mistake to suppose that any violation of the laws of health can escape its penalty. Nature forgives no sin, She lets off the offender for fifty years sometimes, but she catches him at last, and inflicts the punishment just when, where, and how he feels it most. Save up for old age; but save knowledge; save the recollection of good deeds and innocent pleasure; save pure thoughts; save friends; save rich stores of that kind of wealth which time can not diminish, nor death take away.

VI.

BE FIRM.

MRS. S. C. MAYO.

1. BE FIRM! whatever tempts thy soul
To loiter ere it reach its goal,
Whatever siren voice would draw
Thy heart from duty and its law,
Oh, that distrust! Go bravely on,
And, till the victor-crown be won,
BE FIRM !

1. A YOUNG man, just entering on life, embarks on an unknown and perilous voyage. If the interest of the fact itself will not suffer by the comparison, his condition may be likened to that of a ship, that has never yet tried the waves and storms, as it first leaves the port. This world, so full of beautiful things, furnishes few objects so lovely as such a vessel, when, with her sails all spread, and with a propitious breeze, she sails out of the harbor.

2. But who can tell what that vessel is to encounter; into what unknown seas she may yet be drifted; between what masses of ice she may be crushed; on what hidden rocks she may impinge; what storms may whistle through her shrouds, and carry away her tall masts; or on what coasts her broken timbers may be strewed? Now, as the waves gently tap her sides, nothing can be more beautiful, or more safe; but storms arise on that ocean which now looks so calm, and in those storms her beautifully-modeled form, her timbers framed together to defy the tempest, her ropes and her canvas, will avail nothing; and, if she is saved, none but He can do it who "rides on the whirlwind and directs the storm."

1.

2.

VIII.

VOYAGE OF LIFE.

HENRY WARE, JUN.

LIFE is a sea, as fathomless,

As wide, as terrible, and yet sometimes.

As calm and beautiful. The light of Heaven
Smiles on it, and 'tis decked with every hue
Of glory and of joy. Anon, dark clouds
Arise, contending winds of fate go forth,
And Hope sits weeping o'er a general wreck.
And thou must sail upon this sea, a long,
Eventful voyage. The wise may suffer wreck,
The foolish must.

O! then be early wise!
Learn from the mariner his skillful art

To ride upon the waves, and catch the breeze,
And dare the threatening storm, and trace a path
'Mid countless dangers, to the destined port,
Unerringly secure. O! learn from him

To station quick-eyed Prudence at the helm,
To guard thy sail from Passion's sudden blasts,
And make Religion thy magnetic guide,

Which, though it trembles as it lowly lies,
Points to the light that changes not, — in Heaven.

IX.

THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE.

MOODIE.

1. PAUSE for a while, ye travelers on the earth, to contemplate the universe in which you dwell, and the glory of Him who created it. What a scene of wonders is here

presented to your view! If beheld with a religious eye, what a temple for the worship of the Almighty! The earth is spread out before you, reposing amid the desolation of winter, or clad in the verdure of the spring,—smiling in the beauty of summer, or loaded with autumnal fruit,-opening, to an endless variety of beings, the treasures of their Maker's goodness, and ministering subsistence and comfort to every creature that lives.

2. The heavens, also, declare the glory of the Lord. The Sun cometh forth from his chambers to scatter the shades of night, inviting you to the renewal of your labors, adorning the face of Nature, and, as he advances to his meridian brightness, cherishing every herb and flower that springeth from the bosom of the earth. Nor, when he retires again from your view, doth he leave the Creator without a witness. He only hides his own splendor for a while to disclose to you a more glorious scene, — to show you the immensity of space filled with worlds unnumbered, that your imaginations may wander, without a limit, in the vast creation of God.

X.

CHEER UP.

(") 1. CHEER UP! my friend, cheer up, I say;
Give not thy heart to gloom, to sorrow;
Though clouds enshroud thy path to-day,
The sun will shine again to-morrow.

2. Oh! look not with desponding sigh
Upon these little trifling troubles;
Cheer up! you'll see them by and by

Just as they are, -like empty bubbles.

3. So come, cheer up! my friend, cheer up!
This is a world of love and beauty;

And you may quaff its sweetest cup
If you but bravely do your duty.

4. Put gloom and sadness far away,

And, smiling, bid good-by to sorrow;
The clouds that shroud your path to-day
Will let the sunlight in to-morrow.

LESSON LVII.

1 FOX, CHARLES JAMES, a distinguished statesman and orator, was born in London, England, 1749; and died 1806. So early were his talents developed, that he was elected a member of Parliament before he was twenty years of age. See Sanders' Sixth Reader, p. 487.

2 JONES, SIR WILLIAM, whose researches in Oriental literature, and whose surpassing genius as a translator from the Eastern languages, have rendered his name illustrious throughout the world, was born in London, 1746; and died 1794. He was also eminent as a mathematician and a jurist.

* HER CU LES, a hero of antiquity, fabled to have been the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, and celebrated for his great strength.

DE MOS' THE NES, the greatest of Grecian orators, was born 382 B.C.; and died 322 B.C. Philip, King of Macedon, having betrayed his hostility to the power of Athens, and to the liberties of the other Grecian States, it was to arouse his countrymen against the crafty invader that Demosthenes pronounced his Philippics, a series of the most splendid and spirited orations.

SHER'I DAN, RICHARD BRINSLEY, an English dramatist and politician, was born in Dublin, 1751; and died 1816. He was elected a member of Parliament, and in 1787 supported the charge against Warren Hastings, in a speech which is regarded as one of the very best of his life.

* BROUGHAM, HENRY, late lord-chancellor of England, was born in Edinburgh in 1778. He was one of the founders of "The Edinburgh Review," and among its ablest contributors; and is regarded as one of the most remarkable of the public men in England.