the discharge of our necessary affairs; and let not what we call necessary affairs encroach upon the time which is due to devotion. To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. If we delay till to-morrow what ought to be done to-day, we overcharge the morrow with a burden which belongs not to it. We load the wheels of time, and prevent them from carrying us along smoothly.

3. He who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows out that plan, carries on a thread which will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. The orderly arrangement of his time is like a ray of light, which darts itself through all his affairs. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidents, all things lie huddled together in one chaos,' which admits neither of distribution nor review.

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4. The first requisite for introducing order into the managemènt of time, is to be impressed with a just sense of its value. Let us consider well how much depends upon it, and how fast it flies away. The bulk of men are in nothing more capricious and inconsistent than in their appreciation of time. When they think of it as the measure of their continuance on earth, they highly prize it, and with the greatest anxiety seek to lengthen it out.

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5. But when they view it in separate parcels, they appear to hold it in contempt, and squander it with inconsiderate confusion. While they complain that life is short, they are often wishing its different periods at an end. Covetous of every other possession, of time only they are prodigal. They allow every idle man to be master of this property, and make every frivolous occupation welcome that can help them to consume it.

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6. Manhood is disgraced by the consequences of neglected youth. Old age, oppressed by cares that belonged to a former period, labors under a burden not his own. At the close of life, the dying man beholds with anguish that his days are finishing, when his preparation for eternity is hardly commenced. Such

are the effects of a disorderly waste of time, through not attending to its value. Every thing in the life of such persons is misplaced. Nothing is performed ăright, from not being performed in due season.

7. But he who is orderly in the distribution of his time, takes the proper method of escaping those manifold evils. He is justly said to redeem the time. By proper mănagement he prolongs it. He lives much in little space; more in a few years than others do in many. He can live to God and his own soul, and at the same time attend to all the lawful interèsts of the present world. He looks back on the past, and provides for the future. HUGH BLAIR.

THE

SECTION XVII.

I.

75. THE CYNIC.

HE cynic' is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darknèss, and blind to light; mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The cynic puts all human actions into only two classes-openly bad, and secretly bad.

2. All virtue and generosity and disin'terestedness' are merely the appearance of good, but selfish at the bottom. He holds that no man does a good thing, except for profit. The effect of his conversation upon your feelings is to chill and sear* them; to send you away sour and morose. His criticisms and

1 Cyn' ic, a surly, snarling man. The Cynics were a sect of philosophers in ancient Greece, who affected to despise all the refinements of life. The sect was founded by Antisthenes, and supported by Diogenes. The name is derived from the Greek word for "dog," because they lived more like dogs than men. Hence, any person, despising the common coutesies of life, is called a cynic.

2 Vigilant, (vigʻi lant), attentive to discover and avoid danger, or to provide for safety; circumspect; wakeful; watchful.

"Dis in' ter ěst ed něss, fairness; not favoring one's self.

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Sear, to burn to hardness and dryness the surface of; to make callous; to dry up.

'Mo rōse', severe; gruff; of a sour temper; ill-humored.

innuendoes' fall indiscriminately' upon every lovely thing, like frost upon flowers.

3. "Mr. A," says some one, "is a religious man." He will answer: "Yes; on Sundays." "Mr. B has just joined the church" "Certainly: the elections are coming on." The minister of the Gospel is called an example of diligence: "It is his trade. Such a man is generous :- -"of other men's money." This man is obliging :-" to lull suspicion and cheat you." That man is upright :-"because he is green."

4. Thus, his eye strains out every good quality, and takes in only the bad. To him, religion is hypocrisy,' honesty a preparation for fraud,' virtue only want of opportunity, and undeniable purity asceticism." The live-long day he will sit with sneering lip, uttering sharp speeches in the quietest manner, and in polished phrase transfixing every character which is presented: "His words are softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords."

5. All this, to the young, seems a wonderful knowledge of human nature: they honor a man who appears to have found out mankind. They begin to indulge themselves in flippant sneers; and with supercilious brow, and impudent tongue, wagging to an empty brain, call to naught the wise, the long-tried and the venerable.

6. I do believe, that man is corrupt enough; but something of good has survived his wreck; something of evil, religion has restrained, and something partially restored; yet, I look upon the human heart as a mountain of fire. I dread its crater.' I tremble when I see its lava' roll the fiery stream.

7. Therefore, I am the mōre glad, if upon the old crust of

1 1 In`nu ění dō, a hint carefully given; a sly suggestion.

'As cět' i cism, the practice of undue severity and self-denial in

2 In` dis crim' i nate ly, without religious things. distinction.

'Hy poc' ri sy, the putting on of an appearance of virtue, goodness, or religion, which one does not possess ; a feigning to be what one is not.

'Fraud, (fråd), the act of deceiving with a view to gain an unlawful or unfair advantage; a trick thoughtfully used by which the right or interest of another is injured.

Flip' pant, of smooth, fluent, and rapid speech; inconsiderate, pert; empty.

'Cra' ter, the cup, mouth, or hollow top of a volcano.

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Lava, the melted rock that is thrown out by a volcano, from its top or fisured sides. It flows out in streams sometimes miles in length

past eruptions,' I can find a single flower springing up. So far from rejecting appearances of virtue in the corrupt heart of a depraved race, I am eager to see their light, as ever mariner was to see a star in a stormy night.

8. Moss will grow upon gravestones; the ivy will cling to the moldering pile; the mistletoe' springs from the dying branch; and, God be praised, something green, something fair to the sight and grateful to the heart, will yet twine around and grow out of the seams and cracks of the desolate temple of the human heart! HENRY WARD BEECHER.

MANY bug the street in which stands the col

ANY years since, two pupils of the University of Warsaw"

umn of King Sigismund,' round whose pedestal' may be seen seated a number of women selling fruit, cakes, and a variety of eatables, to the passers-by. The young men paused to look at a figure, the oddity of which attracted their attention,

2. This was a man apparently between fifty and sixty years of age, His coat, once black, was worn threadbare; his broad hat overshadowed a thin, wrinkled face; his form was greatly emaciated, yet he walked with a firm and rapid step. He stopped at one of the stalls beneath the column, purchased a half-penny worth of bread, ate part of it, and putting the remainder into his pocket, pursued his way toward the palace of the lieutenant of the kingdom, who, in the absence of the Czar,' Alexander, exercised royal authority in Poland.

3. "Do you know that man?" asked one student of the other. "I do not; but, judging from his costume',' and mournful countenance, I should guess him to be an undertaker.” "Wrong, my friend; he is Stanislaus Staszic."

4. "Staszic!" exclaimed the student, looking after the man, who was then entering the palace. "How can a mean, wretchedlooking man, who stops in the middle of the street to buy a morsel of bread, be rich and powerful?" "Yet, so it is," replied his companion; "under this unpromising exterior is hidden one of our most influential ministers, and one of the most illustrious' men of Europe."

5. The man whose appearance contrasted so strongly with his social position, who was as powerful as he seemed insignificant, as rich as he appeared poor, owed all his fortune to himself-to his labors, and to his genius. Of low extraction,* he left Poland while young, in order to acquire learning. He passed some years in the Universities of Leipsic and Gottingen, continued his studies in the College of France, under Brisson' and D'Aubanton; gained the friendship of Buffon ; visited the Alps and the Apennines; and finally returned to his native land, stored with rich and varied learning.

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6. He was speedily invited by a nobleman to take charge of the education of his son. Afterward, the Government wished to profit by his talents; and Staszic, from grade to grade, was raised to the highest posts, and the greatest dignities. His economical habits made him rich. Five hundred serfs culti

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Gottingen, (gêt' ting en), a town of Hanover, capital of the princi. pality of Gottingen. Its university, founded 1734, was, down to 1831, the chief of the German universities, and the number of its students, from

3 Il lus' tri oŭs, possessing luster, or brightness; characterized by true greatness, nobleness, etc. * Extraction, (eks tråk' shun), 1822 to 1826, averaged one thousand source; birth; origin.

Leipsic, (llp' sik), the second city of Saxony, and one of the chief seats of commerce in Germany. The university, founded 1409, with a library of one hundred and ten thousand volumes, and about one hundred professors and private teachers, is attended by above nine hundred students.

four hundred and eighty-one, annually. In 1845, it had only six hundred and thirty-three students. Brisson, (bre`son').

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8 Bŭf' fon, an eminent naturalist, born in 1707, and died in 1788.

'E`co nom'ic al, guarding against loss or waste; prudent in expending money.