Thy emblem this! for death must quickly hide
This fair creation from thy raptur'd eye;
Thy fragile form to the poor worm ally'd,
Cold and unconscious in the grave must lie.
But can the shackles of the tomb control,
This active spirit—this aspiring soul?

No! there are worlds in bloom immortal dress'd,
Where love divine in full effulgence glows;
Where safely centre'd in eternal rest,
Departed spirits of the good repose:

With powers enlarg'd their Maker's works explore,
And find through endless years, new cause to wonder
and adore.

MAN.

-The master work, the end

Of all yet done; a creature who not prone
And brute as other creatures, but endued
With sanctity of reason, might erect

His stature, and upright with front serene
Govern the rest, self-knowing, and from thence
Magnanimous to correspond with heaven:

He form'd thee thus! Thee, Adam; thee, O man!
Dust of the ground, and in thy nostrils breath'd
The breath of life.-Milton, Paradise Lost.

And I will place within them as a guide,
My umpire Conscience, whom if they will hear,
Light after light well used they shall attain,
And to the end persisting, safe arrive.—Ibid.

I would have every one to consider that he is, in this life, nothing more than a passenger, and that he is not to set up his rest here, but to keep an attentive eye upon that state of being to which he approaches every moment, and which will be forever fixed and permanent. This single consideration would be sufficient to extinguish the bitterness of hatred, the thirst of avarice, and the cruelty of ambition.-Spectator.

The Character of the Lady of one of the ancient Earls of Westmoreland, written by her husband, and inscribed in the chimney-wall of a large room, at Budstone-Place, in Kent, once the seat of that noble family.

She feared God, and knew how to serve him; she assigned times for her devotion, and kept them; she was a perfect wife, and a true friend; she joyed most to oblige those nearest and dearest to me; she was still the same, ever kind and never troublesome; often preventing my desires; disputing none; providently managing all that was mine! living in appearance above mine estate, while she advanced it; she was of a great spirit; sweetly tempered; of a cheerful temper; mildly governed; of a brave fashion to win respect, and to daunt boldness; pleasing to all her sex; intimate with few; delighting in the best; ever avoiding all persons and places in their honour blemished; and was as free from doing ill, as giving the occasion. She died as she lived, well; and blessed in the greatest extremity; most patiently sending forth her pure soul with many zealous prayers and hymns to her Maker; pouring out her affectionate heart in passionate streams to her Saviour.

N. B. The beginning and ending of this inscription being defaced by time, the date is uncertain.

Neither make nor go to feasts; but let the laborious poor bless thee at home in their solitary cottages. Penn.

Where judgment has wit to express it, there is the best orator.-Ibid.

BEARING. A man in business must put up with many affronts if he loves his own quiet.

Ibid.

Bad passions become more odious in proportion as the motives to them are weakened; and gratuitous vice cannot be too indignantly exposed to reprehension.

The difference between the time which uninformed, and that which informed readers require, for the acquisition of the same amount of new knowledge, is very great.

It may be added, that the difference between the time, which it takes a person who reads little, and a person who reads incessantly, to peruse the same quantity of words, is inconceivable by all but the initiated. A person habituated to read, apprehends instantaneously by his eye, a much greater quantity of writing or print, than persons not thus habituated. It may be added, that his knowledge of the subject, his familiarity with the general march of composition, suggests to his mind, much in the book which he does not read, but which he knows the book to contain, almost as well as if he had actually read it.

Combining these circumstances, habitual readers will acquire the knowledge of the contents of a book, in a manner which astonishes ordinary readers. Butler.

MEMORY.-Memory depends very much upon the perspicuity, regularity and order of our notions. Many complain of want of memory, when the defect is in their judgment, and others when they grasp at all, retain nothing.-Francis Fuller.

The most virtuous of all men, says Plato, is he that contents himself with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.-Telemachus.

The forbearance of a too hasty compliance with our desires; the moderation and restraint of our passions, so that our understandings may be free to examine, and reason unbiassed give its judgment, being that whereon a right direction of our conduct to true happiness depends-it is in this we should employ our chief care and endeavours. In this we should take pains to suit the relish of our minds, to the true and intrinsic good or ill that is in things, and not permit an allowed or supposed possible great and weighty good to slip out of our thoughts, without having any relish, any desire of itself there, till by a due consideration of its true worth, we have found opportunities in our minds suitable to it, and made ourselves uneasy in the want of it, or in the fear of losing it; And how much this is in every one's power, by making resolutions to himself, such as he may keep, is easy for every one to try. Nor let any one say, he cannot govern his passions nor hinder them from breaking out, and carrying him into action, for what he can do before a prince, or a great man, he can do alone, or in the presence of God, if he will.-Locke.

A COUNTRY LIFE.-The country is both the philosopher's garden and library, in which he reads and contemplates the power, wisdom, and goodness of God.-Penn.

FRIENDSHIP.-There can be no friendship where there is no freedom. Friendship loves a free air and will not be penned up in strait and narrow enclosures. It will speak freely and aet so too; and take nothing ill where no ill is meant; nay, where it is, it will easily forgive, and forget too, upon small acknowledgments.-Ibid.

MAN. WHY FORMED AS HE IS.

The wildest scorner of his Maker's laws
Finds in a sober moment time to pause,

To press th' important question on his heart,
'Why form'd at all, and wherefore as thou art?"
If man be what he seems, this hour a slave,
The next mere dust and ashes in the grave:
Endu'd with reason only to descry

His crimes and follies with an aching eye:
With passions, just that he may prove, with pain,
The force he spends against their fury vain:
And if, soon after having burnt by turns,
With ev'ry lust, with which frail nature burns,
His being end, where death dissolves the bond,
The tomb take all, and all be blank beyond;
Then he, of all that nature has brought forth,
Stands self-impeach'd the creature of least worth,
And useless while he lives, and when he dies,
Brings into doubt the wisdom of the skies.-Cowper.

Happiest of all men to me seems the private man, nor can the opinion of ill-judging crowds make him less happy, because they think others more so. He who can live alone without uneasiness, who can survey his past life with pleasure, who can look back without compunction or shame, forward without fear of rebuke; he whose every day hath produced some good, at least is passed with innocence; the silent benefactor, the ready and faithful friend; he who is filled with secret delight because he feels his heart is full of benevolence, who finds pleasure in relieving or assisting. The domestic man, perhaps little talked of, perhaps less seen, beloved by his friends, trusted and esteemed by all that know him; often useful to such as know him not, enjoys such high felicity as the wealth of kingdoms and bounty of kings cannot afford.-Cato's Letters.

It is best to be with those in time, that we would live with in eternity.-Fuller.