induced me to alight. The groans, alas! proceeded from Edward. In a few minutes an honest rustic came up, and assisted me in conveying the wounded man home, whither he had just sufficient articulation to direct us.

From a letter that was found in his pocket, and a pistol near him that had been newly discharged, it appeared that his appeal to his father had been ineffectual; he had advanced on his return home within less than a quarter of a mile froin the cottage, when no doubt the dreadful destiny to which his wife and family seemed doomed, and the horror of meeting his Mary thus pennyless, deserted, and hopeless, urged him to commit a crime which man may pity---but Heaven alone can pardon !

BY THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH.

I HINTED in my last lecture, that it was my intention to conclude the present course with some observations upon the conduct of the understanding; at the same time I observed, that what I had to offer upon the subject, must be considered, in such an audience, to apply only to the juvenile part of it, and that all I could hope would be, to drop a few seeds in a favourable soil, which might yield a large increase in a proper

season.

In a consideration of mental power, a question occurs whether the differences between mind and mind are owing to cultivation solely, or there be something in the transmission from sire to son, which, like the qualities in other animals, appertain to the race, and possess an inherent superiority not to be debased or altered. If, for instance, we should place the eggs of a wild duck under a mother who is taine, I understand, and can readily believe, that the progeny would be considerably more wild than any from the eggs of the domestic fowl. In the colt of an Arabian, we find more spirit and other valuable qualities than on common occasions, not

from the principle of imitation, for the son has never seen its father, but that the properties of the sire are communicated to the offspring, and that, independently of cultivation, he set out with an advantage derived from the nature of his origin. But to drop the question whether all minds are originally the same, there can be no doubt that they do progressively display remarkable differences; and it is my province to notice some of the prominent causes which lead to mental inferiority; and are the barriers to the improvement of the understanding. The first and most important of these is indolence. We are astonished and offended by a call to re-examine any opinion; the acquiescence in our first thoughts is so easy and delightful, that we hate the occasion of our alarm; and resist the charge to fight the battle again, in our imaginary repose upon the lap of victory. Another co-operant cause is vanity; it is so because we have thus decided it--- What when I have taken so much pains to attain the truth upon any point, shall a new enquiry pretend to confute me? shall I be obliged to confess the superior industry, and what may be more mortifying, the superior penetration of one whose name is hardly known, and whose powers I have despised---no! I determine not to be convinced, be his reasons what they may; it is sufficient that my opinions are mine, I have decided the question, and it must be so.'

Words themselves form a third barrier to the attainment of truth-the progress of the understanding— words with their associations. In our youth we hear particular words associated with particular events, and the terms never recur without their associations-One has heard or read the most deplorable excesses combined with the terms Dissenter, or Turk, or Catholicand in consequence the mind, regardless of the progress of events, of the changes of time, or the operations of religion and philosophy, persists in the association, though the actions no longer accompany the terms-we are blind to the alterations of manners, and the differences of passions and interests, and retain those prejudices in a liberal age, which were justly formed in an age of persecution--but surely, seeing the fatal results from words, we ought to be particularly careful of their exact meaning, and when we remember the torments, the murders, the massacres to which a word

has given rise, should be cautious that we do not, by a misapplication of terms, encrease the misunderstandings between nation and nation, and man and man, and poison, by wrong association, the fraternal peace of the

universe.

The first great step to the cultivation of the understanding is to get a habit of study. I know that at first severe application is a painful thing, that, like the relish for olives and coffee, it is only acquired by perseve rance; but I say persevere, and you will acquire it--nothing is to be done without it; take your Livy, work yourself so into the lively events which he places before you, that you see his scenery, and become acquainted with his heroes; let your abstraction be such, that upon a sudden knock at your door you are startled and alarmed at the interruption, and for a second or two doubt whether you are in your own study with a classic in your hand, or upon the plains of Lombardy gazing at the hard and weather-beaten countenance of Hannibal. Read, if possible, so intensely, that the morning shall have passed away two hours before you imagined it was finished, and let many a night be given to enquiry and meditation. The trophies of Miltiades drive away sleep. Indifference is a great enemy to our progress. We have heard that light travels so many feet in a second of time, and that sound also travels a certain distance in the same period. Well, but you say 'I do not care how they travel, and I do not want to know-light is light, and sound sound--they both have their common operations upon me, and I wish to know nothing more about them'--but begin to enquire into their velocity and you will care; by degrees you will dread an interruption of the train of thought about them, and value time only as the means of extending your knowledge. But the great bar to improvement is what may be called a languid study; that indolent and remitted occupation which acquires nothing, and leaves us only disgusted by a fruitless effort. To profit by study we should determine to possess; for it is like a nettle, he who presses its surface lightly only stings his fingers; to grasp it firmly is the only way to escape its mischief, and to hold it safe.

A great deal has been said about the question, whether we should have stated hours of study, or commit ourselves to occasional application---he who can be

sure of his desire to apply at all times may trust himself to opportunities, but in general it is better to limit the irregular fancy of man. This may be a safe recommendation, Do as you please, so as you please to do right. The truth is that a little hard thinking will overcome the tendency of the mind to dissipation--by hard thinking I mean a determination to contine the fancy, and to this effect shake yourself, try to rivet your attention---it flies off---never mind, it will return--the images which perpetually float before it becoine less frequent, and you are finally absorbed in the object of your study. The mind of man is like a restive colt; all your effort is to keep it in the track from which it is constantly flying off.

A question has arisen among studious men, whether it is better to read with a pen in your hand, or trust to the recollection?---for y r my part, I own I do not think much has ever been done by this habit of writing out the striking passages of your author; in the first place, it is perfectly clear that the mind is too much einployed upon a particular part to seize with any ardour the spirit of the whole--in the next place, I have not found that the practice of writing leaves much impression on the memory; we admire a thing as we read it, but we copy without much intelligence; and, again, these extracts are seldom reviewed, and not readily applied. All that we know is that such an author has said a fine thing upon a particular subject, which we have copied out; our wit is in a common place book, locked up in a bureau, and could we get at it, would enable us to shine very brightly indeed--the worst part of this practice is that it leads us never to trust to memory, and ends with impoverishing our store, and impairing the faculty. Another question frequently discussed, is the preference of conversation or reading in the cultivation of the understanding; they have each their advantages and disadvantages. In consulting our book we find much that we do not want to be told, and grow tired with what appears to overlay the subject---again, doubts cross our minds, which are not anticipated by the author, and we desist with dissatisfaction from a useless enquiry. When we consult the living folio, on the contrary, we find at all events some answer given to our queries, and some opinions thrown out, which either silence our doubts, or correct our notions--it is true, in these conferences some.

warmth is frequently produced by differences of opinion, and obstinacy and vanity prevent our conviction and improvement, or the mind becomes soured as the understanding is satisfied--besides, men are apt to prose a good deal upon favourite notions, and we may wish to get rid of the subject, or the speaker, or both, without the power to do so---If an author grows dull our remedy is easy, we have only to dogs-ear our book, and toss it away---an act which it might not be so easy, or so safe, to attempt with our living annoyance.

In the course of my experience I have found very few good listeners; and this is not favourable to the cultivation of the understanding. In young men particularly, the self-sufficiency which can only be lowered by deep acquirements and much experience, is apt to fly out in rude and petulant contradiction. I have found one practice greatly contribute to the cure of this propensity, at all events it had that effect upon me when a young inan. I determined to allow the opinions of the two first persons I met with every day---nay more, not merely to admit them, but to indulge the complacency of the parties by taking them up, throwing upon them too every additional light which I was able, and by this means not merely check the spirit of contradiction, but gratify my friends, and exercise my own fancy. He who perseveres in this kindly course may rely upon his cure. But there is much that must be always left to experi ence----observation of mankind teaches the particular weight which belongs to rank and profession--a man measures himself against power and situation, and sees with what discount his opinions may be received.

But the great guide of study is, never to force the understanding to a pursuit to which your powers do not impel you. Always do the thing for which you are fitted, it is the only chance of doing it well, and remember that excellence alone is desirable in any thing---he who has a genius only for composing posies on rings and mottoes for twelfth cakes, if he does them well, let him continue to do them---for always remember that a good motto is a better thing than a bad Epic Poem. A good deal of injury is done to the advancement of knowledge, by the prejudice which men of study acquire against pursuits of a nature different from their own. The man of wit has an abhorrence of scientific labour and precision. The man of science looks upon the