And past events, and past objects, get more shadowy, not as they are more remote, as is the case with views in space, but as they are nearer to the present time. The man of fourscore may forget that he was a man threescore and ten: but he never forgets that he was a boy; and one of the reasons why very old people are so fond of the society of children is, that the recollections of age, and even manhood, are comparatively faint on their memories, and they actually remember, and think, and enjoy themselves as children, after they cease to find pleasure as men.

DEVOURING BOOKS.

It is recorded of Madame de Stael Holstein, that before she was fifteen years of age, she had "devoured” six hundred novels in three months; so that she must have read more than six a day, upon an average. Louis XVI., during the five months and seven days of his imprisonment, immediately preceding his death, read one hundred and fifty-seven volumes, or one a day.

If this species of gluttony is pardonable in circumstances like those of Louis, it is less so in a young lady of fourteen or fifteen. No one can have time for reflec

tion, who reads at this rapid rate. And whatever may be thought, these devourers of books are guilty of abusing nature, to an extent as much greater than those who overcharge their stomachs, as the intellectual powers are higher than the animal propensities.

If we find but few cases of mental gluttony equal to that of M. de Stael, there are many which fall but little short of it. Thousands of young people spend their time in perpetual reading, or rather in devouring books. It is true, the food is light; but it occupies the mental faculties, for the time, in fruitless efforts, and operates to exclude food of a better quality.

I should be among the last to engage in an indiscriminate warfare against reading; but when I see the rapid increase of books in our market, and their general character; and consider, that the condition of the market indicates the character and strength of the demand; when to this is added the conviction forced upon me, by facts

within the range of daily observation, I cannot resist the conclusion, that it strongly behooves those who are friendly to mental as well as physical temperance, to sound an appropriate alarm.

Perpetual reading inevitably operates to exclude thought, and in the youthful mind to stint the opening mental faculties, by favoring unequal development. It is apt either to exclude social enjoyment, or render the conversation frivolous and unimportant; for to make any useful reflections, while the mind is on the gallop, is nearly out of the question; and if no useful reflections are made during the hours of reading, they cannot of course be retailed in the social circle. Besides, it leads to a neglect of domestic and other labor. The law, that "man shall eat bread in the sweat of his brow," is not to be violated by half or three-fourths of the human race with impunity. It is a UNIVERSAL LAW; and that individual, let the sex, rank, or station be what it may, who transgresses, must suffer the penalty-not mere poverty, but a loss of actual enjoyment, if not of health. Even if we do not intrude upon the hours sacred to repose, sleep becomes disturbed, unsound and unsatisfying. Food loses its relish, life its zest, and instead of seeing the fair and goodly Eden we read and dream of, the world becomes less and less interesting, and we actually begin to complain of our Creator, while the fault is in ourselves.

Such, are some of the results of a perpetual devouring of books; but it would require a volume to state them all in detail, so as to show the full extent of the evil.

I am fully aware that the error in question favors bookmakers and booksellers; for "it is an ill wind that blows nobody good;" but this should not prevent our protesting against it. And while I disclaim all fellowship with those who derive no pleasure in the contemplation of the future, but place the golden era among past ages, I do not hesitate to say, that our ancestors, at periods not very remote, were more truly wise than the children of this generation. If they read fewer novels and light periodicals, they meditated more on what they read. If they had fewer books in the community, they had more of what Locke calls, sound, round-about sense. If they devoured less, they digested more. It has been said of Dr. Johnson, that

giant in real literature, that he never read a book through, except the Bible.

How would our mental gormandizers scour the idea, suggested by one who passes for wise, that we should always read with a pen in our hand! How would Madame de Stael have smiled, at being told that she would probably derive more benefit from reading half a dozen pages in a day, than the same number of volumes!

But we may anticipate a better future. This book-mania is destined to pass away. There is there must bein a world which has been for thousands of years improving, too much good sense long to tolerate it. Let the present race of youth, of both sexes, continue to devour greedily every catch-penny publication that issues from the teeming press. But let them remember, that they are unconsciously hastening themselves from life's scenes, to give place to other, and we hope, more rational actors— those who will remember that neither their mental nor physical natures can be sustained by mere gormandizing, and that digestion is no less important than mastication.

THE HILL OF SCIENCE.

In that season of the year, when the serenity of the sky, the various fruits which cover the ground, the discolored foliage of the trees, and all the sweet, but fading graces of inspiring autumn, open the mind to benevolence, and dispose it for contemplation, I was wandering in a beautiful and romantic country, till curiosity began to give way to wearinesss; and I sat me down on the fragment of a rock, overgrown with moss, where the rustling of the falling leaves, the dashing of waters, and the hum of the distant city, soothed my mind into the most perfect tranquillity, and sleep insensibly stole upon me, as I was indulging the agreeable reveries which the objects around me naturally inspired.

I immediately found myself in a vast extended plain, in the middle of which arose a mountain higher than I had before any conception of. It was covered with a multitude of people, chiefly youth; many of whom pressed forwards with the liveliest expressions of ardor in their coun

tenance, though the way was in many places steep and difficult. I observed that those who had but just begun to climb the hill thought themselves not far from the top; but as they proceeded, new hills were continually rising to their view, and the summit of the highest they could before discern, seemed but the foot of another, till the mountain at length appeared to lose itself in the clouds. As I was gazing on these things with astonishment, my good genius suddenly appeared: The mountain before thee, said he, is the Hill of Science. On the top is the Temple of Truth, whose head is above the clouds, and a veil of pure light covers her face. Observe the progress of her votaries; be silent and attentive.

I saw that the only regular approach to the mountain was by a gate, called the Gate of Languages. It was kept by a woman of pensive and thoughtful appearance, whose lips were continually moving, as though she repeated something to herself. Her name was Memory. On entering this first enclosure, I was stunned with a confused murmur of jarring voices and dissonant sounds; which increased upon me to such a degree, that I was utterly confounded, and could compare the noise to nothing but the confusion of tongues at Babel.

After contemplating these things, I turned my eyes towards the top of the mountain, where the air was always pure and exhilarating, the path shaded with laurels and other evergreens, and the effulgence which beamed from the face of the goddess seemed to shed a glory round her votaries. Happy, said I, are they who are permitted to ascend the mountain!-but while I was pronouncing this exclamation with uncommon ardor, I saw standing beside me a form of diviner features and more benign radiance. Happier, said she, are those whom Virtue conducts to the mansions of Content! What, said I, does Virtue then reside in the vale? I am found, said she, in the vale, and I illuminate the mountain: I cheer the cottager at his toil, and inspire the sage at his meditation. I mingle in the crowd of cities, and bless the hermit in his cell. I have a temple in every heart that owns my influence; and to him that wishes for me I am already present. Science may raise you to eminence, but I alone can guide to felicity! While the goddess was thus speaking, I stretched out my arms towards her with a vehemence which broke my

slumbers. The chill dews were falling around me, and the shades of evening stretched over the landscape. I hastened homeward, and resigned the night to silence and meditation.

VALUE OF CLASSICAL LEARNING.

THE study of the ancient classics is a subject, as we must believe, of no small importance to those who are fond of letters, and interested in the advancement of national education. We take the present opportunity to offer a few remarks concerning it; and in the outset we ask, does classical learning deserve special encouragement, as a branch of instruction in this country? This question we answer without hesitation, in the affirmative, and proceed to give our reasons and express our opinions. Supposing the merits of the question to be known and allowed, so far as the classics are considered of importance in securing an early discipline of the mind, or esteemed as models of style, we shall pass rapidly over these topics on this occasion, and endeavor to show, that there are particular reasons why the study of them ought to be promoted among us. We are not disposed to attribute benefits to the pursuits of the learned, which are not a consequence of them; nor to magnify the advantages, which they unquestionably confer. Be it, therefore, freely conceded, that in some things they have no very direct practical utility, that they do little towards promoting commerce or manufactures, and that they contribute less towards increasing the national population, revenues, or territory.

While we disclaim any intention to ascribe to classic studies practical benefits which they do not confer, or to exaggerate the good effects, which they are certainly calculated to produce, we may without fear of contradiction assert, that an acquaintance with them, and the discipline of the mind resulting from the exertions which are necessary to gain that acquaintance, sharpen and invigorate the faculties, and thus form an excellent preparation for any active employment whatever. It will also be acknowledged, that these studies furnish an elegant and suitable occupation for men who have retired from the busy scenes of action; and that they form a pleasing relief in the cha