XVI.-ADVICE TO A YOUNG LAWYER.

WHENE ER you speak, remember every cause
Stands not on eloquence, but stands on laws—
Pregnant in matter, in expression brief,

Let every sentence stand with bold relief;
On trifling points nor time nor talents waste,

A sad offense to learning and to taste;

Nor deal with pompous phrase, nor e'er suppose
Poetic flights belong to reasoning prose.

Loose declamation may deceive the crowd,
And seem more striking as it grows more loud;
But sober sense rejects it with disdain,
As nought but empty noise, and weak as vain.

The froth of words, the schoolboy's vain parade
Of books and cases-all his stock in trade-
The pert conceits, the cunning tricks and play
Of low attorneys, strung in long array,
The unseemly jest, the petulant reply,
That chatters on, and cares not how, or why,
Strictly avoid,-unworthy themes to scan,
They sink the speaker and disgrace the man,
Like the false lights, by flying shadows cast,
Scarce seen when present and forgot when past.

Begin with dignity; expound with grace
Each ground of reasoning in its time and place;
Let order reign throughout-each topic touch,
Nor urge its power too little, nor too much;
Give each strong thought its most attractive view,
In diction clear and yet severely true,
And as the arguments in splendor grow,
Let each reflect its light on all below;
When to the close arrived, make no delays
By petty flourishes, or verbal plays,

But sum the whole in one deep solemn strain,
Like a strong current hastening to the main.

-Judge Story.

XVII.-POETRY OF SCIENCE.

THE mystery of our being, and the mystery of our ceasing to be, acting upon intelligences that are forever striving to comprehend the enigma of themselves, lead by a natural process to a love for the ideal. The discovery of those truths which advance the human mind towards that point of knowledge to which all its secret longings tend, should excite a higher feeling than any mere creation of the fancy, how beautiful soever it may be.

The phenomena of reality are more startling than the phantoms of the ideal. Truth is stranger than fiction. Surely, many of the discoveries of science which relate to the combinations of matter, and exhibit results which we could not by any previous efforts of reasoning dare to reckon on, results which show the admirable balance of the forces of nature, and the might of their uncontrolled power, exhibit to our senses subjects for contemplation truly poetic in their character.

We tremble when the thunder-cloud bursts in fury above our heads. The poet seizes on the terrors of the storm to add to the interest of his verse. Fancy paints a stormking, and the genius of romance clothes his demons in lightnings, and they are heralded by thunders. These wild imaginings have been the delight of mankind; there is subject for wonder in them; but is there any thing less wonderful in the well-authenticated fact that the dew-drop which glistens on the flower, or that the tear which trembles on the eye-lid, holds, locked in its transparent cells, an amount of electric fire equal to that which is discharged during a storm from a thunder-cloud?

In these studies of the effects which are continually presenting themselves to the observing eye, and of the phenomena of causes, as far as they are revealed by science in its search of the physical earth, it will be shown that beneath the beautiful vesture of the external world there

exists, like its quickening soul, a pervading power, assuming the most varied aspects, giving to the whole its life and loveliness, and linking every portion of this material mass in a common bond with some great universal principle beyond our knowledge.

Whether, by the improvement of the powers of the human mind, man will ever be enabled to embrace within his knowledge the laws which regulate these remote principles, we are not sufficiently advanced in intelligence to determine. But if admitted even to a clear perception of the theoretical power which we regard as regulating the known forces, we must still see an unknown agency beyond us, which can only be referred to the Creator's will.

- Robert Hunt.

XVIII. THIS, Too, WILL PASS AWAY.

"GIVE me a motto," said a youth,

To one whom years had rendered wise,
"Some pleasant thought or weighty truth,
That briefest syllables comprise,

Some word of warning or of cheer
To grave upon my signet here;
And, reverend father," said the boy,
"Since life, they say, is ever made

A mingled web of grief and joy,

Since cares will come, and pleasures fade,
Pray let the motto have a range
Of meaning fitting every change."
"Sooth," said the sire, "methinks you ask
A motto somewhat overnice,

That well a finer brain might task;

What think you, lad, of this device,
Older than I, though I am gray,—
'Tis simply: This will pass away.

When wafted on by fortune's breeze,

In endless peace we seem to glide,
Prepare, by time, for rougher seas;
Though smiling joy be thine to-day,
Remember this will pass away.
When all the sky is draped in black,
And beaten by tempestuous gales,
Thy struggling bark seems all a rack,
Then trim again thy tattered sails.
Thus, O my son, be not too proud,

Nor yet cast down; judge thou aright:
When skies are clear expect the cloud;
In darkness wait for coming light;
Whate'er thy fate may be to-day,
Remember: this, too, will pass away."

-John G. Saxe.

XIX.-DOING NOTHING.

MANY young persons are growing up with the idea that industry, especially manual industry, is not quite respectable. There is no modern notion that more completely cuts at the root of wholesome sentiment and of national or individual prosperity than this. Whether idleness takes the form of street lounging and gossip, that begets more active vices, or of the dreamy sentimentalism that fritters away life in vague fancies, or the busy idleness that occupies itself in a hundred ways to avoid the steady, energetic pursuit of regular duty, it is equally culpable in its character and pernicious in its effects. To some degree, circumstances may tend to produce this evil.

Some climates and some seasons of the year induce lassitude; some constitutions have less energy and power of will than others; and many diseases deprive the body of its strength and the mind of its elasticity. Even in these cases, the complete surrender to such influences is the surest method of increasing their power, while a steady resistance will gradually weaken, and often remove, much of the

cause. In by far the larger number of instances, the vice of idleness results from the indulgence of luxurious habits, which break down the native energy of the character. The person who regards monetary gratification as the chief good, will soon lose the vigor and enterprise necessary to undertake, and the perseverance to carry through, any scheme requiring industry and self-command. Some, from a paucity of ideas, lack enterprise and become torpid, being unable to see the utility of proper undertakings; while others, overwhelmed with a vast conception of what is to be done, sit down in the inaction of despair. Others there are who begin with earnestness and hope, but, lacking perseverance, are intimidated by the first difficulty, and accomplish nothing because they have not the courage to face obstacles.

The want of method and habit in early life is largely answerable for this evil. Those accustomed in youth to regular and industrious employment will seldom lose such habits in after life; while those who have been suffered to pass a desultory childhood will require an extra fortitude of character to become persevering, energetic, and industrious in after life. A resolution of character, a firmness of principle, which seeks to do what is right, rather than that which is temporarily agreeable, is the great safeguard against this dangerous evil. Impulsive exertions may produce magnificent deeds; but without a methodical and steady resolution, without system and habit, and strength of will, but little that is permanently useful will ever be accomplished. Our natures are so constructed that it is only in the cultivation and improvement of all our faculties that we can properly enjoy any of them.

The listless lethargy shown by many young people is productive of many evils. To the body it is a predisposing cause of many forms of disease; the want of healthy excitement and occupation leads, too often, to intemperance in eating and drinking, "to pass away the time;" and this,