themselves by the love of knowledge,

who follow with ardor

the career, that is open to them, we are apt to form the most honorable pres ́ages. It is the character which is natural to youth, and which, therefore, promises well of their maturity. We foresee for them, at least, a life of pure and virtuous enjoyment, and we are willing to anticipate no common share of future usefulness and splendor.

In the second place, the pursuits of knowledge lead not only to happiness, but to honor. "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left are riches and honor." It is honorable to excel, even in the most trifling species of knowledge, in those which can amuse only the passing hour. It is more honorable to excel in those different branches of science, which are connected with the liberal professions of life, and which tend so much to the dignity and well-being of humanity. It is the means of raising the most obscure to esteem and attention; it opens to the just ambition of youth, some of the most distinguished and respected situations in society; and it places them there, with the consoling reflection, that it is to their own industry and labor, in the providence of God, that they are alone indebted for them. But to excel in the higher attainments of knowledge, -to be distinguished in those greater pursuits, which have commanded the attention and exhausted the abilities of the wise in every former age, — is, perhaps, of all the distinctions of human understanding, the most honorable and grateful.

When we look back upon the great men, who have gone before us in every path of glory, we feel our eye turn from the career of war and ambition, and involuntarily rest upon those, who have displayed the great truths of religion, who nave investigated the laws of social welfare, or extended the sphere of human knowledge. These are honors, we feel, which have been gained without a crime, and which can be enjoyed without remorse. They are honors, also, which can

never die, — which can shed lustre even upon the humblest head, and to which the young of every succeeding age will look up, as their brightest incentives to the pursuit of virtuous fame.

LESSON XXI.

On the Uses of Knowledge. - ALISON.

THE first end to which all wisdom or knowledge ought to be employed, is to illustrate the wisdom or goodness of the Father of Nature. Every science, that is cultivated by men, leads naturally to religious thought, from the study of the plant that grows beneath our feet, to that of the host of Heaven above us, who perform their stated revolutions in majestic silence, amid the expanse of infinity. When, in the youth of Moses, "the Lord appeared to him in Horeb," a voice was heard, saying, “Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place where thou standest is holy ground." It is with such a reverential awe, that every great or elevated mind will approach to the study of nature, and with such feelings of adoration and gratitude, that he will receive the illumination that gradually opens upon his soul.

It is not the lifeless mass of matter, he will then feel, that he is examining, it is the mighty machine of Eternal Wisdom : the workmanship of Him, "in whom every thing lives, and moves, and has its being." Under an aspect of this kind, it is impossible to pursue knowledge without mingling with it the most elevated sentiments of devotion; it is impossible to perceive the laws of nature without perceiving, at the same time, the presence and the providence of the Lawgiver :and thus it is, that, in every age, the evidences of religion have advanced with the progress of true philosophy, and

that science, in erecting a monument to herself, has, at the same time, erected an altar to the Deity.

There are

The knowledge of nature is not exhausted. many great discoveries yet awaiting the labors of science; and with them, there are also awaiting to humanity many additional proofs of the wisdom and benevolence "of Him that made us." To the hope of these great discoveries, few, indeed, can pretend; yet, let it ever be remembered, that he who can trace any one new fact, or can exemplify any one new instance of divine wisdom or benevolence in the system of nature, has not lived in vain; that he has added to the sum of human knowledge; and, what is far more, that he has added to the evidence of those greater truths, upon which the happiness of time and eternity depends.

The second great end to which all knowledge ought to be employed, is to the welfare of humanity. Every science is the foundation of some art, beneficial to men; and, while the study of it leads us to see the beneficence of the laws of nature, it calls upon us also to follow the great end of the Father of Nature in their employment and application. I need not say what a field is thus opened to the benevolence of knowledge; I need not tell you, that, in every department of learning, there is good to be done to mankind; I need not remind you, that the age in which we live has given us the noblest examples of this kind, and that science now finds its highest glory in improving the condition, or in allaying the miseries of humanity. But there is one thing of which it is proper ever to remind you, because the modesty of knowledge often leads us to forget it,—and that is, that the power of scientific benevolence is far greater than that of all others, to the welfare of society.

The benevolence of the great, or the opulent, however eminent it may be, perishes with themselves. The benevolence even of sovereigns is limited to the narrow boundary of human life; and, not unfrequently, is succeeded by differ

ent and discordant counsels. But the benevolence of knowledge is of a kind as extensive as the race of man, and as permanent as the existence of society. He, in whatever

situation he may be, who, in the study of science, has discovered a new means of alleviating pain, or of remedying disease; who has described a wiser method of preventing poverty, or of shielding misfortune; who has suggested additional means of increasing or improving the beneficent productions of nature, has left a memorial of himself which can never be forgotten; which will communicate happiness to ages yet unborn; and which, in the emphatic language of scripture, renders him a "fellow-worker" with God himself, in the improvement of his creation.

The third great end of all knowledge is the improvement and exaltation of our own minds. It was the voice of the apostle, "What manner of men ought ye to be, to whom the truths of the Gospel have come?" It is the voice of nature, also, "What manner of men ought ye to be, to whom the treasures of wisdom are opened?" Of all the spectacles, indeed, which life can offer us, there is none more painful, or unnatural, than that of the union of vice with knowledge. It counteracts the great designs of God in the distribution of wisdom; and it assimilates men, not to the usual characters of human frailty, but to those dark and malignant spirits, who fell from heaven, and who excel in knowledge, only that they may employ it in malevolence.

To the wise and virtuous man, on the contrary, to him, whose moral attainments have kept pace with his intellectual, and who has employed the great talent, with which he is intrusted, to the glory of God, and to the good of humanity, are presented the sublimest prospects that mortality can know. "In my Father's house," says our Saviour, "are many mansions ;' - mansions, we may dare to interpret, fitted to the different powers that life has acquired, and to the uses to which they have been applied.

Of that great scene, indeed, which awaits all, whether ignorant or wise, it becomes us to think with reverential awe. Yet we know" that it will then be well with the good, though it will not be well with the wicked;" and we are led, by an instinctive anticipation, to suppose that they who here have excelled in wisdom and benevolence, will be rewarded with higher objects, upon which they may be employed, and admitted into nearer prospects of the government of Eternal Wisdom. In his light they shall see light." "They shall see Him, not as through a glass, darkly, but as he is. They shall know, even as they themselves are known."

LESSON XXII.

No Life pleasing to God, that is not useful to Man: — An Eastern Narrative. HAWKESWORTH.

Ir pleased our mighty sovereign, Abbas Carascan, from whom the kings of the earth derive honor and dominion, to set Mirza, his servant, over the province of Tauris. In the hand of Mirza, the balance of distribution was suspended with impartiality; and under his administration the weak were protected, the learned received honor, and the diligent became rich; Mirza, therefore, was beheld by every eye with complacency, and every tongue pronounced blessings upon his head. But it was observed that he derived no joy from the benefits, which he diffused; he became pensive and melancholy; he spent his leisure in solitude; in his palace he sat motionless upon a sofa; and when he went out, his walk was slow, and his eyes were fixed upon the ground: he applied to the business of state with reluctance, and resolved to relinquish the foil of government, of which he could no longer enjoy the reward.

He therefore obtained permission to approach the throne of our sovereign; and, being asked what was his request, he