just what he will be when all circumstances shall have passed away, and immutability shall surround him. REV. HUGH STOWELL. XVI.- LANGSYNE. LANGSYNE!-how doth the word come back From which hope's dreams were loth to part! No joy like by-past joy appears; For what is gone we fret and pine. Langsyne! the days of childhood warm, Langsyne!--yes, in the sound I hear With spectres from Langsyne! Langsyne!-ah, where are they who shared And some have bowed beneath the scythe Of death; while others scattered far O'er foreign lands at fate repine, Langsyne!—the heart can never be Langsyne!-the eyes no more shall see, To thee, loved, lost Langsyne! D. M. MOIR. XVII.-PETTY TYRANNY. PETTY tyranny is too common among men. The tendency of the strong is to oppress the weak, of those in authority to abuse their sacred trust. There is no more lovely sight than to behold the extension of kindness to those who occupy an inferior and dependent position: to see the ruler endeavoring to conciliate his people by deeds of magnanimity; to note the parent leading his child in the ways of virtue, by the cords of affection: above all, to witness a gentle, considerate usage of those creatures whom God has deprived of the power of expressing their wants, and uttering their complaints. Oh! if I wanted evidence to show where humanity sits highest enthroned, I should select it in his case who, in every way, avoids harshness towards those whom the Creator has deprived of reasonI should seek it with him who wishes not to harm the reptile beneath his feet. How unamiably is petty tyranny exhibited in the treatment of dumb creatures! The meek, submissive animal, that bears its burden day after day, and toils its life away to enrich its owner, cannot speak its wrongs, but only plead with eyes and feeble gait. And yet how often and how uselessly is the lash applied, how often does the flesh quiver, as the poor beast is goaded to madness! If there is any evil against which the voice of nature cries, it is this. Nothing betrays a more tyran'nical temper, nothing is more indicative of an unchristian heart. How does the voice on Horeb rebuke such unkindness! Mark how gently God deals with every creature. The most insignificant atom of animation receives his constant care. He allows the enjoyment of perfect liberty to each bright-winged insect, and shields it from every harm. Protecting the cattle upon a thousand hillswhich are his clothing and feeding them, permitting them to range unmolested their native wilds;-and by the whisper to the prophet referring to his mercy in all its diversified forms-he teaches us that no man, without incurring his displeasure-the displeasure of Jehovah!-can treat cruelly his defenceless beast. Whatever our position in life, let us endeavor to speak and act kindly to those whom Providence has placed in situations subordinate to our own. Let us remember that, perhaps, we ourselves are susceptible of the wound we could inflict upon another. In all relations of life-to the subject, to the child under parental supervision, or the insect which that child has the power to torture,-a regardful, tender, considerate treatment should ever be extended. If, in a fickle moment, tempted to play the tyrant, let us pauselet us listen with Elijah on the solemn mount-" he folded his mantle about him as God passed by!" With this good man, who, through trouble, had fallen into a state of irritability—with him let us hear the awful Jehovah approaching, not in wrath and vengeance appropriate to the dread insignia of his announcement, but-O! Father of love! -even like the peaceful wind stealing from the vale below in an °undulation of mercy-" a still small voice:" "It spoke of peace, it spoke of love, For oh! it was a father's voice, That bade the trembling world rejoice." REV. EDWARD 0. FLAGG. XVIII. THE CRIMINAL. THE dungeon walls were dark and high, No sunlight of the blessed sky In all the melancholy weeks The prisoner chained had lain, No breath of heaven had kissed his cheeks, Or cooled his fevered brain. For him-awake-asleep-there came His mother heard his final doom, With shrieks that thrilled through all "Take it for granted, that there is no excellence without great labor. No mere aspirations for eminence, however ardent, will do the business. Wishing, and sighing, and imagining, and dreaming of greatness, will never make you great. If you would get to the mountain's top, on which the temple of fame stands, it will not do to stand still, looking and admiring, and wishing you were there. You must gird up your loins, and go to work with all the indomitable energy of Hannibal scaling the Alps. We cannot all be °FRANKLINS, it is true; but, by imitating his mental habits and unwearied industry, we may reach an eminence we should never otherwise attain. Nor would he have been the Franklin he was, if he had permitted himself to be discouraged by the reflection that we cannot all be "Newtons. It is our business to make the most of our own talents and opportunities; and, instead of discouraging ourselves by comparisons and impossibilities, to believe all things possible, as, indeed, almost all things are to a spirit bravely and firmly resolved. Franklin was a fine model of a practical man, as contradistinguished from a visionary theorist, as men of genius are very apt to be. He was great in the greatest of all good qualities—sound, strong common sense. A mere bookworm is a miserable driveler; and a mere genius a thing of gossamer, fit only for the winds to sport with. Direct your intellectual efforts principally to the cultivation of the strong, masculíne qualities of the mind. Learn to think-think deeply, comprehensively, powerfully; and learn the simple nervous language which is appropriate to that kind of thinking. Brace yourself up to those great efforts. Strike for this giant character of mind, and leave prettiness and frivolity to triflers. It is perfectly consistent with these herculean habits of thinking to be a laborious student, and to know all that books can teach. You must never be satisfied with the surface of things; probe them to the bottom, and let nothing go till you understand it as thoroughly as your powers will enable you. Franklin's habits of constant and deep 'excogitation clung to him till his latest hour. Form these habits now. Look at Brougham, and see what a man can do if well armed and well resolved. With a load of professional duties that would, of themselves, have been appalling to most other men, he stood, nevertheless, at the head of his party in the House of Commons, and, at the same time, set in motion and superintended various primary schools and various periodical works, the most instructive and useful that have ever issued from the British press, for which he furnished, with his own pen, some of the most masterly contributions, and yet found time, not only to keep pace with the progress of the arts and sciences, but to keep at the head of those whose peculiar and exclusive occupations, these arts and sciences were. There is a model of industry and usefulness worthy of your emulation." WILLIAM Wirt. all |