valuable possession a person can have. If this is not your abiding conviction-if you think a fine appearance, or a well filled purse, or fashionable acquirements, after all, give their possessor as much influence in society, and as much happiness, true enjoyment, as mental acquisitions, it is in vain for you to wish to be anything in the world of letters, or even desire to reach a position in the society of those whose resources are within themselves; not that one is obliged to disregard entirely the appearances or requirements of wealth or fashion, but he must be so thoroughly imbued with a conviction of the greater worth of mental resources, that sacrifices made to attain them will not be valued or regretted. You must have such a value for the treasures of learning and science, that when the rich ride by you in their pomp and power, you may feel perfectly satisfied that you would not exchange the treasures you have within you for ten thousand chariots of gold-that when the elegant and admired brush by you with an air of indifference or scorn, you will remember with satisfaction, aye, gratitude and delight, that

the same time it took such an one to perform an elaborate toilet you have occupied in adorning your mind, and increasing intellectual beauties which will never fade away—that when you happen among fashionables, and find yourself cut out, or cut aloof by those who make fashion their idol, your attainments, instead of looking mean in your eyes, will appear tenfold more valuable, and you will look with pity upon those who debase reason, intellect, and time, to purposes so inadequate to the wants of their immortal nature.

I lay great stress upon this point, not because I think intellectual cultivation requires one to be deficient in any reasonable requirement of either wealth, fashion, or appearance; but because the meretricious glare and momentary attraction of these sometimes overpower the more unobtrusive yet permanent beauty and worth of the other. Strange would it be if those who spend strength, time, and money, in chasing and catching butterflies, could not show a variety in form, color, and brilliancy superior to those who look at butterflies only occasionally as they flit past, to admire,

and then forget them. Therefore, if you would be anything more than superficial, you must view these things in perfect independence, without a misgiving, or you will vacillate and change, and your mind will be diverted, and you will accomplish mere nothing.

But the second requisite is industry. In the ordinary walks of life every one has something to do, some positive duties to perform, either for his own support or for the care and support of others. Now, these cannot be neglected, and the only way to obtain time for self-culture is, in many cases, by extra industry; but especially in the improvement of leisure, after it is obtained, industry is an important requisite. Let every moment be occupied. It is said that Mdme. de Genlis used to carry a book in her pocket, and at every leisure moment would study it, even in the very few moments she waited dinner after going down; and the evidence of her industry is the voluminous diary she kept, besides publishing more volumes than any female of her age. How many mechanics, too, do we read of who have

'accomplished at the bench or wayside more than others at school or in their easy chairs at home. One hour lost per day amounts to a whole month in one year! sufficient time to master any language, almost any science. Take this ratio for ten years, and what an amount of knowledge might be garnered up! The habit of industry is, like any other habit, to be acquired. Cultivate, then, habitual industry, and it will finally become as necessary to your comfort, as you now think indolence is. I am acquainted with a very wealthy gentleman who made his fortune in a retail grocery store, and who acquired then such a habit of industry and activity, rising at daybreak and doing something all the time, that, although he is now advanced in years, and rich enough to make his children a present of forty thousand dollars at a time, yet he still rises at daybreak, stirs about, takes a long walk, reads the news or a book, and is ready for breakfast before lazy people have rubbed their eyes open-so on through the day and evening, and as he is now able to devote his time and efforts to the good of others, he is the

occasion of a great amount of happiness, seeking out the needy and distressed, constantly going or doing a habit which he could not acquire nowa course which he would not at his years be able to follow, had he not commenced in youth. Be industrious, then, and the habit will be valuable, as well as the product of your industry.

But the third requisite is method—without which industry will not be available. There is such a thing as being "busy about nothing," or to no purpose. Have, then, a plan for reading and study, both as to the time and books. Get some judicious, well informed friend to advise you what books are best adapted to the end you have in view. If you have no friend whom you would wish to consult, take the science in which you feel the most interested, or a course of history, or if you have a taste for languages, commence with the Latin. If you can have the assistance of a teacher, so much the better; if not, study the harder, and after you have mastered one of the above, a field of study will open to your view so fascinating and prolific, that you will naturally