ultory, non-digesting reader, the man of indices and abridgments, is unable to bear in his mind a multiplicity of, to him, unconnected cases; and could he recollect them, would be unable to make use of them if he failed to find one exactly suited to his purpose."

10. Endeavour to find opportunities to use your knowledge, and to apply it in practice. They proceed right well in all knowledge," says Bacon, "which do couple study with their practice, and do not first study altogether, and then practice altogether."

11. Strive, by frequent reviews, to keep your knowledge always at command. "What booteth," says an old writer, "to read much, which is a weariness to the flesh; to meditate often, which is a burden to the mind; to learn daily, with increase of knowledge, when he is to seek for what he hath learned, and perhaps, then, especially when he hath most need thereof? Without this, our studies are but lost labour." "One of the profoundest and most versatile scholars in England," says Mr. Warren, in his Law Studies, "has a prodigious memory, which the author once told him was a magazine stored with wealth from every department of knowledge. 'I am not surprised at it,' he added, 'nor would you be, or any one that knew the pains I have taken in selecting and depositing what you call my "wealth." I take care always to ascertain the value of what I look at, and if satisfied on that score, I most carefully stow it away. I pay, besides, frequent visits to my "magazine," and keep an inventory of at least everything important, which I frequently compare with my stores. It is, however, the systematic disposition and arrangement I adopt, which lightens the labours of memory. I was by no means remarkable for memory when young; on the contrary, I was considered rather defective on that score.""

12. Dare to be ignorant of many things. "In a celebrated satire (the Pursuits of Literature), much read in my youth," says De Quincy, "and which I myself read about twenty-five

years ago, I remember one counsel there addressed to young men, but, in fact, of universal application. 'I call upon them,' said the author, 'to dare to be ignorant of many things;' a wise counsel, and justly expressed; for it requires much courage to forsake popular paths of knowledge, merely upon a conviction that they are not favourable to the ultimate ends of knowledge. In you, however, that sort of courage may be presumed; but how will you 'dare to be ignorant' of many things, in opposition to the cravings of your own mind? Simply thus: destroy these false cravings by introducing a healthier state of the organ. A good scheme of study will soon show itself to be such by this one test, that it will exclude as powerfully as it will appropriate; it will be a system of repulsion no less than of attraction; once thoroughly possessed and occupied by the deep and genial pleasures of one truly intellectual pursuit, you will be easy and indifferent to all others that had previously teased you with transient excitement."

To show that these counsels are neither novel nor frivolous, the author has enforced each one of them by the authority of some honoured name.

The courses will be arranged as follows:

I. A GENERAL COURSE.

II. PARTICULAR COURSES, viz.,

1. History. 2. Speculative Philosophy. 3. Political Philosophy. 4. Poetry, Belles-Lettres, and Oratory. 5. Mathematical and Physical Science. 6. Chemistry and Natural History. 7. Theological Studies. 8. Legal Studies. 9. Medical Studies.

I. A GENERAL COURSE OF READING.

Letters, "the sciences, and philosophy, are all conducive to any profession whatsoever. I take a taste of all, that I be not ignorant of any; and the rather that, having tasted of all, I may the better choose that I am fittest for."-ERASMUS.

THIS course is designed especially for those who are engaged in academical and professional study, or in active pursuits. It is intended to occupy the intervals of regular occupation for the space of four or six years,* and, with some modifications, will be found adapted to the wants of under-graduates, students of law, medicine, &c., &c., and also to those of clerks, apprentices, and other persons not well acquainted with books.

It is supposed that the first and great object of such a course should be to develop and cultivate a healthy taste for books, and to form good mental habits. Hence, but a small number are set down under each head; and these are selected rather with reference to the awakening of intellectual activity, and the formation of studious habits and correct tastes, than to the amount or completeness of the knowledge which they impart.

As to the order in which these books should be read, much must be left to the discretion of the student. It is not intended, of course, that all the books under each head should be perused, in the order set down, before passing to the next. As a general rule, it may be well to have more than one work on hand at the same time; one for very short intervals of leisure, mere fragments of time; one for seasons, more protracted, of serious application; and a third, perhaps, calling for less intellectual effort, but putting in requisition a different set of faculties, and to be taken up occasionally. Or it may

* The number of books which can be read profitably during this period will depend, of course, on the amount of leisure enjoyed, the nature of the books, and the habits and capacity of the reader.

be still better, having finished the perusal of a work in one department, to pass to something kindred in another department. Advantageous transitions may be made, for instance, from Biography to History, and from History to Voyages and Travels, or from either to Polite Literature and Science.

The subjects are arranged with special reference to the case of those who have not yet acquired a taste for reading.

I. BIOGRAPHY.-Works of this kind are especially useful to the young, and those not accustomed to read, because they come home to our sympathies, to "the business and bosoms of men," thus inspiring interest and quickening curiosity. They also furnish the readiest means of exciting an enthusi asm for different pursuits and studies. The higher object of making us acquainted with remarkable individuals, and through them with human nature, and with the times in which the individuals lived, must be kept steadily in view, but the objects first named are most urgent and important at the outset. It is with special reference to them that the following books are recommended:

1. If it be our object to inspire a reverence for Christianity and interest in its duties, the Life of Schwartz, of William Wilberforce, of John Howard, of Harlan Page, of Hannah More, of Bishop Heber, of Richard Baxter, of Henry Martyn, and the collection of lives by Bishop Burnett and Izaak Walton, will be found adapted to this purpose.

2. If we wish to excite and cultivate a taste for letters and to form a scholar to right views and habits, Teignmouth's Life of Sir William Jones, Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson, Wakefield's Memoirs of his own Life, Prior's Life of Goldsmith, or Washington Irving's sketch of the same, Prior's Life of Burke, Life of Sir James Mackintosh, Roscoe's Lorenzo di Medici, Lockhart's Life of Scott, may be read with great advantage.

3. If a taste for scientific knowledge and inquiry is to be awakened, Sir David Brewster's Life of Newton and h tyrs of Science, the Life of Sir H. Davy by his brot

Life of Baron Cuvier, Arago's Eloge on James Watt, Colden's Life of Fulton, &c., would be adapted to the purpose.

4. If our object is to acquire right views and principles in regard to political life, we should use the Life of Washington by Sparks or Marshall, Jay's Life by his son, Sparks's Life of Franklin, Memoirs of the Duke of Sully, Life of Cecil (Lord Burleigh), British Statesmen by Mackintosh, do. by Lord Brougham, &c., &c. If the reader is destined for a military or naval career, he should read the Life of Washington, Sketches of the American Generals of the Revolutionary War in Sparks's American Biography, Memoirs of Napoleon, Southey's Life of Nelson, and the Public and Private Correspondence of Vice-admiral Collingwood, with Memoirs of his Life. In some of these works, the reader should guard carefully against the pernicious effect of brilliant exploits in blinding the author to the moral turpitude of his hero. Southey's Life of Nelson is an instance in which a very pure and entertaining writer has not escaped this seductive influence. If the reader is looking forward to the medical profession, let him read the Life of Boerhaave, the Memoirs of Dr. John Mason Good by Olinthus Gregory, the Life of Dr. Samuel Bard by Rev. J. M'Vickar, D.D., &c., &c. If he is to enter the legal profession, the Life of Lord Hale, Memoirs of Sir Samuel Romily, Wheaton's Life of William Pinkney, Wirt's Memoirs of Patrick Henry, and the Life of Alexander Hamilton by his son, &c., &c. These works are selected in some instances more with reference to the formation of right principle in the reader than to the eminence of the person commemorated.

5. If we propose to acquire general views of remarkable men at different periods as a preparation for the study of History, Plutarch's Lives, Sketches of Eminent Men in the British Library of Entertaining Knowledge, Cunningham's Lives of the Painters, and other similar works, should be read. II. HISTORY.-This records the biography of nations and the great movements and revolutions of humanity. At first,