religious; whose tastes they may acquire-whose pleasures they may share. We urge them to converse, in books, with the sages of other days; to cultivate a taste for reading and study, and to know the refined delight of literary occupations. Still more, we urge them to study the recorded will of God, and learn what is the exalted happiness of a religious youth. We point out to them in these hints, sources of gratification to which they can apply again and again, and neither exhaust them nor weary themselves; but let them, as they value their peace of mind and final welfare, turn a deaf ear to such as would persuade them, that the society of the indolent, the trifling, the ignorant, and the depraved, offers a single rational inducement to join them; or that levity, and disobedience, and guilt, can procure them one pleasure, which they will not purchase at too dear a rate, whatever may be the price they pay for it.

It is a strong recommendation of the diligence and sober thought which we are recommending to the youthful, that they prepare them for entering upon life, with a determinate object and in a wise course. The culture of their mental and moral powers, pursued at leisure and according to a judicious plan, will prove far more beneficial to them than they are perhaps disposed to imagine. Their correct. knowledge will become highly useful both to themselves and others to themselves it will render more easy and successful the application of their industry, in any direction in which circumstances may lead them to employ it-to others, it will enable them to show frequent kindness in the form of advice, information, or other assistance which ignorance,

however kindly disposed, can seldom attempt with success. And who can estimate the benefits which result from an early and calm contemplation of life, its varieties and its duties, and the formation of moral habits. He who thus prepares himself for the engagements of active life, for the warfare which he must carry on with the powers of the world, for the discipline to which Heaven is pleased to subject us-enters upon these engagements, this warfare, and this discipline, with the advantage of years which he has not numbered; young in life, he has attained in some degree to the maturity of wisdom, and all that his best friends hope for him, and from him, is likely to be realized, as he continues to tread the path of duty, and to recede still farther from the days of his youth.

Inspect the conduct of the man who prepared not in his youth for the days that were to come, by whom early culture was neglected, and judicious plans were unformed; you will perceive with what an unsteady aim and wavering purpose he proceeds. And how can it be otherwise? He is endeavouring to form principles of conduct, when he ought to be acting upon them; and he is subject to this disadvantage, that he is too busily occupied with the affairs of the world to use that caution, deliberation, and reflection, which are absolutely necessary to the forming just and sound principles. He is swayed to the right hand or to the left, by any impulse which acts upon him, because he has not learnt to suppress the feelings whose dictates ought not to be listened to, nor taught his passions to yield without a murmur to the authority of reason and duty.-He has

a grand object before him—that of preparing himself by the discipline of time for the freedom, the glory, and bliss of eternity; but he has never seriously weighed it, nor determined in what manner it shall be most surely secured. To whom shall we liken him? He resembles the traveller-and he must be, indeed, a thoughtless one-who sets forward on his journey, without arranging his course or manner of proceeding. Such an one, having scarcely a definite object, is induced by the merest trifle to loiter away his time, and allured by the slightest temptation to deviate from his path. Here, a valley catches his eye, and he is curious to measure its extent, and ascertain if any stream meanders along it. There, a thick wood or a forest spreads its close shade over the land, and he is tempted to explore it. Now it is a hill which he is eager to climb, that he may judge of its height, and become familiar with the prospect to be viewed from its summit; and now it is the ruin of some ancient hall or abbey, and he desires to rest upon the moss-covered stones, and give his mind to vagrant and profitless thoughts. At length, he begins reluctantly to think of the end of his journey; and then he finds that night is coming upon him, and wonders why he should have thus dreamed along his road, and how he shall redeem the time he has thus thoughtlessly consumed in his wanderings. The night does come, but he cannot reach a safe and happy shelter. He, on the other hand, who has arranged the plan of his course, and made wise preparations for every thing that is likely to happen to him upon it, presses forward with a deliberate aim and a firm

step. No trifles allure him on either side, nor cause him to forget the errand on which he is going. Still, his mind is alive to the interest of the scene through which he moves, he enjoys the beauty of it as he proceeds. The flowing river and the rippling brook, the valley and the lake, the forest, the mountain, and the soft colors of the receding landscape, all have charms for him; but he does not loiter on his way; he gazes, admires, and passes on; he arrives at the place of his destination, and his journey and the day are ended together.

We have in the Old Testament a memorable instance of the desire for wisdom in the youthful mind. We allude to Solomon, and we borrow the language of the historian of the Kings." In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Give thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great people? And God said unto him, Behold I have done according to thy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.”—To do justice to the merit of Solomon in preferring such a request, we must remember that he had just taken possession of the throne and dominions of his father David. Peace smiled upon him, and wealth was pouring into his treasury. The delight of the eye and the pride of life were his ; pleasure and delight would have sprung forth in ten thousand forms at his bidding. He was young-a prince-but he

judged, with the gravity and correctness of mature years, that "wisdom is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her." And the history of his reign tells us how successfully he sought after wisdom, and how fully his prayer was answered by the Lord. It is not to princes alone that the example of the youthful Solomon may be commended as worthy of imitation. By the youthful of every condition, his earnest and ardent pursuit of knowledge and wisdom may be imitated: at their age, if at any time, they have leisure for such a pursuit; whilst they are engaged in it they will experience the rational pleasure of it, and afterwards, at least, they will reap the profit thereof. We cannot, indeed, promise them the riches of a prosperous government, nor the honors of a throne; but they may secure for themselves under the blessing of Providence, a tranquil and generally prosperous course, the favorable opinion and esteem of the best part of mankind, the honorable fame of a virtuous life, the sweet satisfactions of a contented mind and an approving conscience, and the hope of divine favor and immortality. Their choice of wisdom is the promise of these noble things-may they enjoy the fulfilment of the - promise!

The example we have adduced, like all human examples, is imperfect. If we commend the youth of Solomon, we cannot commend his age. Alas! he forgot that wisdom crowns the hoary head with honor. But let us draw the veil of pity over his weakness, and remember that we must persevere even to the end. It is not enough that we wisely