Imatges de pàgina
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tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.* And I said, who art thou, Lord? And he replied, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have 5 appeared to thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister, and a witness both of these things, which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will appear to thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I now send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn 10 them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance amongst them who are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Whereupon, O king Agrippa! I was not disobedient to 15 the heavenly vision; but showed first to them of Damascus, and at Jerusalera, and through all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these causes, the Jews caught in the temple; and went about to kill 20 me. Having, however, obtained help from God, I continue to this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than ose which the prophets and Moses declared should come; that Christ should suffer; that he would be the first wn hould rise from the dead; and that 25 he would show light

people, and to the Gentiles.

LESSON II.-CULTIVATION OF THE MIND.-S. REED.

[This piece is intended as an exercise in the application of Rhetorical Pauses, according to the Rules contained in the Section on Pausing, in Part I., page 25.]

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It was the design of Providence, that the infant mind | should possess the germ of every science. If it were not so, the sciences could hardly be learned. The care of God I provides for the flower of the field a place 5 wherein it may grow, regale the sense with its fragrance, and delight the soul | with its beauty. Is nis providence less active | over those, to whom this flower offers its incense?-No. The soil which produces the vine || in its most healthy luxuriance, is not better adapted

*Sharp-pointed instruments.

to that end, than the world we inhabit, to draw forth the latent energies of the soul, and fill them with life and vigor. As well might the eye | see without light, or the ear hear without sound, as the human mind be 5 healthy and athletic without descending into the natural world, and breathing the mountain air.

Is there aught in Eloquence | which warms the heart? She draws her fire from natural imagery. Is there aught in Poetry to enliven the imagination? There is the 10 secret of all her power. Is there aught in Science | to add strength and dignity to the human mind? The natural world is only the body, of which she is the soul. In books, science is presented to the eye of the pupil, as it were, in a dried and preserved state. The time may 15 come, when the instructor will take him by the hand, and lead him by the running streams, and teach him all the principles of Science, as she comes from her Maker; as he would smell the fragrance of the rose, without gathering it.

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This love of nature; this adaptation of man I to the place assigned him by his heavenly Father; this fulness of the mind as it descends into the works of God,is something, which has been felt by every one, though to an imperfect degree, and therefore needs no ex25 planation. It is the part of science, that this be no long1. er a blind affection; but that the mind be opened to a just perception of what it is, which it loves. The affection, which the lover first feels for his future wife, may be attended only by a general sense of her exter30 nal beauty; but his mind gradually opens to a perception of the peculiar features of the soul, of which the external appearance | is only an image. So it is with nature. Do we love to gaze on the sun, the moon, the stars, and the planets? This affection contains in its | 35 bosom | the whole science of astronomy, as the seed' contains the future tree. It is the office of the instructor I to give it an existence and a name, by making known the laws, which govern the motions of the heavenly bodies, the relation of these bodies to each other, and 40 their uses.

Have we felt delight in beholding the animal creation, -in watching their pastimes and their labors? It is the office of the instructor to give birth to this affection, by describing the different classes of animals, with their pe

culiar characteristics, which inhabit the earth, the air, and the sea. Have we known the inexpressible pleasure of beholding the beauties of the vegetable world? This affection can only expand in the science of botany. 5 Thus it is, that the love of nature in the mass || may become the love of all the sciences, and the mind will grow and bring forth fruit from its own inherent power of development.

LESSON III.-PHYSICAL EDUCATION.-DR. HUMPHREY.

[Marked for Rhetorical Pauses.]

That is undoubtedly | the wisest and best regimen, which takes the infant from the cradle, and conducts him along, through childhood and youth, up to high maturity, in such a manner as to give strength to his arm, 5 swiftness to his feet, solidity and amplitude to his muscles, symmetry to his frame, and expansion to his vital energies. It is obvious, that this branch of education | comprehends, not only food and clothing, but air, exercise, lodging, early rising, and whatever else is re10 quisite to the full development of the physical constitution. The diet must be simple, the apparel | must not be too warm, nor the bed | too soft.

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Let parents beware of too much restriction | in the management of their darling boy. Let him, in choosing 15 his play, follow the suggestions of nature. Let them not be discomposed at the sight of his sand-hills in the road, his snow-forts in February, and his mud-dams in April: nor when they chance to look out in the midst of an August shower, and see him wading and sailing, and 20 sporting along with the water-fowl. If they would make him hardy and fearless, they must let him go abroad as often as he pleases, in his early boyhood, and amuse himself by the hour together, in smoothing and twirling the hoary locks of winter. Instead of keeping him shut 25 up all day with a stove, and graduating his sleepingroom by Fahrenheit, they must let him face the keen edge of a north wind, when the mercury is below cipher, and, instead of minding a little shivering and complaining when he returns, cheer up his spirits and send him 30 out again. In this way, they will teach him that he was not born to live in the nursery, nor to brood over the fire; but to range abroad, as free as the snow and the air, and to gain warmth from exercise.

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I love and admire the youth, who turns not back from the howling wintry blast, nor withers under the blaze of summer; who never magnifies mole-hills into mountains'; but whose daring eye, exulting, scales the 5 eagle's airy crag, and who is ready to undertake any thing I that is prudent and lawful, within the range of possibility. Who would think of planting the mountain oak! in a green-house? or of rearing the cedar of Lebanon in a lady's flower-pot? Who does not know, that, in or10 der to attain their mighty strength and majestic forms, they must freely enjoy the rain and the sunshine, and must feel the rocking of the tempest?

LESSON IV.-SELF-EDUCATION.-D. A. WHITE.

[Marked for Rhetorical Pauses.]

Education is the personal and practical concern of every individual, and at all periods of life.-Those who have been favored with advantages of early instruction, or even with a course of liberal education, ought to 5 consider it rather as a good foundation to build upon, than as a reason for relaxing | in their efforts to make advances in learning. The design of early education, it should be remembered, is not so much to accumulate information, as to develop, invigorate, and discipline the 10 faculties; to form habits of attention, observation, and industry, and thus | to prepare the mind for more extenト sive acquirements, as well as for a proper discharge of the duties of life.

Those, who have not the privileges of early instruction, 15 must feel the stronger inducement to avail themselves of all the means and opportunities in their power, for the cultivation of their minds and the acquisition of knowledge. It can never be too late to begin | or to advance the work of improvement. They will find dis20 tinguished examples of success | in the noble career of self-education, to animate their exertions. These will teach them, that no condition in life | is so humble, no circumstances so depressing, no occupation | so laborious, as to present insuperable obstacles to success in the 25 acquisition of knowledge. All such disheartening obsta cles, combined, may be surmounted, as they have been in a thousand instances, by resolute and persevering determination to overcome.

Some of the most celebrated philosophers of antiquity, rose from the condition of slaves; and many of the most learned among the moderns, have educated themselves || under circumstances scarcely less depressing | than those 5 of servitude. Heyne,* the first classical scholar of Germany, during the last century, and the brightest ornament

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of the university of Göttingen,t raised himself from the depths of poverty, by his own persevering, determined spirit of application, rather than by the superior force of 10 his natural genius. Gifford, the elegant translator of Juvenal, struggled with poverty and hardships in early life, and nobly persevered, till he gained the high rewards of British learning; and Ferguson, the celebrated astronomer and mechanician, was the son of a day-laborer, 15 and, at an early age, was placed at service | with several farmers in succession; yet, without teachers, and almost without means of instruction, he attained to high rank | among the philosophers of his age, and, as a lecturer, was listened to by the most exalted, as well as the humblest | 20 in rank and station. By his clear and simple manner of teaching the physical sciences, he rendered the knowledge of them more general, than it had ever before been in England; and through his learned publications he became also the instructor of colleges and 25 universities. 7

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All these extraordinary men have left memoirs of themselves, detailing the struggles through which they have passed, which will forever teach persevering resolution, against opposing obstacles, to all who have a love 30 of knowledge or a desire, of improvement. What encouragement may they not afford to those who have no such struggles to encounter, and who can obtain | without difficulty the means of instructing themselves! There would seem to be no apology, at the present day, in this 35 country at least, for extreme ignorance, in any situation

or condition of life. The most valuable knowledge, that which is essential to moral cultivation, is certainly within the reach of all.

Innumerable are the instances of successful self-in40 struction, not only among men of bright natural talents,

* Pronounced, Hinay.

The o, in this word, is not sounded as in any English word: it resembles au, in the French word cœur,-the ng sound as in the English word singer.

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