proper object of your doing so, is to finish the education with a higher course of study. The business of the schoolmaster is to lay a due groundwork for the college professor, who by lectures and other means seeks to elevate the conceptions of the student, and lead him to independent inquiry and investigation; so as gradually to transform him from the school-boy into the accomplished man. For this purpose, the authorities of a university hold out honours of various grades as a stimulus-the honour of 'Master of Arts' being a dignity to which even the noblest aspire. The higher honours are attained at English universities only by extraordinary proficiency; and to reach this point, some students, even though men of large fortune, diligently pursue a course of Latin and Greek reading, under the direction of tutors, throughout a period of several years. The world in general, who see only the outsides of things, are not aware of the earnest perseverance with which many young men of high connections pursue these readings during the autumn vacation in the solitudes of Wales and the Highlands of Scotland. But how else could be achieved those classical attainments we observe in certain members of the British legislature and other public bodies? I need only add, that it is one of the advantages of a public education at such universities as Cambridge and Oxford, that youths are brought in contact with erudite professors and tutors, as well as with the refining qualities of polite society. Besides being a key to Greek, Latin is the principal element in French, Spanish, and Italian; these modern languages being little else than a kind of Latin, corrupted and altered through circumstances. A knowledge of French, and also of German, will usually be found of so much practical use in after-life, that I would strongly urge young men of the middle ranks to study them industriously. Both languages may be learned from school treatises, but the instructions of a teacher are necessary for the sake of correct pronunciation. There are some other branches included in a course of liberal education; among which may be mentioned Drawing and Perspective, which form delightful subjects of practical study, a knowledge of which is promoted by an acquaintance with the rules of geometry. Music, likewise, now forms a branch of study among all persons of refined taste. It does not appear necessary, in a work of this nature, to point out the special branches that are required by young men destined for professional pursuits: it need only be stated, that study for the church, law, medicine, or the army, is extended over several additional years, and makes large demands upon the aspirant for private and preparatory reading. MENTAL CULTURE. W HATEVER may be the extent of school education, it does not supersede the necessity for self-improvement. Even the most liberal academic instruction leaves many gaps to be filled up, much to be done for moral and intellectual advancement. Assuming that the amount of your education while at school was comparatively small-and that is more likely to have been the case than otherwise-and that you are now entered on some industrial career, the consideration is, How are you to commence and carry on a process of mental culture by your own unassisted efforts? The first thing clearly desirable, is the conquest of your own will; that is to say, you must acquire so effectual a command over the passions and inclinations, as will enable you to compel the judgment to pursue a line which, according to all reasonable expectation, will lead to an improvement of the knowing and reflecting powers, as well as the moral sentiments. This, in fact, is, so to speak, the battle of life-the struggle between passion and reason, in which myriads sink and perish. Habits of intemperance, for instance, not to speak of other indulgences, are easily acquired-and what hosts of young men become their victims! But, as already mentioned, all such allurements must be remorselessly trampled under foot—all difficulties, which for the most part are so only in appearance, must give way—if you would, with any chance of success, enter on a path of improvement: 'The wise and active conquer difficulties By daring to attempt them: sloth and folly Rowe. Few difficulties are insuperable to the prudent and brave. There are, however, even negative advantages in intellectual exertion. It is cheering to know that when the mind is occupied with lofty aspirations, there is no room for thoughts of a grovelling tendency, and therefore, except at the outset, little or no trouble is incurred. Vacancy of mind is a phrase without meaning; for when the mind is not filled with something better and nobler, it is an arena for the struggle of the brute instincts; and the real business before you is to give yourself such work as will keep your mental faculties in healthful exercise. The cultivation of the mind, then, is to be pursued not less as a duty than a pleasure, irrespective of all chance of social advancement. 'There is,' says an authoress, 'no situation in life so high that must not, after all, owe its highest enjoyments to feelings with which mind is connected; there is none so low which may not be cheered and refined from the same source. Independent of all worldly considerations, mental pursuits invariably bestow a rich reward on their votary, in the delight attendant on their cultivation, and the temporary oblivion at least of all anxious cares in the abstraction they require.'* The special line of study is of no consequence, provided it be prudently considered, and entered on with sufficient earnestness. You will hear much of genius-a natural tact or aptitude, not to be acquired by art. No doubt, there are peculiar natural gifts which overleap every difficulty; but the world is not composed of paragons, but of people with average mental endowments. The race is on the whole fair. That which we have to look to as the prime element of success is Perseverance. To that, all men of eminence have been less or more indebted, and without it their aims must necessarily have failed. Most of them at first pursued their diligent career in obscurity. While others were indulging in inglorious ease, or following some frivolous amusement, they were closely adhering to a prescribed line of study-up early and down late-pondering at every odd hour on the means of improvement-never discouraged by neglect, perhaps rather glad to be unobserved and let alone-always hopeful, trustful-doing their duty, and leaving the issues in the hands of God. In ordinary circumstances, young men embarrassed by onerous, and perhaps exhausting labours, have little time for mental culture. Borne down by professional drudgery, where are those hours they can spare for useful study? Every one will answer this question for himself. We can fully understand that innumerable difficulties lie in the pursuit of knowledge; yet, can it be forgotten that a vast amount of valuable time is systematically misspent-worse than wasted-which might be ⚫ Mrs Strutt's Triumph of Genius and Perseverance. devoted to a good purpose. How many hours in the morning are thrown away in bed! How many are wasted listlessly in the streets! What a misexpenditure of time, means, and health, in coarse convivialities! And what might not society be, were these things properly considered! Assuming that you have at command only two out of each twenty-four hours, much may be done with that brief period during successive years, if, as Johnson says, you set to work 'doggedly.' It might be possible, with no greater opportunities, to learn Latin and one or two living languages, to acquire a good knowledge of English composition, and to be acquainted with the writings of some of the best authors. All this has been repeatedly done, and there is no reason why it should not be done again. The perusal of the biographies of distinguished men, will shew some remarkable instances of triumph over early difficulties. Could there be anything more discouraging than the early helplessness of Gifford, the late distinguished editor of the Quarterly Review. He was left an orphan at thirteen; was put to sea as a cabin-boy; was afterwards bound apprentice to a shoemaker; and in this condition was so poor that he could not buy paper, but used to work algebraical questions with a blunted awl on fragments of leather. Through the kindness of a gentleman who noticed his abilities, he was rescued and educated, and he afterwards manfully fought his way into public notice. But were not many of the distinguished men of modern times originally shoemakers, gardeners, carpenters, printers, masons, or connected with other employments equally humble? And is it not seen that their mental improvement was due in a great measure to their own resolute determination? Telford, who became an eminent civil engineer, was originally a stone-mason, and spent his leisure hours in poring over such volumes as fell within his reach, with no better light than that afforded by the fire, or 'ingle' as he calls it, of his mother's cottage. In a little poem in the Scottish dialect, |