enduring fatigue, and retaining the impressions made on them by the truths they contemplate: then, there is a reasonable prospect of time being allowed to reap the fruits of study, and to profit by the labours of our early years; then, likewise, the mind is, in great measure, free from worldly cares, which unfit it for that undivided attention which learning and science demand. 3. On the contrary, if STUDY be deferred to mature age, when we feel the want of those acquisitions that ought to have been made in youth, it resembles the conduct of that husbandman, who, in the time of harvest, is reminded by the want of a crop, that he has neglected seed time, and begins to sow while others are reaping. 4. Perhaps, some show of vegetation appears, and, for some time, the corn seems to grow prosperously; but, alas! before it can be matured in the ear, the frosts and cold winds of winter commence, and it is cut off. 5. Thus it is with the man who neglects study in his youth; even if he have few worldly cares, and plenty of leisure for the improvement of his mind, before he has made such progress as to taste some of the sweets of literary acquirements, his head becomes grey, his eyesight fails, his memory is impaired, and he drops into the grave. 6. If worldly engagements prevent the attempt to supply the deficiencies occasioned by neglect, the case is still worse. The cheeks of the delinquent* must blush with shame as often as he comes in contact with men in his own station, who have improved their minds at the proper season; he must fear to utter a sentence, lest his ignorance should be manifest; or, by an assurance, too * An offender; one who has committed a fault or crime; the doer of a fault either of omission or commission. often the offspring of an uncultivated mind, render himself an object of pity, if not of contempt, to the well informed. 7. Whether prosperity or adversity attend the progress of such a man through life, his situation is equally unenviable: the former, by elevating him to the society of men still more refined and better educated than the generality of those in his former rank of life, renders his deficiencies more apparent, his absurdities more glaring. 8. The flame of a torch, set on a lofty eminence, is much more conspicuous than that of one on a level with the surrounding country. In the latter case, should his property be lost, and his friends forsake him, what consolations can an uncultivated mind draw from religion and philosophy ?-he is ignorant of the first principles of either. 9. He is like a man at sea, without a compass or a rudder. He is incapable, likewise, of making those exertions for his own interest, which would, probably, retrieve his affairs, and restore him to comfort and independence. 10. Let youth, then, be persuaded to pursue their studies. with diligence, while the season is propitious; that, when they come to maturity, they may be qualified to pass through life with honour and profit to themselves, and to the community at large. 11. Let no fatigue distress, no difficulties discourage them they will grow less by degrees, until the rough and rugged path will become like the flower-enamelled meadow, or the orchard full of delicious fruits. 12. The negligent dress of the iconical representative of STUDY, is by no means a slovenly one. SLOVENLINESS * To recover; to restore; to regain; to recall; to bring back. is a vice, which true wisdom will teach us to avoid. But it displays none of that finical* attention to ornament, by which ignorant coxcombs+ endeavour to make amends for the shallowness of their understandings. 13. Men of sense and education regard dress no farther, than, as it contributes to comfort, decorum,‡ and that moderate conformity to the customs of the world, which prevents the appearance of singularity and affectation. 14. The LAMP indicates, that study must be pursued with unremitting diligence, as far as the interests of our health will allow, if we wish to rise above mediocritys in the learned world. 15. A few desultory attentions to books, lectures, and experiments, though they may afford a smattering|| of knowledge in various arts and sciences, will render a student proficient¶ in none; and this, instead of producing a beneficial effect, renders him vain, arrogant, and presuming. 16. Of this, the poet was aware, who says, * "A little learning is a dangerous thing, Drink deep, or taste not the Piærian spring Foppish; over-nice. Fops; ignorant or superficial pretenders to knowledge or accomplishments. Decency; seemliness; comeliness of behaviour or appearance. § Moderate degree; middle rate; temperance; moderation. || Superficial, or incomplete knowledge; insufficient acquirements. ¶ Well versed or acquainted in any art or science; thoroughly informed; well skilled. ** A spring of Mount Pierus, in Thessaly, anciently sacred to the MUSES. Hence, the streams or sources of knowledge, in general, are figuratively entitled the "Piærian spring." 17. The Cock is introduced as an attribute of vigilance and diligence. The globe and books are indispensable to a studious person. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 1. How is STUDY represented? 2. Why is Study represented young? 3 to 6. What are the consequences of deferring study to a mature age 7, 8, 9. Is prosperity or adversity most favourable to a man who has neglected study in his youth? How does prosperity or adversity affect such a man? 10, 11. To what should a due consideration of these facts incite YOUTH? 12. Explain the negligent dress in the iconical representation of STUDY. 13. How do men of sense and education regard dress? 14, 15. What does the lamp indicate? What is the effect of a mere smattering of knowledge? 16. What does the poet advise concerning study? What is the "PIERIAN SPRING?" (Note.) 17. Explain the other emblems. KNOWLEDGE. 1. KNOWLEDGE may be defined to be the possession of truth. Upon the importance of knowledge, it is, happily, in the present age, unnecessary to dilate with any great prolixity.+ 2. The uses of KNOWLEDGE are numberless and sublime; confined to no class, peculiar to no country; but interesting to all, upon whom the DEITY hath bestowed the valuable and incomparable gift of REASON. To relate at large; to tell diffusely and copiously; to expatiate upon also, to extend; to spread out; to enlarge. + Want of brevity; extended length; tediousness; tiresome length. 3. The possession of it raises an individual a step nearer to that perfection for which our nature is intended; and the want of it sinks man almost to the level of that brute creation of which God has ordained him absolute Lord. 4. There is no one, however mean, who may not improve his condition by the acquisition of KNOWLEDGE; and there is none, however eminent, who, by increasing his intellectual wealth, may not become still more so. * 5. TO YOUTH, it is a passport to preferment and good society; and to the AGED, it is a pleasure which retains all its original pungency,† when all other earthly pleasures have, from their very nature, become "stale, flat, and unprofitable." 6. In YOUTH, as a matter of pleasure, KNOWLEDGE will not be duly appreciated; though the want of it, as the greatest auxiliary of industry, honesty, and wealth, will be severely felt at any step an ignorant youth may make in the world. 7. But the aching and disgraceful void will be felt in all its agonising intensity in the DECLINE of life; when, sated with prosperity, or crushed and soured by continual ill success, or by some sudden and sweeping reverse of fortune, the uninformed MAN indulges in the hope, that retirement will produce a respite from grief, but finds a melancholy listlessness, where he looked for sedate gladness, and a tottering restlessness where he expected to have enjoyed a peaceful and uniform content. 8. It is THEN, that the real TREASURE of KNOWLEDGE is vainly desired; and its excellencies almost * Advancement to a higher station; a place of honour or profit. + Power to pierce the mind; also, acridness; heat on the tongue; acrimoniousness; keenness. |