round yonder dial-plate those little hands have stolen, and twelve times more they may now go round unheeded. They who are gone to rest have a day the less to live, and record has been made in Heaven of

that day's use. Will He who gave, ask no reckoning for his gifts? The time, the thoughts, the talents; the improvement we might have made, and made not; the good we might have done, and did not; the health, and strength, and inteliect, that may not be ours to-morrow, and have not been used to-day will not conscience whisper of it ere they sleep to night? The days of man were shortened upon earth by reason of the wickedness the Creator saw. Threescore years and ten are now his portion, and often not half the number. They pause not; they loiter not; the hours strike on: and they may even go; for it seems they are all too much.

The young, with minds as yet unstored, full of error, full of ignorance in all that it behoves them most to know, unfit alike as yet for earth or heaven. The old, whose sum of life is almost told, and but a brief space remaining to repair their mistakes, and redeem the time they have lost; the simple and ungifted, who, having from nature but little, need the more assiduity to fulfil their measure of usefulness, and make that little do the most it may; the clever and highly talented, who have an almost appalling account to render for the much received; they all have time to waste. But let them remember time is not their own. Not a moment of it but is the grant of Heaven; and Heaven gives nothing without a purpose and an end. Every hour that is wasted fails of that purpose; and in so far as it is wasted, or ill spent, the gift of Heaven is misused; and the misuse is to be answered for. Methinks I

would be allowed to whisper nightly in the ears of my young friends, as they lie down to rest," How many minutes have you lost to-day, that might have been employed in your own improvement, in your Maker's service, or for your fellow-creature's good?"

CONVERSATION.

Conversation is the daughter of reasoning, the mother of knowledge, the breath of the soul, the commerce of hearts, the bond of friendship, the nourishment of contentment, and the occupation of men of wit.

"HOLD your tongue, Miss Julia; little girls should be seen and not heard," said Mrs. B.'s nursery governess to a little sprite of seven years old, who was anxious to take a turn in the chatter of the breakfast-table. For I would not have my readers suppose that a nursery breakfast passes without chatter. who traverse houses from corner to corner, and listen from behind the doors, know better. From the nursery to the kitchen, from the school-room to the parlour, all is chatter, and one might conclude the power of talking increases in inverse ratio with the information possessed. But let it not therefore be concluded that I am no friend to talking. We Listeners are considerably interested in the furtherance of the custom: and it may even appear, ere the end of my tale, that I have a very different object in view, than that of putting my young friends to silence.

It is objected by some, that young people talk too much, and by others, that they talk too little; and each remark is just; for they do both. When young people are alone, freed from the constraints of society and the presence of those who are older or wiser than themselves, their ceaseless volubility, the idleness, uselessness, and folly of their conversation

is all too much: not a pause to reflect upon their words; not a moment to weigh the sentiments they hear; not a care for the time they waste, or for the habits of trifling and exaggeration they acquire. But in society, they often talk too little. An unreasonable fear of exposing their sentiments loses to them the best means of ascertaining if they are right. A want of that simplicity of mind, which conscious of no design, does not look to be charged with a wrong one, makes them fear to be thought ostentatious; while the real difficulty of expressing themselves, from want of being accustomed to ita difficulty their indolence would rather keep than make an effort to subdue-prevents their joining in conversation on subjects on which they are fully able to speak, and would gain information by doing so. Modesty may lead them to suppose they cannot contribute to the pleasure of the conversation; and pride prevents their speaking, lest they should, perhaps, expose their ignorance.

I have wondered often how all this befals; but now methinks I have stolen a key that may unlock the mystery. Little Julia was to be seen, and not heard; that is to say, she was to ask no questions, when her infant mind was struggling to enlarge itself by increase of knowledge: she was to express no feeling that moved her little bosom, or thought that awakened in her dormant intellect. But Julia was to listen, I suppose; and much may be learnt by silent attention. She listened, and so did I: and we learned a great deal; for we heard all that the footman had told the cook, and the cook had told the nursery maid; and we gained an insight into our neighbours' affairs, and heard many wonders, the incredibilty of which never failed to secure belief. Whereas what was simply true and certain, VOL. I. C

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was warmly contested. Added to all this were the schemes of deception and petty artifices that I do not judge it honourable to disclose.

This, then, I thought within myself, is little Julia's first lesson in the art of talking; a lesson she will probably repeat after her own manner, the first time she escapes with her younger sisters to a private corner and not being allowed to inquire, her mind must work, for work it will, upon the materials it has gathered. I heard her, in truth, not long after, exaggerating, and mimicking, and wondering, and disputing, as fast as her little tongue could move, to evince its delight at the resumption of its power.

The powers of speech are among the most important committed to our charge; and as capable as any other of a right or a wrong cultivation: there is this only difference, that while other powers lie dormant from neglect, these will be in action, whether cultivated or not, and if we do not direct them to the right, will most certainly expend themselves on the wrong. If a young person is not allowed, or not encouraged to speak with her parents or equals, she will requite herself by talking to her waitingmaid; and if she be not accustomed in society to converse rationally and sensibly, she will most surely spend the powers given her for better purposes, in idle gossip or mischievous slander.

From the lessons in the nursery, Julia passes to the school-room: she there learns much, and perhaps thinks much, but has little opportunity to communicate. If the discipline be strict, she is desired to hold her tongue, and mind her lessons; if it be indulgent, she may talk, indeed, as fast as it pleases her; she may repeat, with the more exaggeration the better, all the tittletattle she has heard elsewhere; what this person says, and that person does,