presented to your view! If beheld with a religious eye, what a temple for the worship of the Almighty! The earth is spread out before you, reposing amid the desolation of winter, or clad in the verdure of the spring, — smiling in the beauty of summer, or loaded with autumnal fruit, opening, to an endless variety of beings, the treasures of their Maker's goodness, and ministering subsistence and comfort to every creature that lives. 2. The heavens, also, declare the glory of the Lord. The Sun cometh forth from his chambers to scatter the shades of night, inviting you to the renewal of your labors, adorning the face of Nature, and, as he advances to his meridian brightness, cherishing every herb and flower that springeth from the bosom of the earth. Nor, when he retires again from your view, doth he leave the Creator without a witness. He only hides his own splendor for a while to disclose to you a more glorious scene, you the immensity of space filled with worlds unnumbered, that your imaginations may wander, without a limit, in the vast creation of God. -to show X. CHEER UP. (") 1. CHEER UP! my friend, cheer up, I say; 2. Oh! look not with desponding sigh Just as they are,-like empty bubbles. 3. So come, cheer up! my friend, cheer up! And you may quaff its sweetest cup 4. Put gloom and sadness far away, And, smiling, bid good-by to sorrow; LESSON LVII 1 FOX, CHARLES JAMES, a distinguished statesman and orator, was born in London, England, 1749; and died 1806. So early were his talents developed, that he was elected a member of Parliament before he was twenty years of age. See Sanders' Sixth Reader, p. 487. 2 JONES, SIR WILLIAM, whose researches in Oriental literature, and whose surpassing genius as a translator from the Eastern languages, have rendered his name illustrious throughout the world, was born in London, 1746; and died 1794. He was also eminent as a mathematician and a jurist. 8 * HER CU LES, a hero of antiquity, fabled to have been the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, and celebrated for his great strength. 4 DE MOS' THE NES, the greatest of Grecian orators, was born 382 B.C.; and died 322 B.C. Philip, King of Macedon, having betrayed his hostility to the power of Athens, and to the liberties of the other Grecian States, it was to arouse his countrymen against the crafty invader that Demosthenes pronounced his Philippics, a series of the most splendid and spirited orations. 5 SHERI DAN, RIchard Brinsley, an English dramatist and politician, was born in Dublin, 1751; and died 1816. He was elected a member of Parliament, and in 1787 supported the charge against Warren Hastings, in a speech which is regarded as one of the very best of his life. BROUGHAM, HENRY, late lord-chancellor of England, was born in Edinburgh in 1778. He was one of the founders of "The Edinburgh Review," and among its ablest contributors; and is regarded as one of the most remarkable of the public men in England. 'AMES, FISHER, an American statesman and orator, was born in Dedham, Mass., April 9, 1756; and died July 4, 1808. HENRY, PATRICK, an American statesman and orator, was born in Vir ginia, 1736; and died 1799. His early opportunities of education were limited; but he rose above all impediments to great distinction, and became one of the most eloquent men of any age. He was a strenu ous advocate for American independence. 9 WHITE FIELD, GEORGE, one of the most eloquent, devoted, and success, ful ministers of Christ, since the days of the apostles, was born in Gloucester, England, 1714. He stated in his memorandum-book, that, "during a period embracing thirty-four years, he preached upwards of eighteen thousand sermons, crossed the Atlantic seven times, and trav eled thousands of miles both in Britain and America." 10 HUME, DAVID, author of a celebrated history of England, was born at Edinburgh, 1711; and died 1776. EARNESTNESS. ANON. "Life is not measured by the time we live." HE amount of work done, or good accomplished, by an THE may individual, is not measured by the number of days, or months, or years, he may have lived. Some men accomplish much in a short time. They are burning and shining lights. There is a point and power in all they think, and say, and do. They may not have lived many years; they have passed away quickly from the earth; but they have finished their work. They have left "footprints on the sands of time." Their bodies sleep in peace, but their names live evermore. They have lived long, because they have lived to some good purpose; they have lived long, because they have accomplished the true ends of life by living wisely and well; and “That life is long which answers life's great end.” 2. The essential element of success in every great undertaking, is expressed by a single word; and that word is EARNESTNESS. It It contains the true secret of nearly all the wonderful successes which have astonished the world. solves the problem of nearly all the heroes whose achievements are recorded on the pages of history, and whose names will live forever in the remembrance of mankind. In all past time, how few individuals do we find, who have risen to any considerable distinction, and gained an enduring reputation, and become truly great, and have left their mark upon the age in which they lived, who were not EARNEST MEN. 66 3. One of the most prolific of living writers, whose books astonish us by the vast research and varied learning which they display, was once asked how, in the midst of the duties of a laborious profession, he had been able to accomplish so much. He replied, —“ By being a whole man to one thing at a time,”—in other words, by being an earnest man. The celebrated Charles James Fox1 once said, that “no man ever went successfully through with any great enterprise, whose earnestness did not amount almost to enthusiasm." There are so many obstacles in the way of any great achievement, that none but the earnest and enthusiastic will persevere, and hold on to its final accomplishment. The irresolute, the timid, the phlegmatic, after a few faint efforts, will give up in despair. 4. It would be easy to furnish examples of the practical power of earnestness almost indefinitely. The world is full of them. Look at Christopher Columbus. Consider the disheartening difficulties and vexatious delays he had to encounter, the doubts of the skeptical, the sneers of the learned, the cavils of the cautious, and the opposition, or at least the indifference, of nearly all. And then the dangers of an untried, unexplored ocean. Is it by any means probable he would have persevered, had he not possessed that earnest enthusiasm, which was characteristic of the great discoverer'? 5. What mind can conceive or tongue can tell the great results which have followed, and will continue to follow in all coming time, from what this single individual accomplished? A new continent has been discovered; nations planted, whose wealth and power already begin to eclipse those of the Old World, and whose empires stretch far away beneath the setting sun. Institutions of learning, liberty, and religion, have been established on the broad basis of equal rights to all. It is true, America might have been discovered by what we call some fortunate accident. But, in all probability, it would have remained unknown for centuries, had not some earnest man, like Columbus, arisen, whose adventurous spirit would be roused, rather than repressed, by difficulty and danger. 6. John Howard, the philanthropist, is another remarkable illustration of the power of intense earnestness joined with great decision of character. "He spent his whole life in taking the gauge of human misery,”—in visiting prisons and penitentiaries, and the abodes of poverty and wretchedness. He sought to alleviate human suffering wherever he found it, to ameliorate the condition of the degraded, the distressed, and the unfortunate, by all the means in his power. In the prosecution of his object, difficulties did not discourage, nor did dangers appall him. He traveled repeatedly on foot over most of Europe, submitting to almost every hardship and privation; and we are told that the existence of the plague, even, did not deter him from visiting any place where he thought suffering humanity could be benefited by his presence. 7. Sir William Jones, who acquired the knowledge of |