successors; but, because the preachers now in the world however they do exceed St. Paul in the art of setting men to sleep, do extremely fall short of him in the working of miracles; therefore men are become so cautious as to choose more safe and convenient stations and postures for taking their repose, without hazard of their persons; and upon the whole matter, choose rather to trust their destruction to a miracle, than their safety."

THE THEATRE.

There is something in the word Playhouse which seems so closely connected, in the minds of some people, with sin and Satan, that it stands in their vocabulary for every species of abomination. And yet why? Where is every feeling more roused in favor of virtue than at a good play? Where is goodness so feelingly, so enthusiastically learned? What so solemn as to see the excellent passions of the human heart called forth by a great actor, animated by a great poet? To hear Siddons repeat what Shakspeare wrote? To behold the child and his mother-the noble and the poor artisan-the monarch and his subjects-all ages and all ranks convulsed with one common passion-wrung with one common anguish, and, with loud sobs and cries, doing involuntary homage to the God that made their hearts! What wretched infatuation to interdict such amusements as these! What a blessing that mankind can be allured from sensual gratifica

tion, and find relaxation and pleasure in such pursuits!—Sydney Smith.

HINT TO AUTHORS.

If I might give a short hint to an impartial writer, it would be to tell him his fate. If he resolved to venture upon the dangerous precipice of telling unbiassed truth, let him proclaim war with mankindneither to give nor to take quarter. If he tells the crimes of great men, they fall upon him with the iron hands of the law; if he tells them of virtues, when they have any, then the mob attacks him with slander. But if he regards truth, let him expect martyrdom on both sides, and then he may go on fearless; and this is the course I take myself.--De Foe.

SUCCESS IN LIFE.

Half the failures in life arise from pulling in one's horse as he is leaping.-Guesses at Truth.

FINE SPEAKING.

It is an admirable thing to see how some people will labour to find out terms that may obscure a plain sense, like a gentleman I know, who would never say the weather grew cold, but that winter began to salute us: I have no patience with such coxcombs.Lady Temple.

VOLTAIRE.

M. de Saint Ange, translator of the Metamorphoses of Ovid, was noted for a certain languishing and

mawkish air in his conversation and deportment; having been, like every other member of the literary world, to pay his respects to Voltaire, and being ambitious of concluding his visit with some stroke of genius, said, twirling his hat prettily between his thumbs: "I am only come to-day, sir, to see Homer; another day I shall come to see Euripides and Sophocles, afterward Tacitus, and then Lucian." Sir," answered Homer, "I am very old, could you not make all the visits at once?"

I!

The proudest word in English, to judge of its way of carrying itself, is I. It is the least of monosyllables, if it be indeed a syllable: yet who in good society ever saw a little one. Indeed, this big onelettered pronoun is quite peculiar to John Bull; as much so as Magna Charta, with which, perchance, it may not be altogether unconnected. At least, it certainly is an apt symbol of the national character, both in some of its nobler and of its harsher features. In it you may discern the Englishman's freedom, his unbending firmness, his straightforwardness, his individuality of character; you may also see his selfimportance, his arrogance, his opinionativeness, his propensity to separate and seclude himself from his neighbours, and to look down on all mankind with contempt. Look at four Englishmen in a stagecoach: the odds are, they will be sitting as stiff and as unsociable as four I's.-Guesses at Truth.

THE ART OF HAPPINESS.

Sharp gives us the true method to be happy: "The chief secret of comfort, lies in not suffering trifles to vex one, and in prudently cultivating an undergrowth of small pleasures, since very few great ones, alas! are let on long leases."

USE AND ABUSE.

A certain authoress interdicts cards and assemblies. No cards, because cards are employed in gaming; no assemblies, because many dissipated persons pass their lives in assemblies. Carry this but a little further, and we must say, no wine, because of drunkenness ; no meat, because of gluttony; no use, that there may be no abuse !-Sydney Smith.

THE MIDDLE STATION.

My father bade me observe it, and I should always find that the calamities of life were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind; but that the middle station had the fewest disasters, and was not exposed to so many vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of mankind; nay, they were not subject to so many distempers and uneasiness, either of body or mind, as those were who by vicious living, luxury, and extravagances, on one hand, or by hard labour, want of necessaries, and mean or insufficient diet, on the other hand, bring distempers upon themselves by the natural consequences of their way of living; that the middle station of life was calculated for all kind

of virtues and all kind of enjoyments; that peace and plenty were the handmaids of a middle fortune ; that temperance, moderation, quietness, health, society, all agreeable diversions, and desirable pleasures, were the blessings attending the middle station of life; that this way men went silently and smoothly through the world, and comfortably out of it, not embarrassed with the labours of the hand or the head, not sold to a life of slavery for daily bread, or harassed with perplexed circumstances, which rob the soul of peace, and the body of rest; nor enraged by the passion of envy, or the secret burning lust of ambition for great things; but in easy circumstances, sliding gently through the world, and sensibly tasting the sweets of living, without the bitter; feeling that they are happy, and learning by every day's experience to know it more sensibly.-Robinson Crusoe.

SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE AND LORD BROUNCKER.

Sir William Temple and Lord Brouncker, the President of the Royal Society, being neighbours in the country, had frequently very sharp contentions; like other great men, one would not bear an equal, and the other would not admit of a superior. Lord Brouncker was a great admirer of curiosities, of which he had a very good collection, which Sir William Temple used to undervalue on all occasions, disparaging every thing of his neighbour's, and giving his own things the preference. This by no means pleased his lordship, who took all opportunities of being re