CONTENT.

In vain we drudge, in vain we fondly roam,
For true content is only found at home;
In our own breast the happy goddess lies,
And freely grants her favours to the wise.-Parnell.

Contentment spoke-" Go rule thy will,
Bid thy wild passions all be still,
Know God, and bring thy heart to know
The joys which from religion flow:
Then every grace shall prove its guest,
And I'll be there to crown the rest."— Ibid.

GAMING.

The love of gaming is the worst of ills,
With ceaseless storms the blacken'd soul it fills;
Inveighs at Heav'n, neglects the ties of blood,
Destroys the power, and will of doing good-
Kills health, pawns honour, plunges in disgrace-
And what is still more dreadful-spoils your face.
Ladies' Library.

On the rankled soul

The gaming fury falls; and in one gulf
Of total ruin, honour, virtue, peace,

Friends, families, and fortune, headlong sink.

GLUTTON.

Thomson's Winter.

When the tir'd glutton labours through a treat,
He finds no relish in the sweetest meat:

He calls for something bitter, something sour,
And the rich feast concludes extremely poor.-Pope.

OATHS.

In every tale they tell, or false or true,
Well known, or such as no man ever knew,
They fix attention, heedless of your pain,
With oaths like rivets forced into the brain;
And e'en when sober truth prevails throughout,
They swear it, till affirmative breeds a doubt.

Cowper's Conversation.

If evils come not, then our fears are vain:
And if they do, fear but augments the pain.
Sir Thomas More.

PRAISE. To bespeak praise is forever to be disappointed of it; to fear it is to deserve it, and to turn one's back upon it, is to be sure to have it follow. Crousaz.

PAIN.

Who without pain's advice would ere be goodWho without death, but would be good in vain. Night Thoughts.

CHRISTMAS.

Most glorious Lord of lyfe! that on this day,
Didst make thy triumph over death and sin;
And having harrow'd hell, didst bring away
Captivity thence captive, us to win;

This iouous day, dear Lord! with ioy begin
And grant that we, for whom thou diddest dy,
Being with thy deare blood clean washt from sin,
May live for ever in felicity!

And that thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love thee for the same againe;
And for thy sake, that all, lyke dear, didst buy,
With love may one another entertayne!
So let us love, deare Love, lyke as we ought:
Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.-Spenser.

READING. The pleasure of reading without application is a dangerous pleasure. Useless books we ought to lay aside, and to make all possible advantage of those from which we may reap some fruit.

when

DIFFERENCES.-It is remarkable that men, they differ in any thing considerable, or which they think considerable, will be apt to differ in almost every thing else. Their differences beget contradiction. Contradiction begets heat. Heat quickly rises

into resentment, rage, and ill-will. Thus they differ in affections as they differ in judgment; and the contention which began in pride ends in anger. Cato's Letters.

PLEASURE. As for pleasure, there is little in this world that is true and sincere besides the pleasure of doing our duty and of doing good-I am sure none that is comparable to it.-Tillotson's Sermons.

Precepts are of great weight, and a few useful ones at hand do more towards a happy life than whole volumes of cautions that we know not where to find.-L'Estrange's Seneca.

He that lays down precepts for the governing our lives and the moderating our passions obliges human nature not only in the present but all future generations.-Ibid.

Slander is the revenge of a coward, and dissimulation his defence.-Adventurer.

Slanderers are like flies that leap over all a man's good parts to light only upon his sores.

Rule of Life.

There is no sufficient court of judicature against the venom of slander, for though you punish the author yet you can not wipe off the calumny.

Palmer's Aphorisms.

QUARRELS. He that blows the coals in quarrels he has nothing to do with, has no right to complain if the sparks fly in his face.

Present for an Apprentice.

MISFORTUNES.-I never knew any man in my life who could not bear another's misfortunes perfectly like a Christian.-Swift.

GREAT MEN.-Going into the company of great men is like going into the other world, you ought to stay 'till you're called.-Rowe.

FRIENDSHIP.-Plato says, "I had rather have one good friend than all the delights and treasures of Darius;" and Cicero," that neither water, fire, nor the air we breathe are more necessary to us than friendship." The writings of Tully are full of expressions to the same purpose. Zenophon pronounced of its perfection, "that it was above the reach of the highest human endowment." Bias said, "that man had secured the greatest good of life who had chosen a worthy friend." Zeno being asked "what is a friend," answered "he is another I.”

Quarrels do not last long when the fault is but on one side.--Rochefoucault's Maxims.

ANGER.
Anger is like

A full hot horse, who being allow'd his way,
Self-mettle tires him.

ATHEIST.-An Atheist is the most vain pretender to reason in the world: The whole strength of Atheism consists in contradicting the universal reason of mankind-they have no principles nor can have any; and therefore they can never reason, but only confidently deny and affirm.

Dr. Sherlock's Rule of Life.

No wise man ever wished to be younger.-Swift.

DEBATE.

Ye powers that rule the tongue, if such there are,
And make colloquial happiness your care,
Preserve me from the thing I dread and hate,
A duel in the form of a debate.-Cowper.

Method goes far to prevent trouble in business, for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, what to do and what to hope. Wm. Penn's Works.

The most difficult people in the world to be pleased are those who know experimentally that they want talents to please.-The World.

Our passions are like convulsion fits, which, though they make us stronger for the time, leave us weaker ever after.--Swift.

No possessions are good but by the good use we make of them; without which, wealth, power, friends, servants do but help to make our lives more unhappy.-Sir Wm. Temple.

Supposing men were to live forever in this world, I can't reflect how 'tis possible for them to do more towards their establishment here than they do now. La Bruyere.

Bearing up against temptations and prevailing over them, is the very thing wherein the whole life of religion consists. It is the trial which God puts upon us in this world, by which we are to make evidence of our love and obedience to him, and of our fitness to be made members of his kingdom.

Dr. Samuel Clarke's Sermons.