CHAPTER XVI.

What time is best adapted to study.

THERE are some, who set apart a certain portion of each day, in which to enjoy the conversation of their friends, to walk out, or to relieve the mind with social and recreative amusements; and in these particulars, let every one act according to his own custom and inclination. Recreation is as necessary to the mind as food is to the body. But let the student take care not to let it encroach upon the hours set apart for study. I would recommend, that the whole of the morning should be devoted to learning, as being by far the most valuable part of the day, since the mind, refreshed and invigorated by the slumber of the preceding night, then acts with redoubled vigor. Should the tedium of reading for a whole morning be too great, let it be varied by writing, or by imparting knowledge to others, and indeed, this is not the least valuable method of study; for whilst we are engaged in instructing others, we are at the same time fixing those instructions indelibly upon our own minds.

It is an excellent method to divide our time into distinct portions, each of which is to be allotted to some peculiar branch of learning. This division must of course be regulated by existing circumstances, and even then would frequently be liable to derangement, by attending lectures, examinations, &c., but let the stu

dent be careful to allow no trivial occurrences to alter or derange his plans. By pursuing this methodical course he will not only find his daily progress in literature much more rapid than it otherwise would have been, but he will also reap the benefit of it in after life, for it will give him a systematic way of thinking and acting, which will vastly contribute to the maturity and solidity of his judgment; and from which, when he has once perceived its advantages, nothing will ever be able to divert him.

CHAPTER XVII.

On bodily exercise.

A SEDENTARY life, if unaccompanied by judicious and moderate exercise, enfeebles the energies of the body, and too often lays the foundation of diseases which subject the student to pain and inconvenience to the latest period of his existence. On this account he should be careful not to let a day pass without having taken exercise sufficient for the preservation of his bodily health. Indeed, he ought to make a rule of devoting an hour at least daily to this purpose. Nor is there any necessity that the time thus devoted should be wasted, for the mind may be as actively and usefully engaged during this period, as when occupied in severe study. Thus, for instance, in the exercise of walking, (than which there is no exertion better adapted to the exigencies of the human frame,) if he have a mind capable of appreciating and enjoying the beauties of rural scenery and productions, what a noble field does every step he takes present to his view, and what an admirable opportunity is everywhere afforded him for the expansion of his mental powers! Is he a Christian ?-How can he form more splendid ideas of the omnipotence of his Creator than by contemplating the work of his hands; or of his benevolence and wisdom, than by observing how admirably every part of nature is adapted to the specific purpose for which

it was created? Is he a philosopher?-He will acquire more correct philosophical notions, by reading the volume of Nature, with the commentaries of revelation and science, than by poring over the absurd and atheistical theories of the Epicurean system as displayed by Lucretius and others. Is he a poet?-He will here behold those beauties in their simple, unadorned loveliness; of which Theocritus, Moschus, Virgil, with all the other pastoral writers of ancient and modern times, have at best given a faint outline. Does he wish to become an orator?-The silent eloquence of nature will inspire him with ideas and sentiments equally grand and striking with any he may meet with in the impassioned pages of Demosthenes, or the more refined periods of Cicero. So that whilst the exercise of walking is eminently conducive to the preservation of health, it may at the same time be rendered subservient to the noblest purposes for which the mind of man was brought into action. Indeed there is no necessity that any time devoted to the exercise of the body should be lost, for the corporeal and mental powers of man are so independent of each other, that whilst the body is occupied in using the means necessary for the preservation of its health, the mind may be as actively employed in using the means necessary for its improvement, and that without injury

to either.

But there are many things perpetually occurring, which render the exercise of walking impossible; or at least, incompatible with prudence. Such as the inclemency of the season, or the unfavorableness of the weather. In either of these cases I would recom

mend the use of such gymnastic exercises as are best calculated to bring the limbs and muscles of the body into action.

Gymnastic exercises, besides their use in developing the forms of the body and strengthening the constitution, have also a direct tendency to strengthen and invigorate the mind. In support of this, we have only to refer to the histories of ancient Greece and Rome; and we shall find that their most successful generals, their warmest patriots, their best philosophers, their most eminent senators and orators, were in their youth accustomed to pass much of their time in the exercises of the Palæstra and of the Campus Martius, whereby they acquired that physical and mental strength, which, when brought into operation, decided the fate of kingdoms, and gave to their possessors such a pre-eminence, both in peace and war, over their more effeminate neighbors, as ultimately ended in universal dominion.

If, then, manly and robust exercises have a direct tendency to invigorate the faculties both of the body and of the mind, surely literary men, from their peculiar habits, stand more in need of the use of them, than any other class of individuals whatsoever; inasmuch as their whole dependence is placed upon the strength of their mental powers. For vigor of intellect cannot exist in a state of perfection without health; and health cannot be maintained without bodily exertion. Every man, therefore, who aspires to distinction on the ground of the superiority of his intellect, is not consulting his own interest, unless he use every endeavor to improve and preserve it.