THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

rt

bee !
edge tempt you to exertion? Cannot the
many great things, and good things, to
be done in the world, inspire you with a.
lofty ambition ?
heartily, mightily. Let no obstacles cool
your ardor. Labor vincet omnia—labor
conquers all things. Persevering effort is
final triumph. If you can do but a little
at once, as often as you are able, repeat
that little.
day without a line. A line learned every
day, a line written every day, a blow
every day at some important object, would
result in a good deal at a year’s end. To
how much would it amount in an ordi-
nary life-time !

bird building her nest: how small a load
she carried in her bill! But every load
advanced her work, and in a few days it
was finished. Toil on, then. By steady
exertion you will overcome at last. Reso-
lution, diligence, perseverance—these can
do wonders.

You seem, it may be, to advance but
slowly, or not at all, in your studies. If
you do’ not advance at all, rouse up, put
forth all your energy. The blunter the
iron, the more strength must be applied.
Eccl. x. 10. If, however, you are advan-
cing, though very slowly, persevere, move
on. I have seen a bird provide herself a
home, by forcing an entrance into a hol-
low tree through its thick walls. How
many times she had to thump, before she
could make a hole large enough for her
accommodation! But she succeeded at
last. Peck away, then; you will find
yourselves. at length well into the nut of
knowledge. One kind of bumble-bee
bores a canal, two or three inches long,
into some board protected from the wea-
ther. There are various sorts of wood-
worms, which penetrate for inches into
the very hardest kinds of timber. So
much can be accomplished by the puniest
creatures, by the slowest advances! Be
encouraged, then: throw off the weight
that sinks your spirit; give it the light
wings of hope. Sooner, perhaps, than
you are aware, you will bore through all
the hard places, in whatever studies you
may be pursuing.

It is possible that I have all the while
been addressing some who have no valu-
able employment, either for hand or head.
Shame on all human drones! What ac-
tivity among the various living forms of
creation, though urged by no high and
noble motives! How industrious is the

 

And cannot the sweets of knowl-

Do something—do it

Non dies sine linea—not a

The Country Lad and the River.

A FABLE.

 

 

A country lad, with honest air,
Stood by the river side ;

He put his basket calmly down,
And gazed upon the tide.

Across the river’s rapid flood,
He saw the village, well, .
"Twas there he meant to see his aunt,
And there his turnips sell.

The stream was full with recent rains,
And flowed so swiftly by,

He thought he would with patience wait,
And it would soon be dry.

For many hours he waited there,
But still the stream flowed on:

And when he sadly turned away,
The summer day was gone.

His turnips might have gone to seed,
His aunt have pined away ;

For still the stream kept flowing on,
Nor has it stopped to-day.—Selected,