PRECIPITATION, OR RASHNESS. With a furious man thou shalt not go. Prov. xxii: 24.-The simple pass on, and are punished. Prov. xxii: 3. BEHOLD the rash, impetuous charioteer, The youth above is seen driving furiously along paths replete with danger. The road, if road it may be called, becomes more and more hazardous. He labors not to curb the fiery steeds, whose speed increases every moment. Instead of restraining them, he cracks his whip, and loosely gives the rein. He appears to be wholly unconscious of his im But frightful chasms now before him lie; minent peril. Abrupt cliffs hang over his head, and deep, awful ravines open on each side of his path. His situation becomes still more dangerous; right ahead a frightful gulf presents itself to his eyes, now begining to open. With the rapidity of lightning he approaches the dreadful brink; on the coursers fly. Now he sees his danger, and strives to check them. It is in vain; they have had he bore it very patiently, controlling the rein too long; their blood is up. himself by reason. His unruffled comWith a fearful bound, over the preci-posure enraged her still more, and she pice they go; horses and driver are dashed to atoms against the rocks, and are seen no more. ure. threw a bowl of dirty water in his face. Then he spoke: "It is quite natural," said he, smiling, "when the thunder has spent its fury, and the lightning its fires, that the teeming shower should descend." Ancient philosophers used to compare human passions to wild horses, and the reason of man to the driver, or coachman, whose business it was But religion is more easily obtained to control and guide them at his pleas- than philosophy, and it is far more But many men have more com-powerful. It imparts a gracious, inmand over their horses than they have fluential principle that enables whoover themselves. This is a melan- soever submits to it to govern his choly truth. Their proud chargers passions, and even to love his eneare taught to stand still, to galop, to mies, and thus to conquer them. trot, and to perform, in short, all kinds of evolutions with perfect ease; while the passions run away with their rightful owners; they will not submit to be guided by reason. It is of far more importance that a man should learn to govern his passions than his horses. Our passions, like fire and water, are excellent servants, but bad masters. Horses, to be useful, must be governable; but to be governable, they must be broke in betimes, and thoroughly. So with the passions, otherwise their power will increase over that of reason, and in the end lead to ruin. Philosophy may do much in enabling us to govern the passions; religion, however, can do more. It is said of Socrates, who had a wretched scold for a wife, that one day, when she was scolding him at a great rate, Many have conquered kingdoms, who could not conquer themselves. Thus Alexander, who, being a slave to his passions, slew Clytus, his most intimate friend. And, notwithstanding the laurels that have been woren for the conquerors of ancient and modern times, the Almighty himself has prepared a diadem of glory for the self-conquered, bearing, in letters of heavenly light, this inscription: "He that ruleth his own spirit, is better than he that taketh a city. Madness by nature reigns within, We give our souls the wounds they feel, And rush with fury down to hell, Dr. Watts Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and THE truant urchin has forsook the school, O er hedge and brake, beneath a burning sun, And with the grasp, destroys the painted wing; At length outspent, he grasps the trembling thing, Alas! 't is changed-it fades away, and dies. The foolish boy, leaving the useful and delightful pleasures of study, runs after a pretty butterfly that has attracted his attention. On he runs, through brake and brier, over hedges and ditches, up hill and down dale; the sun, at the same time, pours down its burning rays upon his uncovered head. See how he sweats, and puffs, and toils! "Tis all in vain; just as he comes up with the prize, away it flies far above his reach. Still he follows on; now it has settled upon a favorite flower. He is sure of it now; he puts forth his hand. Lo! it is gone. Still he pursues-on and on he runs after the glittering insect. Presently it alights, and hides itself within the leaves of the lily of the valley. For awhile he loses sight of it; again he discovers it on the wing, and again he renews the chase. Nor is it until the sun descends the west- | nothing of true pleasure, nothing of ern sky, that he comes up with the solid peace. The object he desires object of his laborious race. Weary and pursues so ardently mocks him of the wing, the butterfly seeks shel- again and again. "To-morrow," he ter for the night within the cup of says to himself, "will give me the the mountain blue-bell. The boy, object of my wishes." To-morrow marking its hiding-place, makes a comes-once more it eludes his grasp. desperate spring, and seizes the trem-Now he becomes uneasy, then impabling beauty. In his eagerness to pos- tient, then fretful, then anxious, and sess it, he has crushed its tender then desperate; now he resolves at wings, and marred entirely those all hazards to seize upon the prizegolden colors. With deep mortifica- it is his own; but ah! the flowers tion, and bitter regret at his folly, he beholds nothing left but a mere grub, an almost lifeless worm, without form and without loveliness. This emblem aptly shows the folly of those who, whether young or old, leaving the solid paths of knowledge, of industry, and of lawful pleasure, follow the vanities of this life. Cor rupt and unbridled passions and vitiated tastes lead, in the end, to ruin. The way of transgressors is hard, as well as foolish and vain. To follow after forbidden objects is far more laborious than to pursue those only that are lawful. It is said of wisdom that all her ways are ways of pleasautness, that all her patlis are paths of peace. The mind of the youth who is in pursuit of vanities, or of unlawful pleasures, is ever raging, like a tempest. Now up, now down-he knows have faded, the beautiful colors have "Man has a soul of vast desires: "In vain on earth we hope to find To change the place, but keep the pair, DANGER OF GREATNESS. The high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall THE clouds assemble in the blackening west, The oak majestic, towering to the skies, beasts, and creeping reptiles now trample upon its fallen greatness. The storm rages. The sturdy oak, | ing honors are brought low; birds, the growth of centuries, lifts its proud head towering to the heavens; it spreads abroad its ample branches, But see; the humble reed, bending giving shelter to birds and beasts. to the storm, escapes unhurt. Its For a long time it resists the fury of lowly position has preserved it from the hurricane, but 't is all in vain; destruction; while its mighty neigh with a mighty crash it is overturned; bor is no more. It still lives, and its very roots are laid bare; its branch-grows, and flourishes. |