manner, as not to hinder, but to encourage exercise; in other words, it should hold a prominent instead of a secondary place, in the distribution of time. A great mistake has, I apprehend, been committed, in regard to this point, by students and by the instructors and overseers of seminaries of learning. The best and much the largest portion of time has been allotted to other objects; so that exercise has been either neglected entirely, or very imperfectly attended to.

"6. Exercise adapted to the circumstances of students should be such as may be easily and conveniently taken; and it should be, as far as practicable, pleasant to the young men themselves. The first is necessary to secure prompt attention, and the last to render the exercise permanently valuable. Where too much preparation, in regard to dress, or any other circumstance, is required, it will be found difficult to maintain punctual attendance, and if the kind of exercise adopted should be disagreeable and irksome, it cannot be performed with cheerfulness, and cannot, therefore, be so salutary in its effects as another mode might be.

"7. For the reasons which have just been mentioned, as well as for others which might be given, it is desirable that some variety should be allowed in the exercise of students at different seasons of the year, and at different places and institutions.

"8. Exercise which may be rendered profitable in a pecuniary point of view, while it answers fully all the other ends of exercise, is manifestly to be preferred. The reason of this is too plain to need illustration. Every man is bound to employ his time in such a manner, as to accomplish the greatest good for himself and for others.

"9. The exercise of students should be taken in connection with a suitable diet. That there are as great mistakes in regard to the latter as the former, admits not of

1

a question by any one who is acquainted with the subject. In vain are all our efforts to promote health and vigor of body and mind, if this point be not attended to with care.

"The adoption of some such plan as the foregoing, seems absolutely necessary, to prevent the waste of health, and life, and usefulness, which the church of Christ has for years sustained, to the ruin of some of the fairest and brightest prospects which have opened around her.

"There is not perhaps a teacher before me, and probably not a pupil, nor a hearer, who has not met with some melancholy example of this nature, in the circle of his own acquaintance, or within the limits of his observation. It may have been a youth of many prayers, of rich endowments, and of fond hopes. The grace of God had in a remarkable manner qualified him for the difficult and arduous duties of a pastor, or a missionary among the heathen. Years had been spent in disciplining his mind, and storing it with the treasures of knowledge. His last preparations were made, and he stood ready to enter on his work. But the destroyer had marked him for his victim. Long before he completed his course of study, while he plied the midnight lamp, and urged his way with unceasing toil, he undermined his constitution, by neglecting to take seasonable and appropriate exercise, and thus fell a prey to disease and death.

'So the struck eagle, stretched upon the plain,
No more through rolling clouds to soar again,
Viewed his own feather on the fatal dart,
And wing'd the shaft that quiver'd in his heart:
Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel,

He nurs'd the pinion which impell'd the steel;
While the same plumage that had warm'd his nest,
Drank the last life-drop of his bleeding breast.'

"The loss which in this manner has so often withered the joys of parents and instructors, and covered the

church with a cloud, is frequently, perhaps I may say usually, aggravated by the fact, that young men of the strongest minds, and of the brightest promise, are the victims.

'Too strong the portion of celestial flame
For its weak tenement, the fragile frame.'

"I would make my appeal to young men. On them it must depend, more than upon all others, whether the object which is now proposed, shall succeed or not. Where, then, I would ask, is conscience? Has it no

voice that can deter the young and pious student from committing the crime of self-destruction? What, or who has given him authority to trample upon the laws which the God of nature has ordained for the preservation of a comfortable and useful existence ? I have been amazed that sober and intelligent young men—and most of all that young men professing allegiance to God, should treat this subject with such absolute indifference, as is sometimes the case, and that they should survey the prospect of self-immolation without one apparent fear of future retribution. To call this neglect, imprudence, or any other name of softened import, is not enough. It is rebellion against God. An act of disobedience to Him who has said, 'Do thyself no harm ;'-'Thou shalt not kill.'

"Will any young man be deterred from adopting this mode of exercise, from a fear that it will be stigmatized as disgraceful? What! disgraceful to work? Who told you that to labor with your hands is disgraceful? Did you learn it from the book of God? Ask the apostle of the Gentiles, a Jew of no mean city, and brought up at the feet of Gamaliel; and he will take you into his place of retirement and show you how he could labor at the humble employment of a tent-maker, that he might have

the means of preaching the gospel. Ask him who left the throne of his glory in heaven, that he might save a world in ruin; and he will take you to his abode at Nazareth, where for years he labored as a carpenter, and earned his bread by the sweat of his brow.

"It is time that men understood the import of these high examples; and more than time, that it was understood by men who are looking forward to the honor of being fellow-laborers with Paul, and ministers of Jesus Christ. Let it be the object of the young men who hear me on this occasion, to show a better title to dignity and respectability than idleness, or pride, or vanity can give. Let them meet every suggestion of the kind which has been referred to, with the stern rebuke of an unshaken example of industry.

"Parents and instructors, I appeal to you! Many of the obstacles which now stand in the way of the speedy and entire execution of the plan which has been proposed, may be removed by you! Employ your influence with your children and pupils, and especially the influence of your example in favor of the cause which is now advocated. Begin early, and let them carry with them habits of industry, from the nursery to the school-room; from the school-room to the academy; and from the academy through each succeeding stage of their progress.-The maxim of divine wisdom will be found to apply in this, as in other branches of education. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.'

“Friends of human improvement, benefactors of mankind, and all who are laboring and praying for the final triumph of the kingdom of Christ, we make our appeal to you! Let it be your aim to bring to this cause the aid of an enlightened and powerful public sentiment. The influence of this, alone, would be sufficient to render the

accomplishment of the object, in such a country as ours, certain. If the opinions which have been expressed in this discourse are authorized by truth, if they are sus tained and vindicated by facts, how can you render a greater service to the cause of education, and of an educated ministry, than by giving them the benefit of your united and persevering exertions? Let these opinions spread through the land; let their salutary influence be felt in every school and seminary in the nation, and unborn generations will bless the age in which they were established." "" *

The following letter has reference to the same subject. "June 21.

"To Mr. G. M. of Rochester, N. Y.

"My dear Sir,-The strong interest I feel in the object which you have undertaken as principal of the 'Rochester

* Manual labor schools, whatever may have been the fate of particular institutions, have, unquestionably, been of great service in eliciting the attention of scholars and others to the importance of physical education. What has been uttered and written on the subject, has been felt. Bodily exercise cannot now be neglected with impunity. The day is coming, when it will be considered a reproach, in all ordinary circumstances, to be obliged to submit to inquiries respecting one's health. The following points are worthy of attention in the establishment of manual labor schools. Is there an accessible market for agricultural and mechanical products? Great pecuniary advantage must not be expected from them. A successful prosecution of study, and the earning of a competent pecuniary support, simultaneously, are not compatible. The arrangements of a shop or farm should not be such as to engross the chief attention of any portion of the students. The school should, as a general thing, be controlled by the guardians or trustees of a seminary, or some public permanent body. In cases where a boarding establishment is connected, care should be taken not to abridge the style of living so much at first, as to produce a reaction afterwards. Means both for agricultural and mechanical labor, should, if possible, be secured, though the preference is to be given to the latter. Every student should feel religiously bound to provide for himself daily exercise, if no public provision is made.