affluence; in vain are health and prosperity. The least trifle is sufficient to discompose his mind, and poison his pleasures. His very amusements are mixed with turbulence and passion. 4. I would beseech this man to consider of what small moment the provocations which he receives, or at least, imagines himself to receive, are really in themselves; but of what great moment he makes them, by suffering them to deprive him of the possession of himself. I would beseech him to consider, how many hours of happiness he throws away, which a little more patience would allow him to enjoy; and how much he puts it in the power of the most insignificant persons to render him miserable. who can expect," we hear him exclaim, "that he is to possess the insensibility of a stone? How is it possible for human nature to endure so many repeated provocations, or to bear calmly with so unreasonable behavior?" "But 5. My brother! if thou canst bear with no instances of unreasonable behavior, withdraw thyself from the world. Thou art no longer fit to live in it. Leave the intercourse of men. Retreat to the mountain, and the desert; or shut thyself up in a cell. For here, in the midst of society, "offences must come. 99 We might as well expect, when we behold a calm atmosphere and a clear sky, that no clouds were ever to rise, and no winds to blow, as that our life were long to proceed, without receiving provocations from human frailty. us 6. The careless and the imprudent, the giddy and the fickle, the ungrateful, and the interested, every where meet They are the briars and thorns with which the path of human life is beset. He only, who can hold his course among them with patience and equanimity, he who is prepared to bear what he must expect to happen, is worthy the name of a man. 7. If we preserved ourselves composed but for a mo ment, we should perceive the insignificancy of most of those provocations which we magnify so highly. When a few suns more have rolled over our heads, the storm will, of itself, have subsided; the cause of our present impatience and disturbance, will be utterly forgotten. Can we not, then, anticipate this hour of calmness to ourselves: and begin to enjoy the peace which it will certainly bring? 8. If others have behaved improperly, let us leave them to their own folly, without becoming the victim of their caprice, and punishing ourselves on their account. Patience, in this exercise of it, cannot be too much studied by all who wish their life to flow in a smooth stream. It is the reason of a man, in opposition to the passion of a child. It is the enjoyment of peace, in opposition to uproar and confusion. Dr. Hugh Blair, from one of whose sermons this extract is taken, was born at Edinburgh, in the year 1718. He was licensed to preach, by the Presbytery of that city, in 1741. In 1762, he was appointed Professor of Rhetoric and Bells Letters, in the Edinburgh University. He acquired great distinction, and was eminently useful, both as a speaker and a writer. His sermons and his lectures upon rhetoric, are written in a style which few authors have equalled, and which for perspicuity and elegance, none have surpassed. He died at the age of eighty-two years. The advice given in the extract, is very salutary. We ought to meet all the ills of life without a murmur. The above piece should be read in a colloquial manner. AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 1. GEORGE WASHINGTON was born 22d February, 1732. He lived at Mount Vernon, Fairfax county, Virginia; was elected President of the United States, in 1789, at the age of 57 years; and died December 14th, 1799, 67 years of age. 2. JOHN ADAMS was born 19th October, 1735. He lived at Quincy, Norfolk county, Massachusetts; was elected President of the United States, in 1797, aged 62; and died July 4th, 1826, at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, almost 91 years old. 4. THOMAS JEFFERSON was born in Chesterfield county, 2d April, 1743. He lived at Monticello, Albemarle county, Virginia; was elected President of the United States, in 1801, at the age of 58 years; and died July 4th, 1826, at one o'clock in the afternoon, on the same day, and five hours before President Adams died; he was 83 years, 3 months, and 2 days old. 4. JAMES MADISON was born in 1756. He lived at Montpelier, Orange county, Virgina; was elected President of the United States, in 1809, at the age of 53 years. He died 28th June, in the year 1836. 5. JAMES MONROE was born in 1758. He lived in Loudon county, Virgina; was elected President of the United States, in 1817, aged 59. Having but little property, and losing his affectionate wife by death, September 23d, 1830, in November of the same year, he went to New York, to spend the winter with his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. Governeur, and died there on the 4th of July, 1831, at the age of 73. This is the the third President who has died on the day of the month Americam Independence was declared. 6. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, son of John Adams, was born July 11, 1767. He lives at Quincy, Norfolk county, Massachusetts; was elected President of the United States, 9th Feburary, 1825, by the House of Representatives, at the age of 58 years. Mr. Adams was Secretary of Legation to Judge Dana, Minister to Russia, at the age of 14 years; appointed Ambassador to the Hague when 27; Minister to Russia, in 1816; and Secretary of State of the United States in 1817, being called from Russia for that purpose, by President Monroe. 7. ANDREW JACKSON was born in South Carolina, in 1767. He lives in Nashville, Davidson county, Tennesee; was elected President of the United States, in 1829, at the age of 62. 8. MARTIN VAN BUREN was born at Kinderhook, in the State of New York, in 1782. He was elected President of the United States, in the year 1837, at the age of 55. 9. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON was born on the 9th day of Feburary, 1773, at Berkley on the James River, in Charles City county, Virginia. In 1801, he was appointed Governor of Indiana; in 1809, he was reappointed; in 1812, he was appointed commander in chief of the Northwestern army; in 1816 he was elected to congress; in 1841, he was elected President of the the United States. He died on the morning of the 4th of April at Washington, having occupied the station of President just one month. Immediately after Gen. Harrison's death, the Vice President, 10. JOHN TYLER, in obedience to the provisions of the constitution, entered upon the discharge of the duties of President of the United States. Mr. Tyler was born in the year 1790, in Charles City county, Virginia. In 1816, he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the U. S. In 1825, he was chosen Governor of Virginia; in 1827, he was elected to the Senate of the U. S. and reelected in 1833. In 1841, he was elected Vice President of the United States, at the age of 51 years. THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. 1. Father of all! in every age, By saint, by savage, and by sage, 2. Thou great First Cause, least understood, 3. Yet gave me in this dark estate, 4. What conscience dictates to be done, This, teach me more than hell, to shun, 5. What blessings thy free bounty gives, For God is paid, when man receives; 6. Yet not to earth's contracted span, Or think thee Lord alone of man, 7. Let not this weak, unknowing hand 8. If I am right, thy grace impart, If I am wrong, Oh! teach my heart 9. Save me alike from foolish pride, At aught thy wisdom has denied, 10. Teach me to feel another's wo, 11. Mean though I am, not wholly so, Since quicken'd by thy breath; O, lead me wheresoe'er I go, Thro' this day's life or death! 12. This day be bread and peace my lot; All else beneath the sun, Thou know'st if best bestow'd or not, 13. To thee, whose temple is all space, |