Father, than the story of the Prodigal Son? And what can give us a more awful account of the last judgment, and the necessity of preparing for it, than the parable of the Ten Virgins? These imprint the most striking images on the mind, and give a form and substance to religious and moral truths, which would not be so well remembered, nor have so powerful an effect on the heart, though inculcated in the best chosen words in the world.

Thus, what at first sight seems to be only a sportive and amusing method of instructing us, appears, upon examination, to be the most efficacious that can be conceived by the mind of man

10. On Books.

Defin. Books are the great vehicles through which the knowledge of one part of the human species is conveyed to the other.

Cause. Books, like many other noble discoveries, have their origin in the necessities of human nature. The wants of men soon induced them to put these wants into writing, that others might be informed of their wants, and induced to supply them.

Antiq. No sooner, therefore, were men formed into

society, and inclined to cultivate knowledge, than books were written to communicate it. Novel. The communication of knowledge, however, was comparatively slow till the discovery of printing in the fifteenth century; since which time books have been so amazingly multiplied, and knowledge so widely dispersed, that printing may be said to have formed a new epoch in society.

Advan. By books, that science which is dispersed throughout the human race becomes the property of every individual; and thus it is that every individual has an opportunity of improving himself by the joint labours of the whole species they bring the most ancient times to our view, as if they were present, and, like a telescope, enable us to see the most distant places and transactions as if they were directly under our eyes.

Disad. But, as books are written by men, they are as various in their merits; and, to the disadvantage of human nature, it may be observed, that as there is a great deal of evil among mankind, so there are a great many bad books in the world. This observation naturally leads us to reflect how careful we ought to be in the

choice of our books. If bad companions will both disgrace and corrupt us, so will bad books. If we are ashamed of being seen with a person of ill-fame, ought we not to be as much ashamed to be seen perusing an ill book? Certainly : for those who understand human nature will form an estimate to our advantage or disadvantage, as much by the books we read and are fond of, as by the company we keep. There is no mistake more common among young people, than that of supposing, that if they have a multiplicity of books, they must necessarily have a great deal of knowledge. The contrary to this is often the truth: a great number of ill-chofen books confuse the mind, and form no regular consistent chain of instruction; while a few of the best books afford us clear ideas of what is worth knowing, without loading the mind with what is impertinent or noxious. If I were asked what are those books which are the moft indispensable in a polite education, I should answer, three histories and three epick poems; namely,the History of Greece, of Rome, and our own country; and the Iliad of Homer, the Eneid of Virgil, and the Paradise Lost of Milton.

11. On Travelling.

Defin. VISITING foreign countries, surveying the various productions of nature, viewing places celebrated in history, observing the different customs and manners of the different inhabitants of the world, are some of the highest gra tifications of which the human mind is capable. Cause. This arises from that principle of curiosity which is ingrafted in the nature of man; that principle, which, Dr. Johnson tells us, is one of the most certain and permanent characteristicks of a vigorous intellect. The love of novelty, says Mr. Addison, is implanted in us by our Maker, that he might encourage us in the pursuit after knowledge, and engage us to search into the wonders of his creation; and nothing can more gratify this inquisitive propensity than travelling.

Antiq. Those among the ancients who studied philosophy, and inquired deeply into human nature, were remarkable for visiting foreign countries. Almost all the celebrated philosophers of Greece travelled to Egypt, and many of them to India, in search of knowledge. Anacharsis, the Scythian, who so much excelled his coun

trymen, was famous for his travels into Greece, and for the great improvement he derived from that highly improved and elegant spot.

Novel. But the moderns have gone far beyond the ancients in their visits to the different parts of the world: the ancients had a much smaller world to visit than the moderns; and the imperfect state of navigation made even that smaller world less visitable than it is at present: while the moderns, by their surprising improvement in naval architecture, and their superior knowledge of the properties of the loadstone, have made the ocean a high road of communication with all the inhabitants of the globe. Univ. A communication with distant places by tra

velling is by no means universal. Those nations only who are in a high state of improvement, have their curiosity awakened sufficiently to induce them to undergo the inconveniences and dangers of long journies, for the sake of acquiring knowledge. How astonishing is it that the great and populous nations of China and India, should never travel westward to the polished nations of Europe! This is a full refutation of all their boasted wisdom.

Local. The nations of Europe show their superiority to the rest of the world, by their voyages