in writing, arithmetic, and bookkeeping, as such a system would have the tendency to make the pupils think in the language they were acquiring. Many good points might be adopted from the Hamiltonian, Lancasterian, and other improved systems of teaching. Minutely regulating rules for such an institution are not to be discussed at present. I would only advocate, not the ceremony, but the deep influence of religious worship at the opening of the day's duties. In the evenings I would have music, for cultivating and refining the taste, and for recreation. I would have such a school or college to turn out, or rather make, not formal, but truly moral, as well as able, accomplished, intelligent merchants. Such a school, I doubt not, would soon be found too small for the interests in view. Once let it be known at home and abroad that pupils, so reared, are ready to take situations, and the supply will be short of the demand. The result of a good lingual education to those ambitious for mercantile advancement would be enlarged views as to our National Position. Those who stay at home would find themselves elevated in the scale of being, as merchants and men of the world, by being able to converse with foreigners; and all the more readily and truly impress them with those leading attributes of truth, enterprise, honour, and honesty, which have made the name of the British merchant so trustworthy and distinguished. The want of this facility and power will be felt more and more every year as the influx of foreigners increases. We want young men who can go abroad to situations:-to French, German, Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese houses, as well as English. Under the present system they only find employment in English houses. They find themselves confined to English society, and generally to the society of lads like themselves; but with the languages, they would be able to mix on equal terms with all nations, and would be welcome. Do not be alarmed for either the manners or morals of Foreigners. Their example of Sobriety would be of immense advantage to us. The "gentle man is not confined to race; he is universal;-such, in the true sense of the word, you will find in all nations. I can truthfully, and therefore freely say, that on the score of mercantile morality I would as soon trust the nations I have named, whether Jew, Greek, Catholic, or Protestant, -as a Scottish Presbyterian? But why limit our ideas? Has the Banker, with his foreign bills, protests, and letters, no use for the languages? Has the Insurance Broker, with his losses and average-papers no use for them? Does the Divine, with them, see no new field open, as St Paul did? and were the languages not one of the special gifts for the propagation of the Gospel ? Are Students in the "FINE ARTS" better without them? Do they not open a new world to the physician? To men of fortune, whether landed proprietors, soap boilers, or brewers, who wish to travel, does it not extend their vision, their relish of pleasure? To none more than our Marine and the Army is the power over the living language more requisite. Again, nothing is better fitting or more ennobling for the due appreciation of the world we live in than far and wide journeys, especially to such as love the works of God, and admire the industry of man. In conclusion, without pretending to arrogate to myself any extra ability, I may state, that I learned the Languages, on my own principles, in spite of teachers, and the result has been that I have been enabled to travel with pleasure and profit through Europe-in Asia, and North America; and in the last let me remark, that the French and German, nay, even the Gaelic, if we would take the trouble of acquiring it, are anything but useless. To conclude, then, if my plans are those of a visionary, let them be met with the neglect which an impracticable scheme deserves. But if they point out as I believe they do the highway for hundreds and thousands, to fortune and intelligence, then I claim, my Lord and GenI am content tlemen, your earnest attention to secure the desired end. to crack the nut, and leave to abler men the merit of presenting, in due form, the kernel, with all the flavour and good quality which it may be found to possess. Such, my Lord and Gentlemen, are the views I take of a movement which I believe would continue to "Let Glasgow Flourish." I have neither the education, nor the ability,-the time nor the patience, to carry it out; but there are plenty of able Men in Glasgow, and, "when the right man shows himself in the right place," I beg and pray that you will give him your intelligent, weighty, and hearty support. I have the honour to be, My Lord and Gentlemen, GLASGOW, June 21, 1856. Your obedient humble Servant, P. W. CLARK. TRANSLATION FROM HORACE.-TO MARCUS LOLLIUS, Book iv. 9 PRAY, think not that the strains I pour, Are doomed to be forgot; [beam, Shall be an unknown spot. What though Mæonian Homer's name And stern Sicilia's lyre. The sportive strains of bygone days, All ages shall prolong; Not she alone, the Spartan Fair, The Cretan bow obeyed command Troy fell more times than one. Of Crete their battles won. Their wives and little ones to save Full many a warrior has sustained But these are gone: their names, once Merit and sloth are all the same, With gifts endowed it well can use, Not consul of a single year, Display thine arms to view. Bliss does not flow from wealth profuse; What the high Gods impart: KNOWLEDGE, THOUGHT, AND ACTION. HERE we stand-conscious beings in the midst of an impressive world. A conscious subjective is in intimate and necessary connection with an impulsive objective. Ignore the one and you ignore the other to all practical intents and purposes of the present condition of things. This objective, possessing a sort of divine consciousness itself, is massed with unconscious matter, and hurled by its Creator into space to perform a destiny within the compass of its delivery and return. But it performs not its course alone, for other worlds are launched into the deep with it, and a glorious and powerful leader commands the paths they are to pursue. Round him they wheel in fulfilment of the economy of God. But while the internal economy is thus grandly and unerringly carried on in the system, the main journey is steadily pursued by all-in the particular they forget not the general purposes of their existence. We are not the universe then. Space teems with worlds that may contain nobler destinies than our own. Round God, the primal centre, roll those active spheres of destiny, each in its progressive fulfilment, praising His infinite perfections. All these wheeling systems being his handiwork, will bear the impress of his character as truly as the work of an artist expresses the genius of that artist's mind. Yet, being infinite in nature, His ideas are not exhausted. He may create new systems, and stamp upon them ideas not yet existing in concrete things. Has He revealed His entire character to this world? This world is finite and He is infinite, therefore it cannot be. Some of our received beliefs are mysteries, and can only be comparatively understood by us as negations of what we actually know. Let us, however, contemplate Him in every form in which He reveals Himself in this world. Suppose we were to do so in every world of the universe, we would fall infinitely short of the entire conception of Him and His attributes. In heaven alone, where all intelligencies are infinite, can the Infinite be fully known. The science of God, then, is infinite, and may not be grasped by finite beings, even with all the knowledge of finite things. The little atom of finity that man has as a field of research and speculation, is much too great for his brief breath of life. He must content himself with a very limited survey of that small fragment within his reach; and from such scanty knowledge will his reason dare to generalise God's character in full. Alas! hope and faith are his truest philosophy. Have these countless wonders of the earth been tossed to him by his Creator like a bone to a hungry dog, merely to satisfy a physical appetite-merely to fulfil a purpose of time? Man himself may not look beyond the intention of the brute; but he hath by nature an upglancing eye, and an intelligence formed for the contemplation of all around him. He hath in his bosom the vital essence of God; and this divine intelligence enables him intuitively to read the few vast leaves of Nature's wondrous volume that lie within his scope. Let him remember, however, he is but a child learning (and that but slowly, from the infant nature of the soul in this world) the elements of the science of God, which science will only be fully understood by him when he shall have become a member of heaven. But we have enough of the knowledge of God to occupy us many lifetimes, had we more than our own at command. So let us not be discontented, that God has not entirely revealed himself to us in this world. Rather let us be thankful that God has so beautifully limited himself to our understandings, so that though we cannot comprehend him in his essence, we can yet comprehend him in his relations to us of Creator, Provider, Redeemer, and Purifier. By the terms of our existence, we are bound through these divine truths to develop our inborn capacities into active powers, and to cherish a constant flow of feeling from the heart to that source whence, through wondrous and mysterious channels, it first drew its inspired emotions. Having the game pointed out, the keen hunter will find ways and means to bring it to the ground. To do this, however, art is required, and the art of study must be acquired by the application of principles to practice, just like any other art. The mind, the instrument of study, must always be kept in thorough working order, and only applied consistently with the directions laid down by the great Master whose apprentices we all are. Let us remember, too, we are working on our Master's time, and have no right to misuse or abuse it, by doing our own work or the devil's. Perhaps our best plan would be to see how older apprentices did their work— those especially who have handed down their names to us, as being beautiful and powerful artists. The secret of their success we find to rest in their patient but constant continuous labour, and their wrestling with the object of their desire, until they wrung a noble blessing from it. In this light, labour is no longer a curse, but a glorious exercise of god-like faculties, that affect the destinies of our race, by imparting more power of emancipation from the curse that pursues us all stagnation of soul and deadness of heart. Behold Newton, with the simplicity of a child, and the chaste patience of a man, searching the subtlest phenomena of things, and thence gaining wealth of thought that enrich not himself only, but all posterity. Behold Heyne, poor, outcast and despised, battling with his destiny, but at length triumphant over fearful odds. Behold Franklin, with a reasonable and indomitable will, slowly but surely elevating and at length enstarring himself in the firmament of human thought. Well-what man has done, man may do; and who is, or who is not that man? And what have these great artists done? Where is their work? What is the secret of their craft? They have recorded their thoughts; we possess them in our literatures, and the only secret of their craft is that they wrought honestly and with a will. Each man fashions his own method in obedience to the impulse of nature. Every man, too, has power, and no one may pre-judge what that power may effect. "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner," is a saying which has often been verified in the lives of our greatest men. Shall we prescribe a course of studies such as in all likelihood will guide us to the end of our being? No; let each man follow the bent of his genius, and deal honestly with what is within and what is without him. Follow your leader is an absurd game to play in this matter, and is sure to breed mischief. Instead of dogmatising, we ought rather to say, Behold what we have found-have you found anything like that? Perhaps it is said, Yes we have found something like that, but it is not what you understand it to be. Well, then, we answer, let us apply the test that God has put in our possession, and essay it. No dogmatic supremacy in the matter— at the most but guidance; for absolute wisdom alone may asume the province of absolute teacher. And so with action, too; if we imitate each other, we are counterfeits. We ought to bear the Divine stamp of duty upon our every act. The soul, when toned with its native and genuine fire, thrills with the sweet persuasive eloquence of duty, and finds a noble satisfaction therein. "What shall I do lest life in silence pass? And never prompt the bray of noisy brass, Remember aye the ocean deeps are mute; The shallows roar; Duty, then, or what is due unto God, by the conditions and necessities of our existence, is our proper and only legitimate action in this world. What is our duty is apparent from the end we serve in the natural economy of God. The end of our existence here is the glorification and enjoyment of God; but this main end is composed of many subordinate ones, all of which ought necessarily to partake of the hallowed nature of the main one. In this light, no |