DELAYS.

SHUN delays, they breed remorse;
Take thy time while time is lent thee;
Creeping snails have weakest force—

Fly their fault, lest thou repent thce; Good is best when sooner wrought, Ling'ring labours come to nought.

Hoist up sail while gale doth last,

Tide and wind stay no man's pleasure! Seek not time when time is past,

Sober speed is wisdom's leisure;

After wits are dearly bought,

Let thy forewit guide thy thought.

Time wears all his locks before,

Take thou hold upon his forehead; When he flees he turns no more,

And behind his scalp is naked. Works adjourn'd have many stays, Long demurs breed new delays.

WILD YOUNG MEN.

THERE is a class of young men who consider themselves gentlemen, and who are received by many as if they were; and yet they deserve as well to be sent to the treadmill or to the hulks as any scoundrel who receives sentence at the Old Bailey. These are they whom partial acquaintances, or persons of weak principle, or of none, call "wild young men.' Now, their wildness is the least objectionable thing about them. They are almost vain and heartless to the last degree; and, however desperate in their extravagance, they are cool and calculating enough in their selfishness. These are the reckless villains who break the hearts of widowed mothers, and seem to feel no remorse for it. They have no notion of affection save as a weakness in a parent or a friend, of which they make advantage to obtain money for gross indulgences. These are the monsters who, even after they have come to years in which some honest thoughtfulness and some manly feeling might be expected, go on in a base career of blackguardism, which they are so wicked and so miserable as to think spirited, and dashing, and so forth. Meanwhile mothers' hearts are breaking, and sisters are made ashamed, and fathers become morose and despairing of all good, and domestic circles, which might be full of thankfulness, and cheerfulness, and hope, are, by the hardened profligacy of one of their members, turned into gloom, and gnawing anxiety, and terrified anticipation of what each new day may bring forth.

And they who do all this shocking mischief for their own gratification, are merely called "wild young men." ." What are they but robbers of the household store, ay, and too frequently, parricides also, killing father and mother by inches, bringing down grey hairs with sorrow to the grave? The hangman's whip would be the most appropriate tamer of such wildness.

GOOD ADVICE.

I HAVE rarely seen that a man who conscientiously devoted himself to the studies and duties of any profession, and did not omit to take fair and honourable opportunities of offering himself to notice, when such presented themselves, has not at length got forward. The mischance of those who fall behind, though flung upon Fortune, more frequently arises from want of skill and perseverance. Life, my young friend, is like a game of cards-our hands are alternately good or bad, and the whole seems, at first glance, to depend on mere chance. But it is not so; for, in the long run, the skill of the player predominates over the casualties of the game. Then be not discouraged by the prospect before you, but ply your studies hard, and qualify yourself to receive fortune when she comes in your way.

PERSEVERANCE.

TIME hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,

Wherein he puts alms for Oblivion,

A great-sized monster of ingratitudes;

Those scraps are good deeds past, which are devour'd

As fast as they are made, forgot as soon
As done. Perseverance, dear, my lord,

Keeps honour bright; to have done, is to hang
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail,

In monumental mockery. Take the instant way,
For honour travels in a strait so narrow,
Where one but goes abreast; keep, then, the path ;
For Emulation hath a thousand sons
That one by one pursue; if you give way,
Or hedge aside from the direct forthright,
Like to an enter'd tide, they all rush by,
And leave you hindmost.

Or like a gallant horse, fallen in first rank,
Lie there for pavement to the abject rear,

O'er-run and trampled on then what they do in present,
Though less than yours in past, must o'ertop yours;

For time is like a fashionable host.

That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand,
And with his arms outstretch'd, as he would fly,
Grasps in the comer: Welcome ever smiles,

And Farewell goes out sighing. O let not virtue seek
Remuneration for the thing it was: for beauty, wit,
High birth, vigour of bone, desert in service,

Love, friendship, charity, are subjects all

To envious and calumniating Time.

GO A-HEAD.

WHEN your plans of life are clear,
Go a-head-

But no faster than your brains:
Haste is always in the rear;
If Dame Prudence has the reins.
Go a-head.

Never doubt a righteous cause,
Go-a-head;

Throw yourself completely in:
Conscience shaping all your laws,
Manfully through thick and thin,
Go a-head.

Do not ask who'll go with you;
Go a-head;

Numbers spurn the coward's plea !
If there be but one or two,
Single-handed though it be,
Go a-head.

Though before you mountains rise,
Go a-head;

Scale them! certainly you can;
Let them proudly dare the skies;
What are mountains to a man?
Go a-head.

Though fierce waters round you dash,
Go a-head.

Let no hardships baffle you;

Though the heavens roar and flash,
Still undaunted, firm, and true,
Go a-head.