against the time to come"--a foundation which will be capable of
sustaining the edifice they would erect. The building cannot be
reared in strength and beauty, without it rests on a secure
"corner-stone." The harvest cannot be gathered unless the seed is
first cast into the ground. A wise Providence has so ordered it that
success, prosperity, and happiness through life, and a respected and
"green old age," are to be enjoyed only by careful preparation,
prudent forecast, and assiduous culture, in the earlier periods of
our existence.

"True wisdom, early sought and gained,
In age will give thee rest;
then improve the morn of life,
To make its evening blest."

The youthful live much in the future. They are fond of gazing into
its unknown depths, and of endeavoring to trace the outline, at
least, of the fortunes that await them. With ardent hope, with eager
expectation, they anticipate the approach of coming years--confident
they will bring to them naught but unalloyed felicity. But they
should allow their anticipations of the future to be controlled by a
well-balanced judgment, and moderated by the experience of those who
have gone before them.

In looking to the future, there is one important inquiry which the
young should put to their own hearts:--What do I most desire to
become in mature life? What position am I anxious to occupy in
society? What is the estimation in which I wish to be held by those
within the circle of my acquaintance?