Does God create for naught?

Employments in the future.

vented by their position in society, by the necessity they are under of toiling early and late for the maintenance of themselves and families, from devoting the small space of this life to the development of their spiritual natures. But the man who gives his life to study is only able to master a few of the elements of knowledge. Look at the mind of such a man as Lord Bacon! Possessed of a comprehension and a grasp which seemed to look upon the laws of the material world as with the eye of a God! which seemed to range the universe at will, and pointed out those sound rules of investigation which have conducted to the splendid triumphs of modern science, and have reared so proud a trophy to his name! And yet he felt when he died that he had but just entered the vestibule of knowledge; that he had only torn aside a few of the obstructions from the field of discovery, and had set up an occasional landmark to point the way; that he had only picked up a few pebbles upon the sea-shore, while its great caverns were full of hidden things and mysteries, which his earnest mind was thirsting to discover when he was called away! And does God create for naught? Does that Being bestow such gifts without granting the means for their improvement? Though we but commence their cultivation in the brief period that is alloted to us in life, we

Spiritual improvement our highest duty.

tal

Dignity of the Profession.

are impelled to the belief by every principle of human judgment, that abundant opportunity will be afforded for the full development of all our faculties, and the comprehension of unbounded knowledge. What more worthy occupation can employ our menpowers in a future state? Our physical needs will then be at an end, for our employments will only pertain to pure spirit. There will then be no occasion for all that labor which is bestowed in acquiring lands, and houses, and costly furniture, and in answering those demands which are made upon us by fashion and the eyes of other people. For, if our lives have been consistent with His will, we shall live in mansions that are prepared for us, we shall need no protection or rest, for it is eternal sunshine and summer; we are dressed in the white robes of purity, and the only occupations in which we can be engaged will be such as pertain to us as pure intelligences.

We see then that the cultivation of the mind is the noblest work we can accomplish for ourselves; that its results are unlimited in extent and unending in duration; that we derive from this the highest gratification which a human being is capable of enjoying; that we thus begin that work of development and improvement, for the attainment of which we are without doubt expressly created; and that we

Eneas at the tomb of Anchises.

thereby secure the approval of Him, whose will it is our life and light to obey. For upon the faithful servant, who used the talents with unceasing diligence, were bestowed the cheering words of praise; while he who hid his talent in a napkin, was sent away in disgrace with merited reproach.

If what has been said be true, we must conclude that the profession, whose business it is to train the faculties and energies of mind,-to have under control the spirits of childhood, fresh from the Creator's hand, to impart knowledge which shall be the basis and key to other knowledge,-to lay burdens that will make strong the mental sinews,-to draw out and set in operation all the latent faculties,—to unfold those laws immutable which exist in the physical, the mental, and the moral,—to plan conquests and execute designs where the agencies are immaterial and spiritual,—and to be the instrument of developing character that shall outlive the years of mortal life, such a profession can not be excelled in dignity. In our short-sighted judgment we are likely to lose sight of the importance that should be attached to it. The spiritual is too often obscured by the material and the tangible.

When Eneas was crossing the seas, as it is given in Virgil's beautiful poetic account, he landed upon that island sacred to filial affection, and ordered games to

Comparison of the Professions.

Triumphs of the Farmer.

be performed about the tomb of his father Anchises. Among others he instituted prizes for those who would try their "skill with the swift arrow." The mark was a dove, tied high up upon the mast of the vessel. But when he came to award the prize, it was not bestowed upon him who hit the mast with his arrow, nor upon him who severed the string, nor yet upon him who pierced the dove in her upward flight; but it was given to that aged chieftain whose far ascending shaft kindled amid the clouds of heaven, and marked its track with flame.

We are apt to forget that we are created with other faculties than those which pertain to us as animals, which minister simply to our physical necessities. Surrounded as we are by the strife of men fast to be rich and eager to lay up goods where moth corrupts and where thieves break through, we lose sight of the fact that we have hearts and an emotional nature which demand our care and culture. Digestion is not the highest order of development of which this being of ours is susceptible. Had growth been the end of our existence, we could have been created without the means of locomotion, and stood with our arms extended like the oak of the forest. Had we simply been designed to fulfill the conditions of animal life, we could have been made like the lion who devours his prey and then sleeps by his lair till

Dignity and value of Teaching.

he needs more. But how different in

But how different in purpose and

destiny is the creation of man! What powers of thought and action is he not capable of displaying, how generous in impulse, how lofty in purpose, how sublime in virtue is he capable of becoming! Who can fully realize the invention displayed by Homer, the analytic acuteness of Aristotle, the sublime virtue of Socrates, the intuitive perceptions of Bacon, the broad generalizations of Newton, the incomparable acquaintance with human thought and feeling displayed by Shakspeare, without entertaining a more exalted view of man's nature and man's destiny, and unceasing delight in the thought that he is himself a man, possessed of a spirit akin to these?

That we may have a just conception of the dignity and value of teaching, and the relation it sustains to the world's thinking, let us compare it with some of the other professions which are most highly esteemed among men, and are usually looked upon as the most honorable and dignified.

It is indeed a noble occupation to till the soil. What glorious triumphs has the hand of the husbandman achieved! He indeed eats the bread of labor,—he toils early and late,—and his garments at times are worn and dusty. But what shapes of beauty and magnificence does the earth take beneath his hand!. He hews down the heavy forest, and lets