indeed, on the highest authority that "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."*

Life is not only short, but uncertain. We are not only ignorant what the morrow may bring forth, but whether for us there may be any morrow at all. Baxter, referring to one of his sermons, says:

I preached as never sure to preach again,
And as a dying man to dying men.

Perhaps

When we have a number of duties to perform it is sometimes difficult to know where to begin. the best rule is to take the most unpleasant first. What is disagreeable in prospect is often pleasant to look back on. Youth has been compared to a garland of roses, age to a crown of thorns. Shakespeare expresses the general feeling, perhaps, when he tells us that Youth is full of pleasure, Age is full of care!

Youth, I do adore thee;

Age, I do abhor thee!

In youth, however, it may be natural to be anxious. They have had little experience of the world; if, unfortunately, they have not good guidance, they may make great mistakes; life is before them; if they are rash and

unwise in a moment of haste, they may bring on themselves years of trouble. In old age, on the other hand, if we have been wise when young, we have friends, we have earned our rest, and misfortunes cannot affect us long. We may have cares for others, for our country, for those who are near and dear to us, but surely not for ourselves!

Time is kind to those who use it well. As Joubert says, "Il détruit tout, avec lenteur; il mine, il use, il déracine, il détache, et n'arrache pas."" Too many, however, so arrange their life that it is like a day that breaks in beauty and ends in storm.

A reason is sometimes given which, considering the source from which it comes, seems somewhat surprising. Thus Solomon is often quoted as saying, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;" but the reason he gives is generally omitted: "for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest."** It is perhaps still more remarkable that Keble should say:

* "It works gently, it undermines, it wears away, it draws up, it detaches, but does not tear away" (Pensées).

** Eccles. IX. 10.

"Now must be the time, for who can assure us that there will be any hereafter?" Surely it would be a stronger inducement to wisdom and virtue that what we do now may influence not only our own existence, but that of others to all eternity. Other authorities teach the same lesson, but without sadness. Bishop Taylor tells us:* "This day alone is ours: we are dead to yesterday, and we are not yet born to to-morrow." "To-day," says Schopenhauer, "comes only once, and never returns." Seneca took a more cheerful view. “Time past,” he said, "we make our own by remembrance, the present by use, and the future by providence and foresight." The difficulty is to combine prudence with decision. It is not marriage only that may be undertaken in haste and regretted at leisure; but, on the other hand, "He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap."

There is a certain tendency to depreciate the time in which we live. Ruskin, for instance, though generally grateful and appreciative, when speaking of the nineteenth, that interesting and progressive century, said *Holy Living and Dying.

** Eccles. XI. 4.

that he looked forward with longing to the time when "this disgusting century has-I cannot say breathed, but steamed its last."

Poets have a great tendency to melancholy and lamentation. It is no doubt true that

Not even Jove upon the past has power.*

Time is invaluable and irrevocable.

CHAPTER XIV.

WISDOM.

Where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;

And to depart from evil is understanding.

JOB.

WE are told in the Northern Sagas that Wotan gave

one of his eyes to the giant Mimir for a draught from the fountain of wisdom. Happily we are not called

upon to make any such irreparable sacrifice. If we cannot all be Solons or Solomons, we can all do much to cultivate and strengthen the judgment, and to study the experience of others as a guide for ourselves. "Now the ancient philosophers defined wisdom to be the * Young.

On Peace and Happiness.

15

knowledge of things human and divine, and of the causes by which these things are regulated; a study that if any man despises, I know not what he can think deserving of esteem.”*

Purchas says that "Ratio and oratio are our two privileges above beasts."** This is especially true of ratio. Oratio is responsible for many mistakes and disasters. When I was addressing any constituents in old days, I often used to feel that while it was right they should know what I thought, it was at least equally important that I should know what they thought, and why they thought it. Moreover, while anyone can hear those who speak, the great art of a statesman is to hear those who are silent.

Everyone, I suppose, has had occasion to reproach himself with having said more than was wise, but few have ever suffered from talking too little. Silence is golden, speech it not always silver. It is well to keep the mouth often shut, the eyes and ears always open. St. Bernard had an aphorism, "Respice, aspice, prospice.”*** It is too often true, as in the French pro