No. 45.] [WEDNESDAY. HISTORY OF INDUSTRY. "All is the gift of industry, whate'er To industrious study is to be ascribed the invention and perfection of all those arts whereby human life is civilized, and the world cultivated with numberless accommodations, ornaments, and beauties. All the comely, the stately, the pleasant, and useful works, which we view with delight, or enjoy with comfort, industry did contrive them, industry did frame them. Industry reared those magnificent fabrics, and those commodious houses; it formed those goodly pictures and statues; it raised those convenient causeways, those bridges, those aqueducts; it planted those fine gardens with various flowers and fruits; it clothed those pleasant fields with corn and grass; it built those ships whereby we plough the seas, and reap the commodities of foreign regions. No. 46.] [THURSDAY. HISTORY OF INDUSTRY (continued.) INDUSTRY hath subjected all creatures to our command and service, enabling us to subdue the fiercest, to catch the wildest, to render the gentle sort most tractable and useful to us. It has taught us from the wool of the sheep, from the D hair of the goat, from the labours of the silkworm, to weave our clothes to keep us warm, to make us fine and gay. It helpeth us from the inmost bowels of the earth, to fetch divers needful tools and utensils. It collected mankind into cities, and compacted them into orderly societies; and devised wholesome laws, under shelter whereof we enjoy safety and peace, wealth and plenty, mutual succour and defence, sweet conversation, and beneficial commerce. No. 47.] [FRIDAY. HISTORY OF INDUSTRY (concluded). INDUSTRY, by meditation, did invent all those sciences whereby our minds are enriched and ennobled, our manners are refined and polished, our curiosity is satisfied, our life is benefitted. What is there which we admire, or wherein we delight that pleaseth our mind, or gratifieth our sense, for which we are not beholden to industry? Doth any country flourish in wealth, in grandeur, in prosperity? It must be imputed to industry; to the industry of its governors, settling good order; to the industry of its people, following profitable occupations. When sloth creepeth in, then all things corrupt and decay; then the public state doth sink into disorder, penury, and a disgraceful condition. No. 48.] MANKIND. children we are all, [SATURDAY. Of one great father; in whatever clime Nature or chance hath cast the seeds of life, And tints.... White, black, and tawny, Greek and Goth, Northmen and offspring of hot Africa; No. 49.] THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. [SUNDAY. HOLY scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. "Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning; grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ." No, 50.] ENGLISH PROVERBS. [MONDAY. "LIKE Father, like Son." This Proverb does not only intimate the force of nature, but also of example; as much the strength of imagination, and practice in the latter, as the violent bent of inclination in the former. "A Fool's bolt is soon shot." The instruction of this proverb lies in governing the tongue with discretion and prudence. It is a lecture of deliberation, courtesy, and affability in company, and of fidelity and secrecy in affairs. No. 51.] TRADE. [TUESDAY. THERE cannot be more important requisites to successful trade, than order and method. Regularity diminishes the labour, and proportionably increases the profit of business. The method which is desirable, is a quiet, steady, orderly system, fixed in its arrangements, and firm in its conduct. Bustle is rarely consistent with actual business. Never defer till to-morrow what can be done today. Place no confidence in your memory, however retentive it may be. A written memo randum is much to be preferred, and can give no trouble; it is a security, and keeps the mind easy. No. 52.] POLITENESS. [WEDNESDAY. POLITENESS is that continual attention which humanity inspires in us, both to please others, and to avoid giving them offence. The surly plain dealer exclaims loudly against this virtue, and prefers his own shocking bluntness and gothic freedom. The courtier and fawning flatterer, on the contrary, substitutes in its place insipid compliments, cringings, and a jargon of unmeaning sentences. The one blames politeness, because he takes it for a vice; and the other is the occasion of this, because that which he practises is really so. Good nature is a natural politeness. No. 53.] CLEMENCY. [THURSDAY. THOUGH clemency is the peculiar previlege, honour, and duty of a prince, yet it is profitable to all. It is the brightest jewel in a monarch's crown, as well as beneficial in private persons. For as meekness moderates anger, so clemency moderates punishment. That person is truly royal who masters himself; looks upon all inju |