out into this apostrophe:-"O! Alfred, the wonder and astonishment of ages!-If we reflect on his religion and piety, we shall suppose that he spent his whole life in a convent; if we think of his military exploits, we shall imagine that he was never out of camps; if we recollect his erudition and his writings, we shall presume that all his time was passed in the schools; and if we consider the wisdom of his government, and the laws which he framed, we shall be convinced that these were the exclusive objects of his study."

The orientals, whose ordinary life is a kind of lethargic slumber, refer with pride to one of their most celebrated princes, the great Saladin, who was not less estimable for his humanity and justice than for his valour, and above all for his indefatigable activity. He held his divan or council in person, every Thursday, assisted by his cadis, as well when in his capital, as when at the head of his army. On the other days of the week he every morning received petitions and memorials, and pronounced judgment in urgent cases: and all persons, without distinction of rank, age, country, or religion, were allowed free access to him. From the habit of thus seeing people of all classes, and reconciling many jarring interests, he acquired a more intimate knowledge of the

human heart, and greater skill in the difficult art

of government.

Activity was likewise the predominant quality of Henry IV. of France, who was adorned by many other virtues. In camps, amid the fatigues and dangers of a war at once civil and religious, he was seen denying himself all repose, mingling with the soldiers, lying like them upon straw, going his rounds day and night to inspect the most important posts: he was every where, saw every thing, encouraged all by his presence; he scarcely allowed himself to sleep or eat, and multiplied his life by the use which he made of his time. It was observed of him that "other generals carried on war like lions, Henry like an eagle." He appropriated to himself Cæsar's celebrated motto: He flew, he came, he conquered He seemed at once entirely devoted to the affairs of government, the fatigues of war, and the duties of friendship.

The virtuous Sully, his friend and minister, was not less economical of his time than of the révenues of the state. We learn from his memoirs that he retired early to rest, that he slept little, that an invariable rule and order governed his occupations. In his attention to business he was indefatigable. He rose at four o'clock every

morning. The first two hours were employed in reading and disposing of the papers that were laid upon his desk. This he termed sweeping the carpet. At seven he repaired to the council, and spent the rest of the forenoon with the king, who gave him his orders concerning the different departments over which he presided. He dined at noon. After dinner he gave audience, to which persons of all classes were admitted. The clergy of both persuasions were first heard. The farmers, and other persons of low condition, who are frequently afraid to approach a man high in office, and especially a prime minister, had their turn next. The great and the noble were received last. He was afterwards usually engaged in business till supper-time: he then ordered the doors to be shut, and indulged in social pleasures with a select number of friends. Ten was his regular hour for retiring to bed; but when any unexpected circumstance had deranged the ordinary course of his occupations, he made up the deficiency of the day by encroaching upon the night. Such was the kind of life which he invariably led during his administration.

If we turn from princes and statesmen to scholars and philosophers, we shall find in like manner that all those who have acquired distinction

were chiefly indebted to the good use of their time for their success, eminence, and reputation.

Boerhaave, the physician, whose fame filled all Europe, owed his vast erudition, his prodigious celebrity, his domestic happiness, his peace of mind, the preservation of his health, and the prolongation of his life, to a judicious and regular distribution of the different employments of his time. His mornings and evenings he devoted to reading and study, and the middle of the day to the public. A few moments were given to his friends or to amusements, such as music, of which he was passionately fond. He rode on horseback every day as long as his health permitted; but when age forbade that exercise he took a walk in its stead. When he could not go abroad he played on the guitar. An alternate mixture of occupation and rest constituted an essential part of his regimen. His mild and uniform philosophy, springing, in a great measure, from the regularity of his life, was proof against malignity; and he disarmed slander and satire by the contempt with which he treated them.

Haller, a name which naturally classes with the preceding-Haller, the physiologist, who united with prodigiously extensive knowledge the most estimable moral qualities, was particularly

remarkable for his love of occupation. He considered time as a treasure which cannot be husbanded with too much economy, and thus quadrupled his existence. His method of collecting materials for his great physiological work consisted in noting down extracts from his immense reading, upon sheets or leaves of paper cut and arranged for the purpose, and then depositing these sheets, or analytical notes, in drawers numbered and labelled, so that he could afterwards easily lay his hand on them for the purpose of classing them in any suitable order, and bringing together such as had any connection with one another. In this manner he stored up the fruit of his researches to be used when wanted. He found means to combine the advantages of extensive, profound, and well digested erudition with those of observation and meditation. All the analogous and identical facts met at one general place of rendezvous. False or imperfect observations were gradually corrected, modified, or completed; and facts confirmed by fresh experiments. In this mode of proceeding, which may be recommended with confidence to those who undertake works of any magnitude, consists the happiest application of the principle of division and re

union.