AND TOILS OP LITERATURE. 



129 



L::nself of his clerical duties one 

 ;;ier by travelling incog. He 

 we: ;t into a country church in the 

 north of England one Sabbath morn- 

 ing, anil heard the rector read a ser- 

 mon. In coming from the church, 

 the rector suspected him to be a 

 brother of the ministry, and spoke 

 to him. lie received the rector's 

 courtesies, and thanked him for the 

 very edify ing sermon he had preach- 

 ed, suggesting that it must have 

 been the result of a good deal of la- 



bour. 'Oh, no,' said the rector, 

 'we turn off these things rapidly. 

 On Friday afternoon and Saturday 

 morning I produced this discourse.' 

 ' Is that possible, sir,' said Dr. South, 

 ' it took me three weeks to write 

 that very sermon.' ' Your name is 

 not Dr. South ? ' said the rector. ' It 

 is, sir,' said Dr. South. ' Then,' 

 said the rector, ' I have only to 

 say that I am not ashamed to 

 preach Dr. South's sermons any- 

 where.'" 



PLEASUKES AND TOILS OF LITERATUBE. 



Literature has its solitary plea- 

 sures, and they are many ; it has 

 Dcial pleasures, and they 

 nre more. The Persian poet, Sadi, 

 teaches :i moral in one of his apo- 

 logues. Two friends passed a sum- 

 mer d.iy in a garden of roses ; one 

 satisfied himself with admiring their 

 colours a; id i nhaling their fragrance ; 

 the other filled his bosom with the 

 leaves, and enjoyed at home, during 

 several days, with his family, the 

 deliciousness of the perfume. The 

 fir.st. was the solitary, the second 

 the social student. He wanders 

 among many gardens of thought, 

 but always brings back some flower 

 in his hand. Who can estimate the 

 advantages that may result from 

 this toil, and this application of it ! 



The domestic history of the ami- 

 nhlu Cowper, notwithstanding his 

 abiding melancholy, presents us 

 with some placid and even glowing 

 pictures when contemplated seat- 

 ed on his sofa, rehearsing each newly 

 constructed passage to his faithful 

 Mary Unwin. 



In thuir method of economizing 

 time, we find a certain uniformity 

 in the practice of authors and stu- 

 dents, of gathering up their spare 

 minutes. Some writers yielding to 

 their pleasing toils over the mid- 

 night lamp ; others, again, devoting 

 tho early dawn of day to the sweet 



and silent communings of their 

 muse. Says an anonymous writer : 



" The morning has been specially 

 consecrated to study by the exam- 

 ple of the Christian scholar. Hac- 

 kett calls it, very prettily, and in 

 the spirit of Cowley or Carew, 'the 

 mother of honey dews and pearls 

 which drop upon the paper from 

 the student's pen.' The learned and 

 excellent Bishop Jewell affords a 

 very delightful specimen of the day 

 of an English scholar, who not only 

 lived among his books but among 

 men. He commonly rose at four 

 o'clock, had private prayers at five, 

 and attended the public service of 

 the church in the cathedral at six 

 The remainder of the morning \v;; 

 given to study. One of his biogra- 

 phers has drawn a very interesting 

 sketch of Jewell during the day. 



"At meals, a chapter being Dlft 

 read, he recreated himself with 

 scholastic ware between young 

 scholars whom he entertained :.! 

 his table. After meals, his doors 

 and ears were open to All suits and 

 causes ; at these times, for the m< >si 

 part, he despatched all those busi- 

 nesses which either his place, or 

 others' importunity forced upon him, 

 making gain of the residue of this 

 time for study. About the hour oi 

 nine at night he called his servants 

 to an account of how they had spent 



