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OBITUARY. 
juice of those grapes, and obtain the wine. How is it that 
many men who read very much know very little ? The reason 
is, they read tome upon tome, and stow away knowledge with 
lumbering confusion inside their heads, till they have laid so 
much weight on their brain that it cannot work. Instead of 
putting facts into the press of meditation, and fermenting 
them till they can draw out inferences, they leave them to rot 
and perish. They extract none of the sweet juice of wisdom 
from the precious fruits of the vine-tree. I like, when I have 
read a book for about half an hour, to walk awhile, and think 
it over. I shut up the volume, and say, f Now, Mr. Author, 
you have made your speech, let me think over what you have 
said. A little meditation will enable me to distinguish 
between what I knew before and the fresh subject you com- 
municate to me — between your facts and your opinions — 
between your arguments and those I should make from the 
same premises/ Animals, after they have eaten, lie down and 
ruminate; they first crop the grass, and afterwards digest it. 
So meditation is the rumination of the soul ; thereby we get 
that nutriment which feeds and supports the mind. As it is 
the rest of the soul, so it is, at the same time, the means of 
making the best use of what the soul has acquired. 
Again, meditation is to the soul what oil was to the body of 
the wrestlers . When those old athletes went out to wrestle, 
they always took care before they went to oil themselves well 
— to make their joints supple and fit for labour. Now, 
meditation makes the soul supple — makes it so that it can 
use things when they come into the mind. Who are the 
men that can go into a controversy and get the mastery ? 
Why, the men who meditate when they are alone. Who are 
the men that can preach? Not those who gad about, and 
never commune with their own hearts alone; but those who 
think earnestly as well when no one is near them as when 
there is a crowd around them. Who are the authors to write 
your books, and keep up the constant supply of literature ? 
They are meditative men. They keep their bones supple and 
their limbs fit for exercise by continually bathing themselves 
in the oil of meditation. How important, therefore, is medi- 
tation as a mental exercise, to have our minds in constant 
readiness for any service/ 5 
OBITUARY. 
In the last month's Military Obituary, we find the name 
of J. Schroeder, half-pay , 7th J)ragoon Guards. 
Mr. Schroeder obtained his diploma at the R.V.C., May 
12th, 1812. 
