716 
EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
But, for this to be correctly done, we must take into con¬ 
sideration the capabilities of the mind—although this is com¬ 
monly greater than many, and especially the idle, will be 
willing to concede—and also the temperament of the indi¬ 
vidual. Nevertheless, it is astonishing what might be 
effected by a judicious direction of the mental powers. On 
this account don’t be ever afraid of doing too much. The 
mind will bear the strain if judgment only be exercised. 
One of our most celebrated statesmen has said that he 
believes those who injure their health by over-study are not 
those who labour steadily and at a moderate pace, but those 
who neglect healthy exercise and care in other respects, and 
more especially those who, having been idlers for the greater 
part of their time, try to make up the lost ground by a 
desperate push at last. 
The age in which we live is, unquestionably, one of un¬ 
paralleled activity and progress. Men live fast now-a-days. 
As much may be said to be accomplished by us in a decade, 
as was effected in a century by our ancestors. And we 
must move on with the times—not “rest and be thankful,” 
but on the contrary be up and doing, all our energies being 
subordinated to our mental advancement. Such, then, being 
the case, every opportunity that presents itself should be 
seized and rendered available to the end in view. Nor 
must it be forgotten by you that the improvement of the 
mind is but another kind of labour—labour of the most in¬ 
tense and exhausting nature, if not judiciously resorted to— 
yet you must, if desirous of advancing in life, assiduously 
follow it, and be contented patiently to wait the result. At 
the first there will be difficulties to contend with, but these 
prepare the mind for an easy triumph ultimately, by im¬ 
parting to it strength of thought and systematic action. It 
has been well said, “All things are full of labour; man 
cannot utter it, so inconceivably full of work is the world. 
Consider the works of man since time began, in the sub¬ 
jugation of the globe, in reducing its wilderness state to 
order and civilisation. Think of the work in changing one 
territory alone, such as England, from its primitive state of 
wide-spreading forest, swamp, and oozy morass, into its 
present form of one exquisitely-tended farm or garden. 
