standing." Yet while the anxiety to get wealth has so often proved the means of leading the mind away from all the nobler aims of life, there is nothing incompatible between the highest morality and purest principles of true religion, and a diligent perseverance in the business of the world. Wealth in the hands of the good man is the great instrument of benevolence, philanthropy, and generous Christian zeal. Nay, so essentially are the duties of industry and true piety allied together, in the man whose life is guided by the divine law, that St. Paul connects the diligence in business with the service of God, knowing that with the true Christian, the virtues which lead to diligence in the one, are no less certain to produce it in the other. It becomes, therefore, one of the most important branches of mental culture, towards which every young man who aims at an honourable success in life must strive, to pursue with due discrimination the objects of a well regulated ambition, and to give to each its duc place in the untiring assiduity with which he seeks to share in the prosperity which may be reasonably desired by all. To supply at once a guide and a stimulus to the youthful reader, in this path of honourable ambition, is the purpose of the following work.

The history of our own country shows how largely the prosperity of a nation depends on the virtuous and persevering industry of its sons. In our own day we have witnessed with a just pride, the manufactures and arts of the nations gathered together, at the invitation of Britain, in the Great Crystal Palace, one of the architectural marvels of the world. While the continent of Europe has just recovered from a frightful political convulsion, and many

of its states still suffer from the apprehensions of the rulers, or the dissatisfaction of the people, Britain, safe in her free institutions and her virtuous and contented people, has invited the world to assemble without restraint in her metropolis, and to compete with her own sons for the awards she offers impartially to the most worthy. The result has abundantly proved how well founded was the confidence which justified this invitation to a display of the choice examples of the world's industry in the British metropolis. With a just pride may England look back on its complete success; while every Briton feels that by such a demonstration the greatness of his own beloved land is proved to depend on the industry, the virtue, and the piety of the people. May the young reader learn from these pages some lessons and examples calculated to lure him into the happy paths of virtuous perseverance, that so, in due time, he also may contribute to the prosperity of his country, and share abundantly in all the blessings and the high privileges which its free institutions confer.

EDINBURGH, October 1, 1851.