SCIENCE, the partizan of no country, but the beneficent patroness of all, has liberally opened a temple where all may meet. Her influence on the mind, like that of the sun on the chilled earth, has long been preparing it for higher cultivation and farther improvement. The philosopher of one country sees not an enemy in the philosopher of another: he takes his seat in the temple of science, and asks not who sits beside him.

MR. GRAHAM has met with considerable favor from a large portion of those who have heard his lectures in this city on the Science of Human Life. He is a much more thorough student in the department in which he is engaged than is generally supposed, though doubtless a sinner in some respects, like all other men.

An address was delivered before the Boston Young Men's Institute, at its last annual meeting, by Mr. D. B. Harris, a mason by trade, and president of the society. Both its matter and execution are creditable to him and the institute, as a literary effort of a practical man.

THE TRACTS.-We intend to observe as much system in arranging the subjects of the Tracts, as the nature of our plan will permit. The first of this series was designed as a sort of introduction-it being the main object of the work to aid in self-education. In this number all the various branches of knowledge are defined and briefly explained-and each of them will be discussed more at large as fast as treatises can be obtained which we shall deem suitable for our pages.

ADVANTAGES OF EARLY RISING.

BY DR. WM. A. ALCOTT.

Antiquity of Early Rising.

Testimony in its favor.

A CERTAIN French author has devoted a large volume to what he calls the subject of "GAIETY"-or as we should say, CHEERFULNESS-in regard to its tendency on health. and happiness; and we cannot doubt that the work is one of great value and interest. We might, in our turn, easily extend remarks on early rising to a considerable volume, but it would not comport with our plan. On the contrary, we must limit ourselves to a few pages.

Early rising is a practice of great ANTIQUITY, and has been followed by some of the most distinguished individuals of every age and clime. Not by the great men of sacred history alone-Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon and Paul-but by those also of profane history; such as Homer, Virgil, Seneca, Horace, Alfred, Sobieski, Franklin, Washington, and Napoleon.-It may not be improper to add, in this place, that the Saviour of the world, himself, was an early riser.

The testimony of distinguished writers in favor of the practice, is almost universal. Scarcely an author of any eminence can be found, who has alluded to the subject without expatiating on its importance; and not a few enjoin it with the greatest earnestness, as indispensable to sound health, and even moderate happiness.

And yet, notwithstanding the universal practice or testimony of poets and philosophers-of sacred and profane

Pleasures of Early Rising.

Easier felt than described.

history-of antiquity and modern times-and of medical and other authors, the custom of sleeping late, in almost all countries, is still followed by the vast majority of mankind; and the pulpit and the press, the sermon, the essay, and the song, have been enlisted against it nearly in vain. Mankind are far more ready to concede the importance of rising early, than to regulate their practice accordingly.

It may be asked, What, then, has the writer of the following essay to hope for? Very little, it is confessed. Yet that little must not be overlooked. His very brevity— his few condensed pages, in lieu of a labored sermon or prolonged and grave essay, may have an effect. He will therefore proceed without despondency.

It is proposed to show that early rising is favorable to PLEASURE and CHEERFULNESS, to HEALTH and LONGEVITY, and to SOUND ECONOMY; and to conclude by pointing out, to those who are anxious for information on the subject, the MEANS of acquiring this most valuable habit.

PLEASURES OF EARLY RISING.

These are more easily felt than described; and were it possible to describe them, our language would to most persons be unintelligible; because they have never enjoyed them. Those who sit up late, can speak of their enjoyments, and they may perhaps insist on their superiority to those of the early riser; but if they never tried the latter, their whole testimony against them is merely negative. On the contrary, the testimony of him who once rose late, but now habitually rises early-and such are many of our early risers-is wholly positive; because he has had an opportunity of making comparisons.

But it is not the testimony of such men alone, which we can adduce in favor of early rising. Those who still

Opinion of the poet, Thomson.-Of Macnish.

adhere to indolent habits, are often compelled by conscience to testify against themselves. Thus it was, we are told, with the poet Thomson. No man, perhaps, ever wasted more of the first hours of day than he; and yet how beautifully he describes the pleasures of early rising on a fine summer morning!

"Falsely luxurious, will not man awake,

And springing from the bed of sloth, enjoy
The cool, the fragrant, and the silent hour,
To meditation due and sacred song?

For is there aught in sleep can charm the wise?
To lie in dead oblivion, losing half

The fleeting moments of too short a life,

Wildered and tossing through distempered dreams!
Who would, in such a gloomy state, remain
Longer than nature craves, when every Muse
And every blooming pleasure wait without,

To bless the wildly devious morning walk."

No mere prose description of the pleasures of early rising is more graphic, however, than that of Macnish, in his celebrated work on the Philosophy of Sleep. We presume, by the way, that Macnish himself was an early riser.

"There is no time," says he, "equal in beauty and freshness to the morning, when nature has just parted with the gloomy mantle which night had flung over her, and stands before us like a young bride, from whose aspect the veil which covered her loveliness has been withdrawn. The whole material world has a vivifying appearance. The husbandman is up at his labor; the forest leaves sparkle with crystal dew; the flowers raise their rejoicing heads towards the sun; the birds pour forth their anthems of gladness; and the wide face of creation itself seems as if awakened and refreshed from a mighty slumber."

Testimony of Solomon.

Customs of the Swiss Peasants.

Solomon also says, in language of very great beauty as well as force-"Let us go, forth into the fields; let us lodge in the villages; let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vines flourish—if the tender grape appear -if the pomegranates bud forth." Whether, after all, Solomon was not compelled by the Spirit of Truth to testify in favor of a practice which, in his late years, he neglected, may admit of some debate. Solomon lived at

court.

See

But no testimony strikes us more forcibly than that which is afforded by the practice of the peasants of Switzerland and some other parts of modern Europe. them at the very dawn of day going forth, young and old, male and female, with the most joyous looks, lively steps, and animated expressions, breaking forth sometimes into cheerful and joyous songs. Their hymns to the rippling stream, to the towering cliffs, or to the tall forests, are scarcely exceeded in beauty or melody by the rapturous notes of the feathered tribes themselves. Above all, how would it move the heart of a stranger to such customs, to observe the spirit with which they unite their voices in a hymn to the rising sun. If there are joyous, as well as FREE spirits on the face of the wide world, they are these; although under the nominal control, it may be, of despots.

Why all this? Why does the morning inspire us with cheerfulness? Refreshing slumbers have placed the nervous system, and indeed the whole physical frame, in such a quiet and happy state, that the operations of the mind, and the affections and emotions of the soul, cannot otherwise than be healthy and harmonious; and these produce, as the almost necessary result, a degree of pleasure which is far better felt than described.

If the first morning of May were not, in this respect, like all other mornings of the year, we might hesitate