"The hand of the diligent shall bear rule.” "He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread."

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'Study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you. If any man will not work,

neither let him eat."

“And, withal, they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also, and busy bodies, speaking things which they ought not."

"The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness."

GIRLS HAVE MORE SPARE MOMENTS THAN BOYS-THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR THOUSAND PAGES IN TEN YEARS THE POOR WIDOW GIRLS OF SIMILAR SPIRIT DO MUCH — TIME GIVEN TO NEEDLE-WORK, MUSIC, PAINTING, ETC. THE STUDIOUS YOUTH, AND ONE HOUR A DAY - ELIZABETH GRAY, WIFE OF RICHEST MAN IN MASSACHUSETTS - WHAT IS SEEN IN EVERY COMMU NITY-THE LIGHT BOAT AND GAY LADY-WISHING FOR PLEAS URE-REMARKS OF DR. ALCOTT MARY LYON ON WASTING TIME-SEVEN WAYS OF MISSPENDING TIME-HER EXAMPLE

GOOD.

GIRLS usually have more spare moments than boys, as intimated in the last chapter. Many who continue to reside with their parents, have several hours at their command each day. Some spend these hours in fancy work, music, and idleness. With not a few it may be almost a study how to kill time. Spare moments are those that drag most heavily with them. Rightly improved, they might contribute largely to intellectual and moral advancement. Without any additional time for reading, or errands of mercy, the leisure hours which some girls have are sufficient for very supe

rior acquisitions. It is not extravagant to say

leisure enough to

What an oppor

that many young ladies have read a hundred pages a day. tunity for mental culture and religious improvement! Seven hundred pages per week! Thirtysix thousand four hundred pages in a year! Three hundred sixty-four thousand pages in ten years! About one hundred volumes a year, of four hundred pages each! Nearly one thousand volumes of this size in ten years! This estimate may serve to show that many young women have no excuse for ignorance, since their spare moments are sufficient, when improved, to render them very intelligent.

Or, suppose these leisure hours were devoted to some object of benevolence,- that the young woman should employ them in earning the means to aid in carrying on some good work at home or abroad. With the spirit of an excellent woman, of whom a clergyman wrote in a Boston paper in 1851, she would be able to bless thousands of the neglected around her, and of the perishing on distant shores. That self-denying woman was a poor widow, obliged to support herself and four children by daily toil. The church to which she belonged was in a depressed condition, flock without a shepherd. For some time there was no religious service, and this good lady was

a

distressed on account of their condition. She spread their case before the Lord, and earnestly besought him to appear for them. As a pledge of her sincerity, she promised to devote the two hours between nine and eleven o'clock at night to labor, the avails of which should be consecrated to the support of the gospel. Most zealously did she toil thereafter, when her children were quietly sleeping in their beds, for this noble object. Nor was it long before God sent the prayed-for preacher. She continued to redeem the two hours nightly from sleep for the sake of sustaining the public worship of God, and the fruits of her labors were not small.

Now, we say that many young ladies with such a spirit would be able to make large contributions to benevolent causes, simply by improving their leisure moments. They would be surprised themselves at the annual amount that might be earned in this way. We have been told of one young lady who devoted one hour daily to labor for charitable purposes. In that hour she earned five cents, which amounted to thirty cents weekly, or fifteen dollars and sixty cents in a year. is no trifle in the way of doing good. It is enough to carry many of the leaves of the tree of life to the perishing. Then, too, what a charming example! How kind and good the spirit that

This

studies to convert golden moments into blessings for the needy!

There is no doubt that a large number of girls give more time to ornamental work and music than they would, but for the fact that they have many spare moments. The subject is one that demands attention; for sin is often committed by giving too much attention to painting, music, and other accomplishments. It is not right for an immortal being, surrounded with moral misery and ruin which she might relieve in a measure, to consume so much of her time in fancy work, and playing and singing, or even in the acquisition of modern languages. God has a claim upon every person's time, and he will not be cheated out of it with impunity to the transgressors. We would not disparage the ornamental acquirements named. We believe in these elegancies of life. God himself has created elegant things all around us. Nature paints, and discourses sweet music, yea, she paints more beautifully, and sings more enchantingly than mortals can. Her embroidery and enamelling are more perfect than those of art. We love to feast our eyes upon these rich embellishments of hers. But we would not rob God of the time that belongs to him. We would not adorn the body or mind with elegancies at the expense of dishonoring him. Some leisure mo