Cure for Drunkenness.—A man in Maryland, notoriously addicted to this vice, hearing an uproar in his kitchen one evening, had the curiosity to stop without noise to the door, to know what was the matter, when he beheld his servants indulging in the most unbounded roar of laughter at a couple of his negro boys who were mimicking himself in his drunken fits; showing how he reeled and staggered,—how he looked and nodded, and hiccupped and tumbled. The picture which these children of nature drew of him, and which had filled the rest with so much merriment, struck him so forcibly, that he became a perfect sober man, to the unspeakable joy of his wife and children.

Mr. Locke was asked how he contrived to accumulate a mine of knowledge so rich, yet so extensive and deep. He replied, that he attributed what little he knew, to the not having been ashamed to ask for information; and to the rule he had laid down, of conversing with all descriptions of men, on those topics chiefly that formed their own peculiar professions or pursuits.

Punctuality.—Mr. Scott of Exeter, travelled on business till about 80 years of age. He was one of the most celebrated characters in the kingdom for punctuality, and by his methodical conduct, joined to uniform diligence, he gradually amassed a large fortune. For a long series of years, the proprietors of every inn he frequented in Devon and Cornwall, knew the very day and hour he would arrive. A short time before he died, a gentleman on a journey in Cornwall stopped at a small inn at Port Isaac to dine. The waiter presented him with a bill of fare, which he did not approve of, but observing a fine duck roasting. “I’ll have that,” said the traveller. “You cannot sir,” said the landlord, “it is for Mr. Scott of Exeter.” “I know Mr. Scott of Exeter very well,” rejoined the gentlemen, “he is not in your house.” “True,” replied the landlord, “but six months ago, when he was here last, he ordered a duck to be ready for him this day, precisely at two o’clock;” and to the astonishment of the traveller, he saw the old gentleman jogging into the inn-yard about five minutes before the appointed time.

Advantages of Activity.—As animal power is exhausted exactly in proportion to the time during which it is acting, as well as in proportion to the intensity of force exerted, there may often be a great saving of it by doing work quickly, although with a little more exertion during the time. Suppose two men of equal weight to ascend the same stair, one of whom takes only a minute to reach the top, and the other takes four minutes, it will cost the first little more than a fourth part of the fatigue which it costs the second, because the exhaustion is in proportion to the time during which the muscles are acting. The quick mover may have exerted perhaps one-twentieth more force in the first instant to give his body the greater velocity, which was afterwards continued, but the slow supported his load four times as long.

Capability greater than Performance.—Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.