10.  The officers of the college were soon compelled to suspend him.  He returned in a few months, but did no better; and his father was then advised to take him from college.  He left college, despised by everyone.  A few months ago, I met him, a poor wanderer, without money and without friends.  Such are the wages of idleness.  I hope every reader will, from this history, take warning, and “stamp improvement on the wings of time.”

Definitions.—­1.  Con’se-quence, importance, influence. 2.  A-cad’e-my, a school of high order.  Col’lege, a seminary of learning of the highest order.  Pre-cep’tor, a teacher. 3.  Prep-a-ra’-tion, a making ready. 5.  Vig’or-ous, full of activity and strength. 6.  A-lac’ri-ty, cheerfulness, sprightliness. 8.  Pro-fess’or, a teacher in a college. 9.  Lu’di-crous, adapted to raise laughter.  Ap—­plaus’es, praises.  Dis’-si-pa-ted, given up to bad habits. 10.  Im-prove’ment, increase of knowledge.

XL.  ADVANTAGES OF INDUSTRY. (113)

1.  I gave you, in the last lesson, the history of George Jones, an idle boy, and showed you the consequences of his idleness.  I shall now give you the history of Charles Bullard, a classmate of George.  Charles was about the same age as George, and did not possess superior talents.  Indeed, I doubt whether he was equal to him in natural powers of mind.

2.  But Charles was a hard student.  When quite young, he was always careful and diligent in school.  Sometimes, when there was a very hard lesson, instead of going out to play during recess, he would stay in to study.  He had resolved that his first object should be to get his lessons well, and then he could play with a good conscience.  He loved play as well as anybody, and was one of the best players on the ground.  I hardly ever saw any boy catch a ball better than he could.  When playing any game, everyone was glad to get Charles on his side.

3.  I have said that Charles would sometimes stay in at recess.  This, however, was very seldom; it was only when the lessons were very hard indeed.  Generally, he was among the first on the playground, and he was also among the first to go into school when called.  Hard study gave him a relish for play, and play again gave him a relish for hard study; so he was happy both in school and out.  The preceptor could not help liking him, for he always had his lessons well committed, and never gave him any trouble.

4.  When he went to enter college, the preceptor gave him a good recommendation.  He was able to answer all the questions which were put to him when he was examined.  He had studied so well when he was in the academy, and was so thoroughly prepared for college, that he found it very easy to keep up with his class, and had much time for reading interesting books.

5.  But he would always get his lesson well before he did anything else, and would review it just before recitation.  When called upon to recite, he rose tranquil and happy, and very seldom made mistakes.  The officers of the college had a high opinion of him, and he was respected by all the students.