The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1869-06-11
Intervals of Time.

menrs to pass unimproved.
When Madame de Genis was com>
panicn of the queen Of France it was her
duty to be at the table, and waiting for
her mistress, fifteen minutes before dinner.
These fifteen minutes were faithfully i'm.
proved each day, and volume or two was
the result.
A writer of the present day, whose pow.
cr is felt, says Of himself, Very nearly all
that have ever attained or done out of
the regular routiue of my professional
duties has been by taking up those odd
moments which are so easily thrown away"
OF Cicero, it is said, He suffered no
part of his leisure to be idle, or the least
interval of it to be lost" Applying him
self thus vigorously to the pursuit of
knowledge, it is no wonder that he became
one of the most learned men of his age.
Sir William Jones is another example
of what may be accomplished by the dill
gent use of time. In addition to remark
able requirements in various other depart,
mens OF knowledge, he was familiar with
twenty y~oight languages. His philosoph
ical and literary studies were carried on
amidst the duties of toilsome profession
We are told the secret of his success. lie
never neglected an opportunity for i'm.
provement and it was fixed principle
with him not to be deferred by any diff
culties that were surmountable, for prose>
cutting to a successful termination what he
had once deliberately undertaken"
Alfred the great, one of the brightest
lights of history, performed an amount of
labor truly amazing. The Affairs OF his
kingdom were so complicated as TO require
the wisest legislation, and a personal in.
spection of each province Of his dominions !;
but so carefully did he husband his time,
that he Was able to opply himself vigors
ously to literary pursuits, and produced
twenty original and translated books and
with all this, be devoted eight hours out CT
the twenty. four to devotional exercises.
Luther, amid all his travels ard active
labors, presented perfect translation of
the whole Bible and this was accomplish
ed by doing somethsng every day, and al
owing no interval OF time to psss unim.
proved.
Eihu Burritt, L" the learned black.
smith," by preseveripg study in the inter
walls of labor, became one of the most dis
tinguished hnguists of any age.
1t is related Of Daniel Webster, " the
intellectual giant cf his generation" that,
while he assisted his father at the sawmill
where he worked, he always carried with
him some favorite author ; and while
waiting for tae saw to pass through the
logs, which occupied about ten minutes,
he employed those brief intervals by eager
ly devouring the contents OF the volumes
aud in the last year OF his life, he was able
to repeat large portions of the books with
which he had in this manner become
familiar.
DR.. Livingston began life as a poor
factory-boy. When but ten years OF age,
he was obliged to 60 to the factory at six
in the morning, and remain until eight
in The evening, with ouly brief intervals
for breakfast and dinner. The hours from
eight 10 ten he passed in an evening school ];
and not unfrcquently his studies were
continued until midnight. by this con-
tinued application, at the age Of sixteen he
had become a good Latin scholar. Scientific
works and books of travel were his pecu-
ildt ucIlSul' AZ ltdulHS, hS say
while " at work, was carried on by placing
nay book on portion of the spinning jen-
ME, so that I could catch sentence after
sentence at my work. | thus kept up n
petty constant study, undisturbed by the
roar of machinery"
John Kitto the eminent biblical scholar,
when fifteen years old was sent poor,
deaf boy, to the workhouse, because his
parents were unable to provide for him.
Two years latter, he was apprenticed to a
cruel and unreasonable master, who often
required him to work from sixteen to eigh
teen hours out of the twentysfour. Fut,
under all of these disadvantageous circum-
stances, young Kitto found time for the
pursuit of knowledge. Every leisure mo-
ment was devoted to mental improvement.
When his circumstances in life were more
comfortable, he did not at all relax his in
dustry of this he writes, 4" cannot ac-
cuse myself of having wasted or misem~
ployed moment OF my time since | left
the work This wise improvement
of his leisure moments laid the foundation
for. his great usefulness and worldwide
fame.
Roger Sherman, at an early age, was
apprenticed to shoemaker. He was
accustomed to sit at his work with his
book before him, devoting to study every
moment that his eyes could be spared from
the occupation iu which he was engaged.
In this way, he acquired his knowledge of
mathematics so that before he was
.wenty-one he was able to make astrono'
mical calculation for an almanac published
in New York, 1t was by such indefatiga-
BILE Industry that he attained an acquaint-
ance with general science, logic, geography,
history, philosophy, geology, and especially
with law and politics.
In the experience Of all, there are inter
yals Of time which lie between the usuaI
engagements Of lie II these intervals
Of time which lie between the usual on
gagemeDls Of life II these intervals are
carefully husbanded aud wisely improved,