is mind to comply with its rules, during the
short period of his residence.

Perhaps, my dear nephew, you may think that I have all this time been
combating, or, rather, seeking to _lay_, a phantom of my own raising;
that I have been making mole-hills into mountains; or, like Don Quixote,
turning wind-mills into giants: but, in my long Oxford life, I have
heard of so many instances of the silly behaviour of which I have been
speaking, that I wish to put you on your guard against it. True
manliness consists in adhering to what you think to be right. In
keeping steadily to the path of duty, notwithstanding the solicitations,
or the taunts, or the ridicule of your associates, there is more proper
spirit and moral courage, than in braving the rebuke or the impositions
of a dean or a proctor.

I remain,
My dear Nephew,
Your affectionate Uncle.

LETTER V.

IMPROVEMENT OF TIME.

MY DEAR NEPHEW,

I trust that you are now hard at work. I can figure you with your
Herodotus before you, your Scapula on one side, and your maps on the
other, _setting-to_ in good earnest. You have, I am sure, fully
determined to make the most of your time. The time which you must
necessarily pass in Oxford, in order to take your bachelor's degree, is
but little after all. Your whole actual residence, during the three
years, will probably not much exceed a year and a half. Certainly, of
this _modicum_ of time you cannot afford to waste any portion. Make a
point of devoting it to real study, to real strenuous exertion. You owe
this to yourself--to your own credit and character; you owe it to your
parents, who have probably put themselves to some pecuniary
inconvenience, in order to give you the advantage of an Oxford
education; you owe it to God, to whom you are responsible for the
employment of your time, as well as for the proper use of your other
talents. Fix in your mind and memory the lesson taught you by the
sun-dial in the Quadrangle at All Souls--"_Pereunt et imputantur_;" or
that of another similar monitor--"_Ab hoc momento pendet aeternitas_."
Take time for exercise; take time for relaxation; but make steady
reading your object and your business. Do not be so weak, or so unmanly,
or so vain, as to be ashamed of being known to read. You went to Oxford
on purpose to study; why should you be ashamed of keeping that purpose
in view?

In the choice of your studies, be guided implicitly by the advice of
your tutor. Very lik