s to-day means want
to-morrow. Hence it should be our aim so to co-ordinate one period of
time with another that our action will promote not merely the immediate
interests of the passing moment, but the interests of the permanent self
throughout the whole of life. What we pursue on one day must not clash
with what we pursue the next; each must contribute its part to our
comprehensive and permanent well-being.

THE VIRTUE

+Prudence is the habit of looking ahead, and seeing present conduct in
its relation to future welfare.+--Prudence is manly and virtuous because
it controls present inclination, instead of being controlled by it. A
burning appetite or passion springs up within us, and demands instant
obedience to its demands. The weak man yields at once and lets the
appetite or passion or inclination lead him whithersoever it listeth.
Not so the strong, the prudent man. He says to the hot, impetuous
passion: "Sit down, and be quiet. I will consider your request. If it
seems best I will do as you wish. If it turns out that what you ask is
not for my interest I shall not do it. You need not think that I am
going to do everything you ask me to, whether it is for my interest to
do it or not. You have fooled me a good many times, and hereafter I
propose to look into the merits of your requests before I grant them."
It takes strength and courage and determination to treat the impulses of
our nature in this haughty and imperious manner. But the strength and
resolution which it takes to do an act is the very essence of its
manliness and virtue.

THE REWARD.

+The life of the prudent man holds together, part plays into part, and
the whole runs smoothly.+--One period of life, one fraction of time,
does not conflict with another. He looks on the past with satisfaction
because he is enjoying the fruit of that past in present well-being. He
looks to the future with confidence because the present contains the
seeds of future well-being. Each step in life is adjusted to every
other, and the result is a happy and harmonious whole.

THE TEMPTATION.

+Time tempts us to break up our lives into separate parts.+--"Let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we die." "After us the deluge." These are the
maxims of fools. The reckless seizure of the pleasures of the present
hour, regardless of the days and years to come, is the characteristic
mark of folly.

THE VICE OF DEFECT.

+"Procrastination is the thief of time."+--The particu