through all the schools, and have every advantage at home and in society; and yet, without your own active co-operation, you can never be educated. But, if you are determined to be educated, you will turn every thing to some account. Every thing will be a school to you; for you will make contributions to your stock of knowledge from every object you see; and by seeking to act, discreetly, wisely, and correctly, in every place, you will be constantly forming good habits. Like the little busy bee, you will suck honey from every flower. You will commune with your own heart upon your bed, and exercise your powers of thought in useful meditation. You will converse with God in your secret place, and seek wisdom of Him who has promised to give liberally to those that ask. In company, you will be more ready to hear than to speak; and you will never meet with any so ignorant but you may learn from them some useful lessons. You will exercise your mind upon every person and object you mcct. You will study philosophy in the fields, by the brooks, on the hills, in the valleys, and upon the broad canopy of heaven. It has been well observed, that the difference between a wise man and a fool is, that one goes through the world with his eyes wide open, the other keeps them shut.

while

You will perceive, then, that your education is continually going on, whether you think of it or not. Your character is constantly forming. It is your business to keep out of the way of bad influences, and submit yourself to the moulding of the good. Keep in mind the great truth that you are forming a character for eternity. Some years ago, there were found on the banks of the Mississippi River the tracks of a human being, deeply imprinted in the solid rock. These tracks were made in the soft clay, which in

time became hardened, and formed into stone; now the impression is immoveable. You now resemble this soft clay. Every thing with which you come in contact makes an impression. But, as you grow older, your character acquires solidity, and is less and less affected by these influences, till at length it will be like the hard stone, and the impressions made upon you at this season will become confirmed habits.

All the impressions made upon your character ought to be such as will not need to be removed. Washington Allston, the great painter, had been a long time at work on a most magnificent painting. He had nearly completed it, when his keen eye discovered some defects in a portion of the piece. He hastily drew his rough brush over that portion of the picture, intending to paint it anew. But in the midst of his plans, death seized him, and his painting remains, just as he left it. No other person can carry out the conception that was in his mind. If y you allow wrong impressions to be made upon your forming character, death may meet you with his stern mandate, and fix them for ever, as immoveable as it left the rough print of the coarse brush upon Allston's canvass.

Illustrations.

GOVERNOR RITNER.

Joseph Ritner, who was for some time a member of the legislature of Pennsylvania, and afterwards Governor of that State, was once a bound boy to Jacob Myers, an independent farmer, who brought him up. While he was Governor, there was a celebration of the Fourth of July, at which Mr. Myers gave the following toast: "JOSEPH RITNER: he was always a good boy, and has still grown better; every thing he did, he always did well; he made a good farmer, and a good legislator; and he makes a very good governor." All this man's greatness was the result of his being a good boy.

ROGER SHERMAN.

ROGER SHERMAN, in his public life, always acted so strictly from his own convictions of what was right, that Fisher Ames used to say, if he happened to be out of his seat in Congress when a subject was discussed, and came in when the question was about to be taken, he always felt safe in voting as Mr. Sherman did, "for he always voted right." This was Mr. Sherman's character every where. But, if we enquire how it came to be such, we must go back to his early life.

Mr. Sherman's character was formed upon the principles of the Bible. And, when he was an apprentice, instead of joining in the rude and vulgar conversation, so common among the class to which he then belonged, he would sit at his work with a book before him, devoting every moment to study that his cyes could be spared from the occupation in which he was engaged. When he was twenty-one years of age he made a profession of religion. He was as familiar with theology as he was with politics and law. He read the Bible more than any other book. Always, when he went to Congress, he would purchase a copy of the Bible, at the commencement of the session, to read every day; and when he went home, he would present it to one of his children. Mr. Macon, of Georgia, said of him, that he had more common sense than any man he ever knew. Mr. Jefferson, one day, as he was pointing out to a friend the distinguished men in Congress, said of him, "That is Mr. Sherman, a man who never said a foolish thing in his life." Mr. Sherman was a self-educated man, a shoemaker, and a Christian. He was brought up, after the old New England fashion, in a pious Connecticut family. And, as was the boy, so was the man. If f you would be a good man, you must be a good boy. If you would be a wise man you must be a studious boy. If you would have an excellent character, it must be formed after the model delineated in the Holy Bible. The basis must be a change of heart. The superstructure must be laid up on the principles of God's word.

CHAPTER III.

PIETY, AS THE SPRING OF ACTION, AND REGULATOR OF THE SOUL.

A

WATCH, to one who had never seen such a piece of mechanism before, would be a great wonder. It is an object of much curiosity to the natives of savage and barbarous tribes, visited by the missionaries. It seems to speak and move, as though instinct with life. I have read, somewhere, of a poor savage, who, seeing a white man's watch lying on the ground, and hearing it tick, supposed it to be some venomous reptile, and, with a stone, dashed it in pieces. A watch is an object of no less wonder to a child. Children are full

of curiosity, as my readers well know. They wish to examine every thing they see; to take it in pieces, and see how it is made. I dare say my readers remember the time when they sat on their father's knee, and modestly requested him to show them the little wheels of his watch.

If I could sit down with my young friends, and take my watch in pieces, I would teach them a useful lesson. I would show them how a watch resembles a human being. There is the case, which may be taken off, and put by itself, and still the watch will go as well as ever. In this respect, it is like the human body. Death separates it from the soul and yet the soul remains, with