LESSON LXXXV.

SELF-INSTRUCTION.

1. SELF-CULTURE has called forth the hidden energies of the soul and fitted its votaries to become the pillars and bulwarks of society. It has taught them that man is not a "leaning willow," but a being "noble in reason and infinite in faculties;" that he must not rely wholly on foreign aid, but must task his own powers, and be able fully to measure his own abilities. This resolute spirit, though latent, can, when fanned into a flame, lead him through every trying emergency, and teach him to remove obstacle after obstacle, till the path lies open to the goal of his ambition, the proudest pinnacle of science.

2. In taking a survey of the master-spirits that have at different periods swayed the world, we find the most prominent among them to be those who have risen by their own exertions, and overcome all opposition with their own hands; men who have emerged from obscurity, and by dint of unremitting labor passed every milestone on the high-road to wisdom; men who, deprived of all outward aid, have turned inward to their own understandings, and found a teacher there : a teacher who continually urged them "onward and upward," until the aspirations of that mind which God has made immortal, have impelled them forward to their high and honorable destiny. And all have this teacher, this quenchless spirit, and might have this same unconquerable resolution.

3. Poor-men might, did they choose it, become

Kisas, not of a state or empire, but of the broad dominions of the world of intelligence; they might grasp the sceptre of knowledge and reign in prouder state than does the monarch in his jewelled robes and glittering tiara; for, what diadem so priceless as that of wisdom? They might search the pages of ancient lore, and win many a gem to sparkle in that crown, of which the proudest kings of earth might still be prouder.

4. A life of luxury induces sloth, dims the mental perceptions, and enervates a frame naturally vigorous; while the senses, sharpened by privation, are rendered better capable of deep reflection, and the eye of the soul becomes expanded till its piercing vision can gaze undimmed upon the sparkling treasures of intellect. Learning delights to visit the hut of the backwoodsman as well as the lofty mansion of the citizen; all may drink, yet still her unfailing fountain will be ever full: How sweet is the reward of that mind which can "I have been my own teacher."

say,

5. How much more enjoyment does it know than he who, having all the advantages which learning could bestow, has cast them lightly aside and refused instruction. It feels that the knowledge it has gained is its own, by a right which none can either question or take away. And it knows that the treasures it may have acquired can never be lost or perverted to ignoble purposes, because being obliged to toil for them, it has learned to estimate them at their real value. As no theory can be sustained without illustration, I will point out one from among the mass of numerous instances in which men have risen, by their own exertions, to fill exalted stations in the world of letters→

the self-educated Franklin, the Father of American Science.

6. When a rough, awkward boy, the Governor of New-York, having heard of his uncommon abilities, sent for him in order to test his acquirements, thinking, no doubt, with a very short line, to sound the mind of the untutored "Yankee." In the course of conversation the youthful Franklin quoted Locke, at which the astonished lawgiver started back in amazement. "Locke! and pray, sir, where did you study Locke?" "At home, in a tallow chandler's shop," was the answer. The same persevering spirit which led him to search the secrets of philosophy impelled him forward until science gave into his hand the keys of her power, and "the lightning played harmless at his feet."

LESSON LXXXVI.

WASHINGTON'S RESIGNATION.

THE hour now approached, in which it became necessary for the American chief to take leave of his officers, who had been endeared to him by a long series of common sufferings and dangers. This was done in a solemn manner. The officers having previously assembled for the purpose, General Washington joined them, and "with a heart full of love and gratitude, said, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."

"I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged to you if each will come and take me by the hand." General Knox, being next, turned to him. Incapable of utterance, Washington grasped his hand, and embraced him. The officers came up successively, and he took an affectionate leave of each of them. Not a word was articulated on either side. A majestic silence prevailed. The tear of sensibility glistened in every eye. The tenderness of the scene exceeded all description. When the last of the officers had taken his leave, Washington left the room, and passed through the corps of light infantry to the place of embarkation. The officers followed in a solemn, mute procession, with dejected countenances. On his entering the barge to cross the North River, he turned towards the companions of his glory, and, by waving his hat, bid them a silent adieu. Some of them answered this last signal of respect and affection with tears; and all of them gazed upon the barge, which conveyed him from their sight, till they could no longer distinguish in it the person of their beloved commander-in-chief.

The army being disbanded, Washington proceeded to Annapolis, then the seat of congress, to resign his commission. On his way thither, he, of his own accord, delivered to the comptroller of accounts in Philadelphia, an account of the expenditure of all the public money he had ever received. This was in his own hand-writing, and every entry was made in a very particular manner.

After accounting for all his expenditures of public money, with all the exactness which established forms

required from the inferior officers of his army, he hastened to resign into the hands of the fathers of his country the powers with which they had invested him. This was done in a public audience. Congress received him as the founder and guardian of the republic. While he appeared before them, they silently retraced the scenes of danger and distress, through which they had passed together. They recalled to mind the blessings of freedom and peace purchased by his arm. They gazed with wonder on their fellow-citizen, who appeared more great and worthy of esteem in resigning his power, than he had done in gloriously using it. Every heart was big with emotion. Tears of admiration and gratitude burst from every eye. The general sympathy was felt by the resigning hero, and wet his cheek with a manly tear. After a decent pause, he addressed Thomas Mifflin, the president of congress, in the following words:

"The great events on which my resignation depended having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my sincere congratulations to congress, and of presenting myself before them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country.

"Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable nation, I resign with satisfaction the appointment I accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our