In any discussion relative to the merits of the public schools, remember that universal intelligence is the bulwark of a republic; and if you will have universal suffrage, you must have its antidote, universal education. Now, there is one hour in the day which is sacred in the great city of New York, and which is enough to redeem it from much of its wickedness. As the city bells in the morning toll out the hour of nine, a hundred thousand children are engaged in prayer in more than a hundred lofty buildings; a hundred thousand tongues, with eyes cast upward to the skies, are repeating in solemn, subdued accents, that beautiful prayer to God which our Saviour taught on earth; a hundred thousand voices pour forth a solemn chant in praise of the great Creator who has given them the light of another day; and the sweet music of children's voices in strains of solemn music is more acceptable to heaven than incense thrown from silver censer. There is sublimity in the thought. Ex. 13.- VIRTUE AND POVERTY. - Dickens. T is not easy for a man to speak of his own books. I in mine than I, and if it be a general principle in nature that a lover's love is blind, and that a mother's love is blind, I believe it may be said of an author's attachment to the creatures of his own imagination, that it is a perfect model of constancy and devotion, and is the blindest of all. But the objects and purposes I have had in view are very plain and simple, and may be easily told. I have always had, and always shall have, an earnest and true desire to contribute, as far as in me lies, to the common SELECTIONS IN PROSE. 17 stock of healthful cheerfulness and enjoyment. I have always had, and always shall have, an invincible repugnance to that owl-eyed philosophy which loves the darkness, and winks and scowls in the light. I believe that Virtue shows quite as well in rags and patches, as she does in purple and fine linen. I believe. that she and every beautiful object in external nature claims some sympathy in the breast of the poorest man who breaks his scanty loaf of daily bread. I believe that she goes barefoot as well as shod. I believe that she dwells rather oftener in alleys and by-ways than she does in courts and palaces, and that it is good and pleasant and profitable to track her out and follow her. I believe that to lay one's hand upon some of those rejected ones whom the world has too long forgotten and too often misused, and to say to the proudest and most thoughtless, "These creatures have the same elements. and capacities of goodness as yourselves, they are moulded in the same form, and made of the same clay; and, though ten times worse than you, may, in having retained anything of their original nature amidst the trials and distresses of their condition, be really ten times better,” I believe that to do this is to pursue a worthy and not useless vocation. Ex. 14. - WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY.- Webster. TH HIS day is the anniversary of the birth of Washington. It is celebrated from one end of this land to the other. The whole atmosphere of the country is, this day, full of his praise. The hills, the rocks, the groves, the vales, and the rivers resound with his fame. All the good, whether learned or unlearned, high or low, rich or poor, feel this day that there is one treasure common to them all, and that is the fame of Washington. B They all recount his deeds, ponder over his principles and teachings, and resolve to be more and more guided by them in the future. To the old and the young, to all born in this land, and to all whose preferences have led them to make it the home of their adoption, Washington is an animating theme. Americans are proud of his character. All exiles from foreign shores are eager to join in admiration of him. He is this day, here, everywhere, all over the world, more an object of regard than on any former day since his birth. By his example and under the guidance of his precepts will we and our children uphold the Constitution. Under his military leadership our fathers conquered their ancient enemies, and under the outspread banner of his political and constitutional principles will we conquer now. To that standard we shall adhere, and uphold it under evil report and under good report. We will sustain it, and meet death itself, if it come. We will ever encounter and defeat error, by day and by night, in light or in darkness, — thick darkness, if it come, till "Danger's troubled night is o'er Ex. 15. A DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY. T the foundation of national greatness lies the peculiar genius of each people, the spirit transmitted to them by their ancestors, and modified by the circumstances of soil, climate, education, religion, society. From this point begins all national progress, all the development of spiritual and material existence which is within the reach of a nation's bent and capacity. And in this work it stands alone, and must so stand, and make it worthy to join hands with pires which are strong enough to reach and civil elevation. How bravely has our own country to this end! Born to an inheritance and the greatest opportunities, it has best thought, wearied its most untiring the very earth itself, invaded all oc through seas of blood, for the accomplis mission. This mission stands out gra lishment in the world of the Ameri American Industry, American Law, A American Power, American Genius. Possessed of a theory of governm known and untried, the custodian of in which human rights are sacredly which human equality is a fundame business as a people to Americanize tection beneath our flag, and share with our prosperity. Let England work out and be English still. Let France solv and God grant that she may solve it to of civilization and the gain of human tions learn of one another. Let us hop may unite in a peaceful struggle for th perous civilization in which all the enterprise of which man is capable w recognition. We fear, however, this happy ideal will never be realized. Awaiting it, we must accept man as he is, and nations as they are, believing in the power of all to work out their own salvation. Arrogating to ourselves nothing but the same great opportunity which we would have all enjoy, we are bound by every consideration of national honor and wisdom to see to it that our own interests and industries are developed until our national success shall compel all men to believe in our national design. THE Ex. 16. - THE SOUTH. HE South, the bright, sunny South, the illustrious birthplace of Washington and Jackson,the native land of the orange, the magnolia, and the mocking-bird, where harsh winter never comes, and where cool and gentle sea-breezes forever fan the summer days! Her soil never wearies in fertility, her temperature never repels productive nature, her rivers stretch unfrozen in quiet magnificence to the sea, and her commerce is floated on almost every side by the murmuring ripples of the ocean wave. Who that has ever sojourned within her borders does not fondly remember the ancient hospitality of her people, the plenty and beauty of her productions, and the exhilarating influence of her genial climate? And who can now turn to her romantic history without feelings of admiration, pity, and kindness? Who does not love her the more for all the trials she has passed, and for the splendid future before her? Though the desolation of war swept over her social fabric, though her fences were broken down, her fields given up to rank weeds, her houses burned, her families and kindred broken up and dispersed, yet bravely and |