visions, the prospect of a cheerless waste, over which the wearisome pilgrimage of life must be run, amid blighted hopes, disease, and disappointment.

4. The current of our days may oft-times be compared to the running of a river, rising in beauty, and meandering through meadows and woodlands, gathering strength from a thousand rills, and sporting in the pride of increasing volume-until suddenly it is dashed from rock to rock, and from chasm to chasm, and finally sinks beneath the quicksands and is lost: but not forever.

5. In renovated purity and gentleness it rises again to the surface, and glides calmly along until it mingles with the ocean; thus beautifully prefiguring that glorious resurrection, the assured promise of which, sheds its sustaining influence over the pillow of the expiring christian, robbing even death of its sting, and the grave of its victory.

LESSON VIII.

General Washington's Resignation.

MR. PRESIDENT,

1. THE great events on which my resignation depende 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.

2. 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I accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our cause, the support of the supreme power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven.

3. The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine expectations; and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my countrymen, increases with every review of the momentous contest.

4. While I repeat my obligations to the army in general, I should do injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge, in this place, the peculiar services and distinguished merits of the gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the war.

5. It was impossible the choice of confidential officers to compose my family should have been more fortunate. Permit me, sir, to recommend, in particular, those who nave continued in the service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of congress.

6. I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping.

7. Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action; and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders 1 have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.

G. WASHINGTON.

Dec. 23, 1783.

LESSON IX.

The Hurricane.-AUDUBON.

1. I HAD left Shawneetown, situated on the banks of the Ohio, on my return from Henderson, which is also situated on the banks of the same beautiful stream. The weather was pleasant, and I thought not warmer than usual at that season.

2. My horse was jogging quietly along, and my thoughts were, for once at least in the course of my life, entirely engaged in commercial speculations. I had forded Highland Creek, and was on the eve of entering a tract of bottom land or valley that lay between it and Canoe Creek, when, on a sudden, I remarked a great difference in the aspect of the heavens.

3. A hazy thickness had overspread the country, and I for some time expected an earthquake, but my horse ex

hibited no propensity to stop and prepare for such an occurrence. I had nearly arrived at the verge of the valley, when I thought fit to stop near a brook, and dismount to quench the thirst which had come upon me. I was leaning on my knees with my lips about to touch the water, when, from my proximity to the earth, I heard a distant murmuring sound of an extraordinary nature. I drank, however, and as I rose on my feet, looked towards the southwest, where I observed a yellowish oval spot, the ap pearance of which was quite new to me.

4. Little time was left me for consideration, as the nex moment a smart breeze began to agitate the taller trees It increased to an unexpected height, and already the smaller branches and twigs were seen falling in a slanting direction towards the ground.

5. Two minutes had scarcely elapsed, when the whole forest before me was in fearful motion. Here and there, where one tree pressed against another, a creaking noise was produced, similar to that occasioned by the violent gusts which sometimes swept over the country.

6. Turning instinctively towards the direction from which the wind blew, I saw, to my great astonishment, that the noblest trees of the forest bent their lofty heads for a while, and unable to stand against the blast, were falling into pieces. First, the branches were broken off with a crackling noise; then went the upper part of the massy trunks; and in many places whole trees of gigantic size were falling entire to the ground.

7. So rapid was the progress of the storm, that before I could think of taking measures to ensure my safety, the hurricane was passing opposite the place where I stood.

8. Never can I forget the scene which at that moment presented itself. The tops of the trees were seen moving, in the strangest manner, in the central current of the tempest, which carried along with it a mingled mass of twigs and foliage, that completely obscured the view. Some of the largest trees were seen bending and writhing under the gale; others were suddenly snapped across; and many, after a momentary resistance, fell uprooted to the earth.

9. The mass of branches, twigs. liage, and dust that moved through the air, was whirled onwards like a cloud of feathers, and on passing, disclosed a wide space filled with

OW Y

falen trees, naked stumps, and heaps of shapeless ruins, which marked the path of the tempest.

10. This space was about a fourth of a mile in breadth, and to my imagination resembled the dried up bed of the Mississippi, with its thousands of planters and sawyers, strewed in the sand, and inclined in various degrees.

11. The horrible noise resembled that of the great cata ract of Niagara, and as it howled along in the track of the desolating tempest, produced a feeling in my mind which it is impossible to describe.

LESSON X.

Same Subject Continued.

1. THE principal force of the hurricane was now over, although millions of twigs and small branches, that had been brought from a great distance, were seen following the blast, as if drawn onwards by some mysterious power. They even floated in the air for some hours after, as if sup ported by the thick mass of dust that rose high above the ground.

2. The sky had now a greenish lurid hue, and an extremely disagreeable sulphurous odor was diffused in the atmosphere. I waited in amazement, having sustained no material injury, until nature at length resumed her wonted aspect.

3. For some moments I felt undetermined whether I should return to Morganfield or attempt to force my way through the wrecks of the tempest. My business, however, being of an urgent nature, I ventured into the path of the storm, and after encountering innumerable difficulties, succeeded in crossing it.

4. I was obliged to lead my horse by the bridle, to enable nim to leap over the fallen trees, whilst I scrambled over or under them in the best way I could, at times so hemmed in by the broken tops and tangled branches, as almost to become desperate.

5. On arriving at my house, I gave an account of what I had seen, when to my surprise, I was told that there had been very little wind in the neighborhood, although in the

streets and gardens many branches and twigs had fallen in a manner which excited great surprise. Many wondrous accounts of the devastating effects of this hurricane were circulated in the country after its occurrence. Some log-houses, we were told, had been overturned, and their inmates destroyed.

6. One person informed me that a wire-sifter had been conveyed by the gust to a distance of many miles. Another had found a cow lodged in the forks of a large, half broken

tree.

7. But as I am disposed to relate only what I myself have seen, I shall not lead you into the region of romance, but shall content myself with saying that much damage was done by this awful visitation.

8. The valley is yet a desolate place, overgrown with briars and bushes, thickly entangled amidst the tops and trunks of the fallen trees, and is the resort of ravenous an imals, to which they betake themselves when pursued by man, or after they have committed their depredations or the farms of the surrounding districts.

LESSON XI.

Franklin's first Entrance into Philadelphia.—FRANKLIN. 1. I HAVE entered into the particulars of my voyage, and shall, in like manner, describe my first entrance into this city, that you may be able to compare beginnings so little auspicious with the figure I have since made.

2. On my arrival at Philadelphia, I was in my working dress, my best clothes being to come by sea. I was covered with dirt; my pockets were filled with shirts and stockings; I was unacquainted with a single soul in the place, and knew not where to seek a lodging.

3. Fatigued with walking, rowing, and having passed the night without sleep, I was extremely hungry, and all my money consisted of a Dutch dollar, and about a shilling's worth of coppers, which I gave to the boatmen for my passage. As I had assisted them in rowing, they refused it at first; but I insisted on their taking it.

4. A man is sometimes more generous when he has lit