sense;" and defended the election very strongly; saying, his father had made choice of it for him, and that the person with whom he was to learn the business, was well esteemed by all his neighbours. "But what do you intend to be, Benjamin?" West answered that he had not thought much on the subject, but that he should like to be a painter. "A painter!" exclaimed the boy, "what sort of a trade is a painter?-I never heard of such a thing!" "A painter," said West, "is a companion for kings and emperors."

66

Surely you are mad," replied the boy, "for there are no such people in America." "Very true," replied Benjamin; "but there are plenty in other parts of the world." His companion, still more amazed at the apparent absurdity of this speech, reiterated, in a tone of greater surprise: "You are surely quite mad!" To this the enthusiast replied, by asking him if he really intended to be a tailor. "Most certainly," answered the other.

"Then you may ride by yourself, for I will no longer keep your company!" said West; and jumping off the horse, he immediately returned home.

Henry. Oh, what vanity! Then he thought himself too superior to ride with a tailor, who, though he did not possess so much genius, might have been equally amiable with himself. Was it not vanity, mamma?

Mamma.

Rather call it pride, my dear. Vanity and pride are distinct qualities: the former implies a wish for the good opinion of others, while the latter signifies a good opinion of one's own capabilities. The praise and commendation which little Benjamin had received, and the consciousness of his own talents and genius, probably gave rise to a feeling in his juvenile hours, which, in more mature years, he had the good sense entirely to overcome. The report of this incident, with the affair of the picture which had occasioned his absence from school and

visit to Philadelphia, made a great impression on the boys in the neighbourhood of Springfield. All their accustomed sports were neglected, and their playhours devoted to drawing with chalk and ochre. The young president was allowed by every body to be the most expert among them; but he has frequently since remarked, that, according to his recollection, many of his companions evinced a degree of taste and skill in this exercise, that would not have discredited the students of any regular academy.

Henry. I should like to have been at that school. It would have been so delightful to try to outdo the rest of the boys. I wonder what formed the chief subjects of their sketches.

Louisa. I think you have a great many useless wishes, Henry. You wished, the other evening, that you had gone to Harrow School, when Sir William Jones was there, for the sake of acting Xerxes or Alexander the Great; and now you wish

you had gone to school in North America, for the sake of drawing in chalk and ochre, which you can do just as well at home, whenever you please.

Henry. I am very happy in my own comfortable home, with you, and papa, and mamma; though I do sometimes amuse myself with useless wishes, as you call them. Not quite useless, either; for I can endeavour to emulate the boys at Springfield, and the boys at Harrow, in their various pursuits, in idea, instead of in reality; and that will do just as well, will it not, mamma?

Mamma. It is quite right to practise the means by which you may add to your store of knowledge, my dear boy, or make an advance in any of your pursuits: the habit of constant exertion is of great consequence, and, if once broken, would soon cease to exist. But to return to the subject of my little history. Not far from the residence of Mr. West, a cabinet

maker had a shop, in which Benjamin sometimes amused himself with the tools of the workmen. One day, several large and beautiful boards of poplar-tree were brought to it; and he happening to observe that they would answer very well for drawing on, the owner gave him two or three of them for that purpose, and he drew figures and compositions on them with ink, chalk, and charcoal. Mr. Wayne, a gentleman of the neighbourhood, having soon after occasion to call at his father's, noticed the boards in the room, and was so much pleased with the drawings, that he begged the young artist to allow him to take two or three of them home; which, as they were but little valued by their owner, was thought no great favour, and most readily agreed to. Next day Mr. Wayne called again, and after commending Benjamin's skill, gave him a dollar for each of the boards which he had taken away, and was resolved to preserve. Another gentleman, who re