dence, and to animate us with the prospect of an eternity of still perfecting and ennobling existence.

LESSON XXXIV.

Anecdotes of Washington.

In his fifteenth year, Washington had so strong a desire to be actively employed, that he applied for a place as a midshipman in the English navy (for our country was then under the government of Great Britain), and succeeded in obtaining it.

Full of youthful expectations of enjoyment in a new scene, he prepared ardently to engage in it, when he became convinced that, by doing so, he would severely wound the heart of an anxious parent; and, with a true spirit of heroism, he denied himself, and, in obedience to the command, "Honor thy mother," he gave up his fondly-cherished plan, and yielded his own inclination to promote her comfort.

Thus, while his manly superiority to companions of his own age caused admiration, his filial tenderness was an example to them of compliance with the direction which is given to children in the word of God.

The faithful wife of Washington had no family to need her care at home, and when he was absent, and deprived of its comforts, that home was cheerless to her. When it was possible, she was with him to share his hardships, and endeavor to contribute to cheer his sad prospects by her attentions, and expressions of calm, firm confidence, that better days would soon come.

At the hut-camp, in Valley Forge, in 1778, his table was furnished with no better food than could be procured for his troops, and his wife then shared his hard bread and few potatoes. Her willingness to do so, and her cheerful conduct, assisted to enliven the desponding, and encourage those who were cast down.

Through the trying scenes of the long contest, the American women proved that they possessed patriotic feelings,

by doing all in their power to aid their fathers and husbands in the defence of their country.

In the performance of his duties, afterwards, as president, Washington set an example of punctuality, and, by the strictest regard to it, in the smallest as well as the greatest concerns, gave a plain and excellent lesson on the value of time and importance of truth.

In making an appointment, he named the exact time, that not one moment might be wasted in the idleness which uncertainty, in this respect, often occasions. All his promises were given with the "lip of truth;" therefore he was punctual, to a moment, in performing them.

He required punctuality in every member of his household, and was once heard to say to a visitor, who had come late to dinner, "Our cook never asks if the company has come, but if the hour has come." He had fixed on a convenient hour for members of congress, and other invited guests, to dine with him, and, being careful to have the clock, which stood in his entry, exactly right, he allowed five minutes for the difference in clocks and watches, and after that time did not wait for any person.

If some forgetful or lagging guest came after the time, the president usually made some such remark as "We are too punctual for you." When congress met in Philadelphia, he appointed the hour of twelve for attending and delivering his speeches to them; and he always entered the state-house, where congress sat, when the state-house clock was striking the hour.

The president, during his residence in Philadelphia, was at times so much engaged, that he could not allow himself Itime to take any other exercise than a walk to his watchmaker's, in Second street, to regulate his watch by the time-piece. Mothers, who felt the value of what he had done for their children, watched for the hour in which it was usual for him to pass, and then brought out their children to show Washington to them.

When the boys in the street saw him, they used to cry out, "Here comes Washington! here comes Washington!" They seldom called him president; Washington was a far dearer name and he usually increased their delight by noticing them with a kind smile, giving them his hand, or taking the little children up in his arms.

*

When he could be absent from the city for a few hours, without neglecting a duty, he enjoyed a visit to judge Peters, at his home, on the Schuylkill, a few miles distant from Philadelphia. In the cultivated ground there, he planted a nut, which has grown into a thriving chestnuttree, and is cherished with great care.

He was fond of riding on horseback, and, one day in the winter, when the river Delaware was frozen, so that loaded sleds passed over it, he crossed into Jersey, to enjoy a ride in the leafless woods. On his return, he found, at Cooper's ferry, a farmer with a sled-load of wood just going on the ice.

The president stopped his horse, to let the farmer pass on before him. But the farmer, who knew Washington, also stopped, and, stepping up to him, said, respectfully, "Sir, do you think it is right for you to run the risk of crossing theriver on the ice?" "Why, my friend," said the president, "I think, if you can pass over with your sled-load of woodwithout breaking through, I have no reason to be afraid." "Ah," replied the farmer, "if I, and a dozen like me, should fall through and be drowned, we should hardly be missed; but the country cannot do without you, sir." Well, go first, then," said Washington, "and I think, if the ice does not break, with your load and horses, I can then pass. it without danger."

The farmer moved on without delay, being, no doubt, well pleased to serve Washington as a guide, and to watch for the preservation of a life he valued so highly.

LESSON XXXV.

The Tea-Plant.

TEA is a native of China and Japan, and has been cultivated, and in common use, in those countries, from the remotest antiquity. The shrub attains the height of five or six feet, and is branching and ever green.

Tea was hardly known in Europe before the middle of the seventeenth century, but now has become an article of such commercial importance in that portion of the globe, as to employ more than fifty thousand tons of shipping, in

the transportation of it from Canton. Still, so vast is the home consumption, that it is alleged, that were Europeans to abandon the commerce altogether, the price would not be much diminished in China.

It appears to be cultivated in all parts of China, even in the vicinity of Pekin, which is in the same latitude as Philadelphia, and has a very similar climate. The plants require little further care than that of removing the weeds, till the third year, when the leaves may be gathered. In seven years, the plant has attained the height of six feet; but, as they bear few leaves, they are trimmed down, and then produce a great number of new leaves.

The leaves are plucked off, one by one, with many precautions; and only from four to fifteen pounds are collected in a day. In a district. in Japan, where the tea-plant is cultivated with peculiar care, the first gathering takes place at the end of the winter, when the leaves are young and tender, and are only a few days old; these, on account of their scarcity and dearness, are reserved for the wealthy, and called the imperial tea.

The second gathering is at the beginning of spring, when some leaves have attained their full size, and others are only expanding; all are gathered promiscuously, and afterwards sorted: the youngest, especially, are separated with great care, and often sold for the imperial.

The third and last gathering takes place toward the middle of summer; the leaves are now fully expanded, of inferior quality, and are reserved for the common people.

The tea-leaves, being gathered, are cured in houses. which contain from five to ten or twenty small furnaces, about three feet high, each having at the top a large, flat, iron pan. There is also a long, low table, covered with mats, on which the leaves are laid, and rolled by workmen, who sit round it. The iron pan being heated to a certain degree, by a little fire made in the furnace beneath, a few pounds of the fresh-gathered leaves are put upon the pan ; the fresh and juicy leaves crack when they touch the pan, and it is the business of the operator to shift them as quickly, as possible with his bare hands, till they become too hot to be easily endured.

At this instant he takes them off with a shovel resembling a fan, and pours them on the mats; other operators, now, taking small quantities at a time, roll them in the palm

of their hands in one direction, while a third set are fanning them, that they may cool the more speedily, and retain their color the longer.

This process is repeated two or three times, or oftener, before the tea is put into the stores, in order that all the moisture may be thoroughly dissipated, and their curl more completely preserved. On every operation the pan is less heated, and the operation performed more closely and cautiously. The tea is then separated into the different kinds, and deposited in the store for use. That which is brought down to Canton undergoes a second roasting, winnowing, packing, &c., and many hundred women are employed for these purposes.

The different sorts of green and black tea arise not merely from soil, situation, or the age of the leaves, but, after winnowing the tea, the leaves are taken up in succession as they fall; those nearest the machine, being the heaviest, are the gunpowder tea.

The black teas, usually imported by Europeans and Americans, are, beginning with the lowest qualities, bohea, congo, campo, souchong, pouchong, pekoe; the green teas are twankay, hyson skin, young hy son, hyson, imperial, and gunpowder.

Most of the attempts to cultivate the tea-plant in foreign

countries have met with little success. Within the last few years, however, considerable efforts have been made, by the Dutch government of Java, to produce tea in that island, with the assistance of Chinese cultivators, with some prospect of success, and the experiment has been made to propagate the tea-shrub in Brazil, also with the aid of Chinese laborers.

LESSON XXXVI.

Order in Study.-H. F. BURDER.

LET your plan of study, and the arrangement for the distribution of your time, be judiciously formed, and prosecuted with the utmost diligence and punctuality.

The beneficial effect of order and regularity in the discharge of engagements, especially when a variety of objects