will be obliged to plan and execute for themselves, in some measure, whatever be the places they occupy. Now, self-reliance is needful in all these circumstances. They cannot act well their parts without it. - We say, then, in conclusion, to the reader-Cultivate as far as possible this excellent trait. You need not be proud, nor too self-confident, in consequence. Neither of these evils results from a properly developed self-reliance. Think for yourself,-act for yourself, depend upon your own personal exertions. Heed the following advice, which the noble Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London during the revolutionary war, wrote to his daughters, whom he had reared in expensive living: "It is my duty to warn you to prepare for the trial of earning your daily bread by your daily labor. Fear not servitude. Encounter it, if it shall be necessary, with the spirit becoming a woman of an honest and pious heart." 26* CHAPTER XXVIII. DECISION. DECISION THE MOON AND HER MOTHER-CONNECTION WITH SELF-RELIANCE ONE of Esop's fables tells us that the Moon once asked her mother to make her a little cloak that would fit her well. "How," replied she, "can I make a cloak to fit you, when you are now a new Moon, and then a full Moon, and then again neither one nor the other?" The fable has an application to many girls; for many are like the Moon, one thing to-day and another to-morrow. Nor is this defect of character peculiar to girls. A large majority of people, old and young, of both sexes, do not possess decision of character. For this reason, many of them make no mark upon the world. No person can accomplish much with out this element of character. It is one of that union of qualities which alone can achieve success; it is the secret spring of self-reliance, just considered. A girl must be decided, if she would depend upon her own exertions to triumph over difficulties. It is equally necessary, too, in the formation of an excellent character. There are so many temptations, so many perplexities and deceptions, so many things to warp or bias opinion and practice, in this world, that it is exceedingly difficult to form a high, virtuous character. Every day and hour decision is necessary. to this end. If Anne, the Princess of Orange, had not possessed this trait, it would never have been said of her: "Her heart was firm and magnanimous, her principles were sure and invariable, her opinions constant, founded upon the laws of God and probity and justice; and nothing could alter or change them. She gained the mastery over her passions - over all their illusions and irregular desires. Her heart abhorred vice, and detested falsehood and cunning. Neither fear nor death itself ever found her weak or pusillanimous." Girls that learn to utter at the proper time a resolute, decided No! have the advantage of the wavering and hesitating class. They are frequently solicited to mingle in amusements of doubtful char acter, and they will yield to the invitation unless decision be a prominent trait. This has been true of many girls who have become vain and worldly. Their instructions and associations from childhood may have been adverse to such worldliness, but they lacked the firm resolve that refuses an invitation, and so were borne away upon the easy tide of pleasure. It requires more decision than many suppose, to refuse the proposals of friendship and kindness at such a time. She who has not been trained to decision of character, is almost sure to yield. This trait is necessary to the proper improvement of time. The love of ease or frivolity may set up its claim for a good share of the time, and it will require no small degree of this element to be able always to resist the temptation. Even to rise early in the morning cannot be steadily accomplished without it. When Miss Lyon had charge of the Mount Holyoke Seminary, she recognized this fact in her plan of making her pupils early risers, an account of which we have as follows: She would say, "Now, young ladies, I want every one of you to fix on an hour for rising for a week to come. Be sure not to fix on too early an hour, for it would not injure your character nearly so much to make a mistake, and decide to rise at six, when you might rise at half-past five without any injury to your health, as to fail of meeting your own appointment." Then she would proceed: " All who have decided on their time of rising for a week, may raise their hands." The undecided would not lift their hands. "You may all rise, then; all means every one. Yes, all are on their feet now. If you have decided on your time of rising, you may take your seat." The narrator says, "The lovers of their own ease and comfort would be left standing, while a large majority of the school were comfortably seated. "As fast as you fix on the hour, you may take your seats," was the curt and effective address to those who were still unable to decide. No one could sit down undecided, without acting a falsehood, which was considered in the school dishonorable, as well as wrong. If any were inclined to stand it out, she was patient with them, and willing to stand as long as they did. When all had signified that the decision was made, they were directed to write down their decision, and hand their papers to her, or keep them till she called for them. One of the first remarks on the succeeding day would be, "How did you succeed, young ladies, about rising? You may all stand. Those who were up this morning at the time they set yesterday, may take their seats." A very large majority would be found to have kept their res |