impurity and crime. In our populous cities thousands of youthful women have fallen from virtue into loathsome vice to save themselves from starvation. Deprived of the friends upon whom they have leaned, and unable to rely upon their own exertions for maintenance, they have yielded to the solicitations of the seducer as the last resort. Had they possessed that self-reliance which proves best when most needed, and that decision which is usually found in conjunction with it, they might have been saved. Lacking this, they fell before the destroyer.

But, though girls may not experience such trials as we have described, self-reliance is still an indispensable possession. It is necessary to a complete development of character. By-and-by these girls will occupy more responsible positions in society. Instead of being led, they will lead others. They 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 readerCultivate 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 labour. Fear not servitude. Encounter it, if it shall be necessary, with the spirit becoming a woman of an honest and pious heart."

CHAPTER XXIX.

DECISION.

The Moon and her Mother.-Connection with Self-reliance.
-Princess of Orange.-Girls that say "No."-Decision
Necessary to the Improvement of Time.-How Mary
Lyon Taught Pupils Decision.-Temptation to Waste
Time in Bed.
Mary Lyon's Conduct Towards
Young Men of Doubtful Character.-Decision of Ruth.
-Not Impossible to Cultivate It.--The Father who
could not Decide for which Son to Die.-Remark of
William Wirt.

ΟΝ

NE of Æsop'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 her 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 character, and they will yield to the invitation unless decision be a prominent trait.

This has been true of many girls who have bccome 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 recognised 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."