At this point closes the boyhood of Napoleon. He is no longer a scholar of fortune, fighting his way up from obscurity, but a lieutenant in that army of Frenchmen whose glory has sounded through the world. He now lays aside the humble garb of the student, and assumes the military costume of an officer, -the heavy boots, the cocked hat, the buttoned coat, and epaulettes. There was much in the position to which Napoleon had now attained to flatter the pride, and satisfy the ambition, of a youth of seventeen, and it is feared that there are few who would not have considered their education complete, that the object of their strife was now attained, and that they might give themselves up to the ease and enjoyment which their positions, as officers, would yield. But this honor was far from satisfying the ambition of Napoleon.

His habits of study had been laborious and austere; he labored with indefatigable zeal; he made vast acquirements; he was petted and flattered; and his company was sought by some of the first literary men in the world. But there was yet more that he wished to learn; and, when he was ordered, with his regiment, to Lyons, no sooner were the troops quartered, than he sought out a room

where he could be secure from interruption, and renewed those habits of laborious study which he had been accustomed to while at school. Instead of parading the streets, to show off his plume and his epaulettes to the young and admiring, he bent as steadily to his tasks as he had done previous to his promotion.

The education of Napoleon teaches the world one useful lesson, one which our youth especially need to learn. We are apt, in pursuing a course of study, to dally and procrastinate. Some one has said that man is naturally indolent, as lazy as he can be.' At no time in life do we yield so readily to ease as during the period of mental and physical growth, and this is the time usually allotted to study. Tasks to be wrought out by brain-work look formidable, and we often shrink from them on very slight pretexts. Not so with Napoleon. He shrunk from no tasks; he left no duty undone; and he has shown the world the virtue of working while the day lasts. Had Napoleon known his destiny from the outset, he could not have labored more faithfully in preparation for its accomplishment. This example speaks, to every one who hopes to be a leader in the world, "Go thou and do likewise."

In concluding this survey of the boyhood of Napoleon, there are some reflections, which naturally flow from the subject, that may be of interest to us, as teachers who have much to learn, and whose business it is to direct the education of others. If the mariner, on an unknown sea, can pick up the chart of a fellow navigator, who sailed those seas before him, he feels a degree of assurance that he can go forward in his voyage in safety. The education of Napoleon was a success. It is not often that we know the history of one so triumphant. There are some important lessons to be drawn from it.

From the beginning, the probabilities of success were all against him. He was a poor boy, an orphan, and a foreigner, unable to speak the French language, and without influential friends to advocate his cause. There were only twelve of the military schools in a population of thirty millions. The number of applicants would naturally be great, and the sons of the rich and powerful would be most likely to succeed in obtaining the place. The same motives and influences would operate against his advancement to the school at Paris, where the difficulties would be still greater, on account of the aristocratic and exclusive style in which it was established.

But, notwithstanding the apparent obstacles that stood in his way, he invariably triumphed over them, and the merit of his triumphs is due to himself. He won his way from one position to another, because he first deserved the promotions. He was sent from the humble island of Corsica to the school at Brienne, because the culture he had already acquired attracted the attention of the governor, and convinced him that the boy would honor the place. Again, he is selected as one of the three, from among all his associates, for a place in the highest school at Paris; and here he is promoted, because of his great proficiency in his studies, and the unusual maturity of his mind. When we become familiar with his history during those five years, we feel satisfied that, if the selection were made according to merit, the choice wisely fell upon Napoleon. At the age of fifteen, that very critical period in the life of youth, when most boys are "sowing their wild oats," we find him the companion of philosophers and sages. Without any other influence to recommend him or secure an introduction to the company of the learned, than that which his own intelligence had created for him, he wins his way to the best of French society. A foreigner, and of obscure birth, though he be, and in the midst of the nobility, who are ever inclined to look upon those beneath them with contempt, he is welcomed with open hands to their circles, because his good sense and great learning made him the light and ornament of any society which he chose to grace. And, finally, at an age when most young men are thinking about beginning their education, he is examined by some of the first scholars that the world has ever produced, is pronounced a proficient, and is recommended for appointment as an officer in the army. We feel satisfied, when we read this account, that there was no favoritism or under-current influence, to which he owed his advancement, for the poor boy had no means of securing such interests in his behalf, but that he received his just deserts.

In this simple recital of the fortunes of this obscure boy, we witness the happy issue of a faithful discharge of duty. It is the most complete and triumphant illustration of the success which follows unremitting studiousness that we have on record. He is noted for being a bright boy, because he has improved the feeble talents of childhood, and has got a little more knowledge than

other boys of his age. He moves among his fellow students, inspiring their veneration for him as a prodigy of learning, because he toiled when they slept, and he meditated when they squandered their time. He acquired the respect and friendship of his superiors in knowledge and years, because he had diligently pursued those researches, in which well-cultivated minds delight. And those habits of study and toil, which we see rewarded with success, in the boyhood of Napoleon, are the habits that will be rewarded with success in any boy of fair ability. There is no well directed exertion which does not, sooner or later, bear its proper fruits. This law of toil and recompense holds good in the physical world, in business, but especially is its veracity vindicated in the history of distinguished scholarship. There is no man of ordinary mental endowments, who can possibly fail of becoming eminent as a scholar, if he puts forth eminent exertions.

EDUCATION IN BRAZIL.

BY REV J. C. FLETCHER, AUTHOR OF "BRAZIL AND THE BRAZILIANS."

THE education of the Brazilian boy is better than that of his sister. There is, however, a great deal of superficiality. He is made a "little old man " before he is twelve years of age, having his stiff, black silk hat, standing collar, and cane; and, in the city, he walks along as if every body were looking at him, and as if he were encased in corsets. He does not run, or jump, or trundle hoop, or throw stones, as boys in Europe and North America. At an early age, he is sent to a collegio, where he soon acquires the French language, and the ordinary rudiments of an education in the Portuguese. Though his parents reside in the city, he boards in the collegio, and only on certain occasions does he see his father or mother. He learns to write a "good hand," which is a universal accomplishment among the Brazilians, and most of the boys of the higher classes are good musicians, because adepts in the Latin, and many of them are taught to speak English with