kleness--independence of
character--contentment--the old black sheep. 115

CHAPTER X.

RELIGION.--Religious knowledge--the Sabbath--early piety
recommended--uncertainty of life. 124

ANECDOTES FOR BOYS.

CHAPTER I.

THE BOY MAKES THE MAN.

A man's character is formed early in life. There may be some exceptions.
In some instances, very great changes take place after a person has
grown to manhood. But, even in such cases, many of the early habits of
thought, feeling, and action still remain. And sometimes, we are
disappointed in the favorable appearances of early life. Not
unfrequently the promising boy, in youth or early manhood, runs a rapid
race downward in the road to ruin. All the promising appearances failed,
because they were not formed upon religious principle and a change of
heart. But, as a general rule, show me the _boy_, and I will show you
the _man_. The following cases afford illustrations of this principle.

_Benedict Arnold._

I suppose all my readers have heard of Benedict Arnold, the traitor; and
of his attempt to betray his country into the hands of the British,
during the Revolutionary War. His name is a by-word in the mouth of
every lover of liberty in the land. But there are few that know how he
came to be such a character. When we come to learn his early history we
feel no more surprise. His father was an intemperate man; and at an
early age, Benedict was placed with an apothecary, in Norwich,
Connecticut, his native town. His master soon discovered in him the most
offensive traits of character. He seemed to be entirely destitute of
moral principle, and even of conscience. He added to a passionate love
of mischief a cruel disposition and a violent, ungovernable temper. He
had no sympathy with any thing that was good. His boyish pleasures were
of the criminal and unfeeling cast. He would rob the nests of birds, and
mangle and maim the young ones, that he might be diverted by their
mother's cries. He would throw broken pieces of glass into the street,
where the children passed barefooted, that they might hurt their feet.
He would persuade the little boys to come round the door of his shop,
and then beat them with a horse-whip. All this showed a malicious
disposition, and great hardness of heart. He hated instruction and
despised reproof; and his master could not instil into his mind any
religious or moral principles, nor make