public schools, and private academies, be requested to educate their pupils in the fear and abhorrence of this disagreeable and savage custom.

"Resolved-That a press be established in this city to disseminate the principles of this meeting.

"Resolved-That a petition be presented to congress, that a law be passed rendering the wearing of whiskers and mustachios sufficient ground for a criminal prosecution. "Resolved-That our fellow citizens in different parts of the states and the world, be requested to unite with us in organizing societies, establishing newspapers, disseminating pamphlets, delivering orations, and forming schools, with the view of arresting the progress of this pernicious evil, so inimical to the morals of the community, and so likely to bring us to ruin.

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Resolved-That the thanks of this meeting be presented to the president and secretary, and that these proceedings be published.

MISS ROSY MOUTH, Chairman. MASTER MINIKIN, Secretary.

The meeting then adjourned sine die, and the citizens dispersed quietly, without any riot as had been expected.

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CHOOSING A PROFESSION.

My son," said Mr. Lewis, to a young gentleman of eighteen, who had just graduated from college, “it is time for you to think about some method of supporting yourself. I have made my fortune by perseverance, and you may easily do the same. Your sisters must be

educated; little Bob must occupy much of my care, in order that I may fit him, as I have done you, to act an honorable part in the world, and to perform your duties, as a citizen and a man, with comfort and credit to yourself and me."

Charles looked up at this stately harangue, and opened his eyes with something of astonishment. He knew his father was rich, and he had always been the darling

object of his affections. A plentiful supply of pocket money had sent him through the adventures incidental to a college life with considerable eclat, and it might have been doubted whether he appropriated to himself more renown for the really honorable manner in which he had concluded his studies, or for the number of rakish and elegant young men whom he named among his bosom friends, and in whose enterprises he generally acted a distinguished part. He dressed with considerable style. He had been presented with a splendid watch, which he wore in his vest pocket, secured by a golden chain passing around his neck, and falling in graceful folds upon his bosom. If he did not own a horse, his particular friend, Mr. Cooper, the livery stable keeper, usually supplied him with the fastest trotter on the road, so that Charles Lewis prided himself upon being a buck of the first order, and as such was known and respected among all the dashers about town. He readily adapted himself to the necessities of his situation; smoked his segar, and drank his brandy and water with an approved air, and kept his own queue at the city hotel billiard table, where he pocketed the most difficult balls, to the wonder and admiration of every beholder. The cut of his coat was observed, and the style of his cravat imitated; till, at length, he arrived at such a height of distinction that nothing was more common among the inexperienced and aspiring orders of our fashionable youth, than to hear his slang quoted with the flattering addition of "as Charles Lewis says." With the ladies, he was a prodigious favorite, His graceful bow, his arch wit, the ingenuous and insinuating quality of his conversation, the rustling of his velvet vest, and the flashing of his ruby ring, insensibly won the hearts of his fair acquaintance; so that more diffident, and, perhaps, more sensible persons, who had nothing to recommend them but solid acquirements and unassuming virtue, were completely eclipsed in his presence; as some little star that had at first shed down a trembling light upon the world is lost in the broader radiance of the rising moon.

And yet Charles had a heart full of generous feeling, a mind highly cultivated, and talents sufficient to raise him to eminence.

When his father spoke, the youth regarded him with. some degree of surprise, and said,

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Well, sir, I am always ready to do whatever you wish, and will commence any thing, at the time you appoint."

"Well, that's right, my boy, that's right," observed Mr. Lewis; "but you must choose, and not I. I will never restrain my children after their years of discretion, in the pursuit of their own reasonable desires."

"But what should you prefer?" inquired Charles. "Let me have the benefit of your experience."

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Why, as for me," answered Mr. Lewis, with a satisfied air, "I have, as you know, pursued the mercantile business with a good deal of success. I have enjoyed my life as well as most men; and, although when I began, I entered as a clerk in the house of C. H. & Co., you see I have made my living, supported my family, and built this house. I own lots in town and at Harlæm; I have fifty thousand dollars in the bank, and am annually laying up more; and my health is as good as it was when I used to sweep my master's floor, trim the lamps, open and shut the windows, and get his letters from the post office."

Charles thought a moment, and the last words sounded dolefully in his ears. "Sweep my master's floor. trim his lamps, get his papers out of the post office! What would C. and P. and D. say, to see me sweeping my master's floor, and going home from the post office with a bundle of letters and newspapers under my

arm ?"

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Why, father, I think I should never make a merchant. Commerce is a trade calculated rather to contract than expand a man's mind; it consists only in ingenious inventions to outwit others, and I should not like to waste my thoughts upon cotton and stocks, with no other object than to make money. I confess that existence

He had struck into one of his pet compositions and might have enlightened the world with many other elegant sentiments upon commerce, but his father, who loved him, and who, having neglected to acquire a classical education himself, had conceived something of an

idea of his son's qualifications and prospects, interrupt

ed him.

"Well, Charles, no force. We'll try another. What say you to the law?"

"Oh, sir, worse and worse. Why, sir, the community is already inundated with torrents of young lawyers, and every annual examination washes over us a new wave of busy, managing fellows, who do not make enough to pay for their pepper. Beside, sir, you must sacrifice your health in long and dry study, and waste your days amid the passion, poverty, and distress of your fellow creatures; gleaning a livelihood from the earning of other men's labor, and often without the consolation of having rendered any service. The uncertainties, the delays, the drudgery of the law, are worse than sweeping the floor, that is, than dealing in cotton."

"You are hard to please, Charles, but must be the best judge of your own feelings. How do you like physic?"

"Like physic, sir? Why, not at all

"I mean the study of physic, or medicine, you dog. You must not quiz me, Charles."

"Oh, sir," answered Charles, laughing, "your horrors increase upon me in geometrical progression. Medicine is what, of all things, I abhor. I have no faith in doctors. I believe they kill as many as they save. I always hated medicine since I read of Dr. Sangrado. When all nature is bright and beautiful, and the flowers are breathing, and the birds are singing; when the blue sky is shining over my head, the fields covered with rich clover, and the shady woods echoing with the dashing of brooks, I should have to fill my pockets with epicac and rheubarb, and sneak into the dark, close, melancholy chamber of the sick and dying, to lose my appetite, my spirits, and even my life, when, perhaps, death would at length snatch my patient from me, leaving me to be paid for my fruitless skill; or when my victim had escaped, by flinging my prescriptions out of the window."

"You talk like a boy," said Mr. Lewis, smiling at the volubility of his hopeful son. "You cannot live for ever in the woods, and you are, I hope, too proud to be

an idler all your life. Every profession may be misrepresented and abused; and, on the contrary, from every one, the honest and industrious man may reap profit and fame. I think your talents and education fit you for the pulpit-Well, well, you need not speak. I see by your face, that you have a harangue ready against that too. I will give you time to reflect. These things should never be done in a hurry. Next week, or week after next, we'll talk it over again. So come along, Charles, to dinner; prepare to be something or other— and be great, my son, what ever you are.'

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The worthy parent seized his hat and cane, and meeting an old crony, they departed together, in earnest conversation on the state of the market, notwithstanding the lofty ideas of Master Charles upon the subject, who was thus left alone.

He remained a moment in deep silence, resting his forehead upon his hand. On a sudden he rose and stretched out his arm, lifted his eyes to heaven in the attitude of Forrest, in the character of Tell, and broke out into the following words:

up his figure, and "I will be great

"Yes, I will be great. My fame shall reach across the ocean and I will be rich without bounds. But I will not be great as other men are, nor will I amass money by mean bargains." He drew folded his arms proudly on his breast. as Kean, Kemble, Garrick, and Talma. I'll fling new light upon the divine Shakspeare. The world shall hear of me; and my name shall throng box, pit, and gallery, and my appearance shake the foundation of the mighty dome. I will dispel the bigoted prejudice which is attached to that slandered profession; and, by the strength of my integrity, and the force of my genius, I will-"

He was cut short in his modest soliloquy by the entrance of his acquaintance, the costumer, whose business it was to make dresses for the actors, and who professed to fit them all with the various garments of king, clown, and beggar, in most elegant style, and on the most reasonable terms.

"Ha!" exclaimed Charles. "The very man I wish to see; though, five minutes ago, I would as lief have seen the devil. The old man has been advising me to choose a profession; and, after having taken me, in