That a refined classical education is a desirable and high accomplishment, I admit; that it is indispensably necessary, and always renders a man more useful, I deny. The man who has been incarcerated from his childhood up to his majority within the limited circumference of his school-room and boarding-house, although he may have mastered all the sciences of the books, cannot have acquired that knowledge of men and things necessary to prepare him for action in private or public life. Polite literature is _one_ thing, useful knowledge, fit for every day use, is _another_, and of vital importance. By proper application a man may obtain both, and that without entering college. The field is open to all, especially under a republican form of government. Franklin and Sherman, both humble mechanics, became finished scholars and profound philosophers without the aid of collegiate professors. I do not design to deteriorate the usefulness of high seminaries of learning, but to stimulate those who have native talent and cannot enjoy their advantages, to imitate the examples of those who have risen to high stations of honour and distinction by the force of their own exertions, unaided by these dazzling lights. Among the self taught men of our country the name of WILLIAM WHIPPLE stands conspicuous. He was the eldest son of William Whipple, and born at Kittery, Maine, in 1730. He was educated in a common English school, where he was taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and navigation. These branches he mastered at an early age, and was then entered as a cabin boy on board of a merchant vessel, which was in accordance with the wishes of his father and his own inclination. Before he arrived at the age of twenty-one years, he rose to the station of captain and made several successful voyages to Europe. Some writers have attempted to cast a stigma upon his character at that era of his life, because, in a few instances, he participated in the slave trade. If they will learn the general feeling that pervaded the minds of a large proportion of the civilized community at that time upon this subject, their anathemas will vanish in thin air. The trade was then sanctioned by the king of Great Britain, under whose government captain Whipple acted, and, according to the English law, _the king can do no harm_. The correctness of the principle was not then disputed or agitated generally, and the trade was ingrafted in the commercial policy of the mother country. That Captain Whipple became convinced upon reflection of the unjustness and barbarity of the traffic, fully appears from his subsequent acts. At the commencement of the revolution he manumitted the only slave he owned, who adhered to his old master during the war, and fought bravely for our liberties. If every man is to be condemned for the errors of youth, whose riper years are crowned with virtue, the list of fame will be robbed of many bright constellations.