White Sulphur papers; or, Life at the springs of Western Virginia

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74 WHITE SULPHUR PAPERS.
it is verified in the history of this country, and one
of those very boys may be our future president.
Who were once the leading statesmen of the present
day, and our great men in congress ?
Among
the many instances of self made men, there is one
who has been known in the councils at Washington,
and much respected for his
character and services.
I have heard him tell his own story—how
he wandered when a boy, from some where in Pennsylvania,
I think, barefooted, and almost without
clothes, begging his way, as he went along, and
swinging to the ends of wagons, with n :> capital but
youth and a light heart, not knowing a letter of the
alphabet, or the meaning of a book.
How one day, overtaking a wagon which had
stalled in the road, and which by his proffered assistance
was released, the owner patting him on the
shoulder said, ' 'Be of cheer, my little man, you'll be
a general some of these days."
This he remembered
through Hfe.
He found his way to Ohio, and by chopping wood
and clearing the forest, he made a little money
finding a stray newspaper one day, he became possessed
with a strong desire to learn to read, and
after the age of twenty-five he came to know his
letters.
He was made a general, verifying the prediction
of the teamster—was sent to the legislature,