CHAPTER II.

Birth of the author-Diminutive stature-Tenacity of early impressionsDeplorable consequences of a wrong education-First schools-Learns the alphabet in one day-School books-Proficiency-School teacherSpecimen of pronunciation-First spelling book; Dilworth's; Perry's; Webster's-Goes from home to live--Commits to memory the third chap. of Matt.-Eldest brother goes to Ohio-His return-Death of youngest brother, and feelings on the occasion-Father puts eldest brother in possession of all his property-Discontent-Subsequent course--Goes an apprentice to a blacksmith-Health declines-State of health-Hypochondria-Strange phantasma-Health improves-Stature and weight-Commences study of arithmetic--Proficiency--Religious convictions--Thoughts turned toward an education-Academy--Importunes his father for his freedom-Obtains it-Resolution-Habit of profane swearing-Cause of reform-Hires out to labor-Wages-Goes to Vermont-Enters as clerk in a store-Goes to Boston with a drove--Returns to New Salem-Goes to a common school-First term at the Academy.

My mother had seven children, four sons and three daughters. They ranged in the following order: Rufus, Anna, Ezekiel, Martha, Nathaniel, Mary, and Michael. The youngest died at the age of seven years; the others were all living at the commencement of the year 1844. But ere the earth had completed her armual circuit, two of them, my second brother and second sister, slept in death. The third son is the subject of these memoirs. And-reader, can you believe it? -as I have been informed, nothing extraordinary took place at his birth-no lambent flame played round his infant head, presaging future greatness-no wonderful phenomenon was visible in the planetary universe; but his birth-place was a log cabin-all was still, and nature kept on in her wonted course peacefully and as undisturbed as though nothing more than a common personage had been introduced on this mundane sphere! Nor have I ever been informed that there was any

early development of intellectual genius, or greatness; or that any thing peculiarly characterized his youth, except his di minutive stature, which argued poorly for his future usefulness. I have heard my mother-who was herself of very small stature say, that the fore part of the first pair of breeches she made for me, measured the exact length of her middle finger! Dreary, indeed, must my future prospect in life have been, in the view of my parents and friends. Of what use could such a pigmy be in the world? But to me it produced no concern. I was full of life and glee; and, I presume, a very wayward and roguish child. Indeed, I have been so told; and I can well remember the chidings and corrections of my poor mother, whose heart, no doubt, I have often made bleed by my waywardness. I possessed, I suppose, what phrenologists would call a sanguine, nervous physical temperament— was as light and volatile as air, as nimble as a cat, and as passionate as a wasp; but incapable of retaining my resentment long, or meditating revenge-I could strike and kiss the same moment. And, attracting the notice of every body who saw me, by the smallness of my stature, I became talkative and saucy to every one. O, what a mistake do many well-meaning people make, by talking to such children-by applauding their roguish tricks, and encouraging their boldness and impudence. They subject them to many necessary corrections and chastisements, and help them to contract habits which, if they are ever so fortunate as to abandon, will, nevertheless, cause them much shame, and many heart-burnings, and require strong efforts to overcome. Habits, formed in very early life, make very lasting and almost indelible impressions; and false principles, imbibed in youth, exert an Influence almost or quite as lasting as life. A great responsibility, therefore, rests upon parents and guardians of children; and also upon every individual who holds any intercourse with them, or indulges in fondling or playing with them. It was fashionable in my early youth to indulge in telling and listening to stories about witches, hobgoblins, and ghosts; and I had a good old aunt, whom I loved above all people in the world, next to my mother, who possessed an extraordinary faculty for telling such stories; and I well remember my solicitude to hear, and the vast delight I took in listening to them, until my hair seemed to stand erect on my head, and my blood to curdle in my veins, and I would not dare to move five feet from my friends, especially if it were dark. I believed every word true as Ho

ly Writ; and if I stepped out of doors in the dark, I expected most likely to see some apparition, or that old Nick would come with his cloven foot to carry me off for some of my ugly tricks; or that some witch would stick forks into my flesh, or make me fly over the barn, or put a witch-bridle into my mouth, and ride me off; for if they could turn a young calf into a horse, and make him jump over a great river, they could as easily make a horse of me, small as I was. And to confirm these impressions, some of my earliest reading was the "History of New England," comprising a detailed and circumstantial account of the Salem witchcraft. And although the stories made me shudder, I would select them to read, aș the most entertaining and interesting of the whole history.This made me timorous; it did not reform me, but it made me a coward. When I became quite a youth, and thought my. self old enough to go into company, if I was caught out alone after dark, I was terrified beyond measure, and constantly looking around expecting to see some supernatural agent that would injure me in some way, or perhaps carry me off bodily; and I was in indescribable agony until I reached home, or found company. And these impressions were indelible. riper years, after I became fully satisfied of the fallaciousness of all such representations, and abjured the whole theory; and even after my confidence in God and his divine government had given me courage to go any where and every where, by day and by night, and to encounter any danger where duty, called; I have often detected myself under the influence of these early impressions. In approaching a dark swamp in the dead of night, or passing some dilapidated and deserted building, or going by some burying-ground; my eyes, in spite of my efforts to the contrary, would wander in search of some ghost. O, how cautious ought parents, and guardians, and, indeed, every body else, to be in the education of children, not to make such impressions upon their pliant minds, and thereby injure their mental improvement, and subject them to so much agonizing pain. But to return to my narrative in detail.

In

I had no other chance for education but such as I have named, until I was seven years old. I had never seen a schoolhouse, nor entered a room where school was taught, of any description, nor had I learned my letters. My mother, as I have already observed, had learned me many valuable lessons, the impress of which has never been entirely obliterated, but

has benefited me through a long life; as well as some which have been a serious trouble to me; and she often attempted to learn me the alphabet; but my heedlessness, rudeness, and frowardness, as often defeated her intentions. But now a school was to be set up in the neighborhood. We had no schoolhouse such a thing had never been thought of; but a neighbor, having a tolerably large house, would prepare a room, and a teacher was hired for four weeks! I now began to feel anxious to learn my letters, and was highly elated with the idea of going to school. I well remember the day, when my eldest brother took me in hand, and learned me my letters; it was the Sunday previous to the commencement of the school. I learned them all in one day, and never forgot them afterwards; and I attended willingly and joyfully every day through the term, and greatly lamented when the school closed. I may presume I learned fast, considering the elementary books used for our instruction, which consisted, exclusively, of the New England Primer, the Psalter, (Psalms of David, in a volume by themselves, purposely for the use of schools,) and the Bible. You may well conclude we were a backward set of scholars, though some were approaching the age of twenty one ; but the older members of my father's family could read, and some of them could write and cypher a little; and this was the case with many of the older scholars. The height of my ambition and pride may be easily conceived, when, before the close of the four-weeks' school, I gained the head of the whole school in spelling. I strutted around, and felt as important as though I measured six feet; and ever after that I was extremely fond of school, and always improved every opportunity afforded me. Schools were set up, about this time, in every neighborhood or district throughout the town, for a short term in the winter season; and, in some of the most populous districts, summer schools were taught by females. We had uniformly, after this, a school taught in our district from one to three months, in the winter; but never a summer school, during my minority; nor did I ever attend a common school one day in the summer season. But I paid some attention to my books during the interim of schools; and, as the time for the commencement of school approached, my pulse beat higher, and I was always one of the first on the ground, and never lost a day, if it was possible to avoid it, during the term, were it long ar short. There was no play, no pastime, that could, in my estimation, equal the enjoyment of school. This feeling con

tinued through the whole process of obtaining the limited ed ucation I acquired. I shall never forget the deep melancholy and regret that I experienced, when I closed my last term at the academy, that I could not pursue my studies and continue in school as long as there was any thing for me to learn. But, alas! I had not the means, nor any friendly hand to assist me ; nor health, nor strength to obtain sufficient means to defray the expenses through the routine necessary, in those days, to acquire a liberal education. I had, therefore, to content my. self where I was, and with tears left the school-room, and bade farewell to academical studies. But to return.

My inclination for reading and study was not encouraged as much by my father as my mother. He thought it necessary to keep his children all at work, with all possible dili gence, in order to obtain a subsistence; and, indeed, so it was. He had a sterile farm, and lacked the knowledge of cultivating it to the best advantage; and with all our diligence and economy, we could but just struggle through the year, without. sinking into abject poverty. He allowed us to attend school very steadily during its term in our own district. But alas for our means of efficient instruction! No school-house was built for some three or four years after schools were set up; but schools were kept in one room of a dwelling-house, and an illiterate neighbor employed as a teacher, who possessed some little tact in the management of children, but no other quali fication for a school-teacher. Do you wish to have a specimen of his pronunciation, and to see the advantages I enjoyed for acquiring the rudiments of language, and imbibing first principles? You shall have it-ab, ab; e-b, eeb, (pronounced long e, or double-e,)—and so of the rest. The letter z, we were taught to pronounce ezzard; consequently, it was a-z, azzard; e-z, ezzard; &c. There, reader! do you not think I enjoyed superior advantages, in my youth, for literary attainments? He was a tolerable writer, however, and possessed some little knowledge of figures. He taught our school, I be. lieve, not more than three terms; and we were after that priv. ileged with a teacher of more correct elementary education. But it takes children quite as long to unlearn what they have learned wrong, as it does to learn all correctly in the first place. Hence, the importance of obtaining competent teachers for the instruction of our children; who thoroughly understand what they profess to know. Our new teacher had quite a task to correct our bad habits, and to set us right. Spelling-books