^^ TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
" Did you admire my lamp, " quoth he,
" As much as I your minstrelsy,
You would abhor to do me wrong,
As much as I to spoil your song ; '
For 'twas the self-same pow'r divine.
Taught you to sing and me to shine';
That you with music, I with light,
Might beautify and cheer the night. "
The songster heard his short oration,
And, warbling out his approbation, '
Releas'd him, as my story tells,
And found a supi3er somewhere else.
Hence, jarring sectaries may learn,
Their real int'rest to discern ;
That brother should not war with brother
And worry and devour each other :
But sing and shine by sweet consent.
Till hfe's poor, transient night is spent ;
Respecting in each other's case
The gifts of nature and of grace.
Those Christians best deserve the name,
Who studiously make peace their aim :'
Peace, both the duty and the prize
Of him that creeps, and him that flies.
The teacher wishing to introduce a new reader placed in
ands of her pupils a new book called the American Pre-
y, and to instruct the class they were permitted to read
r than was the custom. And the following selections
practiced " upon :
SINGULAR ADVENTURE OP GENERAL PUTNAM.
/Vhen General Putnam first moved to Pomfret, in Con-
TWO OLD-FASIIIOXKT) BOYS. 247
necticut, in the year 1730, tho couiitrv was new and inuch
infested with wolves. Great liavoe was ]na(h' aiiK.n.L^ the
sheep by a she wolf whieh with her annual whelps, had for
several years continued in that vieinity. The younjLij ones
were commonly destro^^ed by tlie vigilanee of the hunters ;
but the old one was too sagacious to be ensnared by them.
This w^olf, at length, became such an intolerable
nuisance, that Mr. Putnam entered into a eondiinalioii with
five of his neighbors to hunt alternately until they could de.-^-
troy her. Two by rotation, were to be constantly in pursuit.
It was known, that, having lost the toes from one foot by a
steel trap, she made one track shorter than the other.
By this vestige, the pursuers recognized, in a light snow,
the route of this pernicious animal. Having followed her to
the Connecticut river, and found she had turned hark in a
direct course towards Pomfret, they immediately returneil,
and by ten o'clock the next morning the bloodhounds had
driven her into a den, about three miles distant from the
house of Mr. Putnam.
The people soon collected with dog.s, guns, straw, fire
and sulphur, to attack the common enemy, ^y\th this ap-
paratus, several unsuccessful elforts were made to force her
from the den. The hounds came back hadly wounded and
refused to return. The smoke of blazing straw had no elfeet.
Nor did the fumes of burnt brimstone, with which the eaveni
was filled, compel her to quit the retirement.
Wearied with such fruitless attempts ( whieh had broughi
the time to ten o'clock at night) Mr. Putnam tried once mor.
to make his dog enter, but in vain : lie proi>o.sed to h\s negro
man to go down into the cavern and shoot the wolf The
negro declined the hazardous service.
Then it was that their master, angry at the disappoint-
248 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
ment, and declaring that he was ashamed of having a coward
in liis family, resolved himself to destroy the ferocious beast,
lest she should escape through some unknown fissure of the
rock.
His neighbors strongly remontrated against the perilous
enterprise ; but he knowing that wild animals were intimid-
ated by fire, and having provided several strips of birch bark,
the only conbustible material which he could obtain, which
would aff'ord light in this deep and darksome cave, prepared
for his descent.
Having accordingly, divested himself of his coat and waist-
coat, and having a long rope fastened round his legs, by
which he might be pulled back, at a concerted signal, he
entered, head foremost, with the blazing torch in his hand.
Having groped his passage till he came to a horizontal
part of the den, the most terrifying darkness appeared in front
of the dim circle of light afforded by the torch. It was silent
as the house of death. None but monsters of the desert had
ever before explored this solitary mansion of horror.
He cautiously proceeding onward, came to an ascent,
which he slowly mounted on his hands and knees until he
discovered the glaring eyeballs of the wolf, who was sitting at
the extremity of the cavern. Startled at the sight of fire, she
gnashed her teeth and gave a sullen growl.
As soon as he had made the necessary discovery he
kicked the rope as a signal for pulling him out. The people,
at the mouth of the den, who had listened with painful anx-
iety, hearing the growling of the wolf, and supposing their
friend to be in the most imminent danger, drew him forth
with such celerity that he was stripped of his clothes, and
severely bruised.
After he had adjusted his clothes, and loaded his gun
TWO OLD-FASIIIONKD ]U)YS. 240
with nine buck shot, holding a torch in one hand and the
musket in the other, he descended a second time. When he
drew nearer than before, the wolf assuming a still more fierce
and terrible appearance, howling, rolling her eyes, snapping
her teeth, and dropping her head between her legs was
evidently in the attitude and on the point of s])ringing on
him.
At this critical instant he leveled and fired at her head.
Stunned with the shock and suffocated with the smoke ho im-
mediately found himself drawn out of the cave. Ikit having
refreshed himself and permitted the smoke to dissipate he
went down a third time.
Once more he came within sight of the wolf, who appear-
ing very passive, he applied the torch to her nose, and per-
ceiving her dead, he took hold of her cars and then kicking
the rope, still tied round his legs, the i)eo])le al)ove with no
small exultation, dragged them both out together.
STORY OF LOGAN, A MIXOO CIIIKF.
In the spring of the year 1774, a robbery and munler
were committed on an inhabitant of the frontiers of N'irginia
by two Indians of the Shawanese tribe. The neighboring
whites, according to their custom, undertook to punish this
outrage in a summary way. Colonel Cresaj), a man infamous
for the many murders he had committed on these imi
jured people, collected a party and proceeded down the k'an-
haway in quest of vengeance.
Unfortunately, a canoe of women and children, with one
man only, was seen coming from the oi)posite shore, nnurnu'd.
and unsuspecting any hostile attack from the whites. CresMp
and his party concealed themselves on the hank of the river,
2o0 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
and the moment the canoe reached th shore, singled out their
objects, and, at one fire, killed every person in it.
This happened to be the family of Logan, who had long
been distinguished as the friend of the whites. This unworthy
return provoked his vengeance. He accordingly signalized
himself in the war which ensued.
In the autumn of the same year, a decisive battle was
fought at the mouth of the Great Kenhaway, between the
collected forces of the Shawanese, Mingoes and Delawares, and
a detachment of the Virginia militia. The Indians were
defeated and sued for peace.
Logan, however, disdained to be seen among the sup-
plicants ; but, lest the sincerity of a treaty should be distrust-
ed, from which so distinguished a chief absented himself, he
sent bv a messenger, the following speech, to be delivered to
Lord Dunmore :
" I appeal to any white man to say if ever he entered
Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him no meat ; il ever he
came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the
last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin,
an advocate for peace.
" Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen
pointed as they passed by, and said, Logan is the friend of
white men. I had even thought to have lived with you, had
it not been for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the
last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the
relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children.
*•■There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any
living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have
fought it ; I have killed many ; I have fully glutted my
vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace ;
but do not liarl)or a thought that mine is the joy of fear.
TWO OLD-FASHIONED 150YS. 'I'A
Logan never felt fear. lie will not turn on his heel to save
his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."
This exercise over, the smaller children were called out
and read from Webster's spelling book. There was no inter-
mediary reader between the speller and the English reader.
Passing upward from" the one to the other was a severe test,
but one coveted by those who knew by rote the story at the
Maid and the Milk, the boy in the apple tree who would not
come down when the farmer threw grass, and the other few
moral stories "for the instruction of the very young."
Ben often declared that " 'rithmetic was his best holt," and
it was therefore with a secret delight that he joined the cla.ss
when it was called. He felt that here was one subject at least
in which he would fully acquit himself and make an impres-
sion of the acquirement upon the new teacher. The text-
book was "Ruger's New System of Arithmetick." The pub-
lisher was William Ruger, A. B., author of a gramnuir and at
least one other school-book, and printed in Watertown, X. V.,
by Knowlton & Rice.
The inside pages were scrawled over with a (ludl, ami
quaint were the sentiments recorded on the Hy leaves, ib'rc
is one :
If to my friend,
This book I lend.
And find it grea.sed or tore.
ITe may rely
1 will (h'nv
To lend it any mure.
The old •' tinker sum " was set before Ben, and hnblly he
made the attack. His task may be the ])etter ai.prr
here reproduced :
One evening I chanced with a tinker to sit,
252 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
Whose tongue ran a great deal too fast for his wit.
He talked of his art and abundance of metal,
So I asked him to make me a flat-bottom kettle.
Let the top and the bottom diameters be
In just such proportion as five is to three ;
Twelve inches the depth I proposed and no more,
To hold in ale gallons seven less than a score.
He promised to do it and straight to work went,
But when he had done it he found it too scant.
Thus altering it often too big and too little,
The tinker at last quite spoiled his kettle.
He says he will bring his sad promise to pass.
Or else he will spoil every ounce of his brass.
Now show your skill, you learned youth,
And by your work this sum produce.
Job wrestled like Jacob, but like the tinker his pot was at
times too large and anon too small. After giving it up he
left this couplet on the board :
The tinker man's problem I've failed to settle.
May Old Nick catch him and his flat-bottom kettle.
Another problem in rhyme was given the class and a
merit mark promised the one who should reach the correct
answer first. It ran in this wise :
As I was hunting on the forest grounds,
Up starts a hare before my two grey-hounds ;
The dogs, being light of foot, did fairly run
Unto her fifteen rods just twenty-one.
The distance that she started up before
Was four score and sixteen rods, just, and no more ;
Now this I'd have you unto me declare —
How far they ran before they caught the hare.
Ben applied the good old Rule of Three and obtained the
TWO ()M)-FAylII()XKI) I'.OYS. "i.'o
correct answer long before the others, and havino- awakened
his Muse he expressed the result in the following rhyme :
Old Ruger's hare was raced at unseeming odds,
And lost her life at three hundred thirty-six rods.
The class was examined in vulgar fractions and divided
into two classes. The first class was examined in Fellowship
and closed with some examples in Tare and Tret. A few
paragraphs from the explanatory notes under tliis liead are
appended :
Tare and tret are allowances made to the buyer, on the
weight of some particuhir commodities.
Tare is an allowance made for the weight of the l)arrel.
box, bag, or whatever contains the articles or goods.
Tret is an allowance of 4ft). on every 104ft). for waste,
dust, etc.
Cloff is an allowance, on .''ome commodities, of 2ft). on
every cwt. to turn the scale, or to make the weight hold out.
when goods are reweighed, and is claimed chiefly, or only, by
the merchants of London.
Scuttle is what remains after a part of the allowance is
deducted from the gross weight.
Net weight is what remains after all allowances are made.
The class in arithmetic was dismissed with another
poetical problem :
Friend John, who had in credit liv'd,
Though now reduc'd, a sum receiv'd —
This lucky hit 's no sooner found,
Than clam'rous duns came swarming round ;
To th' landlord — baker — many more.
John paid, in all, pounds ninety-four.
Half what remain'd, a friend he lent.
On Joan and 'self onc-tiftli 1h' spent :
254 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
And when of all these sums bereft,
One-tenth o' th' sum received had left;
Now show your skill, you learned youths,
And by your work the sum produce.
" Recess ! " said the teacher. Pell mell the boys in long-
tailed coats set off with big brass buttons and the girls in
pantalettes rushed out and raced themselves red playing hi-
spy, pom-pom-pullaway and hunt the hare. A smart rap-
ping on the window recalled them again to study. Joby
Collins had a scheme which he cherished so closely as to
almost fear some of the boys would hear him think. They
were not fairly seated when he broke out :
" Teacher ! Can Welcome Pettit and me go after a pail
of water ? "
Yes, they could go, and so carrying the bucket between
them they trudged away rejoicing at cutting the hours of
study just so much short. When they returned the infant
class was studying the alphabet in the spelling book. Then
the second class in spelling was called out. The system of
leaving oflF at the head every night was in vogue, and mighty
were the strifes for that coveted honor. Job and his compan-
ion joined the class after passing the water, a priviU\oe that
was too often made the excuse for a })(»or lesson. Job, as usual,
drifted slowly but surely to the foot of the class.
"Drag, " pronounced the teacher.
One after another missed tlu^ 'vord until it came to Job.
" Now, Joby, " said the teacher encouragingly, " you spell
drag and you shall go clear to the head."
" Yes, mom, " replied Job, and he struck an attitude oi
deep thought. Suddenly he almost shouted :
"Drag. S-l-r, drag ! " And he fairly ran to the head of
the class whence the teacher had not the heart to mar the
TWO OI.I)-l AyillONKD I50VS. 'J").")
glory of his victory by correcting his orthogra})liy. aixl dis-
missed -the class amid a tern ])orary reign of sensational dis-
order.
" First class in spelling. "
Again the big boys and girls lined uj) an
beginning with these paragraphs :
Let not reading cause you to neglect spf^lling. Learn to
spell and pronounce before you read much.
Good spelling is the sure way to good reading, therefore,
study spelling with the greatest care, until you can spell all
the words in this book, a.s soon as you hear them, without see-
ing them.
When you can spell well, you will soon become a good
reader; and as soon as you shall be able to read well, you will
be permitted to study grammar.
Grammar will teach you what is meant l)y the ])arts of
speech, and liow to s})eak and write as you ought : and with-
out the knowledge of grammar, your language will be incor-
rect, and you will always be marked by your friends as a poor
scholar.
Then the good old poem about the rose was read. Some
there be who can recite it from memory :
THK HOSi:.
How fair is the rose, what a beautiful tlower!
In summer so fragrant and gay !
But the leaves are beginning to fade in an hour.
And they wither and die in a day.
Yet the rose has one powerful virtue to boast
Above all the flowers of the field ;
When its leaves are all dead, and its tine coh»rs lost.
Still how sweet a perfume it will yield.
256 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
So frail are the youth and the beauty of men,
Though they look gay and bloom like the rose ;
Yet all our fond care to preserve them is vain,
Time kills them as fast as he goes.
Then I'll not be proud of my youth or my beauty,
Since both will soon wither and fade ;
But gain a good name by performing my duty ;
This will scent, like the rose, when I'm dead.
Following the reading the words in the lesson were-" put
out," words that Ben declared Noah Webster himself could not
spell and in fact did not, in some instances, correctly :
Electioneer, Circumlution,
Proportionable, Circumvallation,
Confectionary, Prognostication,
Agglutination, Transfiguration,
Amalgamation, Constitutionalist,
Approximation, Plenipotentiary,
Calumniation, Excommunication.
Then the class was lead over a rocky territory of words of
the same pronunciation, but of different spelling and defini-
tion :
Ail, to pain or tr()ul)lo.
Ale, a kind of beer.
Air, one of the elements.
Ere, before, sooner than.
Heir, an inheritor.
Aisle, the walk in a churcli.
I'll, contraction for I will.
Ait, a small island in a river.
Ate, the preterit of eat.
Eight, twice four.
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 257
Cere, to cover with wax.
Sear, dry ; to burn.
Seer, a prophet.
Sere, withered.
Slaie, a weaver's reed.
Sleigh, a kind of carriage.
Slay, to kill.
Sle}^, to part into threads.
Permiscible, that which may be mingled.
Permissible, that which may be permitted.
Aother piece of poetry was read with strong accents by
the teacher and deserves a place in the storehouse of memory:
WHAT IS CHARITY?
'Tis not to pause when at my door
A shivering brother stands ;
To ask the cause that made him i)Oor,
Or why he help demands.
'Tis not to spurn that brother's prayer
For faults he once has known ;
'Tis not to leave him in despair.
And say that I have none.
The voice of charity is kind —
She thinketh nothing wrong ;
To every fault she seemeth blind.
Nor vauntoth witli hov toiigur.
In penitence she j)hiceth Ihilb —
Hope smileth at her door :
Relieveth firsl^-Then softly saith,
" Go, brother, sin no more. "
The class numbered and retired to tbeir seats whcnco
^58 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
they were soon hurrying out for noon. The afternoon pro-
gram was varied with the substitution of geography for the
arithmetic. It contained no illustrations, no maps and was a
dull, tedious study. The work was accompanied by an atlas to
which reference was seldom had. It was the work of Daniel
Adams, A. M., author of the arithmetic. The lessons begin
with
THE WORLD.
The world or earth is a large globe, the diameter of
which is nearly eight thousand miles, and its surface contains
nearly 200 millions of square miles.
It is 96 millions of miles from the sun, about which it
revolves once a year ; and turns round on its own axis every
day.
The earth is generally divided into four unequal parts,
called quarters ; Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.
Eorope is the smallest division, but is distinguished for
its learning, politeness, government, and laws ; for the indus-
try of its inhabitants, and the temperature of its climate. It is
the only quarter of the globe which has yet been fully ex-
plored and known.
In Asia, the human race was first planted, and there the
most remarkable transactions occurred, which are recorded in
the scripture history.
Africa has been always in a state of barbarism, if we ex-
cept the Egyptians, those ancient fathers of learning, and
Carthage, once the rival of tlie Roman Empire.
America was unknown to the inhabitants of the other
continent, till a little more than three hundred years ago,
when it was discovered by Christopher Columbus ; and hence
it is frequently called the New World, in contradiction to the
TWO OLD-PASIIIOXED TJOYS. 'i.')!)
Eastern continent, first known, and lience called tji,. ( )M
World.
The descriptive geograj)hy was unique. In a chai.tcr (.11
the lakes it says :
Lake Erie is noted for having its islands and l)aiiks, at
the west end, so infested with rattle-snakes as to render it
dangerous to land on them. Near the hanks of the islands it
is covered with the large pond lily, the leaves of which lie on
the surface of the water so thick as to cover it entirely for
many acres together ; on these in the summer sea.sons lie
myraids of water-snakes, hasking in the sun. On this lake,
the American fleet, under Com. Perry, Sept. 10, lsl:>, gaiiitd
over the British fleet of larger force, a si»lendid and ini|i(.rtant
victory.
EARTHQUAKES.
There are numerous proofs that earthquakes have hcen
violent in various parts of America. Nearly tifty have heeii
noticed in the New England States, since the settleiiieiil of the
first English colony at Plymoudi. in 1020 Of these, live have
been particularly memorable, viz. KloS, Kl.ls. l(;(i:>. I7_'7,
1755, as being much heavier than the rest. They have all
commenced with an undulatory motion, in a direction from
north-west to south-east, the central course of which, or j)laee
of greatest violence, has been in a line coinciding nearly with
lake Ontario and the mouth of Merrimack river, extending
southward to the Potomac, and northward lotheSt. Lawrence.
The whole countiy within these limits has heeii I'lpeatedly
shaken, most violently about the middle, and least towards
the south-west and north-east boundaries. In those live, be-
fore mentioned as being particularly memorah!*', the violence
of the shocks was such as to cause the bells in churches t(.
ring; many chinuiies were thrown down, and in some install-
260 TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS.
ces houses ; furniture dropped from the shelves on which it
stood ; the earth in many places was rent, and quantities of
sand thrown out, of a highly sulphurous smell. Some remark-
able alterations were observed in wells and springs of water
about the time of these earthquakes. In some, the quality of
the water was altered ; in others, the quantity. New springs
were opened, and old ones dried up.
FISHERIES.
The greatest part of the fisheries of the United States is
carried on by the citizens of Massachusetts. The people of
Nantucket, New Bedford and Cape Cod, carry on the whale
fishery. These fish, however, at present, are rare about the
Cape, although formerly caught there in great numbers. A
species of the whale kind, called black fish, weighing about 5
tons, and affording oil, is very abundant. The manner of
catching them is very singular. They swim in shoals of sev-
eral hundreds, and the inhabitants put off in their boats and
drive them ashore, like so many cattle, on the flats, where
they are left by the tide, and fall an easy prey.
WASHINGTON.
The city of Washington, situated on the Maryland side of
the Potowmack, is the seat of government of the United
States. It is laid out on a plan, which, if completed, will
render it one of the handsomest and most commodious cities
in the woi'ld. The streets north and south are crossed by
otiiers at riglit angles ; these are transversely crossed by 15
other streets named after the different states. Tlie houses are
mostly of brick. The capitol, when completed, will present a
front of 362 feet. It is pleasantly situated on an eminence,
commanding a view of every part of the city, and of a con-
siderable portion of th(! country around. The president's
TWO OLD-FASHIONED BOYS. 'HW
house is 170 by 85 feet, two stories high, of free, white stone.
It stands on a rising ground, possessing a water prosjteet,
together with a view of the capitol, and of the most material
parts of the city. Tlie pojmhition in ISIO was 8,208.
MICHIGAN TERR1T( )K Y.
Detroit is the capitah The old town was wholly (k-
stroyed by fire in 1805. The new town is well laid out ; the
streets cross each other at right angles. It is a place of con-
siderable trade, which consists chiefly in a barter of coarse
European goods with the natives for furs. The town is sur-
rounded by a strong blockade, through which there are four
gates. On the west side there is a small fort. The streets are
generally crowded with Indians in the day time ; but at
night they are all shut out of the town, except such as get
admittance into private houses, and the gates are closed.
The school was closed with writing, spelling and the an-
nouncement that some of scholars were far enough advanced
to begin the study of grammar as soon as books could be
procured, and thus on the first day did the little teacher arouse
an unusual interest in the little kingdom ovei- which she w:is