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diff --git a/43863.txt b/43863.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 105db64..0000000 --- a/43863.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12790 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Child Life in Colonial Days, by Alice Morse Earle - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Child Life in Colonial Days - -Author: Alice Morse Earle - -Release Date: October 1, 2013 [EBook #43863] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILD LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Julia Neufeld and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - -Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. - -Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). - -The carat character (^) indicates that the following letter or letters -are superscripted (example: Yo^r most aff^nate Mother). - -[f.] refers to "long s". - - * * * * * - - - - -Child Life in Colonial Days - - - - -[Illustration: The MM Co.] - -[Illustration: John Quincy - -_Frontispiece_] - - - - - CHILD LIFE - - IN COLONIAL DAYS - - Written by ALICE MORSE EARLE - - author of _Home Life in Colonial Days_ - - and other Domestic and Social - - Histories of Olden Times - - With many Illustrations - - from Photographs - - MDCCCXCIX - - - New York - The Macmillan Company - London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. - 1915 - - All rights reserved - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1899, - BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. - - Set up and electrotyped November, 1899. Reprinted December, - 1899; March, 1904; February, 1909; March, 1915. - - Norwood Press - - J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith - Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. - - - - - _THIS BOOK - - HAS BEEN WRITTEN - - IN TENDER MEMORY - - OF A - - DEARLY LOVED AND LOVING CHILD - - HENRY EARLE, JUNIOR - - MDCCCLXXX-MDCCCXCII_ - - - - -_Foreword_ - - -_When we regard the large share which child study has in the -interest of the reader and thinker of to-day, it is indeed curious -to see how little is told of child life in history. The ancients -made no record of the life of young children; classic Rome furnishes -no data for child study; the Greeks left no child forms in art. The -student of original sources of history learns little about children -in his searches; few in number and comparatively meagre in quality -are the literary remains that even refer to them._ - -_We know little of the childhood days of our forbears, and have -scant opportunity to make comparisons or note progress. The child of -colonial days was emphatically "to be seen, not to be heard"--nor -was he even to be much in evidence to the eye. He was of as little -importance in domestic, social, or ethical relations as his childish -successor is of great importance to-day; it was deemed neither -courteous, decorous, nor wise to make him appear of value or note in -his own eyes or in the eyes of his seniors. Hence there was none of -that exhaustive study of the motives, thoughts, and acts of a child -which is now rife._ - -_The accounts of oldtime child life gathered for this book are -wholly unconscious and full of honesty and simplicity, not only from -the attitude of the child, but from that of his parents, guardians, -and friends. The records have been made from affectionate interest, -not from scientific interest; no profound search has been made for -motives or significance, but the proof they give of tenderness and -affection in the family are beautiful to read and to know._ - -_The quotations from manuscript letters, records, diaries, and -accounts which are here given could only have been acquired by -precisely the method which has been followed,--a constant and -distinct search for many years, combined with an alert watchfulness -for items or even hints relating to the subject, during as many -years of extended historical reading. Many private collections and -many single-treasured relics have been freely offered for use, and -nearly all the sentences and pages selected from these sources now -appear in print for the first time. The portraits of children form -a group as rare as it is beautiful. They are specially valuable as -a study of costume. Nearly all of these also are as true emblems -of the generous friendship of the present owners as they are of -the life of the past. The rich stores of our many historical -associations, of the Essex Institute, the American Antiquarian -Society, the Long Island Historical Society, the Deerfield_ -_Memorial Hall, the Lenox Library, have been generously opened, -carefully gleaned, and freely used. The expression of gratitude so -often tendered to these helpful kinsfolk and friends and to these -bountiful societies and libraries can scarcely be emphasized by any -public thanks, yet it would seem that for such assistance thanks -could never be offered too frequently, nor too publicly._ - -_Nor have I, in gathering for this,--as for my other books,--failed -to exercise what Emerson calls "the catlike love of garrets, -presses, and cornchambers, and of the conveniences of long -housekeeping." Many long-kept homes have I searched, many an old -garret and press has yielded conveniences for this book._ - -_Though this is a record of the life of children in the American -colonies, I have freely compared the conditions in this country -with similar ones in England at the same date, both for the sake of -fuller elucidation, and also to attempt to put on a proper basis the -civilization which the colonists left behind them. Many statements -of conditions in America do not convey correct ideas of our past -comfort and present and liberal progress unless we compare them -with facts in English life. We must not overrate seventeenth and -eighteenth century life in England, either in private or public. -England was not a first-class power among nations till the time of -the Treaty of Paris, in 1763. When our colonies were settled it -was third-rate. Life among the nobility was magnificent, but the -life of the peasantry was wretched, and middle-class social life -was very bleak and monotonous in both city and country. From early -days life was much better in many ways in America than in England -for the family of moderate means, and children shared the benefits -of these better conditions. A child's life was more valuable here. -The colonial laws plainly show this increased valuation, and the -child responded to this regard of him by a growing sense of his own -importance, which in time has produced "Young America."_ - -_It is my hope that children as well as grown folk will find in -these pages much to interest them in the accounts of the life of -children of olden times. I have had this end constantly in my mind, -though I have made no attempt, nor had I any intent, to write in -a style for the perusal of children; for I have not found that -intelligent children care much or long for such books, except in the -very rare cases of the few great books that have been written for -children, and which are loved and read as much by the old as by the -young. - -As our tired century has grown gray it has developed an interest in -things youthful,--in the beginnings of things. Its attitude is akin -to that of an old man, still in health and clear-headed, but weary; -who has lived through his scores of crowded years of action, toil, -and strife, and seeks in the last days of his life a serene and -peaceful harbor,--the companionship of little children. There is -something of mystery, too, in "the turn of the century" something -which then makes our gaze retrospective and comparative rather than -inquisitive into the future. Hence this year of our Lord MDCCCXCIX -has been the allotted day and hour for the writing of this book. -There has been a trend of destiny which has brought not only a book -on oldtime child life, and that book at this century end, but has -included the fate that it should be written by Alice Morse Earle. -Kismet!_ - - - - -Contents - - - Page - - I. Babyhood 1 - - II. Children's Dress 34 - - III. Schools and School Life 63 - - IV. Women Teachers and Girl Scholars 90 - - V. Hornbook and Primer 117 - - VI. School-books 133 - - VII. Penmanship and Letters 150 - - VIII. Diaries and Commonplace Books 163 - - IX. Childish Precocity 176 - - X. Oldtime Discipline 191 - - XI. Manners and Courtesy 211 - - XII. Religious Thought and Training 227 - - XIII. Religious Books 248 - - XIV. Story and Picture Books 264 - - XV. Children's Diligence 305 - - XVI. Needlecraft and Decorative Arts 321 - - XVII. Games and Pastimes 342 - - XVIII. Children's Toys 361 - - XIX. Flower Lore of Children 377 - - - - -List of Illustrations - - - John Quincy, One Year and a Half Old, 1690. Owned - by Hon. Charles Francis Adams, Boston, Mass. - _Frontispiece_ - - Page - - Miniature, Governor Edward Winslow, Six Years Old, - 1602. Owned by Rev. Dr. William Copley Winslow, - Boston, Mass. _facing_ 4 - - Mayflower Cradle, 1620. In Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, Mass. 10 - - Townes Cradle. In Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. 14 - - Old Pincushion. Owned by Mrs. Sophia C. Bedlow, - Portland, Maine 19 - - Indian Cradle. In Memorial Hall, Deerfield, Mass. 20 - - Governor Bradford's Christening Blanket, 1590. Owned - by John Taylor Terry, Esq., Tarry town, N.Y. 22 - - Standing Stool, Eighteenth Century 24 - - Go-cart 27 - - De Peyster Twins, Four Years Old, 1729. Owned by - Mrs. Azoy and Miss Velasquez _facing_ 26 - - Baptismal Shirt and Mittens of Governor Bradford, - 1590. In Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. 35 - - Robert Gibbs, Four and a Half Years Old, 1670. Owned - by Miss Sarah Bigelow Hagar, Kendal Green, Mass. - _facing_ 36 - - Infant's Mitts, Sixteenth Century. In Essex Institute 39 - - Jane Bonner, Eight Years Old, 1700. Owned by Connecticut - Historical Society _facing_ 42 - - Infant's Robe, Cap, and Christening Blanket. In Memorial - Hall, Deerfield, Mass. 46 - - Ellinor Cordes, Two Years Old, 1740. Owned by Mrs. - St. Julian Ravenel, Charleston, S.C. _facing_ 48 - - Daniel Ravenel, Five Years Old, 1765. Owned by Mrs. - St. Julian Ravenel, Charleston, S.C. _facing_ 50 - - Children's Shoes. In Bedford Historical Society, Bedford, - Mass. 51 - - Gore Children, 1754. Painted by Copley. Owned by the - Misses Robins, Boston, Mass. _facing_ 54 - - Jonathan Mountfort, Seven Years Old, 1753. Painted by - Copley. Owned by Mrs. Farlin, Detroit, Mich. - _facing_ 58 - - Boy's Suit of Clothing, 1784. In Memorial Hall, - Deerfield, Mass. _facing_ 60 - - Mary Lord, 1710 _circa_. Owned by Connecticut Historical - Society. _facing_ 66 - - "Erudition" Schoolhouse, Bath, Maine, 1797 70 - - Oldtime School Certificate of Landlord of Wayside Inn, - Sudbury, Mass. 73 - - "Old Harmony" Schoolhouse, Raritan Township, Hunterdon - County, N.J. 76 - - Samuel Pemberton, Twelve Years Old, 1736. Owned by - Miss Ellen M. Ward, Boston, Mass. _facing_ 78 - - Nathan Hale Schoolhouse, East Haddam, Conn. 82 - - Old Brick Schoolhouse, Norwich, Conn. From "Old - Houses of Norwich," by Miss Mary E. Perkins 85 - - Elizabeth Storer, Twelve Years Old, 1738. Painted by - Smibert. Owned by Dr. Townsend, Boston, Mass. _facing_ 98 - - Carved Busks. Owned by Essex Institute 106 - - "Dorothy Q." "Thirteen Summers," 1720 circa. Owned by - Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston, Mass. _facing_ 108 - - Elizabeth Quincy Wendell, 1720 circa. Owned by Dr. - Josiah L. Hale, Brookline, Mass. _facing_ 112 - - Hornbook. Owned by Mrs. Anne Robinson Minturn, - Shoreham, Vt. _facing_ 118 - - Hornbook. Owned by Miss Grace L. Gordon, Flushing, - L.I. 120 - - Back of Hornbook. Owned by Miss Grace L. Gordon 123 - - "The Royal Battledore" _facing_ 124 - - "My New Battledore" _facing_ 126 - - Reading-board, Erasmus Hall, Flatbush, L.I. 127 - - Page of New England Primer 130 - - "The Grammarian's Funeral" _facing_ 134 - - "Readingmadeasy" _facing_ 136 - - Page from Abraham Lincoln's Sum Book _facing_ 138 - - Battledore, "Lessons in Numbers" _facing_ 140 - - Title-page of "Cocker's Arithmetic" 140 - - "American Selection," by Noah Webster, Jr. _facing_ 142 - - "The Little Reader's Assistant," by Noah Webster, - Jr. _facing_ 144 - - Exhibition "Piece" of Anne Reynolds _facing_ 152 - - Ornamental Letter 154 - - Writing of Abiah Holbrook _facing_ 154 - - David Waite, Seven Years Old. Owned by Professor - Langley, Washington, D.C. _facing_ 158 - - Page of "White" Bible _facing_ 162 - - Anna Green Winslow. Owned by Miss Elizabeth Trott, - Niagara Falls, N.Y. _facing_ 164 - - Pages from Diary of Mary Osgood Sumner. Owned by - Dr. P. H. Mell, Auburn, Ala. _facing_ 166 - - Joshua Carter, Four Years Old. Painted by Charles Wilson - Peale. Owned by Miss Anna Thaxter Reynolds, Boston, - Mass. _facing_ 170 - - Page from Diary of Anna Green Winslow 174 - - Samuel Torrey, Twelve Years Old, 1770. Owned by Miss - Frances R. Morse, Boston, Mass. _facing_ 176 - - The Copley Family _facing_ 180 - - Facsimile from Sir Hugh Plat's "Jewel House of Art and - Nature," 1653 183 - - Polly Flagg, One Year Old, 1751. Painted by Smibert. - Owned by Mrs. Albert Thorndike, Boston, Mass. _facing_ 184 - - James Flagg, Five Years Old, 1744. Painted by Smibert. - Owned by Mrs. Albert Thorndike, Boston, Mass. _facing_ 188 - - Katherine Ten Broeck, Four Years Old, 1719. Owned - by Miss Louise Livingstone Smith, Argyle, N.Y. _facing_ 192 - - Illustration from "Plain Things for Little Folks" 195 - - Whispering Sticks 198 - - Illustration from "Early Seeds to produce Spring Flowers" 201 - - Cathalina Post, Fourteen Years Old, 1750. Owned by - Dr. Van Santvoord, Kingston, N.Y. _facing_ 204 - - Illustration from "Young Wilfrid" _facing_ 206 - - William Verstile, 1769. Painted by Copley. Owned by - Mrs. Charles Pinney, Derby, Conn. _facing_ 210 - - The Pepperell Children. Owned by Miss Alice Longfellow, - Cambridge, Mass. _facing_ 214 - - Title-page of the "School of Manners" 216 - - Page of the "School of Manners" 218 - - Thomas Aston Coffin, Three Years Old. Painted by Copley. - Owned by heirs of Miss Anne S. Robbins, Boston, - Mass. _facing_ 222 - - Mrs. John Hesselius and her Children, John and Caroline. - Painted by John Hesselius. Owned by Mrs. Ridgeley, - Baltimore, Md. _facing_ 228 - - Charlotte and Elizabeth Hesselius. Painted by John - Hesselius. Owned by Mrs. Ridgeley, Baltimore, Md. - _facing_ 234 - - Charles Spooner Cary, Eight Years Old, 1786. Owned - by Mrs. Edward Cunningham, East Milton, Mass. _facing_ 240 - - Margaret Graves Cary, Fourteen Years Old, 1786. Owned - by Mrs. Edward Cunningham, East Milton, Mass. _facing_ 246 - - The Custis Children, 1760 circa. Owned by General - Custis Lee, Lexington, Va. _facing_ 250 - - "The Holy Bible Abridged." Owned by American - Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. _facing_ 254 - - Illustration from "Original Poetry for Young Minds" 256 - - Page of "Hieroglyphick Bible." Owned by American - Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. 259 - - Title-page of "Merry Tales of the Wise Men of Gotham" 266 - - Page of "Merry Tales of the Wise Men of Gotham" 267 - - "The Renowned History of Goody Two Shoes" _facing_ 270 - - Title-page of "A New Lottery Book" 274 - - Two Pages of "A New Lottery Book" 276 - - Frontispiece of "Be Merry and Wise." Owned by - American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. 278 - - Title-page of "Be Merry and Wise." Owned by American - Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. 282 - - Page of "Cobwebs to catch Flies" 284 - - Woodcut by Bewick. "William and Amelia." From - "The Looking Glass for the Mind" 286 - - Woodcut by Bewick. "Caroline, or A Lesson to cure - Vanity." From "The Looking Glass for the Mind" 289 - - Woodcut by Bewick. "Sir John Denham and his Worthy - Tenant." From "The Looking Glass for the Mind" 291 - - Woodcut by Bewick. "Clarissa, or The Grateful Orphan." - From "The Looking Glass for the Mind" 294 - - Page from "The Juvenile Biographer" 296 - - "The Juvenile Biographer" _facing_ 298 - - Two Pages of "The Father's Gift" _facing_ 300 - - Page of "Vice in its Proper Shape." Owned by American - Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. 302 - - "The Good Girl at her Wheel" 307 - - Illustration from "Plain Things for Little Folks" 309 - - Anne Lennod's Sampler 313 - - Colonel Wadsworth and his Son. Painted by Trumbull. - Owned by Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn. _facing_ 316 - - Jerusha Pitkin's Embroidery and Frame. 1751. Copyrighted. - Owned by Mrs. William Lee, Boston, Mass. 324 - - Lora Standish's Sampler. In Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, - Mass 327 - - Fleetwood-Quincy Sampler. Owned by Mrs. Swan, - Cambridge, Mass 330 - - Polly Coggeshall's Sampler. Owned by Miss Julia Hazard - Thomas, Flushing, L. I. 334 - - Flowered Apron, 1750 _circa_. Owned by Mrs. Swan, - Cambridge, Mass 336 - - Mary Richard's Sampler. Owned by Miss Elizabeth Wendell - van Rensselaer 337 - - Ancient Lace Pillow, Reels, and Pockets. In Essex - Institute, Salem, Mass 340 - - "Scotch Hoppers" from "Juvenile Games for the Four - Seasons" 345 - - Ancient Skates. In Deerfield Memorial Hall _facing_ 346 - - "Skating." From Old Picture Book 349 - - Cornelius D. Wynkoop, Eight Years Old, 1742. Owned - by James D. Wynkoop, Esq., Hurley, N.Y. _facing_ 352 - - Page from "Youthful Sports" 355 - - Stephen Row Bradley, 1800 circa. Owned by Arthur C. - Bradley, Esq., Newport, N. H. _facing_ 356 - - Dolls' Furniture. One Hundred Years Old. In Bedford - Historical Society 359 - - Ancient Doll 362 - - Old Rag Doll. In Bedford Historical Society. 363 - - "French Doll." In Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. 364 - - "French Doll." In Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. 367 - - Dolls and Furniture. Owned by Bedford Historical Society 368 - - Chinese Coach and Horses. In Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. 369 - - Old Jackknives. In Deerfield Memorial Hall. 370 - - "Bangwell Putt." In Deerfield Memorial Hall _facing_ 370 - - White House Doll. Owned by Mrs. Clement, Newburyport, - Mass. 372 - - Ancient Tin Toy 373 - - Doll's Wicker Coach 374 - - Stella Bradley Bellows, 1800 _circa_. Owned by Arthur C. - Bradley, Esq., Newport, N. H. _facing_ 378 - - Daisy Chain. 381 - - Playing Marbles 385 - - Spanish Dolls. In Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. 389 - - Leaf Boats. Made from Leaves of Flower de Luce 395 - - - - -Child Life in Colonial Days - - - - -CHAPTER I - -BABYHOOD - - _Some things are of that nature as to make - One's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache._ - - --_The Author's Way of Sending Forth His Second Part of the - Pilgrim. John Bunyan, 1684._ - - -There is something inexpressibly sad in the thought of the children -who crossed the ocean with the Pilgrims and the fathers of -Jamestown, New Amsterdam, and Boston, and the infancy of those born -in the first years of colonial life in this strange new world. It -was hard for grown folk to live; conditions and surroundings offered -even to strong men constant and many obstacles to the continuance of -existence; how difficult was it then to rear children! - -In the southern colonies the planters found a climate and enforced -modes of life widely varying from home life in England; it took -several generations to accustom infants to thrive under those -conditions. The first years of life at Plymouth are the records -of a bitter struggle, not for comfort but for existence. Scarcely -less sad are the pages of Governor Winthrop's journal, which -tell of the settlers of Massachusetts Bay. On the journey across -seas not a child "had shown fear or dismayedness." Those brave -children were welcomed to the shore with good cheer, says the old -chronicler, Joshua Scottow; "with external flavor and sweet odor; -fragrant was the land, such was the plenty of sweet fern, laurel, -and other fragrant simples; such was the scent of our aromatic -and balsam-bearing pines, spruces and larch trees, with our tall -cedars." They landed on a beautiful day in June, "with a smell on -the shore like the smell of a garden," and these happy children had -gathered sweet wild strawberries and single wild roses. It is easy -to picture the merry faces and cheerful laughter. - -Scant, alas! were the succeeding days of either sweetness or light. -The summer wore on in weary work, in which the children had to join; -in constant fears, which the children multiplied and magnified; and -winter came, and death. "There is not a house where there is not one -dead," wrote Dudley. One little earth-weary traveller, a child whose -"family and kindred had dyed so many," was, like the prophets in the -Bible, given exalted vision through sorrow, and had "extraordinary -evidence concerning the things of another world." Fierce east winds -searched the settlers through and through, and frosts and snows -chilled them. The dreary ocean, the gloomy forests, were their -bounds. Scant was their fare, and mean their roof-trees; yet amid -all the want and cold little children were born and welcomed with -that ideality of affection which seems as immortal as the souls of -the loved ones. - -Hunger and privation did not last long in the Massachusetts colony, -for it was a rich community--for its day--and soon the various -settlements grew in numbers and commerce and wealth, and an -exultant note runs through their records. Prosperous peoples will -not be morose; thanksgiving proclamations reflect the rosy hues of -successful years. Child life was in harmony with its surroundings; -it was more cheerful, but there was still fearful menace to the -life and health of an infant. From the moment when the baby opened -his eyes on the bleak world around him, he had a Spartan struggle -for life; half the Puritan children had scarce drawn breath in this -vale of tears ere they had to endure an ordeal which might well -have given rise to the expression "the survival of the fittest." -I say half the babies, presuming that half were born in warm -weather, half in cold. All had to be baptized within a few days of -birth, and baptized in the meeting-house; fortunate, indeed, was -the child of midsummer. We can imagine the January babe carried -through the narrow streets or lanes to the freezing meeting-house, -which had grown damper and deadlier with every wintry blast; there -to be christened, when sometimes the ice had to be broken in the -christening bowl. On January 22, 1694, Judge Samuel Sewall, of -Boston, records in his diary:-- - - "A very extraordinary Storm by reason of the falling and driving - of Snow. Few women could get to Meeting. A Child named Alexander - was baptized in the afternoon." - -The Judge tells of his own children--four days old--shrinking from -the icy water, but crying not. It was a cold and disheartening -reception these children had into the Puritan church; many -lingered but a short time therein. The mortality among infants was -appallingly great; they died singly, and in little groups, and in -vast companies. Putrid fevers, epidemic influenzas, malignant sore -throats, "bladders in the windpipe," raging small pox, carried -off hundreds of the children who survived baptism. The laws of -sanitation were absolutely disregarded--because unknown; drainage -there was none--nor deemed necessary; disinfection was feebly -desired--but the scanty sprinkling of vinegar was the only -expression of that desire; isolation of contagious diseases was -proclaimed--but the measures were as futile when the disease was -known to be contagious as they were lacking in the diseases which -our fathers did not know were communicable. It is appalling to think -what must have been the unbounded production and nurture of disease -germs; and we can paraphrase with truth the words of Sir Thomas -Browne, and say of our grandfathers and their children, "Considering -the thousand roads that lead to death, I do thank my God they could -die but once." - -[Illustration: Edward Winslow] - -It is heartrending to read the entries in many an old family -Bible--the records of suffering, distress, and blasted hopes. -Until this century these sad stories may be found. There lies -open before me an old leather-bound Bible with the record of my -great-grandfather's family. He had sixteen children. When the first -child was a year and a half old the second child was born. The baby -was but four days old when the older child died. Five times did that -mother's heart bear a similar cruel loss when she had a baby in her -arms; therefore when she had been nine years married she had one -living child, and five little graves bore record of her sorrow. - -In the seventeenth century the science of medicine had not wholly -cut asunder from astrology and necromancy; and the trusting -Christian still believed in some occult influences, chiefly -planetary, which governed not only his crops but his health and -life. Hence the entries of births in the Bible usually gave the -hour and minute, as well as the day, month, and year. Thus could be -accurately calculated what favoring or mischief-bearing planets were -in ascendency at the time of the child's birth; what influences he -would have to encounter in life. - -The belief that meteorological and astrological conditions affected -medicines was strong in all minds. The best physicians gravely noted -the condition of the moon when gathering herbs and simples and -concocting medicines; and certain drugs were held to be powerless -at certain times of the year, owing to planetary influences. -"Sympathetical" medicines were confidingly trusted, and tried to a -surprising extent upon children; apparently these were as beneficial -as our modern method of healing by the insinuation of improved -health. - -We cannot wonder that children died when we know the nostrums with -which they were dosed. There were quack medicines which held sway -for a century--among them, a valuable property, _Daffy's Elixir_. -These patented--or rather secret--medicines had a formidable rival -in snail-water, which was used as a tonic and also a lotion. Many -of the ingredients and extracts used in domestic medicines were -incredibly revolting. - -Venice treacle was a nasty and popular compound, traditionally -invented by Nero's physician; it was made of vipers, white wine, -opium, "spices from both the Indies," licorice, red roses, tops of -germander and St.-John's-wort, and some twenty other herbs, juice -of rough sloes, mixed with honey "triple the weight of all the dry -spices." The recipe is published in dispensatories till within this -century. The vipers had to be put, "twelve of 'em," into white wine -alone. Mithridate, the ancient cure-all of King Mithridates, was -another dose for children. There were forty-five ingredients in -this, each prepared and introduced with care. Rubila, made chiefly -of antimony and nitre, was beloved of the Winthrops, and frequently -dispensed by them--and with benefit. - -Children were grievously afflicted with rickets, though curiously -enough it was a new disease, not old enough to have received -adequate observation in England, wrote Sir Thomas Browne in the -latter part of the seventeenth century. Snails furnished many doses -for the rickets. - -Exact instruction of treatment for the rickets is given in a -manuscript letter written to Rev. Joseph Perry of Windsor, -Connecticut, in 1769:-- - - "REV'D SIR: - - "In ye Rickets the best Corrective I have ever found is a Syrup - made of Black Cherrys. Thus. Take of Cherrys (dry'd ones are as - good as any) & put them into a vessel with water. Set ye vessel - near ye fire and let ye water be Scalding hot. Then take ye - Cherrys into a thin Cloth and squeeze them into ye Vessell, & - sweeten ye Liquor with Melosses. Give 2 Spoonfuls of this 2 or - 3 times in a day. If you Dip your Child, Do it in this manner: - viz: naked, in ye morning, head foremost in Cold Water, don't - dress it Immediately, but let it be made warm in ye Cradle & - sweat at least half an Hour moderately. Do this 3 mornings going - & if one or both feet are Cold while other Parts sweat (which is - sometimes ye Case) Let a little blood be taken out of ye feet ye - 2nd Morning and yt will cause them to sweat afterwards. Before - ye dips of ye Child give it some Snakeroot and Saffern Steep'd - in Rum & Water, give this Immediately before Diping and after - you have dipt ye Child 3 Mornings Give it several times a Day ye - following Syrup made of Comfry, Hartshorn, Red Roses, Hog-brake - roots, knot-grass, petty-moral roots, sweeten ye Syrup with - Melosses. Physicians are generally fearful about diping when ye - Fever is hard, but oftentimes all attemps to lower it without - diping are vain. Experience has taught me that these fears are - groundless, yt many have about diping in Rickety Fevers; I have - found in a multitude of Instances of diping is most effectual - means to break a Rickety Fever. These Directions are agreable to - what I have practiced for many years." - -Among other English notions thrust upon American children was one -thus advertised in ante-Revolutionary newspapers:-- - - "THE FAMOUS ANODYNE NECKLACE - - "_price 20 shillings_ - - "For children's teeth, recommended in England by Dr. Chamberlen, - with a remedy to open and ease the foregums of teething children - and bring their teeth safely out. Children on the very brink - of the Grave and thought past recovery with their teeth, fits, - fevers, convulsions, hooping and other violent coughs, gripes, - looseness, and all proceeding from their teeth who cannot tell - what they suffer nor make known their pains any other way but - by crying and moans, have almost miraculously recovered after - having worn the famous Anodyne Necklace but one night's time. A - mother then would never forgive herself whose child should die - for want of so very easy a remedy for its teeth. And what is - particularly remarkable of this necklace is, that of those vast - numbers who have had this necklace for their children, none have - made any complaints but express how glad they have been that - their children have worn it whereas if they had not had it, they - believed their children would have been in the grave, all means - having been used in vain until they had the necklace." - -These anodyne necklaces were akin to the medicated belts of our own -day, and were worn as children still wear amber beads to avert the -croup. - -Various native berries had restorative and preventive properties -when strung as a necklace. Uglier decorations were those recommended -by Josselyn to New England parents, strings of fawn's teeth or -wolf's fangs, a sure promoter of easy teething. He also advised -scratching the child's gums with an osprey bone. Children died, -however, in spite of these varied charms and doses, in vast numbers -while teething. - -[Illustration: Mayflower Cradle, owned by the Pilgrim William White] - -There were some feeble expressions of revolt against the horrible -doses of the day. In 1647 we hear of the publication of "a Most -Desperate Booke written against taking of Phissick," but it was -promptly ordered to be burnt; and the doses were continued until -well into this century. The shadow of their power lingers yet in -country homes. - -Many alluring baits were written back to England by the first -emigrants to tempt others to follow to the new world. Among other -considerations Gabriel Thomas made this statement:-- - - "The Christian children born here are generally well-favored - and beautiful to behold. I never knew any to come into the - world with the least blemish on any part of the body; being in - the general observed to be better-natured, milder, and more - tender-hearted than those born in England." - -John Hammond lavished equal praise on the children in Virginia. It -was also asserted that the average number of children in a family -was larger, which is always true in a pioneer settlement in a new -country. The promise of the Lord is ever fulfilled that he will -"make the families of his servants in the wilderness like a flock." - -A cheerful home life was insured by these large families when -they lived. Sir William Phips was one of twenty-six children, -all with the same mother. Green, the Boston printer, had thirty -children. Another printer, Benjamin Franklin, was one of a family -of seventeen. William Rawson had twenty children by one wife. Rev. -Cotton Mather tells us:-- - - "One woman had not less than twenty-two children, and another - had no less than twenty-three children by one husband, whereof - nineteen lived to man's estate, and a third was mother to seven - and twenty children." - -He himself had fifteen children, though but two survived him. Other -ministers had larger families. Rev. John Sherman, of Watertown, -Massachusetts, had twenty-six children by two wives. Rev. Samuel -Willard, the first minister of Groton, Massachusetts, had twenty -children, and was himself one of seventeen children. It is to the -honor of these poorly paid ministers that they brought up these -large families well. Rev. Abijah Weld, of Attleboro, Massachusetts, -had an annual salary of about two hundred and twenty dollars. He had -a small farm and a decent house; he lived in generous hospitality, -entertaining many visitors and contributing to the wants of the -poor. He had fifteen children and reared a grandchild. In his -fifty-five years of service as a minister he was never detained from -his duties nor failed to perform them. - -Rev. Moses Fiske had sixteen children; he sent three sons to college -and married off all his daughters; his salary was never over ninety -pounds, and usually but sixty pounds a year, paid chiefly in corn -and wood. One verse of a memorial poem to Mrs. Sarah Thayer reads:-- - - "And one thing more remarkable - Which here I shall record; - She'd fourteen children with her - At the table of her Lord." - -These large families were eagerly welcomed. Children were a -blessing. The Danish proverb says, "Children are the poor man's -wealth." To the farmer, especially the frontiersman, every child in -the home is an extra producer. No town in New England had less land -to distribute than Boston, but on all allotments women and children -received their full proportion; the early allotments of land in -Brookline (then part of Boston) were made by "heads," that is, -according to the number of people in the family. - -It is an interesting study to trace the underlying reason for -naming children many of the curious names which were given to the -offspring of the first colonists. Parents searched for names of deep -significance, for names appropriate to conditions, for those of -profound influence--presumably on the child's life. Glory to God and -zealous ambition for the child's future were equally influential in -deciding selection. - -[Illustration: Townes Cradle] - -Rev. Richard Buck, one of the early parsons in Virginia, in days of -deep depression named his first child Mara. This text indicates the -reason for his choice: "Call me Mara for the Almighty hath dealt -very bitterly with me. I went out full and the Lord hath brought me -home empty." His second child was christened Gershom; for Moses' -wife "bare him a son and called his name Gershom, for he said I -have been in a strange land." Eber, the Hebrew patriarch, called -his son Peleg, "for his days were divided." Mr. Buck celebrated the -_Pelegging_, or dividing of Virginia, into legislative districts by -naming his third child Peleg. Many names have a pathos and sadness -which can be felt down through the centuries. Dame Dinely, widow of -a doctor or barber-surgeon who had died in the snow while striving -to visit a distant patient, named her poor babe Fathergone. A little -Goodman child, born after the death of her father, was sadly but -trustingly named Abiel--_God is my father_. Seaborn was the name -indicative of the introduction into life of one of my own ancestors. - -In the old Ropes Bible in Salem is given the reason for an unusual -name which often appears in that family; it is Seeth. One of the -family was supposed to be dead, having disappeared. On his sudden -reappearance a pious Ropes exclaimed in joy, "The Lord seeth not as -man seeth, and my child shall be named Seeth." An early example of -the name is Seeth Grafton, who became the wife of Thomas Gardner in -1636. - -Judge Sewall named one son Joseph, - - "In hopes of the accomplishment of the Prophecy of Ezekiel - xxxvii. and such; and not out of respect to any Relation or any - other Person except the first Joseph." - -Judge Sewall again made an entry in his diary after a christening. - - "I named my little Daughter Sarah. Mr. Torrey said call her - Sarah and make a Madam of her. I was struggling whether to call - her Mehetable or Sarah. But when I saw Sarah's standing in the - Scripture, viz: Peter, Galatians, Hebrews, Romans, I resolv'd on - that suddenly." - -Abigail, meaning father's joy, was also frequently given, and -Hannah, meaning grace; the history of these two Hebrew women made -their names honored of New England Puritans. Zurishaddai, the -Almighty is my rock, was bestowed on more than one boy. Comfort, -Deliverance, Temperance, Peace, Hope, Patience, Charity, Faith, -Love, Submit, Endurance, Silence, Joy, Rejoice, Hoped for, and -similar names indicative of a trait of character, a virtue, or an -aspiration of goodness, were common. The children of Roger Clap were -named Experience, Waitstill, Preserved, Hopestill, Wait, Thanks, -Desire, Unite, and Supply. Madam Austin, an early settler of old -Narragansett, had sixteen children. Their names were Parvis, Picus, -Piersus, Prisemus, Polybius, Lois, Lettice, Avis, Anstice, Eunice, -Mary, John, Elizabeth, Ruth, Freelove. All lived to be threescore -and ten, one to be a hundred and two years old. - -Edward Bendall's children were named Truegrace, Reform, Hoped for, -More mercy, and Restore. Richard Gridley's offspring were Return, -Believe, and Tremble. - -With the exception of Puritanical names, double Christian names were -very rare until after the Revolution, as may be seen by examining -any document with many signatures; such, for instance, as the -Declaration of Independence, or the lists of officers and men in the -Continental Army. Return Jonathan Meigs was a notable exception. - -There exists in New England a tradition of "groaning-cakes" being -made and baked at the birth of a child, to give to visitors. I have -found no record of it. The Frenchman, Misson, in his _Travels in -England_, says, "At the birth of their children they (visitors) -drink a glass of wine and eat a bit of a certain cake, which is -seldom made but upon these occasions." Anna Green Winslow, a Boston -schoolgirl, tells of making what she calls "a setting up visit" -to a relative who had a baby about four weeks old. She wore her -best and most formal attire and says, "It cost me a pistareen to -Nurse Eaton for two cakes which I took care to eat before I paid -for them." There certainly was a custom of giving money, clothing, -or petty trinkets to the nurse at such visits. Judge Sewall -frequently writes of these "vails" which he made at the house of his -friends. He writes in one case of brewing "groaning-beer," and in -his household were held two New England amphidromia. The midwife, -nurses, and all the neighboring women who had helped with work or -advice during the early days of the child's life were bidden to a -dinner. One Sewall baby was scarcely two weeks old when seventeen -women dined at the Judge's house, on boiled pork, beef, and fowls; -roast beef and turkey; pies and tarts. At another time "minc'd Pyes -and cheese" were added. Judge Winthrop's sister, Madam Downing, -furnished sack and claret also. A survival of this custom lasted -till this century in the drinking of caudle by the bedside of the -mother. - -A pincushion was for many years and indeed is still in some parts of -New England a highly conventional gift to a mother with a young babe. - -_Poor Robin's Almanack_ for the year 1676 says:-- - - "Pincushions and such other knacks - A childbed woman always lacks." - -[Illustration: pincushion] - -I have seen in different families five of precisely the same pattern -and size, all made about the time of the Revolution. One given to -a Boston baby, while his new home was in state of siege, bore the -inscription, "Welcome little Stranger, tho' the Port is closed." -These words were formed by the heads of pins. Another, about five -inches long and three inches wide, is of green figured silk with a -flowered vine stuck in pins and the words, "John Winslow, March, -1783, Welcome, Little Stranger." Anna Green Winslow tells of her -aunts making one with "a planthorn of flowers" and the name. I have -seen one with similar inscription knitted of fine silk and with -the name sewed on in steel beads, among which pins were stuck in a -graceful pattern. - -[Illustration: Indian Cradle] - -The seventeenth-century baby slept, as his nineteenth-century -descendant does, in a cradle. Nothing could be prettier than the -old cradles that have survived successive years of use with many -generations of babies. In Pilgrim Hall still may be seen the quaint -and finely wrought wicker cradle of Peregrine White, the first white -child born in Plymouth. This cradle is of Dutch manufacture; and is -one of the few authentic articles still surviving that came over on -the _Mayflower_. It was brought over by William White, whose widow -married Governor Edward Winslow. A similar wicker cradle may be -seen at the Essex Institute in Salem, together with a heavy wooden -cradle in which many members of the Townes family of Topsfield, -Massachusetts, were rocked to sleep two centuries ago. Judge Sewall -bought a wicker cradle for one of his many children and paid sixteen -shillings for it. A graceful variant of the swinging cradle is shown -in the Indian basket hung at either end from a wooden standard -or frame. In this strong basket, fashioned by an Indian mother, -many a white child has been swung and sung to sleep. A still more -picturesque cradle was made of birch bark, that plentiful material -so widely adaptive to household uses, and so deftly manipulated and -shaped by the patient squaws. - -In these cradles the colonial baby slept, warmly wrapped in a -homespun blanket or pressed quilt. - -_Poor Robin's Almanack_ for the year 1676 enumerates among a baby's -outfit:-- - - "Blanckets of a several scantling - Therein for to wrap a bantling." - -Of these wraps, of the thinner sort, may be named the thin, -close-woven, homespun "flannel sheet," spun of the whitest wool into -a fine twisted worsted, and woven with a close sley into an even web -as enduring as the true Oriental cashmere. The baby's initials were -often marked on these sheets, and fortunate was the child who had -the light, warm wrappings. My own children had "flannel sheets" that -had seen a century or more of use with generations of forbears. - -[Illustration: Governor Bradford's Christening Blanket, 1590] - -A finer coverlet, one of state, the christening blanket, was -usually made of silk, richly embroidered, sometimes with a text of -Scripture. These were often lace-bordered or edged with a narrow -home-woven silk fringe. The christening blanket of Governor Bradford -of the Plymouth Colony still exists, whole of fabric and unfaded -of dye. It is a rich crimson silk, soft of texture, like a heavy -sarcenet silk, and is powdered at regular distances about six inches -apart with conventional sprays of flowers embroidered chiefly -in pink and yellow, in minute and beautiful cross-stitch. It is -distinctly Oriental in appearance, far more so than is indicated -by its black and white representation here. Another beautiful silk -christening blanket was quilted in an intricate flower pattern in -almost imperceptible stitches. These formal wrappings of state were -sometimes called bearing-cloths or clothes, and served through -many generations. Shakespeare speaks in _Henry VI._ of a child's -bearing-cloth. - -A go-cart or standing-stool was a favorite instrument to teach a -child to walk. A standing-stool a century old in which Newburyport -babies stood and toddled is a rather crude frame of wood with a -ledge or narrow table for toys. The method of using a go-cart is -shown in this old print taken from a child's book called, _Little -Prattle over a Book of Prints_, published for sixpence in 1801. -In the writers of Queen Anne's day frequent references are made to -go-carts. - -[Illustration: Standing Stool] - -I find strong evidence that Locke's _Thoughts on Education_, -published in England in 1690, found many readers and ardent -followers in the new world. The book is in many old-time library -lists in New England, and among the scant volumes of those who had -but a single book-shelf or book-box. I have seen abstracts and -transpositions of his precepts on the pages of almanacs, the most -universally circulated and studied of all eighteenth-century books -save the Bible. In contemporary letters evidence is found of the -influence of Locke's principles. In the prefaces of Thomas' reprints -he is quoted and eulogized. The notions of the English philosopher -appealed to American parents because they were, as the author said, -"the consideration not what a physician ought to do with a sick or -crazy child, but what parents without the help of physic should do -for the preservation of an healthy constitution." Crazy here is used -in the old-time sense of feeble bodily health, not mental. In these -days of hundreds of books on child-study, education, child-culture, -and kindred topics, it is a distinct pleasure to read Locke's sturdy -sentences; to see how wise, and kindly, and logical he was in nearly -all his advices, especially on moral or ethical questions. Even -those on physical conditions that seem laughably obsolete to-day -were so in advance of the general practices of his day that they -are farther removed from the notions of his time than from those of -ours. In judging them let us remember Dr. Holmes' lines:-- - - "Little of all we value here - Wakes on the morn of its hundredth year - Without both looking and feeling queer." - -Certainly an existence of two centuries may make us pardon a little -queerness in advice. - -One of Locke's instructions much thought on in the years his book -was so widely read was the advice to wash the child's feet daily -in cold water, and "to have his shoes so thin that they might leak -and let in water." Josiah Quincy was the suffering subject of some -of this instruction; when only three years old he was taken from -his warm bed in winter as well as summer (and this in Eastern -Massachusetts), carried downstairs to a cellar kitchen and dipped -three times in a tub of cold water fresh from the pump. He was also -brought up with utter indifference to wet feet; he said that in his -boyhood he sat more than half the time with his feet wet and cold, -but with no ill results. - -Locke also strongly counselled learning dancing, swimming, and -playing in the open air. In his diet "flesh should be forborn as -long as the boy is in coats, or at least till he is two or three -years old"; for breakfast and supper he advises milk, milk-pottage, -water-gruel, flummery, and similar "spoon-meat," or brown bread with -cheese. If the boy called for victuals between meals, he should -have dry bread. His only extra drink should be small-beer, which -should be warm; and seldom he should taste wine or strong drink. -Locke would not have children eat melons, peaches, plums, or grapes; -while berries and ripe pears and apples, the latter especially after -October, he deems healthful. The bed should be hard, of quilts -rather than of feathers. Under these rigid rules were reared many of -our Revolutionary heroes and statesmen. - -[Illustration: De Peyster Twins] - -The adoption of Locke's ideas about the use of cold water, or -indeed of any frequent bathing, was perhaps the most radical -innovation in modes of living. The English never bathed, in our -sense of the word, a complete immersion, nor, I suppose, did our -Puritan, Cavalier, or Quaker ancestors. Sewall makes not one -reference to anything of the kind, but that is not strange; nor is -his omission any proof, negative or positive, for he refers to no -personal habits, and very shortly and infrequently to dress. Pepys, -the courtier and dandy, tells of rare monumental occasions when he -cleaned himself--far too rare, we may judge from side-lights thrown -by other of his statements. The _Youth's Behavior_, an old-time -book of etiquette, lays down an assertion that it is a point of -wholesomeness to wash one's face and hands as soon as one is up and -dressed, and "to comb one's head in time and season, yet not too -curiously." Bathing the person in unaccustomed spots was a ticklish -proceeding--a water ordeal, to be gravely considered. Mistress Alice -Thornton, a Yorkshire dame, records in her account of her life one -occasion when she washed her feet, but she was overbold. "Which my -mother did believe it was the cause of that dangerous fitt the next -day." In the Verney volumes we find that forlorn Verney boy, poor -sickly "Mun," wearing a harness for his crooked back till his shirt -was black, when the famous surgeon changed the harness, and Mun -his shirt, with no thought on the part of either of a bath being a -necessity. - -[Illustration: Go-Cart] - -In 1630 a ship was sent from England to Massachusetts which was -provisioned for three months. Among the stores for the passengers' -use were two casks of Malaga and Canary; twenty gallons of -aqua-vitae; forty-five tuns of beer; and for drinking, washing, -cooking, bathing, etc., but six tuns of water. The ships sent out -to Georgia by Oglethorpe were so scantily supplied with water that -it is positive no fresh water could have been used for bathing even -in minute amount. The reputation of hidden malevolence which hung -around water as a beverage seems to have extended to its use in any -form. It was believed to be permeated with minute noxious particles, -which in those ante-bacteriological days could not be explained, but -which were distinctly appreciated and dreaded. - -But these be parlous words. Let us rather show some sympathy for our -ancestors. We bathe in well-warmed rooms, often in cold water, but -with steaming hot water in ample command at a turn of the hand. Had -we to carry all the water for our bathing use from a well whence we -laboriously raised it in small amounts, and were we forced to bathe -in an icy atmosphere, with cutting draughts striking us on every -side, with the basins of water freezing on the hearth in front of -a blazing fire, and the juices of the wood freezing at the ends of -burning logs, we might not deem our daily bath such an indispensable -necessity. - -We have heard an advanced thinker like Locke suggest brown bread, -cheese, and warm beer as food for young children. What, then, must -have been the notions of less thoughtful folk? Doubtless in England -such food would have been simple; but in the new world less beer -was drank and more milk, which must have proved the salvation of -American children. And the plentiful and varied cereal foods, many -of them from Indian corn, were a suitable diet for young children. -Samp, hominy, suppawn, pone, succotash,--all Indian foods and -cooked in Indian ways,--were found in every home in every colony. -Baked beans, another Indian dish, were also good food for children. -Native and domestic fruits were plentiful, but, with the exception -of apples and pears, were not very attractive. The succession of -summer's and autumn's berries must have been eagerly welcomed. They -were in the rich and spicy plenty offered by a virgin soil. - -A curious, rare, and quaintly named English book is owned by Earl -Spencer. Its title runs thus:-- - - "Dyves Pragmaticus. A booke in English metre of the great - marchuant man called Dyves Pragmaticus, very pretye for chyldren - to rede, whereby they may be the better and more readyer rede - and wryte Wares and Implements in this World contayned.... When - thou sellest aught unto thy neighbour or byest anything of - him deceave not nor oppress him, etc. Imprinted at London in - Aldersgate strete by Alexander Lacy dwellynge beside the Wall. - The XXV of Aprill, 1563." - -It contains a list of sweetmeats for the enticement of children -which may be confidently relied on as a full one if we can judge by -the exhaustiveness of the lists of other commodities found in the -poem:-- - - "I have Sucket, Surrip, Grene Ginger, and Marmalade, - Bisket, Cumfet, and Carraways as fine as can be made." - -A sucket was a dried sweetmeat such as candied orange peel. A -caraway was a sweet cake with caraway-seeds. - -Apples and caraways were a favorite dish, still served at some of -the anniversary feasts of English universities. Comfits were highly -flavored, often scented with strong perfumes like musk and bergamot. - -Sweetmeats appear to have been plentiful in the colonies from early -days. The first native poet of New England wrote complainingly as -early as 1675 that-- - - "From western isles now fruits and delicacies - Do rot maids' teeth and spoil their handsome faces." - -Ships in the "Indian trade" brought to the colonies abundance -of sugar, molasses, chocolate, ginger, and other dried fruits. -These were apparently far more common here than in England; -Mr. Ernst says these constant relays of sweets "produced the -American sweet-tooth--a wonder." Candied eringo-root, candied -lemon-peel, angelica candy, as well as caraway comfits and sugared -coriander-seed and dried ginger, were advertised for sale in Boston, -and show the taste of the day. In 1731 Widow Bonyet had a notice of -her specialties in the _Boston News Letter_. It has quite the modern -ring in its meat jellies for the sick, and home-made preserves, -jellies, and sirups. She also made those ancient sweets, macaroons, -marchpanes, and crisp almonds. These latter do not appear to be the -glazed and burnt almonds of the confectioner, and may have been -salted almonds. The only candy Sewall refers to is sugared almonds. -He frequently speaks of gifts of oranges, figs, and "raisins of -the sun." Raisins were brought into all the colonial ports in vast -amounts, and were until this century regarded by children as a great -dainty. - -Each large city seems to have had some special confectioner or -baker who was renowned for special cakes. Boston had Meer's cakes. -New York children probably had the greatest variety of cookies, -crullers, and various small cakes, as these were distinctly Dutch, -and the Dutch vrouws excelled in cake-making. - -Strings of rock-candy came from China, but were rivalled by a -distinctly native sweet--maple sugar. Equally American appear to -us those Salem sweets, namely, Black Jacks and Salem Gibraltars. -Base imitations appeared elsewhere, but never equalled the original -delights in Salem. Children who were fortunate enough to live in -coast towns reaped the sweet fruits of their fathers' foreign -ventures. When a ship came into port with eighty boxes of sugar -candy on board and sixty tubs of rock-candy, poor indeed was -the child who was not surfeited with sweets. There was a sequel, -however, to the toothsome feast, a bitter dessert. The ship that -brought eighty boxes of sugar candy also fetched a hundred boxes of -rhubarb and ten of senna. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -CHILDREN'S DRESS - - _Man's earthly Interests are all hooked and buttoned together - and held up by Clothes._ - - --_Sartor Resartus. Thomas Carlyle, 1833._ - - -Of the dress of infants of colonial times we can judge from the -articles of clothing which have been preserved till this day. -Perhaps I should say that we can judge of the better garments worn -by babies, not their everyday dress; for it is not their simpler -attire that has survived, but their christening robes, their finer -shirts and petticoats and caps. - -Linen formed the chilling substructure of their dress, thin -linen, low-necked, short-sleeved shirts; and linen even formed -the underwear of infants until the middle of this century. These -little linen shirts are daintier than the warmest silk or fine -woollen underwear that have succeeded them; they are edged with fine -narrow thread lace, hemstitched with tiny rows of stitches, and -sometimes embroidered by hand. I have seen a little shirt and a cap -embroidered with the coat of arms of the Lux and Johnson families -and the motto, "God bless the Babe;" these delicate garments were -worn in infancy by the Revolutionary soldier, Governor Johnson of -Virginia. - -[Illustration: Baptismal Shirt and Mittens of Governor Bradford, -1590] - -In the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts, are the baptismal -shirt and mittens of the Pilgrim Father, William Bradford, second -governor of the Plymouth Colony, who was born in 1590. All are of -firm, close-woven, homespun linen, but the little mittens have -been worn at the ends by the active friction of baby hands, and -are patched with colored "chiney" or calico. A similar colored -material frills the sleeves and neck. A pair of baby's mitts of fine -lace also may be seen at the Essex Institute. These were wrought in -the sixteenth century, and the stitches and work are those of the -antique Flanders laces. I have seen many tiny mitts knit of silk -and mittens of fine linen, hemstitched, worked in drawn work or -embroidered, and edged with thread-lace, and also a few mitts of -yellow nankeen which must have proved specially irritating to the -tiny little hands that wore them. - -I have never seen a woollen petticoat that was worn by an infant -of pre-Revolutionary days. It may be argued that woollen garments, -being liable to ruin by moths, would naturally not be treasured. -This argument scarcely is one of force, because I have been shown -infants' cloaks of wool as well as woollen garments for older folk, -that have been successfully preserved; also beautifully embroidered -long cloaks of chamois skin. I think infants wore no woollen -petticoats; their shirts, petticoats, and gowns were of linen or -some cotton stuff like dimity. Warmth of clothing was given by tiny -shawls pinned round the shoulders, and heavier blankets and quilts -and shawls in which baby and petticoats were wholly enveloped. - -[Illustration: Robert Gibbs, Four and a Half Years Old, 1670] - -The baby dresses of olden times are either rather shapeless -sacques drawn in at the neck with narrow cotton ferret or linen -bobbin, or little straight-waisted gowns of state. All were -exquisitely made by hand, and usually of fine stuff. But the babies -in pioneer settlements a century ago had to share in wearing -homespun. It is told of one in a log cabin in a New Hampshire -clearing that when the grandmother rode out eighty miles on -horseback to see her son's first baby, she shed bitter tears at -beholding the child, but a few months old, clad in a gray woollen -homespun slip with an apron or tier of blue and white checked linen. -The mother, a frontier lass, dressed the infant according to the -fashions she was accustomed to. - -Nothing could show so fully the costume of children in olden times -as their portraits, and a series of such portraits of successive -dates will be given in these pages. Many of them are asserted to -be by the three well-known artists of colonial days,--Blackburn, -Smibert, and Copley; a few are by Peale, Trumbull, and Stuart. I -have accepted all family traditions as true, and in many cases -believe them to be true, especially since there were few painters of -any rank in the community, and no others who could paint portraits -such as those which have been preserved. The Gilbert Stuarts and -Trumbulls usually have some authentic pedigree. Many of these -pictures have no artist's signature and are absolutely valueless as -works of art, and probably meritless as likenesses; but as records -of costume they are always of interest and historical worth. - -There is a certain sweetness in some of these old-time portraits; -they are stiff and flat, but some of them have a quaintness that -reminds me of the angels of the early Florentine painters. They -have little grace of figure, but the details of costume make them -pleasing even if they are not beautiful. - -The first child's portrait in this series is one of extraordinary -interest. It is opposite page 4, and has never before been given -to the public. It is the reputed miniature of the Pilgrim Father, -Governor Edward Winslow, when a boy about six years of age, which -would be in 1602; it is the only miniature in existence of any of -the Pilgrims at any age. I have, in deference to the wishes of the -Rev. Dr. William Copley Winslow of Boston (to whom I am indebted for -it), entitled it the reputed miniature of the child Edward Winslow, -though the term expresses neither his belief nor mine; and seems -scarcely just to a portrait whose claims to authenticity are far -more definite than those of many of the family portraits that have -descended to us. - -[Illustration: Infant's Mitts, 16th Century] - -The miniature came to Dr. Winslow from Mrs. Hersey of Pembroke, -Massachusetts. She died at the age of eighty-six. Her grandfather -assured her that his father (the famous General John Winslow) -received the likeness from his father (the grandson of Edward -the Pilgrim), and that it was the Pilgrim's likeness as a child. -This--through long-lived Winslows--is a record of few retellings; -and these were told by folk to be trusted. The Winslows were -gentlefolk of ample means, such as were likely to have miniatures -painted; and the portrait of Governor Winslow when fifty-six years -of age, now in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, is the sole one (save this -miniature) of any of the Pilgrims. Other strong evidence is the -extraordinary resemblance of the child's picture to the "grown-up" -portrait, the same brow, contour of face, and other similarity. - -There is something in the child's portrait that is singularly -suggestive to any one with any historical imagination. The -simplicity of the dress and arrangement of the hair show the -influence of Puritanism. As I look at it I can fancy, yes, I can -plainly see, some little English children, twenty years later -standing on that crowded historic ship, looking back with childish -serenity at the home they were leaving, and then greeting as -cheerfully and trustingly the "sad Plymouth" where they disembarked; -and the faces that I see have the broad brow, the flowing hair, the -bared neck, and simple dress shown in this miniature. - -The next portrait, which faces the title page, shows the costume -worn in 1690 by a boy a year or two old; it is a charming and quaint -picture of the first John Quincy, who was born in 1689, and who when -dying, in 1767, gave his name to his great-grandson, John Quincy -Adams, who had just been born. Some have thought the picture that of -a sister, Esther Quincy; but to me it has a hard little boy's face, -not the features of a delicate girl, and also a boy's hands, and a -boy's toy. - -Children in America, if gentlefolk, dressed just as children did -in England at that date; and boys wore "coats" in England till they -were six or seven. One of the most charming of all grandmothers' -letters was written by a doting English grandmother to her son, Lord -Chief Justice North, telling of the "leaving off of coats" of his -motherless little son, Francis Guildford, then six years old. The -letter is dated October 10, 1679:-- - - "DEAR SON: - - "You cannot beleeve the great concerne that was in the whole - family here last Wednesday, it being the day that the taylor was - to helpe to dress little ffrank in his breeches in order to the - making an everyday suit by it. Never had any bride that was to - be drest upon her weding night more handes about her, some the - legs, some the armes, the taylor butt'ning, and others putting - on the sword, and so many lookers on that had I not a ffinger - amongst I could not have seen him. When he was quite drest he - acted his part as well as any of them for he desired he might - goe downe to inquire for the little gentleman that was there - the day before in a black coat, and speak to the man to tell - the gentleman when he came from school that there was a gallant - with very fine clothes and a sword to have waited upon him and - would come again upon Sunday next. But this was not all, there - was great contrivings while he was dressing who should have the - first salute; but he sayd if old Joan had been here, she should, - but he gave it to me to quiett them all. They were very fitt, - everything, and he looks taller and prettyer than in his coats. - Little Charles rejoyced as much as he did for he jumpt all the - while about him and took notice of everything. I went to Bury, - and bo^t everything for another suitt which will be finisht on - Saturday so the coats are to be quite left off on Sunday. I - consider it is not yett terme time and since you could not have - the pleasure of the first sight, I resolved you should have a - full relation from - - "Yo^r most aff^nate Mother - "A NORTH. - - When he was drest he asked Buckle whether muffs were out of - fashion because they had not sent him one." - -This affectionate letter, written to a great and busy statesman, the -Lord Keeper of the Seals, shows how pure and delightful domestic -life in England could be; but the writer was not a commonplace -woman--she was the mother of fourteen children, and had had years of -experience with a father-in-law before whom an army of traditional -mothers-in-law would pale. She lived through this ordeal and a -trying marital experience, and her children rose up and called her -blessed. Among her virtues her son Roger dilated at length upon her -delightful letter-writing, her "freedom of style and matter," and -declared that her letters were among the comforts of her children's -lives. - -[Illustration: Jane Bonner, Eight Years Old, 1700] - -To return to the dress of John Quincy: with the exception of the -neck of the body of the frock it is much like the dress of grown -women of that day. We have existing portraits of Madam Shimpton and -Rebecca Rawson of the same date. In both of these, as in this little -boy's portrait, the sleeve is the most noticeable feature, with its -single slash, double puff drawn in below the elbow and confined with -pretty ribbon knots. This sleeve was known as the virago sleeve, -and John Quincy's are darker colored than his frock. All three wear -loosely tied rather shapeless hoods, such as are seen on the women -in the prints of the coronation procession of King William. The boy -has a close cap under his hood. His dress is certainly picturesque -and distinctive. - -A portrait, facing page 36, of another Massachusetts boy, -contemporary with John Quincy, is that of Robert Gibbs, the rich -Boston merchant. This is plainly marked as being painted when he -was four and a half years old, and with the date 1670. He wears the -same stiff cuirass as John Quincy, the same odd truncated shoes of -buff leather, and has the same masculine swing of the petticoats. -Both figures stand on a checker-board floor, four squares deep, with -their toes at the same point on the board. Robert Gibbs wears a more -boyish collar, or band, as befits a bigger boy. The sleeves are -an important feature of his dress, having a pair of long hanging -sleeves bordered with fur, which do not show in the print in this -book, but are plainly visible in the original portrait. Hanging -sleeves were so distinctively the dress of a little child that the -term had at that time a symbolic significance, implying childishness -both of youth and second childhood. Pepys thus figuratively employs -the term. Judge Sewall wrote in old age to a brother whose widowed -sister he desired to marry:-- - - "I remember when I was going from school at Newbury to have - sometime met your sisters Martha and Mary in Hanging Sleeves, - coming home from their school in Chandlers Lane, and have had - the pleasure of speaking to them. And I could find it in my - heart now to speak to Mrs Martha again, now I myself am reduc'd - to Hanging Sleeves." - -This roundabout wooing came to naught. The Judge married Widow Mary -Gibbs, relict of this very Robert Gibbs whose childish portrait we -have here. The artist who painted this picture may have been Tom -Child, who is named by Judge Sewall as the portrait-painter of that -day. - -A demure and quaint portrait, opposite page 42, is that of Jane -Bonner. She was born in 1691, the daughter of Captain John Bonner of -Boston, and was married in 1710 to John Ellery. She was about eight -or ten years old when the portrait was painted. Crude as is the -painting, it gives evident proof that the lace of the stomacher and -sleeve frills is of the nature of what is now called rose point. - -In the early settlements of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and -Virginia, sumptuary laws were passed to restrain and attempt to -prohibit extravagance in dress. The New England magistrates were -curiously minute in description of overluxurious attire, and many -offenders were tried and fined. But vain daughters and sons "psisted -in fflonting," though ministers joined the lawmakers in solemn -warnings and reprehensions. Young girls were fined for silk hoods -and immoderate great sleeves, and boldly appeared in court in still -richer attire. The Dutch never attempted or wished to simplify -the dress of either men or women. In New York dress was ample, -substantial, varied in texture, and variegated in color. It ever -formed a considerable item in personal property. The children of -the Dutch settlers had plentiful and warm clothing, and sometimes -very rich clothing, as may be seen in the quaint and interesting -picture facing page 26, of twin girls, the two daughters of Abraham -De Peyster of New York, and his wife, Margaret Van Cortlandt. They -are dressed in red velvet trained gowns, but are barefooted. They -were born December 3, 1724, and Eva died in 1729, a month after -the portrait was painted. Catherine was married on her eighteenth -birthday to John Livingstone, son of the second lord of the manor. -Their son had a daughter Catherine, who became the wife of Don -Mariano Velasquez de la Cadenas. To their daughters, Mrs. Azoy and -Miss Mariana Velasquez, this interesting portrait now belongs. - -[Illustration: Infant's Robe, Cap and Christening Blanket] - -The mother of these twins was the daughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt -and Eva De Vries Philipse. The names of Eva and Catherine have ever -been given to the little daughters of these allied families, and are -borne to-day by many of their descendants. - -Another little girl of Dutch blood was Cathalina Post, who married -Zegor Van Santvoord. Her portrait was painted in 1750 when she -was fourteen years old, and is now owned by Dr. Van Santvoord of -Kingston-on-Hudson, New York. A copy of this quaint old picture -faces page 204. It is most interesting in costume; the head-gear -showing distinct Dutch influence. - -There is a suggestion of earrings in this portrait, and Katherine -Ten Broeck, another child of Dutch blood, but three years old, wears -earrings. The reproduction of her portrait, given opposite page 192, -shows these jewels but dimly, but they are visible in the original -oil-painting. She was born in Albany in 1715. The portrait is marked -AEtat^s Sua, 3 Years, 1719. She was married to John Livingstone, and -lived to become a stately old dame, receiving formally on New Year's -Day her grandchildren, who always greeted her in Dutch learned for -the special occasion. - -The devastations of two wars (and in some localities -three)--destruction by fire and earthquake--have sadly destroyed -the cherished relics of many southern homes. From Mrs. St. Julian -Ravenel of Charleston, South Carolina, the delightful biographer -of that delightful colonial dame, Eliza Lucas Pinckney, come two -portraits of children of the Huguenot settlers. The picture facing -page 48 of Ellinor Cordes of St. John's, Berkeley County, South -Carolina, painted about 1740, shows a lovely little child of French -features, and French daintiness of dress, albeit a bright yellow -brocaded satin would seem rather gorgeous attire for a girl but -two years old. Opposite page 50 is a picture of Daniel Ravenel -of Wantoot, St. John's, Berkeley County, South Carolina, who was -born in 1760, and was about five years old when this portrait was -painted; though he still wears what might be termed a frock with -petticoats, there is a decided boyishness in the waistcoat with its -silver buttons and lace, and the befrogged overcoat with broad cuffs -and wrist ruffles, and a turned-over revers, and narrow linen inner -collar. It is an exceptionally pleasing boy's dress for a little -child. - -Two portraits of Flagg children painted, it is said, by Smibert, -must be among his latest portraits, for the baby, Polly Flagg, was -born in Boston in 1750, and Smibert died in 1751. The portrait -facing page 184 shows, as may be seen, a dear little baby not a year -old, in baby dress and cap, clasping a toy. It is marked on the -back Mrs. Polly Hurd; for the little girl lived to be the wife and -widow of Dr. Wilder of Lancaster, Massachusetts, and of Dr. Hurd of -Concord, Massachusetts. Of equal interest is the severely beautiful -face of James Flagg, her brother, shown opposite page 188. He was -born in 1739, and was still "coats" when this portrait was painted. -These portraits are owned by Mrs. Albert Thorndike of Boston, -Massachusetts, the great-granddaughter of Griselda Apthorpe Flagg, -the sister of these two children. - -[Illustration: Ellinor Cordes, Two Years Old, 1740] - -The portrait of Jonathan Mountfort, given opposite page 58, has -a special interest to the art student, since it is a specimen of -Copley's early work. The boy was born December 6, 1746, and was -seven years old when the portrait was painted. He married Mary Bole, -a Newfoundland girl, whose father sent her to a school in Halifax, -under the charge of Captain Shepherd of Medford, Massachusetts. -Finding Halifax in a state of blockade, the captain took the little -girl to Boston. He and his wife were childless and became deeply -attached to her and finally adopted her. She became engaged to Dr. -Mountfort, and went to visit her parents in Ireland, whither they -had removed. On her return, bringing with her the gifts, wardrobe, -and household furnishings of a bride of that period, she came into -Boston harbor only to be wrecked in sight of the town. The ship's -mate swam with her to the lighthouse, and the two were the only -ones saved. Captain Shepherd gave her a house and fresh outfit, -and she married Dr. Mountfort. They had seven children, but the -name of Mountfort is now extinct. Their daughter Elizabeth married -Major Thomas Pitts, whose daughter is now Mrs. Farlin of Detroit, -Michigan, the present owner of this interesting portrait. - -[Illustration: Daniel Ravenel, Five Years Old, 1765] - -An altogether charming group of children, facing page 54, two -sisters and two brothers of Governor Christopher Gore (seventh -governor of Massachusetts), was painted about the year 1754, by -Copley. The mature little girl of this picture, Frances, married -Thomas Crafts, colonel of the regiment of which Paul Revere was -lieutenant-colonel in the Revolution. Colonel and Mrs. Crafts were -the great-grandparents of the present owners, Miss Julia G. Robins -and Miss Susan P. B. Robins. This picture was for a time in the -Boston Museum of Art, and on returning it General Loring wrote, "I -shall miss the little grown-ups--were there no children in those -days?" This look of maturity seems universal to all these portraits. -I have photographs of several other groups of children, one of the -most charming, that of the Grymes children, now in the Capitol -at Richmond, Virginia; but they are all too darkened with age to -admit of proper or adequate reproduction, and must be left out of -these pages. The baby in the Grymes group is truly a baby, not a -"grown-up." - -[Illustration: Child's Shoes] - -The handsomest of all the boy-portraits of colonial days is that -of Samuel Pemberton, by Blackburn; it is perfect in feature and -expression; though he is but twelve years old he wears a wig. It was -painted in 1736, and boys of good family then wore costly wigs. Mr. -Freeman of Portland, Maine, had in his book of expenses of the year -1750, such items as these:-- - - "Shaving my three sons at sundry times. L5. 14_s._ - Expenses for James' Wig 9. - " " Samuel's Wig 9. - -The three sons--Samuel, James, and William--were aged eleven, nine, -and seven years. The shaving was of their heads. Slaves of fashion -were parents of that day to bedeck their boys with such rich wigs. - -A more exquisite portrait than that of Thomas Aston Coffin, opposite -page 222, can scarcely be found. It is painted in Copley's best -manner (shown in the highest perfection in the portrait of his -daughter Elizabeth). A light-hued satin petticoat-front shows under -a rich full-skirted satin over-dress which brushes the ground. The -pretty satin sleeves have white under-sleeves and wrist ruffles, but -the neck is cut very low and round. The child holds two pigeons by -a leash, and a feathered hat is by his side. This portrait was much -loved by its late owner, Miss Anne S. Robbins of Boston. - -This charming picture of the Pepperell children, facing page 214, -was believed to be by Copley, and included in Mr. Perkins' list. -At present this authorship is doubted. It is owned by Miss Alice -Longfellow of Cambridge, having been bought by her father, the poet, -from the owner of the Portsmouth Museum, who had in some singular -way acquired it. The children are William, son of the second Sir -William Pepperell, and his sister Elizabeth Royal Pepperell, who -married Rev. Henry Hutton. - -A bright-eyed little girl, Mary Lord, has her portrait, given -opposite page 66, hanging in the rooms of the Connecticut -Historical Society. She was born in 1702, in Hartford, Connecticut, -and married, in 1724, Colonel Joseph Pitkin of Hartford. By her side -hangs the picture of Colonel Wadsworth and his son, shown opposite -page 316. It is the one which the artist Trumbull took to Sir Joshua -Reynolds for advice and comment. He was snubbed with the snappish -criticism that "the coat looked like bent tin." Other criticism -might be made on the anatomical proportions of the subjects. - -Copley's genius is shown in the fine portrait of William Verstile, -facing page 210, painted in 1769. There is one little glimpse of -this boy's boyhood which has so human an element, is so fully in -touch with modern life, that I give it. It is from an old letter -written by his mother, during a visit in Boston, where possibly this -very portrait was painted. It shows the beginning of tastes which -found ample scope in his services in the war of the Revolution. - - "BOSTON, June 11, 1766. - - My Dear these leaves me and my friends as I hope they will find - you for health. I was obliged to stay a fortnight as I didn't - set out till the middle of the week from Weathersfield, was - obliged to tarry here a fortnight on account of coming with the - Post. We got down safe we got into Boston Wednesday afternoon - at four o Clock. The Horse seem'd to enter Boston as free & - fresh as when he first set out from home. Mr. Lowder says he - is a prime horse. He wasn't galled or fretted in the least but - would have come right back again. I was a good deal worried as - Billey didn't fill the chaise no more, the horse might have - brought three as well as two & not have felt it. I have had but - very little Comfort since I have bin here on account of Billey - as there's so much powderwork going on among the Children since - the Illumination Billey has bin very forward of firing iron - guns. Since we've bin here its not only the powder amongst - the Children but the wharfes being so neare he's down there - continually. Johnny Bradford & Ned & Dan Warner and Billey was - down the wharfe together when a boy push'd Dan over & lik'd to - bin drown'd & might bin Billey so I can't take much comfort on - leaving of him but shall bring him, you needn't be Concern'd - about threes coming up as Mr. Hide tells me Billey may ride - behind him if he's a mind to." - -Billey became a portrait painter himself, and got four guineas -apiece for his miniatures. He early showed artistic predilections, -and these tastes were well supplied. Interspersed with pumps and -hose and hats for Billey are found in his father's purchases "brass -deviders," scales, "books for limning," two dozen "hair pencils," -and "1 box painter's collurs on glass," which cost twelve shillings. - -[Illustration: Gore Children, 1754] - -I don't know who taught Billey limning. There was a funny book in -circulation among students in that day. It was written in serious -intent, but its rules read as though they were dictated by Oliver -Herford. It was entitled _Every Young Man's Companion in Drawing_. -Here are a few of its instructions to young artists:-- - - "Make your outlines, which may be mended occasionally. - - "From the Elbow to the Root of the Little Finger is Two Noses. - - "The Thumb contains a Nose. - - "The Inside of Arm to Middle of Arm is Four Noses." - -The crowning glory of the Copley portraits is the charming family -group opposite page 180, depicting Copley himself, his beautiful -wife, his dignified father-in-law, and his lovely children. It is -now exhibited in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. This group seems -perfect, and the quaint figure of the child Elizabeth Copley, in the -foreground, is worthy the brush of Van Dyck. - -Colonel John Lewis, one of the old Virginia gentlemen, had two -child wards. As befitted young gentlefolk of that day of opulence -and extravagance, they had their dress from England. In 1736, when -Robert Carter, the younger child, was about nine years old, suits of -fine holland, laced, and of red worsted and of green German serge -came across seas for him, with laced hats with loops and buttons. -When he was twelve years old part of his "winter cloathes" were six -pair of shoes and two of pumps, four pair of worked hose and four of -thread hose, gloves, hats, and shoe buckles. His sister Betty had a -truly fashionable wardrobe, and the stiff, restrictive dress of the -times was indicated by the items of stays, hoops, masks, and fans. -When "Miss Custis" was but four years old George Washington ordered -for her from England packthread stays, stiffened coats, a large -number of gloves and masks. - -An order for purchases sent to a London agent by Washington in 1761 -contains a full list of garments for both his step-children. "Miss -Custis" was then six years old. These are some of the items:-- - - "1 Coat made of Fashionable Silk. - - A Fashionable Cap or fillet with Bib apron. - - Ruffles and Tuckers, to be laced. - - 4 Fashionable Dresses made of Long Lawn. - - 2 Fine Cambrick Frocks. - - A Satin Capuchin, hat, and neckatees. - - A Persian Quilted Coat. - - 1 p. Pack Thread Stays. - - 4 p. Callimanco Shoes. - - 6 p. Leather Shoes. - - 2 p. Satin Shoes with flat ties. - - 6 p. Fine Cotton Stockings. - - 4 p. White Worsted Stockings. - - 12 p. Mitts. - - 6 p. White Kid Gloves. - - 1 p. Silver Shoe Buckles. - - 1 p. Neat Sleeve Buttons. - - 6 Handsome Egrettes Different Sorts. - - 6 Yards Ribbon for Egrettes. - - 12 Yards Coarse Green Callimanco." - -There is a large-headed portrait of the Custis children which was -painted at about this time. A copy of it is shown opposite page 250. -While the dress of both children is mature, it is not so elegant as -might be expected from the rich garments which were imported for -them. - -Sir William Pepperell ordered, in 1737, equally costly and -formal clothing from England for his little daughter to disport -at Piscataquay. Stays and masks are ever on the lists of little -gentlewomen. A letter of the day tells of seeing the youthful -daughter of Governor Tryon sitting stiffly in a chair, in broad lace -collar, with heavy dress, never playing, running, or even walking. - -Delicacy of figure and whiteness of complexion were equal fetiches -with colonial mammas. Little Dolly Payne, afterward Dolly Madison, -wore long gloves, a linen mask, and had a sunbonnet sewed on her -head every morning by her devoted mother. Very thin shoes of silk, -morocco, or light stuff unfitted little girls for any very active -exercise; these were high-heeled. A tiny pair of shoes for a -little girl of three are shown on page 51. I have seen children's -stays, made of heavy strips of board and steel, tightly wrought -with heavy buckram or canvas into an iron frame like an instrument -of torture. These had been worn by a little girl five years old. -Staymakers advertised stays, jumps, gazzets, costrells, and caushets -(which were doubtless corsets) for ladies and children, "to make -them appear strait." And I have been told of tin corsets for little -girls, but I have never seen any such abominations. One pair of -stays was labelled as having been worn by a boy when five years old. -There certainly is a suspicious suggestion in some of these little -fellows' portraits of whalebone and buckram. - -In the sprightly descriptions given by Anna Green Winslow of her own -dress we see with much distinctness the little girl of twelve of the -year 1771:-- - - "I was dress'd in my yellow coat, my black bib & apron, my - pompedore shoes, the cap my aunt Storer sometime since presented - me with blue ribbins on it, a very handsome loket in the shape - of a hart, the paste pin my Hon'^d Papa presented me with in my - cap, my new cloak & bonnet on, my pompedore gloves, and I would - tell you they all lik'd my dress very much."... "I was dress'd - in my yellow coat, black bib and apron, black feathers on my - head, my paste comb, all my paste, garnet, marquasett, and jet - pins, together with my silver plume,--my loket rings, black - coller round my neck, black mitts, 2 or 3 yards of blue ribbin, - striped tucker & ruffels & my silk shoes compleated my dress." - -[Illustration: Jonathan Mountfort, Seven Years Old, 1753] - -It would seem somewhat puzzling to fancy how, with a little girl's -soft hair, the astonishing and varied head-gear named above could be -attached. Little Anna gives a full description of the way her hair -was dressed over a high roll, so heavy and hot that it made her head -"itch & ach & burn like anything." She tells of the height of her -head-gear:-- - - "When it first came home, Aunt put it on & my new cap on it; she - then took up her apron & measur'd me, & from the roots of my - hair on my forehead to the top of my notions, I measur'd above - an inch longer than I did downwards from the roots of my hair to - the end of my chin." - -Her picture, shown facing page 164, is taken from a miniature -painted when she was a few years older. The roll is more modest -in size, and the decorations are fewer in number. Each year the -"head-equipage" diminished, till cropped heads were seen, with a -shock of tight curls on the forehead--an incredibly disfiguring -mode. - -In the chapter upon the school life of girls a letter is given -describing the dress of two young girls who were boarding in Boston -while they were being taught. There is no doubt that very rich dress -was desired, and possibly required of these young scholar-boarders. -The oft-quoted letter in regard to Miss Huntington's wardrobe shows -the elegance of dress of those schoolgirls. She had twelve silk -gowns; but word was sent home to Norwich that a recently imported -rich fabric was most suitable for her rank and station; and in -answer to the teacher's request the parents ordered the purchase of -this elegant dress. - -When cotton fabrics from Oriental countries became everywhere and -every time worn, children's dress, as likewise that of grown folk, -was much reduced in elegance as it was in warmth. Hoops disappeared -and heavy petticoats also; the soft slimsy clinging stuffs, suitable -only for summer wear, were not discarded in winter. Boys wore -nankeen suits the entire year. Calico and chintz were fashioned into -trousers and jackets. A little suit is shown, facing page 60, made -of figured calico of high colors, which it is stated was worn in -1784. The labels are very exact and the labellers very cautious of -the Deerfield Memorial Hall collection, else I should assign this -suit to a ten or even twenty years' later date. Children must -have suffered sadly with the cold in this age of cotton. Girls' -dresses were half low-necked, and were filled in with a thin tucker; -separate sleeves were tied in at the arm size, and often long-armed -mitts of nankeen or linen took the place of the sleeves. - -[Illustration: Boy's Suit of Clothing, 1784] - -A family of Cary children had several charming portraits painted in -London. Two of them are given opposite pages 240 and 246. They note -the transitions of costume which came at the approach of the close -of the century. The portrait of the boy is interesting in a special -point of costume; it shows the abandonment of the cocked hat and -adoption of the simpler modern form of head-covering. The little -girl, Margaret, has a most roguish expression, which is suggestive -of Sir Joshua Reynolds' _Girl with the Mouse Trap_. The resemblance -is even more marked in the portrait of the same child at the age -of six, wherein the eyes and half-smile are charmingly engaging; -unfortunately the photograph from that portrait is not clear enough -for satisfactory reproduction. - -A demure little brother and sister were the children of General -Stephen Rowe Bradley of Westminster, Vermont, whose portraits face -pages 356 and 378. These were painted soon after the Revolution, -and show the definite changes in dress which set in with other -Republican institutions. At this date there began to be worn a -special dress for both boys and girls. Until then, as soon as a boy -put on breeches he dressed precisely like his father--in miniature. -By tradition Marie Antoinette was the first who had a special dress -made for her young son. And sadly was she reviled for dressing her -poor little Dauphin in jacket and trousers instead of flapped coat, -waistcoat, and knee-breeches. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LIFE - - _First mark whereof scholes were erected, - And what the founders did intend. - And then doe thou thy study directe - For to obtain unto that end._ - - _Doubtless this was all their meaning, - To have their countrie founded - With all poyntes of honest lernynge - Whereof the public weal had nede._ - - --_The Last Trumpet. R. Crowley, 1550._ - - -No greater contrast of conditions could exist than between the -school life of what we love to call the "good old times," and that -of the far better times of to-day. Poor, small, and uncomfortable -schoolhouses, scant furnishings, few and uninteresting books, -tiresome and indifferent methods of teaching, great severity of -discipline, were the accompaniments of school days until this -century. Yet with all these disadvantages children obtained an -education, for an education was warmly desired; no difficulties -could chill that deep-lying longing for learning. "Child," said one -noble New England mother of the olden days, "if God make thee a good -Christian and a good scholar, 'tis all thy mother ever asked for -thee." - -Not only did parents strive for the education of their children, but -the colonies assisted by commanding the building and maintaining -of a school in each town where there was a sufficient number of -families and scholars. Rhode Island was the only New England colony -that did not compel the building of schoolhouses and the education -of children. - -So determined was Massachusetts to have schools that in 1636, only -six years after the settlement of Boston, the General Court, which -was composed of representatives from every settlement in the Bay -Colony, and which was the same as our House of Representatives -to-day, gave over half the annual income of the entire colony to -establish the school which two years later became Harvard College. -This event should be remembered; it is distinguished in history as -the first time any body of people in any country ever gave through -its representatives its own money to found a place of education. - -In Virginia schoolhouses were few for over a century. Governor -Berkeley, an obstinate and narrow-minded Englishman, wrote home to -England in 1670, - -"I thank God there are in Virginia no free schools nor printing, and -I hope we shall not have, for learning hath brought disobedience -and heresy into the world." Some Virginia gentlemen did not agree -with him, however, and gave money to try to establish free schools -for poor children. A far greater hindrance to the establishment -of schools than the governor's stupid opposition, was the fact -that there was no town or village life in Virginia; the houses and -plantations were scattered; previous to the year 1700 Jamestown -was the only Virginia town, and it was but a petty settlement. -Williamsburg was not even laid out; a few seaports had been planned, -but had not been built. Hence the children of wealthy planters were -taught by private tutors at home, or were sent to school in England. - -Occasionally, as years passed on, there might be found in Virginia, -the Carolinas, and Georgia, what was called an old-field school, the -uniting of a few neighbors to hire a teacher, too often a poor one, -like the "hedge-teachers" of Europe, for a short term of teaching, -in a shabby building placed on an old exhausted tobacco field. - -In one of these old-field schools kept by Hobby--sexton, pedagogue, -and "the most conceited man in three parishes"--George Washington -obtained most of his education. A daily ride on horseback for a -year to a similar school ten miles away, and for another year a -row morning and night even in roughest weather across the river -to a Fredericksburg teacher, ended his school career when he -was thirteen; but he had then made a big pile of neatly written -manuscript school books, which may now be seen in the Library at -Washington; and he had acquired a passionate longing to be educated, -which accompanied him through life. - -An "advisive narrative" sent from America to the Bishop of London, -toward the end of the seventeenth century, says:-- - - "This lack of schools in Virginia is a consequence of their - scattered planting. It renders a very numerous generation of - Christian's Children born in Virginia, who naturally are of - beautiful and comely Persons, and generally of more ingenious - Spirits than those in England, unserviceable for any great - Employment in Church or State." - -[Illustration: Mary Lord, 1710 _circa_] - -This statement was not wholly correct; for though Virginians were -not usually fitted to be parsons, they certainly proved suited to -state and government. When the war of the Revolution broke out, -the noblest number of great statesmen, orators, and generals, -who certainly were men of genius if not of conventional school -education, came from the southern provinces. These brilliant -Virginians were strong evidence and proof of what the great -orator, Patrick Henry, called, in his singular pronunciation, -"naiteral pairts"; which he declared was of more account than "all -the book-lairnin' on the airth." Different climates and surroundings -soon bring out different traits in the same race of people. The warm -climate and fruitful soil in the southern colonies developed from -English stock an easy-living race who needed the great stimulus and -noble excitement of the Revolution to exhibit the highest qualities -of brain. The Puritan minister, Cotton Mather, said in 1685, in a -sermon before the Governor and Council in Massachusetts, "The Youth -in this Country are verie Sharp and early Ripe in their Capacities." -Thus speedily had keen New England air and hard New England life -developed these characteristic New England traits. - -New England at that time was controlled, both in public and private -life, by the Puritan ministers, who felt, as one of them said, that -"unless school and college flourish, church and state cannot live." -The ministers were accredited guardians of the schools; and when -Boston chose five school inspectors to visit the Latin School with -the ministers, many of the latter were highly incensed, and Increase -Mather refused to go with these lay visitors. - -By a law of Massachusetts, passed in 1647, it was ordered that -every town of fifty families should provide a school where children -could be taught to read and write; while every town of one hundred -householders was required to have a grammar school. In the -Connecticut Code of Laws of 1650 were the same orders. These schools -were public, but were not free; they were supported at the expense -of the parents. - -In 1644 the town of Salem ordered "that a note be published the next -lecture day, that such as have children to be kept at school, would -bring in their names, and what they will give for a whole year; and -also that if any poor body hath children or a child to be put to -school, and not able to pay for their schooling, that the town will -pay it by a rate." Lists of children were made out in towns, and if -the parents were well-to-do, they had to pay whether their children -attended school or not. - -Land was sometimes set aside to support partly the school; it was -called the "school-meadows," or "school-fields," and was let out for -an income to help to pay the teacher. This was a grant made on the -same principle that grants were made to physicians, tanners, and -other useful persons, not to establish free education. At a later -date lotteries were a favorite method of raising money for schools. - -It was not until about the time of the Revolution that the modern -signification of the word "free"--a school paid for entirely by -general town taxes--could be applied to the public schools of most -Massachusetts towns, and when the schools of Boston were made free, -that community stood alone for its liberality not only in America, -but in the world. - -The pay was given in any of the inconvenient exchanges which had to -pass as money at that time,--in wampum, beaver skins, Indian corn, -wheat, peas, beans, or any country product known as "truck." It is -told of a Salem school, that one scholar was always seated at the -window to study and also to hail passers-by, and endeavor to sell -to them the accumulation of corn, vegetables, etc., which had been -given in payment to the teacher. - -The logs for the great fireplace were furnished by the parents or -guardians of the scholars as a part of the pay for schooling; and -an important part it was in the northern colonies, in the bitter -winter, in the poorly built schoolhouses. Some schoolmasters, -indignant at the carelessness of parents who failed to send the -expected load of wood early in the winter, banished the unfortunate -child of the tardy parent to the coldest corner of the schoolroom. -The town of Windsor, Connecticut, voted "that the committee be -empowered to exclude any scholar that shall not carry his share of -wood for the use of the said school." In 1736 West Hartford ordered -every child "barred from the fire" whose parents had not sent wood. - -[Illustration: "Erudition" Schoolhouse, Bath, Maine, 1797] - -The school laws of the State of Massachusetts, framed in 1789, -crystallized all the principles, practice, and hopes that had been -developed by a hundred and fifty years of school life. The standard -set by these laws was decidedly lower than those of colonial days. -Where a permanent English school had been imperative, six months -schooling a year might be permitted to take its place; where every -town of a hundred families had had a grammar school in which boys -could be fitted for the university, only towns of two hundred -families were compelled to have such schools. Thus the open path -to the university was closed in a hundred and twenty Massachusetts -towns. - -Judge Thomas Holme composed in grammarless rhyme, in 1696, a _True -Relation of the Flourishing State of Philadelphia_. In it he says:-- - - "Here are schools of divers sorts - To which our youth daily resorts, - Good women, who do very well - Bring little ones to read and spell, - Which fits them for writing; and then - Here's men to bring them to their pen, - And to instruct and make them quick - In all sorts of Arithmetick." - -These statements were scarcely carried out in fact; in Pennsylvania -educational advantages were few, and among some classes education -was sorely hampered. The Quakers did not encourage absolute -illiteracy, but they thought knowledge of the "three R's" was -enough; they distinctly disapproved of any extended scholarship, -as it fostered undue pride and provoked idleness. The Germans were -worse; their own historians, the Calvinist and Lutheran preachers, -Schlatter and Muhlenberg, are authority; there were among them a -few schools of low grade; but the introduction of the public school -system among the Germans was resisted by indignation meetings and -litigation. The Tunkers degenerated so that they did not desire a -membership of educated persons, and would have liked to destroy all -books but religious ones. It was said by these German settlers that -schooling made boys lazy and dissatisfied on the farms, and that -religion would suffer by too much learning. As Bayard Taylor puts it -in his _Pennsylvania Farmer_:-- - - "Book learning gets the upper hand and work is slow and slack, - And they that come long after us will find things gone to wrack." - -School-teachers in the middle and southern colonies were frequently -found in degraded circumstances; many of them were redemptioners -and exported convicts. I have frequently noted such newspaper -advertisements as this from the _Maryland Gazette_:-- - - "Ran away: A Servant man who followed the occupation of a - Schoolmaster, much given to drinking and gambling." - -So universal was drunkenness among schoolmasters that a chorus of -colonial "gerund-grinders" might sing in Goldsmith's words:-- - - "Let schoolmasters puzzle their brains - With grammar and nonsense and learning, - Good liquor, I stoutly maintain, - Gives genius a better discerning." - -[Illustration: handwritten note] - -Scotland furnished the best and the largest number of schoolmasters -to the colonies. - -The first pedagogue of New Amsterdam was one Adam Roelantsen, and -he had a checkered career. His name appears with frequency on the -court records of the little town both as plaintiff and defendant. -He was as active in slandering his neighbors as they were in -slandering him; though, as Miss Van Vechten observes, "It is hard -to see what fiction worse than truth could have been invented about -him." In spite of the fact that "people did not speak well of -him," he married well. But his misdemeanors continued and he was -finally sentenced to be flogged. We may contrast the legal records -of this gentleman's shortcomings with his duties as set forth in -his commission, one of which was "to set others a good example as -becometh a devout, pious, and worthy consoler of the sick, church -clerk, precentor, and schoolmaster." - -Some of the contracts under which teachers were hired still exist. -One for the teacher at the Dutch settlement of Flatbush, Long -Island, in 1682, is very full in detail, and we learn much of the -old-time school from it. A bell was rung to call the scholars -together at eight o'clock in the morning, the school closed for a -recess at eleven, opened again at one, closed at four; all sessions -began and closed with prayer. On Wednesdays and Saturdays the -children were taught the questions and answers in the catechism -and the common prayers. The master was paid (usually in wheat or -corn) for "a speller or reader" three guilders a quarter, for "a -writer" four guilders. He had many other duties to perform besides -teaching the children. He rung the church bell on Sunday, read the -Bible at service in church, and led in the singing; sometimes he -read the sermon. He provided water for baptisms, bread and wine -for communion, and in fact performed all the duties now done by a -sexton, including sweeping out the church. He delivered invitations -to funerals and carried messages. Sometimes he dug the graves, and -often he visited and comforted the sick. - -Full descriptions exist of the first country schoolhouses in -Pennsylvania and New York. They were universally made of logs. -Some had a rough puncheon floor, others a dirt floor which readily -ground into dust two or three inches thick, that unruly pupils -would purposely stir up in clouds to annoy the masters and disturb -the school. The bark roof was a little higher at one side that the -rain might drain off. Usually the teacher sat in the middle of the -room, and pegs were thrust between the logs around the walls, three -or four feet from the ground; boards were laid on these pegs; at -these rude desks sat the older scholars with their backs to the -teacher. Younger scholars sat on blocks or benches of logs. Until -this century many schoolhouses did not have glass set in the small -windows, but newspapers or white papers greased with lard were -fastened in the rude sashes, or in holes cut in the wall, and let -in a dim light. At one end, or in the middle, a "cat and clay" -chimney furnished a fireplace. When the first rough log cabin was -replaced by a better schoolhouse the hexagonal shape, so beloved -in those states for meeting-houses, was chosen, and occasionally -built in stone. A picture of one still standing and still used as a -schoolhouse, in Raritan, New Jersey, is here shown. It retained its -old shelf desks till a few years ago. - -[Illustration: "Old Harmony" Schoolhouse, Raritan Township, -Hunterdon Co., New Jersey] - -In a halting way schools in America followed the customs of English -schools. The "potation-penny," or "the drinking," was collected in -schools in the colonies. In England a considerable sum was often -gathered for this treat at the end of the term; but the pennies -were doled out more slowly in American schools. Young Joseph -Lloyd (of the family of Lloyds Neck on Long Island), in the year -1693, paid out a shilling and sixpence "to the Mistris for feast -and wine." A century later, in a school in New Hampshire, the -children diligently saved the wood-ashes in the big fireplace and -sold them to a neighboring potash works for their treat. They had -ample funds to buy rum, raisins, and gingerbread for all who came -to the treat, including the ministers and deacons. It was of this -school, doubtless attended largely by Scotch-Irish children, that -the teacher recorded that the boys, even the youngest, wore leather -aprons, while many of the girls took snuff. Another old English -custom, the barring-out, occasionally was known here, especially in -Pennsylvania. - -The furnishing of the schoolrooms was meagre; there were no -blackboards, no maps, seldom was there a pair of globes. Though Mr. -MacMaster asserts that pencils were never used even in the early -years of our Federal life, his statement is certainly a mistake. -Faber's pencils were made as early as 1761. Peter Goelet advertised -lead pencils for sale in New York in 1786, with india rubbers, and -as early as 1740 they were offered among booksellers' wares in -Boston for threepence apiece, both black and red lead. Judge Sewall -had one; perhaps it was not our common lead pencil of to-day. - -In 1771 we find the patriot Henry Laurens writing thus to his -daughter Martha, "his dearest Patsey," when she was about twelve -years old. - - "... I have recollected your request for a pair of globes, - therefore I have wrote to Mr. Grubb to ship a pair of the best - 18 inch, with caps, and a book of directions, and to add a case - of neat instruments, and one dozen Middleton's best pencils - marked M. L. When you are measuring the surface of the globe - remember you are to cut a part in it, and think of a plum - pudding and other domestic duties. Your father, - - "HENRY LAURENS." - -Still lead pencils were not in common use even in city schools till -this century. The manuscript arithmetics or "sum-books" which -I have seen were always done in ink. Many a country boy grew to -manhood without ever seeing a lead pencil. - -[Illustration: Samuel Pemberton, Twelve Years Old, 1736] - -In country schools even till the middle of this century copy-books -were made of foolscap paper carefully sewed into book shape, and -were ruled by hand. For this children used lead plummets instead of -pencils. These plummets were made of lead melted and cast in wooden -moulds cut out by the ever ready jackknife and were then tied by a -hempen string to the ruler. These plummets were usually shaped like -a tomahawk, and carefully whittled and trimmed to a sharp edge. -Slightly varied shapes were a carpenter's or a woodcutter's axe; -also there were cannon, battledores, and cylinders. - -Paper was scarce and too highly prized for children to waste; it was -a great burden even to ministers to get what paper they needed for -their sermons, and they frequently acquired microscopic hand-writing -for economy's sake. To the forest the scholars turned for the ever -plentiful birch bark, which formed a delightful substitute to cipher -on instead of paper. Among the thrifty Scotch-Irish settlers in New -Hampshire and the planters in Maine, sets of arithmetic rules were -copied by each child on birch bark and made a substantial text-book. -Rolls of birch bark resembling in shape the parchment rolls of the -Egyptians and lead plummets seem too ancient in appearance to have -been commonly employed in schools within a century in this country. - -It has been asserted that school slates were not used till this -century. Noah Webster says distinctly in a letter written about -the schools of his childhood, that "before the Revolution and for -some years after no slates were used in common schools." S. Town, -attending school in Belchertown, Massachusetts, in 1785, says that -slates were unknown. - -I have seen but a single reference to them in America and that is in -such an ingenuous schoolboy's letter I will quote it in full:-- - - "To MR. CORNELIUS TEN BROECK - att Albany. - - "Stamford, the 13th Day of October, 1752. - - "HONORED FETHAR, - - "These fiew Lines comes to let you know that I am in a good - State of Health and I hope this may find you also. I have found - all the things in my trunk but I must have a pare of Schuse. And - mama please to send me some Ches Nutts and some Wall Nutts; you - please to send me a Slate, and som pensals, and please to send - me some smok befe, and for bringing my trunk 3/9, and for a pare - of Schuse 9 shillings. You please to send me a pare of indin's - Schuse, You please to send me som dride corn. My Duty to Father - and Mother and Sister and to all frinds. - - "I am your Dutyfull Son, - - "JOHN TEN BROECK. - - "Father forgot to send me my Schuse." - -In an advertisement of an English bookseller of the year 1737, -one James Marshal of the Bible and Sun at Stockton are named -Slate Pocket Books, Slates, and Slate Pens. The first slates were -frameless, and had a hole pierced at one side on which a pencil -could be hung, or by which they could be suspended around the neck. -An old gentleman told me that he distinctly recalled the first time -he ever saw slates in school. The master brought in a score that -had been ordered to supply his pupils. He asked if any scholar had -a bit of string. My old gentleman thrust his hand in his pocket and -confidingly brought out his best fishing-line. The master took it, -calmly cut it into twenty lengths, each long enough to go around the -neck of a child and permit the slate when hung on it to lie loosely -in front of his chest. It was a bitter blow to the boy to witness -the cruel and unexpected severing of his beloved treasure, and he -never forgot it. - -[Illustration: Nathan Hale Schoolhouse] - -In England for centuries existed the custom of sending young -children to the houses of friends, relatives, or people of some -condition and state to be educated. Young boys were placed in -noblemen's households to learn carving, singing, and good manners. -Young girls went to learn housewifery, needlework, and etiquette. -The work of these children in what would to-day be deemed the duties -of upper servants was given in payment for their board and tuition. -The housemistress gained a large corps of orderly, intelligent -servitors; and there was no disgrace in that day in being called a -servant. In the time of Henry VII. these customs were universal. -_The Italian Relation of England_, of that date, is most severe upon -English parents, saying this putting away of young children, though -under the guise of having them taught good manners, was done really -through lack of affection, through greediness. The _Paston Letters_, -the _Verney Papers_, give ample proof that children of good families -were thus banished. - -A remnant of this custom of the "putting-forth" of children lingered -in the colonies. A good education could generally be obtained only -in the schools in larger towns, or in the households of learned men. -The New England ministers almost universally eked out their meagre -incomes by taking young lads into their homes to educate. - -When at school in Andover, Josiah Quincy boarded with the minister. -The boys, eight in number, slept in a large chamber with four beds, -two boys in each. The fare was ample but simple; of beef, pork, -plentiful vegetables, badly baked rye and Indian bread. The minister -had white bread as the brown bread gave him the heart-burn. - -Children went, if possible, to the house of a kinsman. An old -letter in the _Mather Papers_ is from Mary Hoar. She writes "To her -Esteemed Sister, Mistris Bridget Hoar at Cambridge." One sentence -runs thus:-- - - "I presume our sonn John is left in the hands of a stranger; - which may be of some evel consequence if not timely prevented - and therefore I doe look upon myself as conserned (soe far as - I am capable to diserne ye evel at such a distance) to make my - request to you to prevail with my brother to receive him into - your own family that he may be under your own ey. And to goe to - school in the same town, where you cannot doubtless be destitute - of a good schoolmaster, which might be of singular benefit to ye - child." - -Bridget Hoar was the daughter of Lady Alice Lisle, the martyr, and -the wife of Leonard Hoar, president of Harvard College. - -Another letter similar in kindly intent is this written to Henry -Wolcott, at Windsor, Connecticut;-- - - "SALEM, April ye 6th, 1695. - - "DEAR BRO^R: - - "I cannot but be much concerned for your children's disadvantage - in your remote livinge (tho' God has blest you with a good - Estate which is likely to descend to them) the want of Education - being the grand Calamity of this Country, but you have always - Been offered no small advantages, besides their diet free, - w^ch I deeme the Leest. I can only Renew the same offer which - I have made tenn yeares since and annually, that if you please - to send either of your daughters to my House they shall find - they are welcome to spend the Summer or a year or as long as - you and they please; and they will be equally welcome to my - Wife, also I think it may be to your Sons' advantage to hasten - downe to the Colledge while our nephew Price is there, and if - you have anything by you, that you designe for their Cloathing, - let it be made up here; Else it will not be fit for either of - them to ware. Also for the next Winter if your Son be minded to - Retire for a month or two, as many do in the Dead Season, he - may come to my howse, and Mr. Noyes, I am sure, will be very - ready to oblige him, with the use of his Library and Stoody, he - being Remooved to his own House next weeke, and has a Tenant in - one end of it that dresses his Victualls. I shall not Enlarge - only to assure you that I shall be happie wherein I may be - serviceable to my father's Children and theirs. I am Sir your - very Aff. Bro^r & Servant, - - "J. WOLCOTT." - -[Illustration: Old Brick Schoolhouse, Norwich, Connecticut] - -It was the custom of the wealthy planters of the island of Barbadoes -to send their children to New England, usually to Boston, to school. -At one time a special school flourished there for the education of -the sons of these planters. Several volumes of letter books of Hon. -Hugh Hall, Judge of the Admiralty, are in the possession of his -descendant, Miss Margaret Seymour Hall. He had occasional charge of -his younger brothers and sisters, who were sent to Boston from the -Barbadoes, and his letters frequently refer to them. Many of these -letters are to and from his grandmother, Madam Lydia Coleman, the -daughter of the old Indian fighter, Captain Joshua Scottow. She had -three husbands,--Colonel Benjamin Gibbs, Attorney General Anthony -Checkley, and William Coleman. - -Richard Hall came to Boston in 1718. His older brother writes:-- - - "This Northern Air seems well calculated for Richard's - Temperament of body and I am Psuaded he never appeared so Fat - and Sanguine while in Barbados. I am taking all Imaginable Care - in Placing him at our best Grammar School and have desir'd the - Master and Usher to treat him with the highest Tenderness, - Intimating he has a Capacity to go thro ye Exercises of ye - School & that a Mild and good Natur'd Treatment will best - prevail; who have promised me their Pticular favour to him." - -A few months later the grandmother writes in various letters:-- - - "Richard is well in health, and minds his Learning and likes our - Cold country better than I do.... I delivered Richard's Master, - Mr. Williams, 25 lbs. Cocoa. I spoke with him a little before - and asked him what he expected for Richard's schooling. He told - me 40 shillings a yeare. As for Richard since I told him I would - write to his Father he is more orderly, & he is very hungry, and - has grown so much yt all his Clothes is too Little for him. He - loves his book and his play too. I hired him to get a Chapter - of ye Proverbs & give him a penny every Sabbath day, & promised - him 5 shillings when he can say them all by heart. I would do my - duty by his soul as well as his body.... I hope he does consider - ye many inconveniences yt will attend him if he wont be ruled. - He has grown a good boy and minds his School and Lattin and - Dancing. He is a brisk Child & grows very Cute and wont wear his - new silk coat yt was made for him. He wont wear it every day so - yt I don't know what to do with it. It wont make him a jackitt. - I would have him a good husbander but he is but a child. For - shoes, gloves, hankers & stockens, they ask very deare, 8 - shillings for a paire & Richard takes no care of them.... I put - him in mind of writing but he tells me he don't know what to - write." - -Then comes Richard's delightful effusion:-- - - "BOSTON, NEW ENGLAND, July 1, 1719. - - "HONOURED SIR: - - "I would have wrote now but to tell ye Truth I do not know - what to write for I have not had a letter from you since Capt. - Beale, and I am very sorry I can't write to you but I thought - it my Duty to write these few lines to you to acquaint you of - my welfare, and what proficiency I have made in Learning since - my Last to you. My Master is very kind to me. I am now in the - Second Form, am Learning Castalio and Ovid's Metamorphosis & I - hope I shall be fit to go to College in two Years time which I - am resolved to do, God willing and by your leave, I shant detain - you any longer but only to give my Duty to your good self & - Mother & love to my Brothers & Sisters. Please to give my Duty - to my God father and to my Uncle & Aunt Adamson & love to Cozen - Henry, - - "Your dutifull Son, - - "RICHARD HALL." - -Soon another letter goes to the father:-- - - "Richard wears out nigh 12 paire of shoes a year. He brought 12 - hankers with him and they have all been lost long ago; and I - have bought him 3 or 4 more at a time. His way is to tie knottys - at one end & beat ye Boys with them and then to lose them & he - cares not a bit what I will say to him." - -Mothers and guardians of the present day who have sent boys -off to the boarding school with ample store of neatly marked -underclothing, stockings, and handkerchiefs, and had them return -at the holidays nearly bereft of underwear, bearing stockings with -feet existing only in outlines, and possessing but two or three -handkerchiefs, these in dingy wads at the bottom of coat-pockets and -usually marked with some other scholar's name--such can sympathize -with poor, thrifty old lady Coleman, when naughty Richard tied his -good new handkerchiefs in knots, beat his companions, and recklessly -threw the knotted strings away. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -WOMEN TEACHERS AND GIRL SCHOLARS - - _A godly young Woman of special parts, who was fallen into a sad - infirmity, the loss of her understanding and reason, which had - been growing upon her divers years by occasion of giving herself - wholly to reading and writing and had written many books. Her - husbande was loath to grieve hir; but he saw his error when it - was too late. For if she had attended to her household affairs, - and such things as belong to women, and not gone out of hir - way and calling to meddle in such things as are proper for men - whose minds are stronger, she had kept hir Wits, and might have - improved them usefully and honorably._ - - --History of New England. Governor John Winthrop, 1640. - - -While the education of the sons of the planters in all the colonies -was bravely provided and supported, the daughters fared but poorly. -The education of a girl in book learning was deemed of vastly less -importance than her instruction in household duties. But small -arrangement was made in any school for her presence, nor was it -thought desirable that she should have any very varied knowledge. -That she should read and write was certainly satisfactory, and -cipher a little; but many girls got on very well without the -ciphering, and many, alas! without the reading and writing. - -There had been a time when English girls and English gentlewomen had -eagerly studied Latin and Greek; and wise masters, such as Erasmus -and Colet and Roger Ascham had told with pride of their intelligent -English girl scholars; but all that had passed away with the "good -old times." In the seventeenth century English gentlemen looked with -marked disfavor on learned women. - -Sir Ralph Verney, who adored his own little daughters to the neglect -of his sons, and was tender, devoted, and generous to every little -girl of his acquaintance, wrote about the year 1690 to a friend:-- - - "Let not your girle learn Latin or short hand; the difficulty - of the first may keep her from that Vice, for soe I must - esteem it in a woeman; but the easinesse of the other may bee - a prejudice to her; for the pride of taking sermon noates hath - made multitudes of woemen most unfortunate. Had St. Paul lived - in our Times I am confident hee would have fixt a _Shame_ upon - our woemen for writing as well as for speaking in church." - -Occasionally an intelligent father would carefully teach his -daughters. President Colman of Harvard was such a father. He -gave what was called a profound education to his daughter Jane. A -letter of his to her, when she was ten years old, is worthy of full -quotation:-- - - "MY DEAR CHILD:-- - - "I have this morning your Letter which pleases me very well and - gives me hopes of many a pleasant line from you in Time to come - if God spare you to me and me to you. I very much long to see - your Mother but doubt whether the weather will permit to-day. - I pray God to bless you and make you one of his Children. I - charge you to pray daily, and read your Bible, and fear to sin. - Be very dutiful to your Mother, and respectful to everybody. - Be very humble and modest, womanly and discreet. Take care of - your health and as you love me do not eat green apples. Drink - sparingly of water, except the day be warm. When I last saw you, - you were too shamefaced; look people in the face, speak freely - and behave decently. I hope to bring Nabby in her grandfather's - Chariot to see you. The meanwhile I kiss your dear Mother, and - commend her health to the gracious care of God, and you with her - to His Grace. Give my service to Mr. A. and family and be sure - you never forget the respect they have honoured you with. - - "Your loving father. - - "BOSTON, Aug. 1, 1718." - -Jonathan Edwards was an only son with ten sisters. In 1711, when -he was eight years old, five of these sisters had been born. The -father, Timothy Edwards, went as chaplain on an expedition to -Canada. His letters home show his care and thought for his children, -girls and boy:-- - - "I desire thee to take care that Jonathan dont lose what he - hath learnt, but that as he hath got the accidence and about - two sides of Propria quae maribus by heart, so that he keep what - he hath got I would therefore have him say pretty often to the - girls. I would also have the girls keep what they have learnt of - the Grammar, and get by heart as far as Jonathan hath learnt; he - can keep them as far as he had learnt. And would have both him - and them keep their writing, and therefore write much oftener - than they did when I was at home. I have left paper enough for - them which they may use to that end." - -Conditions remained the same throughout the century. The wife of -President John Adams, born in 1744, the daughter of a New England -minister of good family and social position, doubtless had as good -an education as any girl of her birth and station. She writes in -1817:-- - - "My early education did not partake of the abundant - opportunities which the present days offer, and which even - our common country schools now afford. I never was sent to - any school. I was always sick. Female education, in the best - families, went no further than writing and arithmetic; in some - few and rare instances music and dancing." - -On another occasion she said that female education had been -everywhere neglected, and female learning ridiculed, and she speaks -of the trifling, narrow, contracted education of American women. - -Girls in the other colonies fared no better than New England -damsels. The instruction given to girls of Dutch and English -parentage in New York was certainly very meagre. Mrs. Anne Grant -wrote an interesting account of her childhood in Albany, New York, -in a book called _Memoir of an American Lady_. The date was the -first half of the eighteenth century. She said:-- - - "It was at that time very difficult to procure the means - of instruction in those districts; female education was in - consequence conducted on a very limited scale; girls learned - needlework (in which they were indeed both skilful and - ingenious), from their mothers and aunts; they were taught, - too, at that period to read, in Dutch, the Bible, and a few - Calvinistic tracts of the devotional kind. But in the infancy - of the settlement few girls read English; when they did they - were thought accomplished; they generally spoke it, however - imperfectly, and a few were taught writing." - -William Smith wrote in 1756 that the schools in New York then were -of the lowest order, the teachers ignorant, and women, especially, -ill-educated. It was the same in Virginia. Mary Ball, the mother of -George Washington, wrote from her Virginia home when fifteen years -old:-- - - "We have not had a schoolmaster in our neighborhood till now - in nearly four years. We have now a young minister living with - us who was educated at Oxford, took orders and came over as - assistant to Rev. Kemp. The parish is too poor to keep both, and - he teaches school for his board. He teaches Sister Susie and me - and Madam Carter's boy and two girls. I am now learning pretty - fast." - -The _Catechism of Health_, an old-time child's book, thus summarily -and definitely sets girls in their proper places:-- - - "_Query_: Ought female children to receive the same education as - boys and have the same scope for play? - - "_Answer_: In their earlier years there should be no difference. - But there are shades of discretion and regards to propriety - which judicious and prudent guardians and teachers can discern - and can adjust and apply." - -We seldom find any recognition of girls as pupils in the early -public schools. Sometimes it is evident that they were admitted at -times not devoted to the teaching of boys. For instance, in May, -1767, a school was advertised in Providence for teaching writing -and arithmetic to "young ladies." But the girls had to go from six -to half-past seven in the morning, and half-past four to six in -the afternoon. The price for this most inconvenient and ill-timed -schooling was two dollars a quarter. It is pathetic to read of a -learning-hungry little maid in Hatfield, Massachusetts, who would -slip away from her spinning and knitting and sit on the schoolhouse -steps to listen with eager envy to the boys as they recited within. -When it became popular to have girls attend public schools, an old -farmer on a country school committee gave these matter-of-fact -objections to the innovation. "In winter it's too far for girls to -walk; in summer they ought to stay at home to help in the kitchen." - -The first school for girls only, where they were taught in branches -not learned in the lower schools, was started in 1780 in Middletown, -Connecticut, by a graduate of Yale College named William Woodbridge. -Boston girls owed much to a famous teacher, Caleb Bingham, who came -to that city in 1784 and advertised to open a school where girls -could be taught writing, arithmetic, reading, spelling, and English -grammar. His school was eagerly welcomed, and it prospered. He wrote -for his girl pupils the famous _Young Lady's Accidence_, referred -to in another chapter, and under his teaching "newspapers were to -be introduced in the school at the discretion of the master." This -is the first instance--I believe in any country--of the reading of -newspapers being ordered by a school committee. - -There were always dame-schools, which were attended by small boys -and girls. Rev. John Barnard, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was born -in 1681 and was educated in Boston. He wrote in his old age a sketch -of his school life. He says:-- - - "By that time I had a little passed my sixth year I had left - my reading school, in the latter part of which my mistress had - made me a sort of usher appointing me to teach some children - that were older than myself as well as some smaller ones. And - in which time I had read my Bible through thrice. My parents - thought me to be weakly because of my thin habit and pale - countenance." - -The penultimate sentence of this account evidently accounts for the -ultimate. It also appears that this unnamed school dame practised -the monitorial system a century or more before Bell and Lancaster -made their claims of inventing it. - -The pay of women teachers who taught the dame-schools was meagre in -the extreme. The town of Woburn, Massachusetts, reached the lowest -ebb of salary. In 1641 a highly respected widow, one Mrs. Walker, -kept a school in a room of her own house. The town agreed to pay -her ten shillings for the first year; but after deducting seven -shillings for taxes, and various small amounts for produce, etc., -she received finally from the town _one shilling and three pence_ -for her pedagogical work. - -Elizabeth Wright was the first teacher in the town of Northfield, -Massachusetts. She taught a class of young children at her own -house for twenty-two weeks each summer; for this she received -fourpence a week for each child. At this time she had four young -children of her own. She took all the care of them and did all the -work of her household, made shirts for the Indians for eight-pence -each, and breeches for Englishmen for one shilling sixpence a -pair, and wove much fine linen to order. For the summer school at -Franklin, Connecticut, in 1798, "a qualified woman teacher" had but -sixty-seven cents a week pay. Men teachers who taught both girls -and boys usually had better pay; but Samuel Appleton, in later -life the well-known Boston merchant and philanthropist, was my -great-grandfather's teacher in the year 1786. His pay was his board, -lodging, and washing, and sixty-seven cents per week, and it was -deemed liberal and ample. - -[Illustration: Elizabeth Storer, Twelve Years Old, 1738] - -There were always in the large cities small classes where favored -girls could be taught the rudiments of an education, and there were -many private teachers who taught young misses. Boston gentlewomen -from very early days had a mode of eking out a limited income by -taking little girls and young ladies from country homes, especially -from the southern colonies and the Barbadoes, to board while they -attended these classes and recited to these teachers. - -Many honored New England names appear among the advertisements of -those desiring boarders. Mrs. Deming wrote to her niece, Anna Green -Winslow, telling her of two boarders she had:-- - - "Had I time and spirits I could acquaint you of an expedition - the two sisters made to Dorchester, a walk begun at sunrise last - Thursday morning--dress'd in their dammasks, padusoy, gauze, - ribbins, flapetts, flowers, new white hats, white shades, and - black leather shoes (Paddington's make) and finish'd, journey, - garments, orniments and all quite finish'd on Saturday before - noon (mud over shoes) never did I behold such destruction in - so short a space--bottom of padusoy coat fring'd quite around, - besides places worn entire to floss, and besides frays, dammask - from shoulders to bottom not lightly soil'd, but as if every - part had rub'd tables and chairs that had long been us'd to wax - mingl'd with grease. - - "I could have cried, for I really pitied em--nothing left fit to - be seen. They had leave to go, but it never entered anyone's - tho'ts but their own to be dressed in all (even to loading) of - their best. What signifies it to worry ourselves about beings - that are and will be just so? I can, and do, pity and advise, - but I shall get no credit by such-like. The eldest talks much - of learning dancing, musick (the spinet and guitar) embroidery, - dresden, the French tongue, &c. The younger with an air of her - own advis'd the elder when she first mention'd French to learn - first to read English and was answer'd, 'Law, so I can well eno' - a'ready.' You've heard her do what she calls reading, I believe. - Poor Creature! Well! we have a time of it!" - -There is a beautifully written letter in existence of Elizabeth -Saltonstall, sent to her young daughter Elizabeth on July 26, 1680, -when the latter was away from home and attending school. It abruptly -begins:-- - - "BETTY: - - "Having an opportunity to send to you, I could doe no less than - write a few lines to mind you that you carry yourself very - respectively and dutyfully to Mrs. Graves as though she were - your Mother: and likewise respectively and loveingly to the - children, and soberly in words and actions to the servants: and - be sure you keep yourself diligently imployed either at home or - at school, as Mrs. Graves shall order you. Doe nothing without - her leave, and assure yourself it will be a great preservative - from falling into evill to keep yourself well imployed. But with - all and in the first place make it your dayly work to pray - earnestly to God that he would keep you from all manner of evil. - Take heed of your discourse at all times that it be not vaine - and foolish but know that for every idle word you must certainly - give account another day. Be sure to follow your reading, omit - it not one day: your father doth propose to send you some - coppies that so you may follow your wrighting likewise. I shall - say no more at present but only lay a strict charge upon you - that you remember and practise what I have minded you of: and as - you desire the blessing of God upon you either in soul or body - be careful to observe the counsell of your parents and consider - that they are the words of your loving and affectionate mother, - - "ELIZ. SALTONSTALL. - - Present my best respects to Mistris Graves. Your brothers - remember their love to you." - -Old Madam Coleman, who had somewhat of a handful in her grandson, -Richard Hall, during his school days, was given charge of his -sister Sarah, in 1719, to care for and guard while she received -an education. When Missy arrived from the Barbadoes she was eight -years old. She brought with her a maid. The grandmother wrote -back cheerfully to the parents that the child was well and brisk, -as indeed she was. All the very young gentlemen and young ladies -of Boston Brahmin blood paid her visits, and she gave a feast at -a child's dancing party with the sweetmeats left over from her -sea-store. Her stay in her grandmother's household was surprisingly -brief. She left unceremoniously and unbidden with her maid, and went -to a Mr. Binning's to board; she sent home word to the Barbadoes -that her grandmother made her drink water with her meals. Her -brother wrote at once in return to Madam Coleman:-- - - "We were all persuaded of your tender and hearty affection to - my Sister when we recommended her to your parental care. We are - sorry to hear of her Independence in removing from under the - Benign Influences of your Wing & am surprised she dare do it - without our leave or consent or that Mr. Binning receive her at - his house before he knew how we were affected to it. We shall - now desire Mr. Binning to resign her with her waiting maid to - you and in our Letter to him have strictly ordered her to Return - to your House. And you may let her know before my Father took - his departure for London he desired me peremptorily to enjoin - it, and my Mother and myself back it with our Commands, which we - hope she wont venture to refuse or disobey." - -But no brother could control this spirited young damsel. Three -months later a letter from Madam Coleman read thus:-- - - "Sally wont go to school nor to church and wants a nue muff and - a great many other things she don't need. I tell her fine things - are cheaper in Barbadoes. She says she will go to Barbados in - the Spring. She is well and brisk, says her Brother has nothing - to do with her as long as her father is alive." - -Hugh Hall wrote in return, saying his daughter ought to have one -room to sleep in, and her maid another, that it was not befitting -children of their station to drink water, they should have wine and -beer. The grandmother was not offended with him or the children, -but shielded the boy from rebuke when he was sent from one school -to another; said proudly he was "a child of great parts, ye best -Dancer of any in town," and could learn as much in an hour as -another in three hours. The bill for the dancing lessons still -exists. Richard's dancing lessons for a year and a quarter cost -seven pounds. Sally's for four months, two pounds. Four months' -instruction in writing (and pens, ink, and paper) was one pound -seven shillings and four pence. The entrance fee for dancing lessons -was a pound apiece. Sally learned "to sew, floure, write, and -dance." The brisk child grew up a dashing belle, and married Major -John Wentworth, brother of Governor Benning Wentworth. Good Brother -Richard writes:-- - - "I heartily rejoice in Sally's good fortune and hope Molly will - have her turn also, but it would not have been fair to let Sally - dance barefoot which I hear Molly expected would have been - done." - -Sister Molly married first Adam Winthrop and then Captain William -Wentworth. The two sisters were left widows and lived till great old -age in the famous old Wentworth House in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, -both dying in 1790. - -Mistress Agan Blair of Williamsburg, Virginia, married one Colonel -John Banister of Petersburg; her letters, even in old age, are full -of a charming freedom of description and familiarity of language, -even amounting to slang, which are very unusual in correspondence of -that day. They are printed in the _History of the Blair and Braxton -Families_. She writes to her sister, Mrs. Braxton, of the latter's -little daughter, Betsey, in the year 1769:-- - - "Betsey is at work for you. I suppose she will tell you - to-morrow is Dancing Day, for it is in her Thoughts by Day & her - dreams by Night. Mr. Fearson was so surprised to find she knew - so much of the Minuet step, and could not help asking if Miss - had never been taught. So you will find she is likely to make - some progress that way. Mr. Wray by reason of business has but - lately taken her in hand tho' he assures me a little practice is - all she wants; her Reading I hear twice a day. And when I go out - she is consigned over to my Sister Blair: we have had some few - Quarrels and one Battle. Betsey and her Cousin Jenny had been - fighting for several days successively & was threatened to be - whipt for it as often but they did not regard us. Her Mamma & - self thought it necessary to let them see we were in earnest--if - they have fought since we have never heard of it. She has - finish'd her work'd Tucker, but ye weather is so warm that with - all ye pains I can take with clean hands and so forth she cannot - help dirtying it a little. I do not observe her to be fond of - negroes company, nor have I heard lately of any bad words; - chief of our Quarrels is for eating of those green Apples in - our garden and not keeping the head smooth.... I have had Hair - put on Miss Dolly but find it is not in my power of complying - with my promise in giving her Silk for a Sacque and Coat. Some - of our pretty Gang broke open a Trunk in my Absence and stole - several Things of which the Silk makes a part. So imagine Betsey - will petition you for some. I am much obliged for the care you - have taken to get all my Duds together, I cannot find you have - neglected putting up anything for Betsey." - -It will readily be seen from all these letters that whether the -little girl was taught at home or in a private school, to "sew, -floure, write, and dance" were really the chief things she learned, -usually the only things, save deportment and elegance of carriage. -To attain an erect and dignified bearing growing girls were tortured -as in English boarding schools by sitting in stocks, wearing -harnesses, and being strapped to backboards. The packthread stays -and stiffened coats of "little Miss Custis" were made still more -unyielding by metal and wood busks; the latter made of close-grained -heavy wood. These were often carved in various designs or with names -and verses, or ornamented with drawings in colored inks, and made a -favorite gift. - -[Illustration: Carved Busks] - -All these constrainments and accessories contributed to a certain -thin-chested though erect appearance, which is notable in the -portraits of girls and women painted in the past century. - -The backboard certainly helped to produce an erect and dignified -carriage, and was assisted by the quick, graceful motions used in -wool-spinning. The daughter of the Revolutionary patriot General -Nathanael Greene stated to her grandchildren that in her girlhood -she sat every day with her feet in stocks, strapped to a backboard. -She was until the end of her long life a straight-backed elegant -dame. - -Many of the portraits given in this book plainly show the reign of -the backboard. The portrait of Elizabeth Storer, facing page 98, is -perhaps the best example. It is authenticated as having been painted -by Smibert when the subject was but twelve years old, but she is -certainly a most mature-faced child. - -Another straight-backed portrait, opposite page 108, is the famous -one immortalized in rhyme by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, that of -"Dorothy Q.," the daughter of Judge Edmund Quincy. The poet's lines -are more simply descriptive than any prose. - - "Grandmother's mother: her age, I guess - Thirteen summers or something less, - Girlish bust, but womanly air; - Smooth square forehead with uprolled hair. - Lips that lover has never kissed, - Taper fingers and slender wrist. - Hanging sleeves of stiff brocade, - So they painted the little maid." - - "Who the painter was none may tell, - One whose best was not over well; - Hard and dry it must be confessed, - Flat as a rose that has long been pressed. - Yet in her cheek the hues are bright, - Dainty colors of red and white; - And in her slender shape are seen - Hint and promise of stately mien." - -It would be no effort of the imagination to stretch the poet's -"thirteen summers or less" to thirty summers. - -[Illustration: "Dorothy Q." "Thirteen Summers," 1720 _circa_] - -Of associate interest is the portrait of Elizabeth Quincy, her -sister, facing page 112. The faces, hair, and dress are similar, -but the parrot is replaced by an impossible little dog. Elizabeth -is somewhat fairer to look upon. Dorothy is certainly "nothing -handsome." On the back of the portrait is written this inscription: -"It pleased God to take Out of Life my Honor'd and dearly Belov'd -Mother, M^rs Elizabeth Wendell, daughter to Honble Edmund Quincy, -Esq^r. March, 1746, aged 39 Years." Her brother Edmund Quincy -married her husband's sister Elizabeth (thus the two Elizabeths -exchanged surnames), and Dorothy Q. married Edward Jackson. - -The desire of girls and women to be ethereal and slender, delicate -and shrinking, began over a century ago, but reached a climax in -the early years of this century. To effect this, severe measures -were taken in girls' schools. Dr. Holmes wrote in jest, but in truth -too:-- - - "They braced my aunt against a board - To make her straight and tall, - They laced her up, they starved her down, - To make her light and small. - They pinched her feet, they singed her hair, - They screwed it up with pins-- - Oh, never mortal suffered more - In penance for her sins." - -Though Madam Coleman, a Boston Puritan, told so proudly of her -grandchildren's dancing, that accomplishment, or rather integral -part of a little lass's education, had not been quietly promoted in -that sober city. In early years both magistrates and ministers had -declaimed against it. - -In 1684 Increase Mather preached a strong sermon against what he -termed "Gynecandrical Dancing or that which is commonly called Mixt -or Promiscuous Dancing of Men and Women, be they elder or younger -Persons together." He called it the great sin of the Daughters of -Zion, and he bursts forth:-- - - "Who were the Inventors of Petulant Dancings? Learned men have - well observed that the Devil was the First Inventor of the - impleaded Dances, and the Gentiles who worshipped him the first - Practitioners of this Art." - -Of course he could not be silent as to the dancings of Miriam and -David in the Bible, but disposed of them summarily thus, "Those -Instances are not at all to the Purpose." Preaching against dancing -was as futile as against wig-wearing; "Horrid Bushes of Vanity" -soon decked every head, and gay young feet tripped merrily to the -sound of music in every village and town. Dancing could not be -repressed in an age when there was so little other excitement, so -great physical activity, and so narrow a range of conversation; and -after a time "Ordination-balls" were given when a new minister was -ordained. - -Dancing was a pleasant accomplishment, and a serious one in good -society. The regard of it as a formal function is proved by the -story the Marquis de Chastellux told of the Philadelphia Assembly. -A young lady who was up in a country dance spoke for a moment to a -friend and thus forgot her turn. The Master of Ceremonies, Colonel -Mitchell, immediately came to her side and said severely: "Give -over, Miss. Take care what you are about. Do you think you came here -for your pleasure?" - -It was a much more varied art than is ordinarily taught to-day. -Signor Sodi taught rigadoons and paspies in Philadelphia; John Walsh -added the Spanish fandango. Other modish dances were "Allemand -vally's, De la cours, Devonshire jiggs, Minuets." Complicated -contra-dances were many in number and quaint in name: The Innocent -Maid, A Successful Campaign, Priest's House, Clinton's Retreat, Blue -Bonnets, The Orange Tree. - -A letter from an interesting little child shows that dancing was -deemed part of a "liberal education." - - "PHILADELPHIA, March 30, 1739. - - "HONOUR'D SIR: - - "Since my coming up I have entered with Mr. Hackett to improve - my Dancing, and hope to make such Progress therein as may answer - to the Expense, and enable me to appear well in any Public - Company. The great Desire I have of pleasing you will make me - the more Assiduous in my undertaking, and I arrive at any degree - of Perfection it must be Attributed to the Liberal Education you - bestow on me. - - "I am with greatest Respect, Dear Pappa, - - "Yr dutiful Daughter, - "MARY GRAFTON. - - "RCHD GRAFTON, ESQ., - New Castle, Delaware." - -We have much contemporary evidence to show that music, as a -formulated study, was rarely taught till after the Revolution. But -there never was a time in colonial life when music was not loved and -clung to with a sentiment that is difficult of explanation, but must -not be underrated. - -Dr. John Earle gives in his _Microcosmographie_, the character -of a Puritan woman, or a "shee-precise Hypocrite," saying "shee -suffers not her daughters to learne on the Virginalls, because of -their affinity with the Organs," yet I find Judge Sewall, a true -Puritan, taking his wife's virginals to be repaired. I supposed she -played psalm tunes on them. Spinets and harpsichords were brought to -wealthy citizens. Copies of old-time music show how very elementary -were the performances on these instruments. Listeners were -profoundly moved at the sound, but it would seem far from inspiring -to-day. - - "The notes of slender harpsichords with tapping, twinkling quills, - Or carrolling to a spinet with its thin, metallic thrills." - -[Illustration: Elizabeth Quincy Wendell, 1720 _circa_] - -Even the "new Clementi with glittering keys" gave but a tinny -sound. Girls "raised a tune," however, to these far from resonant -accompaniments, and sung their ballads and sentimental ditties, -unhampered by thoughts of technique and methods and schools. -Many of these old musical instruments are still in existence. The -harpsichord bought for "little Miss Custis" is in its rightful home -at Mount Vernon. - -By Revolutionary times, girls' boarding schools had sprung into -existence in large towns, and certainly filled a great want. One -New England school, haloed with romance, was kept by Mrs. Susanna -Rawson, who was an actress, the daughter of an English officer, and -married to a musician. She was also a play-writer and wrote one -novel of great popularity, _Charlotte Temple_. Eliza Southgate Bowne -gives some glimpses of the life at this school in her letters. She -was fourteen years when she thus wrote to her father:-- - - "HON. FATHER: - - "I am again placed at school under the tuition of an amiable - lady, so mild, so good, no one can help loving her; she treats - all her scholars with such tenderness as would win the affection - of the most savage brute. I learn Embroiderey and Geography at - present, and wish your permission to learn Musick.... I have - described one of the blessings of creation in Mrs. Rawson, and - now I will describe Mrs. Lyman as the reverse: she is the worst - woman I ever knew of or that I ever saw, nobody knows what I - suffered from the treatment of that woman." - -This Mrs. Lyman kept a boarding school at Medford; eight girls -slept in one room, the fare was meagre, and the education kept close -company with the fare. - -The Moravian schools at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, were widely -popular. President John Adams wrote to his daughter of the girls' -school that one hundred and twenty girls lived in one house and -slept in one garret in single beds in two long rows. He says, "How -should you like to live in such a nunnery?" Eliza Southgate Bowne -wrote a pretty account of this school:-- - - "The first was merely a _sewing school_, little children and - a pretty single sister about 30, with her white skirt, white - short tight waistcoat, nice handkerchief pinned outside, a - muslin apron and a close cap, of the most singular form you - can imagine. I can't describe it. The hair is all put out of - sight, turned back, and no border to the cap, very unbecoming - and very singular, tied under the chin with a pink ribbon--blue - for the married, white for the widows. Here was a Piano forte - and another sister teaching a little girl music. We went thro' - all the different school rooms, some misses of sixteen, their - teachers were very agreeable and easy, and in every room was a - Piano." - -She also tells of the great dormitory; the beds of singular shape, -high and covered; a single hanging-lamp lighted at night, with one -sister walking patrol. - -Though the education given to girls in these boarding schools -was not very profound, they had at the close of the school year a -grand opportunity of "showing-off" in a school exhibition. Mary -Grafton Dulany wrote when thirteen years old to her father, from a -Philadelphia school:-- - - "I went to Madame B.s exhibition. There were five Crowns, two - principal for Eminence in Lessons, and Virtue. They were crowned - in great style in the Assembly Rooms in the presence of 500 - Spectators." - -Mrs. Quincy wrote of a school which she attended in 1784, of what -she termed "the breaking up":-- - - "A stage was erected at the end of the room, covered with a - carpet, ornamented with evergreens and lighted by candles in - gilt branches. Two window curtains were drawn aside from the - centre before it and the audience were seated on the benches - of the schoolroom. The 'Search after Happiness,' by Mrs. More, - 'The Milliner,' and 'The Dove,' by Madame Genlis were performed. - In the first I acted Euphelia, one of the court ladies, and - also sung a song intended in the play for one of the daughters - of Urania, but as I had the best voice it was given to me. My - dress was a pink and green striped silk, feathers and flowers - decorated my head; and with bracelets on my arms and paste - buckles on my shoes I thought I made a splendid appearance. The - only time I ever rode in a sedan chair was on this occasion, - when after being dressed at home, I was conveyed in one to - Miss Ledyard's residence. Hackney coaches were then unknown - in New York. In the second piece I acted the milliner and by - some strange notion of Miss Ledyard's or my own was dressed - in a gown, cap, handkerchief and apron of my mother's, with a - pair of spectacles to look like an elderly woman--a proof how - little we understood the character of a French milliner. When - the curtain was drawn, many of the audience declared it must be - Mrs. Morton herself on the stage. How my mother with her strict - notions and prejudices against the theatre ever consented to - such proceedings is still a surprise to me." - -All parents did not approve of those exhibitions. Major Dulany wrote -with decision to his daughter that he lamented the boldness and -over-assurance which accompanied any success in such performances, -and which proceeded, he deemed, from callous feeling. - -These plays were merely a revival of an old fashion when English -school children took part in miracle plays or mysteries. In the -seventeenth century schoolmasters took great pride in writing -exhibition plays for their pupils. Dreary enough these acts or -interludes are. One forced all the characters to act "anomalies of -all the chiefest parts of grammar"--oh! the poor lads that therein -played their parts! - - - - -CHAPTER V - -HORNBOOK AND PRIMER - - _To those who are in years but Babes I bow - My Pen to teach them what the Letters be, - And how they may improve their A. B. C. - Nor let my pretty Children them despise. - All needs must there begin, that would be wise, - Nor let them fall under Discouragement, - Who at their Hornbook stick, and time hath spent, - Upon that A. B. C, while others do - Into their Primer or their Psalter go._ - - --_A Book for Boys and Girls, or Country Rhimes for Children. - John Bunyan, 1686._ - - -The English philosopher, John Locke, in his _Thoughts concerning -Education_, written in 1690, says the method of teaching children -to read in England at that time was always "the ordinary road of -Horn-book, Primer, Psalter, Testament, and Bible." These, he said, -"engage the liking of children and tempt them to read." The road was -the same in New England, but it would hardly be called a tempting -method. - -The first book from which the children of the colonists learned -their letters and to spell, was not really a book at all, in our -sense of the word. It was what was called a hornbook. A thin piece -of wood, usually about four or five inches long and two inches wide, -had placed upon it a sheet of paper a trifle smaller, printed at -the top with the alphabet in large and small letters; below were -simple syllables such as ab, eb, ib, ob, etc.; then came the Lord's -Prayer. This printed page was covered with a thin sheet of yellowish -horn, which was not as transparent as glass, yet permitted the -letters to be read through it; and both the paper and the horn were -fastened around the edges to the wood by a narrow strip of metal, -usually brass, which was tacked down by fine tacks or nails. It was, -therefore, a book of a single page. At the two upper corners of -the page were crosses, hence to read the hornbook was often called -"reading a criss-cross row." At the lower end of the wooden back was -usually a little handle which often was pierced with a hole; thus -the hornbook could be carried by a string, which could be placed -around the neck or hung by the side. - -[Illustration: Hornbook owned by Mrs. Anne Robinson Minturn] - -When, five years ago, was published my book entitled _Customs and -Fashions in Old New England_, I wrote that I did not know of the -preservation of a single hornbook in America; though for many years -eager and patient antiquaries, of English and of American blood, -had vainly sought in American historical collections, in American -libraries, in American rural homes, for a true American hornbook; -that is, one studied by American children of colonial times. The -publication of my statement has made known to me three American -hornbooks. The first is the shabby little treasure owned by Mrs. -Anne Robinson Minturn of Shoreham, Vermont, found hidden under the -dusty eaves of a Vermont garret. The illustration shows its exact -size. On the back is a paper coarsely stamped in red with a portrait -of Charles II., king of England, on horseback. This may indicate its -age, but not its exact date. The young colonist who owned it was by -this print taught loyalty to the Crown, though in a far land. - -The second hornbook is owned by Miss Grace L. Gordon of Flushing, -Long Island. It is a family heirloom, having come to its present -owner through a great-uncle who was born in 1782, and stated that it -was used by his father, who was born in 1736. The tablet is of oak, -and the back is covered with a red paper stamped with the design of -a double-headed eagle. The third, owned by Mrs. John W. Norton of -Guildford, Connecticut, is almost precisely like Miss Gordon's, and -is equally well preserved. - -[Illustration: Hornbook owned by Miss Gordon] - -From these shabby little relics and from thousands of their -ill-printed, but useful kinsfolk, childish lips in America first -read aloud the letters, pointed firmly out by a knitting needle -in some dame's hand. Undisturbed by kindergarten inductions and -suggestions, unbewildered by baleful processes and diagrams, -unthreatened by scientific principles of instruction, did the young -colonists stoutly shout their a-b abs, did they spell out their -prayer, did they read in triumphal chorus their criss-cross row. -Isn't it strange that these three lonely little ghosts of old-time -schooling should be the only representatives of their regiments of -classmates? Wouldn't it seem that tender association, or miserly -hoarding, or even forgetful neglect would have made some greater -salvage from the vast number of hornbooks sent to this country -in the century after its settlement; that by intent or accident -many scores would have survived? But these are all; three little -battered oaken backs and stubby handles, three faded paper slips, a -splintered sheet or two of horn, a few strips of brass tape, a score -of tiny hand-wrought nails--all poor things enough, but shaping -themselves into precious and treasured relics. Another of their -kindred, a penny hornbook, proved its present value at a sale in -London in 1893, by fetching the far from ignoble sum of sixty-five -pounds. - -One of these little hornbooks filled in its single self what has -become a vast item in public school expenses. As Mr. Martin wittily -expresses it, "it was in embryo all that the Massachusetts statutes -now designate by the formal phrase 'text-books and supplies.'" - -The knitting needle of the schooldame could be dignified by the -pompous name of fescue, a pointer; and something of that nature, a -straw, a pin, a quill, a skewer of wood, was always used to direct -children's eyes to letter or word. - -There certainly were plenty of these humble little engines of -instruction in America; old Judge Sewall had them for his fourteen -children at the end of the seventeenth century, as we know from -his diary; he wrote in 1691 of his son Joseph going to school "his -cousin Jane accompanying him, carrying his horn-book." Waitstill -Winthrop sent them to his little Connecticut Plantation nieces in -1716. It is told of one zealous Puritan minister that hating the -symbolism of the cross he blotted it out of the criss-cross row of a -number of hornbooks imported to Boston. - -[Illustration: Back of Hornbook] - -"Gilt horns" were sold in Philadelphia with Bibles and Primers, -as we learn from the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ of December 4, 1760, -and in New York in 1753, so says the _New York Gazette_ of May 14, -of that year. Pretty little lesson-toys, these gilded horns must -have proved, but not so fine as the hornbooks of silver and ivory -used by young misses of quality in England. Scores of pictures by -seventeenth-century artists--on canvas and glass--show demure little -maids and masters with hanging hornbooks. Even the pictures of the -Holy Family show the infant Christ, hornbook in hand, tenderly -taught by the Virgin Mother. - -The hornbook was called by other names, horn-gig, horn-bat, -battledore-book, absey-book, etc.; and in Dutch it was the -_a-b-boordje_. They were worked in needlework, and written in ink, -and stamped on tin and carved in wood, as well as printed, and Prior -tells in rhyme of a hornbook, common enough in England, which must -have proved eminently satisfactory to the student. - - "To master John the English maid - A horn-book gives of gingerbread; - And that the child may learn the better, - As he can name, he eats the letter." - -To this day in England, at certain Fairs and in Kensington -bake-shops, these gingerbread hornbooks are made and sold in spite -of the solemn warning of British moralists--"No liquorish learning -to thy babes extend." Still - - "All the letters are digested, - Hateful ignorance detested." - -I have seen in New England what were called "cookey-moulds," which -were of heavy wood incised with the alphabet, were of ancient Dutch -manufacture, and had been used for making those "koeckje" hornbooks. - -[Illustration: The Royal Battledore] - -The sight of an old hornbook must always be of interest to any -one of any power of imagination or of thoughtful mind, who can -read between the irregular lines, the ill-shapen letters, its true -significance as the emblem, the well-spring of English education -and literature. This thought of the symbolism of the hornbook is -expressed in quaint words on the back of a shabby battered specimen -of questionable age in the British Museum:-- - - "What more could be wished for even by a literary Gourmand under - the Tudors than to be able to Read and Spell; to repeat that - holy Charm before which fled all unholy Ghosts, Goblins, or even - the Old Gentleman himself, to the very bottom of the Red Sea; - to say that immortal Prayer which seems Heaven to all who _ex - animo_ use it; and to have those mathematical powers by knowing - units, from which spring countless myriads." - -For a fuller account of the hornbook, readers should go to the -_History of the Hornbook_, by Andrew W. Tuer, two splendid volumes -forming one of the most interesting and exhaustive accounts of any -special educational topic that has ever been written. - -The printed cardboard battledore was a successor of the hornbook. -This was often printed on a double fold of stiff card with a -third fold or flap lapping over like an old pocket-book. These -battledores were issued in such vast numbers that it is futile to -attempt even to allude to the myriad of publishers. An affine of the -hornbook is seen in the wooden "reading-boards" which were used a -hundred years ago in Erasmus Hall, the famous old academy built in -1786 in Flatbush, Long Island. It is still standing and still used -for educational purposes. These "reading-boards" are tablets of -wood, fifteen inches long, covered on either side with time-yellowed -paper printed in large letters with some simple reading-lesson. -The old fashioned long s in the type proves their age. Through a -pierced hole a loop of string suspended these boards before a class -of little scholars, who doubtless all read in chorus. Similar ones -bearing the alphabet are still used in Cornish Sunday-schools. They -were certainly used in Dutch schools, two centuries ago, as the -illustrations of old Dutch books prove. - -[Illustration: "My New Battledore"] - -A prymer or primer was specifically and ecclesiastically before -and after the Reformation in England a book of private devotions. -As authorized by the Church, and written or printed partially or -wholly in the vernacular, it contained devotions for the hours, the -Creed, Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, some psalms and certain -instructions as to the elements of Christian knowledge. These -little books often opened with the criss-cross row or alphabet -arranged hornbook fashion, hence the term primer naturally came -to be applied to all elementary books for children's use. A, B, -C, the Middle-English name for the alphabet in the forms apsey, -abce, absie, etc., was also given to what we now call a primer. -Shakespeare called it absey-book. The list in _Dyves Pragmaticus_ -runs:-- - - "I have inke, paper and pennes to lode with a barge, - Primers and abces and books of small charge, - What Lack you Scollers, come hither to me." - -[Illustration: Reading Board. Erasmus Hall] - -The book which succeeded the hornbook in general use was the _New -England Primer_. It was the most universally studied school-book -that has ever been used in America; for one hundred years it was -_the_ school-book of America; for nearly another hundred years -it was frequently printed and much used. More than three million -copies of this _New England Primer_ were printed, so declares its -historian, Paul Leicester Ford. These were studied by many more -millions of school-children. All of us whose great-grandparents were -American born may be sure that those great-grandparents, and their -fathers and mothers and ancestors before them learned to read from -one of these little books. It was so religious in all its teachings -and suggestions that it has been fitly called the "Little Bible of -New England." - -It is a poorly printed little book about five inches long and -three wide, of about eighty pages. It contains the alphabet, and a -short table of easy syllables, such as a-b ab, e-b eb, and words -up to those of six syllables. This was called a syllabarium. There -were twelve five-syllable words; of these five were _abomination_, -_edification_, _humiliation_, _mortification_, and _purification_. -There were a morning and evening prayer for children, and a grace to -be said before meat. Then followed a set of little rhymes which have -become known everywhere, and are frequently quoted. Each letter of -the alphabet is illustrated with a blurred little picture. Of these, -two-thirds represent Biblical incidents. They begin:-- - - "In Adam's fall - We sinned all," - -and end with Z:-- - - "Zaccheus he - Did climb a tree - His Lord to see." - -In the early days of the Primer, all the colonies were true to the -English king, and the rhyme for the letter K reads:-- - - "King Charles the Good - No man of blood." - -But by Revolutionary years the verse for K was changed to:-- - - "Queens and Kings - Are Gaudy Things." - -Later verses tell the praise of George Washington. Then comes a -series of Bible questions and answers; then an "alphabet of lessons -for youth," consisting of verses of the Bible beginning successively -with A, B, C, and so on. X was a difficult initial letter, and had -to be contented with "Xhort one another daily, etc." After the -Lord's Prayer and Apostle's Creed appeared sometimes a list of names -for men and women, to teach children to spell their own names. The -largest and most interesting picture was that of the burning at the -stake of John Rogers; and after this a six page set of pious rhymes -which the martyr left at his death for his family of small children. - -[Illustration: "MR. JOHN ROGERS, Minister of the Gospel in _London_, -was the first Martyr in Queen _Mary's_ Reign, and was burnt at -_Smithfield_, _February 14th 1554_. His Wife with nine small -Children, and one at her Breast, following him to the Stake; with -which sorrowful Sight he was not in the least daunted, but with -wonderful Patience died courageously for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. - -_Some_" - -John Rogers] - -After the year 1750, a few very short stories were added to its -pages, and were probably all the children's stories that many of the -scholars of that day ever saw. It is interesting to see that the -little prayer so well known to-day, beginning "Now I lay me down -to sleep," is usually found in the _New England Primer_ of dates -later than the year 1737. The _Shorter Catechism_ was, perhaps, the -most important part of this primer. It was so called in contrast -to the catechism in use in England called _The Careful Father and -Pious Child_, which had twelve hundred questions with answers. The -_Shorter Catechism_ had but a hundred and seven questions, though -some of the answers were long. Usually another catechism was found -in the primer, called _Spiritual Milk for Babes_. It was written -by the Boston minister, John Cotton, and it had but eighty-seven -questions with short answers. Sometimes a _Dialogue between Christ, -Youth, and the Devil_ was added. - -The _Shorter Catechism_ was the special delight of all New -Englanders. Cotton Mather called it a "little watering pot" to shed -good lessons. He begged writing masters to set sentences from it to -be copied by their pupils; and he advised mothers to "continually -drop something of the Catechism on their children, as Honey from the -Rock." Learning the catechism was enforced by law in New England, -and the deacons and ministers visited and examined families to see -that the law was obeyed. Thus it may plainly be seen that this -primer truly filled the requisites of what the Roxbury school -trustees called "scholastical, theological, and moral discipline." - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -SCHOOL-BOOKS - - _The most worthless book of a bygone day is a record worthy of - preservation. Like a telescopic star, its obscurity may render - it unavailable for most purposes, but it serves in hands which - know how to use it to determine the places of more important - bodies._ - - --_A. de Morgan, 1847._ - - -When any scholar could advance beyond hornbook and primer he was -ready for grammar. This was not English grammar, but Latin, and -the boy usually began to study it long before he had any book to -con. A bulky and wretched grammar called Lilly's was most popular -in England. Locke said the study of it was a religious observance -without which no scholar was orthodox. It named twenty-five -different kinds of nouns and devoted twenty-two pages of solid print -to declensions of nouns; it gave seven genders, with fifteen pages -of rules for genders and exceptions. Under such a regime we can -sympathize with Nash's outburst, "Syntaxis and prosodia! you are -tormentors of wit and good for nothing but to get schoolmasters -twopence a week." - -It was said of Ezekiel Cheever, the old Boston schoolmaster, who -taught for over seventy years, "He taught us Lilly and he Gospel -taught." But he also wrote a Latin grammar of his own, _Cheever's -Accidence_, which had unvarying popularity for over a century. -Cheever was a thorough grammarian. Cotton Mather thus eulogized -him:-- - - "Were Grammar quite extinct, yet at his Brain - The Candle might have well been Lit again." - -There was brought forth at his death a broadside entitled _The -Grammarian's Funeral_. A fac-simile of it is here given. Josiah -Quincy, later in life the president of Harvard College, wrote an -account of his dismal school life at Andover. He entered the school -when he was six years old, and on the form by his side sat a man -of thirty. Both began _Cheever's Accidence_, and committed to -memory pages of a book which the younger child certainly could not -understand, and no advance was permitted till the first book was -conquered. He studied through the book twenty times before mastering -it. The hours of study were long--eight hours a day--and this upon -lessons absolutely meaningless. [Ilustration: - -The Grammarians Funeral, - -OR, - -An ELEGY compo[f.]ed upon the Death of Mr. _John Woodmancy_, -formerly a School-Ma[f.]ter in _Bo[f.]ton_: But now Publi[f.]hed -upon the DEATH of the Venerable - -Mr. Ezekiel Chevers, - -The late and famous School-Ma[f.]ter of _Bo[f.]ton_ in -_New-England_; Who Departed this Life the _Twenty-fir[f.]t_ of -_Augu[f.]t_ 1708. Early in the Morning. In the Ninety-fourth Year of -his Age. - - Eight Parts of _Speech_ this Day wear _Mourning Gowns_ - Declin'd _Verbs, Pronouns, Participles, Nouns_. - And not declined, _Adverbs_ and _Conjunctions_, - In _Lillies_ Porch they [f.]tand to do their functions. - With _Prepo[f.]ition_; but the mo[f.]t affection - Was [f.]till ob[f.]erved in the _Interjection_. - The _Sub[f.]tantive_ [f.]eeming the limbed be[f.]t, - Would [f.]et a hand to bear him to his Re[f.]t. - The _Adjective_ with very grief did [f.]ay, - Hold me by [f.]trength, or I [f.]hall faint away. - The Clouds of Tears did over-ca[f.]t their faces, - Yea all were in mo[f.]t lamentable _Ca[f.]es_. - The five _Declen[f.]ions_ did the Work decline, - And _Told_ the _Pronoun Tu_, The work is thine: - But in this ca[f.]e tho[f.]e have no call to go - That want the _Vocative_, and can't [f.]ay O! - The _Pronouns_ [f.]aid that if the _Nouns_ were there, - There was no need of them, they might them [f.]pare: - But for the [f.]ake of _Empha[f.]is_ they would, - In their Di[f.]cretion do what ere they could. - Great honour was confer'd on _Conjugations_, - They were to follow next to the _Relations_. - _Amo_ did love him be[f.]t, and _Doceo_ might - Alledge he was his Glory and Delight. - But _Lego_ [f.]aid by me he got his skill, - And therefore next the _Her[f.]e_ I follow will. - _Audio_ [f.]aid little, hearing them [f.]o hot, - Yet knew by him much Learning he had got.-- - O _Verbs_ the _Active_ were, Or _Pa[f.][f]ive_ [f.]ure, - _Sum_ to be _Neuter_ could not well endure: - But this was common to them all to Moan - Their load of grief they could not [f.]oon _Depone_. - A doleful Day for _Verbs_, they look [f.]o _moody_, - They drove Spectators to a Mournful Study. - The _Verbs_ irregular, 'twas thought by [f.]ome, - Would break no rule, if they were plea[f.]'d to come. - _Gaudeo_ could not be found; fearing di[f.]grace - He had with-drawn, [f.]ent _Maereo_ in his Place. - _Po[f.][f]um_ did to the utmo[f.]t he was able, - And bore as Stout as if he'd been A _Table_. - _Volo_ was willing, _Nolo_ [f.]ome-what [f.]tout, - But _Malo_ rather cho[f.]e, not to [f.]tand out. - _Po[f.][f]um_ and _Volo_ wi[f.]h'd all might afford - Their help, but had not an _Imperative Word_. - _Edo_ from Service would by no means Swerve, - Rather than fail, he thought the _Cakes_ to Serve. - _Fio_ was taken in a fit, and [f.]aid, - By him a Mournful P O E M [f.]hould be made. - _Fero_ was willing for to bear a part, - Altho' he did it with an aking heart. - _Feror_ excus'd, with grief he was [f.]o Torn, - He could not bear, he needed to be born. - - Such _Nouns_ and _Verbs_ as we defective find, - No _Grammar_ Rule did their attendance bind. - They were excepted, and exempted hence, - But _Supines_, all did blame for negligence. - _Verbs_ Offspring, _Participles_ hand-in-hand, - Follow, and by the [f.]ame direction [f.]tand: - The re[f.]t Promi[f.]cuou[f.]ly did croud and cumber, - Such Multitudes of each, they wanted Number. - Next to the Corps to make th' attendance even, - _Jove, Mercury, Apollo_ came from heaven. - And _Virgil, Cato_, gods, men, Rivers, Winds, - With _Elegies_, Tears, Sighs, came in their kinds. - _Ovid_ from _Pontus_ ha[f.]t's Apparell'd thus, - In Exile-weeds bringing _De Tri[f.]tibus_: - And _Homer_ [f.]ure had been among the Rout, - But that the Stories [f.]ay his Eyes were out. - _Queens, Cities, Countries, I[f.]lands_, Come - All Trees, Birds, Fi[f.]hes, and each Word in _Um_. - - What _Syntax_ here can you expect to find? - Where each one bears [f.]uch di[f.]compo[f.]ed mind. - Figures of Diction and Con[f.]truction, - Do little: Yet [f.]tand [f.]adly looking on. - That [f.]uch a Train may in their motion _chord_, - _Pro[f.]odia_ gives the mea[f.]ure Word for Word. - - _Sic Mae[f.]tus Cecinit_, - - Benj. Tomp[f.]on.] -] - -The custom was in Boston--until this century--to study through the -grammar three times before any application to parsing. - -Far better wit than any found in an old-time jest book was the -sub-title of a very turgid Latin grammar, "A delysious Syrupe newly -Claryfied for Yonge Scholars yt thurste for the Swete Lycore of -Latin Speche." - -The first English Grammar used in Boston public schools and retained -in use till this century, was _The Young Lady's Accidence, or a -Short and Easy Introduction to English Grammar, design'd principally -for the use of Young Learners, more especially for those of the Fair -Sex, though Proper for Either_. It is said that a hundred thousand -copies of it were sold. It was a very little grammar about four or -five inches long and two or three wide, and had only fifty-seven -pages, but it was a very good little grammar when compared with its -fellows, being simple and clearly worded. - -The fashion of the day was to set everything in rhyme as an aid to -memory; and even so unpoetical a subject as English Grammar did not -escape the rhyming writer. In the _Grammar of the English Tongue_, -a large and formidable book in fine type, all the rules and lists -of exceptions and definitions were in verse. A single specimen, the -definition of a letter, will show the best style of composition, -which, when it struggled with moods and tenses, was absolutely -meaningless. - - "A Letter is an uncompounded Sound - Of which there no Division can be Found, - Those Sounds to Certain Characters we fix, - Which in the English Tongue are Twenty-Six." - -The spelling of that day was wildly varied. _Dilworth's Speller_ was -one of the earliest used, and the spelling in it differed much from -that of the British Instructor. A third edition of _The Child's New -Spelling Book_ was published in 1744. Famous English lesson-books -known among common folk as "Readamadeasies," and book traders as -"Reading Easies"--really Reading made easy--belied their name. Some -had alphabets on two pages because "One Alphabet is commonly worn -out before the Scholar is perfect in his Letters." It is interesting -to find "Poor Richard's" sayings in these English books, but it is -natural, too, when we consider Franklin's popularity abroad, and -know that broadsides printed with his pithy and worldly-wise maxims -were found hanging on the wall of many an English cottage. - -[Illustration: 42 - -Reading Made Easy. - -ceeds with all her train; warm gentle gales begin to blow, and soft -falling showers moisten the earth.——The surface of the -ground is adorned with young verdent flowers, the cowslip, daisy, -primrose, and a thousand pleasing objects spread themselves all -around; the trees put forth their green buds, and deck themselves -with blossoms; the birds fill every grove with the charming music -of nature; love, tunes their little voices, and they join in pairs -to build their nests with care and labour; which, sometimes the -playful, the careless, the giddy boy destroys. The careful farmer -now ploughs up his fields, and casts the seeds into the bosom of the -earth, and waits for harvest. Now too, the young and harmless lambs -skip over the grass in wanton play! The cuckoo sings--and all nature -seems to rejoice. - - Trees, which dead did late appear, - Crown with leaves the rising year; - Ev'ry object seems to say, - Winter's gloom has pass'd away. - - -43 - -[Illustration: Farm couple with rakes and haying tools.] - -SUMMER - -Summer succeeds.--The sun now darts his beams with greater force, -and the days are at the longest. The flocks and herds not being able -to endure the scorching heat of the sun, retire beneath the shade of -some spreading tree, or the side of some cooling stream or river. -The wanton youths betake themselves to the waters and swim with -pleasure over the liquid surface. Early in the morning the careful -mower walks forth with his scythe on his shoulder, and sometimes -with a pipe in] - -Not until the days of Noah Webster and his famous Spelling Book and -Dictionary was there any decided uniformity of spelling. Professor -Earle says the process of compelling a uniform spelling is a -strife against nature. Certainly it took a long struggle against -nature to make spelling uniform in America. In the same letter, -men of high education would spell the same word several different -ways. There was no better usage in England. The edition of Milton's -_Paradise Lost_ printed in 1688 shows some very grotesque spelling. -Therefore it is not strange to find a New York teacher advertising -to teach "writeing and spilling." - -To show that a fetich was made of spelling seventy-five years ago, I -give this extract from a Danbury school notice:-- - - "The advantages that small children obtain at this school may - be easily imagined when the public are informed that those who - spell go through the whole of Webster's spelling book twice a - fortnight." - -The teaching of spelling in many schools was peculiar. The master -gave out the word, with a blow of his strap on the desk as a signal -for all to start together, and the whole class spelled out the word -in syllables in chorus. The teacher's ear was so trained and acute -that he at once detected any misspelling. If this happened, he -demanded the name of the scholar who made the mistake. If there was -any hesitancy or refusal in acknowledgment, he kept the whole class -until, by repeated trials of long words, accuracy was obtained. -The roar of the many voices of the large school, all pitched in -different keys, could be heard on summer days for a long distance. -In many country schools the scholars not only spelled aloud but -studied all their lessons aloud, as children in Oriental countries -do to-day: and the teacher was quick to detect any lowering of -the volume of sound and would reprove any child who was studying -silently. Sometimes the combined roar of voices became offensive to -the neighbors of the school, and restraining votes were passed at -town-meetings. - -The colonial school and schoolmaster took a firm stand on -"cyphering." "The Bible and figgers is all I want my boys to -know," said an old farmer. Arithmetic was usually taught without -text-books. Teachers had manuscript "sum-books," from which they -gave out rules and problems in arithmetic to their scholars. Abraham -Lincoln learned arithmetic from a "sum-book" of which he made a neat -copy. A page from this sum-book is here given in reduced size. Too -often these sums were copied by the pupil without any explanation -of the process being offered or rendered by the master. The artist -Trumbull recalled that he spent three weeks, unaided in any way, -over a single sum in long division. - -[Illustration: Page from Abraham Lincoln's Sum Book] - -A manuscript sum-book in my possession is marked, "Sarah Keeler her -Book, May ye 1st, A.D. 1773, Ridgbury." There are multiplication -examples of fifteen figures multiplied by fifteen, and long division -examples of a dividend of quintillions, chiefly in sevens and nines, -divided by a mixed divisor of billions in eights and fives--a -thing to make poor Sarah turn in her grave. There are Reductions -Ascending and Reductions Descending and Reductions both Ascending -and Descending at the same time, as complicated as the computations -of the revolutions of the celestial spheres. There are miserable -catch-examples about people's ages and others about collections of -excises, with "Proofs," and still others about I know not what, for -there are within their borders mysterious abbreviations and signs, -like some black magic. Sainted Sarah Keeler! a melancholy sympathy -settles on me as I regard this book and all the extended sums you -knew, and think of the paths of pleasantness of the present pupils -of kindergartens; and wonder what kind of a mathematical song or -game or allegory could be invented to disguise these very "plain -figures." - -Sometimes a zealous teacher would write out tables of measures and a -few blind rules for his scholars. This amateur arithmetic would be -copied and recopied until it was punctuated with mistakes. - -[Illustration: - -Cocker's - -ARITHMETICK: - -BEING - -A plain and familiar Method, [f.]uitable to the meane[f.]t Capacity, -for the full under[f.]tanding of that incomparable Art, as it is now -taught by the able[f.]t School-Ma[f.]ters in City and Country. - -Composed - -By _Edward Cocker_, late Practitioner in the Arts of Writing, -Arithmetick, and Engraving. Being that [f.]o long [f.]ince -promi[f.]ed to the World. - -PERUSED and PUBLISHED - -By _John Hawkins_, Writing-Ma[f.]ter near _St. George's_ Church in -_Southwark_, by the Author's correct Copy, and commended to the -World by many eminent Mathematicians and Writing-Ma[f.]ters in and -near _London_. - -_This Impre[f.][f]ion is corrected and amended, with many Additions -throughout the whole._ - -Licen[f.]ed, Sept. 3. 1677. Roger L'E[f.]trange. - -LONDON, - -Printed by _R. Holt_, for _T. Pa[f.][f.]inger_, and [f.]old by _John -Back_, at the black Boy on _London-Bridge_, 1688.] - -[Illustration: - - No. 1 First Picture Alphabet. - No. 2. Second Picture Alphabet. - No. 3. Third Picture Alphabet. - No. 4. Lessons in One Syllable. - No. 5. Lessons in Numbers. - No. 6. Words in Common Use. - - One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve - I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 - -The Clock has two hands; a long one and a short one. The short hand -is the hour hand, and the long one is the minute hand. - -The short or hour hand moves very slowly, and the long or minute -hand goes all round the Clock face while the hour hand goes from one -figure to the next one. - - 2 - 2 - - - Two and two added together make 4 - 1 - - - One and four together make 5 - 2 - - - Five and two together make 7 - 1 - - - Seven and one together make 8 - 2 - - - What are eight and two? They make 10 - 10 - - - Twice ten make 20 - 5 - - - Twenty is a score, and five score 100 - -[Illustration: Battledore, "Lessons in Numbers"] - -Many scholars never saw a printed arithmetic; and when the master -had one for circulation it was scarcely more helpful than the -sum-book. One of the most ancient arithmetics was written by the -mathematician Record, who lived from the year 1500 to 1558. He is -said to have invented the sign of equality =, but there is nothing -in his book to indicate this fact. The terms "arsemetrick" and -"augrime" are used in it, instead of arithmetic. Many curious and -obsolete rules are given, among them, "The Golden Rule," "Rule of -Falsehood," "The Redeeming of Pawnes of Geams," "The Backer Rule of -Thirds." Here is a simple problem under the latter:-- - - "I did lend my friend 3/4 of a Porteguise 7 months upon promise - that he should do as much for me again, and when I should borrow - of him, he could lend me but 5/12 of a Porteguese, now I demand - how long time I must keep his money in just Recompence of my - loan, accounting 13 months in the year." - -Rhyme is used in this book, in dialogues between the master and -scholar. Copies of _Cocker's Arithmetick_ are said to be very rare -in England, but I have seen several in America. An edition was -published in Philadelphia in 1779. The frontispiece of English and -American editions shows the picture of the mathematician surrounded -by a wreath of laurel with the droll apostrophe:-- - - "Ingenious Cocker! Now to Rest thou 'rt Gone - Noe Art can Show thee fully but thine Own - Thy rare _Arithmetick_ alone can show - What vast Sums of Thanks wee for Thy Labour owe." - -"Ingenious Cocker," as one would say "Most noble Shakespeare!" It -is hard indeed to idealize or write poetical tributes to one by the -name of Cocker. It gives us a sense of pleasant familiarity with -any one to know that he is "well acquaint" with one of our intimate -friends, so I feel much drawn to ingenious Cocker by knowing that -he was well known of Sam Pepys. He was a writing master, and did -some mighty fine engraving for Pepys, who calls him ingenuous, not -ingenious. It is rather a facer to learn from the notes in the Diary -that Cocker had nothing whatever to do with his Arithmetic, which -was a forgery by John Hawkins. - -The age that would rhyme a grammar would rhyme an arithmetic, and -Record's example was followed and enlarged upon. Thomas Hylles -published one in 1620, _The Arte of Vulgar Arithmiteke_, written in -dialogue, with the rules and theorems in verse. This is an example -of his poesy:-- - - "THE PARTITION OF A SHILLING INTO HIS ALIQUOT PARTES. - - "A farthing first finds forty-eight - A Halfpeny hopes for twentiefoure - Three farthings seeks out 16 streight - A peny puls a dozen lower - Dicke dandiprat drewe 8 out deade - Twopence took 6 and went his way - Tom trip a goe with 4 is fled - But Goodman grote on 3 doth stay - A testerne only 2 doth take - Moe parts a Shilling cannot make." - -[Illustration: Noah Webster's "American Selection"] - -In 1633 Nicholas Hunt added to his rules and tables an -"Arithmetike-Rithmeticall or the Handmaid's Song of Numbers," which -rhymes are simply unspeakable. These attempts did not end with the -seventeenth century. In 1801 Richard Vyse had a _Tutor's Guide_ with -problems in rhyme. - - "When first the Marriage Knot was tied - Between my Wife and Me - My age did hers as far exceed - As three times three does three. - But when Ten years and half ten Years - We man and wife had been - Her age came up as near to mine - As eight is to sixteen. - Now tell me I pray - What were our Ages on our Wedding Day?" - -The earliest date of the old rhyme,-- - - "Thirtie daies hath September, Aprill, June and November, - Februarie eight and twentie alone, all the rest thirtie and one." - -is given by Halliwell as 1633. I have found it in an old arithmetic -printed in London in 1596. The lines beginning "Multiplication is -vexation," are not an outburst of modern students. They are found in -a manuscript dated 1570 circa. - - "Multiplication is mie vexation - And Division quite as bad, - The Golden rule is mie stumbling stule, - And Practice makes me mad." - -After the Revolution, in new and zealous Americanism, text-books -by American authors outsold English books. The blue-backed -spelling book of Noah Webster drove Perry and Dilworth from the -field. Bingham and Webster took advantage of the need of suitable -school-books and divided the field between them. Webster's Spelling -Book outstripped Bingham's _Child's Companion_, but Bingham's -Readers, such as _The American Preceptor_ and _The Columbian Orator_ -held their ground against Webster's. Not one of Bingham's books -proved a failure. _The Columbian Orator_ contained seven extracts -from speeches of Pitt in opposition to the measures of George -III., it had speeches by Fox and Sheridan, part of the address of -President Carnot at the establishment of the French Republic, and -the famous speech of Colonel Barre on the Stamp Act. - -Nicholas Pike of Newburyport, Massachusetts, wrote an arithmetic -that routed the English books of Cocker and Hodder. It was studied -by many persons now living. It had three hundred and sixty-three -barren rules, and not a single explanation of one of them. Many of -them would now be wholly unintelligible to scholars, though no more -antiquated than are the methods; for instance, this rule in Tare and -Trett:-- - - "Deduct the Tare and Trett. Divide the Suttle by amount given; - the Quotient will be the Cloff which subtract from the Suttle - the Remainder will be the Neat." - -[Illustration: "The Little Reader's Assistant," by Noah Webster] - -The tables of measures were longer than ours to-day; in measuring -liquids were used the terms anchors, tuns, butts, tierces, -kilderkins, firkins, puncheons, etc. In dry measure were pottles, -strikes, cooms, quarters, weys, lasts. Examples in currency were in -pounds, shillings, and pence; and doubtless helped to retain the use -of these terms in daily trade long after dollars had been coined in -America. This labored book, aided by the flattering testimonials of -Governor Bowdoin, of the Presidents of Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth -Colleges, and of that idolized American, George Washington, gained -wide acceptance. - -I have examined with care a _Wingate's Arithmetic_ printed in -1620, which was used for over a century in the Winslow family -in Massachusetts. "Pythagoras his Table," is, of course, our -multiplication table. Then comes, the "Rule of Three," the "double -Golden Rule," the "Rule of Fellowship," the "Rule of False," etc., -etc., ending with "Pastimes, a collection of pleasant and polite -Questions to exercise all the parts of Vulgar Arithmetick." Here is -one:-- - - "This Problem is usually propounded in this manner, viz. fifteen - _Christians_ and fifteen _Turks_ being at Sea in one and the - same Ship in a terrible Storm, & the Pilot declaring a necessity - of casting the one half of those Persons into the Sea, that - the rest might be saved; they all agreed that the persons to - be cast away should be set out by lot after this manner, viz. - the thirty persons should be placed in a round form like a - _Ring_, and then beginning to count at one of the Passengers, - and proceeding circularly, every ninth person should be cast - into the Sea, until of the thirty persons there remained only - fifteen. The question is, how those thirty persons ought to be - placed, that the lot might infallibly fall upon the fifteen - _Turks_ & not upon any of the fifteen _Christians_? For the - more easie remembering of the rule to resolve this question - shall presuppose the five vowels, a, e, i, o, u, to signifie - five numbers to wit, (a) one, (e) two, (i) three, (o) four, and - (u) five; then will the rule it self be briefly comprehended in - these two following verses:-- - - From numbers, aid and art - Never will fame depart. - - In which verses you are principally to observe the vowels, with - their correspondent numbers before assigned, and then beginning - with the _Christians_ the vowel _o_ (in _from_) signifieth that - four _Christians_ are to be placed together; next unto them, - the vowel _u_ (in _num_) signifieth that five _Turks_ are to be - placed. In like manner _e_ (in _bers_) denoteth 2 _Christians_, - _a_ (in _aid_) 1 _Turk_, _i_ (in _aid_) 3 _Christians_, _a_ (in - _and_) 1 _Turk_, _a_ (in _art_) 1 _Christian_, _e_ (in _ne_) - 2 _Turks_, _e_ (in _ver_) 2 _Christians_, _i_ (in _will_) - 3 _Turks_, _a_ (in _fame_) 1 _Christian_, _e_ (in _fame_) 2 - _Turks_, _e_ (in _de_) 2 _Christians_, _a_ (in _part_) 1 _Turk_. - - "The invention of the said Rule and such like, dependeth upon - the subsequent demonstration, viz. if the number of persons be - thirty, let thirty figures or cyphers be placed circularly or - else in a right line as you see:-- - - ooooooooooooooo." - -I trust the little Winslows and their neighbors understood this sum, -and its explanation, and that the Christians were all saved, and the -Turks were all drowned. - -Geography was an accomplishment rather than a necessary study, -and was spoken of as a diversion for a winter's evening. Many -objections were made that it took the scholar's attention away -from "cyphering." It was not taught in the elementary schools till -this century. _Morse's Geography_ was not written till after the -Revolution. It had a mean little map of the United States, only a -few inches square. On it all the land west of the Mississippi River -was called Louisiana, and nearly all north of the Ohio River, the -Northwestern Territory. Small as the book was, and meagre as was -its information, many of its pages were devoted to short, stilted -dialogues between a teacher and pupil, in which the scholar was made -to say such priggish sentences:-- - - "I am very thankful, sir, for your entertaining instruction, and - I shall never forget what you have been telling me. - - "I long, sir, for to-morrow to come that I may hear more of your - information. - - "I am truly delighted, sir, with the account you have given me - of my country. I wish, sir, it may be agreeable to you to give - me a more particular description of the United States. - - "I hope, sir, I have a due sense of your goodness to me. I have, - sir, very cheerfully, and I trust very profitably, attended your - instructions." - -A rather amusing _Geographical Catechism_ was published in 1796, -by Rev. Henry Pattillo, a Presbyterian minister of North Carolina, -for the use of the university students. It is properly and -Presbyterianly religious. It gives this explanation of comets:-- - - "Their uses are mere conjecture. Some judge them the seats of - punishment where sinners suffer the extremes of heat and cold. - Mr. Whiston says a comet approaching the sun brushed the earth - with its tail and caused the deluge, and that another will cause - the conflagration." - -Let us not be too eager to jeer at these ancient school-books. Pope -wrote nearly two centuries ago: - - "Still is to-morrow wiser than to-day - We think our fathers fools so wise we grow. - Our wiser sons no doubt will think us so." - -Perhaps the series of text-books which have chased each other in and -out of our nineteenth-century public schools under the successive -boards of commissioners and school committees who have also flashed -briefly on our educational horizon, may cut no better figure two -centuries hence than do those of Lilly and Pike and Cocker. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -PENMANSHIP AND LETTERS - - _Ink alwais good store on right hand to stand - Brown paper for great haste or else box of sand. - Dip pen and shake pen and touch pen for haire - Wax, quills and penknife see alwais ye beare._ - - --_A New Book of Hands, 1650 circa._ - - -In glancing over old school contracts it will be noted that in a -majority of cases the teacher is specified as a writing-master; -without doubt the chief requisite of a satisfactory teacher in -colonial days was that he should be a good teacher of penmanship. - -We have seen in our own day distinct changes in the handwriting -of an entire generation; the colonists whose lives ended with the -seventeenth century had a characteristic handwriting which retained -certain elements of old English, even of mediaeval script. It was a -handsome and dignified chirography and an impressive one, and was -usually easy to read. The writing of the first Pilgrim and Puritan -fathers was not over-good. Governor John Winthrop's was not much -better than Horace Greeley's. Bradford's we are familiar with -through the beautiful facsimiles of his _Relation_. - -The first half of the succeeding century did not send forth such -good writers; nor did it send forth writers so universally; the -proportion of signatures to public documents by cross instead of -writing increased. Our grandparents and great-grandparents all wrote -well. In hundreds of century-old letters which I have examined an -ill-written letter is an exception. Children at the close of the -eighteenth century wrote beautifully rounded, clear, and uniform -hands, if we can judge from their copy-books. Little Anna Green -Winslow, writing in 1771, showed page after page in a hand far -better than that of most girls of her age to-day. - -Claude Blanchard was commissary of supplies for the French army -which landed in Newport in 1780. He visited the Newport school and -gave this tribute to the scholars:-- - - "I saw the writing of these children, it appeared to me to be - handsome; among others that of a young girl nine or ten years - old, very pretty and very modest, and such as I would like my - own daughter to be when she is so old; she was called Abigail - Earle, as I perceived upon her copy-book, on which her name was - written. I wrote it myself, adding to it 'very pretty.'" - -An "exhibition piece" is here given of the penmanship of Anne -Reynolds, a little girl of Norwich, Connecticut, who died shortly -after this "piece" was written. - -Writing-masters were universally honored in every community. A part -of the funeral notice of one in Boston, who died in 1769, reads -thus:-- - - "Last Friday morning died Mr. Abiah Holbrook in this town. He - was looked upon by the best Judges as the Greatest Master of - the pen we ever had among us, of which he has left a beautiful - Demonstration." - -This "beautiful demonstration" of his penmanship was a most -intricate piece of what was known as fine knotting, or knotwork. It -was said to be "written in all the known hands of Great Britain," -and was valued at L100. It was bequeathed to Harvard College unless -it was bought by the Revolutionary patriot, John Hancock, who had -been one of Master Holbrook's pupils and, as we know from the fine -bold signature of his own name to the Declaration of Independence, -was a very creditable scholar. - -[Illustration: Exhibition "Piece" of Anne Reynolds] - -This work had occupied every moment of what Abiah Holbrook called -his "spare time" for seven years. As he had, in the year 1745, two -hundred and twenty scholars at one time in one school, his spare -time must have been very short. He and other writing-masters of the -Holbrook family left behind a still nobler demonstration than this -knotwork in the handwriting of their scholars--Boston ministers, -merchants, statesmen, and patriots--whose elegant penmanship really -formed a distinct style, and was known as "Boston Style of Writing." - -The "hands of Great Britain" were many in number; among them Saxon, -Old Mss., Chancery, Gothic, Running Court, Exchequer, Pipe Office, -Engrossing, Running Secretary, Round Text, and the "Lettre Frisee," -which was minutely and regularly zigzagged. - -A well-known Boston writing-master was familiarly known as Johnny -Tileston. He was born in 1738 and taught till 1823, when he was -pensioned off. He was a rough-mannered old fellow; his chief address -to the scholars being the term, "You gnurly wretch." His ideal was -his own teacher, Master Proctor, and when late in life he saw a -scholar wipe his pen on a bit of cloth, he approached the desk, -lifted the rag and said, "What's this? Master Proctor had no such -thing." Tileston himself always wiped his pens with his little -finger and in turn dried his finger on his own white hairs under his -wig. An old spelling-book has these lines for a "writing-copy ":-- - - "X things a penman should have near at hand-- - Paper, pomice, pen, ink, knife, horn, rule, plummet, wax, sand." - -It will be noted that a penwiper is not upon the list. - -[Illustration: Writing-master's Initial] - -In olden times but one kind of a pen was used, one cut from a -goose-quill with the feathers left on the handle. The selection and -manufacture of these goose-quill pens was a matter of considerable -care in the beginning, and of constant watchfulness and "mending" -till the pen was worn out. One of the indispensable qualities of -a colonial schoolmaster was that he was a good pen maker and pen -mender. It often took the master and usher two hours to make the -pens for the school. Boys studied arithmetic at eleven years of age, -but were not allowed to make pens in school till they were twelve -years old. - -Ink was not bought in convenient liquid form as at present; each -family, each person had to be an ink manufacturer. The favorite -method of ink-making was through the dissolving of ink-powder. -Liquid ink was but seldom seen for sale. In remote districts of -Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts, home-made ink, feeble and -pale, was made by steeping the bark of swamp-maple in water, boiling -the decoction till thick, and diluting it with copperas. Each child -brought to school an ink-bottle or ink-horn filled with the varying -fluid of domestic manufacture. - -[Illustration: Writing of Abiah Holbrook] - -A book called _The District School_, written as late as 1834, shows -the indifferent quality of the ink used. The writer complains that -the parents made a poor ink of vinegar, water, and ink-powder, which -the child could not use, and permitted to dry up while he borrowed -of the teacher. The inkstand is then "used at the evening meetings -as a candlestick." Other inkstands with good ink are seized and used -for the same purpose and the ink ruined with grease and nothing left -to write with when the teacher sets his scholars to work. - -There are no remains of olden times that put us more closely in -touch with the men, women, and children who moved and lived in these -shadowy days than do the letters they wrote. Old James Howell said -over two centuries ago: "Letters are the Idea and the truest Miror -of the Mind; they shew the Inside of a Man." Certainly the most -imaginative mind must be touched with a sense of nearness to the -heart of the writer whose yellowed pages he unfolds and whose fading -words he deciphers. The roll of centuries cannot dim the power of -written words. - -In the Prince Library, in Boston, are the manuscripts known under -the various titles of the _Mather Papers_, the _Cotton Papers_, -the _Torrey Papers_, etc. They are delightful to see and to read, -for the ink is still clear and black, the paper firm and good, the -letters well-formed, and the text breathes a spirit of kindness, -affection, and loving thoughtfulness that speaks of the beauty -of Puritan home life. Some of the letters are written by Puritan -women; and these letters are uniformly well spelt, well written, -and intelligent. Perhaps only intelligent women were taught to -write. These letters are on fine Dutch paper; there was no English -writing-paper till the time of William and Mary. They are carefully -folded with due regard to the etiquette of letter-folding, and -plainly and neatly addressed. - -The letters are very tender and gentle; sometimes they are written -to children; they begin, "My deare Child"; "My Indear'd Sonn"; "To -my dearly loved Friend and Child." One ends, "With my Indeared Love, -committing thyself and thy duty and service to all our friends, and -to the protection of the Almighty, I am thine." A mother addresses -on the outside her letter to her son in these words, "To my very -good friend, These Present," etc. John Cotton addresses a letter -externally thus: "These, For the Reverend, his very deare Brother, -Mr. Increase Mather, Teacher of a Church at Boston, Present." -Sometimes the address ran, "Messenger present these to, etc." Hence -it may be seen that the word "Present" sometimes seen on modern -letters properly is the imperative verb Present. Occasionally the -words "Haste! post haste!" were seen, as on English letters, but I -have never seen the old postal inscription, "Haste! post, haste! on -your Life! on your Life!" - -A very genuine and pleasing letter was written by John Quincy Adams -when he was nine years old to his father, President John Adams:-- - - "BRAINTREE, June the 2nd, 1777. - - "DEAR SIR: I love to receive letters very well, much better than - I love to write them. I make but a poor figure at composition, - my head is much too fickle, my thoughts are running after bird's - eggs, play, and trifles till I get vexed with myself. I have but - just entered the 3rd vol of Smollett tho' I had design'd to have - got it half through by this time. I have determined this week - to be more diligent, as Mr. Thaxter will be absent at Court, & - I cannot persue my other studies. I have set myself a Stent & - determine to read the 3rd Volume Half out. If I can but keep - my resolution, I will write again at the end of the week and - give a better account of myself. I wish, Sir, you would give - me some instructions with regard to my time & advise me how to - proportion my Studies & my Play, in writing I will keep them by - me & endeavour to follow them. I am, dear Sir, with a present - determination of growing better yours. P.S. Sir, if you will be - so good as to favour me with a Blank Book, I will transcribe the - most remarkable occurrences I meet with in my reading which will - serve to fix them upon my mind." - -We cannot wonder at the precision and elegance of the letter-writing -of our forbears, when we know the "painful" precepts of parents -in regard to their children's penmanship and composition. In the -letters written by Ephraim Williams, a plain New England farmer, -from his home in Stockbridge in the years 1749 _et seq._ to his son -Elijah, while the latter was in Princeton College, is shown the -respect felt for a good handwriting. Nearly every letter had some -such sentences as these:-- - - "I would intreet you to endeavour daily to Improve yourself in - writting and spelling; they are very ornimentall to a scholar - and the want of them is an exceeding great Blemish." - - [Illustration: David Waite, Seven Years Old] - - "I desire you would observe in your Wrighting to make proper - Distances between words; don't blend your words together use - your utmost endeavours to spell well; consult all Rules likely - to help you; Such words as require it allways begin with - a capitoll Letter, it will much Grace your wrighting. Try to - mend your hand in wrighting every day all Opportunities you can - possibly get. Observe strictly Gentlemen's meathod of wrighting - and superscribing, it may be of service to you: you can scarce - conceive what a vast disadvantage it will be to leave the - Colledg and not be able to write and spell well. Learn to write - a pretty fine Hand as you may have Ocation." - -He urges him to study the spelling rules laid down in the _Youth's -Instructor in the English Tounge_, and tells him not to follow his -(the father's) writing for an example as he has "but common English -learning." He reproves, admonishes, and finally says Elijah's -sisters will prove better scholars than he is if he does not have a -care, which was a bitter taunt. - -Major Dulany of Maryland wrote to his little daughter some very -intelligent advice, of which these lines are a portion:-- - - "In letter writing as in conversation it will be found that - those who substitute the design of distinguishing themselves - for that of giving pleasure to those whom they address must - ever fail. Having decided upon what is proper to be said - accustom yourself to express it in the best possible manner. - Always use the words that most exactly correspond with the - ideas you mean to express. There are fewer synonymous words in - our language than is generally supposed, as you will find in - looking over your Dictionary. It has been remembered upon as - a great excellence of Gen'l Washington's writings that no one - could substitute a single word which could so well express his - meaning. I have heard (whether it be true or not I cannot say) - that for seven years of his life he never wrote without having - his Dictionary before him." - -The letters of Aaron Burr, written at a little later period to -his beloved daughter Theodosia, show as unvarying and incessant -pains to form perfection in letter-writing, as was displayed by -Lord Chesterfield in his letters to his son. When she was but -ten or twelve we find Burr giving her minute instruction as to -her penmanship; its size, shape, the formation of sentences, the -spelling, the exact use of synonyms. He sends her sentences bidding -her return them in a more elegant form, to translate them into -Latin. He exhorts her to study the meaning, use, and etymology of -every word in his letter. He has her keep for him a daily journal -written in a narrative style. Even when on trial for treason in 1808 -he still instructed her, reproving her for her negligent failure to -acknowledge letters received. He commended her style, saying she had -energy and aptitude of expression; altogether I can fancy no rule -of correct epistolary conduct left unsaid by Burr to his daughter. -That he had a high opinion of her powers we cannot doubt; but the -specimens of her composition that exist show no great brilliancy or -originality. - -As books multiplied after the Revolution, many letters were modelled -on effusions that had been seen and admired in print: this at a loss -of much naturalness and quaintness of expression. Letter-writing -guides formed the most pernicious influence. Miss Stoughton of East -Windsor inviting sprightly Nancy Williams of East Hartford to a gay -party began her note in this surprising way: "Worthy Lady." - -Children (and grown people too) had a very reprehensible habit of -scribbling in their books. Of course each owner wrote his name, with -more or less elegance and accompanying flourishes, according to his -capacity. Some very valuable autographs have by this means been -preserved. A single title-page will often bear the names of several -owners. They also wrote various rhymes and sentiments, which might -be gathered under the head of title-page lore. - -The most ancient rhyme I have seen is dated 1635 and is in an -ancient _Cocker's Arithmetic_:-- - - "John Greene (or Graves), his book - God give Him Grace theirein to look - Not oneley to look, but to Understand - That Larning is better than House or Land." - -This rhyme is frequently seen, sometimes with the added lines:-- - - "When Land is Gone and Money Spent - Then Larning is most excellent. - If this you See - Remember Me." - -Another rhyme is:-- - - "Steal not this Book for if You Do - The Devil will be after You. - -Longer and more formal rhymes are found in the books of older -owners. Occasionally a child's book had a valentine sentiment, or a -riddle, or a drawing of hearts and darts; crude pictures of Indians -and horses are many. I have seldom found verses from the Bible or -religious sentiments written in childish hands. Whether this is the -result of profound respect or of indifference I cannot tell. As a -special example of book scribbling, one of historical interest is -given, a page of the famous "White Bible," which contains the entry, -much disputed of genealogical and historical societies, that John -Howland married Governor Carver's "grand-darter." - -[Illustration: Page from "White" Bible] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -DIARIES AND COMMONPLACE BOOKS - - _And such his judgment, so exact his text - As what was best in bookes as what bookes best, - That had he join'd those notes his labours tooke - From each most praised and praise-deserving booke, - And could the world of that choise treasure boast - It need not care though all the rest were lost: - And such his wit, he writ past what he quotes - And his productions farre exceed his notes._ - - --_Eglogue on the Death of Ben Jonson,_ - _Lucius Cary, Lord Falkland, 1637._ - - -Grown folk had in colonial days a habit of keeping diaries and -making notes in interleaved almanacs, but they are not of great -value to the historian; for they are not what Wordsworth declared -such compositions should be, namely, "abundant in observation -and sparing of reflection." They are instead barren of accounts -of happenings, and descriptions of surroundings, and are chiefly -devoted to weather reports and moral and religious reflections, -both original and in the form of sermon and lecture notes. The -note-taking habit of Puritan women was held up by such detractors -as Bishop Earle as one of their most contemptible traits. To-day -we can simply deplore it as having been such a vain thing; for -it is certainly true, no matter how deeply religious in feeling -any one of the present day may be, that to the modern mind a long -course of the pious sentiments and religious aspirations of others -is desperately tiresome reading. Such records were not tiresome, -however, to those of Puritan faith; there were but few old-time -diaries which were not composed on those lines. The chief exception -is that historical treasure-house, Judge Sewall's diary, which shows -plainly, also, the deep religious feeling of its author. Another -of more restricted interest, but of value, is that of Dr. Parkman, -the Westborough minister. Governor Winthrop's _History_ has much of -the diary element in it. Naturally, the diaries of children copied -in quality and wording those of their elders. A unique exception in -these youthful records is the journal of a year or two of the life -of a Boston schoolgirl, Anna Green Winslow. Fortunately, little -Anna's desire to report the sermons she had heard at the Old South -Church, and to moralize in ambitious theological comments thereon, -was checked by the sensible aunt with whom she lived, who said, -"A Miss of 12 years cant possibly do justice to nice Subjects -in Divinity, and therefore had better not attempt a repetition of -particulars." We, therefore, have a story of her life, not of her -thoughts; and many references to her diary appear in this volume. - -[Illustration: Anna Green Winslow] - -It is curious and interesting to note how Puritan traits and habits -lingered in generation after generation, and outlived change -of environment and mode of living. In 1630, Rev. John White of -Dorchester, England, brought out a Puritan colony which settled -in Massachusetts, and named the village Dorchester, after their -English home. In 1695, a group of the descendants of these settlers -once more emigrated to "Carolina." Tradition asserts that they were -horrified at the persecution of witches in Massachusetts. Upham -names one Daniel Andrew as a man who protested so vigorously against -the prevailing folly and persecution, that he was compelled to fly -to South Carolina. Thomas Staples was fearless enough to sue and -obtain judgment against the Deputy Governor for saying Goodwife -Staples was a witch, and members of his family went also to South -Carolina. - -With loyalty to their two Dorchester homes, a third Dorchester, in -South Carolina, was named. They built a good church which is still -standing, though the village has entirely disappeared, and the -site is overgrown with large trees. Indian wars, poor government, -church oppression, and malaria once more drove forth these undaunted -Puritans to found a fourth Dorchester in Georgia. In 1752, they -left in a body, took up a grant of twenty-two thousand acres in St. -John's Parish, and formed the Midway Church. Their meeting-house -was headquarters for the Whigs during the Revolution, was burned by -the British, rebuilt in 1790, and is still standing. In it meetings -are held every spring by hundreds of the descendants of its early -members, though it is remote from railroads, and swamps and pine -barrens have taken the place of smiling rice and cotton fields. - -Stories of the rigidity of church government of these people still -exist. The tradition of one child who smiled in Midway Church was -for generations held up with horror, "as though she had hoofs and -horns." There attended this church a descendant of both Andrew and -Staples, the scoffers at witches, one Mary Osgood Sumner. She had a -short and sad life. Married at eighteen she was a widow at twenty, -and with her sister, Mrs. Holmes (an aunt of Oliver Wendell Holmes), -and another sister, Anne, sailed from Newport to New York, "and were -never heard of more." - -[Illustration: Pages from the Diary of Mary Osgood Sumner] - -She left behind her sermon notes and a "Monitor," or diary, which -had what she called a black list of her childish wrong-doings, -omissions of duty, etc., while the white list showed the duties she -performed. Though she was evidently absolutely conscientious these -are the only entries on the "Black Leaf":-- - - "July 8. I left my staise on the bed. - - " 9. Misplaced Sister's sash. - - " 10. Spoke in haste to my little Sister, spilt the cream on - the floor in the closet. - - " 12. I left Sister Cynthia's frock on the bed. - - " 16. I left the brush on the chair; was not diligent in - learning at school. - - " 17. I left my fan on the bed. - - " 19. I got vexed because Sister was a-going to cut my frock. - - " 22. Part of this day I did not improve my time well. - - " 30. I was careless and lost my needle. - - Aug. 5. I spilt some coffee on the table." - -Not a very heinous list. - -Here are entries from the good page of her little "Monitor":-- - - WHITE LEAF. - - "July 8. I went and said my Catechism to-day. Came home and - wrote down the questions and answers, then dressed and went to - the dance, endeavoured to behave myself decent. - - " 11. I improved my time before breakfast; after breakfast made - some biscuits and did all my work before the sun was down. - - " 12. I went to meeting and paid good attention to the sermon, - came home and wrote down as much of it as I could remember. - - " 17. I did everything before breakfast; endeavored to improve - in school; went to the funeral in the afternoon, attended to - what was said, came home and wrote down as much as I could - remember. - - " 25. A part of this day I parsed and endeavored to do well and - a part of it I made some tarts and did some work and wrote a - letter. - - " 27. I did everything this morning same as usual, went to - school and endeavored to be diligent; came home and washed the - butter and assisted in getting coffee. - - " 28. I endeavored to be diligent to-day in my learning, went - from school to sit up with the sick, nursed her as well as I - could. - - " 30. I was pretty diligent at my work to-day and made a pudding - for dinner. - - Aug. 1. I got some peaches for to stew after I was done washing - up the things and got my work and was midlin Diligent. - - " 4. I did everything before breakfast and after breakfast got - some peaches for Aunt Mell and then got my work and stuck pretty - close to it and at night sat up with Sister and nursed her as - good as I could. - - " 8. I stuck pretty close to my work to-day and did all that - Sister gave me and after I was done I swept out the house and - put the things to rights. - - " 9. I endeavored to improve my time to-day in reading and - attending to what Brother read and most of the evening I was - singing." - -I have given this record of this monotonous young life in detail, -simply to prove the simplicity of the daily round of a child's life -at that time. The pages prove with equal force the domination of -the Puritan temperament, a nervous desire and intent to be good, -and industrious, and attentive, and helpful. We seldom meet that -temperament in children nowadays; and when we do it is sure to be, -as in this case, a Puritan inheritance. - -John Quincy Adams, when eleven years old, determined to write a -Journal, and he thus lucidly and sensibly explains his intentions to -his mother:-- - - "HONOURED MAMMA: My Pappa enjoins it upon me to keep a journal, - or diary of the Events that happen to me, and of objects I see, - and of Characters that I converse with from day to day; and - altho' I am convinced of the utility, importance, & necessity - of this Exercise, yet I have not patience & perseverance enough - to do it so Constantly as I ought. My Pappa, who takes a great - deal of Pains to put me in the right way, has also advised - me to Preserve copies of all my letters, and has given me a - Convenient Blank Book for this end; and altho' I shall have - the mortification a few years hence to read a great deal of my - Childish nonsense, yet I shall have the Pleasure and advantage - of Remarking the several steps by which I shall have advanced in - taste judgment and knowledge. A journal Book & a letter Book of - a Lad of Eleven years old can not be expected to contain much - of Science, Litterature, arts, wisdom or wit, yet it may serve - to perpetuate many observations that I may make & may hereafter - help me to recolect both Persons & things that would other ways - escape my memory.... My father has given me hopes of a Pencil - & Pencil Book in which I can make notes upon the spot to be - transferred afterwards to my Diary, and my letters, this will - give me great pleasure, both because it will be a sure means of - improvement to myself & make me to be more entertaining to you. - - "I am my ever honoured and revered Mamma your Dutiful & - Affectionate Son. - - "JOHN QUINCY ADAMS." - -[Illustration: Joshua Carter, Four Years Old, 1765] - -I believe this diary, so carefully decided upon, does not now exist. -The Adams family preserved a vast number of family papers, but this -was not among them. I am sorry; for I find John Quincy Adams a very -pleasing child. When he was about seven years old, his father was -away from home as a delegate to a Congress in Philadelphia which -sought to secure unity of action among the rebellious colonies. -His patriotic mother taught her boy in their retreat at Braintree -to repeat daily each morning, with the Lord's Prayer, Collins' -inspiring ode beginning, "How sleep the brave who sink to rest," -etc. Later in life Adams wrote to a Quaker friend:-- - - "For the space of twelve months my mother with her infant - children dwelt, liable every hour of the day and of the night - to be butchered in cold blood, or taken and carried into Boston - as hostages. My mother lived in unintermitted danger of being - consumed with them all in a conflagration kindled by a torch in - the same hands which on the seventeenth of June (1775) lighted - the fires of Charlestown. I saw with my own eyes those fires, - and heard Britannia's thunders in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and - witnessed the tears of my mother and mingled them with my own." - -The mother took her boy by the hand and mounted a height near their -home and showed him the distant signs of battle. Thus she fixed -an impression of a war for liberty on his young memory. Two years -later, to relieve her anxious and tedious waiting for intelligence -from her husband, the boy became "post rider" for her between -Braintree and Boston, which towns were eleven miles apart--not a -light or easy task, for the nine-year-old boy with the unsettled -roads and unsettled times. The spirit of patriotism which filled -the mind of all grown folk was everywhere reflected in the minds of -the children. Josiah Quincy was at school in Andover from 1778 to -1786, and he stated that he and his schoolmates had as a principle, -as a schoolboy law, that every hoop, sled, etc., should in some -way bear _thirteen_ marks. This was evidence of the good political -character of the owner; and if the marks were wanting the article -was contraband, was seized and forfeited without judge, jury, or -power of appeal. - -Besides journal keeping, folks of that day had a useful custom of -keeping a commonplace book; that is, they wrote out in a blank-book -memorable sentences or words which attracted their attention or -admiration in the various books they read, or made abstracts or -notes of the same. Cotton Mather tells of such note making by young -students. This writing out of aphorisms, statements, etc., not -only fixed them in the memory, but kept them where the memory, if -faulty, could easily be assisted. It also served as practice in -penmanship. A verb, to commonplace, came from this use of the word. -The biography of Francis North, Baron Guildford, gave an account -which explains fully commonplacing:-- - - "It was his lordship's constant practice to commonplace as he - read. He had no bad memory but was diffident and would not - trust it. He acquired a very small but legible hand, for where - contracting is the main business (of law) it is not well to - write as the fashion now is, in uncial or semi-uncial letters - to look like a pig's ribs. His writing on his commonplaces was - not by way of index but epitome: because he used to say the - looking over a commonplace book on any occasion gave him a sort - of survey of what he had read about matters not then inquisited, - which refreshed them somewhat in his memory." - -People invented methods of keeping commonplace books and gave rules -and instructions in commonplacing. I have seen several commonplace -books, made by children of colonial times; pathetic memorials, in -every case, of children who died in early youth. Tender and loving -hearts have saved those little unfinished records of childish -reading, after the way of mothers and fathers till the present day, -whose grieved affections cannot bear the thought even of reverent -destruction of the irregular writing of a dearly loved child whose -hands are folded in death. One of these books with scantily filled -pages was tied with a number of note-books of an old New England -minister, and in the father's handwriting on the first leaf were -these words:-- - - "Fifty years ago died my little John. A child of promise. Alas! - alas! January 10th, 1805." - -[Illustration: Page from Diary of Anna Green Winslow] - -The matter read by those children is clearly indicated by their -commonplace books. One entry shows evidence of light reading. It is -of riddles which are headed "Guesses"; they are the ones familiar to -us all in _Mother Goose's Melodies_ to-day. The answers are written -in a most transparent juvenile shorthand. Thus the answer, "Well," -is indicated by the figures 23, 5, 12, 12, referring to the position -of the letters in the alphabet. - -The usual entries are of a religious character; extracts from -sermons, answers from the catechism, verses of hymns, accompany -stilted religious aspirations and appeals. In them a painful -familiarity with and partiality for quotations bearing on hell and -the devil show the religious teaching of the times. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -CHILDISH PRECOCITY - - _Where babies, much to their surprise, - Were born astonishingly wise; - With every Science on their lips, - And Latin at their finger-tips._ - - --_Bab Ballads. W. S. Gilbert, 1877._ - - -The seventeenth century was in Europe a period of eager development -and hasty harvesting; English boys were made serious-minded by the -conditions they saw around them, as well as by a forcing-house -system of education, begun at very early years. This early ageing -is reflected in the writings of the times. The _Religio Medici_, -apparently the composition of a man of the large experience and -serene contemplation of extreme age, was written by Sir Thomas -Browne when he was but thirty. - -[Illustration: Samuel Torrey, Twelve Years Old, 1770] - -There are many records of the precocity of children, preserved for -us many times, alas! through the sad recounting of early deaths. One -of the most pathetic records of a father's blasted hopes may be -found in the pages of the diary of John Evelyn. In December, 1658, -died his little son, Richard, five years and three days old. He was -a prodigy of wit and learning, as beautiful as an angel, and of rare -mental endowment. His father's account of his acquirements runs -thus:-- - - "He had learned all his catechism at two years and a half old; - he could perfectly read any of the English, Latin, French, or - Gothic letters, pronouncing the first three languages exactly. - He had, before the fifth year, or in that year, not only skill - to read most written hands, but to decline all the nouns, - conjugate the verbs regular, and most of the irregular; learned - out Puerelis, got by heart almost the entire vocabulary of Latin - and French primitives and words, could make congruous syntax, - turn English into Latin, and vice versa, construe and prove what - he read, and did the government and use of relatives, verbs, - substantives, ellipses and many figures and tropes, and made - a considerable progress in Comenius' Janua; begun himself to - write legibly and had a strong passion for Greek. The number of - verses he could recite was prodigious, and what he remembered of - the parts of plays which he would also act; and, when seeing a - Plautus in one's hand, he asked what book it was, and being told - it was comedy and too difficult for him, he wept for sorrow. - Strange was his apt and ingenious application of fables and - morals, for he had read AEsop; he had a wonderful disposition - to mathematics, having by heart divers propositions of Euclid - that were read to him in play, and he would make lines and - demonstrate them. He had learned by heart divers sentences - in Latin and Greek which on occasion he would produce even - to wonder. He was all life, all prettiness, far from morose, - sullen, or childish in any thing he said or did." - -Of course this is not given as an ordinary education of an every-day -child. It is an extraordinary record of a very unusual child, but -it shows what an intelligent child could be permitted to do. Evelyn -was a man of great good sense; not the sort of man who would force -a child; indeed he averred that he abhorred precocity. But in truth -it was a time in England's history when such a child could easily be -overstimulated, when public events, the course of history, was so -exciting that every child of keen wit must have felt the effects. - -The crowding of young minds did not end with the seventeenth -century. A striking example of the desire to press education is -found in the letters of Lord Chesterfield to his son, beginning in -1738, when the boy was not six years old. The language and subjects -would be deemed to-day suited only to mature minds. In 1741 the -father wrote:-- - - "This is the last letter I shall write to you as a little boy, - for to-morrow you will attain your ninth year; so that for the - future, I shall treat you as a youth. You must now commence a - different course of life, a different course of studies. No more - levity. Childish toys and playthings must be thrown aside, and - your mind directed to serious objects. What was not unbecoming - to a child would be disgraceful to a youth" etc. - -Letter after letter continued in this tone. For years was the -process carried on. The result was a striking proof of the futility -of such methods. The son died when but little past his youth, a -failure in everything the father had most fondly desired and striven -for. The crowded brain ever stumbled and hesitated when put to any -important test. - -It was inevitable that New England parents, with their fairly -passionate intensity of zeal for the education of their children, -should in many cases overstimulate and force the infant minds in -their charge. It seems somewhat anomalous with the almost universal -distrust and hindrance of female education that one of the most -precocious flowers of Puritanism should have been a girl, the "pious -and ingenious Mrs. Jane Turell," who was born in Boston in 1708. -Before her second year was finished she could speak distinctly, knew -her letters, and "could relate many stories out of the Scriptures -to the satisfaction and pleasure of the most judicious." Governor -Dudley and other "wise and polite" New England gentlemen were among -those entitled "judicious," who placed her on a table to show off -her acquirements. When she was three years old she could recite the -greater part of the _Assembly's Catechism_, many of the psalms, many -lines of poetry, and read distinctly; at the age of four she "asked -many astonishing questions about divine mysteries." - -As her father was President of Harvard College, it may be inferred -she had an extended reading course; but in a catalogue of Harvard -College library printed a year or two later there is not a title -in it of any of the works of Addison, or any of the poems of Pope, -nothing of Dryden, Steele, Young, or Prior. In 1722, when Jane -Turell was twenty years old, the works of Shakespeare were first -advertised for sale in Boston. - -[Illustration: The Copley Family] - -In many families of extreme Puritanical thought, the children -developed at an early age a comprehension of religious matters -which would seem abnormal to-day, but was natural then. A striking -instance of this youthful development (as he was of highly sensitive -thought of every description) was Jonathan Edwards. A letter of his -written when he was twelve years old is certainly precocious in its -depth, though there is a certain hint of humor in it. Some one had -stated the belief that the soul was material and remained in the -body until after the resurrection. Young Edwards wrote:-- - - "I am informed y^t you have advanced a notion y^t the soul is - material and keeps w^th y^e body till y^e resurrection. As - I am a profest lover of novelty you must alow me to be much - entertained by this discovery. 1^st. I w^d know whether this - material soul keeps w^th in ye Coffin, and if so whether it - might not be convenient to build a repository for it in order - w^ch I w^d know w^t shape it is of whether round, triangular - or foresquare or whether it is a number of long fine strings - reaching from y^e head to y^e foot, and whether it does not - live a very discontented life. I am afraid when ye Coffin gives - way ye Earth will fall in and crush it, but if it should chuse - to live above Ground and hover above y^e Grave how big it is, - whether it covers all ye body, or is assined to y^e Head or - Breast, w^t it does when another Body is laid upon it. Souls are - not so big but y^t 10 or a dozen of y^m may be about one body - whether yy will not quarrill for y^e highest place." - -His paper on spiders, written when he was but twelve, has become -famous as a bit of childish composition. It shows great habits of -observance, care in note-taking, and logical reasoning; and bears no -evidence of youth either in matter or manner. - -A typical example of the spirit of the times in regard to juvenile -education is found in the letters of Mrs. Pinckney. She writes to a -friend:-- - - "Shall I give you the trouble my dear Madam to buy my son a new - toy (a description of which I inclose) to teach him according - to Mr. Locke's method (which I have carefully studied) to play - himself into learning. Mr. Pinckney (his father) himself has - been contriving a sett of toys to teach him his letters by the - time he can speak. You perceive we begin betimes for he is not - yet four months old." - -This toy may have been what is known to-day as a set of alphabet -blocks, a commonplace toy. Locke speaks of a game of dice with -letters with which children could play a game like "royal-oak," and -through which they would learn to spell. He was not the inventor of -these "letter-dice," as is generally asserted. It was a stratagem of -Sir Hugh Plat, fully explained and illustrated in his _Jewel House -of Art and Nature_, printed in London in 1653, a portion of a page -of which is shown here. - -The toy seems to have been a success, for the following year Mrs. -Pinckney writes to her sister:-- - - "Your little nephew not yet two and twenty months old prattles - very intelligibly: he gives his duty to you and thanks for the - toys, and desires me to tell his Aunt Polly that if she don't - take a care and a great deal of pains in her learning, he will - soon be the best scholar, for he can tell his letters in any - book without hesitation, and begins to spell before he is two - years old." - -This precocious infant, afterward General Charles Cotesworth -Pinckney of Revolutionary fame, declared in his later life that this -early teaching was sad stuff, and that the haste to make him a very -clever fellow nearly made him a very stupid one. - -[Illustration: - -_A ready way for children to learn their A.B.C._ - -Cau[f.]e 4 large dice of bone or wood to be made, and upon every -[f.]quare, one of the [f.]mal letters of the cro[f.]s row to be -graven, but in [f.]ome bigger [f.]hape, and the child u[f.]ing to -play much with them, and being alwayes told what letter chanceth, -will [f.]oon gain his Alphabet, as it were by the way of [f.]port or -pa[f.]time. I have heard of a pair of cards, whereon mo[f.]t of the -principall Grammer rules have been printed, and the School-Ma[f.]ter -hath found good [f.]port thereat with his [f.]chollers. - -Facsimile from _Jewel House of Art and Nature_] - -Little Martha Laurens, born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1759, -could, in her third year, "read any book"; and like many another -child since her day learned to read holding the book upside down. -Joseph T. Buckingham declared that when he was four years old he -knew by heart nearly all the reading lessons in the primer and much -of the _Westminster Catechism_. - -Boys entered the Boston Latin School when as young as but six years -and a half old. They began to study Latin frequently when much -younger. Zealous and injudicious parents sometimes taught infants -but three years old to read Latin words as soon as they could -English ones. It redounds to the credit of the scholarship of one -of my kinsmen, rather than to his good sense or good temper (albeit -he was a minister of the Gospel) that each morning while he shaved, -his little son, five years of age, stood by his dressing-table, -on a footstool, and read Latin to his father, who had also a copy -of the same book open before him, that he might note and correct -the child's errors. And the child when grown to old age told his -children and grandchildren that his father, angered at what he -deemed slowness of progress, frequent errors of pronunciation, and -poor attempts at translation, would throw the book at the child, and -once felled him from the footstool to the floor. - -[Illustration: Polly Flagg, One Year Old, 1751] - -It is told of Timothy Dwight, President of Yale College, that he -learned the alphabet at a single lesson, and could read the Bible -before he was four years old, and taught it to his comrades. At -the age of six he was sent to the grammar school and importuned his -father to let him study Latin. Being denied he studied through the -Latin grammar twice without a teacher, borrowing a book of an older -boy. He would have been prepared for college when but eight years -old, had not the grammar school luckily discontinued and left him -without a teacher. - -The curriculum at Harvard in olden times bore little resemblance -to that of to-day. Sciences were unknown, and the requirements in -mathematics were meagre. Still a boy needed even then to be clever -to know enough Greek and Latin to enter at eleven. Paul Dudley did -so in 1686. His father wrote to the president a quaint letter of -introduction:-- - - "I have humbly to offer you a little, sober, and well-disposed - son, who, tho' very young, if he may have the favour of - admittance, I hope his learning may be tollerable: and for him - I will promise that by your care and my care, his own Industry, - and the blessing of God, this mother the University shall not be - ashamed to allow him the place of a son--Appoint a time when he - may be examined." - -There were still younger college students. In 1799 there was -graduated from Rhode Island College (now Brown University) a boy -named John Pitman, who was barely fourteen. - -There is no evidence that the early marriages, that is, marriages -of children and very young lads and girls, which were far from rare -in England during the first years of our colonial life, ever were -permitted in the new world. Nor were they as common at that date in -England as during the previous century, for there had been severe -legislation against them, especially against the youthful marriages -of poor folk. - -Many have known of the juvenile weddings of English princes and -princesses and marriages by proxy for reasons of state; but few know -of these unions being general among English people. An interesting -and authoritative book on this subject was published in 1897 by the -_Early English Text Society_. Dr. Furnivall made a careful study of -the old court records of the town of Chester, England, and published -this account of trials and law cases concerning child-marriages, -divorces, ratifications, troth-plights, affiliations, clandestine -marriages, and other kindred matters. It is, as the editor says, a -"most light-giving" volume. It ranges over all classes, from people -of wealth, the manor owners and squires, to ale-house keepers, -farmers, cobblers, maids, and men. It tells of the marriages of -little children in their nurses' arms, some but two or three years -old, so young that their baby tongues could not speak the words -of matrimony. Various arrangements, chiefly relating to lands and -maintenance, led to these marriages, also a desire to evade the -Crown's guardianship of orphans. In one case, a "bigge damsell" of -twelve "intysed with two apples" a younger boy to marry her. "The -woman tempted me and I did eat." One little bridegroom of three -was held up in the arms of an English clergyman, who coaxed him to -repeat the words of the service. Before it was finished the child -said he would learn no more of his lesson that day. The parson -answered, "You must speak a little more and then go play yon." The -child-marriage of the Earl and Countess of Essex in 1606, resulting -in the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, and the Countess' marriage -to the Earl of Somerset, is a well-known historical example of the -unhappy result of such marriages. The Earl of Anglesey's grandson -was married in 1673, when he was eight years old. Mary Hewitt of -Danton Basset was wedded in 1669, when three years old. In 1672 -John Evelyn was present "at the marriage of Lord Arlington's only -daughter, a sweet child if there ever was any, aged five, to the -Duke of Grafton." - -I have given the dates of these later child-marriages to show that -they were not unusual in England long after America was settled. As -late as 1729 a little English girl of some wealth and but nine years -old was taken from her boarding school by her guardian and married -to his son. Very differently did the upright New Englander regard -the duties of guardianship. A little girl named Rebecca Cooper was -left an orphan in early colonial days at Salem, Massachusetts. She -was "a verie good match," an "inheritrice," and the sharp eyes of -Emanuel Downing and his wife were upon her to "make a motion of -marriage" for their son. Both wrote to Governor Winthrop, Madam -Downing's brother, to gain his intercession in the matter, though -the maid had not been spoken to. Madam wrote:-- - - "The disposition of the mayde and her education with Mrs. - Endicott are hopefull, her person tollerable, the estate very - convenient, and that is the state of the business." - -Governor Endicott was the guardian and his answering letter to -Winthrop has a manly and honorable ring which might well have -sounded in the ears of all English guardians. - -[Illustration: James Flagg, Five Years Old, 1744] - - "I am told you are sollicited in a busniss concerninge the girle - which was putt to my warde and trust. I have not been made - acquainted with it by you know whome, which, if there had been - any such intendment, I think had been but reason. But to let - that passe, I pray you advise not to stirre in it, for it will - not be affected for reasons I shall show you.... - - "The Lord knows I have alwais resolved (and so hath my wife ever - since the girl came to vs) to yielde her vp to be disposed by - yourself to any of yours if ever the Lord should make her fitt - and worthie. - - "Now for the other for whom you writt. I confesse I cannot - freelie yeald thereunto for the present, for these grounds. - ffirst: The girle desires not to mary as yet. 2ndlee: Shee - confesseth (which is the truth) hereselfe to be altogether yett - vnfitt for such a condition, shee beinge a verie girl and but - 15 yeares of age. 3rdlie: Where the man was moved to her shee - said shee could not like him. 4thlie: You know it would be of - ill reporte that a girl because shee hath some estate should - bee disposed of soe young, espetialie not having any parents to - choose for her. ffifthlie: I have some good hopes of the child's - coming on to the best thinges. And on the other side I fear--I - will say no more. Other things I shall tell you when we meet. - If this will not satisfy some, let the Court take her from mee - and place with any other to dispose of her. I shall be content. - Which I heare was plotted to accomplish this end; but I will - further enquire about it, and you shall know if it be true, ffor - I know there are many passages about this busniss which when you - heare of you will not like." - -It is pleasant to record that all this match-making and machination -came to naught. It would not have been strange if Governor Winthrop -had deemed this girl old enough to be married. He had been but -seventeen years old himself when he was married, but he was, so he -writes, "a man in stature and understanding." He evidently was of -the opinion that a child of fourteen or fifteen was of mature years. -When his son John was but fourteen the governor made a will making -the boy the executor of it. - -These child-marriages were not abolished in America because maturity -or majority was established at a greater age; for up to the -Revolution boys reached man's estate at sixteen years of age, became -tax-payers, and served in the militia. Early unions were controlled -by restrictive laws, such as the one enacted in Massachusetts in -1646, that no female orphan during her minority should be given in -marriage by any one except with the approbation of the majority of -the selectmen of the town in which she resided. Another privilege -of the girl orphan was that at fourteen she could choose her own -guardian. Thus were children protected in the new world, and their -rights conserved. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -OLDTIME DISCIPLINE - - _My child and scholar take good heed - unto the words that here are set, - And see thou do accordingly - or else be sure thou shalt be beat._ - - --_The English Schoolmaster. Edward Coote, 1680._ - - -The manner of oldtime children differed as much from the carriage of -children to-day as the severe and arbitrary modes of discipline of -colonial days differed from the persuasive explanations, the moral -inculcations and exhortations by which modern youth are influenced -to obedience. Parents, teachers, and ministers chanted in solemn and -unceasing chorus, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child," -and they believed the only cure for that foolishness was in stern -repression and sharp correction--above all in the rod. They found -abundant support for this belief in the Bible, their constant guide. - -John Robinson, the Pilgrim preacher, said in his essay on _Children -and Their Education_:-- - - "Surely there is in all children (though not alike) a stubbernes - and stoutnes of minde arising from naturall pride which must in - the first place be broken and beaten down that so the foundation - of their education being layd in humilitie and tractablenes - other virtues may in their time be built thereon. It is - commendable in a horse that he be stout and stomackfull being - never left to his own government, but always to have his rider - on his back and his bit in his mouth, but who would have his - child like his horse in his brutishnes?" - -The chief field of the "breaking and beating down" process was in -school. English schoolmasters were proverbial for their severity, -and from earliest days; though monks with their classes are never -depicted with the rod. - -We find Agnes Paston, in 1457, writing to London for word to be -delivered to the schoolmaster of her son Clement, who was then -sixteen years old:-- - - "If he hath nought do well, nor wyll nought amend, pray hym that - he wyll trewly belassch hym, tyll he wyll amend; and so did the - last master, and the best that ever he had, at Cambridge. And - say I wyll give hym X marks for hys labor, for I had lever he - were beryed than lost for defaute." - -[Illustration: Katherine Ten Broeck, Three Years Old, 1719] - -She herself had "borne on hand" on her marriageable daughter; -beating her every week, sometime twice a day, "and her head -broken in two or three places." This seems to have been the usual -custom of the British matron in high life. Lady Jane Grey, when -she was fifteen years old, never came into the presence of her -father and mother but she was "sharply taunted, cruelly threatened, -yea, punished sometimes with pinches, nips, bobs, and other way." -Elizabeth, Lady Falkland, as long as her mother lived, always spoke -to that rigid lady while kneeling before her, "sometimes for more -than an hour together, though she was but an ill kneeler, and worse -riser." Poor Elizabeth! she was an only child, "an inheritrice"; but -she could truthfully aver she never was spoiled. - -An early allusion to school discipline is in the _Boy Bishop's -Sermon_ from the press of Wynkyn de Worde, who died in 1535. It runs -thus:-- - - "There is no fault he doth but he is punished. Sometimes he - wringeth him by the ear, sometimes he giveth him a strype on the - hand with the ferrul, sometimes beateth him sharply with the - rod." - -Great Cromwell was sent off to school with injunctions to the -master, Dr. Beard, to flog the boy soundly "for persisting in the -wickedness of the assertion" that he had had a vision and prophecy -of his future greatness. Dr. Johnson told of the unmerciful -beating he had by one Master Hunter, who was "very wrong-headedly -severe." He said the man never distinguished between ignorance -and negligence, and beat as hard for not knowing a thing as for -neglecting to know it, and as he whipped would shout, "This I do to -save you from the gallows." Still the Doctor was grateful for the -beatings, as he felt to them he owed his knowledge of Latin; and he -approved of the rod, saying of some well-behaved young ladies whose -mother had whipped them oft and heavily, in variation of one of -Shakespeare's lines, "_Rod_, I will honor thee for this thy duty." -His creed of correction was this:-- - - "I would rather have the rod to be the general terror to all, - to make them learn, than to tell a child, if you do this, or - thus, you will be more esteemed than your brothers and sisters. - The rod produces an effect which terminates in itself. A child - is afraid of being whipped, and gets his task, and there's an - end on't. Whereas, by exciting emulation and comparisons of - superiority, you lay the foundation of lasting mischief; you - make brothers and sisters hate each other." - -The illustrations of old Dutch books that show school furniture, -have the odd ferules of monkish days, the flat ladle-shaped -pieces of wood which were distinctly for striking the palm of the -scholar's hand. The derivation of the word "ferule" is interesting. -It is from _ferula_, fennel. The tough stalks of the giant fennel -of Southern Europe were used by the Roman schoolmasters as an -instrument of castigation. - -[Illustration: 21. THE DUNCE. - -This is a sight to give us pain, Once seen ne'er wished to see again. - -Illustration from _Plain Things for Little Folks_] - -Old English lesson books of the seventeenth and eighteenth -centuries, many, even, of the early years of this century, that have -any illustrations of classes, schoolmasters, or school interiors, -invariably picture the master with a rod or bunch of birch twigs. -An old herbalist says:-- - - "I have not red of any vertue byrche hath in physick, howbeit it - serveth many good uses, and none better than for the betynge of - stubborn boyes, that either lye or will not learn." - -Birch rods were tauntingly sold on London streets with a cry by -pedlers of "Buy my fine Jemmies; Buy my London Tartars." Even that -miserable _Dyves Pragmaticus_ enumerated "Fyne Rod for Children of -Wyllow and Burche" among his wares. A crowning insult was charging -the cost of birch rod on schoolboys' bills; and in some cases making -the boy pay for the birch out of his scant spending money. - -Birch trees were plentiful in America--and whippings too. Scholars -in New England were not permitted to forget the methods of -discipline of "the good old days." Massachusetts schools resounded -with strokes of the rod. Varied instruments of chastisement were -known, from - - "A besomme of byrche for babes verye fit - To a long lasting lybbet for lubbers as meet." - -A lybbet was a billet of wood, and the heavy walnut stick of one -Boston master well deserved the name. A cruel inquisitor invented -an instrument of torture which he termed a flapper. It was a heavy -piece of leather six inches in diameter, with a hole in the middle. -This was fastened by an edge to a pliable handle. Every stroke on -the bare flesh raised a blister the size of the hole in the leather. -Equally brutal was the tattling stick, a cat-o'-nine-tails with -heavy leather straps. The whipping with this tattling stick was -ordered to be done upon "a peaked block"--whatever that may be. That -fierce Boston disciplinarian and patriot, Master Lovell, whipped -with strong birch rods, and made one culprit mount the back of -another scholar to receive his lashing. He called these whippings -trouncings, the good old English word of the Elizabethan dramatists. -Another brutal Boston master struck his scholars on the head with -a ferule, until this was forbidden by the school directors; he -then whipped the soles of the scholars' feet, and roared out in an -ecstasy of cruelty, "Oh! the Caitiffs! it is good for them." - -There was sometimes an aftermath of sorrow, when our stern old -grandfathers whipped their children at home for being whipped at -school, so told Rev. Eliphalet Nott. - -[Illustration: Whispering Sticks] - -Many ingenious punishments were invented. A specially insulting one -was to send the pupil out to cut a small branch of a tree. A split -was made by the teacher at the severed end of the branch, and the -culprit's nose was placed in the cleft end. Then he was forced -to stand, painfully pinched, an object of ridicule. A familiar -punishment of the dame school, which lingered till our own day, was -the smart tapping of the child's head with a heavy thimble; this was -known as "thimell-pie." Another was to yoke two delinquents together -in a yoke made with two bows like an ox yoke. Sometimes times a -boy and girl were yoked together--a terrible disgrace. "Whispering -sticks" were used to preserve quiet in the schoolroom. Two are shown -here, wooden gags to be tied in the mouth with strings, somewhat as -a bit is placed in a horse's mouth. Children were punished by being -seated on a unipod, a stool with but a single leg, upon which it -was most tiring to try to balance; they were made to stand on dunce -stools and wear dunce caps and heavy leather spectacles; they were -labelled with large placards marked with degrading or ridiculous -names, such as "Tell-Tale," "Bite-Finger-Baby," "Lying Ananias," -"Idle-Boy," and "Pert-Miss-Prat-a-Pace." - -One of Miss Hetty Higginson's punishments in her Salem school at the -beginning of this century was to make a child hold a heavy book, -such as a dictionary, by a single leaf. Of course any restless -motion would tear the leaf. Her rewards of merit should be also -told. She would divide a single strawberry in minute portions among -six or more scholars; and she had a "bussee," or good child, who was -to be kissed. - -Many stories have been told of special punishments invented by -special teachers. The schoolmaster at Flatbush was annoyed by the -children in his school constantly using Dutch words, as he was -employed to teach them English. He gave every day to the first -scholar who used a Dutch word a little metal token or medal. This -scholar could promptly transfer the token to the next child who -spoke a Dutch word, and so on; thus it went from hand to hand -through the day. But the unlucky scholar who had the token in his -possession at the close of school, received a sound whipping. - -An amusing method of securing good lessons and good behavior was -employed by old Ezekiel Cheever, and was thus told by one of his -pupils, Rev. John Barnard:-- - - "I was a very naughty boy, much given to play, in so much that - Master Cheever openly declared, 'You, Barnard, I know you can do - well enough if you will, but you are so full of play you hinder - your classmates from getting their lessons, therefore if any of - them cannot perform their duty, I shall correct you for it.' One - day one of my classmates did not look at his book, and could not - say his lesson, though I called upon him once and again to mind - his book. Whereupon our master beat me.... The boy was pleased - with my being corrected and persisted in his neglect for which I - was still beaten and that for several days. I thought in justice - I ought to correct the boy and compel him to a better temper; - therefore after school was done I went to him and told him I had - been beaten several times for his neglect and since master would - not correct him, I would, and then drubbed him heartily." - -The famous Lancasterian system--that of monitorial -schools--discountenanced the rod, but the forms of punishment were -not wholly above criticism. They were the neck-and-hands pillory, -familiar up to that date in England and America as a public -punishment of criminals; wooden shackles; hanging in a sack; tying -the legs together; and labelling with the name of the offence -against rules. - -[Illustration: 12. Falsehood Punished. - -Illustration from _Early Seeds to Produce Spring Flowers_] - -I have found nothing to show that Dutch schoolmasters were as severe -as those of the English colonies. Dr. Curtius, the first master of -the Latin School in New Amsterdam, complained that "his hands were -tied as some of the parents of his scholars forbade him punishing -their children," and that as a result these unruly young Dutchmen -"beat each other and tore the clothes from each other's backs." The -contract between the Flatbush Church and schoolmaster, dated 1682, -specifies that he shall "demean himself patient and friendly towards -the children." - -The discipline of Master Leslie, a New York teacher of the next -century, is described by Eliza Morton Quincy in her delightful -_Memoirs_. The date is about 1782:-- - - "His modes of punishment would astonish children of the present - day. One of them was to hold the blocks. They were of two sizes. - The large one was a heavy block of wood, with a ring in the - centre, by which it was to be held a definite number of minutes, - according to the magnitude of the offence. The smaller block - was for the younger child. Another punishment was by a number - of leathern straps, about an inch wide and a finger long, with - which he used to strap the hands of the larger boys." - -One German schoolmaster, Samuel Dock, stands out in relief in this -desert of ignorance and cruelty. With simplicity and earnestness he -wrote in 1750 the story of his successful teaching, as in simplicity -and earnestness he had taught in his school at Shippack. His story -is as homely as his life:-- - - "HOW I RECEIVE THE CHILDREN IN SCHOOL. - - "It is done in the following manner. The child is first welcomed - by the other scholars, who extend their hands to it. It is then - asked by me whether it will learn industriously and be obedient. - If it promises me this, I explain to it how it must behave; and - if it can say its A. B. C.'s in order, one after the other, and - also by way of proof, can point out with the forefinger all the - designated letters, it is put into the A-b, Abs. When it gets - thus far, its father must give it a penny and its mother must - cook for it two eggs, because of its industry; and a similar - reward is due to it when it goes further into words; and so - forth." - -He made them little presents as prizes; drew pictures for them; -taught them singing and also musical notation; and he had a plan to -have the children teach each other. He had a careful set of rules -for their behavior, to try to change them from brutish peasants to -intelligent citizens. They must be clean; and delinquents were not -punished with the rod, but by having the whole school write and -shout out their names with the word "lazy" attached. Letter-writing -was carefully taught, with exercises in writing to various people, -and to each other. Profanity was punished by wearing a yoke, and -being told the awful purport of the oaths. He taught spelling and -reading with much Bible instruction; but he did not teach the -Catechism, since he had scholars of many sects and denominations; -however, he made them all learn and understand what he called the -"honey-flowers of the New Testament." - -In order to appreciate his gentleness and intelligence, one should -know of the drunken, dirty, careless, and cruel teachers in other -Pennsylvania schools. One whipped daily and hourly with a hickory -club with leather thongs attached at one end; this he called the -"taws." Another had a row of rods of different sizes which, with -ugly humor, he termed his "mint sticks." Another, nicknamed Tiptoe -Bobby, always carried a raccoon's tail slightly weighted at the -butt-end; this he would throw with sudden accuracy at any offender, -who meekly returned it to his instructor and received a fierce -whipping with a butt-end of rawhide with strips of leather at the -smaller end. One Quaker teacher in Philadelphia, John Todd, had such -a passion for incessant whipping that, after reading accounts of his -ferocious discipline, his manner and his words, the only explanation -of his violence and cruelty is that of insanity. - -[Illustration: Cathalina Post, Fourteen Years Old, 1750] - -There is no doubt that the practice of whipping servants was common -here, not only children who were bound out, and apprentices and -young redemptioners, but grown servants as well. Occasionally the -cruel master was fined or punished for a brutal over-exercise of his -right of punishment. At least one little child died from the hand -of his murderous master. In Boston and other towns commissioners -were elected who had power to sentence to be whipped, exceeding -ten stripes, children and servants who behaved "disobediently and -disorderly toward their parents, masters, and governours, to the -disturbance of families and discouragement of such parents and -governours." In Hartford, Connecticut, a topping young maid felt the -force of a similar law:-- - - "Susan Coles for her rebellious cariedge towards her mistris - is to be sent to the house of correction, and be kept to hard - labour and coarse dyet, to be brought forth the next Lecture Day - to be publicquely corrected and so to be corrected Weekly until - Order be given to the Contrary." - -Scores of similar records might be given. Judge Sewall, in his -diary, never refers to punishing his servants, nor to any need of -punishing them. There is some evidence of their faithfulness and of -his satisfaction in it, especially in the references to his negro -man servant, Boston, who, after a life of faithful service, was -buried like a gentleman, with a ceremonious funeral, a notice of his -death in the _News Letter_, a well-warmed parlor, chairs set in -orderly rows, cake and wine, and doubtless gloves. - -John Wynter was the head agent of a London company at a settlement -at Richmond's Island, in Maine. His wife had an idle maid, and some -report of her beating this maid was sent back to England. Wynter -writes:-- - - "You write of some yll reports is given of my Wyfe for beatinge - the maide: yf a faire way will not doe yt, beatinge must - sometimes vppon such idle girrels as she is. Yf you think yt - fitte for my Wyfe to do all the work and the maide sitt still, - and shee must forbear her hands to strike then the work will lye - vndonn.... Her beatinge that she hath had hath never hurt her - body nor limes. She is so fatt and soggy shee can hardly doe any - work. Yf this maide at her lazy tymes when she hath bin found in - her yll accyons doe not disserve 2 or 3 blowes I pray you who - hath the most reason to complain my Wyfe or maide. My Wyfe hath - an vnthankful office." - -[Illustration: Illustration from "Young Wilfrid"] - -It has surprised me that this complaint--and others--should have -been sent home to England, where (as we have abundant evidence) the -whipping of servants was excessive and constant. Pepys and other -old English authors make frequent note of it. Pepys whipped his -boy till his arm was lame. The _Diary of a Lady of Quality_ gives -some glimpses of this custom. On January 30, 1760, Lady Frances -Pennoyer writes at her home at Bullingham Court, Herefordshire, that -one of her maids spoke in the housekeeper's room about a matter that -was not to the credit of the family. My lady knew there was truth in -what the girl said, but it was not her place to speak of it, and she -must be taught to know and keep her place. - -The diarist writes:-- - - "She hath a pretty face, and should not be too ready to speak - ill of those above her in station. I should be very sorry to - turn her adrift upon the world, and she hath but a poor home. - Sent for her to my room, and gave her choice, either to be well - whipped or to leave the house instantly. She chose wisely I - think and with many tears said I might do what I liked. I bade - her attend my chamber at twelve. - - "Dearlove, my maid, came to my room as I bade her. I bade her - fetch the rod from what was my mother-in-law's rod-closet, and - kneel and ask pardon, which she did with tears. I made her - prepare, and I whipped her well. The girl's flesh is plump and - firm, and she is a cleanly person, such a one, not excepting my - own daughters who are thin, and one of them, Charlotte, rather - sallow, as I have not whipped for a long time. She hath never - been whipped before, she says, since she was a child (what can - her mother and the late lady have been about I wonder?), and she - cried out a great deal." - -Poor little Dearlove, fair and plump, and in bitter tears--you make -a more pleasing picture seen through the haze of a century than -fierce my lady with her rod. - -The many hundred pages of Judge Sewall's diary give abundant -testimony of his tender affection for his children. In this record -of his entire married life he but twice refers to punishing his -children; once his son was whipped for telling a lie, a second time -he notes the punishment thus:-- - - "1692, Nov. 6. Joseph threw a knob of Brass, and hit his sister - Betty upon the forehead so as to make it bleed; upon which, and - for his playing at Prayer-time, and eating when Return Thanks I - whip'd him pretty smartly. When I first went in, call'd by his - Grandmother, he sought to shadow and hide himself from me behind - the head of the Cradle, which gave me the sorrowful remembrance - of Adam's carriage." - -It was natural that Judge Sewall, ever finding symbols of religious -signification in natural events, should see in his son Joseph's -demeanor a painful reminder of original sin; and we can imagine with -what sad sense of duty he whipped him. - -It is the standard resort of ignorant writers upon Puritanism, and -especially upon Puritanic severity, to give the name of Cotton -Mather as a prime expositor of cruel discipline. I have before me a -magazine illustration which represents him, lean, lank, violent, -and mean of aspect, with clipped head, raising a heavy bunch of rods -over a cowering child. He was in reality exceedingly handsome, very -richly bewigged, with the full, distinctly sensual countenance of -the Cottons, not the severe ascetic features of the Mathers, and he -as strongly opposed punishment by the rod as most of his friends and -neighbors favored and practised it. His son wrote of him:-- - - "The slavish way of education carried on with raving and kicking - and scourging, in schools as well as in families, he looked - upon as a dreadful judgment of God on the world: he thought the - practice abominable and expressed a mortal aversion to it. - - "The first chastisement which he would inflict for any ordinary - fault, was to let the child see and hear him in an astonishment, - and hardly able to believe that the child would do so base a - thing. He would never come to give the child a blow, except in - case of obstinacy, or something very criminal. To be chased for - a while out of his presence he would make to be looked upon as - the sorest punishment in his family." - -There can be found episodes of colonial history where the -disprejudiced modern mind can perceive ample need of the sharp -whippings so freely bestowed upon dull or idle scholars and -slow servants. Cotton Mather was too gentle and too forbearing -toward certain children with whom he had close relations. A "warm -birch" applied in the early stages of that terrible tragedy, the -Salem Witchcraft, to Ann Putnam, the protagonist of that drama, -would doubtless so quickly have ended it in its incipiency as to -obliterate it entirely from the pages of history. - -[Illustration: William Verstile 1769] - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -MANNERS AND COURTESY - - _A child should always say what's true, - And speak when he is spoken to, - And behave mannerly at table, - At least as far as he is able._ - - --_A Child's Garden of Verse. Robert Louis Stevenson, 1895 - - -In ancient days in England, manners and courtesy, manly exercises, -music and singing, knowledge of precedency and rank, heraldry and -ability to carve, were much more important elements in education -than Latin and philosophy. Children were sent to school, and placed -in great men's houses to learn courtesy and the formalities of high -life. - -Of all the accomplishments and studies of the Squire as recounted -by Chaucer in the _Canterbury Tales_, but one would now be taught -in English college--music. Of all which were taught, courtesy was -deemed the most important. - - "Aristotle the Philosopher - this worthye sayinge writ - That manners in a chylde - are more requisit - - Than playinge on instrumentes - and other vayne pleasure; - For virtuous manners - is a most precious treasure." - -The importance given to outward forms of courtesy was a natural -result of the domination for centuries of the laws of chivalry -and rules of heraldry. But they were something more than outward -show. Emerson says, "The forms of politeness universally express -benevolence in a superlative degree." They certainly developed a -regard for others which is evinced in its highest and best type in -the character of what we term a gentleman and gentlewoman. - -It is impossible to overestimate the value these laws of etiquette, -these conventions of customs had at a time when neighborhood life -was the whole outside world. Without them life would have proved -unendurable. Even savage nations and tribes have felt in their -isolated lives the need of some conventions, which with them assume -the form of taboos, superstitious observances, and religious -restrictions. - -The laws of courtesy had much influence upon the development of -the character of the colonial child. Domestic life lacked many of -the comforts of to-day, but save in formality it did not differ -in essential elements from our own home life. Everything in the -community was made to tend to the preservation of relations of -civility; this is plainly shown by the laws. Modern historians -have been wont to wax jocose over the accounts of law-suits for -slander, scandal-monging, name-calling, lying, etc., which may be -found in colonial court records. Astonishingly petty seem many of -the charges; even the calling of degrading nicknames, making of wry -faces, jeering, and "finger-sticking" were fined and punished. But -all this rigidity tended to a preservation of peace. The child who -saw a man fined for lying, who beheld another set in the stocks for -calling his neighbor ill names, or repeating scandalous assertions, -grew up with a definite knowledge of the wickedness and danger of -lying, and a wholesome regard for the proprieties of life. These -sentiments may not have made him a better man, but they certainly -made him a more endurable one. - -The child of colonial days had but little connection with, little -knowledge of, the world at large. He probably never had seen a map -of the world, and if he had, he didn't understand it. Foreign news -there was none, in our present sense. Of special English events he -might occasionally learn, months after they had happened; but never -any details nor any ordinary happenings. European information was of -the scantiest and rarest kind; knowledge of the result of a war or -a vast disaster, like the Lisbon earthquake, might come. From the -other great continents came nothing. - -Nor was his knowledge of his own land extended. There was nothing to -interest him in the newsletter, even if he read it. He cared nothing -for the other colonies, he knew little of other towns. If he lived -in a seaport, he doubtless heard from the sailors on the wharves -tales of adventure and romantic interest, and he heard from his -elders details of trade, both of foreign and native ports. - -The boy, therefore, grew up with his life revolving in a small -circle; the girl's was still smaller. It had its advantages and its -serious disadvantages. It developed an extraordinarily noble and -pure type of neighborliness, but it did not foster a general broad -love of humanity. Perhaps those conditions developed types which -were fitted to receive and absorb gradually the more extended views -of life which came through the wider extent of vision, which has -been brought to us by newspapers, by steam, and by electricity. At -any rate children were serenely content, for they were unconscious. - -[Illustration: The Pepperell Children] - -Among early printed English books are many containing rules of -courtesy and behavior. Many of these and manuscripts on kindred -topics were carefully reprinted in 1868 by the _Early English_ -_Text Society_ of Great Britain. Among these are: _The Babees Book_; -_The Lytill Children's Lytil Boke_; _The Boke of Nurture, 1577_; _The -Boke of Curtasye, 1460_; _The Schole of Vertue, 1557_. From those days -till the present, similar books have been written and printed, and -form a history of domestic manners. - -It certainly conveys an idea of the demeanor of children of colonial -days to read what was enjoined upon them in a little book of -etiquette which was apparently widely circulated, and doubtless -carefully read. Instructions as to behavior at the table run thus:-- - - "Never sit down at the table till asked, and after the blessing. - Ask for nothing; tarry till it be offered thee. Speak not. Bite - not thy bread but break it. Take salt only with a clean knife. - Dip not the meat in the same. Hold not thy knife upright but - sloping, and lay it down at right hand of plate with blade on - plate. Look not earnestly at any other that is eating. When - moderately satisfied leave the table. Sing not, hum not, wriggle - not. Spit no where in the room but in the corner, and--" - -But I will pursue the quotation no further, nor discover other -eighteenth-century pronenesses painfully revealed in lurid light in -other detailed "Don'ts." - -It is evident that the ancient child was prone to eat as did Dr. -Samuel Johnson, hotly, avidly, with strange loud eager champings; -he was enjoined to more moderation:-- - - "Eat not too fast nor with Greedy Behavior. Eat not vastly but - moderately. Make not a noise with thy Tongue, Mouth, Lips, or - Breath in Thy Eating and Drinking. Smell not of thy Meat; nor - put it to Thy Nose; turn it not the other side upward on Thy - Plate." - -[Illustration: THE SCHOOL OF MANNERS. OR RULES for Childrens -Behaviour: - -At Church, at Home, at Table, in Company, in Di[f.]cour[f.]e, at -School, abroad, and among Boys. With [f.]ome other [f.]hort and mixt -Precepts. - -By the Author of the _Engli[f.]h Exerci[f.]es_. - -The Fourth Edition. - -_LONDON._ - -Printed for _Tho. Cockerill_, at the Three Legs and Bible again[f.]t -Grocers-Hall in the _Poultrey_, 1701. - -Title-page of _The School of Manners_] - -In many households in the new world children could not be seated -at the table, even after the blessing had been asked. They stood -through the entire meal. Sometimes they had a standing place and -plate or trencher; at other boards they stood behind the grown folk -and took whatever food was handed to them. This must have been in -families of low social station and meagre house furnishings. In -many homes they sat or stood at a side-table, and trencher in hand, -ran over to the great table for their supplies. A certain formality -existed at the table of more fashionable folk. Children were given -a few drops of wine in which to drink the health of their elders. -In one family the formula was, "Health to papa and mamma, health -to brothers and sisters, health to all my friends." In another, -the father's health only was named. Sometimes the presence of -grandparents at the table was the only occasion when children joined -in health-drinking. - -The little book teaches good listening:-- - - "When any speak to thee, stand up. Say not I have heard it - before. Never endeavour to help him out if he tell it not right. - Snigger not; never question the Truth of it." - -The child is enjoined minutely as to his behavior at school: to take -off his hat at entering, and bow to the teacher; to rise up and bow -at the entrance of any stranger; to "bawl not in speaking"; to "walk -not cheek by jole," but fall respectfully behind and always "give -the Wall to Superiors." - -[Illustration: (9) - -17. Bite not thy bread, but break it, but not with [f.]lovenly -Fingers, nor with the [f.]ame wherewith thou take[f.]t up thy meat. - -18. Dip not thy Meat in the Sawce. - -19. Take not [f.]alt with a greazy Knife. - -20. Spit not, cough not, nor blow thy No[f.]e at Table if it may be -avoided; but if there be nece[f.][f]ity, do it a[f.]ide, and without -much noi[f.]e. - -21. Lean not thy Elbow on the Table, or on the back of thy Chair. - -22. Stuff not thy mouth [f.]o as to fill thy Cheeks; be content with -[f.]maller Mouthfuls. - -23. Blow not thy Meat, but with Patience wait till it be cool. - -24. Sup not Broth at the Table, but eat it with a Spoon. - -Page of _The School of Manners_] - -The young student's passage from his home to his school should be as -decorous as his demeanor at either terminus:-- - - "Run not Hastily in the Street, nor go too Slowly. Wag not to - and fro, nor use any Antick Postures either of thy Head, Hands, - Feet or Body. Throw not aught on the Street, as Dirt or Stones. - If thou meetest the scholars of any other School jeer not nor - affront them, but show them love and respect and quietly let - them pass along." - -Boys took a good deal from their preceptors, and took it patiently -and respectfully; but I can well imagine the roar of disgust with -which even a much-hampered, eighteenth-century schoolboy read the -instructions to show love and respect to the boys of a rival school -and not to jeer or fire stones at them. - -This book of manners was reprinted in Worcester by Isaiah Thomas -in 1787. I have seen an earlier edition, called _The School of -Manners_, which was published in London in 1701. The title-page -and a page of the precepts are here reproduced. The directions in -these books of etiquette are plainly copied from a famous book -entitled _Youths' Behaviour, or Decency in Conversation Amongst -Men_, a book unsurpassed in the seventeenth century as an epitome of -contemporary manners, and held in such esteem that it ran through -eleven editions in less than forty years after its first appearance. -Not the least remarkable thing about this volume was the fact that -the first edition in English was by an "ingeniose Spark" not then -eight years of age, one Francis Hawkins, who rendered it from "the -French of grave persons." The bookseller begs the reader to "connive -at the stile," on the plea that it was "wrought by an uncouth and -rough file of one in green years." Green years! we cannot fancy -sober young Francis as ever green or as anything but a sere and -prematurely withered leaf. We can see him in sad colored attire, -carefully made quill pen in hand, seated at desk and standish, -his poor little shrunken legs hanging pitifully down, inditing on -foolscap with precision and elegance his pompous precepts. After -all he only translated these maxims; hence, perhaps, was the reason -that he managed to live to grow up. For translating did not tax his -"intellectuals" as would have composition. - -The _Youths' Behaviour_ contained many rules and instructions worded -from still older books on courtesy, such as _The Babees Book_, -and _The Boke of Nurture_, and traces of those hackneyed rules -lingered even in the etiquette books of Isaiah Thomas, long after -the house-furnishings and household conditions indicated by them -and sometimes necessitated by them had become as obsolete as the -formal duties of the squire's sons, "the younkers of account, youths -of good houses, and young gentlemen henxmen," for whom they had -originally been written. Let us believe that the habits pointed out -by such rules were obsolete also. I cannot think, for instance, that -the boy born after our Revolutionary war was in the habit of casting -poultry and meat bones under dining tables, even though he is so -seriously enjoined not to do so. This rule is a survivor from the -earthen floors and dirty ways of old England. - -A famous book of rules of etiquette, entitled _The Mirror of -Compliments_, was printed in 1635 in England, and as late as 1795 -many pages of it were reprinted in America by Thomas under the title -_A New Academy of Compliments_. The teachings in this book were -fearfully and wonderfully polite. This is the sort of thing enjoined -upon children and grown folk as correct phrases to be exchanged on -the subject of breaking bread together:-- - - "Sir, you shall oblige me very much if you will do me the honour - to take my poor dinner with me. - - "Sir, you are too courteous and persuasive to be refused and - therefore I shall trouble you. - - "Sir, pray excuse your bad entertainment at the present dinner - and another time we will endeavour to make you amends. - - "Truly, Sir, it has been very good, without any defect, and - needs no excuse." - -The child who sought to be mannerly certainly must have felt rather -discouraged at the prospect laid before him. These superfluities of -politeness were equalled by the absurdities of restraint. It would -certainly have been a study of facial expression to see the average -schoolboy when he read this dictum, "It is a wilde and rude thing to -lean upon ones elbow." - -In Brinsley's _Grammar Schoole_, written in 1612, he enumerates the -"bookes to bee first learned of children." First were "abcies" and -primers, then the Psalms in metre, then the Testament. - - "Then if any other require any little booke meet to enter - Children, the _Schoole of Virtue_ is one of the Principall, - and easiest for the first enterers being full of precepts of - ciuilitie.... And after the _Schoole of Good Manners_, leading - the child as by the hand, in the way of all good manners." - -The constant reading of these books, and the persistent reprinting -of their formal rules of behavior, may have tended to conserve the -old-fashioned deportment of children which has been so lamented -by aged grumblers and lovers of the good old times. It was -certainly natural that children should be affected by the regard -for etiquette, the distinctions of social position which they saw -heeded all around them, and in all departments of life. No man -could enlist in the Massachusetts Cavalry unless he had a certain -amount of property. Even boys in college had their names placed in -the catalogues, not by classes, years, scholarship, or alphabetical -order, but by the dignity and wealth of their family and social -position; and a college boy at Harvard had to give the baluster -side of the staircase to any one who was his social superior. Of -course the careful "seating of the meeting" was simply an evidence -of this regard of rank and station. - -[Illustration: Thomas Aston Coffin, Three Years Old] - -It was a profound distance between Mr. and Goodman. Mistress and -Goody marked a distinction as positive if not as great as between a -duchess and a milkmaid. Unmarried women and girls, if deemed worthy -any title at all, were not termed Miss, but were also Mrs. Rev. Mr. -Tompson wrote a funeral tribute to a little girl of six, entitled, -"A Neighbour's Tears dropt on ye Grave of an amiable Virgin; a -pleasant Plant cut down in the blooming of her Spring, viz: Mrs. -Rebecka Sewall August ye 4th, 1710." Cotton Mather wrote of "Mrs. -Sarah Gerrish, a very beautiful and ingenious damsel seven years of -age." Miss was not exactly a term of reproach, but it was not one -of respect. It denoted childishness, flippancy, lack of character, -and was not applied in public to children of dignified families. In -_Evelina_ the vulgar cousins, the Branghtons, call the heroine Miss. -"Lord! Miss, never mind that!" "Aunt has told you all hant she, -Miss?" - -A certain regard for formality obtained even in very humble -households. The childhood of David and John Brainerd, born -respectively in 1718 and 1720, in East Haddam, Connecticut, who -later in life were missionaries to the New Jersey Indians, has -been written by a kinsman. They were nurtured under the influences -of Connecticut Puritanism, in a simple New England home. Their -biographer writes of their rearing:-- - - "A boy was early taught a profound respect for his parents, - teachers, and guardians, and implicit prompt obedience. If - he undertook to rebel his will was broken by persistent and - adequate punishment. He was taught that it was a sin to find - fault with his meals, his apparel, his tasks or his lot in life. - Courtesy was enjoined as a duty. He must be silent among his - superiors. If addressed by older persons he must respond with - a bow. He was to bow as he entered and left the school, and - to every man and woman, old or young, rich or poor, black or - white, whom he met on the road. Special punishment was visited - on him if he failed to show respect for the aged, the poor, the - colored, or to any persons whatever whom God had visited with - infirmities." - -All children in godly households were taught personal consideration -of the old and afflicted, a consideration which lasted till our -present days of organized charities. As a lesson of patience and -kindness, read Mrs. Silsbee's account of the blind piano tuner in -Salem. He was employed in many households and ever treated with -marked attention. His tuning instrument had to be placed for him on -each piano-screw by some member of the family. He was paid, given -cake and wine, then humored by being given a tangled skein of silk -to unravel and thus show his dexterity, and finally led tenderly -home. - -Sir Francis Doyle says, "It is the intention of the Almighty that -there should exist for a certain time between childhood and manhood, -the natural production known as a boy." This natural production -existed two centuries ago as well as to-day. Though children were -certainly subdued and silent in the presence of older folk, still -they were boys and girls, not machine-like models of perfection. We -know of their turbulence in church; and boys in colonial days robbed -orchards, and played ball in the streets, and tore down gates, and -frightened horses, and threw stones with as much vim and violence -as if they had been born in the nineteenth century. Mather, in his -_Vindication of New England_, referring to the charge of injuring -King's Chapel, shows us Boston schoolboys in much the same mischief -that schoolboys have been in since:-- - - "All the mischief done is the breaking of a few Quarels of Glass - by idle Boys, who if discover'd had been chastis'd by their - own Parents. They have built their Chapel in a Publick burying - place, next adjoining a great Free School, where the Boyes - (having gotten to play) may, some by Accident, some in Frolick, - and some perhaps in Revenge for disturbing their Relatives' - Graves by the Foundation of that Building, have broken a few - Quarels of the Windows." - -Children did not always pose either as models of decorum or -propriety in their relations with each other. In a little book -called _The Village School_, we read of their beating and kicking -each other, and that there was one bleeding nose. Worse yet, when -the girls went forth to gather "daisies and butter-flowers," the -ungallant boys kicked the girls "to make them pipe." - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -RELIGIOUS THOUGHT AND TRAINING - - _Puritanism is not of the Nineteenth Century, but of the - Seventeenth, the grand unintelligibility for us lies there. The - Fast Day Sermons, in spite of printers, are all grown dumb. In - long rows of dumpy little quartos they indeed stand here bodily - before us; by human volition they can be read, but not by any - human memory remembered. The Age of the Puritans is not extinct - only and gone away from us, but it is as if fallen beyond the - capabilities of memory itself; it is grown what we may call - incredible. Its earnest Purport awakens now no resonance in our - frivolous hearts, ... the sound of it has become tedious as a - tale of past stupidities. - - --Oliver Cromwell's Life and Letters. Thomas Carlyle, 1845._ - - -The religious aspect of the life of children, especially in early -colonial days, and most particularly in New England, bore a far -deeper relation to the round of daily life than can be accorded to -it in these pages. The spirit of the Lord, perhaps I should say the -fear of the Lord, truly filled their days. Born into a religious -atmosphere, reared in religious ways, surrounded on every side by -religious influences, they could not escape the impress of deep -religious feeling; they certainly had a profound familiarity with -the Bible. The historian Green says that the Englishman of that day -was a man of one book, and that book the Bible. It might with equal -truth be said that the universal child's book of that day was the -Bible. There were few American children until after the Revolution -who had ever read from any book save the Bible, a primer, or -catechism, and perhaps a hymn book or an almanac. - -The usual method at that time of reading the Bible through was -in the regular succession of every chapter from beginning to -end, not leaving out even Leviticus and Numbers. This naturally -detracted from the interest which would have been awakened by a -wise selection of parts suited to the liking of children; and many -portions doubtless frightened young children, as we have abundant -record in the writings of Sewall and Mather. J. T. Buckingham -stated in his _Memoirs_ that he read the Bible through at least -a dozen times before he was sixteen years old. Some portions, -especially the Apocalypse or Revelation of St. John, filled him -with unspeakable terror, and he called the enforced reading of them -"a piece of gratuitous and unprofitable cruelty." He was careful, -however, to pay due tribute to the influence of the Bible upon his -literary composition and phraseology. The constant reading of the -beautiful English wording of the Bible influenced not only the style -of writing of that day, but controlled the everyday speech of the -people, keeping it pure and simple. - -[Illustration: Mrs. John Hesselius and her Children, John and -Caroline] - -There was one important reason for the unfailing desire of English -folk for the Bible and the employment of its words and terms; -it was not only the sole book with which most English readers -were familiar,--the book which supplied to them sacred hymns and -warlike songs, the great voices of the prophets, the parables of -the Evangelists, stories of peril and adventure, logic, legends, -history, visions,--but it was also a new book. The family of the -seventeenth century that read the words of the small Geneva Bibles -in the home circle, or poorer folk who listened to the outdoor -reading thereof, heard a voice that they had longed for and waited -for and suffered for, and that their fathers had died for, and a -treasure thus acquired is never lightly heeded. The Pilgrim Fathers -left England for Holland before King James' Bible, our Authorized -Version, had been published. The Puritans of the Boston and Salem -settlements had seen the importation of Geneva Bibles forbidden -in England by Laud in 1633, and the reading prohibited at their -meetings. They revelled in it in their new homes, for custom -had not deadened their delight, and they were filled with it; it -satisfied them; they needed no other literature. - -Though Puritanism in its anxious and restricted religionism denied -freedom to childhood, yet the spirit of Puritanism was deeply -observant and conservative of family relations. The meagre records -of domestic life in Puritan households are full of a pure affection, -if not of grace or good cheer. The welfare, if not the pleasure of -their children, lay close to the heart of the Pilgrims. Their love -was seldom expressed, but their rigid sense of duty extended to duty -to be fulfilled as well as exacted. - -Governor Bradford wrote in his now world-famous _Log-book_, in -his lucid and beautiful English, an account of the motives of the -emigration from Holland, and in a few sentences therein he gives one -of the most profound reasons of all, their intense yearning for the -true welfare of their children:-- - - "As necessitie was a taskmaster over them, so they were forced - to be such, not only to their servants but in a sorte, to - their dearest children; the which as it did not a little wound - ye tender harts of many a loving father and mother, so it - produced likewise sundrie sad and sorrowful effects. For many - of theier children, that were of best dispositions and gracious - inclinations, having lernde to bear the yoake in their youth - and willing to beare parte of their parents burden, were often - times so oppressed with their hevie labours, that though their - minds were free and willing yet their bodies bowed under ye - weight of ye same, and became decrepid in their early youth, the - vigor of nature being consumed in ye very budd as it were. But - that which was more lamentable and of all sorrows most heavie to - be borne was that many of their children, were drawne away by - evill examples into extravagant and dangerous coarses, getting - ye raines off their necks, and departing from their parents." - -This country was settled at a time when all English people were -religious. The Puritan child was full of religious thoughts and -exercises, so also was the child of Roman Catholic parents, or one -reared in the Established Church. The diarist Evelyn was a stanch -Church of England man, no lover of Puritan ways, but he could write -thus of his little child:-- - - "As to his piety, astonishing were his applications of Scripture - upon occasion and his sense of God. He had learned all his - Catechism early, and understood all the historical part of the - Bible and New Testament to a wonder, how Christ came to redeem - mankind, and how comprehending those messages himself, his - godfathers were discharged of his promises. - - "He would of himself select the most pathetic psalms and - chapters out of Job, to read to his maid during his sickness, - telling her, when she pitied him, that all God's children must - suffer affliction. He declaimed against the vanities of the - world before he had seen any. Often he would desire those who - came to see him to pray by him, and a year before he fell sick - to kneel and pray with him alone in some corner." - -It was not of a Puritan dame that this was written:-- - - "Her Maids came into her Chamber early every morning, and - ordinarily shee passed about an howr with them; In praying, and - catechizing, and instructing them: To these secret and private - Praiers, the publick Morning and Evening praiers of the Church, - before dinner and supper, and another form, together with - reading Scriptures, and singing Psalms, before bed-time, were - daily and constantly added." - -This zealous Christian was Letice, Lady Falkland, a devoted Church -of England woman; so strict was she that if she missed any from the -religious services, she "presently sent for them and consecrated -another howr of praier there purposely for them." A strenuous -insistence showed itself in all sects in the new world. The -"Articles Lawes and Orders Divine Politique and Martiall for the -colony of Virginea" were unrivalled in their mingling of barbarity -and Christianity by any other code of laws issued in America. No -Puritan dared go farther than did the good Episcopalian Sir Thomas -Dale. For irreverence to "any Preacher or Minister of Gods Holy -Word" the offender was to be whipped three times and thrice to -ask public forgiveness. Any one who persistently refused to be -instructed and catechized could be whipped every day. Rigidly were -all forced to attend the Sunday exercises. - -There is one name which must appear constantly on the pages of any -history of New England of the half century from 1680 to 1728,--that -of Cotton Mather. This reference is due him not only because he -was prominent in the history of those years, but because he is the -preserver of that history for us. From his multitudinous pages--full -though they be of extraordinary religious sentiments, strained -metaphors, and unmistakable slang--we also gain much to show us -the life of his day. The man himself was not only a Puritan of the -Puritans, but the personification of a passionate desire to do good. -This constant thought for others and wish to benefit them frequently -led him to perform deeds which were certainly officious, ill-timed, -and unwelcome, though inspired by noble motives. - -His son Samuel wrote a life of him, which has justly been -characterized by Professor Barrett Wendell as the most colorless -book in the English language; but even from those bleached and dried -pages we learn of Cotton Mather's love of his children, and his -earnest desire for their education and salvation. His son's words -may be given as evidently truthful:-- - - "He began betimes to entertain them with delightful stories, - especially Scriptural ones; and he would ever conclude with - some lesson of piety bidding them to learn that lesson from - the story. Thus every day at the table he used himself to tell - some entertaining tale before he rose; and endeavor to make it - useful to the olive plants about the table. When his children - accidentally at any time came in his way, it was his custom - to let fall some sentence or other that might be monitory or - profitable to them. - - "He betimes tried to engage his children in exercises of piety, - and especially secret prayer.... He would often call upon them, - 'Child, don't you forget every day to go alone and pray as - I have directed you.' He betimes endeavoured to form in his - children a temper of kindness. He would put them upon doing - services and kindnesses for one another and other children. He - would applaud them when he saw them delight in it. He would - upbraid all aversion to it. He would caution them exquisitely - against all revenges of injuries and would instruct them to - return good offices for evil ones.... He would let them discover - he was not satisfied, except when they had a sweetness of temper - shining in them." - -His thought for the young did not cease with those of his own -family; he never failed to instil good lessons everywhere; and a -special habit of his on visiting any town was to beg a holiday for -the school children, asking them to perform some religious task in -return. - -[Illustration: Charlotte and Elizabeth Hesselius] - -Another Puritan preacher, Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, was so laden with the -fruit of the tree of knowledge that "he stoopt for the very children -to pick off the apple ready to drop into their mouths." When they -came to his study, he would examine them, "How they walked with God? -How they spent their time, what good books they read? Whether they -prayed without ceasing?" He wrote to a brother minister in 1657:-- - - "Do your children and family grow more godly? I find greatest - trouble and grief about the rising generation. Young people are - little stirred here; but they strengthen one another in evil by - example and by counsel. Much ado have I with my own family; hard - to get a servant that is glad of catechizing or family duties. - I had a rare blessing of servants in Yorkshire, and those that - I brought over were a blessing, but the young brood doth much - afflict me. Even the children of the godly here, and elsewhere - make a woful proof." - -These ministers lived at a time when New England Puritanism in its -extreme type was coming to a close; but parents and households thus -reared clung more rigidly and exactly to it and instilled in it a -fervent hope of giving permanency to what seemed to their sad eyes -in danger of being wholly thrust aside and lost. Such religionists -were both Cotton Mather and Samuel Sewall, "true New-English -Christians" they called and deemed themselves. They were very gentle -with their children; but a profound anxiety for the welfare of those -young souls made them most cruel in the intensity of their teaching -and warning; especially displeasing to modern modes of thought are -their constant reminders of death. - -When Cotton Mather's little daughter was but four years old he made -this entry in his diary:-- - - "I took my little daughter Katy into my Study and then I told - my child I am to dye Shortly and shee must, when I am Dead, - remember Everything I now said unto her. I sett before her the - sinful Condition of her Nature, and I charged her to pray in - Secret Places every Day. That God for the sake of Jesus Christ - would give her a New Heart. I gave her to understand that when - I am taken from her she must look to meet with more humbling - Afflictions than she does now she has a Tender Father to provide - for her." - -The vanity of all such painful instruction, harrowing to the father -and terrifying to the child, is shown in the sequel. Cotton Mather -did not die till thirty years afterward, and long survived the -tender little blossom that he loved yet blighted with the chill and -dread of death. - -The pages of Judge Sewall's diary sadly prove his performance -of what he believed to be his duty to his children, just as the -entries show the bewilderment and terror of his children under his -teachings. Elizabeth Sewall was the most timid and fearful of them -all; a frightened child, a retiring girl, a vacillating sweetheart, -an unwilling bride, she became the mother of eight children; but -always suffered from morbid introspection, and overwhelming fear -of death and the future life, until at the age of thirty-five her -father sadly wrote, "God has delivered her now from all her fears." - -The process which developed this unhappy nature is plainly shown by -many entries in the diary. This was when she was about five years -old:-- - - "It falls to my daughter Elizabeth's Share to read the 24 of - Isaiah which she doth with many Tears not being very well and - the Contents of the Chapter and Sympathy with her draw Tears - from me also." - -The terrible verses telling of God's judgment on the land, of fear, -of the pit, of the snare, of emptiness and waste, of destruction and -desolation, must have sunk deep into the heart of the sick child, -and produced the condition shown by this entry when she was a few -years older:-- - - "When I came in, past 7 at night, my wife met me in the Entry - and told me Betty had surprised them. I was surprised with the - Abruptness of the Relation. It seems Betty Sewall had given some - signs of dejection and sorrow; but a little while after dinner - she burst into an amazing cry which caus'd all the family to - cry too. Her Mother ask'd the Reason, she gave none; at last - said she was afraid she should go to Hell, her Sins were not - pardon'd. She was first wounded by my reading a sermon of Mr. - Norton's; Text, Ye shall seek me and shall not find me. And - these words in the Sermon, Ye shall seek me and die in your - Sins, ran in her Mind and terrified her greatly. And staying - at home, she read out of Mr. Cotton Mather--Why hath Satan - filled thy Heart? which increas'd her Fear. Her Mother asked her - whether she pray'd. She answered Yes, but fear'd her prayers - were not heard, because her sins were not pardoned." - -Poor little wounded Betty! her fear that she should go to hell -because she, like Spira, was not elected, was answered by her father -who, having led her into this sad state, was but ill-fitted to -comfort her. Both prayed with bitter tears, and he says mournfully, -"I hope God heard us." Hell, Satan, eternal damnation, everlasting -torments, were ever held up before these Puritan children. We could -truthfully paraphrase Wordsworth's beautiful line "Heaven lies about -us in our infancy," and say of these Boston children, "Hell lay -about them in their infancy." The lists in their books of the proper -names in the Bible had an accompanying list--that of names of the -devil. - -A most painfully explicit account of one of the ultra-sensitive -natures developed by these methods is given by Cotton Mather in his -most offensive style in a short religious biography of Nathaniel -Mather. The boy died when he was nineteen years old, but unhappily -he kept a diary of his religious sentiments and fears. He fasted -often and prayed constantly even in his sleep. He wrote out in -detail his covenant with God, and I cannot doubt that he more than -lived up to his promises, as he did to the minute rules he laid out -for his various religious duties. Still this young Christian was -full of self-loathing, horrible conceptions of God, unbounded dread -of death, and all the horrors of a morbid soul. - -A letter written by an older Mather (about 1638), when he was twelve -years old, shows an ancestral tendency to religious fears:-- - - "Though I am thus well in body yet I question whether my soul - doth prosper as my body doth, for I perceive yet to this very - day, little _growth_ in grace; and this makes me question - whether grace be in my heart or no. I feel also daily great - unwillingness to good duties, and the great ruling of sin in my - heart; and that God is angry with me and gives me no answers - to my prayers; but many times he even throws them down as dust - in my face; and he does not grant my continued request for the - _spiritual blessing of the softening of my hard heart_. And in - all this I could yet take some comfort but that it makes me to - wonder what God's _secret decree_ concerning me may be: for I - doubt whether even God is wont to deny grace and mercy to his - chosen (though _uncalled_) when they seek unto him by prayer for - it; and therefore, seeing he doth thus deny it to me, I think - that the reason of it is most like to be because I belong not - unto _the election of grace_. I desire that you would let me - have your prayers as I doubt not but I have them, and rest - - "Your Son, SAMUEL MATHER." - -A strong characteristic of English folk at the time of the -settlement of the American colonies was superstition. This showed -not only in scores of petty observances but in serious beliefs, such -as those about comets and thunder-storms. It controlled medical -practice, and was displayed in the religious significance attributed -to trifling natural events. It was evinced in the dependence on -dreams, and the dread of portents. Naturally children were imbued -with the beliefs and fears of their parents, and multiplied -the importance and the terror of these notions. It can readily be -seen that religious training and thought, such as was shown in the -families of Samuel Sewall and Cotton Mather, joined to hereditary -traits and race superstitions, could naturally produce a condition -of mind and judgment which would permit such an episode as that -known as the Salem Witchcraft. Nor is it anything but natural to -find that those two prominent Bostonians took such important parts -in the progress of that tragedy. - -[Illustration: Charles Spooner Cary, Eight Years Old, 1786] - -It was my intent to devote a chapter of this book to the results -of the study of the part borne by children in that sad tale of -psychological phenomena and religious fanaticism. The study proved -most fascinating, and research was faithfully made; but a stronger -desire was that children might find some pleasure in these pages -in reading of the child life of their forbears. Such a chapter -could neither be profitable to the child nor comprehended by him, -nor would it be to the taste of parents of the present day. It was -a sad tale, but was not peculiar to Salem nor to New England. The -Salem and Boston settlers came largely from the English counties of -Suffolk and Essex, where witches and witch-hunters and witch-finders -abounded, and Salem children and parents had seen in their English -homes or heard the tales of hundreds of similar obsessions and -possessions. - -New England children were instilled with a familiarity with death -in still another way than through talking and reading of it. Their -presence at funerals was universal. A funeral in those days had an -entirely different status as a ceremony from to-day. It was a social -function as well as a solemn one; it was a reunion of friends and -kinsfolk, a ceremonial of much expense and pomp, a scene of much -feasting and drinking. - -Judge Sewall tells of the attendance of his little children when -five and six years old at funerals. When Rev. Thomas Shepherd was -buried "scholars went before the Herse" at the funeral. Sargent, in -his _Dealings with the Dead_, tells of country funerals in the days -of his youth:-- - - "When I was a boy and at an academy in the country everybody - went to everybody's funeral in the village. The population - was small, funerals rare; the preceptor's absence would have - excited remark and the boys were dismissed for the funeral.... - A clergyman told me that when he was settled at Concord, N.H., - he officiated at the funeral of a little boy. The body was borne - in a chaise, and six little nominal pall-bearers, the oldest not - thirteen, walked by the side of the vehicle. Before they left - the house a sort of master of ceremonies took them to the table - and mixed a tumbler of gin, sugar and water for each." - -A crisis was reached in Boston when funerals had to be prohibited -on Sundays because the vast concourse of children and servants that -followed the coffin through the streets became a noisy rabble that -profaned the sacred day. - -Little girls were pall-bearers also at the funerals of their -childish mates, and young unmarried girls at those of their -companions. Dressed in white with uncovered heads, or veiled in -white, these little girls made a touching sight. - -Religious expression naturally found its highest point in Puritan -communities in the strict and decorous observance of Sunday. Stern -were the laws in ordering this observance. Fines, imprisonment, -and stripes on the naked back were dealt out rigorously for -Sabbath-breaking. The New Haven Code of Laws with still greater -severity enjoined that profanation of the Lord's Day, if done -"proudly and with a high hand against the authority of God," should -be punished with death. This rigid observance fell with special -force and restriction on children. A loved poet, Oliver Wendell -Holmes, wrote of the day:-- - - "Hush, 'tis the Sabbath's silence-stricken morn, - No feet must wander through the tasselled corn, - No merry children laugh around the door, - No idle playthings strew the sanded floor. - The law of Moses lays its awful ban - On all that stirs. Here comes the Tithing-man." - -There were many public offices in colonial times which we do not -have to-day, for we do not need them. One of these is that of -tithing-man; he was a town officer, and had several neighboring -families under his charge, usually ten, as the word "tithing" would -signify. He enforced the learning of the church catechism in these -ten homes, visited the houses, and heard the children recite their -catechism. These ten families he watched specially on Sundays to -see whether they attended church, and did not loiter on the way. In -some Massachusetts towns he watched on week days to keep "boys and -all persons from swimming in the water." Ten families with many boys -must have kept him busy on hot August days. He inspected taverns, -reported disorderly persons, and forbade the sale of intoxicating -liquor to them. He administered the "oath of fidelity" to new -citizens, and warned undesirable visitors and wanderers to leave the -town. He could arrest persons who ran or rode at too fast a pace -when going to meeting on Sunday, or who took unnecessary rides on -Sunday, or otherwise broke the Sunday laws. - -Within the meeting-house he kept order by beating out dogs, -correcting unruly and noisy boys, and waking those who slept. He -sometimes walked up and down the church aisles, carrying a stick -which had a knob on one end, and a dangling foxtail on the other, -tapping the boys on the head with the knob end of the stick, and -tickling the face of sleeping church attendants with the foxtail. -Some churches had tithing-men until this century. - -A Puritanical regard of the Sabbath still lingers in our New England -towns. There are many Christian old gentlemen still living of whom -such an anecdote as this of old Deacon Davis of Westborough might be -told. A grandson walked to church with him one Sabbath morning and a -gray squirrel ran across the road. The child, delighted, pointed out -the beautiful little creature to his grandfather. A sharp twist of -the ear was the old Puritan's rejoinder, and the caustic words that -"squirrels were not to be spoken of on the Lord's Day." - -With all the religious restriction, and all the religious -instruction, with the everyday repression of youth and the special -Sabbath-day rigidity of laws, it is somewhat a surprise to the -reader of the original sources of history to find that girls -sometimes laughed, and boys behaved very badly in meeting. The -latter condition would be more surprising to us did we not see -so plainly that the method of "seating the meeting" in colonial -days was not calculated to produce or maintain order. Boys were -not separated from each other into various pews in the company of -their parents as to-day; they were all huddled together in any -undignified or uncomfortable seats. In Salem, in 1676, it was -ordered that all the boys of the town "sitt upon ye three paire of -stairs in ye meeting-house"; and two citizens were deputed to assist -the tithing-man in controlling them and watching them, and if any -proved unruly "to psent their names as the law directs." Sometimes -they were seated on the pulpit stairs, under the eyes of the entire -audience; more frequently in a "boys pue" in a high gallery remote -from all other Christians, the "wretched boys" were set off as -though they were religious lepers. - -In Dorchester the boys could not keep still in meeting; the -selectmen had to appoint some "meet person to inspect the boys in -the meeting house in time of divine service." These guardians had to -tarry at noon and "prevent disorder" then. By 1776 the boys were so -turbulent, the spirit of independence was so rife and riotous, that -six men had to be appointed to keep order, and they had authority to -"give proper discipline" if necessary. - -[Illustration: Margaret Graves Cary, Fourteen Years Old, 1786] - -It is not necessary to multiply examples of the badness of the -boys, nor of the unsophisticated artlessness of their parents. -Scores of old town and church records give ample proof of the traits -of both fathers and sons. These accounts are often as amusing as -they are surprising in their hopelessness. The natural remedy of -the isolation of the inventors of mischief, and separation of -conspirators and quarrellers, did not enter the brains of our -simple old forefathers for over a century. Indeed, these "Devil's -play-houses," as Dr. Porter called them, were not entirely abolished -until fifty years ago. The town of Windsor, Connecticut, suffered -and suffered from "boys pews" until the year 1845. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -RELIGIOUS BOOKS - - Lisping new syllables, we scramble next - Through moral narrative, or sacred text, - And learn with wonder how this world began; - Who made, who marred, and who has ransomed man. - - --Tyrocinium. William Cowper, 1784. - - -It was inevitable, since the colonization of America was in the day -of Puritanism, that the first modern literature known by American -children should be the distinctive literature of that sect and -period. These were religious emblems, controversial treatises, -records of martyrdoms, catechismic dialogues, and a few accounts of -precociously pious infants who had died. Thomas White, a Puritan -minister, wrote thus:-- - - "When thou canst read, read no ballads and romances and foolish - books, but the Bible and the Plaine Man's Pathway to Heaven, - a very plaine holy book for you. Get the Practice of Piety, - Mr. Baxter's call to the Unconverted, Allen's Alarm to the - Unconverted, The Book of Martyrs." - -The two books which he named after the Bible had the distinction of -being the only ones owned by the wife of John Bunyan. The confiding -Puritan child who read _The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven_, under -the promise that it was a "plaine and perfite" book, must have been -sorely disappointed. But if it wasn't plain it was popular. The -twelfth edition is dated 1733. Foxe's _Book of Martyrs_ was found in -many colonial homes, and was eagerly read by many children. Neither -this nor any of the books on the Rev. Mr. White's list were properly -children's books. - -A special book for children was written by a Puritan preacher whose -sayings were very dull in prose, and I am sure must have been more -so in verse. It was called, _Old Mr. Dod's Sayings; composed in -Verse, for the better Help of Memory; and the Delightfulness of -Children reading them, and learning them, whereby they may be the -better ingrafted in their memories and Understanding_. Cotton Mather -also wrote _Good Lessons for Children, in Verse_. - -Doubtless the most popular and most widely read of all children's -books in New England was one whose title-page runs thus: _A Token -for Children, being an Exact Account of the Conversion, Holy and -Exemplary Lives and Joyful Deaths of Several Young Children, by -James Janeway. To which is added A Token for the Children of -New England or Some Examples of Children in whom the Fear of God -was remarkably Budding before they died; in several Parts of New -England. Preserved and Published for the Encouragement of Piety in -other Children._ - -The first portion of this book was written by an English minister -and was as popular in England as in America. The entire book with -the title as given went through many editions both in England -and America, even being reprinted in this century. In spite of -its absolute trustfulness and simplicity of belief, it is a sad -commentary on the spiritual conditions of the times. I will not -give any of the accounts in full, for the expression of religious -thought shown therein is so contrary to the sentiment of to-day that -it would not be pleasing to modern readers. The New England portion -was written by Cotton Mather, and out-Janeways Janeway. Young babes -chide their parents for too infrequent praying, and have ecstasies -of delight when they can pray _ad infinitum_. One child two years -old was able "savingly to understand the mysteries of Redemption"; -another of the same age was "a dear lover of faithful ministers." -One poor little creature had "such extraordinary meltings that his -eyes were red and sore from weeping on his sins." Anne Greenwich, -who died when five years old, "discoursed most astonishingly of -great mysteries"; Daniel Bradley, who had an "Impression and -inquisitiveness of the State of Souls after Death," when three years -old; Elizabeth Butcher, who, "when two and a half years old, as -she lay in the Cradle would ask her self the Question What is my -corrupt Nature? and would answer herself It is empty of Grace, bent -unto Sin, and only to Sin, and that Continually," were among the -distressing examples. - -[Illustration: The Custis Children, 1760, _circa_] - -Jonathan Edwards' _Narratives of Conversions_ contained similar -records of religious precocity. There is a curious double light -in all these narratives: the premature sadness of the children, -who seem as old as original sin, is equalled by the absolute -childishness of the reverend gentlemen, Mr. Janeway, Mr. Mather, Mr. -Edwards, who tell the tales. There were other similar collections -of examples,--one of children in Siberia, others in Silesia, and -another of _Pious Motions and Devout Exercises of Jewish Children -in Berlin_. Siberia was apparently as remote and inaccessible to -Boston in those days as the moon, and the incredulous mind cannot -help wondering who sent and how were sent these accounts to those -trusting Boston ministers. - -Another child's book, by James Janeway, was _The Looking Glass -for Children_. There had been a previous book with nearly the same -title. Janeway's book was certainly popular, perhaps because it was -in verse, and children's poetry was very scanty and rare in those -days. It was reprinted many times, and parts appeared in selections -and compilations until this century. A few lines run thus:-- - - "When by Spectators I behold - What Beauty doth adorn me - Or in a glass when I behold - How sweetly God did form me, - Hath God such comeliness bestowed - And on me made to dwell - What pity such a pretty maid - As I should go to Hell." - -A book of similar title was _Divine Blossoms, a Prospect or Looking -Glass for Youth_. - -The lack of poetry may also account in some degree for the -astonishing popularity of a poem which appeared in 1662, written -by a Puritan preacher named Michael Wigglesworth, and entitled, -_The Day of Doom; or a Poetical description of the Great and Last -Judgement_. This "epic of hell-fire and damnation" was reprinted -again and again, and was sold in such large numbers that it is safe -to assert that every New England household, whose members could -read, was familiar with it. It was printed as a broadside, and -children committed it to memory; teachers extolled it; ministers -quoted it. Its horrible descriptions of hell and the sufferings of -the damned are weakened to the modern mind by the thought of the -presumptuous complacence of the author who would dare to give page -after page of what he conceived the great Judge would say on the Day -of Judgment. But of course no child, certainly no child of Puritan -training, would note either absurdity or impropriety in assigning -such words, and it is sad to think what must have been the climax -of horror with which a sensitive child read God's answer to the -plea for salvation made by "reprobate infants"; the terrible words -running on through many stanzas, and ending thus:-- - - "Will you demand Grace at my hand, - and challenge what is mine? - Will you teach me whom to set free - and thus my Grace confine? - You sinners are, and such a share - as sinners may expect; - Such you shall have; for I do save - none but my own Elect. - - "Yet to compare your sin with their's - who liv'd a longer time, - I do confess yours is much less, - though every sin's a crime. - A Crime it is, therefore in bliss - you may not hope to dwell; - But unto you I shall allow - the easiest room in Hell." - -Thomas White wrote a book for children which certainly comes under -the head of religious books, though its pages held also those -frivolous lines "A was an archer who shot at a frog," etc. This -dreary volume was entitled a _Little Book for Little Children_. It -contained accounts of short-lived and morbid young Christians, much -like those of James Janeway's book. One child of eight wept bitter -and inconsolable tears for his sins. One wicked deed was lying. His -mother asked him whether he were cold. He answered "Yes" instead -of "Forsooth," and afterward doubted whether he really was cold or -not. Another sin was whetting his knife on the Sabbath day. Poor -Nathaniel Mather whittled on the Lord's day--and hid behind the -door while thus sinning. A boy's jack-knife was a powerful force -then as now. This book also had accounts of the Christian martyrs -and their tortures. This was an English book, first reprinted in -Boston in 1702. An edition of _Pilgrim's Progress_ was printed in -Boston in 1681, another in 1706, and an illustrated edition in 1744, -but I doubt that these were the complete book. Many shortened -copies and imitations appeared. One was called _The Christian's -Metamorphosis Unfolded_. Another _The Christian Pilgrim_. Dr. Neale -edited it for children, making, says a modern critic, "a most -impudent book." Bunyan also wrote _Divine Emblems_, which the young -were enjoined to read, and he also "bowed his pen to children" and -wrote _Country Rhimes for Children_. For many years no copy of this -was known to exist, but one was found in America in recent years, -and is now in the British Museum. It is an uncouth mixture of -religious phrases and similes and very crude natural history. - -[Illustration: - -And the serpent [f.]aid unto the woman, Ye [f.]hall not [f.]urely -die. - -GENESIS iii. 4. - -THE - -HOLY BIBLE - -ABRIDGED: - -OR, THE - -HISTORY - -OF THE - -OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. - -Illu[f.]trated with NOTES, and adorned with CUTS, - -For the U[f.]e of CHILDRENS. - -_Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not._ LUKE -xviii. 16. - -THE SECOND _WORCESTER_ EDITION. - -WORCESTER, (MASSACHUSETTS) - -FROM THE PRESS OF THOMAS, SON & THOMAS, AND SOLD AT THEIR BOOKSTORE. -MDCCXCVI. - -The Holy Bible Abridged] - -_Pilgrim's Progress_ was the first light reading of Benjamin -Franklin. Other books of his boyhood were Plutarch's _Lives_, -Defoe's _Essays upon Projects_, Cotton Mather's _Essays to do -Good_, and Burton's _Historical Collections_. Another patriot, at -a later day--Abraham Lincoln--learning little but the primer at -school, read slowly and absorbed into his brain, his heart, and his -everyday speech the Bible, _Pilgrim's Progress_, AEsop's _Fables_ -and Plutarch's _Lives_,--a good education,--to which a _Life of -Washington_ added details of local patriotism. - -[Illustration: Illustration from _Original Poetry for Young Minds_] - -Another book for young people--which might be termed a story-book, -though its lesson was deemed deeply religious--was called, _A -Small Book in Easy Verse Very Suitable for Children, entitled -The Prodigal Daughter or the Disobedient Lady Reclaimed_. It was a -poem of about a hundred stanzas, relating the story of a very wilful -young woman who, on being locked up in her room by her father to -check her extravagance, made a league with the Devil, attempted -to poison her father and mother, dropped dead apparently on her -wickedness being discovered, was carried to the grave, but revived -just as the sexton was about to lower her coffin in the ground. -She recovered, repented, related her experiences with unction, and -lived ever after happy. The title-page bears a picture of the -devil as a fine gentleman wearing his tail as a sword, and having -one high-topped cloven-footed boot. This book enjoyed unbounded -popularity even during the early years of this century. - -It was similar in teaching to a chap-book which was entitled _The -Afflicted Parents, or the Undutiful Child Punished_. In this tale -the daughter gave some very priggish advice to her wicked brother, -who promptly knocks her down and kills her. He is captured, -tried, condemned, sentenced, and at last executed by two pardoned -highwaymen. But upon being cut down he comes to life, pompously -discourses at much length, and then is executed a second time, as a -warning to all disobedient children. - -Death-bed scenes continued to be full of living interest. _The Good -Child's Little Hymnbook_ represents the taste of the times. One poem -is on the death and burial of twins, and thus is doubly interesting. -Another is on "Dying." The child asks whether he is going to die -and "look white and awful and be put in the pithole with other dead -people." And yet the preface runs:-- - - "Mamma See what a Pretty Book - At Day's Pappa has bought, - That I may at the pictures look - And by the words be taught." - -After a time some attempts were made to render the Bible in a form -specially for children's reading. There was a rhymed adaptation -called the _Bible in Verse._ This was not the Bible versification of -Samuel Wesley, printed in 1717, of which he says condescendingly, -"Some passages here represented are so barren of Circumstances -that it was not easy to make them shine in Verse." Older hands had -essayed to rhyme the Bible; one was called _A Briefe Somme of the -Bible_. - -These Bible abridgments were literally little books, usually three -or four inches long, covered with brown or mottled paper. One tiny, -well-worn book of Bible stories was but two inches long and an inch -wide. It had two hundred and fifty pages, each of about twenty words. - -There was also the famous _Thumb Bible_ printed by the Boston book -printers, Mein and Fleming. A copy of this may be seen at the Lenox -Library in New York City. _The Hieroglyphick Bible with Emblematick -Figures_ was illustrated with five hundred tiny pictures set with -the print, which helped to tell the story after the manner of an -illustrated rebus. Bewick made the cuts for the English edition. -Tiny catechisms were widely printed and sought after, and used as -gifts to good and godly children. There were also dull little books -of parables, modelled on the parables of the Bible. Those were -profoundly religious, but were so darkly and figuratively expressed -as to be frequently entirely incomprehensible; and they fully -realized the definition of a parable given by a child I know--"a -heavenly story with no earthly meaning." - -[Illustration: Page of Hieroglyphick Bible] - -An extremely curious and antiquated religious panada was entitled -the _History of the Holy Jesus_. The seventh edition was printed -in New London in 1754. The illustrations in this stupid little -book were more surprising than the miserable text. No attempt was -made to represent Oriental scenery. The picture of an earthquake -showed a group of toy houses and a substantial church of the type -of the Old South in perfect condition, tipped over and leaning -solidly on each other. The Prodigal Son returned to an English -manor-house with latticed windows, and the women wore high commodes -and hoop-skirts. In the cut intended to represent to the inquiring -young Christian in New England the Adoration of the Magi, the wise -men of the East appear in the guise of prosperous British merchants; -in cocked hats, knee breeches, and full-skirted coats with great -flapped pockets, they look wisely at the star-spotted heavens, and -a mammoth and extremely conventionalized comet through British -telescopes mounted on tripods. The Slaughter of the Innocents must -have seemed painfully close at hand when Yankee children looked at -the trim military platoons of English-clad infants, each waving an -English flag; while Herod, in a modern uniform, on a horse with -modern trappings, charged upon them. Perhaps some of the fathers and -mothers born in England and in the Church of England had a still -more vivid realization of Herod's crime, for it was the custom in -some English parishes at one time to whip all the children on Holy -Innocent's Day. As Gregory said:-- - - "It hath been a custom to whip up the children upon Innocent's - Day morning, that the memorie of this murther might stick the - closer; and in a moderate proportion to act over the crueltie - again in kind." - -The book was in rhyme. Here are a few of the verses:-- - - "The Wise Men from the East do come - Led by a Shining Star. - And offer to the new born King - Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh. - Which Herod hears & wrathful Grows - And now by Heavn's Decree - Joseph and Mary and her Son - Do into AEgypt flee. - The Bloody Wretch enrag'd to think - Christ's Death he could not gain, - Commands that Infants all about - Bethlehem should be slain. - But O! to hear the awful cries - Of Mothers in Distress, - And Rachel mourns for her first-born - Snatch'd from her tender Breast." - -_The History of the Holy Jesus_ was told by Rev. Mr. Instructwell -to Master Learnwell. The book contained also the _Child's Body of -Divinity_, and some of Dr. Watts' hymns. These _Divine Songs for -Children_ appear in many forms. The _Cradle Hymn_ is the one most -frequently seen, and I recently have heard it extolled as "a perfect -lullaby for a child." A curious study it is, showing how absolutely -traditional religious conception could usurp the mind and obscure -the impulses of the heart. Its sweet and tender lines, which begin-- - - "Hush my dear, lie still and slumber. - Holy angels guard thy bed," - -are soon contrasted with the vehement words which tell of the lot -of the infant Jesus; and at the mother's passionate expressions of -"brutal creatures," "cursed sinners," that "affront their Lord," the -child apparently cries, for the mother sings:-- - - "Soft, my child, I did not chide thee, - Though my song may sound too hard." - -In the next stanza, however, theological venom again finds vent to -the poor wondering baby:-- - - "Yet to read the shameful story - How the Jews abused their King-- - How they served the Lord of Glory, - Makes me angry while I sing." - -This certainly seems an ill-phrased and exciting lullaby, but is -perhaps what might be expected as the notion of a soothing cradle -hymn from a bigoted old bachelor. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -STORY AND PICTURE BOOKS - - _If we are to consider that the condition of the human mind at - any particular juncture is worth studying, it is certainly of - importance to know on what food its infancy is fed. - - --The Book Hunter. John Hill Burton, 1863._ - - -Locke says in his _Thoughts on Education_ that "the only book -I know of fit for children is AEsop's 'Fables' and 'Reynard the -Fox.'" By this he means the only story-books. A chap-book, a cheap, -ill-printed edition of AEsop's _Fables_, was read in New England, but -I have found nothing to indicate that these fables were specially -printed or bought for children, or that children were familiar with -them. - -There seem to have been absolutely no books for the special delight -of young men and maids in the first years in the new world, no -romances or tales of adventure; nor were there any in England. One -Richard Codrington, a Puritan, and a tiresome old bore, wrote a book -"For the Instructing of the Younger Sort of Maids and Boarders at -Schools." It is about as void of instruction as a book well could -be; and this is his pleasant notion of a "girl's own book":-- - - "To entertain young Gentlewomen in their hours of Recreation - we shall commend unto them God's Revenge against Murther and - Artemidorous his Interpretation of Dreams." - -It isn't hard to guess which one of these two was "taken out" most -frequently from the school library. Speculation about dreams was one -of the few existing outlets to youthful imagination, and many happy -hours were spent in elaborate interpretations. Thus tired Nature's -sweet restorer, balmy Sleep, supplied the element of romance which -the dull waking hours denied, and made life worth living. - -Though no great books were written for children during all these -years, three of the great books of the world, written with deep -purpose, for grown readers, were calmly appropriated by children -with a promptness that would seem to prove the truth of the -assertion that children are the most unerring critics of a story. -These books were _Pilgrim's Progress_, first published in 1688; -_Robinson Crusoe_, in 1714; and _Gulliver's Travels_, in 1726. The -religious, political, and satirical purposes of these books have -been wholly obscured by their warm adoption as stories. They have -been loved by hundreds of thousands of English-reading children, -and translated into many other languages. Hundreds of other books, -chiefly for children, have been written, that have been inspired by -or modelled on these books--thus the debt of children to them is -multiplied. - -[Illustration: MERRY TALES. OF THE Wi[f.]e Men of GOTHAM. - -Printed and Sold in London. - -Title-page of _Merry Tales_] - -The history of children's story-books in both England and America -begins with the life of John Newbery, the English publisher, who -settled in London in 1744. His life and his work have been told at -length by Mr. Charles Welsh in the book entitled _A Book Seller -of the Last Century_. Newbery was the first English bookseller -who made any extended attempt to publish books especially for -children's reading. The text of these books was written by himself, -and by various English authors, among them no less a genius than -Oliver Goldsmith. His books were promptly exported to America, -where they were doubtless as eagerly welcomed as in England. The -meagre advertisements of colonial newspapers contain his lists. -During Newbery's active career as a publisher--and activity was his -distinguishing characteristic--he published over two hundred books -for children. One of the earliest was announced in 1744 as "a pretty -little pocket book." It contained the story of Jack the Giant Killer. - -[Illustration: TALE III. - -[Illustration two men with a cuckoo] - -On a time the men of Gotham fain would have pinned the cuckoo, that -[f.]he might [f.]ing all the year, all in the mid[f.]t of the town -they had a hedge made in a round compa[f.]s, and got a cuckoo, -and put her into it, and [f.]aid, Sing here and you [f.]hall lack -neither meat nor drink all the year. The Cuckoo when [f.]he [f.]ee -her[f.]elf encompa[f.][f]ed within the hedge, flew away. A vengeance -on her [f.]aid the Wi[f.]e Men, we made not the hedge high enough. - -Page of _Merry Tales of Wise Men of Gotham_] - -An amusing, albeit thrifty, intermezzo of all children's books was -the publisher's persistent advertisement of his other juvenile -literary wares. If a generous godfather is introduced, he is at -once importuned to buy another of good Mr. Newbery the printer's -books. When Tommy Truelove is to have his reward of virtue and -industry, he implores that it may be a little book sold at the Book -Shop over against Aldermary Churchyard, Bow Lane. If a kind mamma -sets out to "learn Jenny June to read," she does it with one of -Marshall's "Universal Battledores, so beloved of young masters and -misses." The old-time reader was never permitted to forget for over -a page that the good, kind, thoughtful gentleman who printed this -book had plenty of others to sell. - -Newbery was the most ingenious of these advertisers. This is an -example of one of his newspaper eye-catchers printed in 1755:-- - - "This day was published Nurse Truelove's New Years Gift or the - book of books for children, adorned with cuts, and designed as - a present for every little boy who would become a great man, - and ride upon a fine horse; and to every little girl who would - become a great woman and ride in a lord-mayor's gilt coach. - Printed for the author who has ordered these books to be given - gratis to all boys and girls, at the Bible and Sun in St. Paul's - Churchyard, they paying for the binding which is only twopence - for each book." - -Other books were sold "with a Ball and Pincushion, the use of which -will infallibly make Tommy a good boy, and Polly a good girl." The -juvenile characters in the books are always turning aside to read or -buy some one of Mr. Newbery's little books; or pulling one of Mr. -Newbery's "nice gilded library" out of their pockets, or taking Dr. -James' Fever Powder, which was also one of Mr. Newbery's popular -specialities. - -The Revolutionary patriot and printer, Isaiah Thomas, was said to -be very "ingenious in spirit." I do not know the exact significance -of this term unless it means that he was a wide-awake publisher, -which he certainly was. He was a bright, stirring man of quick wit -and active intelligence in all things. He brought out just after -the Revolution many little books for children. Few of them have -any pretence of originality, even in a single page. Nearly all are -wholesale reprints of various English books for children, chiefly -those of John Newbery. - -I don't know what made Thomas so ready to catch up the reprinting -of these children's books in advance of other American printers. -Perhaps his attention was led to it by the fact that his "Prentice's -Token," or specimen of his work when he was a printer's 'prentice, -was one of those little books. It was issued in 1761 by A. Barclay -in Cornhill, Boston, and a copy now in the possession of the -American Antiquarian Society at Worcester, Massachusetts, is -indorsed in Thomas' own handwriting as being by his 'prentice hand. -The book is entitled, _Tom Thumbs Play Book. To Teach Children their -letters as soon as they can speak_. It contains the old rhyme, -"A, Apple pye, B, bit it, C, cut it," etc. Then came the rhymes -beginning, "A, was an Archer and shot at a frog;" also a short -catechism. - -Isaiah Thomas lived in Worcester, printed these books there, and -founded there the American Antiquarian Society; in the library of -that society now in that city may be seen copies of nearly all these -children's books which he reprinted; and a collection of pretty, -quaint little volumes they are. - -It is the universal decision of the special students of juvenile -literature, that Goldsmith wrote _Goody Two Shoes_. Washington -Irving thought the title-page plainly "bore the stamp of the sly and -playful humour" of the author of the _Vicar of Wakefield_. It reads -thus:-- - - "The History of Little Goody Two Shoes, otherwise called Mrs. - Margery Two Shoes, with the means by which she acquired her - Learning and Wisdom, and in consequence thereof, her Estate; set - forth at large for the Benefit of those - - "Who from a state of Rags and Care - And having Shoes but half a pair, - Their fortune and their fame would fix - And gallop in a Coach and Six. - -[Illustration: _The Renowned history of GOODY TWOSHOES."_ - -your rooks do. You [f.]ee they are going to re[f.]t already. - -Illustration: Two people in front of a building. - -Do you so likewi[f.]e, and get up with them in the morning; earn, -as they do, every day what you eat, and eat and drink no more than -you earn, and you'll get health and keep it. What [f.]hould induce -the rooks to frequent gentlemen's hou[f.]es only, but to tell them -how to lead a prudent life? They never build over cottages or farm -hou[f.]es, becau[f.]e they [f.]ee, that the[f.]e people know how to -live without their admonition. - - _Thus health and wit you may improve, - Taught by the tenants of the grove._ - -The gentleman laughing gave Margery [f.]ixpence, and told her [f.]he -was a [f.]ensible hu[f.][f]ey. - - -CHAP. VI. - -_How the whole Pari[f.]h was frightened._ - - -Who does not know Lady Ducklington, or who does not know that [f.]he -was buried at this pari[f.]h church? - - Well, - -_The Renowned History of Goody Two Shoes_] - - "See the original manuscript in the Vatican at Rome, and the - Cuts by Michael Angelo. Illustrated by the Comments of our great - modern Critics. Price Sixpence." - -Copies of _Goody Two Shoes_ are seldom seen for sale to-day, and -many copies are expurgated. The following quaint chapter is the one -chosen for excision, because our children must never hear the word -ghost. - - "HOW THE WHOLE PARISH WAS FRIGHTENED - - "Who does not know Lady Ducklington, or who does not know that - she was buried at this parish church? - - "Well, I never saw so grand a funeral in all my life; but the - money they squandered away would have been better laid out in - little books for children, or in meat, drink, and clothes for - the poor. This is a fine hearse indeed, and the nodding plumes - on the horses look very grand; but what end does that answer, - otherwise than to display the pride of the living, or the vanity - of the dead. Fie upon such folly, say I, and heaven grant that - those who want more sense may have it. - - "But all the country round came to see the burying, and it was - late before the corpse was interred. After which, in the night, - or rather about four o'clock in the morning, the bells were - heard to jingle in the steeple, which frightened the people - prodigiously, who all thought it was Lady Ducklington's ghost - dancing among the bell ropes. The people flocked to Will - Dobbins, the Clerk, and wanted him to go and see what it was; - but William said he was sure it was a ghost, and that he would - not offer to open the door. At length Mr. Long, the rector, - hearing such an uproar in the village, went to the clerk to know - why he did not go into the church and see who was there. I go, - says William, why the ghost would frighten me out of my wits. - Mrs. Dobbins, too, cried, and laying hold on her husband said - he should not be eat up by the ghost. A ghost, you blockheads, - says Mr. Long in a pet, did either of you ever see a ghost, - or know anybody that did? Yes, says the clerk, my father did - once in the shape of a windmill, and it walked all round the - church in a white sheet, with jack boots on, and had a gun by - its side instead of a sword. A fine picture of a ghost truly, - says Mr. Long, give me the key of the church, you monkey; for - I tell you there is no such thing now, whatever may have been - formerly. Then taking the key he went to the church, all the - people following him. As soon as he opened the door what sort of - a ghost do you think appeared? Why little Twoshoes, who being - weary, had fallen asleep in one of the pews during the funeral - service and was shut in all night. She immediately asked Mr. - Long's pardon for the trouble she had given him, told him she - had been locked into the church, and said she should not have - rung the bells, but that she was very cold, and hearing Farmer - Boult's man go whistling by with his horses, she was in hopes he - would have went to the Clerk for the key to let her out." - -It would seem that even an advanced pedagogist and child culturist -might forgive this delightful ghost--like a windmill with jack-boots -and a gun, just as a modern grammarian must forgive the verb "would -have went" from little Two Shoes, who, as Mr. Charles Welsh says, -"really ought to have known better." - -The first Worcester edition of _Goody Two Shoes_ was printed in -1787, with some alterations suited to time and place. Margery sings -"the Cuzzes Chorus which may be found in the Pretty Little Pocket -Book of Mr. Thomas," etc., and when she grows up she is made a -teacher in Mrs. Williams' "College," which is described in Nurse -Truelove's American books. - -It will doubtless be a surprise to many that _Tommy Trip's History -of Beasts and Birds_, etc., was written by Goldsmith. This little -book opens with an account of Tommy and his dog Jowler, who serves -Tommy for a horse. - - "When Tommy has a mind to ride, he pulls a little bridle out of - his pocket, whips it upon honest Jowler, and away he gallops - tantwivy. As he rides through the town he frequently stops at - the doors to know how the good children do within, and if they - are good and learn their books, he then leaves an apple, an - orange or a plumb-cake at the door, and away he gallops again - tantwivy tantwivy." - -As a specimen of Tommy's literary skill he gives the lines -beginning:-- - - "Three children sliding on the ice - Upon a summer's day," etc. - -The description of animals are such as would be expected from -the author of _Animated Nature_, an amusing medley of truth and -tradition. - -[Illustration: A NEW - -LOTTERY BOOK, - -ON - -_A Plan Entirely New_; - -Designed to allure _Little Ones_ into a Knowledge of their Letters, -&c. by way of Diversion. - -BY TOMMY TRIP, - -_A Lover of Children_. - -_EDINBURGH_ - -_Printed and Sold Wholesale_, - -BY CAW AND ELDER, HIGH STREET. - -1819 - -_Price Twopence._ - -Title-page of _A New Lottery Book_] - -The name Tommy Trip seems to have been deemed a taking one in -juvenile literature, and is found in many books for children, both -in the titles and as the name of ascribed author. It was used until -this century. The title-page of _A New Lottery Book by Tommy Trip_ -is here shown. The manner of using this little _Lottery Book_ is -thus explained:-- - - "As soon as the child can speak let him stick a pin through - the page by the side of the letter you wish to teach him. Turn - the page every time and explain the letter by which means the - child's mind will be so fixed upon the letter that he will get a - perfect idea of it, and will not be liable to mistake it for any - other. Then show him the picture opposite the letter and make - him read the name of." - -The antique mind seems to have found even in Biblical days a vast -satisfaction in riddles. Quintilian said the making and study of -riddles strengthened the reflective faculties. - -Old-time jest-books called _Guess Books_ were deemed proper reading -for children, such as _Joe Miller's_ and _Merry Tales of the Wise -Men of Gotham_; very stale and dull were the jests. The _Puzzling -Cap_ was a popular one; also _The Sphinx or Allegorical Lozenges_. -Others were _Guess Again_, and one entitled _Food for the Mind_, -which bore these lines on the title-page:-- - - "Who Riddles Tells and Many Tales, - O'er Nutbrown Cakes and Mugs of Ale." - - --HOMER. - -Nurse Truelove was a popular character in these books, and a popular -story was _Nurse True Love's New Year Gift, designed as a present to -every little Boy who would become a great Man, and ride upon a fine -Horse, and to every little Girl who would become a fine Woman and -ride in a Governour's Coach; But Turn over the Leaf and see More of -the Matter_. This was originally an English book, one of Newbery's, -as shown by his advertisement already quoted. Thomas Americanized -the Lord Mayor's coach into a Governor's coach, but he carried out -to the fullest extent the English publishers' mode of advertising. -The sub-title of the book was _History of Mistress Williams, and her -Plumb Cake; With a Word or Two Concerning Precedency and Trade_. - -[Illustration: - -24 _A New Lottery Book._ - -Ii _Ii_ - -Jj _Jj_ - -IX Jay. 9 - -Kk _Kk_ - -X Key. 10 - -25 - -J Was a Jay, that prattles and toys, - -K Was a Key, that lock'd up bad boys. - -Two Pages of _A New Lottery Book_] - - "Mrs. Williams when I first became acquainted with her was a - Widow Gentlewoman who kept a little College in a Country Town - for the Instruction of Young Gentlemen and Ladies in the - Science of A, B, C. The Books she put into the hands of her - Pupils were, 1st, The Christmas Box. 2nd, The Father's Gift. - 3rd, Mr. Perry's Excellent Spelling Book. 4th, The Brother's - Gift. 5th, The Sister's Gift. 6th, The Infant Tutor. 7th, The - Pretty Little Pocket Book. 8th, The Pretty Plaything. 9th, - Tommy Trip's History of Birds and Beasts. And when their minds - were so enlarged as to be capable of other entertainments she - recommended to Them the Lilliputian Magazine and other Books - that are sold by Mr. Isaiah Thomas at his Book Store near the - Court House in Worcester, &c., &c." - -It will be noted that the word college is employed in its old-time -meaning of school; but I am not sure that Thomas used it innocently. -For in the following pages the text compares Mrs. Williams to -"any other old Lady in the European Universities." _The Christmas -Box_ referred to has a decided American flavor. It was printed -in 1789 and is entitled _Nurse True Love's Christmas Box or a -Golden Plaything for Children_. It gives the history of one Master -Friendly, and is specially forced in style. Here are two sentences:-- - - "He learned so fast, Dear me! it did my heart good to hear him - talk and read. Why! he got all the little books by rote that are - sold by Mr. Thomas in Worcester, when he was but a very little - boy. Then he never missed church. Ah! he was a charming boy. - - "He is chosen Congressman already and yet he is not puffed - up. Well, I saw him seated in a Chair when he was chosen - Congressman, and he looked--he looked--I do not know what he - looked like, but everybody was in love with him." - -[Illustration: _He! He! He!_ - -Frontispiece of _Be Merry and Wise_] - -This latter sentence is accompanied by a cut of Congressman -Friendly, imbecile in countenance, seated in a chair fixed on -two handles, and borne aloft by four footmen in full livery. This -picture had evidently seen service as "a chairing" in some English -book. When we think what the Congressmen of that day were,--earnest, -simple-hearted patriots, and that Thomas knew them well,--it seems -strange that he could have given such stuff to American children. On -the inside of the cover are printed these lines:-- - - "Come hither, little Lady fair, - And you shall ride & take the Air. - But first of all pray let me know - If you can say your criss-cross row. - For none should e'er in coaches be, - Unless they know their A, B, C." - -It may interest children to read a short story from one of these -little volumes to see the sort of thing children had to amuse them a -hundred years ago. This is from a book called _The Father's Gift, or -How to be Wise and Happy_. - - "There were two little Boys and Girls, the Children of a fine - Lady and Gentleman who loved them dearly. They were all so good - and loved one another so well that every Body who saw them - talked of them with Admiration far and near. They would part - with any Thing to each other, loved the Poor, spoke kindly to - Servants, did every Thing they were bid to do, were not proud, - knew no Strife, but who should learn their Books best, and be - the prettiest Scholar. The Servants loved them, and would do any - Thing they desired. They were not proud of fine Clothes, their - Heads never ran on their Playthings when they should mind their - Books. They said Grace before they ate, and Prayer before going - to bed and as soon as they rose. They were always clean and - neat, would not tell a Fib for the World, and were above doing - any Thing that required one. God blessed them more and more, and - their Papa, Mama, Uncles, Aunts and Cousins for their Sakes. - They were a happy Family, no one idle; all prettily employed, - the little Masters at their Books, the little Misses at their - Needles. At their Play hours they were never noisy, mischievous - or quarrelsome. No such word was ever heard from their Mouths - as "Why mayn't I have this or that as well as Betty or Bobby." - Or "Why should Sally have this or that any more than I;" but it - was always "as Mama pleases, she knows best," with a Bow and a - Smile, without Surliness to be seen on their Brow. They grew - up, the Masters became fine Scholars and fine Gentlemen and - were honoured; the Misses fine Ladies and fine Housewives. This - Gentleman sought to Marry one of the Misses, and that Gentleman - the Other. Happy was he that could be admitted into their - Company. They had nothing to do but to pick and choose the best - Matches in the Country, while the greatest Ladies for Birth and - most remarkable for Virtue thought themselves honoured by the - Addresses of the two Brothers. They all married and made good - Papas and Mamas, and so the blessing goes round." - -_The Brother's Gift, or the Naughty Girl Reformed_, of which the -third Worcester edition was printed in 1791, bore these lines as a -motto:-- - - "Ye Misses, Shun the Coxcomb of the Mall, - The Masquerade, the Rout, the Midnight Ball; - In lieu of these more useful arts pursue, - And as you're fair, be wise and virtuous too." - -Though useful arts were inculcated by this book, the reward of -virtue to the reformed girl was a fine new pair of stays, which are -duly pictured. - -Another of Newbery's beloved books was _The History of Tommy -Careless, or the Misfortunes of a Week_. On Monday Tommy fell in the -water, spoiled his coat, and was sent to bed. On Tuesday he lost his -kite and ended the day in bed. On Wednesday he fell from the apple -tree, and again was put in bed. Thursday the maid gave him two old -pewter spoons; he made some dump-moulds, and in casting his dumps -scalded his fingers, and as ever was put in retirement. On Friday he -killed the canary bird--and to bed again. On Saturday he managed to -incite Dobbin to kick the house dog and kill him; then he caught his -own fingers in a trap, and ended the week in bed as he began it. - -[Illustration: - - Be MERRY and WISE; - OR, THE - CREAM of the JESTS - AND THE - MARROW of MAXIMS - For the Conduct of LIFE. - - _Publi[f.]hed for the U[f.]e of all good Little_ - BOYS _and_ GIRLS. - - By TOMMY TRAPWIT, E[f.]q. - - ADORNED with CUTS. - - _Would you be agreeable in Company, and u[f.]eful - to Society; carry [f.]ome merry Je[f.]ts in your - Mind, and hone[f.]t Maxims in your Heart._ - - GROTIUS. - - THE FIRST _WORCESTER_ EDITION. - - WORCESTER, (MASSACHUSETTS) - PRINTED BY ISAIAH THOMAS, - AND SOLD AT HIS BOOK STORE. - MDCCLXXXVI. - - Title-page of _Be Merry and Wise_] - -When we think of the vast number of these books, it seems strange -that so few have survived. The penny books were too valueless to be -saved. Sometimes we find one among abandoned or discarded piles or -bundles of books. It has been the fate, however, of most children's -books to be destroyed by children. With coarse, time-browned paper, -poor type, and torn, worn leaves, they are not very attractive. Open -one at random. Ten to one you have before you the page upon which -centres the interest of the book, its climax, its adventure, or its -high wit. That page was a favorite. Many times you will find crude -attempts at amateur coloring of the prints. - -In these books is found an entirely different code from that -inculcated by modern books or taught by earlier books. The first -books for children simply exhorted goodness, giving no reasons, but -commanding obedience and virtue. The books of the Puritan epoch -taught children to be good for fear of hell. This succeeding school -instructed them to be good because it was profitable. All the -advice is frankly politic; much is of mercenary mould. Children are -instructed to do aright, not because they should, but because they -will benefit thereby--and profit is given the most worldly guise, -such as riding in a coach, having a purse full of gold, wearing -silks and satins, becoming Lord Mayor, or most exalted station of -all, "a proud Sheriff." As chief officer of the Crown, the old-time -sheriff of each English county was superior in rank to every -nobleman in the county. The diarist Evelyn tells that his father -when sheriff had a hundred and fifty servants in livery, and many -gentleman attendants. Punishment, the abhorrence of parents, and -evil results fall upon children not so fiercely for lying, stealing, -treachery, or cruelty as they do for soiling their clothes, falling -into the water, tumbling off walls, breaking windows or china, and -a score of other actions which are the result of carelessness, -clumsiness, or indifference, rather than of viciousness. These books -would educate (had they been forcible enough to be of profound -influence) generations of trucklers, time servers, and money lovers. -The natural inclination and the diversity of inclination of children -made them rise above these instructions. - -[Illustration: - - COBWEBS TO CATCH FLIES 52 - -In another part of the fair the boys [f.]aw [f.]ome children -to[f.][f]ed about thus. - -They were [f.]inging merrily the old nur[f.]e's ditty. - - "Now we go up, up, up, - "Now we go down, down, down; - "Now we go backward and forward, - "Now we go round, round, round." - -Page from _Cobwebs to Catch Flies_] - -It was the constant effort of the artists, authors, and teachers -of olden times to imbue youth with the notion that no harm could -possibly come to the good--unless early death could be counted -an evil. Children were taught that virtue and each good action -was ever, immediately, and conspicuously rewarded. The pictures -repeated and emphasized the didactic teachings; and morality, -industry, and good intentions were made to triumph over things -animate and inanimate. That the old illustrations were a delight -to children cannot be doubted; they were so easily comprehended. -The bad boys of the story always bore a miserable countenance and -figure, and the good boys were smugly prosperous. The prim girls are -shown the beloved of all, and the tomboys equally the misery and -embarrassment. All this is lacking in modern picture books, which -so truly represent real life and things that the naughty boy is not -blazoned at first glance as a different being from the pious delight. - -I am inclined to believe that the old-time grotesqueness was more -amusing and impressive to children than modern realism; that -there was a stronger association of ideas with the emphasis of -disproportion; the absurdities and anachronisms of scenery and -costume were unnoted by the juvenile reader because he knew no -better. - -In the children's books which I have examined, the colored -illustrations are all of dates later than 1800 (when dated at -all). Mr. Andrew W. Tuer, in the preface to his most interesting -collection entitled _Pages and Pictures from Forgotten Children's -Books_, says that the coloring was done by children in their teens -who worked with great celerity. Each child had a single pan of -water-color, a brush, a properly colored guide, and a pile of -printed sheets. One child painted in all the red required by the -copy, another the green, another the blue, and so on till the -coloring was finished. - -[Illustration: "William and Amelia," from _The Looking Glass for the -Mind_] - -There was one book which children loved, that every little child -loves to-day--_Mother Goose's Melodies_. Attempts have been made -to show that the name and collection were both American; that the -former referred to one Mrs. Goose or Vergoose, a Boston goodwife. -The name Mother Goose is believed by most folk to be of French, not -of English or American origin. A collection of nursery rhymes was -printed for John Newbery about 1760, under the popular name _Mother -Goose's Melodies_; about 1785 Isaiah Thomas issued at Worcester, -Massachusetts, an edition of _Mother Goose's Melodies_ with the -songs from Shakespeare, and certainly this must have been an oasis -in the desert of dull books for New England children. - -There is no pretence in this edition of Thomas' that the book had -any American origin; it is said to be a collection of rhymes by -"old British nurses"; and such it really was. Halliwell says many -of these nursery rhymes are fragments of old ballads. Mr. Whitmore -deems the great popularity of "Mother Goose" due to the Boston -editions issued in large numbers from 1824 to 1860. - -The preface to the Worcester edition of 1785 _circa_ is said to be -written by a very great writer of very little books. Could this have -been Oliver Goldsmith? Irving, in his _Life of Goldsmith_, refers -to the poet's love of catches and simple melodies, and tells of his -singing "his favorite song about An old woman tossed in a blanket -seventeen times as high as the moon." A Miss Hawkins boasted late in -life that Goldsmith taught her to play Jack and Jill with bits of -paper on his fingers just as we show the trick to children to-day. -Included in these melodies are the verses "Three children sliding -on the ice," which we know were written by Goldsmith. Here is an -example of one of the melodies and its note:-- - - "Trip upon Trenchers - Dance upon Dishes - My mother sent me for some Barm, some Barm. - She bade me tread Lightly - And leave again Quickly, - For fear the Young Men should do me some Harm. - Yet! don't you see? - What naughty tricks they put upon me! - They broke my Pitcher - And spilt my Water - And huffed my Mother - And chid her Daughter, - And kiss'd my Sister instead of me. - - "What a Succession of Misfortunes befell this poor Girl? But the - last Circumstance was the most affecting and might have proved - fatal." - - --WINSLOW'S _View of Britain_. - - According to the notion of humor of the day, - the notion of Goldsmith, or some other book-hack-wag, - these notes were all ascribed as quotations from - some profound author, just as the cuts in _Goody - Two Shoes_ were said to be by Michael Angelo, and - the text from the Vatican. Thus after the rhymes, - "See-saw, Margery Daw," etc., is the sober comment, - "It is a mean and Scandalous Practice in - an author to put Notes to a Thing that deserves - no Notice. Grotius." After the "Three Wise - Men of Gotham," which ends with the lines-- - - "If the bowl had been stronger - My tale had been longer," - -is the sententious note "It's long enough. Never lament the Loss of -what is not worth having. Boyle." Puffendorf, Coke on Littleton, -Pliny, Bentley on the _Sublime and Beautiful_, Mapes' _Geography of -the Mind_, are other authors and books that are soberly cited. - -[Illustration: "Caroline, or a Lesson to Cure Vanity," from _The -Looking Glass for the Mind_] - -A very priggish little book was entitled _Cobwebs to Catch Flies_. -The tone of its text may be shown in the dialogue about "The Toss -About." The brothers who attended a country fair had been forbidden -by their mother to ride in the Merry-go-round. Dear Ned wished -to try the fun. Dear James said with propriety, "Dear Ned, I am -sure our mamma would object to our riding in this Toss-about." Ned -answered, "Dear James, did you ever hear her name the Toss-about?" -"No, dear Ned, but I am certain that if she had known of it -she would have given us the same caution as she did about the -Merry-go-round." Ned paused a moment, then said, "How happy am I to -have an elder brother who is so prudent." Whereupon James replied, -"I am no less happy that you are so willing to be advised," etc. - -A distinctly American book for children was printed in Philadelphia -in 1793, a _History of the Revolution_. It was in Biblical -phraseology. This sort of writing had been made popular by Franklin -in his famous _Parable against Persecution_ which he wrote, -committed to memory, and pretended to read as the last chapter in -Genesis. - -[Illustration: "Sir John Denham and his Worthy Tenant," from _The -Looking Glass for the Mind_] - -Exceeding plainness and even coarseness of speech was presented in -the pages of these old-time story-books. It was simply the speech -of the times shown in the plays, tales, and essays of the day, and -reflected to some degree even in the literature for children. As -an example of what was deemed wit may be given a portion of the -prologue to "Who Killed Cock Robin." The book is entitled _Death -and Burial of Cock Robin_. - - "We were all enjoying ourselves very agreeably after dinner, - when on a sudden, Sir Peter's Lady gave so loud a sneeze as - threw the whole company into disorder. Master Danvers instead - of cracking a nut gave his fingers a tolerable squeeze in the - nut-crackers. Miss Friendly who had carried with intent to put - a fine cherry in her mouth missed the mark and bit her finger. - Sir Peter himself, who was filling a glass of wine, spilled - the bottle on the table. Miss Comely and Miss Danvers who were - talking with each other with their heads very close to each - other very politely knocked them together to see which was the - hardest. I myself had twelve of my ten toes handsomely trod on - by one of the young ladies jumping off a chair in a fright. But - this is not all, no nor half what I was an eye witness of; for - just at the time her Ladyship sneezed, I was busy contemplating - the beauty and song of Miss Prudence's Cock Robin that was - singing and as noisy as a grig when my Lady sneezed which so - frightened him he fell to the bottom of the Cage as dead as a - Stone." - -A widely read little book was somewhat pompously entitled _The -Looking Glass for the Mind_. It was chiefly translated from that -much-admired work, _L'Ami des Enfans_. Those terse and entertaining -tales of Berquin had perennial youth in their English form and -were reprinted till our own day. The illustrations of Bewick have -a distinct value as showing the dress of children. A few are here -shown. The first is from _William and Amelia_; both children are not -eight years old. The long trained gowns, bare necks, elbow sleeves, -and tall feathered hats are precisely the dress of grown women of -that day, as William's coat and knee-breeches are the garb of a man. -The two "ladies" were "walking arm in arm humming a pretty song then -fashionable in the village collection of Ballads." When they glanced -at the apples in the tree William, "the politest and prettiest -little fellow in the village," dropped his shepherd's pipe, climbed -the tree, and threw down apples in the ladies' aprons. As Charlotte -got more and bigger apples Amelia abandoned her "usual pleasing -prattle," sulked and at last ordered William to fall down "on his -knees on this instant" to apologize. As he refused Amelia pouted -at dinner, would not touch her wine nor say "Your good health, -William," and at last was ordered by her mother from the table. -William, after many attempts, sneaked out with some peaches for her, -and thus an affectionate and generous friendship was restored. - -[Illustration: "Clarissa, or the Grateful Orphan," from _The Looking -Glass for the Mind_] - -Another illustration is for the tale, _Caroline, or a Lesson to Cure -Vanity_. Caroline's dress is further described in the text as of -pea-green taffety with - -fine pink trimmings, elegantly worked shoes, hair a clod of powder -and pomatum. Her "fine silk slip was nicely soused in the rain"; her -hoop and flounces and train caught in the furzes, her gauze hat blew -in a pond of filthy water, etc.; all these made her glad to return -to a more modest dress. The illustration for the _Worthy Tenant_ -shows Farmer Harris speaking to polite Sophia, while "Robert was -so shamefully impertinent as to walk round the farmer, holding his -nose, and asking his brother if he did not perceive something of -the smell of a dung heap. He then lighted some paper at the fire, -and carried it around the room in order to disperse, as he said, the -unpleasant smell," etc. _Clarissa, or the Grateful Orphan_, who was -so good that the king relinquished a large fortune to her, complete -the quartette of illustrations. - -A group of books was published just after the end of the colonial -period, which had a vast influence on the children of our young -Republic. These books were English; the most important of them -were: _The History of the Fairchild Family_, 1788 _circa_, by Mrs. -Sherwood; _Sanford and Merton_, 1783, by Thomas Day; _The Parents' -Assistant_, 1796, by Maria Edgeworth; _Evenings at Home_, 1792, by -Dr. Aikin and Mrs. Barbauld. - -[Illustration: _The Juvenile Biographer 83_ - -When Mi[f.]s Fiddle Faddle is in the Company of little Females of -her Acquaintance, her whole Di[f.]cour[f.]e turns on the prevailing -Fa[f.]hion of Head-dre[f.]s; what an elegant Ta[f.]te one little -Mi[f.]s has, and how terribly impolite is another. - -Page from _The Juvenile Biographer_] - -The painfully religious tales of James Janeway were not the only -ones to familiarize death to the reading child. _The Fairchild -Family_ was once deemed a most charming, as it was certainly a most -earnest book, and it has ever had popularity, for within a few -years it has been reprinted in a large edition. I wonder how many -death-bed scenes and references there are in that book! Nor are -ordinary death-beds the saddest or most grewsome scenes. The little -Fairchilds having lost their little tempers and pommelled each other -somewhat, their father takes them as a shocking object-lesson to -see the body of a man hung in chains on a gibbet. The horror of -the progress through the gloomy wood to this revolting sight, the -father's unsparing comments, the hideous account of the _thing,_ -rattling, swinging, turning its horrible countenance while Mr. -Fairchild described and explained and gloated over it, and finally -kneeled and prayed,--all this through several pages no carefully -reared child to-day would be permitted to read. Mr. Fairchild's -reason for taking them to this gibbeted corpse should not be omitted -from this account; it was "to show them something which I think they -will remember as long as they live, that they may love each other -with perfect and heavenly love." - -A painful and ever present lesson found on every page is the -sinfulness of the world. The children recite verses and quote Bible -texts to prove that all mankind have bad hearts, and Lucy commits to -memory a prayer, a portion of which runs thus:-- - - "My heart is so exceedingly wicked, so vile, so full of sin, - that even when I appear to be tolerably good, even then I am - sinning. When I am praying, or reading the Bible, or hearing - other people read the Bible, even then I sin. When I speak, I - sin; when I am silent, I sin." - -_Sandford and Merton_ is most insincerely recommended by many folk -to children to-day. I cannot believe any one who has recently read -the book would ever expect a modern child to care for it. It is -haloed in the memory of people who read it in their youth and fancy -they still like it, but won't take the trouble to read it and see -that they don't. - -Jane and Ann Taylor should be added to this class of authors. The -poem, _My Mother_, by Ann Taylor, was published in book form, -and had many imitations. _My Father, My Sister, My Brother, My -Grandmother, My Playmate, My Pony, My Fido_, and lastly, _My -Governess_,--all, says the advertisement, "in the same stile,"--a -style so easily imitated as to seem almost like parody:-- - - "Who learnt me how to read and Spell, - And with my Needle work as well, - And called me her good little Girl? - My Governess. - - "Who made the Scholar proud to show - The Sampler work'd to friend and foe, - And with Instruction fonder grow? - My Governess." - -We have the contemporary opinion of Charles Lamb of this new school -of juvenile literature. In 1802 he wrote thus to Coleridge:-- - - "Goody Two Shoes is almost out of print. Mrs. Barbauld's stuff - has banished all the old classics of the nursery, and the - shopman at Newbery's hardly deigned to reach them off an old - exploded corner of a shelf, when Mary asked for them. Mrs. - Barbauld's and Mrs. Trimmer's nonsense lay in piles about. - Knowledge as insignificant and vapid, as Mrs. Barbauld's - books convey, it seems must come to a child in the shape of - knowledge; his empty noddle must be turned with the conceit of - his own powers when he has learned that a horse is an animal, - and Billy is better than a horse, and such-like, instead of the - beautiful interest in mild tales which made the child a man, - while all the time he suspected himself to be no bigger than a - child.... Hang them!--I mean the cursed Barbauld crew, those - blights and blasts of all that is human in man and child." - -[Illustration: - -40 The Juvenile Biographer. - -One Day, [f.]ome one of Mi[f.]s Polly's little Acquaintances, -coming along the Road near Mi[f.]s Charity's Hou[f.]e, found her -[f.]tanding and crying over a little Beggar, who [f.]at by the Side -of the Road. This is a ju[f.]t Repre[f.]entation of this pitiful -Scene. - -Her Acquaintance a[f.]ked her what [f.]he - -The Juvenile Biographer. 41 - -was crying for. "My dear, ([f.]aid Polly) this poor little Creature -is [f.]tarving, and I have not a Penny to give her; but if you -will lend me Two-pence, if you have [f.]o much about you, I will -certainly pay you again very [f.]oon. What a terrible Thing it is -to think, that while we live upon Dainties, this poor little Girl -[f.]hall be [f.]tarving!" - -"My dear, ([f.]aid Miss Polly's Acquaintance) I am happy that I -have Two-pence about me, which is all I am worth in the World, and -tho[f.]e were ju[f.]t now given me by a Gentleman for my pretty -Behaviour to him. Here they are, and you [f.]hall be indebted to -me only One Penny, for I will give her the other my[f.]elf." They -eagerly embraced each other, - -The Juvenile Biographer] - -In the _Boston Gazette and Country Journal_, January 20, 1772, the -Boston booksellers, Cox and Berry, have this notice of their wares:-- - - "The following Little Books for the Instruction and - Amusement of all good Boys and Girls:-- - - The Brother Gift or the Naughty Girl Reformed. - - The Sister Gift or the Naughty Boy Reformed. - - Hobby Horse or Christian Companion. - - Robin Good-Fellow, a Fairy Tale. - - Puzzling Cap, a Collection of Riddles. - - The Cries of London as exhibited in the Streets. - - Royal Guide or Early Instruction in Reading English. - - Mr. Winlove's Collection of Moral Tales. - - History of Tom Jones, abridg'd. - - " " Joseph Andrews " - - " " Pamela " - - " " Grandison " - - " " Clarissa " " - -It may be seen by the last-named books on this list that another -series of books for children were abridgments of _Tom Jones_, -_Joseph Andrews_, _Pamela_, and other great novels of the day. -Rabelais said no abridgment of a book could be a good abridgment; -these are worse than none. The childish reader is notified that if -he likes the little books, his good friend, Mr. Thomas, has the -larger books for sale. - -The engraving of the great Mr. Richardson sitting in his grotto, -in 1751, in turban, banyan, and slippers, reading _Sir Charles -Grandison_ to a group of friends, chiefly admiring young ladies in -great hats and padusoy sacques, is typical of his life. He lived in -a flower garden of girls, one intimate circle around his feet, and -swelling circles extending even to America,--all facing inward and -worshipping him and his works. They wept and smiled in a vast chorus -at the dull pages of _Pamela_, at the surprising ones of _Clarissa_, -and the thousands of interesting ones of _Sir Charles Grandison_. -These seven volumes of letters exchanged between sixteen women, -twenty men, all lovers, and fourteen Italians who are enumerated as -of another sex, and are likewise chiefly lovers, are too prolix to -be read to-day, but were a record of love-making which touched every -girl's heart a century and more ago. - -[Illustration: - - 14 _The_ FATHER'S GIFT. - - _Father._ Now my Dear, as I find you have learned to [f.]pell - and read ea[f.]y words, let me advi[f.]e you to purcha[f.]e - the Ladder to Learning, which is printed in three Parts, or - Steps; the fir[f.]t Part is a Collection of pretty Fables, - Con[f.]i[f.]ting of Words of only one Syllable; the [f.]econd - Part, of Words not exceeding two Syllables; and the third Part - of few Words more than three Syllables. When you have reached - the third Step, Attention and Application will [f.]oon enable - you to read with Plea[f.]ure to your[f.]elf and Satisfaction - to your Friends, all the little Books publi[f.]hed for good - Ma[f.]ters and Mi[f.][f.]es, by your Friend in WORCESTER, near - the COURT-HOUSE; a View of who[f.]e Shop I here give you. - - _The_ FATHER'S GIFT. 15 - - Illustration - - By an attentive Peru[f.]al of tho[f.]e little Publications, you - will attain the e[f.]teem of all who know you; you will learn to - be dutiful to your Papa and Mama, obedient to your Superiours, - loving and kind to your Equals and Inferiours; and, above all, - you will learn to fear God, and to call upon him often, that you - may, through his Grace, become wi[f.]e and happy. - -Two Pages of _The Father's Gift_] - -Little Anna Green Winslow speaks occasionally in her diary -of story-books. She had for a New Year's gift the "History of -Joseph Andrews abbreviated in guilt and flowered covers." She -read the _Pilgrim's Progress_, the _Mother's Gift_, _Gulliver's -Travels_, _The Puzzling Cap_, _The French Orators_, and _Gaffer Two -Shoes_--this may have been our own Goody, not Gaffer. - -The "flowery and gilt" binding of these books, so often spoken of in -the notices, is wholly a thing of the past. It was made in Holland -and Germany; but recent inquiry about it discovered that the stamps -and presses used in its manufacture had all been destroyed. An -enthusiastic lover of these little books wrote:-- - - "Talk of your vellum, gold embossed morocco, roan, and calf, - The blue and yellow wraps of old were prettier by half." - -They were cheap enough, but a penny apiece, some of them, others -sixpence. It is doubtful whether they were ever sold in America in -vast numbers. Children lent them to each other. Anna Green Winslow -borrowed them, and letters of her day show other children doing -likewise. It was a day of book-lending; for circulating libraries -were slow of formation. The minister's library was often the largest -one in each town, and he lent his precious books to his flock. -In the sparse advertisements of colonial newspapers are many -advertisements of book owners who have lent books, forgotten to -whom, and wish them returned. The only way country children had of -reading many books was by borrowing. - -[Illustration: - -Vice in its proper Shape 39 he had lived to years of maturity, kind -death was plea[f.]ed to di[f.]patch him in the twelfth year of his -age, by the help of a dozen penny cu[f.]tards, which he greedily -conveyed down his throat at one meal, and thereby gorged his -stomach, and threw him[f.]elf into a mortal fever. After his - -Page of _Vice in its proper Shape._] - -American boys and girls felt till our own day both bewilderment -and impatience at forever reading stories whose local color was -wholly strange to them. Dr. Holmes thus expresses this condition of -things:-- - - "Books where James was called Jem not Jim as we heard it; where - naughty schoolboys got through a gap in the hedge to steal - Farmer Giles's red-streaks, instead of shinning over the fence - to hook old Daddy Jones's baldwins; where Hodge used to go to - the ale-house for his mug of beer, while we used to see old - Joe steering for the grocery to get his glass of rum; where - there were larks and nightingales instead of yellow-birds and - bobolinks; where the robin was a little domestic bird that fed - at table instead of a great, fidgety, jerky, whooping thrush." - -The debt of amusement which American children owed to Newbery was -paid in this century by the supply to English children of a vast -number of little books of profit and pleasure, all written by a -single author, "Peter Parley," or Samuel G. Goodrich. In the middle -of the century this gentleman stated that he had written one hundred -and twenty books that were professedly juvenile. Of these and his -books for older minds about seven million copies had been sold, and -about three hundred thousand were still sold annually. They were -sent to England in vast numbers, and were reprinted there both with -and without the author's permission. And when the original books -were not pirated, the name Peter Parley was calmly attached to the -compositions of English authors, as a vastly salable trade-mark. - -Scores of American authors, by the middle of this century, -were writing little books for children. These were a class by -themselves--Sunday-school books. They do not come within the very -elastic time limit set for this chapter. They are not old enough -in years, though they are rapidly becoming as obsolete as any -children's books of the last century. - -Books written avowedly for Sunday-schools are in decreasing demand. -Those with sectarian teachings, especially, find fewer and fewer -purchasers. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -CHILDREN'S DILIGENCE - - _For Satan finds some mischief still - For idle hands to do._ - - --_Divine Songs for Children. Isaac Watts, 1720._ - - -Colonial children did not spend much time in play. "The old deluder -Sathan" was not permitted to find many idle hands ready for his -mischievous work. It was ordered by the magistrates that children -tending sheep or cattle in the field should be "set to some other -employment withal, such as spinning upon the rock, knitting, -weaving tape," etc. These were all simple industries requiring -slight paraphernalia. The rock was the hand distaff. It was simple -of manipulation, but required a certain knack of dexterity to -produce even well-twisted thread. Good spinners could spin on the -rock as they walked. Tape-weaving was done on a simple appliance, -the heddle-frame of primitive weavers, known as a tape-loom, -garter-loom, belt-loom, or "gallus-frame." On these small looms -girls wove scores of braids and tapes for use as glove-ties, -shoe-strings, hair-laces, stay-laces, garters, hatbands, belts, -etc., and boys wove garters and breeches-suspenders. - -There was plenty of work on a farm even for little children; they -sowed various seeds in early spring; they weeded flax fields, -walking barefoot among the tender plants; they hetchelled flax and -combed wool. - -All the work on the flax after the breaking was done in olden times -by women and children. It is said there are in all twenty different -occupations in flax manufacture, of which half can be easily done -by children. Much of the work in domestic wool spinning and weaving -was done by little girls. They could spin on "the great wheel" when -they were so small that they had to stand on a foot-stool to reach -up. They skeined the yarn on a clock-reel. They easily filled the -"quills" with the woollen yarn used in weaving bedspreads and set -the quills in the middle of the great pointed wooden shuttles. -They wound the white warp on the spools, and set the spools on -the scarne. They might, if very deft and attentive, help "set the -piece," that is, wind the warp threads on the great yarn-beam, pass -them through the eyes of the heddles or harness, and the spans of -the reed. Girls of six could spin flax. Anna Green Winslow, when -twelve years old, speaks often in her diary of spinning; and when -disabled from sewing by a painful whitlow on her finger, wrote that -"it is a nice opportunity if I do but improve it, to perfect myself -in learning to spin flax." - -[Illustration: The Good Girl and her Wheel] - -In the _Memoirs_ of the missionaries, David and John Brainerd, a -boy's busy life on a Connecticut farm is thus described:-- - - "The boy was taught that laziness was the worst form of original - sin. Hence he must rise early and make himself useful before he - went to school, must be diligent there in study, and promptly - home to do "chores" at evening. His whole time out of school - must be filled up with some service, such as bringing in - fuel for the day, cutting potatoes for the sheep, feeding the - swine, watering the horses, picking the berries, gathering the - vegetables, spooling the yarn. He was expected never to be - reluctant and not often tired." - -This constant employment of a farm boy's time lasted till our own -day; but now conditions have changed in Eastern farm life. The work -still is hard and incessant, but not so varied as of yore. Many -crops are obsolete; no flax is raised, and but little wool, and that -sold as soon as sheared. Little grain is raised and no threshing is -done by the flail. Vast itinerant threshing machines go from farm -to farm. Few farmers make cider, which gave so much work to the -boys in autumn. There is no potash or soap boiling. One of the most -delightful chronicles of obsolete farm industry is written by Hon. -George Sheldon and entitled _The Passing of the Stall-Fed Ox and the -Farmer's Boy_. - -[Illustration: - -9. THE LITTLE SEMPSTRESS - - This pretty sempstress who can see - And not admire her industry - As thus upright she sits to sew, - Not stooping as some children do. - -Illustration from _Plain Things for Little Folks_] - -The sawing and chopping of wood was a never diminishing incubus; -this outdoor work on wood was continued within doors in the series -of articles fashioned for farm and domestic use by the boy's -jack-knife and the few heavy carpenter's tools at his command; -some gave to the farm boy the rare pennies of his spending money. -The making of birch splinter brooms was the best paying work. For -these the boy got six cents apiece. The splitting of shoe-pegs -was another. Setting card-teeth was for many years the universal -income furnisher for New England children. Gathering nuts was -a scantily paid-for harvest; tying onions a less pleasing one, -and chiefly followed in the Connecticut Valley. The crop of wild -cherries known as chokecherries was one of the most lucrative of -the boy's resources. They were much desired for making cherry-rum -or cherry-bounce, and would fetch readily a dollar a bushel. A -good-sized tree would yield about six bushels. J. T. Buckingham -tells of his first spending money being ninepence received from a -brush-maker for hog-bristles saved from slaughtered swine. - -The story of various silk fevers which raged in America cannot -be given here, romantic as they are. From the first venture the -care of silkworms was held to be a specially suitable work for -children. It was said two boys, "if their hands be not sleeping in -their pockets," could care for six ounces of seed from hatching -till within fourteen days of spinning, when "three or four more -helps, women and children being as proper as men," had to assist in -feeding, cleansing, airing, drying, and perfuming them. - -The _Reformed Virginia Silk Worm_ asserted:-- - - "For the Labour of a man and boy - They gain you Sixty pounds which is no toy." - -Mulberry trees were planted everywhere and kept low like a hedge, -so children could pick the leaves. All the books of instruction of -the day reiterate that a child ten years of age could easily gather -seventy-five pounds of mulberry leaves a day, and make great wages. -But an old lady, now eighty years old, who made much sewing silk in -Connecticut in her youth, writes thus to me: "Girls picked most of -the leaves. It was very hard work and very small pay. They had ten -cents a bushel for picking. Some could pick three bushels a day." - -The first thought of spring brought to the men of the New England -household a hard work--maple-sugar making--which meant vast labor in -preparation and in execution--all of which was cheerfully hailed, -for it gave men and boys a chance to be as Charles Kingsley said, "a -savage for a while." It meant several nights spent in the sugar-camp -in the woods, a-gypsying. Think of the delight of that scene: the -air clear but mild enough to make the sap run; patches of snow -still shining pure in the moonlight and starlight; all the mystery -of the voices of the night, when a startled rabbit or squirrel -made a crackling sound in its stealthy retreat; the distant hoot -of a wakeful owl; the snapping of pendent icicles and crackling of -blazing brush, yet over all a great stillness, "all silence and -all glisten." An exaltation of the spirit and senses came to the -country boy which was transformed at midnight into keen thrills -of imaginative fright at recollection of the stories told by his -elders with rude acting and vivid wording during the early evening -round the fire; of hunting and trapping, of Indians and bears, and -those delights of country story-tellers in New England, catamounts, -wolverines, and cats--this latter ever meaning in hunter's phrasing -wild-cats. Think of "a wolverine with eyes like blazing coals, and -every hair whistling like a bell," as he sprung with outspread claws -from a high tree on the passing hunter--do you think the boy sat -by the fire throughout the night without looking a score of times -for the blazing eyeballs, and listening for the whistling fur, and -hearing steps like that of the lion in _Pilgrim s Progress_, "a -great soft padding paw." - -What forest lore the boys learned, too: that more and sweeter sap -came from a maple which stood alone than from any in a grove; that -the shallow gouge flowed more freely, but the deep gouge was richest -in sweet; and that many other forest trees besides the maple ran a -sweet sap. - -I believe that in earliest colonial days boys also took part in a -joyful outing, a public custom known as perambulating or beating -the bounds. The memory of boundaries and division lines, of -commons, public highways, etc., was kept fresh in the minds of the -inhabitants by an old-time Aryan custom,--the walking around them -once a year, noting lines of boundary, and impressing these on -the notice and memory of young people. To induce English boys to -accompany these perambulations, it was customary to distribute some -little gratuity; this was usually a willow wand, tied at the end -with a bunch of points, which were bits of string about eight inches -long, consisting of strands of cotton or woollen yarn braided or -twisted together, ended by a tag of a bit of metal or wood. These -points were used to tie the hose to the knees of the breeches; the -waistband of the breeches to the jacket, etc. Long after points were -abandoned as a portion of dress the wands with their little knot of -points were given. Pepys wrote in 1661 that he heard that at certain -boundaries the boys were smartly whipped to impress the bounds upon -their memories. - -[Illustration: Anne Lennod's Sampler] - -"Beating the bounds" was a specially important duty in the colonies -where land surveys were imperfect, land grants irregular, and the -boundaries of each man's farm or plantation at first very uncertain. -In Virginia this beating the bounds was called "processioning." -Landmarks were renewed that were becoming obliterated; blazes -on a tree would be somewhat grown over--they were deeply recut; -piles of great stones containing a certain number for designation -were sometimes scattered--the original number would be restored. -Special trees would be found fallen or cut down; new marking trees -would be planted, usually pear trees, as they were long-lived. -Disputed boundaries were decided upon and announced to all the -persons present, some of whom at the next "processioning" would -be living and be able to testify as to the correct line. This -processioning took place between Easter and Whitsuntide, that lovely -season of the year in Virginia; and must have proved a pleasant -reunion of neighbors, a May-party. In New England this was called -"perambulating the bounds," and the surveyors who took charge were -called "perambulators" or "boundsgoers." - -To either man or boy of to-day or any day it would seem an absurdity -to name hunting and fishing in a chapter dealing with boys' -diligence; for in the sports of the woods and waters colonial boys -doubtless found one of their greatest amusements. But these sports -were also hard work and were engaged in for profit as well as for -pleasure. The scattered sheepfolds and grazing pastures at first had -to be zealously guarded from wild animals; wolves were everywhere -the most hated and most destructive beasts. They were caught in -many ways; in wolf-pits, in log-pens, in log-traps. Heavy mackerel -hooks were tied together, dipped in melted tallow which hardened -in a bunch and concealed the hooks, and tied to a strong chain. If -the wolf swallowed the hooks without any chain attached, it would -kill him; but he might die in the depths of the forest and his head -could not be brought in to secure the bounty. In old town lists are -the names of many boys with "wolf-money set to their credit." A -wolf-rout or wolf-drive, which was like the old English "drift of -the forest," was a ring of men and boys armed with guns surrounding -a large tract of forest. The wary wolves scented their enemies afar -and retreated before them to the centre of a circle, and many were -killed. Squirrels and hares were hunted in the same way. Once a -year in many places they had shooting matches in which every living -wild creature was prey, and a prize was given to the one bringing -in the most birds' heads and animals' tails. This cruel wholesale -destruction of singing birds as well as game birds was carried on -almost till our own day. - -Foxes were destructive in the hen yards. On a bright moonlight night -the hunters placed a load of codfish heads on the bright side of a -stone wall. The fish could be smelt afar, and when the keen foxes -approached they were shot by the hunters, hiding in the shadow. -Bears lingered long even in the vicinity of cities and were hunted -with dogs. The _History of Roxbury_ states that in the year 1725, in -one week in September, twenty bears were killed within two miles of -Boston. - -In Virginia deer-hunting was a constant sport. They were "burnt -out," and in imitation of the Indian way of hunting under the blind -of a "stalking head," the English taught their horses to walk slowly -by the huntsman's side, hiding him as he approached the deer, who -were not afraid of horses. A diverting sport was what was called -"vermin-hunting." It was done on foot with small dogs, by moon or -starlight. Raccoons, foxes, and opossums were the chief animals -sought. Bounties were paid for the destruction of squirrels and -rattlesnakes. It is appalling to see the bounty lists of some New -England towns for snake rattles. Yet the loss of life was small from -snake bites. The boys profited by all these bounties, and worked -eagerly to secure them. - -[Illustration: Colonel Wadsworth and his Son] - -Wild turkeys were caught in turkey pens, enclosures made of poles -about twenty feet long, laid one above another, forming a solid wall -ten feet high. This was covered with a close pole and brush roof. -A ditch was dug beginning about fifteen feet away from the pen; -sloping down and carried under one side of the pen and opening up -into it through a board in which a hole was cut just large enough -for a turkey to pass through. Corn was strewn the whole length of -the ditch. The turkeys followed the ditch and the corn up through -the hole into the pen; and held their heads too high ever to find -their way out again. Often fifty captives would be found in the -morning. - -Boys learned "to prate" for pigeons, that is, to imitate their -call. This was useful in luring them within gun-shot. A successful -method of pigeon-shooting was learned from the Indians. A covert -was made of green branches with an opening in the back by which the -hunter could enter. In front of this covert, at firing distance, a -long pole was raised up on two crotched sticks eight or ten feet -from the ground, set so that a shot from the booth would rake the -entire length of the pole; hence the crotch nearest the booth was a -trifle lower than the other, at the same angle that the gun barrel -would take. To lure pigeons from a flock to settle on this pole -live pigeons were used as decoys. They were temporarily blinded in -a cruel manner. A hole was pierced in the lower eyelid, a thread -inserted, and the eyelid drawn up and tied over the eye. A soft kid -boot or loop was put over one leg and a fine cord tied to it. The -pigeon called the long flyer had a long cord, and by his fluttering -attracted pigeons from a flock. The short flyer with shorter cord -lured pigeons flying low. The hoverer was tied close to the end of a -small pole set on an upright post. This pole was worked by a string, -and by moving the pigeon up and down it appeared to be hovering as -if to alight. The hunter, loudly prating, sat hidden behind his -three blind, fluttering, terrified decoys. Then came a beautiful -flash and gleam of color and life and graceful motion, as with a -swish of reversed wings a row of gentle creatures lighted on the -fatal pole. In a second came the report of the gun, and the ground -was covered with the fluttering, maimed, and dead bodies. Fifty-two -at one shot, a Lexington man named William Locke killed. Other -methods of pigeon-killing were by snaring them in "twitch-ups"; also -in a pigeon-bed, baited, over which a net was thrown on the feeding -birds. - -By the seashore whole communities turned to the teeming ocean for -the means of life. Every fishing vessel that left the towns of Cape -Ann and Cape Cod carried, with its crew of grown men, a boy of -ten or twelve to learn "the art and mystery" of fishing. He had a -name--a "cut-tail." He cut a wedge-shaped bit from the tail of every -fish he caught, and in the sorting-out and counting-up at the close -of the trip his share of the profits was thus plainly indicated. -Long before these fishing industries were thoroughly organized the -early chroniclers told of the share of boys in fishing. Even John -Smith stirred up English stay-at-homes, saying:-- - - "Young boyes, girles, salvages or any others, bee they never - such idlers, may turne, carry, and returne fish without shame, - or either greate paine: hee is very idle that is past twelve - years of age and cannot doe so much; and shee is very old that - cannot spin a thread to catch them." - -It was natural that boys born in seashore towns should turn to the -sea. They found in the incoming ships their sole connecting link -with the outside world. Romance, sentiment, mystery, deviltry, -haloed the sailor. He was ever welcome to the public, and ever a -source of interest whether in tarry working garb, or gay shore togs -of flapping trousers, crimson sash, eelskin and cutlasses, or -perhaps garbed like Captain Creedon, who appeared in Boston in the -year 1662 dressed, so says the letter of a Boston minister, "in a -strange habitt with a 4 Cornered Capp instead of a hatt and his -Breeches hung with Ribbons from the Wast downward a great depth one -over the other like the Shingles of a house." Naturally enough "the -boys made an outcry and wondered." - -Can it be wondered that two centuries of New England boys, stirred -in their quiet round of life by similar gay comets and tales of -adventure, have had a passionate ichor in their veins of longing -for "the magic and the mystery of the sea," that they have eagerly -gone before the mast, and rounded the Horn, and come home master -seamen when in their teens. I know a New England family of dignity -and wealth in which six successive generations of sons have gone to -sea in their boyhood, some of later years running away from home to -do so. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1787,--so tells a newspaper -of that date,--were living a man and wife who had been married about -twenty years, and had eighteen sons, of whom ten were then at sea. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -NEEDLECRAFT AND DECORATIVE ARTS - - _She wrought all Needleworks that Women exercise, - With Pin Frame or Stoole all Pictures Artificiall, - Curious Knots or Traits that Fancy could devise, - Beasts, Birds, or Flowers even as things Naturall._ - - --_Epitaph of Elizabeth Lucar. Church St. Michael, Crooked - Lane, London, 1537._ - - -Human nature was the same in the seventeenth and eighteenth -centuries as to-day; waves of devotion to some special form of -ornamentation either for the household or the wardrobe swept over -families, neighborhoods, communities; when we reach the days of -newspapers we find in their columns some evidence of the names and -character of these decorations. In 1716 Mr. Brownell, the Boston -schoolmaster, advertised that at his school young women and children -could be taught "all sorts of fine works as Feather-works, Filigree, -and Painting on Glass, Embroidering a new way, Turkeywork for -Handkerchiefs two new Ways, fine new fashion Purses, flourishing -ishing and Plain work," The perishable nature of the material would -prevent the preservation of many specimens of feather-work; but very -pretty flowers for head-dresses and bonnets were made of minute -feathers or portions of feathers pasted on a firm foundation in many -collected shapes. This work may have been suggested by the beautiful -feather flowers made in many of the South Sea Islands; perhaps an -old sea captain brought some home to his wife or sweetheart as a -gift. The sober colors of many of our home birds would not make so -brilliant a bouquet as the songless birds of the tropics, especially -the millions of the various parrot tribes; still an everyday New -England rooster has a wealth of splendid glistening color, while -blue jays, red-headed woodpeckers, yellow birds, and an occasional -oriole or scarlet tanager could furnish beautiful feathers enough to -waken the ire of an Audubon Society. - -Painting on glass was an amusement of more scope. In England it was -all the mode, and some very quaint specimens survive; simpering -beauties, flowers, and fruit were the favorite subjects. Coats of -arms, too, were painted on glass, and handsome they were. It is not -possible to state exactly the position which the study of armorial -bearings and significations had for two or three centuries. It -seemed to bear relatively the same place that a profound study of -literature has to-day--the pastime and delight of cultured people. -We have been amused for a few years past at the domination of color -in literature; every book title had a color word, as _The Red -Robe_, _Under the Red Lamp_, _A Study in Scarlet_, _The Red Badge -of Courage_, etc. This idiasm--as Mr. Ingleby would call it--has -extended to music, and even into scientific suggestion and medicine; -but this attributing unusual qualities to colors is nothing new. -In the Cotton Manuscripts, a series of essays on music six hundred -years old, the relation between music and color, especially in coat -armor, is given; for instance, "fire-red" was the most malignant -color in arms, and only third in benignity in music. All gentlefolk -were profoundly wise as to the meaning of colors in coats of arms, -etc., and their influence on the character and life of the persons -bearing the arms. - -This interest in the study of heraldry wavered in intensity but did -not die till the days of a new nation; and we find from the middle -of the seventeenth to the middle of the eighteenth century that -young girls in the families of gentlefolk paid much attention to the -making of coats of arms. Those painted on glass were the richest in -color and the most satisfactory, but embroidered ones were more -common. The choicest materials were used, the drawing was carefully -executed, and the stitches minute. It is interesting to note that -the laws of the herald were strictly regarded in the setting of the -stitches. In _azure_ the stitches were laid parallel across the -escutcheon; in _gules_, perpendicular; in _purpure_, diagonally from -right to left, and so on. - -[Illustration: Jerusha Pitkin's Embroidery and Frame] - -Here is shown an unfinished coat of arms of the Pitkin family which -belonged to Jerusha Pitkin, who was born in 1736. The frame upon -which the work is stretched, the manner in which it is mounted, -the hand-made nails that fasten it, the way the work is outlined, -are all of interest. The needle still is thrust in the black satin -background where it was left by girlish hands a century and a half -ago. Colored silks, gold bullion and thread to complete this work -have been preserved with it. The embroidery is on black satin, -and is lozenge-shaped, as was the proper shape of a hatchment or -mourning emblem; and it is possible that this work was begun as a -funeral piece, commemorative of some Pitkin ancestor. - -Such funeral pieces were deemed a very dignified observance of -respect and mark of affection. They had as successors what were -definitely termed "mourning pieces," bearing stiff presentments of -funeral urns, monuments, drooping willows, and sometimes a bowed and -weeping figure. - -After the death of Washington, mourning designs deploring our -national loss and significant of our affection and respect for -that honored name appeared in vast numbers. Framed prints of these -designs hung on every wall, table china in large numbers and variety -bore these funereal emblems, and laudatory and sad mottoes. As other -Revolutionary heroes passed away, similar designs appeared in more -limited numbers, and the reign of embroidered "mourning pieces" -may be said to begin at this time. Washington--so to speak--set the -fashion. Familiarized with the hideous Apotheosis pitcher, or the -gloomy Washington's Tomb teacups as set on a festal board, special -mourning embroideries did not seem oversad for decorative purposes, -and soon no properly ambitious household was without one. They -were even embroidered when the family circle was unbroken, and an -empty space was left yawning like an open grave for some one to -die. Religious designs were also eagerly sought for. The Tree of -Life was a favorite. A conventional tree was hung at wide intervals -with apples, bearing the names of various virtues and estimable -traits of humanity, such as Honor, Modesty, Silence, Patience, etc. -The sparse harvest of these emblematic fruits seemed to indicate -a cynical belief in scant nobility of nature; but there was hope -of improvement, for a white-winged angel assiduously watered the -roots of the tree with a realistic watering-pot. The devil, never -absent in that day from art, science, or literature, also loomed in -blackness beneath the branches, but sadly handicapped from activity -by being forced to carry a colossal pitchfork and an absolutely -unsurmountable tail of gigantic proportions. - -These mourning pieces were but decadent successors of the -significant heraldic embroideries of earlier days. We passed through -trying days in art, architecture, and costume in the first half -of this century; and it was not until we revived the older forms -of embroidery, and the ancient stitches, that we rallied from the -blight of commonplaceness and sentimentality which seemed to spread -over everything. - -[Illustration: Lora Standish's Sampler] - -The most universal and best-preserved piece of embroidery done by -our foremothers was the sampler. These were known as sampleths, -sam-cloths, saumplers, and sampleres; the titles were all derived by -apheresis from _esampler_, _exampleir_. - -The sampler "contrived a double debt to pay" of teaching letters -and stitches; it was, in fact, a needlework hornbook, containing -the alphabet, a verse indicative of good morals or industry, or -a sentence from the Bible, the name and date, and some crude -representations of impossible birds, beasts, flowers, trees, -or human beings. Though the sampler's reign in every American -household was in the eighteenth century and the earlier years of -the nineteenth, it was the direct successor of the glories of -needlework of English women of earlier years, which was known and -admired on the Continent as _Opus Anglicanum_. The chief excellency -of English needlework has even been closely associated with a high -state of social morals. In Elizabeth's day Englishwomen still loved -needlecraft. Shakespeare, Sidney, Milton, Herrick, all refer to -women's samplers. In a collection of old ballads printed in 1725 is -"A Short and Sweet Sonnet made by one of the Maids of Honour upon -the death of Q. Elizabeth, which she sewed upon a Sampler of Red -Silk":-- - - "Gone is _Elizabeth_ whom we have loved so dear, - She our kind Mistress was full four and Forty Year, - _England_ she govern'd well not to be blamed. - _Flanders_ she govern'd well, and _Ireland_ famed. - France she befriended, Spain she had toiled, - _Papists_ rejected, and the _Pope_ spoiled. - To _Princes_ powerful, to the _World_ vertuous, - To her _Foes_ merciful, to subjects gracious. - Her Soul is in Heaven, the World keeps her glory, - Subjects her good deeds, so ends my Story." - -In the licentious days of King James and King Charles there is -little record of women's needlework in court or country, but the -Puritan women, the virtuous home makers, revived and encouraged all -household arts. - -There is no doubt that as a rule the long and narrow samplers -are older than those more nearly square. These ancient samplers, -especially the few bearing dates of the seventeenth century, are -much finer in design, more closely worked, and better in execution -than those of later date. The linen background is much more closely -covered. They have more curious and varied stitches. Occasionally -they are of minute size, but four or five inches long, with -exquisitely fine stitches. - -[Illustration: Fleetwood-Quincy Sampler] - -Two ancient samplers are here depicted. One shown on page 327 was -made by Lora Standish, the daughter of a Pilgrim Father, and it is -now at Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth. The interesting and beautiful sampler -known as the Fleetwood-Quincy Sampler has such perfect stitches -that both sides are alike. It bears the names Miles and Abigail -Fleetwood, and the date 1654. It has been in the possession of Mrs. -Henry Quincy and her descendants since 1750. There is little doubt -that the Miles Fleetwood of the sampler was the brother or nephew -of Charles Fleetwood who married Anne Ireton, eldest daughter of -great Cromwell. A splendid piece of Anne Fleetwood's embroidery -was recently exhibited in the Kensington Museum. It was scarcely a -sampler for it bore a curious design in applique work of a lozenge -formed by four right-angled triangles, each of a different bit of -rich brocade of gold and silver figures on amber or pink ground; all -worked together with curious vines and stitches. Miles Fleetwood -clung to the royal cause, and thus fell into the obscurity hinted -at in the sampler verses:-- - - "In prosperity friends will be plenty, - But in adversity not one in twenty." - -In the older samplers little attention is paid to the representation -of things in their real colors; a green horse may balance a blue -tree. And as flat tints were used there were few effects of light -and shade, and no perspective. Distance is indicated by a different -color of worsted; thus the green horse will have his off legs worked -in red. This is precisely the method used in the Bayeux Tapestry and -other antique embroideries. - -Sampler verses had their times and seasons, and ran through -families. They were eagerly copied for young friends, and, in a -few cases, were "natural composures"--or, as we should say to-day, -"original compositions." Ruth Gray of Salem embroidered on her -sampler a century ago:-- - - "Next unto God, dear Parents, I address - Myself to you in humble Thankfulness. - For all your Care and Charge on me bestow'd, - The means of learning unto me allowed. - Go on! I pray, and let me still Pursue - Such Golden Arts the Vulgar never knew." - -To show the extent to which those lines could be transmitted -let me state that they are found on a sampler in Dorchester, -Massachusetts, worked in 1802, one in Waltham, Massachusetts, one -worked in 1813 in a seminary in Boston, one in Medford, one worked -in 1790 in Salem by a young girl of ten, another in Lynn, on an -English sampler in the Kensington Museum, and in the diary of that -Boston schoolgirl, Anna Green Winslow, dated 1771. - -There were certain variants of a popular sampler verse that ran -thus:-- - - "This is my Sampler, - Here you see - What care my Mother - Took of me." - -Another rhyme was:-- - - "Mary Jackson is my name, - America my nation, - Boston is my dwelling place, - And Christ is my salvation." - -The doxology, "From all that dwell below the skies," etc., appears -on samplers; and these lines:-- - - "Though life is fair - And pleasure young, - And Love on ev'ry - Shepherd's Tongue, - I turn my thoughts - To serious things, - Life is ever on the wing." - -Another rhyme is found with varying words in some of the lines:-- - - "Young Ladyes fair when youthful minds incline - To all that's curious, Innocent, and fine - With Admiration let your worke be made - The various textures and the twining thread - Then let your fingers with unrivalled skill - Exalt the Needle, Grace the noble Quill." - -Some of the verses are as short as the scant but sweet English words -on the sampler of Katherine, the wife of Charles II.:-- - - "21st of Maye - Was our Wedding Daye." - -A sampler in the Old South Church in Boston has this inscription:-- - - "Dorothy Lynde is my Name - And this Work is mine - My Friends may have - When I am Dead and laid in Grave - This Needlework of mine can tell - That in my youth I learned well - And by my elders also taught - Not to spend my time for naught." - -[Illustration: Polly Coggeshall's Sampler] - -In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was high fashion to -have mottoes and texts carved or painted on many articles where -they would frequently catch the eye. Printed books were then rare -possessions, and these mottoes, whether of vanity or piety, took -their place. Perhaps inscriptions on various pieces of tableware -and drinking utensils were the most common. Specially beautiful and -interesting early examples are the sets of "beechen roundels" known -to collectors; that is, sets of wooden plates or trenchers carved -with mottoes. Women dexterous of the needle embroidered mottoes and -words on articles of clothing. Whole texts of the Bible are said to -have been inscribed on the edges of gowns and petticoats. - - "She is a Puritan at her needle too - She works religious petticoats." - -Elaborate vines of flowers and other scroll designs were worked on -petticoats, often in colored crewels. There still exists the linen -petticoat of Rebecca Taylor Orne, a Salem dame who lived to be one -hundred and twenty years old. It is deeply embroidered with trees, -vines, flowers, and fruits, on homespun linen. Silk petticoats were -also embroidered and painted by young girls, and are beautiful -pieces of work. - -In New York newspapers we find proof that New York girls were -taught decorative accomplishments similar to those which were so -fashionable in Boston:-- - - "Martha Gazley, late from Great Britain, now in the city of - New York Makes and Teacheth the following curious Works, - viz: Artificial Fruit and Flowers and other Wax-Works, - Nuns-work, Philligree and Pencil Work upon Muslin, all sorts of - Needle-Work, and Raising of Paste, as also to Paint upon Glass, - and Transparant for Sconces, with other Works. If any young - Gentlewomen, or others are inclined to learn any or all of the - above-mentioned curious Works, they may be carefully instructed - in the same by said Martha Gazley." - -[Illustration: Flowered Apron] - -The waxwork of Martha Gazley was more fully detailed in a school -advertisement of Mrs. Sarah Wilson of Philadelphia. She taught -"waxworks in all its branches"; flowers, fruit, and pin-baskets, -also "how to take profiles in wax." This latter was distinctly art -work; and portraits of Washington and other Revolutionary heroes -still exist in wax--a material that could be worked with facility; -but was very perishable. - -[Illustration: Mary Richards' Sampler] - -A very full list of old-time stitches has come down to us, and -curiously enough not from any woman who worked these stitches but -from the pen of a man, John Taylor, "the Water-Poet," in his _Praise -of the Needle_, 1640. - - "For _Tent-worke_, Rais'd-work, Laid-worke, Frost-worke, Net-worke, - Most curious Purles, or rare Italian Cut-worke, - Fine Ferne-stitch, Finny-stitch, New-stitch and Chain-stitch - Brave Bred-stitch, Fisher-stitch, Irish-stitch and Queen-stitch - The Spanish-stitch, Rosemary-stitch and Mouse-stitch - The smarting Whip-stitch, Back-stitch and the Cross-stitch - All these are good, and these we must allow, - And these are everywhere in practise now." - -They were doubtless "everywhere in practice," in America as well, -but nearly all are now but empty names. - -While Dutch women must be awarded the palm of comfortable and -attractive housekeeping, they did not excel Englishwomen in -needlework; though the first gold thimble was made for Madam Van -Rensselaer, the foremother of our American patroons; and many -beautiful specimens of Dutch embroidery exist. A sample is here -shown which was worked by Mary Richards, a granddaughter of the -famous Anneke Jans. Mrs. Van Cortlandt wrote in her delightful -account of home life in old New York:-- - - "Crewel-work and silk-embroidery were fashionable, and - surprisingly pretty effects were produced. Every little maiden - had her sampler which she begun with the alphabet and numerals, - following them with a Scriptural text or verse of a psalm. Then - fancy was let loose on birds, beasts and trees. Most of the old - families possessed framed pieces of embroidery, the handiwork of - female ancestors." - -Pride in needlework, and a longing for household decoration, found -expression in quilt-piecing. Bits of calico "chiney" or chintz -were carefully shaped by older hands, and sewed by diligent little -fingers into many fanciful designs. A Job's Trouble, made of -hexagon pieces, could be neatly done by little children, but more -complicated designs required more "judgement," and the age of a -little daughter might be accurately guessed by her patchwork. The -quilt-making was the work of older folk. It required long arms, -larger hands, greater strength. - -Knitting was taught to little girls as soon as they could hold the -needles. Girls four years of age could knit stockings and mittens. -In country households young damsels knit mittens to sell and coarse -socks. Many fine and beautiful stitches were taught, and a beautiful -pair of long silk stockings of open-work design has initials knit on -the instep. They were the wedding hose of a bride of the year 1760; -and the silk for them was raised, wound, and spun by the bride's -sister, a girl of fourteen, who also did the exquisite knitting. - -Lace-making was never an industry in the colonies; it was an elegant -accomplishment. Pillow lace was made, and the stitches were taught -in families of wealth; a guinea a stitch was charged by some -teachers. Old lace pillows have been preserved to this day, with -strips of unfinished lace and hanging bobbins, to show the kind of -lace which was the mode--a thread lace much like the fine Swiss -hand-made laces. - -[Illustration: Old Lace Pillow, Reels and Pockets] - -Tambour work on muslin or lace, and a lace made of certain designs -darned on net, took the place of pillow lace. Nothing could be more -beautiful in execution and design than the rich veils, collars, and -caps of this worked net, which remained the mode during the early -years of this century. Girls spent years working on a single collar -or tucker. Sometimes medallions of this net lace were embroidered -down upon fine linen lawn. I have infants' caps of this beautiful -work, finer than any needlework of to-day. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -GAMES AND PASTIMES - - _The plays of children are nonsense--but very educative - nonsense._ - - _--Essay on Experience. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1860._ - - -There are no more striking survivals of antiquity than the games and -pastimes of children. We have no historians of old-time child life -to tell us of these games, but we can get side glimpses of that life -which reveal to us, as Ruskin says, more light than a broad stare. -Many of these games were originally religious observances; but there -are scores that in their present purpose of simple amusement date -from mediaeval days. - -The chronicler Froissart, in _L'Espinette Amoureuse_, tells of the -sports of his early life, over five centuries ago:-- - - "In that early childish day - I was never tired to play - Games that children everyone - Love until twelve years are done. - To dam up a rivulet - With a tile, or else to let - A small saucer for a boat - Down the purling gutter float: - Over two bricks at a will - To erect a water mill. - - "In those days for dice and chess - Cared we busy children less - Than mud-pies and buns to make, - And heedfully in oven bake. - Of four bricks; and when came Lent - Out was brought a complement - Of river shells from secret hold, - Estimated above gold, - To play away as I thought meet - With the children of our street." - -"The children of our street" has a delightfully familiar ring. -He also names many familiar games, such as playing ball, ring, -prisoner's base, riddles, and blowing soap-bubbles. Top-spinning was -an ancient game, even in Froissart's day, having been played in old -Rome and the Orient since time immemorial. - -It is interesting to note the persistent survival of games which are -seldom learned from printed rules, but are simply told from child -to child from year to year. On the sidewalk, in front of my house, -is now marked out with chalk the lines for a game of hop-scotch -and a group of children are playing it, precisely as I played it -in my New England home in my childhood, and as my grandfathers and -grandmothers played "Scotch-hoppers" in their day. - -In a little century-old picture book, called _Youthful Recreations_, -Scotch-hoppers is named and vaguely explained, and a note says:-- - - "This exercise was frequently practiced by the Greeks and - Spartan women. Might it not be useful in the present day to - prevent children having chilblains?" - -Now isn't that stupid? Every one knows hop-scotch time is not in the -winter when the ground is rough and frozen or wet with snow and when -chilblains are rife. It is a game for the hard, solid earth, or a -sunny pavement. - -The variants of tag have descended to us and are played to-day, just -as they were played when Boston and New York streets were lanes and -cowpaths. The pretty game, "I catch you without green," mentioned -by Rabelais, is well known in the Carolinas, whither it was carried -by French Huguenot immigrants, who retained many of their home -customs as well as their language for so long a time. Stone-tag and -wood-tag took the place in America of the tag on iron of Elizabeth's -day. Squat-tag and cross-tag have their times and seasons, and in -Philadelphia tell-tag is also played. Pickadill is a winter sport, -a tag played in the snow. Another tag game known as poison, or -stone-poison, is where the player is tagged if he steps off stones. -The little books on etiquette so frequently read in the seventeenth -century, and quoted in other pages of this book, have this severe -injunction, "Tread not pomposely on pebblestones for it is the art -of a fool." A man who was not a fool, one Dr. Samuel Johnson, was -swayed in his walk by similar notions. - -[Illustration: "Scotch Hoppers," from _Juvenile Games for the Four -Seasons_] - -Honey pots still is played by American children. Halliwell says the -"honey pot" was a boy rolled up in a certain stiff position. I have -seen it played by two girls carrying a third in a "chair" made by -crossing hands. In a popular little book of the last century called -_Juvenile Pastimes, or Sports for Four Seasons_, the illustration -shows girls playing it. The explanatory verse reads:-- - - "Carry your Honey pot safe and sound - Or it will fall upon the Ground." - -A truly historic game taught by children to each other, is what -is called cats-cradle or cratch-cradle. One player stretches a -length of looped cords over the extended fingers of both hands -in a symmetrical form. The second player inserts the fingers and -removes the cord without dropping the loops in a way to produce -another figure. These various figures had childish titles. If Hone's -derivation of the game and its meaning is true, cratch-cradle is the -correct name. A cratch was a grated crib or manger. The adjustment -of threads purported to represent the manger or cradle wherein the -infant Saviour was laid by his Virgin Mother. As little girls "take -off" the cradle they say, "criss-cross, criss-cross." This like the -criss-cross row in the hornbook was originally Christ's cross. - -[Illustration: Old Skates] - -In a quaint little book called _The Pretty Little Pocket Book_, -published in America at Revolutionary times, is a list of boys' -games with dingy pictures showing how the games were played; the -names given were chuck-farthing; kite-flying; dancing round -May-pole; marbles; hoop and hide; thread the needle; fishing; -blindman's buff; shuttlecock; king am I; peg-farthing; knock out -and span; hop, skip, and jump; boys and girls come out to play; I -sent a letter to my love; cricket; stool-ball; base-ball; trap-ball; -swimming; tip-cat; train-banding; fives; leap-frog; bird-nesting; -hop-hat; shooting; hop-scotch; squares; riding; rosemary tree. The -descriptions of the games are given in rhyme, and to each attached a -moral lesson in verse. Some of the verses read thus:-- - - "CHUCK-FARTHING - - "As you value your Pence - At the Hole take your Aim. - Chuck all safely in, - And You'll win the Game. - - MORAL. - - "Chuck-Farthing like Trade, - Requires great Care. - The more you observe - The better you'll fare." - -A few of the games are to-day unknown, or little known; for -instance, the game called in the book "Pitch and Hussel." - - "Poise your hand fairly, - Pitch plumb your Slat. - Then shake for all Heads - Turn down the Hat." - -The game called "All the birds of the air," reads:-- - - "Here various boys stand round and soon - Does each some favorite bird assume; - And if the Slave once hits his name, - He's then made free and crowns the game." - -Mr. Newell has given a list and description of many of the historic -singing games and rounds of American children. These were known to -me in my childhood: "Here we go round the mulberry bush;" "Here come -three Lords out of Spain;" "On the green carpet here we stand;" -"I've come to see Miss 'Ginia Jones;" "Little Sally Waters, sitting -in the sun;" "Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green;" -"Old Uncle John is very sick, what shall we send him?" "Oats, -pease, beans and barley grows;" "When I was a shoemaker;" "Here I -brew, Here I bake, Here I make my Wedding Cake;" "The needle's eye -that doth supply;" "Soldier Brown will you marry, marry me?" "O -dear Doctor don't you cry;" "There's a rose in the garden for you, -young man;" "Ring around a rosy;" "Go round and round the valley;" -"Quaker, Quaker, How art thee?" "I put my right foot in;" "My master -sent me to you, sir;" "London Bridge is falling down." - -[Illustration: Skating, from Old Picture Book] - -Some of these rhymes were founded on certain lines of ballads; but -without any printed words or music we all knew them well, and the -music was the same that our mothers used--though our mothers had -not taught us. To-day children all over the country are singing -and playing these games to the same music. I heard verse after -verse of London Bridge sung in a high key in the shrill voices of -the children of a New Hampshire country school this winter. Such a -survival in such an environment is not strange; but it is surprising -and pathetic, too, to hear in a public primary or a parochial school -the children of German, Italian, or Irish parentage chanting "Green -gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green," within the damp and -dingy yard walls or in the basement playrooms of our greatest city. - -The Dutch settlers had many games. They were very fond of bowling -on the grass; a well-known street in New York, Bowling Green, shows -the popularity of the game and where it was played. They played -"tick-tack," a complicated sort of backgammon; and trock, on a table -somewhat like a billiard table; in it an ivory ball was struck under -wire-wickets with a cue. Coasting down hill became a most popular -sport. Many attempts were made to control and stop the coasters. -At one time the Albany constables were ordered to take the "small -or great slees" in which "boys and girls ryde down the hills," and -break them in pieces. At another time the boy had to forfeit his hat -if he were caught coasting on Sunday. The sleds were low, with a -rope in front, and were started and guided by a sharp stick. - -There is a Massachusetts law of the year 1633 against "common -coasters, unprofitable fowlers and tobacco-takers,"--three classes -of detrimentals. Mr. Ernst says coasting meant loafing along the -shore, then idling in general, then sliding down hill for fun. In -Canada they slid down the long hills on toboggans. In New England -they used a double runner, a long narrow board platform on two -sleds or two sets of runners. Judge Sewall speaks of his little -daughter going out on sleds, but there is nothing to indicate -precisely what he meant thereby. - -"Sports of the Innyards" languished in New England. Innkeepers were -ordered not to permit the playing of "Dice, Cards, Tables, Quoits, -Log-gats, Bowls, Ninepins, or any other Unlawful Game in house, -yard, Garden or backside." Slide-groat was also forbidden. Mr. Henry -Cabot Lodge says the shovel-board of Shakespeare's day was almost -the only game that was tolerated. This game was perhaps the most -popular of old-time domestic pastimes, and was akin to slide-groat. - -I found nothing to indicate that the cruel sport known as -cock-throwing, cock-steling, or cock-squoiling ever prevailed in -America. In this sport the cock was tied by a short cord to a stake, -and boys at a distance of twenty yards took turns at throwing sticks -at him till he was killed. This sport was as old as Chaucer's time, -and universal among the English. - -Judge Sewall wrote of Shrove Tuesday in Boston in 1685 that there -was great disorder in Boston by reason of "cock-skailing." Another -year he tells of a young lad going through Boston streets "carrying -a cock on his back and a bell in his hand." Several friends -followed him, loosely blindfolded and carrying cart whips; and -under pretence of striking at him managed to distribute their blows -with stinging force on the gaping crowd around. This was an old -English custom. At a later date the sport of shying at leaden cocks -prevailed. The "dumps" which were thrown, and the crude little -images of lead and pewter shaped like a cock, were often made and -sold by apprentices as part of their perquisites. - -Cock-fighting was popular in the Southern colonies and New York. -There are prohibitions against it in the rules of William and Mary -College. Certainly it was not encouraged or permitted here as in -English schools, where boys had cock-fights in the schoolroom; -and where that great teacher, Roger Ascham, impoverished himself -with dicing and cock-fighting. Cock-fights were often held on -Shrove Tuesday. The picture of Colonel Richard Wynkoop, shown on -the opposite page, was painted when he was twelve years old; the -dim figures of two fighting cocks can be seen by his side. They -are obscured by the sword which the colonel carried during the -Revolution, and which is thrust in front of the picture. The cruel -Dutch sport of riding for the goose, was riding at full speed to -catch a swinging greased goose. Young lads sometimes took part in -this, but no small boys. - -[Illustration: Cornelius D. Wynkoop, Eight Years Old, 1742] - -In _The Schole of Vertue_, 1557, we read:-- - - "O, Lytle childe, eschew thou ever game - For that hath brought many one to shame. - As dysing, and cardynge, and such other playes - Which many undoeth, as we see nowe-a-dayes." - -Playing cards were fiercely hated, and their sale prohibited in -Puritan communities, but games of cards could not be "beaten down." -Grown folk had a love of card-playing and gaming which seemed almost -hereditary. But I do not believe young children indulged much in -card-playing in any of the colonies. - -William Bradford, then governor of the colony at Plymouth, thus -grimly records in his now famous Log-book, the first Christmas Day -in that settlement:-- - - "The day called Christmas Day ye Gov^r cal'd them out to - worke (as was used) but ye moste of this new company excused - themselves, and saide y^t went against their consciences to work - on y^t Day. So ye Gov^r tould them that if they made it mater of - conscience, he would spare them till they were better informed. - So he led away ye rest and left them; but when they came home at - noon from their work he found them in ye street at play openly, - some pitching ye bar, and some at stoolball and such like - sports. So he went to them and took away their implements and - tould them it was against his conscience that they should play - and others work." - -The exact description of this game I do not know. Dr. Johnson says -it is a play where balls are driven from stool to stool, which may -be a good definition, but is a very poor explanation. - -The _Pretty Little Pocket Book_ says vaguely:-- - - "The ball once struck with Art and Care - And drove impetuous through the Air, - Swift round his Course the Gamester flies - Or his Stools are taken by surprise." - -At the end of the seventeenth century a French traveller, named -Misson, wrote a very vivacious account of his travels in England. He -sagely noted English customs, fashions, attributes, and manners; and -airily discoursed on the English game of football:-- - - "In winter football is a useful and charming exercise. It is a - leather ball about as big as one's head, fill'd with wind. This - is kick'd about from one to tother in the streets, by him that - can get it, and that is all the art of it." - -That is all the art of it! I can imagine the sentiments of the -general reader of that day (if any general reader existed in England -at that time), when he read and noted the debonair simplicity -of this brief account of what was even then a game of so much -importance in England. The proof that Misson was truly ignorant of -this subject is shown in the fact that he could by any stretch -of an author's privileged imagination call the English game of -foot-ball of that day "a useful and charming exercise." Nothing -could be further from the Englishman's intent than to make it either -profitable or pleasing. - -[Illustration: - -3 Battledore and Shuttlecock. - -4 Thread the Needle. - -Page from _Youthful Sports_] - -In the year 1583 a Puritan, named Phillip Stubbes, horror-stricken -and sore afraid at the many crying evils and wickednesses which were -rife in England, published a book which he called _The Anatomie -of Abuses_. It was "made dialogue-wise," and is one of the most -distinct contributions to our knowledge of Shakespeare's England. -Written in racy, spirited English, it is unsparing in denunciations -of the public and private evils of the day. His characterization of -the game of foot-ball is one of the strongest and most fearless of -his accusations:-- - - "Now who is so grosly blinde that seeth not that these aforesaid - exercises not only withdraw us from godliness and virtue, - but also haile and allure us to wickednesse and sin? For as - concerning football playing I protest unto you that it may - rather be called a friendlie kinde of fyghte than a play or - recreation--a bloody and murthering practice than a felowly - sport or pastime. For dooth not everyone lye in waight for his - adversarie, seeking to overthrowe him and picke him on his nose, - though it be uppon hard stones, in ditch or dale, in valley or - hill, or whatever place soever it be hee careth not, so hee - have him downe; and he that can serve the most of this fashion - he is counted the only fellow, and who but he?... So that by - this means sometimes their necks are broken, sometimes their - backs, sometimes their legs, sometimes their armes, sometimes - their noses gush out with blood, sometimes their eyes start - out, and sometimes hurte in one place, sometimes in another. - But whosoever scapeth away the best goeth not scot free, but is - either forewounded, craised, or bruised, so as he dyeth of it or - else scapeth very hardlie; and no mervaile, for they have the - sleights to meet one betwixt two, to dash him against the hart - with their elbowes, to hit him under the short ribs with their - griped fists and with their knees to catch him on the hip and - pick him on his neck, with a hundred such murthering devices." - -[Illustration: Stephen Row Bradley, 1800. _circa_] - -This was written three hundred years ago, and these are not the -words of a modern reporter, "They have sleights to meet one betwixt -two, to dash him against the heart with their elbows, to hit him -under the short ribs with their griped fists, and with their knees -to catch him on the hip and pick him on the neck." - -Stubbes may be set down by many as a sour-visaged, sour-voiced -Puritan; but a very gracious courtier of his day, an intelligent and -thoughtful man, Sir Thomas Elyot, was equally severe on the game. He -wrote, in 1537, _The Boke named the Gouvernour_, full of sensible -advice and instruction. In it he says:-- - - "Foot-ball wherein is nothynge but beastlye furie and exstreme - violence, whereof proceedeth hurte; and consequently malice and - rancour do remayne with them that be wounded; whereof it is to - be putt in perpetuall silence." - -The "perpetuall silence" which he put on the game has not fallen -even by the end of three centuries and a half. - -Some indirect testimony as to the character of the English game -comes from travellers in the American colonies, where the American -Indians were found playing a game of foot-ball like that of their -white brothers. John Dunton, travelling in New England when Boston -was half a century old, tells of the Indians' game:-- - - "There was that day a great game of Foot-ball to be played. - There was another Town played against 'em as is sometimes common - in England; but they played with their bare feet, which I - thought very odd; but it was upon a broad sandy Shoar free from - Stones which made it the more easie. Neither were they so apt to - trip up one another's heels and quarrel as I have seen 'em in - England." - -At the same time English boys were kicking the foot-ball around -Boston streets, and were getting themselves complained of by -game-hating Puritan neighbors, and enjoined by pragmatical -magistrates, just as they were in English towns. - -Fewer games are played now by both boys and girls than in former -times, in England as well as America. In a manuscript list of games -played at Eton in 1765 are these titles: cricket, fives, shirking -walls, scrambling walls, bally cally, battledore, pegtop, peg in the -ring, goals, hop-scotch, heading, conquering cobs, hoops, marbles, -trap ball, steal baggage, puss in the corner, cat gallows, kites, -cloyster and hyer gigs, tops, humming tops, hunt the hare, hunt the -dark lanthorn, chuck, sinks, stare-caps, hurtlecap. No games are now -recognized at Eton save cricket, foot-ball, and fives. Racquet and -hockey flourished for a time. The playing of marbles was abandoned -about 1820, and top-spinning about 1840. Top-time had always opened -ten days after the return to school after the summer holidays. Hoops -were made of stout ash laths with the bark on, and the hoop-rolling -season ended with a class fray with hoopsticks for weapons. At one -time marble-playing was prohibited in the English universities. It -is not probable that those undergraduates habitually played marble -any more than do our Princeton University men, who have a day of -marble-playing and one of top-spinning each spring. - -[Illustration: Doll's Furniture, One Hundred Years Old] - -A record of old-time sports would be incomplete without reference -to the laws of sport times. These are as firmly established as the -seasons, and as regular as the blooming of flowers. Children cannot -explain them, nor is there any leader who establishes them. It is -not a matter of reason; it is instinct. A Swiss writer says that -boys' games there belong chiefly to the first third of the year, -always return in the same order, and "without the individual child -being able to say who had given the sign, and made the beginning." -From Maine to Georgia the first time is, has been (and we may almost -add "ever shall be world without end"), marble time. Then come tops. -The saying is, "Top time's gone, kite time's come, April Fool's -Day will soon be here." Ball-playing in Boston had as its time the -first Thursday in April. Whistle-making would naturally come at a -time when whistle wood was in good condition. All the boys in all -the towns perch on stilts as closely in unison as the reports of a -Gatling gun. There is much sentiment in the thought that for years, -almost for centuries, thousands of boys in every community have had -the same games at the same time, and the recital almost reaches the -dignity of history. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -CHILDREN'S TOYS - - _Behold the child, by nature's kindly law - Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. - Some livelier plaything gives his youth delight, - A little louder but as empty quite._ - - --_Essay on Man. Alexander Pope, 1732._ - - -In the year 1695 Mr. Higginson wrote from Massachusetts to his -brother in England, that if toys were imported in small quantity to -America they would sell. In very small quantity, we fancy, though -the influence of crown and court began to be felt in New England, -and many articles of luxury were exported to that colony as they -were to Virginia. - -According to our present ideas, playthings for children in colonial -time were few in number, save the various ones they manufactured for -themselves. They played more games, and had fewer toys than modern -children. In 1712, on the list of rich goods brought into Boston -by a privateersman and sold there, were "Boxes of Toys." In 1743 -the _Boston News Letter_ advertised "Dutch and English Toys for -Children," and Mr. Ernst says Boston had a flourishing toy shop at -that date. Other towns did not, as we know from many shipping orders. - -[Illustration: An Old Doll] - -_The Toy Shop or Sentimental Preceptor_, one of Newbery's books, -gives a list of toys which the young English scholar sought; -they are a looking-glass, a "spying glass," a "fluffed dog," a -pocket-book, a mask, a drum, a doll, a watch, a pair of scales. Few -of these articles named would really be termed toys. Some of the -games already alluded to, such as top-spinning, hoop-rolling, and -the various games of ball, required toys to carry them on; but they -seemed to fall into classification more naturally in the chapter on -games than in this one. - -[Illustration: An Old Doll] - -I have often been asked whether the first childish girl emigrants -to this solemn new world had the comfort of dolls. They certainly -had something in the semblance of a doll, though far removed from -the radiant doll creatures of this day; little puppets, crude and -shapeless, yet ever beloved symbols of maternity, have been known -to children in all countries and all ages; dolls are as old as the -world and human life. In the tombs of Attica are found classic -dolls, of ivory and terra-cotta, with jointed legs and arms. Sad -little toys are these; for their human guardians are scattered -dust. Dolls were called puppets in olden times, and babies. In the -_Gentleman's Magazine_, London, September, 1751, is an early use -of the word doll, "Several dolls with different dresses made in -St. James Street have been sent to the Czarina to show the manner -of dressing at present in fashion among English ladies." This -circulation of dressed dolls as fashion transmitters was a universal -custom. Fashion-plates are scarce more than a century old in use. -Dolls were sent from house to house, from town to town, from country -to country, and even to a new continent. - -[Illustration: French Doll] - -These babies for fashion models came to be made in large numbers -for the use of milliners; and as the finest ones came from the -Netherlands, they were called "Flanders babies." To the busy fingers -of Dutch children, English and American children owed many toys -besides these dolls. It was a rhymed reproach to the latter that-- - - "What the children of Holland take pleasure in making, - The children of England take pleasure in breaking." - -Fashions changed, and the modish raiment grew antiquated and -despised; but still the "Flanders babies" had a cherished old age. -They were graduated from milliners' boxes and mantua-makers' show -rooms to nurseries and play-rooms where they reigned as queens of -juvenile hearts. There are old ladies still living who recall the -dolls of their youth as having been the battered fashion dolls sent -to their mammas. - -The best dolls in England were originally sold at Bartholomew Fair -and were known as "Bartholomew babies." The English poet, Ward, -wrote:-- - - "Ladies d'y want fine Toys - For Misses or for Boys - Of all sorts I have Choice - And pretty things to tease ye. - I want a little Babye - As pretty a one as may be - With head-dress made of Feather." - -In _Poor Robin's Almanack_, 1695, is a reference to a "Bartholomew -baby trickt up with ribbons and knots"; and they were known at the -time of the landing of the Pilgrims. Therefore it is not impossible -that some Winslow or Winthrop maid, some little miss of Bradford -or Brewster birth, brought across seas a Bartholomew baby and was -comforted by it. - -A pathetic interest is attached to the shapeless similitude of -a doll named Bangwell Putt, shown facing page 370. It is in the -collection at Deerfield Memorial Hall. It was cherished for eighty -years by Clarissa Field of Northfield, Massachusetts, who was born -blind, and whose halting but trusting rhymes of longing for the -clear vision of another world are fastened to the plaything she -loved in youth and in old age. - -Nothing more absurd could be fancied than the nomenclature "French" -attached to the two shapeless, inelegant creatures, a century old, -shown on pages 364 and 367. Yet gawky as they are, they show signs -of hard usage, which proves them to have had a more beloved life -than the case of elegant Spanish dolls, on page 389, which were -evidently too fine ever to be touched. The "White House Doll" spent -the days of her youth in the White House at Washington, with the -children of the President, John Quincy Adams, and is still cherished -by his descendants. - -[Illustration: French Doll] - -Skilful jackknives could manufacture home-made dolls' furniture. -Birch bark was especially adaptable to such uses. The wicker cradles -and "chaises" of babies were copied in miniature for dolls. Tin -toys were scarce, for tin was not much used for domestic utensils. -A tin horse and chaise over a hundred years old is shown on page -373, and a quaint plaything it is. The eternal desire of a child -for something suggestive of a horse found satisfaction in home-made -hobby-horses; and, when American ships wandered over the world in -the India trade, they brought home to American children strange -coaches and chariots of gay colors and strange woods; these were -often comical copies of European shapes, sometimes astonishingly -crude, but ample for the ever active imagination of a child to -clothe with beautiful outlines. An old coach is shown on page 369, -with the box in which it was originally packed. It is marked -Leghorn, but is doubtless Chinese. - -[Illustration: Dolls and Furniture] - -[Illustration: Chinese Coach and Horses] - -The word "jack" as a common noun and in compound words has been -held to be a general term applied to any contrivance which does the -work of a boy or servant, or a simple appliance which is subjected -to common usage. In French the name Jacques was a term for a young -man of menial condition. The term "country jake" is of kindred -sense. Jack lord, jack meddler, jackanapes, Jack Tar, smoke-jack, -jack-o'-lantern, black-jack, jack-rabbit, the term jack applied to -the knave in playing cards, and the expressions jack-at-a-pinch, -jack in office, jack in bedlam, jack in a box, jack of all trades, -and many others show the derivative meaning. Hence jack-knife may -mean a boy's knife. In English dialect the word was jack-lag-knife, -also jack-a-legs, in Scotch, jock-te-leg--these by a somewhat -fanciful derivation said to be from Jacques de Liege, the celebrated -cutler. - -[Illustration: Old Jack-knives] - -A good jack-knife was the most highly desired possession of a boy. -Days of weary work and hours of persistent pleading were gone -through with in hundreds of cases before the prize was secured. -Barlow knives had a century of popularity. Some now in Deerfield -Memorial Hall are here shown. Note the curved end, a shape now -obsolete, but in truth an excellent one for safe pocket carriage. -Knives of similar shape have been found that are known to be a -century and a half old. I have never seen in America any of the -old knives used as lovers' tokens, with mottoes engraved on them, -referred to by Shakespeare. The boy's stock of toys was largely -supplied by his own jack-knife: elder pop-guns, chestnut and willow -whistles, windmills, water-wheels, box-traps, figure 4 traps. Toy -weapons have varied little from the Christian era till to-day. -Clubs, slings, bows and arrows, air-guns, are as old as the year -One. Ere these were used as toys, they had been formidable weapons. -They were weapons still, for some years of colonial life. In 1645 -the court of Massachusetts ordered that all boys from ten to sixteen -years old should be exercised with bows and arrows. - -[Illustration: Bangwell Putt] - -Skating is an ancient pastime. As early as the thirteenth century -Fitzstephen tells of young Londoners fastening the leg-bones of -animals to the soles of the feet, and then pushing themselves on the -ice by means of poles shod with sharp iron points. - -Pepys thought skating "a very pretty art" when he saw it in 1662, -but it was then a novelty to him, and he was characteristically a -little afraid of it; justly disturbed, too, that the Duke of York -would go "though the ice was broken and dangerous, yet he would go -slide upon his scates which I did not like--but he slides very well." - -[Illustration: White House Doll] - -Wooden skates shod with iron runners were invented in the Low -Countries. Dutch children in New Netherlands all skated, just -as their grandfathers had in old Batavia. The first skates that -William Livingstone had on the frozen Hudson were made of beef -bones, as were those of mediaeval children. In Massachusetts and -Connecticut, skating was among the many Dutch ways and doings -practised by English folk in the new world. The Plymouth Pilgrims -brought these Dutch customs to the new world through their long -and intimate sojourn in Holland; the New Haven and Connecticut -Valley settlers learned them through their constant trade and -intercourse with their neighbors, the Dutch of Manhattan; but the -Massachusetts Bay settlers of Boston and Salem had known these Dutch -ways longer,--they brought them from England across seas, from the -counties of Essex and Suffolk, where the Dutch had gone years before -and married with the English. - -[Illustration: Old Tin Toy] - -New England boys in those early days went skating on thin ice and -broke through and were drowned, just as New England boys and girls -are to-day, alas! Judge Sewall wrote in his diary on the last day -in November, in 1696, that many scholars went to "scate" on Fresh -Pond, and that two boys, named Maxwell and Eyre, fell in and were -drowned. - -[Illustration: Doll's Wicker Coach] - -Advertisements of men's and boys' skates and of "Best Holland Scates -of Different Sizes," show a constant demand and use. In an invoice -of "sundry merchandise" to Weathersfield, Connecticut, in the year -1763, are twelve pair "small brass scates, @ 3/--L3, 16/." I do not -know the age of the skates shown opposite page 346. No date less -than a hundred years ago is ever willingly assigned to such relics. -They are similar in shape to the ones shown on page 349, in the -illustration taken from a book for children entitled _Children's -Sports_, published a century ago, which ends its dissertation on -skating with this sensible advice:-- - - "'Tis true it looks exceeding nice - To see boys gliding on the ice, - And to behold so many feats - Perform'd upon the sliding skates, - But before you venture there - Wait until the ice will bear, - For want of this both young and old - Have tumbled in,--got wet and cold." - -It was not until October, 1771, that a pleasure-filled item -appeared, "Boys' Marbles." In _The Pretty Little Pocket Book_ are -these lines:-- - - "MARBLES - - "Knuckle down to your Taw. - Aim well, shoot away. - Keep out of the Ring, - You'll soon learn to Play. - - MORAL - - "Time rolls like a Marble, - And drives every State. - Then improve each Moment, - Before its too late." - -Boys played with them precisely as boys do now. The poet Cowper in -his _Tirocinium_ says of the games of his school life:-- - - "The little ones unbutton'd, glowing hot - Playing our games and on the very spot - As happy as we once, to kneel and draw - The chalky ring, and knuckle down at taw." - -The terms used were the same as those heard to-day in school yards: -taws, vent, back-licks, rounces, dubs, alleys, and alley-taws, -agates, bull's-eyes, and commoneys. Jackstones was an old English -game known in Locke's day as dibstones. Other names for the game -were chuckstones, chuckie-stones, and clinches. The game is -precisely the same as was played two centuries ago; it was a girl's -game then--it is a girl's game now. - -Battledores and Shuttles were advertised for sale in Boston in 1761; -but they are far older than that. Many portraits of children show -battledores, as that of Thomas Aston Coffin. All books of children's -games speak of them. It was, in fact, a popular game, and deemed a -properly elegant exercise for decorous young misses to indulge in. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -FLOWER LORE OF CHILDREN - - _In childhood when with eager eyes - The season-measured years I view'd - All, garb'd in fairy guise - Pledg'd constancy of good._ - - _Spring sang of heaven; the summer flowers - Bade me gaze on, and did not fade; - Even suns o'er autumn's bowers - Heard my strong wish, and stay'd._ - - _They came and went, the short-lived four, - Yet, as their varying dance they wove, - To my young heart each bore - Its own sure claim of love._ - - --_J. H. Card. Newman, 1874._ - - -The records of childish flower lore contained in this chapter are -those of my own childhood; but they are equally the records of the -customs of colonial children, for these games and rhymes and plays -about flowers have been preserved from generation to generation of -New England children. The transmission of this nature lore has been -as direct and unaltered in the new world as in Great Britain. Some -of these customs, such as the eating of hollyhock cheeses and the -blowing of dandelion clocks, came originally, as have other play -usages, from England; many were varied in early years by different -conditions in the new world, by local fitness and suggestion. - -One chapter in Mr. Newell's book upon the _Games of American -Children_ dwells upon the conservatism of children. The -unquestioning reception of play formulas, which he proves, extended -to the flower rhymes and lore which I have recollected and herein -set down. These inherited customs are far dearer to children than -modern inventions. There is a quaintness of expression, a sentiment -of tradition, that the child feels without power of formulating. - -[Illustration: Stella (Bradley) Bellows, 1800, _circa_] - -If the paradise of the Orientals is a garden, so was a garden of -old-fashioned flowers the earthly paradise for a child: the long -sunny days brought into life so many delightful playthings to be -made through the exercise of that keen instinct of all children, -destructiveness. Each year saw the fresh retelling and teaching -of child to child of happy flower customs almost intuitively, or -through the "knowledge never learned at schools," that curious -subtle system of transmission which everywhere exists among -children who are blessed enough to spend their summer days in the -woods or in a garden. The sober teachings of science in later years -can never make up the loss to those who have lived their youth in -great cities, and have grown up debarred from this inheritance, -knowing not when - - "The summer comes with flower and bee." - -The dandelion was the earliest flower to stir the children's -memories; in New England it is "the firstling of the year." In the -days of my childhood we did not wait for the buttercup to open to -learn whether we "loved butter"; the soft dimpled chin of each child -was held up, as had been those of other children for past decades, -to catch the yellow reflection of the first dandelion on the pinky -throat. - -The dandelion had other charms for the child. When the blooms had -grown long-stemmed through seeking the sun from under the dense -box borders, what pale green, opal-tinted curls could be made by -splitting the translucent stems and immersing them in water, or by -placing them in the mouth! I taste still their bitterness! What -grace these curls conferred when fastened to our round combs, or -hung over our straight braids!--far better than locks of corn silk. -And what adorning necklaces and chains like Indian wampum could be -made by stringing "dandelion beads," formed by cutting the stems -into sections! This is an ancient usage; one German name of the -flower is chain-flower. The making of dandelion curls is also an -old-time childish custom in Germany. When the dandelion had lost her -golden locks, and had grown old and gray, the children still plucked -the downy heads, the "clocks" or blowballs, and holding aloft these -airy seed vessels, and fortifying the strong young lungs with a deep -breath, they blew upon the head "to see whether my mother wants me," -or to learn the time o' day. - - "Dandelion, the globe of down, - The schoolboy's clock in every town, - Which the truant puffs amain - To conjure back long hours again." - -The ox-eye daisy, the farmer's whiteweed, was brought to New -England, so tradition tells, as a garden flower. Now, as Dr. Holmes -says, it whitens our fields to the great disgust of our liberal -shepherds. It soon followed the dandelion in bloom, and a fresh -necklace could be strung from the starry blossoms, a daisy chain, -just as English children string their true pink and white daisies. -This daisy was also used as a medium of amatory divination, by -pulling from the floret the white ray flowers, saying, "He loves me, -he loves me not," or by repeating the old "apple-seed rhyme":-- - -[Illustration: A daisy chain surrounds most of the page] - - "One I love, - Two I love, - Three I love, I say, - Four I love with all my heart, - Five I cast away," etc. - -Flower oracles are mediaeval, and divination by leaves of grass. -Children to-day, as of old, draw grass stalks in the field and match -them to see who will be "It." Walther von der Vogelweide (1170-1230) -did likewise:-- - - "A spire of grass hath made me gay-- - I measured in the self-same way - I have seen practised by a child. - Come, look, and listen if she really does, - She does, does not, she does, does not, she does." - -The yellow disk, or "button," of the ox-eye daisy, which was formed -by stripping off the white rays, made a pretty pumpkin pie for the -dolls' table. A very effective and bilious old lady, or "daisy -grandmother," was made by clipping off the rays to shape the border -or ruffle of a cap, leaving two long rays for strings, and marking -in a grotesque old face with pen and ink. A dusky face, called with -childish plainness of speech a "nigger head," could be made in like -fashion from the "black-eyed Susan" or "yellow daisy," which now -rivals the ox-eye daisy as a pest of New England fields. - -Though the spring violets were dearly loved, we slaughtered them -ruthlessly by "fighting roosters" with them. The projecting spur -under the curved stem at the base of the flower was a hook, and when -the violets "clinched" we pulled till the stronger was conqueror, -and the weaker head was off. - -What braided "cat-ladders," and quaint, antique-shaped boats with -swelling lateen sail and pennant of striped grass could be made from -the flat, sword-like leaves of the "flower-de-luce!" Filled with -flowers, these leafy boats could be set gayly adrift down a tiny -brook in the meadow, or, with equal sentiment, in that delight of -children since Froissart's day, the purling gutter of a hillside -street after a heavy midsummer shower. The flowers chosen to -sail in these tiny crafts were those most human of all flowers, -pansies, or their smaller garden sisters, the "ladies'-delights" -that turned their laughing, happy faces to us from every nook -and corner of our garden. The folk names of this flower, such as -"three-faces-under-a-hood," "johnny-jump-up," "jump-up-and-kiss-me," -"come-tickle-me," show the universal sense of its kinship to -humanity. I knew a child who insisted for years that pansies spoke -to her. Another child, who had stolen a rose, and hidden it under -her apron, called out pettishly (throwing the rose in a pansy bed), -"Here! take your old flower"--as the pansy faces blinked and nodded -knowingly to her. - -The "dielytra" (bleeding-heart, or lady's-eardrops we called it) -had long, gracefully drooping racemes of bright red-pink flowers, -which when pulled apart and straightened out made fairy gondolas, -or which might be twisted into a harp and bottle. How many scores -have I carefully dissected, trying to preserve intact in skeleton -shape the little heart-shaped "frame" of the delicate flower! The -bleeding-heart is a flower of inexplicable charm to children; it has -something of that mystery which in human nature we term fascination. -Little children beg to pick it, and babies stretch out their tiny -hands to it when showier blossoms are unheeded. - -What black-headed puppets or dolls could be made from the great -poppies, whose reflexed petals formed gay scarlet petticoats; and -also from the blossoms of vari-colored double balsams, with their -frills and flounces! The hollyhock, ever ready to render to the -child a new pleasure, could be tied into tiny dolls with shining -satin gowns, true fairies. Families--nay, tribes of patriarchal -size had the little garden-mother. Mertensia, or lungwort, we -termed "pink and blue ladies." The lovely blossoms, which so -delighted the English naturalist Wallace, and which he called -"drooping porcelain-blue bells," are shaped something like a child's -straight-waisted, full-skirted frock. If pins are stuck upright in a -piece of wood, the little blue silken frocks can be hung over them, -and the green calyx looks like a tiny hat. A child friend forbidden -to play with dolls on the solemn New England Sabbath was permitted -to gather the mertensia bells on that holy day, and also to use the -cherished income of a prosperous pin store. It was discovered with -maternal horror that she had carefully arranged her pink and blue -ladies in quadrilles and contra-dances, and was very cheerfully -playing dancing party, to beguile the hours of a weary summer Sunday -afternoon. - -[Illustration: Playing Marbles] - -Mr. Tylor, the author of _Primitive Culture_, call our attention -to the fact that many of the beloved plays of children are only -sportive imitations of the serious business of life. In some -cases the game has outlived the serious practice of which it is a -copy--such as the use of bows and arrows. Children love to produce -these imitations themselves with what materials they can obtain, not -to have them provided in finished perfection. Thus the elaborately -fitted-up doll's house and imitation grocery store cannot keep the -child contented for days and weeks as can the doll's room or shop -counter furnished by the makeshifts of the garden. The child makes -her cups and saucers and furniture herself. She prepares her own -powders and distillations and is satisfied. - -A harvest of acorn cups furnished table garniture, but not a -cherished one; they were too substantial; we preferred more fragile, -more perishable wares. Rose-hips were fashioned into tiny tea-sets, -and would not be thought to be of great durability. A few years -ago I was present at the opening of an ancient chest which had not -been thoroughly searched for many years. In a tiny box within it -was found some cherished belongings of a little child who had died -in the year 1794. Among them was one of these tea-sets made of -rose-hips, with handles of bent pins. Though shrunken and withered, -the rose-hips still possessed some life color, but they soon fell -into dust. There was something most tender in the thought of that -loving mother, who had herself been dead over half a century, who -had thus preserved the childish work of her beloved daughter. - -Poppy pericarps made famous pepper-boxes, from which the seed could -be shaken as pepper; dishes and cups, too, for dolls' tea-tables, -and tiny handles of strong grass stems could be attached to the -cups. For the child's larder, hollyhocks furnished food in their -mucilaginous cheeses, and the insipid akenes of the sunflower and -seeds of pumpkins swelled the feast. A daintier morsel, a drop -of honey, the "clear bee-wine" of Keats, could be sucked from the -curved spur of the columbine, and the scarlet-and-yellow trumpet of -the beautiful coral honeysuckle, mellifluous of the name, as well as -from the tubes of the heads of clover. We ate rose-leaves, also, and -grass roots, and smarting peppergrass. The sorrel and oxalis (which -we called "ladies' sorrel") and the curling tendrils of grape-vines -gave an acid zest to our childish nibblings and browsings. - -The gnarled plum trees at the end of the garden exuded beautiful -crystals of gum, of which we could say proudly, like Cornelia, -"These are my jewels." Translucent topaz and amber were never more -beautiful, and, void of settings, these pellucid gems could be -stuck directly on the fingers or on the tip of the ear. And when -our vanity was sated with the bravery, or we could no longer resist -our appetite, there still remained another charm: with childish -opulence, like Cleopatra, we swallowed our jewels. - -A low-growing mallow, wherever it chanced to run, shared with its -cousin hollyhock the duty of providing cheeses. These mallow cheeses -were also eaten by English children. In allusion to this the poet -Clare wrote:-- - - "The sitting down when school was o'er - Upon the threshold of the door, - Picking from mallows, sport to please, - The crumpled seed we call a cheese." - -These flower customs never came to us through reading. All our -English story-books told of making cowslip balls, of breaking the -shepherd's purse, of playing lords and ladies with the arum--what we -call jack-in-the-pulpit; yet we never thought of making any kindred -attempts with these or similar flowers. We did gather eagerly the -jack-in-the-pulpit, whose singularity of aspect seems always to -attract the attention of children, and by pinching it at the base -of the flower made it squeak, "made Jack preach." But like true -republicans we never called our jacks lords and ladies. - -The only liking we had for the portulaca was in gathering the seeds -which grew in little boxes with a lid opening in a line around the -middle. Oh, dear! It doesn't seem like the same thing to hear these -beloved little seed-boxes described as "a pyxis, or a capsule with a -circumscissile dehiscence." - -From the live-for-ever, or orpine (once tenderly cherished as a -garden favorite, now in many localities a hated and persistent -weed), we made frogs, or purses, by gently pinching the fleshy -leaves between thumb and forefinger, thus loosening the epidermis on -the lower side of the leaf and making a bladder which, when blown -up, would burst with a delightful pop. The New England folk-names -by which this plant is called, such as frog-plant, blow-leaf, -pudding-bag plant, show the wide-spread prevalence of this custom. -A rival in sound could be made by popping the foxglove's fingers. -English countrywomen call the foxglove a pop. The morning-glory -could also be blown up and popped, and the canterbury-bell. We -placed rose petals and certain tender leaves over our lips, and drew -in the centres for explosion. - -[Illustration: Spanish Dolls] - -Noisy boys found scores of other ways to make various resounding -notes in the gardens. A louder pop could be made by placing broad -leaves on the extended thumb and forefinger of one hand and -striking them with the other. The boys also made squawks out of -birch bark and fiddles of cornstalks and trombones from the striped -prickly leaf-stalks of pumpkins and squashes. - -The New England chronicler in rhyme of boyhood days, Rev. John -Pierpont, called this sound evoked from the last-named instrument -"the deeper tone that murmurs from the pumpkin leaf trombone." -It is, instead, a harsh trumpeting. These trombones were made in -Germany as early as the thirteenth century. - -An ear-piercing whistle could be constructed from a willow branch, -and a particularly disagreeable sound could be evoked by every boy, -and (I must acknowledge it) by every girl, too, by placing broad -leaves of grass--preferably the pretty striped ribbon-grass, or -gardener's garters--between the thumbs and blowing thereon. Other -skilful and girl-envied accomplishments of the boys I will simply -name: making baskets and brooches by cutting or filing the furrowed -butternut or the stone of a peach; also fairy baskets, Japanesque -in workmanship, of cherry stones; manufacturing old-women dolls of -hickory nuts; squirt-guns and pop-guns of elderberry stems; pipes -of horse-chestnuts, corn-cobs, or acorns, in which dried sweet-fern -could be smoked; sweet-fern or grape-stem or corn-silk cigars. - -Some child customs successfully defy the law of the survival of the -useful, and ignore the lesson of reason; they simply exist. A marked -example of these, of bootless toil, is the laborious hoarding of -horse-chestnuts each autumn. With what eagerness and hard work do -boys gather these pretty nuts; how they quarrel with one another -over the possession of every one; how stingily they dole out a few -to the girls who cannot climb the trees, and are not permitted to -belabor the branches with clubs and stones for dislodgment of the -treasures, as do their lordly brothers! How carefully the gathered -store is laid away for winter, and not one thing ever done with one -horse-chestnut, until all feed a grand blaze in the open fireplace! -At the time of their gathering they are converted to certain uses, -are made into certain toys. They are tied to the ends of strings, -and two boys, holding the stringed chestnuts, play cob-nut. Two nuts -are also tied together by a yard of cord, and, by a catching knack, -circled in opposite directions. But these games have a very emphatic -time and season,--the weeks when the horse-chestnuts ripen. The -winter's store is always untouched. - -From a stray burdock plant which had escaped destruction in our -kitchen garden, or from a group of these pestilent weeds in a -neighboring by-path, could be gathered materials for many days of -pleasure. The small, tenacious burs could be easily wrought into -interesting shapes. There was a romance in our neighborhood about -a bur-basket. A young man conveyed a written proposal of marriage -to his sweetheart reposing in one of the spiny vehicles. Like the -Ahkoond of Swat, I don't know "why or which or when or what" he -chose such an extraordinary medium, but the bur-basket was forever -after haloed with sentiment. We made from burs more prosaic but -admirable furniture for the dolls' house,--tables, chairs, and -cradles: Traces of the upholstery clung long and disfiguringly to -our clothing, but never deterred us from the fascinating occupation. -To throw these burs upon each other's clothing was held to be the -commission of the unpardonable sin in childish morals; still it was -done "in holiday foolery," as in Shakespeare's day. - -The milkweed, one of our few native weeds, and a determined settler -on its native soil, furnished abundant playthings. The empty -pods became fairy cradles, and tiny pillows could be made of the -beautiful silk. The milkweed and thistle both furnish pretty, -silvery balls when treated with deft fingers; and their manufacture -is no modern fashion. Manasseh Cutler, writing in 1786, says:-- - - "I was pleased with a number of perfectly white silken balls, as - they appeared to be, suspended by small threads along the frame - of the looking-glass. They were made by taking off the calyx of - the thistle at an early stage of blooming." - -Ingenious toys of amusing shapes could be formed of the pith of -the milkweed, and when weighted with a tack would always fall tack -downward, as did the grotesque corn-stalk witches. - -Pressed flowers were devoted to special uses. I cannot recall -pressing any flower save larkspur,--the "lark-heels" of Shakespeare. -Why this flower was chosen I do not know, unless for the reason that -its colors were so enduring. We used to make charming wreaths of the -stemless flowers by placing the spur of one in the centre of another -flower, and thus forming a tiny circle. A favorite arrangement was -alternating the colors pink and blue. These stiff little pressed -wreaths were gummed on a sheet of paper, to be used at the proper -time as a valentine,--were made for that definite purpose; yet I -cannot now recall that, when February came, I ever sent one of these -valentines, or indeed had any to send. - -I have found these larkspur wreaths in a Pike's Arithmetic, used a -century ago, and also in old Bibles, sometimes fastened in festoons -on the title-page, around the name of a past owner. Did Dr. Holmes -refer to one when he wrote his graceful line, "light as a loop of -larkspur"? A similar wreath could be made of the columbine spurs. A -friend tells me she made scores in her youth; but we never pressed -any flowers but larkspur. - -Many pretty wreaths were made of freshly gathered flowers. The -daintiest were of lilac or phlox petals, which clung firmly -together without being threaded, and the alternation of color in -these wreaths--one white and two purple lilac petals, or two white -phlox petals and two crimson--could easily prove the ingenuity -and originality of the child who produced them. In default of -better-loved flowers, the four-o'clock, or marvel-of-Peru, was made -into a similar garland. - -In the beautiful and cleanly needles of the pine the children had an -unlimited supply for the manufacture of toys. Pretty necklaces could -be made for personal adornment, resembling in miniature the fringed -bark garments of the South Sea Islanders, and tiny brooms for dolls' -houses. A thickly growing cluster of needles was called "a lady." -When her petticoats were carefully trimmed, she could be placed -upright on a sheet of paper, and by softly blowing upon it could -be made to dance. A winter's amusement was furnished by gathering -and storing the pitch-pine cones and hearing them snap open in the -house. The cones could also be planted with grass-seeds, and form a -cheerful green growing ornament. - -[Illustration: Leaf Boats made from Flower-de-luce] - -From birch bark gathered in long wood walks could be made -cornucopias and drinking-cups, and letters could be cut thereon and -thereof. There wandered through the town, harmless and happy, one -of "God's fools," whose like is seen in every country community. -He found his pleasure in early autumn in strolling through the -country, and marking with his jack-knife, in cabalistic designs, -the surface of all the unripe pumpkins and squashes. He was driven -by the farmers from this annoying trespass in the daytime, but "by -brave moonshine" could still make his mysterious mark on the harvest -of the year. The boys of the town, impressed by the sight of a -garden or field of squashes thus curiously marked, fell into a habit -of similar inscription, which in them became wanton vandalism, and -had none of the sense of baffled mystery which always hung around -and illumined poor Elmer's letters. A favorite manner of using the -autumn store of pumpkins was in the manufacture of Jack-o'-lanterns, -which were most effective and hideous when lighted from within. - -"The umbrellas are out!" call country children in spring, when -the peltate leaves of the May apple spread their umbrella-shaped -lobes, and the little girls gather them, and the leaves of the -wild sarsaparilla, for dolls' parasols. The spreading head of what -we called snake grass could also be tied into a very effective -miniature parasol. There is no sense of caste among children when -in a field or garden--all are equally well dressed when "bedizened -and brocaded" with garden finery. Green leaves can be pinned with -their stems into fantastic caps and bonnets; foxglove fingers can be -used as gloves; the blossoms of the jewelweed make pretty earrings; -and the dandelion and daisy chains are not the only necklaces,--the -lilac and larkspur chains and pretty little circlets of phlox are -proudly worn; and strings of rose-hips end the summer. The old -English herbalist says "children with delight make chains and pretty -gewgaws of the fruit of roses." Truly, the garden-bred child walks -in gay attire from May to October. - -The "satten" found by the traveller Josselyn, in seventeenth-century -New England gardens, formed throughout New England a universal -plaything, and a frequent winter posy, in country parlors, on -mantel or table. The broad white oval partition, of satiny lustre, -remaining after the side valves had fallen, made juvenile money, and -the plant went by the appropriate name of money-in-both-pockets. - -Other seeds were gathered as the children's spoils: those of the -garden balsam, to see them burst, or to feel them curl up in the -hand like living creatures; those of the balsam's cousin, the -jewelweed, to watch them snap violently open--hence its country name -of touch-me-not and snapweed. When the leaves were hung with dew it -deserved its title of jewelweed, and when they were immersed in -water its other pretty descriptive folk name of silver-leaf. - -A grotesquery could be formed from the seed-pods in the centre of -the peony, when opened, in such a way that the tiny pink and white -seeds resembled two sets of teeth in an open mouth. Imaginary -miniature likenesses were found in the various parts of many -flowers: the naked pistil and stamens of one were a pair of tongs; -another had a seed ovary which was a lady, a very stout lady with -extending hoops. The heart's-ease had in its centre an old lady -washing her feet; the monk's-hood, a devil in his chariot. A single -petal of the columbine, with attached sepals, was a hovering dove, -and the whole flower--Izaak Walton's "culverkeys"--formed a little -dish with a ring of pigeon-heads bending within. - -There were many primitive inks and staining juices that could be -expressed, and milks and gums that exuded, from various plants. We -painted pictures in our books with the sap from the petals of the -red peonies, and blue juice from the blossom of the spiderwort, or -tradescantia, now a neglected flower. We dyed dolls' clothes with -the juice of elderberries. The country child could also dye a vivid -red with the juice of the pokeberry, the "red-ink" plant, or with -the stems of the bloodroot; and the sap crushed from soft, pulpy -leaves, such as those of the live-for-ever, furnished a green stain. - -There was a certain garden lore connected with insects, not so -extensive, probably, as a child would have upon a farm. We said to -the snail:-- - - "Snail, snail, come out of your hole, - Or else I will beat you as black as a coal." - -We sang to the lady-bug:-- - - "Lady-bug, lady-bug, fly away home; - Your house is on fire, your children will burn." - -We caught the grasshoppers, and thus exhorted them:-- - - "Grandfather, grandfather gray, - Give me molasses, or I'll throw you away." - -We believed that earwigs lived for the sole purpose of penetrating -our ears, that dragon-flies flew with the sole thought of sewing -up our lips--devil's darning-needles we called them. To this day -I instinctively cover my mouth at their approach. We used to -entrap bumble-bees in the bells of monopetalous flowers such as -canterbury-bells, or in the ample folds of the hollyhock, and -listen to their indignant scolding and buzzing, and watch them gnaw -and push out to freedom. I cannot recall ever being stung in the -process. - -We had the artistic diversion of "pin-a-sights." These were one of -the shop-furnishings of pin stores, whose curious lore, and the -oddly shaped and named articles made for them, should be recorded -ere they are forgotten. A "pin-a-sight" was made of a piece of -glass, on which were stuck flowers in various designs. Over these -flowers was pasted a covering of paper, in which a movable flap -could be lifted, to display, on payment of a pin, the concealed -treasures. We used to chant, to entice sight-seers, "A pin, a pin, -a poppy-show." This being our rendering of the word "puppet-show." -I recall as our "sights" chiefly the tiny larkspur wreaths before -named, and miniature trees carefully manufactured of grass-spires. -A noted "pin-a-sight," glorious still in childish history and -tradition, was made for my pin-store by a grown-up girl of fourteen. -She cut in twain tiny baskets, which she pasted on glass, and filled -with wonderful artificial flowers manufactured out of the petals of -real blossoms. I well remember her "gilding refined gold" by making -a gorgeous blue rose out of the petals of a flower-de-luce. - -I cannot recall playing much with roses; we fashioned a bird out -of the buds. The old English rhyme describing the variation of the -sepals was unknown to us:-- - - "On a summer's day in sultry weather - Five brethren were born together: - Two had beards, and two had none, - And the other had but half a one." - -Still, with the rose is connected one of my most tender child -memories,--somewhat of a gastronomic cast, yet suffused with an -element of grace,--the making of "rosy-cakes." These dainty fairy -cakes were made of layers of rose-leaves sprinkled with powdered -sugar and cinnamon, and then carefully enfolded in slips of white -paper. Sometimes they were placed in the garden over night, pressed -between two flat stones. As a morsel for the epicure they were not -altogether alluring, although inoffensive, but decidedly preferable -to pumpkin or sunflower seeds, and they were englamoured with -sentiment; for these rosy-cakes were not destined to be greedily -eaten by the concocter, but were to be given with much secrecy -as a mark of affection, a true love token, to another child or -some beloved older person, and were to be eaten also in secret. -I recall to this day the thrill of happiness which the gift of -one of these little paper-inclosed rosy-cakes brought to me, in -the days of my childhood, when it was slipped into my hand by a -beautiful and gentle child, who died the following evening, during -a thunder-storm, of fright. The tragedy of her death, the memory -of the startling glimpses given by the vivid lightning, of agitated -running to and fro in the heavy rain and lowering darkness, and the -terrified summons of kindly neighbors,--all have fixed more firmly -in my mind the happy recollection of her last gift. - -Another custom of my youth was watching at dusk the opening of the -twisted buds of the garden primrose into wan, yellow stars, "pallid -flowers, by dew and moonlight fed," which filled the early evening -with a faint, ineffable fragrance that drew a host of encircling -night moths. Keats said they "leaped from buds into ripe flowers," a -habit thus told by Margaret Deland:-- - - "Here, in warm darkness of a night in June, - * * * * * children came - To watch the primrose blow. - Silent they stood, - Hand clasped in hand, in breathless hush around, - And saw her shyly doff her soft green hood - And blossom--with a silken burst of sound!" - -In our home garden stood a clump of tall primroses, whose beautiful -flowers, when opened, were four inches in diameter. When riding, -one summer evening, along a seaside road on Cape Ann, we first saw -one of these queens of the night in an humble dooryard. In the -dark its seeds were gathered and given by an unknown hand and a -flower-loving heart to my mother, to form under her "fair tendance" -the luminous evening glory of her garden. And on summer nights this -stately primrose still blooms in moonlight and starlight, though the -gentle hand that planted it is no longer there:-- - - "Yon rising Moon that looks for us again - How oft hereafter will she wax and wane - How oft hereafter look for us - Through this same Garden--and for _one_ in vain." - -To every garden-bred child the sudden blossoming and pale shining in -the gloaming have ever given the evening primrose a special tender -interest,--a faintly mystic charm through the chill of falling -dew and the dim light, and through a half-sad atmosphere which -has always encircled the flower, and has been felt by many of the -poets, making them seldom sing the evening primrose as a flower of -happiness. With the good night of children to the flowers, I close -this record of old-time child life. - - - - -Index - - _Ye labor and ye patience, ye judgment and ye penetration which - are required to make a good index is only known to those who - have gone through with this most necessary and painful but least - praised part of a publication._ - - _--William Oldys, 1687._ - - - Abcie. See Absey-book. - - Abiel, the name, 15. - - Abigail, the name, 16. - - Absey-book, 127, 229. - - _Accidence, Young Lady's_, 96, 135; - _Cheever's_, 134. - - Acorn cups, playthings of, 386. - - Adams, Abigail, quoted, 93-94; - patriotism of, 171. - - Adams, John Quincy, birth of, 40; - letters of, 147, 169-170; - patriotic education of, 170 _et seq._ - - Advertisements, of booksellers, 267 _et seq._ - - AEsop's _Fables_, 264. - - _Afflicted Parents_, 257. - - Agates, 375. - - Albany, N. Y., education of girls in, 94. - - Alleys, 375. - - "All the birds of the air," 348. - - Almanacs, notes in, 163. - - Almonds, 32. - - Alphabet-blocks, 182. - - _American Preceptor_, 144. - - Amphidromia, 18. - - Andover, Mass., school at, 83, 134. - - Angelica candy, 31. - - Appleseed rhyme, 381. - - Appleton, Samuel, as teacher, 98. - - Arithmetic, manuscript, 79, 138, 139; - study of, 138; - verses in, 141, 142; - printed, 140 _et seq._; - rules on birch bark, 79. - - Arsemetrick, 140. - - _Arte of Vulgar Arithmetike_, 142. - - Ascham, Roger, 91; - habits of, 352. - - Ashes, saved by school children, 77. - - Astrology, 5-6. - - Augrime, 140. - - Austin, Madam, names of children, 16. - - - _Babees Book_, 215, 220. - - Babies. See Dolls. - - Backboard, 105, 107. - - Ball, games of, 347. - - Ball, Mary, quoted, 95. - - Balsam, dolls of, 384. - - Bangwell Putt, 366. - - Baptism, in winter, 4. - - Barbadoes, scholars from, 86 _et seq._ - - Barbauld, Mrs., learnt upon, 298 _et seq._ - - Barnard, John, quoted, 97, 200. - - Barring-out, 77. - - Baskets, of fruit stones, 390; - of burs, 392. - - Bathing, 25, 26; - Locke's ideas about, 25; - old-time lack of, 27-29; - on shipboard, 28. - - Battledore and shuttlecock, 376. - - Battledore book, 125 _et seq._ - - Beans, as food, 30. - - Bears, hunting of, 316. - - Bearing-cloth, 23. - - Beechen roundels, 335. - - Beer, drinking of, 26. - - Bendall, Edward, names of children, 17. - - Berkeley, Governor, his narrow mind, 64; - quoted, 65. - - Berries, as food, 30. - - Bethlehem, Pa., schools at, 114. - - Bewick, cuts of, 258, 286, 289, 291, 293. - - Bible, as guide, 191; - use in schools, 203 _et seq._; - reading of, 228; - familiarity with, 228; - deprivation of, 229; - influence of, 229; - versification of, 258; - abridgments of, 258; - texts of, embroidered, 334. - - Bingham, Caleb, school of, 96-97; - books of, 96, 135, 144. - - Birch, for rods, 196. - - Birch bark, for paper, 79; - for cradles, 21; - toys of, 367, 390; - letters cut of, 395; - cups of, 395. - - Blackburn, portraits by, 37, 51. - - Black-jacks, 32. - - Bladders in windpipe, 4. - - Blair, Agan, letter of, 104-105. - - Blanchard, Claude, quoted, 151. - - Blankets, 21-23. - - Bleeding heart, 383. - - Bloodroot, ink from, 398. - - Boarding schools, 113 _et seq._ - - _Boke of Curtasye_, 215. - - _Boke of Nurture_, 215. - - _Book of Martyrs_, 249. - - Bonner, Jane, portrait of, 44-45. - - Borrowing, of books, 301, 302. - - Boston, land allotment of, 13; - cakes in, 32; - schools of, 69, 99, 135; - boarders in, 99; - writing-teachers of, 152, 153; - laws in, 205; - funerals in, 243; - children's books in, 299; - style of writing, 153. - - Bounds, beating the, 312 _et seq._ - - Bowling, 350. - - Bowne, Eliza Southgate, letters of, 113, 114. - - Bows and arrows, 371, 385. - - Boys' pews, 246. - - _Boy Bishop's Sermon_, 193. - - Bradley, Daniel, infant conversion of, 251. - - Bradford, Governor, christening shirt and mittens of, 35; - bearing-cloth of, 23; - quoted, 230-231, 353. - - Bradley children, 61. - - Brainerd, David and John, childhood of, 223 _et seq._, 307 _et seq._ - - Breaking up, in school, 115. - - Breeches, 62. - - Bristle-saving, 310. - - _British Instructor_, 136. - - Brookline, Mass., land grants in, 13. - - Broom-making, 308. - - _Brother's Gift_, 281. - - Browne, Sir Thomas, quoted, 57; - his early maturity, 176. - - Brownell, advertisement of, 321. - - Buck, Richard, children's names, 14-15. - - Buckingham, Joseph T., precocity of, 184; - cited, 310. - - Bumble bees, trapping of, 399. - - Bunyan, John, writings of, 254-255. - - Bunyan, Mrs. John, books of, 249. - - Burr, Aaron, advice to daughter, 160-161. - - Burs, playthings of, 392. - - Busks, 106. - - Bussee, 199. - - Butcher, Elizabeth, infant query of, 251. - - - Cakes, groaning, 17; - nurses', 18; - Meers, 32; - caraway, 31. - - Canterbury bells, 389. - - Caraways, 31. - - _Careful Father and Pious Child_, 130. - - Cards, playing, 353. - - Card-setting, 309. - - Carter, Robert, wardrobe of, 55-56. - - Carolinas, schools of, 65. - - _Caroline, or a Lesson to Cure Vanity_, 293-294. - - Cary children, 61. - - Cat and clay chimney, 76. - - Catechism, in schools, 131; - as gifts, 258. - - _Catechism of Health_, 95. - - Cat-ladders, 382. - - Cat's-cradle, 346. - - Caudle, drinking of, 18. - - Cereal foods, 29-31. - - _Charlotte Temple_, 113. - - Chaucer, cited, 211. - - Chastellux, Marquis de, cited, 110-111. - - Cheeses, of hollyhocks, 386; - of mallows, 387. - - Cheever, Ezekiel, discipline of, 200; - grammar of, 134. - - Chester, England, child marriages in, 186 _et seq._ - - Chesterfield, Lord, education of his son, 178-179; - quoted, 178. - - Child, Tom, 44. - - _Child's Body of Divinity_, 262. - - _Child's Companion_, 144. - - _Child's New Spelling Book_, 136. - - Chimney, cat and clay, 76. - - Chokecherry-gathering, 309. - - Christening, in winter, 34. - - Christening dress, 34 _et seq._ - - Christening party, 18. - - _Christian's Metamorphosis Unfolded_, 255. - - _Christian Pilgrim_, 255. - - Chuck farthing, 347. - - Chuckstones, 375. - - Clap, Roger, names of children, 16. - - Clare, quoted, 387. - - _Clarissa, or The Grateful Orphan_, 295. - - Clinches, 375. - - Clocks, dandelion, 380. - - Coarseness of children's books, 291. - - Coasting, 350. - - Coats, worn by boys, 41. - - Coat-of-arms, 323 _et seq._ - - Cobnuts, 391. - - _Cobwebs to Catch Flies_, 284, 290. - - Cocker's Arithmetic, 140, 142. - - Cock-fighting, 352. - - Cock-throwing, 351. - - Codrington, Richard, quoted, 264, 265. - - Coffin, Thomas A., portrait of, 52. - - Coleman, Jane, education of, 91 _et seq._ - - Coleman, Lydia, letters of, 87-88, 102; - guardianship of, 87 _et seq._, 101 _et seq._ - - Coleman, President, letter of, 92. - - Colet, 91. - - College, old use of word, 277. - - _Columbian Orator_, 144. - - Columbine, wreaths of, 394; - playthings of, 398. - - Comets, notions about, 148, 240. - - Comfits, 87. - - Commonplace books, 172 _et seq._; - of children, 173. - - Concord, N. H., funeral at, 242-243. - - Connecticut, schools of, 68; - early laws of, 68. - - Conservatism of children, 378. - - Contagious diseases, 5. - - Cookies, 32. - - Cookey-moulds, 124. - - Cooper, Rebecca, wooing of, 188 _et seq._ - - Copley, portraits by, 37, 49, 50, 52, 53, 55. - - Copley family, 55. - - Copybooks, home-made, 79. - - Cordes, Ellinor, portrait, 48. - - Cornstalk, witches of, 393; - fiddles of, 390. - - Corsets. See Stays. - - Cotton, dress of, 60. - - Cotton, John, 130. - - _Country Rhimes for Children_, 255. - - Cowper, William, quoted, 375. - - Cradle, of Peregrine White, 20; - swinging, 21; - of birch bark, 21; - of wicker, 21; - of Indians, 21; - cost of, 21. - - _Cradle Hymn_, 262-263. - - Criss-cross row, 118. - - Cromwell, Oliver, discipline of, 193. - - Culverkeys, 398. - - Curtius, Dr., 201-202. - - Custis, "Miss," wardrobe of, 56-57; - harpsichord of, 113. - - Custis family, portrait, 57. - - Cutler, Manasseh, quoted, 393. - - Cut-tail, 319. - - Cyphering. See Arithmetic. - - - Daffy's Elixir, 6. - - Daisies, divination with, 380; - chains of, 380. - - Dame schools, 97. - - Danbury, Mass., spelling in, 137. - - "Dance barefoot," 103. - - Dancing, price of lessons, 103; - "gynecandrical," 109; - "petulant," 110; - sermon against, 109-110; - repression of, 110; - formality of, 110-111; - varied titles of, 111. - - Dandelion, chains, 409; - clocks, 380. - - _Day of Doom_, 252 _et seq._ - - _Dealings with the Dead_, 242. - - _Death and Burial of Cock Robin_, 292. - - Death-bed scenes, 257, 295. - - Death rate, 4. - - Deer, hunting of, 316. - - Deland, Margaret, quoted, 402. - - Deming, Mrs., letter of, 99. - - De Peyster twins, portrait of, 45. - - Deportment, 105. - - Desks, primitive, 75. - - Devil, familiarity with, 175; - names of, 239. - - Devil's play-houses, 247. - - _Dialogue between Christ, Youth, and the Devil_, 131. - - Diaries, of adults, 163 _et seq._; - of children, 164; - penmanship of, 164. - - _Diary of a Lady of Quality_, 206. - - Dibstones, 375. - - Dielytra, 383. - - Diet, of children, 26, 29-30; - Locke's notions on, 26. - - _Dilworth's Speller_, 136. - - Discipline, in American schools, 196 _et seq._; - in English schools, 192 _et seq._; - Dr. Johnson on, 194; - in Dutch schools, 194; - parental, 192; - of servants, 192; - of grown children, 192. - - Diseases of children, 4. - - Disinfection, 4-5. - - _District School_, 155. - - _Divine Blossoms_, 252. - - _Divine Emblems_, 255. - - _Divine Songs for Children_, 262. - - Dock, Samuel, character of, 209 _et seq._; - methods of teaching, 210; - quoted, 211. - - Dod, Mr., book of, 249. - - Dogs, in meeting-house, 245. - - Dolls, antiquity of, 363; - as fashion conveyors, 364-365; - Dutch, 365; - Bartholomew Fair, 365-366; - French, 366-367; - of hollyhocks, 384; - of poppies, 384; - of mertensia, 384; - of hickory-nuts, 390. - - Dorchester, Mass., boys of, 246. - - Dorchester in America, 165 _et seq._; - churches in, 166. - - Dorothy Q., 107-108. - - Double names, 17. - - Downing, Lucy, christening party, 18; - on son's marriage, 188. - - Doyle, Sir Francis, quoted, 225. - - Dragon flies, notions about, 399. - - Drainage, 4-5. - - Dream-books, 265. - - Dress, laws about, 45; - in book-cuts, 293. - - Drift of the forest, 315. - - Drunkenness, of school-teachers, 72. - - Dudley, Governor, 179; - quoted, 2, 185. - - Dudley, Paul, 185. - - Dulany, Major, on school plays, 116; - on letter writing, 159-160. - - Dulany, Mary Grafton. See Mary Grafton. - - Dumps, 352. - - Dunton, John, quoted, 358. - - Dwight, Timothy, precocity of, 184-185. - - Dyves Pragmaticus, title of, 30; - on sweetmeats, 30; - on books, 127 _et seq._; - on birch, 196. - - - Earle, Abigail, handwriting of, 151. - - Earle, John, quoted, 112; - cited, 164. - - Earle, Professor, cited, 136-137. - - Earrings, 47. - - Earwigs, notions about, 399. - - Edwards, Jonathan, education of, 92-93; - precocity of, 180; - letter of, 180-181; - on spiders, 181; - his book, 251. - - Edwards, Timothy, letter of, 92. - - Elderberries, squirt guns of, 390; - ink from, 398. - - Elyot, Sir Thomas, quoted, 357. - - Emerson, Ralph Waldo, quoted, 215. - - Endicott, Governor, quoted, 188 _et seq._ - - Epidemics, 4. - - Equality, sign of, 139. - - Erasmus, 91. - - Erasmus Hall, 126. - - Eringo-root, candied, 31. - - Ernst, C. W., quoted, 31. - - Essex, Earl of, child marriage of, 187. - - _Essays to do Good_, 255. - - Etiquette, regard for, 222 _et seq._ - - Eton, games at, 358. - - Evelyn, John, quoted, 177, 231-232; - on child marriage, 187; - cited, 283. - - Evelyn, Richard, character of, 177 _et seq._ - - _Evenings at Home_, 295. - - _Every Young Man's Companion in Drawing_, 54. - - Exhibitions, school, 115 _et seq._ - - Exposure, at baptism, 4. - - - _Fairchild Family_, 295 _et seq._ - - Falkland, Elizabeth, discipline of, 193. - - Falkland, Letice, quoted, 232. - - Family, size of, 11 _et seq._ - - Farm life, change of duties in, 308. - - Fathergone, the name, 15. - - _Father's Gift_, story from, 279-280. - - Fear of the Lord, 227, 237. - - Feather-work, 322. - - Feet, wetting of, 25. - - Ferule, in Dutch schools, 194; - derivation of, 195. - - Fescue, 122. - - Fiddle, corn-stalk, 390. - - Finger-sticking, 213. - - Fiske, Reverend Moses, family of, 12; - thrift of, 12. - - Flagg, James, portrait, 48-49. - - Flagg, Polly, portrait, 48. - - Flannel sheet, 21. - - Flapper, 197. - - Flatbush, L. I., school at, 74, 202; - curious discipline of scholars, 199-200. - - Flax, children's work on, 306. - - Fleetwood-Quincy sampler, 329 _et seq._ - - Fleetwood, Anne, 330. - - Fleetwood, Miles, 330. - - Floor, of earth, 75; - puncheon, 75. - - Flower de luce, playthings of, 382-383. - - Food. See Diet. - - _Food for the Mind_, 275. - - Foot-ball, 354 _et seq._ - - Ford, P. L., cited, 128. - - Four-o'clock, wreaths of, 394. - - Foxes, hunting of, 316. - - Foxgloves, as playthings, 389, 397. - - Franklin, Benjamin, family of, 11-12; - proverbs of, 136; - early reading of, 255; - practical jest of, 290-291. - - Franklin, Conn., teachers' pay in, 98. - - Fredericksburg, Va., school in, 66. - - Froissart, Jean, quoted, 342-343. - - Fruit, eating of, 26; - native, 30. - - Funeral, of servant, 205-206; - children at, 242. - - Funeral pieces, 325. - - Furnivall, Dr., cited, 186. - - - Games, antiquity of, 349; - exact recurrence of, 360. - - Gardeners' garters, 390. - - _Geographical Catechism_, 148. - - Geography, study of, 147 _et seq._ - - Germans, indifference to education, 71. - - Gershom, the name, 14. - - Gibbs, Robert, portrait of, 43-44. - - Gibraltars, Salem, 32. - - Gingerbread, hornbooks of, 124. - - Girls, schools for, 90 _et seq._; - in England, 91; - school-hours for, 95; - price of schooling for, 96; - education in New York, 94, 95; - education in Providence, R. I., 95; - education in Salem, Mass., 95; - discipline of, in England, 192 _et seq._ - - Glass-painting, 322. - - Go-cart, 23-24. - - Goldsmith, Oliver, quoted, 72; - children's books by, 267, 270, 273, 287; - love of catches, 287. - - _Good Child's Little Hymn Book_, 257. - - Goodrich, S. G. See Peter Parley. - - _Goody Two Shoes_, authorship of, 270; - title-page of, 270-271; - chapter from, 271-272; - Charles Lamb on, 298. - - Goosequill pens, 154. - - Gore family, portrait, 50. - - Gordon, G. L., hornbook of, 119. - - Grafton, Mary, letter of, 111, 115. - - Grafton, Seeth, 15. - - Grammar, study of, 133 _et seq._ - - _Grammar of the English Tongue_, 135. - - _Grammarian's Funeral_, 134. - - _Grammar School_, 221-222. - - Grant, Anne, quoted, 94. - - Grasshoppers, rhyme to, 399. - - Green, family of, 11. - - Green, cited, 228. - - Greene, Nathanael, daughter of, 107. - - Grey, Lady Jane, punishment of, 193. - - Gridley, Richard, children's names, 17. - - Groaning-beer, 18. - - Groaning-cakes, 17. - - "Grown-ups," 50. - - Grymes family, portrait, 50. - - Guessbooks, 275. - - _Gulliver's Travels_, 265. - - - Hair, dressing of, 59. - - Hall, Richard, his schooling, 86 _et seq._; - letters of, 87. - - Hall, Sarah, her schooling, 101-103; - marriage, 103-104. - - Hall, Hugh, letters of, 86, 102. - - Halliwell, cited, 143. - - Hammond, John, quoted, 11. - - Handwriting. See Penmanship. - - Hancock, John, teacher of, 152; - handwriting of, 152. - - Hands of Great Britain, 153. - - Hannah, the name, 16. - - Harpsichords, 112-113. - - Hartford. Mass., servants in, 205. - - Harvard College, establishment of, 64; - library of, 180; - bequest to, 152; - curriculum of, 185; - etiquette at, 222. - - Hatfield, Mass., school at, 96. - - Hawkins, Francis, precocity of, 219. - - Head-dress, 59. - - Health-drinking, 217, 293. - - Heartsease, playthings of, 398. - - Heddle-frame, 305. - - Hedge-teachers, 65. - - Hell, familiarity with, 175. - - Henry, Patrick, saying of, 67; - pronunciation of, 67. - - Heraldry, domination of, 212. - - Herbs, in medicine, 6-8. - - _Hieroglyphick Bible_, 258. - - Higginson, Hetty, school of, 199. - - _History of the Holy Jesus_, 260, 261. - - _History of the Revolution_, 290. - - _History of Tommy Careless_, 281. - - Hoar, Bridget, 84. - - Hoar, Mary, letter of, 83-84. - - Hobby, teacher of Washington, 65. - - Holbrook, Abiah, funeral notice of, 152; - accomplishments of, 152-153. - - Hollyhocks, cheeses from, 386; - dolls of, 384. - - Holmes, Oliver Wendell, quoted, 25, 107, 108, 109, 243-244, 303, 394. - - Holmes, Thomas, quoted, 71. - - Holy Innocents' Day, 261. - - Homespun, infant's dress of, 37. - - Honey, 387. - - "Honey flowers of New Testament," 204. - - Honeypots, 345-346. - - Honeysuckle, 387. - - Hop-scotch, 343-344. - - Hornbook, description, 118; - in America, 119-120, 122; - rarity of, 121; - price of, 121; - gilt, 122; - of silver, 122; - of ivory, 122; - names for, 124; - of gingerbread, 124; - symbolism of, 125. - - Horsechestnuts, as playthings, 391. - - Hoverer, 318. - - Howell, James, quoted, 155. - - Hunt, Nicholas, 143. - - Hunters, tales of, 311, 312. - - Huntington, Miss, dress of, 60. - - Hylles, Thomas, 142. - - - Illustration, of children's books, 285 _et seq._ - - Indians, cradles of, 21; - names of foods, 29-30; - hunting methods of, 316 _et seq._; - foot-ball of, 357-358. - - Ink, home-made, 154-155; - from flowers, 398. - - Ink-powder, 154. - - Irving, Washington, quoted, 270, 287. - - _Italian Relation of England_, 82. - - - Jack, signification of word, 369. - - Jack-in-pulpit, 388. - - Jack-knife, power of, 254; - use of, 308; - derivation of, 370; - of old times, 370. - - Jack-o'-lanterns, 396. - - Jackstones, 375. - - _Jack the Giant Killer_, 267. - - Janeway, James, books of, 249, 251. - - Jest-books, 275. - - Jewel weed, as playthings, 397. - - "Job's Trouble," 389. - - _Joe Miller's Guess-Book_, 275. - - Johnson, Samuel, school-life of, 193-194; - on discipline, 194; - manners of, 215. - - Johnson, Governor, infant's dress of, 35. - - Joseph, the name, 15. - - Josselyn, John, quoted, 397. - - _Juvenile Pastimes_, 346. - - - Keats, quoted, 387, 402. - - Keeler, Sarah, sum-book of, 139. - - Kingsley, Charles, quoted, 311. - - Knitting, 339. - - Knotwork, described, 152. - - - Lace, pillow, 339; - darned, 341. - - Lady-bug, rhyme to, 399. - - Ladies' delights, folk names of, 383. - - Lamb, Charles, quoted, on children's books, 298 _et seq._ - - Lancasterian System, punishments of, 200-201. - - Land, allotment of, 13. - - Larkspur, wreaths of, 393-394. - - Latin, study of, 133 _et seq._; 184 _et seq._ - - Laurens, Henry, letter of, 78. - - Laurens, Martha, precocity of, 183. - - Leather, worn by children, 77. - - Lester, Master, 202. - - Letter, defined in rhyme, 136. - - Letter dice, 182. - - Letters, sentiment of, 155 _et seq._; - of Puritan women, 156; - mode of addressing, 156, 157; - formality of, 161. - - Letter-writing, taught by Samuel Dock, 205. - - Lewis, John, wards of, 55. - - Lilacs, wreaths of, 394. - - _Lilly's Grammar_, 133. - - Limning, materials for, 54; - teaching of, 54-55. - - Lincoln, Abraham, sum-book of, 138; - early reading of, 255. - - Linen, for clothing, 34. - - _Little Book for Little Children_, 254. - - _Little Prattle over a Book of Prints_, 23. - - Live-forever, as playthings, 388; - folk names of, 389; - ink from, 399. - - Livingstone, John, wife of, 47. - - Livingstone, John L., wife of, 46. - - Livingstone, William, skates of, 372. - - Lloyd, Joseph, school-feast of, 77. - - Locke, popularity of, 24; - on children's books, 264; - good sense of, 25; - advanced thought of, 25-26; - on bathing, 25; - on diet, 26; - quoted, 117, 133; - on learning letters, 182. - - London, letter to Bishop of, 66. - - _Looking Glass for Children_, 251 _et seq._ - - _Looking Glass for the Mind_, 292 _et seq._ - - Lord, Mary, portrait, 52-53. - - Lotteries, to support schools, 68. - - Lovell, Master, 197. - - Lybbet, 196. - - Lynde, Dorothy, sampler of, 333. - - _Lytill Children's Lytill Boke_, 215. - - - Madison, Dolly, 57. - - Maine, ink made in, 154. - - Majority, age of, 190. - - Mallow cheeses, 387. - - Maple, bark used for ink, 155; - sugar from, 311. - - Maps, lack of, 78. - - Mara, the name, 14. - - Marbles, 374-375. - - Marie Antoinette, child's dress, 62. - - Marriages of children, 186 _et seq._ - - Martin, G. W., quoted, 122. - - Marvel-of-Peru, wreaths of, 394. - - Masks, 56; - of linen, 57. - - Massachusetts, school laws of, 64, 67-68, 70; - ink made in, 154; - schools in, 64, 68. - - Mather, Cotton, quoted, 12, 67, 131, 134, 172, 223, 225, 236; - family of, 12; - character of, 209, 233-234; - book by, 250. - - Mather, Increase, as school committee, 67; - quoted, 109. - - Mather, Nathaniel, 239, 254. - - Mather, Samuel, quoted, 234. - - Mather, Samuel, Sr., 239-240. - - Mather Papers, 156. - - May apples, as playthings, 397. - - McMaster, Mr., cited, 78. - - Medford, Mass., boarding-school at, 114. - - Medicine, astrology in, 6; - sympathetical, 6; - secret, 6; - ingredients of, 7; - revolt against, 10-11. - - Meigs, Return Jonathan, 17. - - _Memoirs of an American Lady_, 94. - - Mertensia, playthings of, 384. - - _Merry Tales of the Wise Men of Gotham_, 266, 267, 275. - - Meteorology, 6. - - _Microcosmographie_, 112. - - Middletown, Conn., school at, 96. - - Midway Church, Dorchester, Ga., 165-166. - - Milkweed, playthings of, 392. - - Ministers, families of, 12; - as school committee, 67; - as teachers, 83. - - Mintsticks, name of rods, 204. - - Minturn, Anne R., hornbook of, 119. - - Mirror of Compliments, 221. - - Miss, the term, 223. - - Mission, quoted, 17; 354. - - Mithridate, 7. - - Mittens, of Gov. Bradford, 35; - of lace, 36; - of nankeen, 36. - - "Money in both Pockets," 397. - - Monitorial system, 97. - - Monkshood, playthings of, 398. - - Morning-glory, 389. - - _Morse's Geography_, 147 _et seq._ - - Mother, sayings of a, 64. - - _Mother Goose's Melodies_, 174, 286 _et seq._ - - Mountfort, Jonathan, portrait of, 49; - romantic marriage of, 49. - - Mourning pieces, 325. - - Mulberries, planting of, 310; - leaves of, 311. - - "Multiplication is vexation," 143. - - Murder, of servant, 205. - - Music, love of, 112; - simplicity of, 112; - in colleges, 211. - - _My Mother_, imitations of, 298. - - - Names, curious, 14-17; - biblical, 15; - double, 17. - - Nankeen, 60. - - _Narratives of Conversion_, 251. - - Necklace, anodyne, 9; - of berries, 10; - of fawn's teeth, 10; - of wolf fangs, 11. - - Necromancy, 5-6. - - Negro servant, funeral of, 205. - - Nero, medicine of, 7. - - _New Academy of Compliments_, 221. - - New Amsterdam, first teacher in, 74; - schools in, 74-75; - discipline in, 201-202. - - Newbery, John, life of, 266; - publications of, 267, 287; - advertising of, 268-269. - - New England, schools in, 64; - traits of children, 67; - controlled by ministers, 67; - perambulating the bounds in, 314. - - _New England Primer_, vast number of, 128; - nickname of, 128; - description of, 128 _et seq._ - - New Hampshire, school-feast in, 77. - - New Jersey, school in, 77. - - _New Lottery Book_, 274-275. - - News, lack of, 213-214. - - Newspapers, in school, 97. - - New York, schools of, 74 _et seq._; - education of girls in, 94-95. - - Nicknames, 199. - - "Nigger heads," 382. - - North, Francis, Baron Guildford, letter about, 41-42; - on commonplacing, 172-173. - - Northfield, Mass., school in, 98. - - Norton, J. W., hornbook of, 119. - - Note-taking, of Puritan women, 164. - - Nott, Eliphalet, cited, 197. - - _Nurse Truelove's Christmas Box_, 277-278. - - _Nurse Truelove's New Years Gift_, advertisement of, 268; - title-page of, 276. - - Nut-gathering, 309. - - - Oglethorpe, ship-stores of, 28. - - Old-field school, 65. - - Onion-tying, 309. - - Oracles, flower, 380-381. - - Oranges, 32. - - Ordination balls, 110. - - Orne, R. T., petticoat of, 335. - - Orpine. See Live-forever. - - Osprey bone, 10. - - Ox-eye daisy, 380, 382. - - - _Pages and Pictures from Forgotten Children's Books_, 386. - - Pall bearers, boys, 242; - girls, 243. - - Pansies, children's notions about, 383. - - Paper, oiled, for windows, 76; - scarcity of, 79; - flowered, 301. - - Parables, books of, 258; - definition of, 230. - - _Parable against Persecution_, 291. - - _Parent's Assistant_, 295. - - Parkman, Dr., diary of, 164. - - Parley, Peter, books of, 303-304. - - _Passing of the Stall-Fed Ox and the Farmer's Boy_, 308. - - Paston, Agnes, quoted, 192. - - Paston Letters, cited, 83. - - Patillo, Henry, 148. - - Patriotism, teaching of, 171; - juvenile marks of, 172. - - Payne, Dolly, dress of, 57. - - Peaked block, 197. - - Pedlers, of birch rods, 196. - - Peleg, the name, 15. - - Pemberton, Samuel, portrait of, 51. - - Pencils, use of, 78. - - Penmanship, how taught, 150; - of adult colonists, 150, 151; - of school children, 151; - of Abigail Earle, 151; - of Anna Green Winslow, 151; - of Governor Bradford, 151; - of John Winthrop, 150; - of Anna Reynolds, 152. - - Pennoyer, Frances, quoted, 207. - - Pennsylvania, schools in, 71-72; schoolhouses in, 75; - barring out, 77; - teachers in, 204. - - _Pennsylvania Farmer_, 72. - - Pens, of olden times, 154. - - Penwiper, not used, 153-154. - - Peonies, playthings of, 398. - - Pepperell children, portrait, 52. - - Pepperell, Sir William, order of, 57. - - Pepys, Samuel, on bathing, 27; - friend of Cocker, 142; - cited, 206, 313. - - Perambulating the bounds. See Bounds. - - Perry, Reverend Joseph, medicine of, 7-8. - - Petticoats, embroidered, 335. - - Philadelphia, schools of, 71. - - Phips, Sir William, family of, 11. - - Phlox, wreaths of, 394. - - Pierpont, John, quoted, 390. - - Pigeons, shooting of, 317 _et seq._ - - Pike, Nicholas, arithmetic of, 144-145. - - _Pilgrim's Progress_, 254-255, 265, 312. - - Pillory, 200. - - Pin-a-sights, 400. - - Pinckney, Charles C., education of, 180-183. - - Pinckney, Eliza L., quoted, 180-183. - - Pincushion, gift of, 18-19. - - Pine-needles, playthings of, 394. - - _Pious Motions and Devout Exercises_, etc., 251. - - Pitch and hustle, 347. - - Pitkin, Jerusha, embroidery of, 324-325. - - Pitman, John, precocity of, 185-186. - - _Plaine Mans Pathway to Heaven_, 248, 249. - - Plays, in schools, 115 _et seq._ - - Plum trees, gum from, 387. - - Plummets, use of, 79; - manufacture of, 79. - - Points, 313. - - Poison, 345. - - Pokeberries, dye from, 398. - - _Poor Robin's Almanack_, 18, 21. - - Pope, quoted, 148. - - Pops, 389. - - Poppies, playthings of, 384, 386. - - "Poppy-show," 400. - - Porter, Dr., cited, 247. - - Portulaca, as playthings, 388. - - Post, Cathalina, 47. - - Potash saved for treat, 77. - - Potation-penny, 77. - - Prating, 317. - - Prayer, "Now I lay me," etc., 130. - - Present, in address, 157. - - _Pretty Little Pocket Book_, 346, 354, 374. - - Primer, defined, 128. - - Primroses, children's interest in, 402. - - Prince Library, 156. - - Prior, quoted, 124. - - Processioning. See Bounds. - - Proctor, Master, 153. - - _Prodigal Daughter_, 256. - - Profanity, punished, 203. - - Prophecy of a child, 2-3. - - Prosperity of settlers, 3. - - Providence, R. I., education of girls in, 95-96. - - Provisions on shipboard, 28. - - Pumpkins, seeds, 386; - trombones of, 390; - lettering of, 396; - lanterns of, 396. - - Puncheon floors, 75. - - Punishments of scholars. See Discipline and Schools. - - Puppets. See Dolls. - - - Quakers, schools of, 71. - - Quills. See Goosequills. - - Quilts, 21; - piecing of, 339. - - Quincy, Dorothy, 107-108. - - Quincy, Elizabeth, 108-109. - - Quincy, Elizabeth Morton, 115-116, 202. - - Quincy, John, portrait of, 40-43. - - Quincy, Josiah, rearing of, 25-26; - school life of, 83, 134. - - - Rabelais, on abridgments, 300. - - Raisins of the sun, 32. - - Raritan, N. J., schoolhouse at, 76. - - Rattlesnakes, bounties on, 316. - - Ravenel, Daniel, portrait, 48. - - Rawhide, 204. - - Rawson, Susannah, 113. - - Rawson, William, family of, 12. - - Reading-boards, 126. - - _Reading-made-easies_, 136. - - _Record's Arithmetic_, 140. - - Redemptioners, as teachers, 72. - - _Reformed Virginian Silk Worm_, 310. - - _Religio Medici_, 176. - - Ribbon-grass, 390. - - Richards, Mary, sampler of, 338. - - Rickets, new disease, 7; - treatment of, 7-8. - - Riddles, in commonplace book, 174; - old-time esteem of, 275. - - Riding for the goose, 352. - - Rhyme, grammar in, 135-136; - arithmetic in, 141, 142. - - Robinson Crusoe, 265. - - Rock, for spinning, 305. - - Rock candy, 32. - - Roelantsen, Adam, 74. - - Rogers, Ezekiel, quoted, 235. - - Rogers, John, burning of, 130. - - Roll, for hair, 59. - - Ropes, Seeth, 15. - - Rose-hips, as playthings, 386, 397, 400. - - Rosy-cakes, 401. - - Rubila, 7. - - Ruskin, quoted, 342. - - - Sailors, interest in, 319 _et seq._ - - Salem, laws in, 68; - curious custom in, 69; - schools in, 68; - punishments in, 199; - seating boys in, 246. - - Salem Gibraltars, 32. - - Saltonstall, Elizabeth, letter of, 100-101. - - Sampler, derivation of, 327; - description, 328; - verses of, 328 _et seq._; - age of, 329. - - _Sanford and Merton_, 295, 297. - - Sanitation, unknown, 4-5. - - Sarah, the name, 16. - - Sargent, L. M., quoted, 242. - - Satten, 397. - - _Schole of Vertue_, 215, 222, 352. - - Schools, grammar, old-field, 65; - attended by Washington, 65-66; - free, 65; - fires in, 69-70; - furniture of, 78 _et seq._; - for boarders, 113 _et seq._; - treats in, 77; - fare in, 83; - mode of study in, 134. - - School feasts, 77. - - School fields, 68. - - Schoolhouse, building of, 75; - descriptions of, 75, 76; - furnishings of, 75-76; - discomforts of, 76; - windows of, 76; - in Raritan, 77. - - School-meadows, 68. - - School-teachers, character of, 72; - Scotch, 73; - contract with, 74-75; - Dutch, 73-74; - women, 97; - pay of, 68, 96-97, 103; - English, 192; - cruelty of, 204. - - School-treats, 77. - - School wood, 69-70. - - _School of Manners_, 219, 222. - - Scotch-hoppers. See Hop-scotch. - - Scottow, Joshua, quoted, 2; - his daughter, 86. - - Scribbling in books, 161 _et seq._ - - Seaborn, the name, 15. - - Seating the meeting, 223, 247. - - Seats in school, 75. - - Seeth, the name, 15. - - Servants, discipline of, 204 _et seq._ - - Sewall, Elizabeth, 237, 238. - - Sewall, Joseph, hornbook of, 122; - original sin of, 208. - - Sewall, Rebeka, 223. - - Sewall, Samuel, quoted, 4, 15, 16, 32, 44, 122, 208, 237, 238, 351; - diary of, 164, 205; - tenderness of, 208; - servant of, 205; - at funerals, 242. - - Shakespeare, first sold in Boston, 180; - songs from, 287. - - Shepherd, Thomas, funeral of, 242. - - Sheriff, standing of, 283. - - Sherman, John, family of, 12. - - Shippack, Pa., school at, 202 _et seq._ - - Shirts, of infants, 34-35. - - Shoes, 57-58. - - Shoe-pegs, 359. - - _Shorter Catechism_, 130-131. - - Shovel board, 351. - - Silk culture, 310-311. - - Silsbee, Mrs., cited, 225. - - _Sir Charles Grandison_, 300. - - Skating, 371 _et seq._ - - Slander, law-suits for, 213. - - Slates, use of, 80, 81. - - Sleeves, virago, 43; - hanging, 43-44. - - Slide-groat, 351. - - Small-pox, 4. - - Smibert, portraits by, 37, 48, 107. - - Smith, John, quoted, 319. - - Smith, William, cited, 94-95. - - Snails, rhyme to, 399. - - Snail-water, 6. - - Snake-grass, 396. - - Snuff-taking, by children, 77. - - Spelling, variety of, 136; - of _Paradise Lost_, 137; - teaching of, 137. - - Spelling-books, 136 _et seq._ - - Spending-money, 308 _et seq._ - - Spinets, 112. - - Spiderwort, ink from, 398. - - Spinning, for children, 305 _et seq._ - - _Spiritual Milk for Babes_, 130. - - Sports of the Innyards, 351. - - Squawks, 390. - - Squirrels, bounties on, 316. - - Stalking head, 316. - - Standing-stool, 23. - - Standish, Lora, sampler of, 328. - - Stays, 56-57, 58; - of tin, 58; - for boys, 58. - - Stitches, old time, 337-338. - - Stool-ball, 354. - - Storer, Elizabeth, 107. - - Stuart, Gilbert, 37. - - Stubbes, Phillip, quoted, 356. - - Suckets, 31. - - Sum-books, 138 _et seq._ - - Sumner, Mary Osgood, 166 _et seq._; - monitor of, 167 _et seq._ - - Sumptuary laws, 45. - - Sunday, observance of, 243 _et seq._ - - Sunday-school books, 304. - - Sunflower seeds, 386. - - Superstition, 240-241. - - Sweetmeats, 30. - - Swimming, prohibited, 244. - - Syllabarium, 128. - - - Tag, various games of, 344 _et seq._ - - Tambour-work, 341. - - Tape-weaving, 305. - - Tattling stick, 197. - - Taws, 204. - - Taylor, Ann, 298. - - Taylor, Bayard, quoted, 72. - - Taylor, John, quoted, 337-338. - - Teachers. See School-teachers. - - Teething, death by, 10. - - Ten Broeck, John, letter of, 80-81. - - Ten Broeck, Katherine, portrait of, 47. - - Thayer, Mrs. Sarah, family of, 13. - - Thimble, first, 338. - - Thimell-pie, 198. - - "Thirty days hath September," etc., 143. - - Thistles, playthings of, 392. - - Thomas, Gabriel, quoted, 11. - - Thomas, Isaiah, books printed by, 219, 220, 221, 269, 273, 275, - 287, 300; - character of, 269. - - Thornton, Alice, her bathing, 28. - - _Thoughts Concerning Education_, 117. - - _Thumb Bible_, 258. - - Tick-tack, 350. - - Tileston, Johnny, 153-154. - - school-houses, duties of, 244-245. - - Title-page lore, 161 _et seq._ - - Todd, John, discipline of, 204. - - _Token for Children_, etc., 249. - - _Tommy Trip's History of Beasts and Birds_, 273. - - _Tom Thumb's Play Book_, 270 - - Tops, 343. - - Torrey Papers, 156. - - Toss-about, 284, 290. - - Town, S., on slates, 80. - - Townes cradle, 21. - - Toys, home-made, 367, 371; - of tin, 367; - Chinese, 368; - ancient, 371. - - Tree of life, embroidered, 326. - - Trock, 350. - - Trombones, of leaf-stalks, 390. - - Trouncing, 197. - - _True Relation of the Flourishing State of Philadelphia_, 71. - - Trumbull, portraits by, 37, 53. - - Tryon, Governor, child of, 57. - - Tuer, Andrew W., 125, 385. - - Tunkers' aversion to education, 72. - - Turell, Jane. See Jane Colemen. - - Turkeys, trapping of, 317. - - _Tutor's Guide_, 143. - - Twitch-up, 318. - - Tylor, cited, 385. - - - Unipod, 199. - - - Vails, 18. - - Valentines, of flowers, 393. - - Van Cortlandt family names, 46. - - Van Cortlandt, Mrs., quoted, 338-339. - - Venice treacle, 7. - - Vermin-hunting, 316. - - Vermont, ink made in, 154. - - Verney, Sir Ralph, on girls' education, 91. - - Verney, memoirs, cited, 28, 83. - - Verstile, Wm., portrait of, 53; - letter about, 53-54; - instruction of, 54-55. - - Vice in its proper shape, 302. - - _Village School_, 226. - - Vinegar, as disinfectant, 4. - - Violets, fighting, 382. - - Vipers, in medicine, 7. - - Virginals, 112. - - Virginia, schools in, 64, 65, 66; - plantations scattered, 66; - girls' education in, 95; - religious observance in, 232-233; - processioning in, 314. - - Virtues, as names, 16. - - Vogelweide, W. von der, quoted, 381. - - - Wadsworth, portrait, 53. - - Washington, George, purchase order of, 56; - schooling of, 65-66; - manuscript books of, 66; - designs relating to, 325-326. - - Water, cold, bathing in, 26-28; - ancient aversion to, 28, 102. - - Watts, Dr., hymns of, 260. - - Waxwork, 336. - - Weaving, by children, 306. - - Webster, Noah, Jr., quoted, 80; - books of, 136, 144. - - Weld, Reverend Abijah, family of, 12; - thrift of, 12. - - Welsh, Charles, book of, 266; - quoted, 273. - - Wendell, Elizabeth. See Elizabeth Quincy. - - Wentworth, John, 103. - - Wentworth, William, 104. - - Wesley, Samuel, quoted, 258. - - West Hartford, Conn., schools in, 70. - - Whispering sticks, 198. - - Whistles, of willow, 390; - of grass, 390. - - White Bible, 162. - - White, Peregrine, cradle of, 20. - - White, Thomas, quoted, 248-249; - book of, 254. - - White House Doll, 367. - - White-weed. See Daisy. - - _Who Killed Cock Robin_, quoted, 291-292. - - Wicker cradle, 20-21. - - Wig-wearing of children, 51. - - Wigglesworth, Michael, 252. - - Willard, Samuel, family of, 12. - - _William and Amelia_, 293. - - Williams, Ephraim, quoted on writing, 158-159. - - Windows, of greased paper, 76. - - Windsor, Conn., schools in, 69; - boys' pews in, 247. - - Wine-drinking, of children, 102. - - Wingate's Arithmetic, 145. - - Winslow, Edward, portraits of, 38 _et seq._ - - Winslow, Anna Green, handwriting of, quoted, 17, 19, 58, 59, 307; - dress of, 58-59; - letter to, 99; - diary of, 164, 165; - books of, 301. - - Winslow family, arithmetic of, 145. - - Winthrop, John, history of, 2, 164; - medicine of, 7; - quoted, 90; - handwriting of, 150; - early marriage of, 190. - - Winthrop, Waitstill, 122. - - Witchcraft, 241 _et seq._ - - Woburn, school in, 97. - - Wolcott, J., letter of, 84-85. - - Wolves, hunting of, 315. - - Wood, for school fires, 69-70; - farm-work on, 308. - - Woodbridge, Wm., 96. - - Worde, Wynkyn de, 193. - - Wordsworth, quoted, 163. - - _Worthy Tenant_, 294. - - Writing. See Penmanship. - - Writing-masters, esteem for, 150, 152; - in Boston, 153; - funeral notice of, 152. - - Writing-paper, 156. - - Wynter, John, quoted, 206. - - - Yoking as punishment, 198, 203. - - _Young Lady's Accidence_, 96, 135. - - _Youth's Behaviour_, 27-28, 219. - - _Youth's Instructor in English Tongue_, 159. - - - Zurishaddai, the name, 16. - - - - -Home Life in Colonial Days - -By ALICE MORSE EARLE - -Cloth. 12mo. $2.50 - - -=Boston Herald=: - -"A good many books have been written about the lives and customs -of our ancestors of colonial times, and especially about the -differences between their lives and ours and the primitive and -picturesque utensils which they employed in their households. These -have been partly the outcome and partly the prompting agency of the -rage for antiques. Various writers have unearthed a large amount -of curious lore, which is not all of equal value, though almost -every hint that has come through their pages goes to recreate the -atmosphere and reveal the conditions pertaining to the earliest -pioneers in North America. Mrs. Alice Morse Earle has done a great -deal of good work in this field. Probably it is quite within bounds -to say that she possesses a larger fund of vivacious and interesting -knowledge about the lives and the works, the occupations and -makeshifts, the industries and enjoyments, of the Puritans and the -other early colonists than any other student in this rich domain." - -=Philadelphia Evening Telegraph=: - -"Mrs. Earle, as many readers have discovered, is one of the most -painstaking and agreeable of antiquarians. The present book is one -of her best." - -=Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester=: - -"Touches a most fascinating phase of American history.... The story, -which has been patiently gathered from many sources and historical -records, is told in a graphic and charming manner, and is pictured -by nearly 200 illustrations ... certainly a contribution to our -history of very high value." - -=The Herald, Boston=: - -"Full of new information and description of surprisingly fresh -interest ... no other single volume with which we happen to be -acquainted constructs with such completeness, fairness, and -suggestiveness, the atmosphere of colonial homes." - -=Buffalo Commercial=: - -"One of the handsomest books that we have received." - - -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - -=66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK= - - -=_STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY_= - - -Each Crown 8vo. Cloth, $1.50 - - -=YANKEE SHIPS AND YANKEE SAILORS= - -=TALES OF 1812= - -=By JAMES BARNES= - -Illustrated by R. F. ZOGBAUM and C. T. CHAPMAN. - - "Mr. Barnes knows how to tell a story as well as how to write - history. His style is terse and full of movement; his book one - that old and young may read with zest."--_Detroit Free Press._ - - -=SOUTHERN SOLDIER STORIES= - -=By GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON= - -_Author of "A Rebel's Recollections," etc., etc._ - -Illustrated by R. F. ZOGBAUM. - - "Faithfully told stories, bearing every evidence of absolute - truth.... One's pulses quicken as he becomes acquainted with the - heroic deeds of those brave Americans, who were on the losing - side, fighting an impossible cause; he sorrows with those who - felt the tragedy of it all. It is a volume which every boy or - girl, as well as every man and woman in America, may read with - profitable interest."--_The St. Louis Globe Democrat._ - - "Such capital reading that no one can fail to enjoy them."--_New - Orleans Picayune._ - - -=TALES OF THE ENCHANTED ISLES OF THE ATLANTIC= - -=By THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON= - -_Author of "Young Folks' History of the United States," "Malbone," -"Cheerful Yesterdays," etc._ - -Illustrated by ALBERT HERTER. - -Legends with which the people of Europe were for many centuries fed -in regard to the countries beyond the seas now known as America. "No -national history has been less prosaic in its earlier traditions," -says Colonel Higginson, who relates in a manner which shows strong -sympathy and learned research, these wonderful stories which for a -thousand years were told of a mysterious island in the Atlantic. - - -=BUCCANEERS AND PIRATES OF OUR COASTS= - -=By FRANK R. STOCKTON= - -_Author of "Rudder Grange," etc., etc._ - -Illustrated by G. VARIAN and B. W. CLINEDINST. - -Stories of the rise and decline of buccaneering and piracy in -our West Indian waters. Spanish exactions grew so monstrous in -the seventeenth century that English, French, and Dutch combined -against their excesses. The buccaneers who were the result of the -combination became later pirates for private gain. Mr. Stockton's -quaint humor brightens the stories of their dark deeds in -characteristic style. The book is unique. - - -=THE STORY OF OLD FORT LOUDON= - -=A Tale of the Cherokees and the Pioneers of Tennessee, 1760= - -=By CHARLES EGBERT CRADDOCK= - -_Author of "Where the Battle Was Fought," etc., "The Prophet of the -Great Smoky Mountain."_ - -Illustrated by E. C. PEIXOTTO. - -A narrative of the life of the pioneers of Tennessee and their -fortunes at the hands of the Cherokees in the uprising of 1760. The -brilliant Tennessee landscape and the old frontier fort serve as a -background to this picture of Indian craft and guile and pioneer -hardships and pleasures. - - -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - -=66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK= - -Adown a shallow stream we sent our leafy boats with swelling sail, -and floating pennant of striped grass. Freighted with flowers -beloved of children, the laughing pansies,--for thoughts,--we thrust -them heedlessly forth with never a care whether boat or crew e'er -reached a harbor. - -Out into the world on the stream of the fast-hurrying century I -send this paper boat--my book--laden with thoughts of children's -lives. Grown careful with years, I crave for it a safe journey -and sheltered harbor. Perhaps the craft may bear to some reader a -memory of his own childhood, as well as stories of the children of -an ancient day; a day so gray and sad as seen through the haze of -centuries that the only cheerful light is found in the faces of the -children. - -[Illustration: leafy boats] - - * * * * * - -Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. -Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been -retained as printed. - -The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up -paragraphs, thus the page number of the illustration might not -match the page number in the List of Illustrations. - -Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear -where the missing quote should be placed. - -The transcriber has changed hyphenation in the index to match the -book in the following cases: - -cornstalk to corn-stalk -lawsuit to law-suits -playhouses to play-houses -tithingman to tithing-man - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Child Life in Colonial Days, by Alice Morse Earle - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILD LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS *** - -***** This file should be named 43863.txt or 43863.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/8/6/43863/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Julia Neufeld and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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