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+Project Gutenberg EBook, Biographical Stories, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
+From "True Stories of History and Biography"
+#81 in our series by Nathaniel Hawthorne
+
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+Title: Biographical Stories
+      (From: "True Stories of History and Biography")
+
+Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
+
+Release Date: Nov, 2005  [EBook #9254]
+[This file was first posted on September 25, 2003]
+[Last updated on February 8, 2007]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+
+
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+                 TRUE STORIES OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY
+
+                         By Nathaniel Hawthorne
+
+
+                          BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES
+
+
+CONTENTS:
+
+BENJAMIN WEST.
+SIR ISAAC NEWTON.
+SAMUEL JOHNSON.
+OLIVER CROMWELL.
+BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
+QUEEN CHRISTINA.
+
+
+
+
+BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES
+
+This small volume and others of a similar character, from the same hand,
+have not been composed without a deep sense of responsibility.  The
+author regards children as sacred, and would not, for the world, cast
+anything into the fountain of a young heart that might imbitter and
+pollute its waters.  And, even in point of the reputation to be aimed
+at, juvenile literature is as well worth cultivating as any other.  The
+writer, if he succeed in pleasing his little readers, may hope to be
+remembered by them till their own old age,--a far longer period of
+literary existence than is generally attained by those who seek
+immortality from the judgments of full-grown men.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 1.
+
+When Edward Temple was about eight or nine years old he was afflicted
+with a disorder of the eyes.  It was so severe, and his sight was
+naturally so delicate, that the surgeon felt some apprehensions lest the
+boy should become totally blind.  He therefore gave strict directions to
+keep him in a darkened chamber, with a bandage over his eyes.  Not a ray
+of the blessed light of heaven could be suffered to visit the poor lad.
+
+This was a sad thing for Edward.  It was just the same as if there were
+to be no more sunshine, nor moonlight, nor glow of the cheerful fire,
+nor light of lamps.  A night had begun which was to continue perhaps for
+months,--a longer and drearier night than that which voyagers are
+compelled to endure when their ship is icebound, throughout the winter,
+in the Arctic Ocean.  His dear father and mother, his brother George,
+and the sweet face of little Emily Robinson must all vanish and leave
+him in utter darkness and solitude.  Their voices and footsteps, it is
+true, would be heard around him; he would feel his mother's embrace and
+the kind pressure of all their hands; but still it would seem as if they
+were a thousand miles away.
+
+And then his studies,--they were to be entirely given up.  This was
+another grievous trial; for Edward's memory hardly went back to the
+period when he had not known how to read.  Many and many a holiday had
+he spent at his hook, poring over its pages until the deepening twilight
+confused the print and made all the letters run into long words.  Then,
+would he press his hands across his eyes and wonder why they pained him
+so; and when the candles were lighted, what was the reason that they
+burned so dimly, like the moon in a foggy night?  Poor little fellow!
+So far as his eyes were concerned he was already an old man, and needed
+a pair of spectacles almost as much as his own grandfather did.
+
+And now, alas! the time was come when even grandfather's spectacles
+could not have assisted Edward to read.  After a few bitter tears, which
+only pained his eyes the more, the poor boy submitted to the surgeon's
+orders.  His eyes were bandaged, and, with his mother on one side and
+his little friend Emily on the other, he was led into a darkened
+chamber.
+
+"Mother, I shall be very miserable!" said Edward, sobbing.
+
+"O no, my dear child!" replied his mother, cheerfully.  "Your eyesight
+was a precious gift of Heaven, it is true; but you would do wrong to be
+miserable for its loss, even if there were no hope of regaining it.
+There are other enjoyments besides what come to us through our eyes."
+
+"None that are worth having," said Edward.
+
+"Ah, but you will not think so long," rejoined Mrs. Temple, with
+tenderness.  "All of us--your father, and myself, and George, and our
+sweet Emily--will try to find occupation and amusement for you.  We will
+use all our eyes to make you happy.  Will they not be better than a
+single pair?"
+
+"I will sit, by you all day long," said Emily, in her low, sweet voice,
+putting her hand into that of Edward.
+
+"And so will I, Ned," said George, his elder brother, "school time and
+all, if my father will permit me."
+
+Edward's brother George was three or four years older than himself,--a
+fine, hardy lad, of a bold and ardent temper.  He was the leader of his
+comrades in all their enterprises and amusements.  As to his proficiency
+at study there was not much to be said.  He had sense and ability enough
+to have made himself a scholar, but found so many pleasanter things to
+do that he seldom took hold of a book with his whole heart.  So fond was
+George of boisterous sports and exercises that it was really a great
+token of affection and sympathy when he offered to sit all day long in a
+dark chamber with his poor brother Edward.
+
+As for little Emily Robinson, she was the daughter of one of Mr.
+Temple's dearest friends.  Ever since her mother went to heaven (which
+was soon after Emily's birth) the little girl had dwelt in the household
+where we now find her.  Mr. and Mrs. Temple seemed to love her as well
+as their own children; for they had no daughter except Emily; nor would
+the boys have known the blessing of a sister had not this gentle
+stranger come to teach them what it was.  If I could show you Emily's
+face, with her dark hair smoothed away from her forehead, you would be
+pleased with her look of simplicity and loving kindness, but might think
+that she was somewhat too grave for a child of seven years old.  But you
+would not love her the less for that.
+
+So brother George and this loving little girl were to be Edward's
+companions and playmates while he should be kept prisoner in the dark
+chamber.  When the first bitterness of his grief was over he began to
+feel that, there might be some comforts and enjoyments in life even for
+a boy whose eyes were covered with a bandage.
+
+"I thank you, dear mother," said he, with only a few sobs; "and you,
+Emily; and you too, George.  You will all be very kind to me, I know.
+And my father,--will not he come and see me every day?"
+
+"Yes, my dear boy," said Mr. Temple; for, though invisible to Edward, he
+was standing close beside him.  "I will spend some hours of every day
+with you.  And as I have often amused you by relating stories and
+adventures while you had the use of your eves, I can do the same now
+that you are unable to read.  Will this please you, Edward?"
+
+"O, very much," replied Edward.
+
+"Well, then," said his father, "this evening we will begin the series of
+Biographical Stories which I promised you some time ago."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+When evening came, Mr. Temple found Edward considerably revived in
+spirits and disposed to be resigned to his misfortune.  Indeed, the
+figure of the boy, as it was dimly seen by the firelight, reclining in a
+well-stuffed easy-chair, looked so very comfortable that many people
+might have envied hun.  When a man's eyes have grown old with gazing at
+the ways of the world, it does not seem such a terrible misfortune to
+have them bandaged.
+
+Little Emily Robinson sat by Edward's side with the air of an
+accomplished nurse.  As well as the duskiness of the chamber would
+permit she watched all his motions and each varying expression of his
+face, and tried to anticipate her patient's wishes before his tongue
+could utter them.  Yet it was noticeable that the child manifested an
+indescribable awe and disquietude whenever she fixed her eyes on the
+bandage; for, to her simple and affectionate heart, it seemed as if her
+dear friend Edward was separated from her because she could not see his
+eyes.  A friend's eyes tell us many things which could never be spoken
+by the tongue.
+
+George, likewise, looked awkward and confused, as stout and healthy boys
+are accustomed to do in the society of the sick or afflicted.  Never
+having felt pain or sorrow, they are abashed, from not knowing how to
+sympathize with the sufferings of others.
+
+"Well, my dear Edward," inquired Mrs. Temple, "is Your chair quite
+comfortable? and has your little nurse provided for all your wants?  If
+so, your father is ready to begin his stories."
+
+"O, I am very well now," answered Edward, with a faint smile.  "And my
+ears have not forsaken me, though my eyes are good for nothing.  So
+pray, dear father, begin."
+
+It was Mr. Temple's design to tell the children a series of true
+stories, the incidents of which should be taken from the childhood and
+early life of eminent people.  Thus he hoped to bring George, and
+Edward, and Emily into closer acquaintance with the famous persons who
+have lived in other times by showing that they also had been children
+once.  Although Mr. Temple was scrupulous to relate nothing but what was
+founded on fact, yet he felt himself at liberty to clothe the incidents
+of his narrative in a new coloring, so that his auditors might
+understand them the better.
+
+"My first story," said he, "shall be about a painter of pictures."
+
+"Dear me!" cried Edward, with a sigh.  "I am afraid I shall never look
+at pictures any more."
+
+"We will hope for the best," answered his father.  "In the mean time,
+you must try to see things within your own mind."
+
+Mr. Temple then began the following story:--
+
+
+
+BENJAMIN WEST.
+
+[BORN 1738.  DIED 1820]
+
+In the year 1735 there came into the world, in the town of Springfield,
+Pennsylvania, a Quaker infant, from whom his parents and neighbors
+looked for wonderful things.  A famous preacher of the Society of
+Friends had prophesied about little Ben, and foretold that he would be
+one of the most remarkable characters that, had appeared on the earth
+since the days of William Penn.  On this account the eyes of many people
+were fixed upon the boy.  Some of his ancestors had won great renown in
+the old wars of England and France; but it was probably expected that
+Ben would become a preacher, and would convert multitudes to the
+peaceful doctrines of the Quakers.  Friend West and his wife were
+thought to be very fortunate in having such a son.
+
+Little Ben lived to the ripe age of six years without doing anything
+that was worthy to be told in history.  But one summer afternoon, in his
+seventh year, his mother put a fan into his hand and bade him keep the
+flies away from the face of a little babe who lay fast asleep in the
+cradle.  She then left the room.
+
+The boy waved the fan to and fro and drove away the buzzing flies
+whenever they had the impertinence to come near the baby's face.  When
+they had all flown out of the window or into distant parts of the room,
+he bent over the cradle and delighted himself with gazing at the
+sleeping infant.  It was, indeed, a very pretty sight.  The little
+personage in the cradle slumbered peacefully, with its waxen hands under
+its chin, looking as full of blissful quiet as if angels were singing
+lullabies in its ear.  Indeed, it must have been dreaming about heaven;
+for, while Ben stooped over the cradle, the little baby smiled.
+
+"How beautiful she looks!" said Ben to himself.  "What a pity it is that
+such a pretty smile should not last forever!"
+
+Now Ben, at this period of his life, had never heard of that wonderful
+art by which a look, that appears and vanishes in a moment, may be made
+to last for hundreds of years.  But, though nobody had told him of such
+an art, he may be said to have invented it for himself.  On a table near
+at hand there were pens and paper, and ink of two colors, black and red.
+The boy seized a pen and sheet of paper, and, kneeling down beside the
+cradle, began to draw a likeness of the infant.  While he was busied in
+this manner he heard his mother's step approaching, and hastily tried to
+conceal the paper.
+
+"Benjamin, my son, what hast thou been doing?" inquired his mother,
+observing marks of confusion in his face.
+
+At first Ben was unwilling to tell; for he felt as if there might be
+something wrong in stealing the baby's face and putting it upon a sheet
+of paper.  However, as his mother insisted, he finally put the sketch
+into her hand, and then hung his head, expecting to be well scolded.
+But when the good lady saw what was on the paper, in lines of red and
+black ink, she uttered a scream of surprise and joy.
+
+"Bless me!" cried she.  "It is a picture of little Sally!"
+
+And then she threw her arms round our friend Benjamin, and kissed him so
+tenderly that he never afterwards was afraid to show his performances to
+his mother.
+
+As Ben grew older, he was observed to take vast delight in looking at
+the lines and forms of nature.  For instance, he was greatly pleased
+with the blue violets of spring, the wild roses of sumnmer, and the
+scarlet cardinal-flowers of early autumn.  In the decline of the year,
+when the woods were variegated with all the colors of the rainbow, Ben
+seemed to desire nothing better than to gaze at them from morn till
+night.  The purple and golden clouds of sunset were a joy to him.  And
+he was continually endeavoring to draw the figures of trees, men,
+mountains, houses, cattle, geese, ducks, and turkeys, with a piece of
+chalk, on barn doors or on the floor.
+
+In these old times the Mohawk Indians were still numerous in
+Pennsylvania.  Every year a party of them used to pay a visit to
+Springfield, because the wigwams of their ancestors had formerly stood
+there.  These wild men grew fond of little Ben, and made him very happy
+by giving him some of the red and yellow paint with which they were
+accustomed to adorn their faces.  His mother, too, presented him with a
+piece of indigo.  Thus he now had three colors,--red, blue, and yellow,
+--and could manufacture green by mixing the yellow with the blue.  Our
+friend Ben was overjoyed, and doubtless showed his gratitude to the
+Indians by taking their likenesses in the strange dresses which they
+wore, with feathers, tomahawks, and bows and arrows.
+
+But all this time the young artist had no paint-brushes; nor were there
+any to be bought, unless he had sent to Philadelphia on purpose.
+However, he was a very ingenious boy, aid resolved to manufacture paint-
+brushes for himself.  With this design he laid hold upon--what do you
+think?  Why, upon a respectable old black cat, who was sleeping quietly
+by the fireside.
+
+"Puss," said little Ben to the cat, "pray give me some of the fur from
+the tip of thy tail?"
+
+Though he addressed the black cat so civilly, yet Ben was determined to
+have the fur whether she were willing or not.  Puss, who had no great
+zeal for the fine arts, would have resisted if she could; but the boy
+was armed with his mother's scissors, and very dexterously clipped off
+fur enough to make a paint-brush.  This was of so much use to him that
+be applied to Madame Puss again and again, until her warm coat of fur
+had become so thin and ragged that she could hardly keep comfortable
+through the winter.  Poor thing!  she was forced to creep close into the
+chimney-corner, and eyed Ben with a very rueful physiognomy.  But Ben
+considered it more necessary that he should have paint-brushes than that
+puss should be warm.
+
+About this period friend West received a visit from Mr. Pennington, a
+merchant of Philadelphia, who was likewise a member of the Society of
+Friends.  The visitor, on entering the parlor, was surprised to see it
+ornamented with drawings of Indian chiefs, and of birds with beautiful
+plumage, and of the wild flowers of the forest.  Nothing of the kind was
+ever seen before in the habitation of a Quaker farmer.
+
+"Why, Friend West," exclaimed the Philadelphia merchant, "what has
+possessed thee to cover thy walls with all these pictures?  Where on
+earth didst then get them?"
+
+Then Friend West explained that all these pictures were painted by
+little Ben, with no better materials than red and yellow ochre and a
+piece of indigo, and with brushes made of the black cat's fur.
+
+"Verily," said Mr. Pennington, "the boy hath a wonderful faculty.  Some
+of our friends might look upon these matters as vanity; but little
+Benjamin appears to have been born a painter; and Providence is wiser
+than we are."
+
+The good merchant patted Benjamin on the head, and evidently considered
+him a wonderful boy.  When his parents saw how much their son's
+performances were admired, they, no doubt, remembered the prophecy of
+the old Quaker preacher respecting Ben's future eminence.  Yet they
+could not understand how he was ever to become a very great and useful
+man merely by making pictures.
+
+One evening, shortly after Mr. Pennington's return to Philadelphia, a
+package arrived at Springfield, directed to our little friend Ben.
+
+"What can it possibly be?"  thought Ben, when it was put into his hands.
+"Who can have sent me such a great square package as this?"
+
+On taking off the thick brown paper which enveloped it, behold! there
+was a paint-box, with a great many cakes of paint, and brushes of
+various sizes.  It was the gift of good Mr. Pennington.  There were
+likewise several squares of canvas such as artists use for painting
+pictures upon, and, in addition to all these treasures, some beautiful
+engravings of landscapes.  These were the first pictures that Ben had
+ever seen, except those of his own drawing.
+
+What a joyful evening was this for the little artist!  At bedtime he put
+the paint-box under his pillow, and got hardly a wink of sleep; for, all
+night long, his fancy was painting pictures in the darkness.  In the
+morning he hurried to the garret, and was seen no more till the dinner-
+hour; nor did he give himself time to eat more than a mouthful or two of
+food before he hurried back to the garret again.  The next day, and the
+next, he was just as busy as ever; until at last his mother thought it
+time to ascertain what he was about.  She accordingly followed him to
+the garret.
+
+On opening the door, the first object that presented itself to her eyes
+was our friend Benjamin, giving the last touches to a beautiful picture.
+He had copied portions of two of the engravings, and made one picture
+out of both, with such admirable skill that it was far more beautiful
+than the originals.  The grass, the trees, the water, the sky, and the
+houses were all painted in their proper colors.  There, too, where the
+sunshine and the shadow, looking as natural as life.
+
+"My dear child, thou hast done wonders!" cried his mother.
+
+The good lady was in an ecstasy of delight.  And well might she be proud
+of her boy; for there were touches in this picture which old artists,
+who had spent a lifetime in the business, need not have been ashamed of.
+Many a year afterwards, this wonderful production was exhibited at the
+Royal Academy in London.
+
+When Benjamin was quite a large lad he was sent to school at
+Philadelphia.  Not long after his arrival he had a slight attack of
+fever, which confined him to his bed.  The light, which would otherwise
+have disturbed him, was excluded from his chamber by means of closed
+wooden shutters.  At first it appeared so totally dark that Ben could
+not distinguish any object in the room.  By degrees, however, his eyes
+became accustomed to the scanty light.
+
+He was lying on his back, looking up towards the ceiling, when suddenly
+he beheld the dim apparition of a white cow moving slowly over his head!
+Ben started, and rubbed his eyes in the greatest amazement.
+
+"What can this mean?" thought he.
+
+The white cow disappeared; and next came several pigs, which trotted
+along the ceiling and vanished into the darkness of the chamber.  So
+lifelike did these grunters look that Ben almost seemed to hear them
+squeak.
+
+"Well, this is very strange!" said Ben to himself.
+
+When the people of the house came to see him, Benjamin told them of the
+marvellous circumstance which had occurred.  But they would not believe
+him.
+
+"Benjamin, thou art surely out of thy senses!" cried they.  "How is it
+possible that a white cow and a litter of pigs should be visible on the
+ceiling of a dark chamber?"
+
+Ben, however, had great confidence in his own eyesight, and was
+determined to search the mystery to the bottom.  For this purpose, when
+he was again left alone, he got out of bed and examined the window-
+shutters.  He soon perceived a small chink in one of them, through which
+a ray of light found its passage and rested upon the ceiling.  Now, the
+science of optics will inform us that the pictures of the white cow and
+the pigs, and of other objects out of doors, came into the dark chamber
+through this narrow chink, and were painted over Benjamin's head.  It is
+greatly to his credit that he discovered the scientific principle of
+this phenomenon, and by means of it constructed a camera-obscura, or
+magic-lantern, out of a hollow box.  This was of great advantage to him
+in drawing landscapes.
+
+Well, time went on, and Benjamin continued to draw and paint pictures
+until he had now reached the age when it was proper that he should
+choose a business for life.  His father and mother were in considerable
+perplexity about him.  According to the ideas of the Quakers, it is not
+right for people to spend their lives in occupations that are of no real
+and sensible advantage to the world.  Now, what advantage could the
+world expect from Benjamin's pictures?  This was a difficult question;
+and, in order to set their minds at rest, his parents determined to
+consult the preachers and wise men of their society.  Accordingly, they
+all assembled in the meeting-house, and discussed the matter from
+beginning to end.
+
+Finally they came to a very wise decision.  It seemed so evident that
+Providence had created Benjamin to be a painter, and had given him
+abilities which would be thrown away in any other business, that the
+Quakers resolved not to oppose his inclination.  They even acknowledged
+that the sight of a beautiful picture might convey instruction to the
+mind and might benefit the heart as much as a good book or a wise
+discourse.  They therefore committed the youth to the direction of God,
+being well assured that he best knew what was his proper sphere of
+usefulness.  The old men laid their hands upon Benjamin's head and gave
+him their blessing, and the women kissed him affectionately.  All
+consented that he should go forth into the world and learn to be a
+painter by studying the best pictures of ancient and modern times.
+
+So our friend Benjamin left the dwelling of his parents, and his native
+woods and streams, and the good Quakers of Springfield, and the Indians
+who had given him his first colors; he left all the places and persons
+whom he had hitherto known, and returned to them no more.  He went first
+to Philadelphia, and afterwards to Europe.  Here he was noticed by many
+great people, but retained all the sobriety and simplicity which he had
+learned among the Quakers.  It is related of him, that, when he was
+presented at the court of the Prince of Parma, he kept his hat upon his
+head even while kissing the Prince's hand.
+
+When he was twenty-five years old he went to London and established
+himself there as all artist.  In due course of time he acquired great
+fame by his pictures, and was made chief painter to King George III.
+and president of the Royal Academy of Arts.  When the Quakers of
+Pennsylvania heard of his success, they felt that the prophecy of the
+old preacher as to little Ben's future eminence was now accomplished.
+It is true, they shook their heads at his pictures of battle and
+bloodshed, such as the Death of Wolfe, thinking that these terrible
+scene, should not be held up to the admiration of the world.
+
+But they approved of the great paintings in which he represented the
+miracles and sufferings of the Redeemer of mankind.  King George
+employed him to adorn a large and beautiful chapel at Windsor Castle
+with pictures of these sacred subjects.  He likewise painted a
+magnificent picture of Christ Healing the Sick, which he gave to the
+hospital at Philadelphia.  It was exhibited to the public, and produced
+so much profit that the hospital was enlarged so as to accommodate
+thirty more patients.  If Benjamin West had done no other good deed than
+this, yet it would have been enough to entitle him to an honorable
+remembrance forever.  At this very day there are thirty poor people in
+the hospital who owe all their comforts to that same picture..
+
+We shall mention only a single incident more.  The picture of Christ
+Healing the Sick was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, where it
+covered a vast space and displayed a multitude of figures as large as
+life.  On the wall, close beside this admirable picture, hung a small
+and faded landscape.  It was the same that little Ben had painted in his
+father's garret, after receiving the paint-box and engravings from good
+Mr. Pennington.
+
+He lived many years in peace and honor, and died in 1820, at the age of
+eighty-two.  The story of his life is almost as wonderful as a fairy
+tale; for there are few stranger transformations than that of a little
+unknown Quaker boy, in the wilds of America, into the most distinguished
+English painter of his day.  Let us each make the best use of our
+natural abilities as Benjamin West did; and, with the blessing of
+Providence, we shall arrive at some good end.  As for fame, it is but
+little matter whether we acquire it or not.
+
+"Thank you for the story, my dear father," said Edward, when it was
+finished.  "Do you know that it seems as if I could see things without
+the help of my eyes?  While you were speaking I have seen little Bert,
+and the baby in its cradle, and the Indians, and the white cow, and the
+pigs, and kind Mr. Pennington, and all the good old Quakers, almost as
+plainly as if they were in this very room."
+
+"It is because your attention was not disturbed by outward objects,"
+replied Mr. Temple.  "People, when deprived of sight, often have more
+vivid ideas than those who possess the perfect use of their eyes.  I
+will venture to say that George has not attended to the story quite so
+closely."
+
+"No, indeed," said George; "but it was a very pretty story for all that.
+How I should have laughed to see Ben making a paint-brush out of the
+black cat's tail!  I intend to try the experiment with Emily's kitten."
+
+"O no, no, George!" cried Emily, earnestly.  "My kitten cannot spare her
+tail."
+
+Edward being an invalid, it was now time for him to retire to bed.  When
+the family bade him good night he turned his face towards them, looking
+very loath to part.
+
+"I shall not know when morning comes," said he, sorrowfully.  "And
+besides, I want to hear your voices all the time; for, when nobody is
+speaking, it seems as if I were alone in a dark world."
+
+"You must have faith, my dear child," replied his mother.  "Faith is the
+soul's eyesight; and when we possess it the world is never dark nor
+lonely."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+
+The next day Edward began to get accustomed to his new condition of
+life.  Once, indeed, when his parents were out of the way and only
+Emily was left to take care of him, he could not resist the temptation
+to thrust aside the bandage and peep at the anxious face of his little
+nurse.  But, in spite of the dimness of the chamber, the experiment
+caused him so much pain that he felt no inclination to take another
+look.  So, with a deep sigh, here signed himself to his fate.
+
+"Emily, pray talk to me!" said he, somewhat impatiently.
+
+Now, Emily was a remarkably silent little girl, and did not possess that
+liveliness of disposition which renders some children such excellent
+companions.  She seldom laughed, and had not the faculty of making many
+words about small matters.  But the love and earnestness of her heart
+taught her how to amuse poor Edward in his darkness.  She put her
+knitting-work into his hands.
+
+"You must learn how to knit," said she.
+
+"What! without using my eyes?" cried Edward.
+
+"I can knit with my eyes shut," replied Emily.
+
+Then with her own little hands she guided Edward's fingers while he set
+about this new occupation.  So awkward were his first attempts that any
+other little girl would have laughed heartily.  But Emily preserved her
+gravity, and showed the utmost patience in taking up the innumerable
+stitches which he let down.  In the course of an hour or two his
+progress was quite encouraging.
+
+When evening came, Edward acknowledged that the day had been far less
+wearisome than he anticipated.  But he was glad, nevertheless, when his
+father and mother, and George and Emily, all took their seats around his
+chair.  He put out his hand to grasp each of their hands, and smiled
+with a very bright expression upon his lips.
+
+"Now I can see you all with my mind's eye," said he.  "And now, father,
+pray tell us another story."
+
+So Mr. Temple began.
+
+
+SIR ISAAC NEWTON.
+
+[BORN 1642, DIED 1727]
+
+On Christmas day, in the year 1642, Isaac Newton was born at the small
+village of Woolsthorpe, in England.  Little did his mother think, when
+she beheld her newborn babe, that he was destined to explain many
+matters which had been a mystery ever since the creation of the world.
+
+Isaac's father being dead, Mrs. Newton was married again to a clergyman,
+and went to reside at North Witham.  Her son was left to the care of his
+good old grandmother, who was very kind to him and sent him to school.
+In his early years Isaac did not appear to be a very bright scholar, but
+was chiefly remarkable for his ingenuity in all mechanical occupations.
+He had a set of little tools and saws of various sizes manufactured by
+himself.  With the aid of these Isaac contrived to make many curious
+articles, at which he worked with so much skill that he seemed to have
+been born with a saw or chisel in hand.
+
+The neighbors looked with vast admiration at the things which Isaac
+manufactured.  And his old grandmother, I suppose, was never weary of
+talking about him.
+
+"He'll make a capital workman one of these days," she would probably
+say.  "No fear but what Isaac will do well in the world and be a rich
+man before he dies."
+
+It is amusing to conjecture what were the anticipations of his
+grandmother and the neighbors about Isaac's future life.  Some of them,
+perhaps, fancied that he would make beautiful furniture of mahogany,
+rosewood, or polished oak, inlaid with ivory and ebony, and
+magnificently gilded.  And then, doubtless, all the rich people would
+purchase these fine things to adorn their drawing-rooms.  Others
+probably thought that little Isaac was destined to be an architect, and
+would build splendid mansions for the nobility and gentry, and churches
+too, with the tallest steeples that had ever been seen in England.
+
+Some of his friends, no doubt, advised Isaac's grandmother to apprentice
+him to a clock-maker; for, besides his mechanical skill, the boy seemed
+to have a taste for mathematics, which would be very useful to him in
+that profession.  And then, in due time, Isaac would set up for himself,
+and would manufacture curious clocks, like those that contain sets of
+dancing figures, which issue from the dial-plate when the hour is
+struck; or like those where a ship sails across the face of the clock,
+and is seen tossing up and down on the waves as often as the pendulum
+vibrates.
+
+Indeed, there was some ground for supposing that Isaac would devote
+himself to the manufacture of clocks; since he had already made one, of
+a kind which nobody had ever heard of before.  It was set a-going, not
+by wheels and weights like other clocks, but by the dropping of water.
+This was an object of great wonderment to all the people round about;
+and it must be confessed that there are few boys, or men either, who
+could contrive to tell what o'clock it is by means of a bowl of water.
+
+Besides the water-clock, Isaac made a sundial.  Thus his grandmother was
+never at a loss to know the hour; for the water-clock would tell it in
+the shade, and the dial in the sunshine.  The sundial is said to be
+still in existence at Woolsthorpe, on the corner of the house where
+Isaac dwelt.  If so, it must have marked the passage of every sunny hour
+that has elapsed since Isaac Newton was a boy.  It marked all the famous
+moments of his life; it marked the hour of his death; and still the
+sunshine creeps slowly over it, as regularly as when Isaac first set it
+up.
+
+Yet we must not say that the sundial has lasted longer than its maker;
+for Isaac Newton will exist long after the dial--yes, and long after the
+sun itself--shall have crumbled to decay.
+
+Isaac possessed a wonderful faculty of acquiring knowledge by the
+simplest means.  For instance, what method do you suppose he took to
+find out the strength of the wind?  You will never guess how the boy
+could compel that unseen, inconstant, and ungovernable wonder, the wind,
+to tell him the measure of its strength.  Yet nothing can be more
+simple.  He jumped against the wind; and by the length of his jump he
+could calculate the force of a gentle breeze, a brisk gale, or a
+tempest.  Thus, even in his boyish sports, he was continually searching
+out the secrets of philosophy.
+
+Not far from his grandmother's residence there was a windmill which
+operated on a new plan.  Isaac was in the habit of going thither
+frequently, and would spend whole hours in examining its various parts.
+While the mill was at rest he pried into its internal machinery.  When
+its broad sails were set in motion by the wind, he watched the process
+by which the mill-stones were made to revolve and crush the grain that
+was put into the hopper.  After gaining a thorough knowledge of its
+construction he was observed to be unusually busy with his tools.
+
+It was not long before his grandmother and all the neighborhood knew
+what Isaac had been about.  He had constructed a model of the windmill.
+Though not so large, I suppose, as one of the box traps which boys set
+to catch squirrels, yet every part of the mill and is machinery was
+complete.  Its little sails were neatly made of linen, and whirled round
+very swiftly when the mill was placed in a draught of air.  Even a puff
+of wind from Isaac's mouth or from a pair of bellows was sufficient to
+set the sails in motion.  And, what was most curious, if a handful of
+grains of wheat were put into the little hopper, they would soon be
+converted into snow-white flour.
+
+Isaac's playmates were enchanted with his new windmill.  They thought
+that nothing so pretty and so wonderful had ever been seen in the whole
+world.
+
+"But, Isaac," said one of them, "you have forgotten one thing that
+belongs to a mill."
+
+"What is that?" asked Isaac; for he supposed that, from the roof of the
+mill to its foundation, he had forgotten nothing.
+
+"Why, where is the miller?"  said his friend.
+
+"That is true,--I must look out for one," said Isaac; and he set himself
+to consider how the deficiency should be supplied.
+
+He might easily have made the miniature figure of a man; but then it
+would not have been able to move about and perform the duties of a
+miller.  As Captain Lemuel Gulliver had not yet discovered the island of
+Lilliput, Isaac did not know that there were little men in the world
+whose size was just suited to his windmill.  It so happened, however,
+that a mouse had just been caught in the trap; and, as no other miller
+could be found, Mr. Mouse was appointed to that important office.  The
+new miller made a very respectable appearance in his dark gray coat.  To
+be sure, he had not a very good character for honesty, and was suspected
+of sometimes stealing a portion of the grain which was given him to
+grind.  But perhaps some two-legged millers are quite as dishonest as
+this small quadruped.
+
+As Isaac grew older, it was found that he had far more important matters
+in his mind than the manufacture of toys like the little windmill.  All
+day long, if left to himself, he was either absorbed in thought or
+engaged in some book of mathematics or natural philosophy.  At night, I
+think it probable, he looked up with reverential curiosity to the stars,
+and wondered whether they were worlds like our own, and how great was
+their distance from the earth, and what was the power that kept them in
+their courses.  Perhaps, even so early in life, Isaac Newton felt a
+presentiment that he should be able, hereafter, to answer all these
+questions.
+
+When Isaac was fourteen years old, his mother's second husband being now
+dead, she wished her son to leave school and assist her in managing the
+farm at Woolsthorpe.  For a year or two, therefore, he tried to turn his
+attention to farming.  But his mind was so bent on becoming a scholar
+that his mother sent him back to school, and afterwards to the
+University of Cambridge.
+
+I have now finished my anecdotes of Isaac Newton's boyhood.  My story
+would be far too long were I to mention all the splendid discoveries
+which he made after he came to be a man.  He was the first that found
+out the nature of light; for, before his day, nobody could tell what the
+sunshine was composed of.  You remember, I suppose, the story of an
+apple's falling on his head, and thus leading him to discover the force
+of gravitation, which keeps the heavenly bodies in their courses.  When
+he had once got hold of this idea, he never permitted his mind to rest
+until he had searched out all the laws by which the planets are guided
+through the sky.  This he did as thoroughly as if he had gone up among
+the stars and tracked them in their orbits.  The boy had found out the
+mechanism of a windmill; the man explained to his fellow-men the
+mechanism of the universe.
+
+While making these researches he was accustomed to spend night after
+night in a lofty tower, gazing at the heavenly bodies through a
+telescope.  His mind was lifted far above the things of this world.
+He may be said, indeed, to have spent the greater part of his life in
+worlds that lie thousands and millions of miles away; for where the
+thoughts and the heart are, there is our true existence.
+
+Did you never hear the story of Newton and his little dog Diamond?
+One day, when he was fifty years old, and had been hard at work more
+than twenty years studying the theory of light, he went out of his
+chamber, leaving his little dog asleep before the fire.  On the table
+lay a heap of manuscript papers, containing all the discoveries which
+Newton had made during those twenty years.  When his master was gone, up
+rose little Diamond, jumped upon the table, and overthrew the lighted
+candle.  The papers immediately caught fire.
+
+Just as the destruction was completed Newton opened the chamber door,
+and perceived that the labors of twenty years were reduced to a heap of
+ashes.  There stood little Diamond, the author of all the mischief.
+Almost any other man would have sentenced the dog to immediate death.
+But Newton patted him on the head with his usual kindness, although
+grief was at his heart.
+
+"O Diamond, Diamond," exclaimed he, "thou little knowest the mischief
+then hast done!"
+
+This incident affected his health and spirits for some time afterwards;
+but, from his conduct towards the little dog, you may judge what was the
+sweetness of his temper.
+
+Newton lived to be a very old man, and acquired great renown, and was
+made a member of Parliament, and received the honor of knighthood from
+the king.  But he cared little for earthly fame and honors, and felt no
+pride in the vastness of his knowledge.  All that he had learned only
+made him feel how little he knew in comparison to what remained to be
+known.
+
+"I seem to myself like a child," observed he, "playing on the sea-shore,
+and picking up here and there a curious shell or a pretty pebble, while
+the boundless ocean of Truth lies undiscovered before me."
+
+At last, in 1727, when he was fourscore and five years old, Sir Isaac
+Newton died,--or rather, he ceased to live on earth.  We may be
+permitted to believe that he is still searching out the infinite wisdom
+and goodness of the Creator as earnestly, and with even more success,
+than while his spirit animated a mortal body.  He has left a fame behind
+him which will be as endurable as if his name were written in letters of
+light formed by the stars upon the midnight sky.
+
+"I love to hear about mechanical contrivances, such as the water-clock
+and the little windmill," remarked George.  "I suppose, if Sir Isaac
+Newton had only thought of it, he might have found out the steam-engine,
+and railroads, and all the other famous inventions that have come into
+use since his day."
+
+"Very possibly he might," replied Mr. Temple; "and no doubt a great many
+people would think it more useful to manufacture steam-engines than to
+search out the system of the universe.  Other great astronomers besides
+Newton have been endowed with mechanical genius.  There was David
+Rittenhouse, an American,--lie made a perfect little water-mill when he
+was only seven or eight years old.  But this sort of ingenuity is but a
+mere trifle in comparison with the other talents of such men."
+
+"It must have been beautiful," said Edward, "to spend whole nights in a
+high tower as Newton did, gazing at the stars, and the comets, and the
+meteors.  But what would Newton have done had he been blind? or if his
+eyes had been no better than mine?"
+
+"Why, even then, my dear child," observed Mrs. Temple, "he would have
+found out some way of enlightening his mind and of elevating his soul.
+But come; little Emily is waiting to bid you good night.  You must go to
+sleep and dream of seeing all our faces."
+
+"But how sad it will be when I awake!" murmured Edward.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+In the course of the next day the harmony of our little family was
+disturbed by something like a quarrel between George and Edward.
+
+The former, though he loved his brother dearly, had found it quite too
+great a sacrifice of his own enjoyments to spend all his play-time in a
+darkened chamber.  Edward, on the other hand, was inclined to be
+despotic.  He felt as if his bandaged eyes entitled him to demand that
+everybody who enjoyed the blessing of sight should contribute to his
+comfort and amusement.  He therefore insisted that George, instead of
+going out to play at football, should join with himself and Emily in a
+game of questions and answers.
+
+George resolutely refused, and ran out of the house.  He did not revisit
+Edward's chamber till the evening, when he stole in, looking confused,
+yet somewhat sullen, and sat down beside his father's chair.  It was
+evident, by a motion of Edward's head and a slight trembling of his
+lips, that he was aware of George's entrance, though his footsteps had
+been almost inaudible.  Emily, with her serious and earnest little face,
+looked from one to the other, as if she longed to be a messenger of
+peace between them.
+
+Mr. Temple, without seeming to notice any of these circumstances, began
+a story.
+
+SAMUEL JOHNSON
+
+[BORN 1709  DIED 1784.]
+
+"Sam," said Mr. Michael Johnson, of Lichfield, one morning, "I am very
+feeble and ailing to-day.  You must go to Uttoxeter in my stead, and
+tend the bookstall in the market-place there."
+
+This was spoken above a hundred years ago, by an elderly man, who had
+once been a thriving bookseller at Lichfield, in England.  Being now in
+reduced circumstances, he was forced to go every market-day and sell
+books at a stall, in the neighboring village of Uttoxeter.
+
+His son, to whom Mr. Johnson spoke, was a great boy, of very singular
+aspect.  He had an intelligent face; but it was seamed and distorted by
+a scrofulous humor, which affected his eyes so badly that sometimes he
+was almost blind.  Owing to the same cause his head would often shake
+with a tremulous motion as if he were afflicted with the palsy.  When
+Sam was an infant, the famous Queen Anne had tried to cure him of this
+disease by laying her royal hands upon his head.  But though the touch
+of a king or queen was supposed to be a certain remedy for scrofula, it
+produced no good effect upon Sam Johnson.
+
+At the time which we speak of the poor lad was not very well dressed,
+and wore shoes from which his toes peeped out; for his old father had
+barely the means of supporting his wife and children.  But, poor as the
+family were, young Sam Johnson had as much pride as any nobleman's son
+in England.  The fact was, he felt conscious of uncommon sense and
+ability, which, in his own opinion, entitled him to great respect from
+the world.  Perhaps he would have been glad if grown people had treated
+him as reverentially as his schoolfellows did.  Three of them were
+accustomed to come for him every morning; and while he sat upon the back
+of one, the two others supported him on each side; and thus he rode to
+school in triumph.
+
+Being a personage of so much importance, Sam could not bear the idea of
+standing all day in Uttoxeter market offering books to the rude and
+ignorant country people.  Doubtless he felt the more reluctant on
+account of his shabby clothes, and the disorder of his eyes, and the
+tremulous motion of his head.
+
+When Mr. Michael Johnson spoke, Sam pouted and made an indistinct
+grumbling in his throat; then he looked his old father in the face and
+answered him loudly and deliberately.
+
+"Sir," said he, "I will not go to Uttoxeter market!"
+
+Mr. Johnson had seen a great deal of the lad's obstinacy ever since his
+birth; and while Sam was younger, the old gentleman had probably used
+the rod whenever occasion seemed to require.  But he was now too feeble
+and too much out of spirits to contend with this stubborn and violent-
+tempered boy.  He therefore gave up the point at once, and prepared to
+go to Uttoxeter himself.
+
+"Well, Sam," said Mr. Johnson, as he took his hat and staff, "if for the
+sake of your foolish pride you can suffer your poor sick father to stand
+all day in the noise and confusion of the market when he ought to be in
+his bed, I have no more to say.  But you will think of this, Sam, when I
+am dead and gone."
+
+So the poor old man (perhaps with a tear in his eye, but certainly with
+sorrow in his heart) set forth towards Uttoxeter.  The gray-haired,
+feeble, melancholy Michael Johnson!  How sad a thing it was that he
+should be forced to go, in his sickness, and toil for the support of an
+ungrateful son who was too proud to do anything for his father, or his
+mother, or himself!  Sam looked after Mr. Johnson with a sullen
+countenance till he was out of sight.
+
+But when the old man's figure, as he went stooping along the street, was
+no more to be seen, the boy's heart began to smite him.  He had a vivid
+imagination, and it tormented him with the image of his father standing
+in the market-place of Uttoxeter and offering his books to the noisy
+crowd around him.  Sam seemed to behold him arranging his literary
+merchandise upon the stall in such a way as was best calculated to
+attract notice.  Here was Addison's Spectator, a long row of little
+volumes; here was Pope's translation of the Iliad and Odyssey; here were
+Dryden's poems, or those of Prior.  Here, likewise, were Gulliver's
+Travels, and a variety of little gilt-covered children's books, such as
+Tom Thumb, Jack the Giant Queller, Mother Goose's Melodies, and others
+which our great-grandparents used to read in their childhood.  And here
+were sermons for the pious, and pamphlets for the politicians, and
+ballads, some merry and some dismal ones, for the country people to
+sing.
+
+Sam, in imagination, saw his father offer these books, pamphlets, and
+ballads, now to the rude yeomen who perhaps could not read a word; now
+to the country squires, who cared for nothing but to hunt hares and
+foxes; now to the children, who chose to spend their coppers for sugar-
+plums or gingerbread rather than for picture-books.  And if Mr. Johnson
+should sell a book to man, woman, or child, it would cost him an hour's
+talk to get a profit of only sixpence.
+
+"My poor father!" thought Sam to himself.  "How his head will ache!  and
+how heavy his heart will be!  I am almost sorry that I did not do as he
+bade me."
+
+Then the boy went to his mother, who was busy about the house.  She did
+not know of what had passed between Mr. Johnson and Sam.
+
+"Mother," said he, "did you think father seemed very ill to-day?"
+
+"Yes, Sam," answered his mother, turning with a flushed face from the
+fire, where she was cooking their scanty dinner.  "Your father did look
+very ill; and it is a pity he did not send you to Uttoxeter in his
+stead.  You are a great boy now, and would rejoice, I am sure, to do
+something for your poor father, who has done so much for you."
+
+The lad made no reply.  But again his imagination set to work and
+conjured up another picture of poor Michael Johnson.  He was standing in
+the hot sunshine of the market-place, and looking so weary, sick, and
+disconsolate, that the eyes of all the crowd were drawn to him.  "Had
+this old man no son," the people would say among themselves, "who might
+have taken his place at the bookstall while the father kept his bed?"
+And perhaps, but this was a terrible thought for Sam!--perhaps his
+father would faint away and fall down in the marketplace, with his gray
+hair in the dust and his venerable face as deathlike as that of a
+corpse.  And there would be the bystanders gazing earnestly at Mr.
+Johnson and whispering, "Is he dead?  Is he dead?"
+
+And Sam shuddered as he repeated to himself, "Is he dead?"
+
+"O, I have been a cruel son!" thought he, within his own heart.  "God
+forgive me!  God forgive me!"
+
+But God could not yet forgive him; for he was not truly penitent.  Had
+he been so, he would have hastened away that very moment to Uttoxeter,
+and have fallen at his father's feet, even in the midst of the crowded
+market-place.  There he would have confessed his fault, and besought Mr.
+Johnson to go home and leave the rest of the day's work to him.  But
+such was Sam's pride and natural stubbornness that he could not bring
+himself to this humiliation.  Yet he ought to have done so, for his own
+sake, for his father's sake, and for God's sake.
+
+After sunset old Michael Johnson came slowly home and sat down in his
+customary chair.  He said nothing to Sam; nor do I know that a single
+word ever passed between them on the subject of the son's disobedience.
+In a few years his father died, and left Sam to fight his way through
+the world by himself.  It would make our story much too long were I to
+tell you even a few of the remarkable events of Sam's life.  Moreover,
+there is the less need of this, because many books have been written
+about that poor boy, and the fame that he acquired, and all that he did
+or talked of doing after he came to be a man.
+
+But one thing I must not neglect to say.  From his boyhood upward until
+the latest day of his life he never forgot the story of Uttoxeter
+market.  Often when he was a scholar of the University of Oxford, or
+master of an academy at Edial, or a writer for the London booksellers,--
+in all his poverty and toil and in all his success,--while he was
+walking the streets without a shilling to buy food, or when the greatest
+men of England were proud to feast him at their table,--still that heavy
+and remorseful thought came back to him, "I was cruel to my poor father
+in his illness!"  Many and many a time, awake or in his dreams, he
+seemed to see old Michael Johnson standing in the dust and confusion of
+the market-place and pressing his withered hand to his forehead as if it
+ached.
+
+Alas! my dear children, it is a sad thing to have such a thought as this
+to bear us company through life.
+
+Though the story was but half finished, yet, as it was longer than
+usual, Mr. Temple here made a short pause.  He perceived that Emily was
+in tears, and Edward turned his half-veiled face towards the speaker
+with an air of great earnestness and interest.  As for George, he had
+withdrawn into the dusky shadow behind his father's chair.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+In a few moments Mr. Temple resumed the story, as follows:--
+
+
+SAMUEL JOHNSON.
+
+[CONTINUED]
+
+Well, my children, fifty years had passed away since young Sam Johnson
+had shown himself so hard-hearted towards his father.  It was now
+market-day in the village of Uttoxeter.
+
+In the street of the village you might see cattle-dealers with cows and
+oxen for sale, and pig-drovers with herds of squeaking swine, and
+farmers with cartloads of cabbages, turnips, onions, and all other
+produce of the soil.  Now and then a farmer's red-faced wife trotted
+along on horseback, with butter and cheese in two large panniers.  The
+people of the village, with country squires, and other visitors from the
+neighborhood, walked hither and thither, trading, jesting, quarrelling,
+and making just such a bustle as their fathers and grandfathers had made
+half a century before.
+
+In one part of the street there was a puppet-show with a ridiculous
+merry-andrew, who kept both grown people and children in a roar of
+laughter.  On the opposite side was the old stone church of Uttoxeter,
+with ivy climbing up its walls and partly obscuring its Gothic windows.
+
+There was a clock in the gray tower of the ancient church, and the hands
+on the dial-plate had now almost reached the hour of noon.  At this
+busiest hour of the market a strange old gentleman was seen making his
+way among the crowd, he was very tall and bulky, and wore a brown coat
+and small-clothes, with black worsted stockings and buckled shoes.  On
+his head was a three cornered hat, beneath which a bushy gray wig thrust
+itself out, all in disorder.  The old gentleman elbowed the people
+aside, and forced his way through the midst of them with a singular kind
+of gait, rolling his body hither and thither, so that he needed twice as
+much room as any other person there.
+
+"Make way, sir!" he would cry out, in a loud, harsh voice, when somebody
+happened to interrupt his progress.  "Sir, you intrude your person into
+the public thoroughfare!"
+
+"What a queer old fellow this is!" muttered the people among themselves,
+hardly knowing whether to laugh or to be angry.
+
+But when they looked into the venerable stranger's face, not the most
+thoughtless among them dared to offer him the least impertinence.
+Though his features were scarred and distorted with the scrofula, and
+though his eyes were dim and bleared, yet there was something of
+authority and wisdom in his look, which impressed them all with awe.  So
+they stood aside to let him pass; and the old gentleman made his way
+across the market-place, and paused near the corner of the ivy-mantled
+church.  Just as he reached it the clock struck twelve.
+
+On the very spot of ground where the stranger now stood some aged people
+remembered that old Michael Johnson had formerly kept his book-stall.
+The little children who had once bought picture-books of him were
+grandfathers now.
+
+"Yes; here is the very spot!" muttered the old gentleman to himself.
+
+There this unknown personage took his stand and removed the three-
+cornered hat from his head.  It was the busiest hour of the day.  What
+with the hum of human voices, the lowing of cattle, the squeaking of
+pigs, and the laughter caused by the merry-andrew, the marketplace was
+in very great confusion.  But the stranger seemed not to notice it any
+more than if the silence of a desert were around him.  He was rapt in
+his own thoughts.  Sometimes he raised his furrowed brow to heaven, as
+if in prayer; sometimes he bent his head, as if an insupportable weight
+of sorrow were upon him.  It increased the awfulness of his aspect that
+there was a motion of his head and an almost continual tremor throughout
+his frame, with singular twitches and contortions of his features.
+
+The hot sun blazed upon his unprotected head; but he seemed not to feel
+its fervor.  A dark cloud swept across the sky and rain-drops pattered
+into the market-place; but the stranger heeded not the shower.  The
+people began to gaze at the mysterious old gentleman with superstitious
+fear and wonder.  Who could he be?  Whence did he come?  Wherefore was
+he standing bareheaded in the market-place?  Even the school-boys left
+the merry-andrew and came to gaze, with wide-open eyes, at this tall,
+strange-looking old man.
+
+There was a cattle-drover in the village who had recently made a journey
+to the Smithfield market, in London.  No sooner had this man thrust his
+way through the throng and taken a look at the unknown personage, than
+he whispered to one of his acquaintances,--
+
+"I say, Neighbor Hutchins, would ye like to know who this old gentleman
+is?"
+
+"Ay, that I would," replied Neighbor Hutchins, "for a queerer chap I
+never saw in my life.  Somehow it makes me feel small to look at him.
+He's more than a common man."
+
+"You may well say so," answered the cattle-drover.  "Why, that's the
+famous Doctor Samuel Johnson, who they say is the greatest and
+learnedest man in England.  I saw him in London streets, walking with
+one Mr. Boswell."
+
+Yes; the poor boy, the friendless Sam, with whom we began our story, had
+become the famous Doctor Samuel Johnson.  He was universally
+acknowledged as the wisest man and greatest writer in all England.  He
+had given shape and permanence to his native language by his Dictionary.
+Thousands upon thousands of people had read his Idler, his Rambler, and
+his Rasselas.  Noble and wealthy men and beautiful ladies deemed it
+their highest privilege to be his companions.  Even the King of Great
+Britain had sought his acquaintance, and told him what an honor he
+considered it that such a man had been born in his dominions.  He was
+now at the summit of literary renown.
+
+But all his fame could not extinguish the bitter remembrance which had
+tormented him through life.  Never never had he forgotten his father's
+sorrowful and upbraiding look.  Never, though the old man's troubles had
+been over so many years, had he forgiven himself for inflicting such a
+pang upon his heart.  And now, in his old age, he had come hither to do
+penance, by standing at noonday, in the market-place of Uttoxeter, on
+the very spot where Michael Johnson had once kept his book-stall.  The
+aged and illustrious man had done what the poor boy refused to do.  By
+thus expressing his deep repentance and humiliation of heart, he hoped
+to gain peace of conscience and the forgiveness of God.
+
+My dear children, if you have grieved (I will not say your parents, but
+if you have grieved) the heart of any human being who has a claim upon
+your love, then think of Samuel Johnson's penance.  Will it not be
+better to redeem the error now than to endure the agony of remorse for
+fifty years?  Would you not rather say to a brother, "I have erred;
+forgive me!" than perhaps to go hereafter and shed bitter tears upon his
+grave?
+
+Hardly was the story concluded when George hastily arose, and Edward
+likewise, stretching forth his hands into the darkness that surrounded
+him to find his brother.  Both accused themselves of unkindness: each
+besought the other's forgiveness; and having done so, the trouble of
+their hearts vanished away like a dream.
+
+"I am glad!  I am so glad!" said Emily, in a low, earnest voice.  "Now I
+shall sleep quietly to-night."
+
+"My sweet child," thought Mrs. Temple as she kissed her, "mayest thou
+never know how much strife there is on earth!  It would cost thee many a
+night's rest."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+About this period Mr. Temple found it necessary to take a journey, which
+interrupted the series of Biographical Stories for several evenings.  In
+the interval, Edward practised various methods of employing and amusing
+his mind.
+
+Sometimes he meditated upon beautiful objects which he had formerly
+seen, until the intensity of his recollection seemed to restore him the
+gift of sight and place everything anew before his eyes.  Sometimes he
+repeated verses of poetry which he did not know to be in his memory
+until he found them there just at the time of need.  Sometimes he
+attempted to solve arithmetical questions which had perplexed him while
+at school.
+
+Then, with his mother's assistance, he learned the letters of the string
+alphabet, which is used in some of the institutions for the blind in
+Europe.  When one of his friends gave him a leaf of St. Mark's Gospel,
+printed in embossed characters, he endeavored to read it by passing his
+fingers over the letters as blind children do.
+
+His brother George was now very kind, and spent so much time in the
+darkened chamber that Edward often insisted upon his going out to play.
+George told him all about the affairs at school, and related many
+amusing incidents that happened among his comrades, and informed him
+what sports were now in fashion, and whose kite soared the highest, and
+whose little ship sailed fleetest on the Frog Pond.  As for Emily, she
+repeated stories which she had learned from a new book called THE FLOWER
+PEOPLE, in which the snowdrops, the violets, the columbines, the roses,
+and all that lovely tribe are represented as telling their secrets to a
+little girl.  The flowers talked sweetly, as flowers should; and Edward
+almost fancied that he could behold their bloom and smell their fragrant
+breath.
+
+Thus, in one way or another, the dark days of Edward's confinement
+passed not unhappily.  In due time his father returned; and the next
+evening, when the family were assembled, he began a story.
+
+"I must first observe, children," said he, "that some writers deny the
+truth of the incident which I am about to relate to you.  There
+certainly is but little evidence in favor of it.  Other respectable
+writers, however, tell it for a fact; and, at all events, it is an
+interesting story, and has an excellent moral."
+
+So Mr. Temple proceeded to talk about the early days of
+
+
+OLIVER CROMWELL.
+
+[BORN 1599  DIED 1658.]
+
+Not long after King James I. took the place of Queen Elizabeth on the
+throne of England, there lived an English knight at a place called
+Hinchinbrooke.  His name was Sir Oliver Cromwell.  He spent his life, I
+suppose, pretty much like other English knights and squires in those
+days, bunting hares and foxes and drinking large quantities of ale and
+wine.  The old house in which he dwelt had been occupied by his
+ancestors before him for a good many years.  In it there was a great
+hall, hang round with coats of arms and helmets, cuirasses and swords,
+which his forefathers had used in battle, and with horns of deer and
+tails of foxes which they or Sir Oliver himself had killed in the chase.
+
+This Sir Oliver Cromwell had a nephew, who had been called Oliver, after
+himself, but who was generally known in the family by the name of little
+Noll.  His father was a younger brother of Sir Oliver.  The child was
+often sent to visit his uncle, who probably found him a troublesome
+little fellow to take care of.  He was forever in mischief, and always
+running into some danger or other, from which he seemed to escape only
+by miracle.
+
+Even while he was an infant in the cradle a strange accident had
+befallen hum.  A huge ape, which was kept in the family, snatched up
+little Noll in his fore paws and clambered with him to the roof of the
+house.  There this ugly beast sat grinning at the affrighted spectators,
+as if it had done the most praiseworthy thing imaginable.  Fortunately,
+however, he brought the child safe down again; and the event was
+afterwards considered an omen that Noll would reach a very elevated
+station in the world.
+
+One morning, when Noll was five or six years old a royal messenger
+arrived at Hinchinbrooke with tidings that King James was coming to dine
+with Sir Oliver Cromwell.  This was a high honor, to be sure, but a very
+great trouble; for all the lords and ladies, knights, squires, guards
+and yeomen, who waited on the king, were to be feasted as well as
+himself; and more provisions would be eaten and more wine drunk in that
+one day than generally in a month.  However, Sir Oliver expressed much
+thankfulness for the king's intended visit, and ordered his butler and
+cook to make the best preparations in their power.  So a great fire was
+kindled in the kitchen; and the neighbors knew by the smoke which poured
+out of the chimney that boiling, baking, stewing, roasting, and frying
+were going on merrily.
+
+By and by the sound of trumpets was heard approaching nearer and nearer;
+a heavy, old-fashioned coach, surrounded by guards on horseback, drove
+up to the house.  Sir Oliver, with his hat in his hand, stood at the
+gate to receive the king.  His Majesty was dressed in a suit of green
+not very new; he had a feather in his hat and a triple ruff round his
+neck, and over his shoulder was slung a hunting-horn instead of a sword.
+Altogether he had not the most dignified aspect in the world; but the
+spectators gazed at him as if there was something superhuman and divine
+in his person.  They even shaded their eyes with their hands, as if they
+were dazzled by the glory of his countenance.
+
+"How are ye, man?" cried King James, speaking in a Scotch accent; for
+Scotland was his native country.  "By my crown, Sir Oliver, but I am
+glad to see ye!"
+
+The good knight thanked the king; at the same time kneeling down while
+his Majesty alighted.  When King James stood on the ground, he directed
+Sir Oliver's attention to a little boy who had come with him in the
+coach.  He was six or seven years old, and wore a hat and feather, and
+was more richly dressed than the king himself.  Though by no means an
+ill-looking child, he seemed shy, or even sulky; and his cheeks were
+rather pale, as if he had been kept moping within doors, instead of
+being sent out to play in the sun and wind.
+
+"I have brought my son Charlie to see ye," said the king.  "I hope, Sir
+Oliver, ye have a son of your own to be his playmate."
+
+Sir Oliver Cromwell made a reverential bow to the little prince, whom
+one of the attendants had now taken out of the coach.  It was wonderful
+to see how all the spectators, even the aged men with their gray beards,
+humbled themselves before this child.  They bent their bodies till their
+beards almost swept the dust: They looked as if they were ready to kneel
+down and worship him.
+
+The poor little prince!  From his earliest infancy not a soul had dared
+to contradict him; everybody around him had acted as if he were a
+superior being; so that, of course, he had imbibed the same opinion of
+himself.  He naturally supposed that the whole kingdom of Great Britain
+and all its inhabitants had been created solely for his benefit and
+amusement.  This was a sad mistake; and it cost him dear enough after he
+had ascended his father's throne.
+
+"What a noble little prince he is!"  exclaimed Sir Oliver, lifting his
+hands in admiration.  "No, please your Majesty, I have no son to be the
+playmate of his royal highness; but there is a nephew of mine somewhere
+about the house.  He is near the prince's age, and will be but too happy
+to wait upon his royal highness."
+
+"Send for him, man! send for him!" said the king.
+
+But, as it happened, there was no need of sending for Master Noll.
+While King James was speaking, a rugged, bold-faced, sturdy little
+urchin thrust himself through the throng of courtiers and attendants and
+greeted the prince with a broad stare.  His doublet and hose (which had
+been put on new and clean in honor of the king's visit) were already
+soiled and torn with the rough play in which he had spent the morning.
+He looked no more abashed than if King James were his uncle and the
+prince one of his customary playfellows.
+
+This was little Noll himself.
+
+"Here, please your Majesty, is my nephew," said Sir Oliver, somewhat
+ashamed of Noll's appearance and demeanor.  "Oliver, make your obeisance
+to the king's majesty."
+
+The boy made a pretty respectful obeisance to the king; for in those
+days children were taught to pay reverence to their elders.  King James,
+who prided himself greatly on his scholarship, asked Noll a few
+questions in the Latin grammar, and then introduced him to his son.  The
+little prince, in a very grave and dignified manner, extended his hand,
+not for Noll to shake, but that he might kneel down and kiss it.
+
+"Nephew," said Sir Oliver, "pay your duty to the prince."
+
+"I owe him no duty," cried Noll, thrusting aside the prince's hand with
+a rude laugh.  "Why should I kiss that boy's hand?"
+
+All the courtiers were amazed and confounded, and Sir Oliver the most of
+all.  But the king laughed heartily, saying, that little Noll had a
+stubborn English spirit, and that it was well for his son to learn
+betimes what sort of a people he was to rule over.
+
+So King James and his train entered the house; and the prince, with Noll
+and some other children, was sent to play in a separate room while his
+Majesty was at dinner.  The young people soon became acquainted; for
+boys, whether the sons of monarchs or of peasants, all like play, and
+are pleased with one another's society.  What games they diverted
+themselves with I cannot tell.  Perhaps they played at ball, perhaps at
+blind-man's-buff, perhaps at leap-frog, perhaps at prison-bars.  Such
+games have been in use for hundreds of years; and princes as well as
+poor children have spent some of their happiest hours in playing at
+them.
+
+Meanwhile King James and his nobles were feasting with Sir Oliver in the
+great hall.  The king sat in a gilded chair, under a canopy, at the head
+of a long table.  Whenever any of the company addressed him, it was with
+the deepest reverence.  If the attendants offered him wine or the
+various delicacies of the festival, it was upon their bended knees.  You
+would have thought, by these tokens of worship, that the monarch was a
+supernatural being; only he seemed to have quite as much need of those
+vulgar matters, food and drink, as any other person at the table.  But
+fate had ordained that good King James should not finish his dinner in
+peace.
+
+All of a sudden there arose a terrible uproar in the room where the
+children were at play.  Angry shouts and shrill cries of alarm were
+mixed up together; while the voices of elder persons were likewise
+heard, trying to restore order among the children.  The king and
+everybody else at table looked aghast; for perhaps the tumult made them
+think that a general rebellion had broken out.
+
+"Mercy on us!" muttered Sir Oliver; "that graceless nephew of mine is in
+some mischief or other.  The naughty little whelp!"
+
+Getting up from table, he ran to see what was the matter, followed by
+many of the guests, and the king among them.  They all crowded to the
+door of the playroom.
+
+On looking in, they beheld the little Prince Charles, with his rich
+dress all torn and covered with the dust of the floor.  His royal blood
+was streaming from his nose in great abundance.  He gazed at Noll with a
+mixture of rage and affright, and at the same time a puzzled expression,
+as if he could not understand how any mortal boy should dare to give him
+a beating.  As for Noll, there stood his sturdy little figure, bold as a
+lion, looking as if he were ready to fight, not only the prince, but the
+king and kingdom too.
+
+"You little villain!" cried his uncle.  "What have you been about?  Down
+on your knees, this instant, and ask the prince's pardon.  How dare you
+lay your hands on the king's majesty's royal son?"
+
+"He struck me first," grumbled the valiant little Noll; "and I've only
+given him his due."
+
+Sir Oliver and the guests lifted up their hands in astonishment and
+horror.  No punishment seemed severe enough for this wicked little
+varlet, who had dared to resent a blow from the king's own son.  Some of
+the courtiers were of opinion that Noll should be sent prisoner to the
+Tower of London and brought to trial for high treason.  Others, in their
+great zeal for the king's service, were about to lay hands on the boy
+and chastise him in the royal presence.
+
+But King James, who sometimes showed a good deal of sagacity, ordered
+them to desist.
+
+"Thou art a bold boy," said he, looking fixedly at little Noll; "and,
+if thou live to be a man, my son Charlie would do wisely to be friends
+with thee."
+
+"I never will!" cried the little prince, stamping his foot.
+
+"Peace, Charlie, peace!"  said the king; then addressing Sir Oliver and
+the attendants, "Harm not the urchin; for he has taught my son a good
+lesson, if Heaven do but give him grace to profit by it.  Hereafter,
+should he be tempted to tyrannize over the stubborn race of Englishmen,
+let him remember little Noll Cromwell and his own bloody nose."
+
+So the king finished his dinner and departed; and for many a long year
+the childish quarrel between Prince Charles and Noll Cromwell was
+forgotten.  The prince, indeed, might have lived a happier life, and
+have met a more peaceful death, had he remembered that quarrel and the
+moral which his father drew from it.  But when old King James was dead,
+and Charles sat upon his throne, he seemed to forget that he was but a
+man, and that his meanest subjects were men as well as he.  He wished to
+have the property and lives of the people of England entirely at his own
+disposal.  But the Puritans, and all who loved liberty, rose against him
+and beat him in many battles, and pulled him down from his throne.
+
+Throughout this war between the king and nobles on one side and the
+people of England on the other there was a famous leader, who did more
+towards the ruin of royal authority than all the rest.  The contest
+seemed like a wrestling-match between King Charles and this strong man.
+And the king was overthrown.
+
+When the discrowned monarch was brought to trial, that warlike leader
+sat in the judgment hall.  Many judges were present besides himself; but
+he alone had the power to save King Charles or to doom him to the
+scaffold.  After sentence was pronounced, this victorious general was
+entreated by his own children, on their knees, to rescue his Majesty
+from death.
+
+"No!"  said he, sternly.  "Better that one man should perish than that
+the whole country should be ruined for his sake.  It is resolved that he
+shall die!"
+
+When Charles, no longer a king, was led to the scaffold, his great enemy
+stood at a window of the royal palace of Whitehall.  He beheld the poor
+victim of pride, and an evil education, and misused power, as he laid
+his head upon the block.  He looked on with a steadfast gaze while a
+black-veiled executioner lifted the fatal axe and smote off that
+anointed head at a single blow.
+
+"It is a righteous deed," perhaps he said to himself.
+
+"Now Englishmen may enjoy their rights."
+
+At night, when the body of Charles was laid in the coffin, in a gloomy
+chamber, the general entered, lighting himself with a torch.  Its gleams
+showed that he was now growing old; his visage was scarred with the many
+battles in which he had led the van; his brow was wrinkled with care and
+with the continual exercise of stern authority.  Probably there was not
+a single trait, either of aspect or manner, that belonged to the little
+Noll who had battled so stoutly with Prince Charles.  Yet this was he!
+
+He lifted the coffin-lid, and caused the light of his torch to fall upon
+the dead monarch's face.  Then, probably, his mind went back over all
+the marvellous events that had brought the hereditary King of England to
+this dishonored coffin, and had raised himself, a humble individual, to
+the possession of kingly power.  He was a king, though without the empty
+title or the glittering crown.
+
+"Why was it," said Cromwell to himself, or might have said, as he gazed
+at the pale features in the coffin,--"why was it that this great king
+fell, and that poor Noll Cromwell has gained all the power of the
+realm?"
+
+And, indeed, why was it?
+
+King Charles had fallen, because, in his manhood the same as when a
+child, he disdained to feel that every human creature was his brother.
+He deemed himself a superior being, and fancied that his subjects were
+created only for a king to rule over.  And Cromwell rose, because, in
+spite of his many faults, he mainly fought for the rights and freedom of
+his fellow-men; and therefore the poor and the oppressed all lent their
+strength to him.
+
+"Dear father, how I should hate to be a king!"  exclaimed Edward.
+
+"And would you like to be a Cromwell?" inquired his father.
+
+"I should like it well," replied George; "only I would not have put the
+poor old king to death.  I would have sent him out of the kingdom, or
+perhaps have allowed him to live in a small house near the gate of the
+royal palace.  It was too severe to cut off his head."
+
+"Kings are in such an unfortunate position," said Mr. Temple, "that they
+must either be almost deified by their subjects, or else be dethroned
+and beheaded.  In either case it is a pitiable lot."
+
+"O, I had rather be blind than be a king!" said Edward.
+
+"Well, my dear Edward," observed his mother, with a smile, "I am glad
+you are convinced that your own lot is not the hardest in the world."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+It was a pleasant sight, for those who had eyes, to see how patiently
+the blinded little boy now submitted to what he had at first deemed an
+intolerable calamity.  The beneficent Creator has not allowed our
+comfort to depend on the enjoyment of any single sense.  Though he has
+made the world so very beautiful, yet it is possible to be happy without
+ever be holding the blue sky, or the green and flowery earth, or the
+kind faces of those whom we love.  Thus it appears that all the external
+beauty of the universe is a free gift from God over and above what is
+necessary to our comfort.  How grateful, then, should we be to that
+divine Benevolence, which showers even superfluous bounties upon us!
+
+One truth, therefore, which Edward's blindness had taught him was, that
+his mind and soul could dispense with the assistance of his eyes.
+Doubtless, however, he would have found this lesson far more difficult
+to learn had it not been for the affection of those around him.  His
+parents, and George and Emily, aided him to bear his misfortune; if
+possible, they would have lent him their own eyes.  And this, too, was a
+good lesson for him.  It taught him how dependent on one another God has
+ordained us to be, insomuch that all the necessities of mankind should
+incite them to mutual love.
+
+So Edward loved his friends, and perhaps all the world, better than he
+ever did before.  And be felt grateful towards his father for spending
+the evenings in telling him stories,--more grateful, probably, than any
+of my little readers will feel towards me for so carefully writing these
+same stories down.
+
+"Come, dear father," said he, the next evening, "now tell us about some
+other little boy who was destined to be a famous man."
+
+"How would you like a story of a Boston boy?" asked his father.
+
+"O, pray let us have it!" cried George, eagerly.  "It will be all the
+better if he has been to our schools, and has coasted on the Common, and
+sailed boats in the Frog Pond.  I shall feel acquainted with him.
+then."
+
+"Well, then," said Mr. Temple, "I will introduce you to a Boston boy
+whom all the world became acquainted with after he grew to be a man."
+
+The story was as follows:--
+
+
+
+BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
+
+[BORN 1706,  DIED 1790]
+
+In the year 1716, or about that period, a boy used to be seen in the
+streets of Boston who was known among his schoolfellows and playmates by
+the name of Ben Franklin.  Ben was born in 1706; so that he was now
+about ten years old.  His father, who had come over from England, was a
+soap-boiler and tallow-chandler, and resided in Milk Street, not far
+from the Old South Church.
+
+Ben was a bright boy at his book, and even a brighter one when at play
+with his comrades.  He had some remarkable qualities which always seemed
+to give him the lead, whether at sport or in more serious matters.  I
+might tell you a number of amusing anecdotes about him.  You are
+acquainted, I suppose, with his famous story of the WHISTLE, and how he
+bought it, with a whole pocketful of coppers and afterwards repented of
+his bargain.  But Ben had grown a great boy since those days, and had
+gained wisdom by experience; for it was one of his peculiarities, that
+no incident ever happened to him without teaching him some valuable
+lesson.  Thus he generally profited more by his misfortunes than many
+people do by the most favorable events that could befall them.
+
+Ben's face was already pretty well known to the inhabitants of Boston.
+The selectmen and other people of note often used to visit his father,
+for the sake of talking about the affairs of the town or province.  Mr.
+Franklin was considered a person of great wisdom and integrity, and was
+respected by all who knew him, although he supported his family by the
+humble trade of boiling soap and making tallow candles.
+
+While his father and the visitors were holding deep consultations about
+public affairs, little Ben would sit on his stool in a corner, listening
+with the greatest interest, as if he understood every word.  Indeed, his
+features were so full of intelligence that there could be but little
+doubt, not only that he understood what was said, but that he could have
+expressed some very sagacious opinions out of his own mind.  But in
+those days boys were expected to be silent in the presence of their
+elders.  However, Ben Franklin was looked upon as a very promising lad,
+who would talk and act wisely by and by.
+
+"Neighbor Franklin," his father's friends would sometimes say, "you
+ought to send this boy to college and make a minister of him."
+
+"I have often thought of it," his father would reply; "and my brother
+Benjamin promises to give him a great many volumes of manuscript
+sermons, in case he should be educated for the church.  But I have a
+large family to support, and cannot afford the expense."
+
+In fact, Mr. Franklin found it so difficult to provide bread for his
+family, that, when the boy was ten years old, it became necessary to
+take him from school.  Ben was then employed in cutting candle-wicks
+into equal lengths and filling the moulds with tallow; and many families
+in Boston spent their evenings by the light of the candles which he had
+helped to make.  Thus, you see, in his early days, as well as in his
+manhood, his labors contributed to throw light upon dark matters.
+
+Busy as his life now was, Ben still found time to keep company with his
+former schoolfellows.  He and the other boys were very fond of fishing,
+and spent many of their leisure hours on the margin of the mill-pond,
+catching flounders, perch, eels, and tomcod, which came up thither with
+the tide.  The place where they fished is now, probably, covered with
+stone pavements and brick buildings, and thronged with people and with
+vehicles of all kinds.  But at that period it was a marshy spot on the
+outskirts of the town, where gulls flitted and screamed overhead and
+salt-meadow grass grew under foot.
+
+On the edge of the water there was a deep bed of clay, in which the boys
+were forced to stand while they caught their fish.  Here they dabbled in
+mud and mire like a flock of ducks.
+
+"This is very uncomfortable," said Ben Franklin one day to his comrades,
+while they were standing mid-leg deep in the quagmire.
+
+"So it is," said the other boys.  "What a pity we have no better place
+to stand!"
+
+If it mad not been for Ben, nothing more would have been done or said
+about, the matter.  Butt it was not in his nature to be sensible of an
+inconvenience without using his best efforts to find a remedy.  So, as
+he and his comrades were returning from the water-side, Ben suddenly
+threw down his string of fish with a very determined air.
+
+"Boys," cried he, "I have thought of a scheme which will be greatly for
+our benefit and for the public benefit."
+
+It was queer enough, to be sure, to hear this little chap--this rosy-
+checked, ten-year-old boy--talking about schemes for the public benefit!
+Nevertheless, his companions were ready to listen, being assured that
+Ben's scheme, whatever it was, would be well worth their attention.
+They remembered how sagaciously he had conducted all their enterprises
+ever since he had been old enough to wear small-clothes.
+
+They remembered, too, his wonderful contrivance of sailing across the
+mill-pond by lying flat on his back in the water and allowing himself to
+be drawn along by a paper kite.  If Ben could do that, he might
+certainly do anything.
+
+"What is your scheme, Ben?--what is it?" cried they all.
+
+It so happened that they had now come to a spot of ground where a new
+house was to be built.  Scattered round about lay a great many large
+stones which were to be used for the cellar and foundation.  Ben mounted
+upon the highest of these stones, so that he might speak with the more
+authority.
+
+"You know, lads," said he, "what a plague it is to be forced to stand in
+the quagmire yonder,--over shoes and stockings (if we wear any) in mud
+and water.  See! I am bedaubed to the knees of my small-clothes; and you
+are all in the same pickle.  Unless we can find some remedy for this
+evil, our fishing business must be entirely given up.  And, surely, this
+would be a terrible misfortune!"
+
+"That it would! that it would!"  said his comrades, sorrowfully.
+
+"Now, I propose," continued Master Benjamin, "that we build a wharf, for
+the purpose of carrying on our fisheries.  You see these stones.  The
+workmen mean to use them for the underpinning of a house; but that would
+be for only one man's advantage.  My plan is to take these same stones
+and carry them to the edge of the water and build a wharf with them.
+This will not only enable us to carry on the fishing business with
+comfort and to better advantage, but it will likewise be a great
+convenience to boats passing up and down the stream.  Thus, instead of
+one man, fifty, or a hundred, or a thousand, besides ourselves, may be
+benefited by these stones.  What say you, lads? shall we build the
+wharf?"
+
+Bell's proposal was received with one of those uproarious shouts
+wherewith boys usually express their delight at whatever completely
+suits their views.  Nobody thought of questioning the right and justice
+of building a wharf with stones that belonged to another person.
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah!" shouted they.  "Let's set about it."
+
+It was agreed that they should all be on the spot that evening and
+commence their grand public enterprise by moonlight.  Accordingly, at
+the appointed time, the whole gang of youthful laborers assembled, and
+eagerly began to remove the stones.  They had not calculated how much
+toil would be requisite in this important part of their undertaking.
+The very first stone which they laid hold of proved so heavy that it
+almost seemed to be fastened to the ground.  Nothing but Ben Franklin's
+cheerful and resolute spirit could have induced them to persevere.
+
+Ben, as might be expected, was the soul of the enterprise.  By his
+mechanical genius, he contrived methods to lighten the labor of
+transporting the stones, so that one boy, under his directions, would
+perform as much as half a dozen if left to themselves.  Whenever their
+spirits flagged he had some joke ready, which seemed to renew their
+strength, by setting them all into a roar of laughter.  And when, after
+an hour or two of hard work, the stones were transported to the water-
+side, Bell Franklin was the engineer to superintend the construction of
+the wharf.
+
+The boys, like a colony of ants, performed a great deal of labor by
+their multitude, though the individual strength of each could have
+accomplished but little.  Finally, just as the moon sank below the
+horizon, the great work was finished.
+
+"Now, boys," cried Ben, "let's give three cheers and go home to bed.
+To-morrow we may catch fish at our ease."
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" shouted his comrades.
+
+Then they all went home in such an ecstasy of delight that they could
+hardly get a wink of sleep.
+
+The story was not yet finished; but George's impatience caused him to
+interrupt it.
+
+"How I wish that I could have helped to build that wharf!" exclaimed he.
+"It must have been glorious fun.  Ben Franklin forever, say I."
+
+"It was a very pretty piece of work," said Mr. Temple.  "But wait till
+you hear the end of the story."
+
+"Father," inquired Edward, "whereabouts in Boston was the mill-pond on
+which Ben built his wharf?"
+
+"I do not exactly know," answered Mr. Temple; "but I suppose it to have
+been on the northern verge of the town, in the vicinity of what are now
+called Merrimack and Charlestown Streets.  That thronged portion of the
+city was once a marsh.  Some of it, in fact, was covered with water."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+As the children had no more questions to ask, Mr. Temple proceeded to
+relate what consequences ensued from the building of Bell Franklin's
+wharf.
+
+
+BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
+
+[CONTINUED]
+
+In the morning, when the early sunbeams were gleaming on the steeples
+and roofs of the town and gilding the water that surrounded it, the
+masons came, rubbing their eyes, to begin their work at the foundation
+of the new house.  But, on reaching the spot, they rubbed their eyes so
+much the harder.  What had become of their heap of stones?
+
+"Why, Sam," said one to another, in great perplexity, "here's been some
+witchcraft at work while we were asleep.  The stones must have flown
+away through the air!"
+
+"More likely they have been stolen!" answered Sam.
+
+"But who on earth would think of stealing a heap of stones?" cried a
+third.  "Could a man carry them away in his pocket?"
+
+The master mason, who was a gruff kind of man, stood scratching his
+head, and said nothing at first.  But, looking carefully on the ground,
+he discerned innumerable tracks of little feet, some with shoes and some
+barefoot.  Following these tracks with his eye, he saw that they formed
+a beaten path towards the water-side.
+
+"Ah, I see what the mischief is," said he, nodding his head.  "Those
+little rascals, the boys,--they have stolen our stones to build a wharf
+with!"
+
+The masons immediately went to examine the new structure.  And to say
+the truth, it was well worth looking at, so neatly and with such
+admirable skill had it been planned and finished.  The stones were put
+together so securely that there was no danger of their being loosened by
+the tide, however swiftly it might sweep along.  There was a broad and
+safe platform to stand upon, whence the little fishermen might cast
+their lines into deep water and draw up fish in abundance.  Indeed, it
+almost seemed as if Ben and his comrades might be forgiven for taking
+the stones, because they had done their job in such a workmanlike
+manner.
+
+"The chaps that built this wharf understood their business pretty well,"
+said one of the masons.  "I should not be ashamed of such a piece of
+work myself."
+
+But the master mason did not seem to enjoy the joke.  He was one of
+those unreasonable people who care a great deal more for their own
+rights and privileges than for the convenience of all the rest of the
+world.
+
+"Sam," said he, more gruffly than usual, "go call a constable."
+
+So Sam called a constable, and inquiries were set on foot to discover
+the perpetrators of the theft.  In the course of the day warrants were
+issued, with the signature of a justice of the peace, to take the bodies
+of Benjamin Franklin and other evil-disposed persons who had stolen a
+heap of stones.  If the owner of the stolen property had not been more
+merciful than the master mason, it might have gone hard with our friend
+Benjamin and his fellow-laborers.  But, luckily for them, the gentleman
+had a respect for Ben's father, and, moreover, was amused with the
+spirit of the whole affair.  He therefore let the culprits off pretty
+easily.
+
+But, when the constables were dismissed, the poor boys had to go through
+another trial, and receive sentence, and suffer execution, too, from
+their own fathers.  Many a rod, I grieve to say, was worn to the stump
+on that unlucky night.
+
+As for Ben, he was less afraid of a whipping than of his father's
+disapprobation.  Mr. Franklin, as I have mentioned before, was a
+sagacious man, and also an inflexibly upright one.  He had read much for
+a person in his rank of life, and had pondered upon the ways of the
+world, until he had gained more wisdom than a whole library of books
+could have taught him.  Ben had a greater reverence for his father than
+for any other person in the world, as well on account of his spotless
+integrity as of his practical sense and deep views of things.
+
+Consequently, after being released from the clutches of the law, Ben
+came into his father's presence with no small perturbation of mind.
+
+"Benjamin, come hither," began Mr. Franklin, in his customary solemn and
+weighty tone.
+
+The boy approached and stood before his father's chair, waiting
+reverently to hear what judgment this good man would pass upon his late
+offence.  He felt that now the right and wrong of the whole matter would
+be made to appear.
+
+"Benjamin!" said his father, "what could induce you to take property
+which did not belong to you?"
+
+"Why, father," replied Ben, hanging his head at first, but then lifting
+eyes to Mr. Franklin's face, "if it had been merely for my own benefit,
+I never should have dreamed of it.  But I knew that the wharf would be a
+public convenience.  If the owner of the stones should build a house
+with them, nobody will enjoy any advantage except himself.  Now, I made
+use of them in a way that was for the advantage of many persons.  I
+thought it right to aim at doing good to the greatest number."
+
+"My son," said Mr. Franklin, solemnly, "so far as it was in your power,
+you have done a greater harm to the public than to the owner of the
+stones."
+
+"How can that he, father?" asked Ben.
+
+"Because," answered his father, "in building your wharf with stolen
+materials, you have committed a moral wrong.  There is no more terrible
+mistake than to violate what is eternally right for the sake of a
+seeming expediency.  Those who act upon such a principle do the utmost
+in their power to destroy all that is good in the world."
+
+"Heaven forbid!" said Benjamin.
+
+"No act," continued Mr. Franklin, "can possibly be for the benefit of
+the public generally which involves injustice to any individual.  It
+would be easy to prove this by examples.  But, indeed, can we suppose
+that our all-wise and just Creator would have so ordered the affairs of
+the world that a wrong act should be the true method of attaining a
+right end?  It is impious to think so.  And I do verily believe,
+Benjamin, that almost all the public and private misery of mankind
+arises from a neglect of this great truth,--that evil can produce only
+evil,--that good ends must be wrought out by good means."
+
+"I will never forget it again," said Benjamin, bowing his head.
+
+"Remember," concluded his father, "that, whenever we vary from the
+highest rule of right, just so far we do an injury to the world.  It may
+seem otherwise for the moment; but, both in time and in eternity, it
+will be found so."
+
+To the close of his life Ben Franklin never forgot this conversation
+with his father; and we have reason to suppose that, in most of his
+public and private career, he endeavored to act upon the principles
+which that good and wise man had then taught him.
+
+After the great event of building the wharf, Ben continued to cut wick-
+yarn and fill candle-moulds for about two years.  But, as he had no love
+for that occupation, his father often took him to see various artisans
+at their work, in order to discover what trade he would prefer.  Thus
+Ben learned the use of a great many tools, the knowledge of which
+afterwards proved very useful to him.  But he seemed much inclined to go
+to sea.  In order to keep him at home, and likewise to gratify his taste
+for letters, the lad was bound apprentice to his elder brother, who had
+lately set up a printing-office in Boston.
+
+Here he had many opportunities of reading new books and of hearing
+instructive conversation.  He exercised himself so successfully in
+writing compositions, that, when no more than thirteen or fourteen years
+old, he became a contributor to his brother's newspaper.  Ben was also a
+versifier, if not a poet.  He made two doleful ballads,--one about the
+shipwreck of Captain Worthilake; and the other about the pirate Black
+Beard, who, not long before, infested the American seas.
+
+When Ben's verses were printed, his brother sent him to sell them to the
+townspeople wet from the press.  "Buy my ballads!" shouted Benjamin, as
+he trudged through the streets with a basketful on his arm.  "Who'll buy
+a ballad about Black Beard?  A penny apiece! a penny apiece!  Who'll buy
+my ballads?"
+
+If one of those roughly composed and rudely printed ballads could be
+discovered now, it would be worth more than its weight in gold.
+
+In this way our friend Benjamin spent his boyhood and youth, until, on
+account of some disagreement with his brother, he left his native town
+and went to Philadelphia.  He landed in the latter city, a homeless and
+hungry young man, and bought three-pence worth of bread to satisfy his
+appetite.  Not knowing where else to go, he entered a Quaker meeting-
+house, sat down, and fell fast asleep.  He has not told us whether his
+slumbers were visited by any dreams.  But it would have been a strange
+dream, indeed, and an incredible one, that should have foretold how
+great a man he was destined to become, and how much he would be honored
+in that very city where he was now friendless and unknown.
+
+So here we finish our story of the childhood of Benjamin Franklin.  One
+of these days, if you would know what he was in his manhood, you must
+read his own works and the history of American independence.
+
+"Do let us hear a little more of him!" said Edward; "not that I admire
+him so much as many other characters; but he interests me, because he
+was a Yankee boy."
+
+"My dear son," replied Mr. Temple, "it would require a whole volume of
+talk to tell you all that is worth knowing about Benjamin Franklin.
+There is a very pretty anecdote of his flying a kite in the midst of a
+thunder-storm, and thus drawing down the lightning from the clouds and
+proving that it was the same thing as electricity.  His whole life would
+be an interesting story, if we had time to tell it."
+
+"But, pray, dear father, tell us what made him so famous," said George.
+"I have seen his portrait a great many tines.  There is a wooden bust of
+him in one of our streets; and marble ones, I suppose, in some other
+places.  And towns, and ships of war, and steamboats, and banks, and
+academies, and children are often named after Franklin.  Why should he
+have grown so very famous?"
+
+"Your question is a reasonable one, George," answered his father.  "I
+doubt whether Franklin's philosophical discoveries, important as they
+were, or even his vast political services, would have given him all the
+fame which he acquired.  It appears to me that Poor Richard's Almanac
+did more than anything else towards making him familiarly known to the
+public.  As the writer of those proverbs which Poor Richard was supposed
+to utter, Franklin became the counsellor and household friend of almost
+every family in America.  Thus it was the humblest of all his labors
+that has done the most for his fame."
+
+"I have read some of those proverbs," remarked Edward; "but I do not
+like them.  They are all about getting money or saving it."
+
+"Well," said his father, "they were suited to the condition of the
+country; and their effect, upon the whole, has doubtless been good,
+although they teach men but a very small portion of their duties."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+Hitherto Mr. Temple's narratives had all been about boys and men.  But,
+the next evening, he bethought himself that the quiet little Emily would
+perhaps be glad to hear the story of a child of her own sex.  He
+therefore resolved to narrate the youthful adventures of Christina, of
+Sweden, who began to be a queen at the age of no more than six years.
+If we have any little girls among our readers, they must not suppose
+that Christina is set before them as a pattern of what they ought to be.
+On the contrary, the tale of her life is chiefly profitable as showing
+the evil effects of a wrong education, which caused this daughter of a
+king to be both useless and unhappy.  Here follows the story.
+
+
+QUEEN CHRISTINA.
+
+[BORN 1626 DIED 1689]
+
+In the royal palace at Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, there was
+horn, in 1626, a little princess.  The king, her father; gave her the
+name of Christina, in memory of a Swedish girl with whom he had been in
+love.  His own name was Gustavus Adolphus; and he was also called the
+Lion of the North, because he had gained greater fame in war than any
+other prince or general then alive.
+
+With this valiant king for their commander, the Swedes had made
+themselves terrible to the Emperor of Germany and to the king of France,
+and were looked upon as the chief defence of the Protestant religion.
+
+The little Christina was by no means a beautiful child.  To confess the
+truth, she was remarkably plain.  The queen, her mother, did not love
+her so much as she ought; partly, perhaps, on account of Christina's
+want of beauty, and also because both the king and queen had wished for
+a son, who might have gained as great renown in battle as his father
+had.
+
+The king, however, soon became exceedingly fond of the infant princess.
+When Christina was very young she was taken violently sick.  Gustavus
+Adolphus, who was several hundred miles from Stockholm, travelled night
+and day, and never rested until he held the poor child in his arms.  On
+her recovery he made a solemn festival, in order to show his joy to the
+people of Sweden and express his gratitude to Heaven.  After this event
+he took his daughter with him in all the journeys which he made
+throughout his kingdom.
+
+Christina soon proved herself a bold and sturdy little girl.  When she
+was two years old, the king and herself, in the course of a journey,
+came to the strong fortress of Colmar.  On the battlements were soldiers
+clad in steel armor, which glittered in the sunshine.  There were
+likewise great cannons, pointing their black months at Gustavus and
+little Christina, and ready to belch out their smoke and thunder; for,
+whenever a king enters a fortress, it is customary to receive him with a
+royal salute of artillery.
+
+But the captain of the fortress met Gustavus and his daughter as they
+were about to enter the gateway.
+
+"May it please your Majesty," said he, taking off his steel cap and
+bowing profoundly, "I fear that, if we receive you with a salute of
+cannon, the little princess will be frightened almost to death."
+
+Gustavus looked earnestly at his daughter, and was indeed apprehensive
+that the thunder of so many cannon might perhaps throw her into
+convulsions.  He had almost a mind to tell the captain to let them enter
+the fortress quietly, as common people might have done, without all this
+head-splitting racket.  But no; this would not do.
+
+"Let them fire," said he, waving his hand.  "Christina is a soldier's
+daughter, and must learn to bear the noise of cannon."
+
+So the captain uttered the word of command, and immediately there was a
+terrible peal of thunder from the cannon, and such a gush of smoke that
+it enveloped the whole fortress in its volumes.  But, amid all the din
+and confusion, Christina was seen clapping her little hands and laughing
+in an ecstasy of delight.  Probably nothing ever pleased her father so
+much as to see that his daughter promised to be fearless as himself.  He
+determined to educate her exactly as if she had been a boy, and to teach
+her all the knowledge needful to the ruler of a kingdom and the
+commander of an army.
+
+But Gustavus should have remembered that Providence had created her to
+be a woman, and that it was not for him to make a man of her.
+
+However, the king derived great happiness from his beloved Christina.
+It must have been a pleasant sight to see the powerful monarch of Sweden
+playing in some magnificent hall of the palace with his merry little
+girl.  Then he forgot that the weight of a kingdom rested upon his
+shoulders.  He forgot that the wise Chancellor Oxenstiern was waiting to
+consult with him how to render Sweden the greatest nation of Europe.  He
+forgot that the Emperor of Germany and the King of France were plotting
+together how they might pull him down from his throne.
+
+Yes; Gustavus forgot all the perils, and cares, and pompous irksomeness
+of a royal life; and was as happy, while playing with his child, as the
+humblest peasant in the realm of Sweden.  How gayly did they dance along
+the marble floor of the palace, this valiant king, with his upright,
+martial figure, his war-worn visage, and commanding aspect, and the
+small, round form of Christina, with her rosy face of childish
+merriment!  Her little fingers were clasped in her father's hand, which
+had held the leading staff in many famous victories.  His crown and
+sceptre were her playthings.  She could disarm Gustavus of his sword,
+which was so terrible to the princes of Europe.
+
+But, alas! the king was not long permitted to enjoy Christina's society.
+When she was four years old Gustavus was summoned to take command of the
+allied armies of Germany, which were fighting against the emperor.  His
+greatest affliction was the necessity of parting with his child; but
+people in such high stations have but little opportunity for domestic
+happiness.  He called an assembly of the senators of Sweden and confided
+Christina to their care, saying, that each one of them must be a father
+to her if he himself should fall in battle.
+
+At the moment of his departure Christina ran towards him and began to
+address him with a speech which somebody had taught her for the
+occasion.  Gustavus was busied with thoughts about the affairs of the
+kingdom, so that he did not immediately attend to the childish voice of
+his little girl.  Christina, who did not love to be unnoticed,
+immediately stopped short and pulled him by the coat.
+
+"Father," said she, "why do not you listen to my speech?"
+
+In a moment the king forgot everything except that, he was parting with
+what he loved best in all the world.  He caught the child in his arms,
+pressed her to his bosom, and burst into tears.  Yes; though he was a
+brave man, and though he wore a steel corselet on his breast, and though
+armies were waiting for him to lead them to battle, still his heart
+melted within him, and he wept.  Christina, too, was so afflicted that
+her attendants began to fear that she would actually die of grief.  But
+probably she was soon comforted; for children seldom remember their
+parents quite so faithfully as their parents remember them.
+
+For two years more Christina remained in the palace at Stockholm.  The
+queen, her mother, had accompanied Gustavus to the wars.  The child,
+therefore, was left to the guardianship of five of the wisest men in the
+kingdom.  But these wise men knew better how to manage the affairs of
+state than how to govern and educate a little girl so as to render her a
+good and happy woman.
+
+When two years had passed away, tidings were brought to Stockholm which
+filled everybody with triumph and sorrow at the same time.  The Swedes
+had won a glorious victory at Lutzen.  But, alas! the warlike King of
+Sweden, the Lion of the North, the father of our little Christina, had
+been slain at the foot of a great stone, which still marks the spot of
+that hero's death.
+
+Soon after this sad event, a general assembly, or congress, consisting
+of deputations from the nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the
+peasants of Sweden, was summoned to meet at Stockholm.  It was for the
+purpose of declaring little Christina to be Queen of Sweden and giving
+her the crown and sceptre of her deceased father.  Silence being
+proclaimed, the Chancellor Oxenstiern arose.
+
+"We desire to know," said he, "whether the people of Sweden will take
+the daughter of our dead king, Gustavus Adolphus, to be their queen."
+
+When the chancellor had spoken, an old man, with white hair and in
+coarse apparel, stood up in the midst of the assembly.  He was a
+peasant, Lars Larrson by name, and had spent most of his life in
+laboring on a farm.
+
+"Who is this daughter of Gustavus?" asked the old man.  "We do not know
+her.  Let her be shown to us."
+
+Then Christina was brought into the hall and placed before the old
+peasant.  It was strange, no doubt, to see a child--a little girl of six
+years old--offered to the Swedes as their ruler instead of the brave
+king, her father, who had led then to victory so many times.  Could her
+baby fingers wield a sword in war?  Could her childish mind govern the
+nation wisely in peace?
+
+But the Swedes do not appear to have asked themselves these questions.
+Old Lars Larrson took Christina up in his arms and gazed earnestly into
+her face.
+
+He had known the great Gustavus well; and his heart was touched when he
+saw the likeness which the little girl bore to that heroic monarch.
+
+"Yes," cried he, with the tears gushing down his furrowed cheeks; "this
+is truly the daughter of our Gustavus!  Here is her father's brow!--here
+is his piercing eye!  She is his very picture!  This child shall be our
+queen!"
+
+Then all the proud nobles of Sweden, and the reverend clergy, and the
+burghers, and the peasants, knelt down at the child's feet and kissed
+her hand.
+
+"Long live Christina, Queen of Sweden!" shouted they.
+
+Even after she was a woman grown Christina remembered the pleasure which
+she felt in seeing all of hose men at her feet and hearing them
+acknowledge her as their supreme ruler.  Poor child! she was yet to
+learn that power does not insure happiness.  As yet, however, she had
+not any real power.  All the public business, it is true, was transacted
+in her name; but the kingdom was governed by a number of the most
+experienced statesmen, who were called a regency.
+
+But it was considered necessary that the little queen, should be present
+at the public ceremonies, and should behave just as if she were in
+reality the ruler of the nation.  When she was seven years of age, some
+ambassadors from the Czar of Muscovy came to the Swedish court.  They
+wore long beards, and were clad in a strange fashion, with furs and
+other outlandish ornaments; and as they were inhabitants of a half-
+civilized country, they did not behave like other people.  The
+Chancellor Oxenstiern was afraid that the young queen would burst out a
+laughing at the first sight of these queer ambassadors, or else that she
+would be frightened by their unusual aspect.
+
+"Why should I be frightened?" said the little queen.  "And do you
+suppose that I have no better manners than to laugh?  Only tell me how
+I must behave, and I will do it."
+
+Accordingly, the Muscovite ambassadors were introduced; and Christina
+received them and answered their speeches with as much dignity and
+propriety as if sho had been a grown woman.
+
+All this time, though Christina was now a queen, you must not suppose
+that she was left to act as she pleased.  She had a preceptor, named
+John Mathias, who was a very learned man and capable of instructing her
+in all the branches of science.  But there was nobody to teach her the
+delicate graces and gentle virtues of a woman.  She was surrounded
+almost entirely by men, and had learned to despise the society of her
+own sex.  At the age of nine years she was separated from her mother,
+whom the Swedes did not consider a proper person to be intrusted with
+the charge of her.  No little girl who sits by a New England fireside
+has cause to envy Christina in the royal palace at Stockholm.
+
+Yet she made great progress in her studies.  She learned to read the
+classical authors of Greece and Rome, and became a great admirer of the
+heroes and poets of old times.  Then, as for active exercises, she could
+ride on horseback as well as any man in her kingdom.  She was fond of
+hunting, and could shoot at a mark with wonderful skill.  But dancing
+was the only feminine accomplishment with which she had any
+acquaintance.
+
+She was so restless in her disposition that none of her attendants were
+sure of a moment's quiet neither day nor night.  She grew up, I am sorry
+to say, a very unamiable person, ill-tempered, proud, stubborn, and, in
+short, unfit to make those around her happy or to be happy herself.  Let
+every little girl, who has been taught self-control and a due regard for
+the rights of others, thank Heaven that she has had better instruction
+than this poor little Queen of Sweden.
+
+At the age of eighteen Christina was declared free to govern the kingdom
+by herself without the aid of a regency.  At this period of her life she
+was a young woman of striking aspect, a good figure, and intelligent
+face, but very strangely dressed.  She wore a short habit of gray cloth,
+with a man's vest over it, and a black scarf around her neck; but no
+jewels nor ornaments of any kind.
+
+Yet, though Christina was so negligent of her appearance, there was
+something in her air and manner that proclaimed her as the ruler of a
+kingdom.  Her eyes, it is said, had a very fierce and haughty look.  Old
+General Wrangel, who had often caused the enemies of Sweden to tremble
+in battle, actually trembled himself when he encountered the eyes of the
+queen.  But it would have been better for Christina if she could have
+made people love her, by means of soft and gentle looks, instead of
+affrighting them by such terrible glances.
+
+And now I have told you almost all that is amusing or instructive in the
+childhood of Christina.  Only a few more words need be said about her;
+for it is neither pleasant nor profitable to think of many things that
+she did after she grew to be a woman.
+
+When she had worn the crown a few years, she began to consider it
+beneath her dignity to be called a queen, because the name implied that
+she belonged to the weaker sex.  She therefore caused herself to be
+proclaimed KING; thus declaring to the world that she despised her own
+sex and was desirous of being ranked among men.  But in the twenty-
+eighth year of her age Christina grew tired of royalty, and resolved to
+be neither a king nor a queen any longer.  She took the crown from her
+head with her own hands, and ceased to be the ruler of Sweden.  The
+people did not greatly regret her abdication; for she had governed them
+ill, and had taken much of their property to supply her extravagance.
+
+Having thus given up her hereditary crown, Christina left Sweden and
+travelled over many of the countries of Europe.  Everywhere she was
+received with great ceremony, because she was the daughter of the
+renowned Gustavus, and had herself been a powerful queen.  Perhaps you
+would like to know something about her personal appearance in the latter
+part of time life.  She is described as wearing a man's vest, a short
+gray petticoat, embroidered with gold and silver, and a black wig, which
+was thrust awry upon her head.  She wore no gloves, and so seldom washed
+her hands that nobody could fell what had been their original color.  In
+this strange dress, and, I suppose, without washing her hands or face,
+she visited the magnificent court of Louis XIV.
+
+She died in 1689.  None loved her while she lived, nor regretted her
+death, nor planted a single flower upon her grave.  Happy are the little
+girls of America, who are brought up quietly and tenderly at the
+domestic hearth, and thus become gentle and delicate women!  May none of
+them ever lose the loveliness of their sex by receiving such an
+education as that of Queen Christina!
+
+Emily, timid, quiet, and sensitive, was the very reverse of little
+Christina.  She seemed shocked at the idea of such a bold and masculine
+character as has been described in the foregoing story.
+
+"I never could have loved her," whispered she to Mrs. Temple; and then
+she added, with that love of personal neatness which generally
+accompanies purity of heart, "It troubles me to think of her unclean
+hands!"
+
+"Christina was a sad specimen of womankind indeed," said Mrs. Temple.
+"But it is very possible for a woman to have a strong mind, and to be
+fitted for the active business of life, without losing any of her
+natural delicacy.  Perhaps some time or other Mr. Temple will tell you a
+story of such a woman."
+
+It was now time for Edward to be left to repose.  His brother George
+shook him heartily by the hand, and hoped, as he had hoped twenty times
+before, that tomorrow or the next day Ned's eyes would be strong enough
+to look the sun right in the face.
+
+"Thank you, George," replied Edward, smiling; "but I am not half so
+impatient as at first.  If my bodily eyesight were as good as yours,
+perhaps I could not see things so distinctly with my mind's eye.  But
+now there is a light within which shows me the little Quaker artist, Ben
+West, and Isaac Newton with his windmill, and stubborn Sam Johnson, and
+stout Noll Cromwell, and shrewd Ben Franklin, and little Queen
+Christina, with the Swedes kneeling at her feet.  It seems as if I
+really saw these personages face to face.  So I can bear the darkness
+outside of me pretty well."
+
+When Edward ceased speaking, Emily put up her mouth and kissed him as
+her farewell for the night.
+
+"Ah, I forgot!" said Edward, with a sigh.  "I cannot see any of your
+faces.  What would it signify to see all the famous people in the world,
+if I must be blind to the faces that I love?"
+
+"You must try to see us with your heart, my dear child," said his
+mother.
+
+Edward went to bed somewhat dispirited; but, quickly falling asleep, was
+visited with such a pleasant dream of the sunshine and of his dearest
+friends that he felt the happier for it all the next day.  And we hope
+to find him still happy when we meet again.
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES ***
+By Nathaniel Hawthorne
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