Class 
 
 Copyright N° 
 
 C0PYT!1GHT DEPOSIT. 
 

 
 M f 
 
 ^A 
 
 
 
 ^ : \ • 
 
 
 t^^Mwpr 
 
 
 
 William Smith Knowlton. 
 
THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 OR 
 
 FORTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 GIRLS AND BOYS 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM SMITH KNOWLTON 
 
 AUGUSTA. MAINE 
 
 BURLEIGH dr FLYNT, Printers 
 
 1905 
 
<t 
 
 LIBRARY ol JOttGR£SS 
 
 JUL 24 I9U5 
 
 /* / srvs 
 
 COPYRIGHTED I905 BY WILLIAM SMITH KNOWLTON. 
 
 , ; " 
 
TO MY BEST BELOVED PUPIL, 
 
 MY DEAR WIFE, 
 
 WHO, 
 
 FOR TWO-SCORE YEARS HAS BEEN 
 
 THE PARTNER OF MY JOYS AND SORROWS, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 For a year or two I have had in mind to write a book 
 something like the following pages, but no definite plan pre- 
 sented itself until last summer. I then sent circulars to many 
 former pupils regarding the matter. The replies received 
 set me to work. I thought when I commenced the 
 work I could devote my whole time to it, but conditions 
 compelled me to teach; hence the story of my experiences 
 has been written nights after teaching school for six hours. 
 A radical change in the material used has also been made. 
 The conception first entertained was to make the book 
 consist mostly of biographical sketches of former pupils. I 
 made this idea known to my pupils, and the almost universal 
 voice of all called for a change. The demand was for more 
 about the "Old Master" and less about the boys. I yielded to the 
 request though still thinking the change was a mistake. I wish 
 to thank, with tears of gratitude filling my eyes, the "Boys and 
 Girls" who have helped me in this labor and kindly encouraged 
 me. 
 
 Foxcroft, May I. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Childhood 9 
 
 II. Schooldays 23 
 
 III. Visit to Dover 32 
 
 IV. Foxcroft Academy 37 
 
 V. First School 47 
 
 VI. Foxcroft Affairs 53 
 
 VII. College 57 
 
 VIII. Atkinson 70 
 
 IX. Milo 78 
 
 X. Monson 86 
 
 XI. Fishing 92 
 
 XII. Monson Academy 97 
 
 XIII. Exeter and Dexter 103 
 
 XIV. Foxcroft Academy. Teacher 109 
 
 XV. I'.RIMFlELD 113 
 
 XVI. Marriage. Home 119 
 
 XVII. Mdxson. Supervisor 124 
 
 XVIII. Going to Houlton 131 
 
 XIX. Houlton Academy 139 
 
 XX. Presque Isle 160 
 
 XXI. Caribou 168 
 
 XXII. Monson Academy 177 
 
 XXIII. Shirlky. Bill Nye 183 
 
 XXIV. Funny People 191 
 
 XXV. School Officers 212 
 
 XXVI. College Requirements 216 
 
 XXVII. Personal 229 
 
 XXVIII. Sermon 253 
 
 XXIX. Bridgewater 265 
 
m 
 
 W 
 
THE OLD SCHOOLMASTEK 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHILDHOOD. 
 
 I was born at East Sangerville, Maine, October 21st, 1839. 
 My earliest recollection is an old clock that stood in the corner 
 of the room where I slept in a trundle-bed. This bed was rolled 
 out at night and served for a sleeping place for my brother and 
 myself. In the morning it was pushed under the bed where 
 father and mother slept. That trundle-bed had a history. 
 There were fourteen children in all, and, although the house was 
 large, with an ell on either side, yet it was always crowded, as 
 my father boarded the men who worked in his mills. 
 
 The bed was about four feet long. Two boys always occu- 
 pied that bed till their feet began to stick out over the footboard ; 
 then they graduated to a real bed in a large room where there 
 were three beds. Sometimes the boy had to leave the trundle- 
 bed before his feet touched the footboard ; since the graduate 
 from the cradle was obliged to make a place for the last new 
 comer. 
 
 That bed now lies neglected in the attic. It finally fell into 
 the hands of my brother Kendall. My brother and wife belong 
 to the new century, and believe in allowing the foreigner to fill 
 the schoolhouses and swell the Census Reports. So that poor 
 old rheumatic trundle-bed was relegated to the darkness of the 
 attic, where it grows old more gracefully than its former occu- 
 pants do. 
 
IO THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 That old clock was very intimately connected with my child- 
 hood days. I could see it as my mother bent over me to give 
 the good-night kiss. It stands, as I write, in the hall, constantly 
 reminding me of that dear mother with whom it was so long 
 associated, though its hands, like hers, are folded at twelve and 
 its voice, like her dear lips, is silent. The clock belonged to my 
 maternal grandfather. It was an eight day clock, was very 
 stately and dignified, always on time, like my mother. It 
 reached from the floor to the ceiling. It once had a sort of 
 head-dress or crown on its head, but this had been removed 
 when once it stood in a low room. This gone, it had, as I 
 thought, a kind of bald-headed look. In the other room was 
 another tall clock that belonged to my paternal grandfather. 
 This one had to be wound up every day. This was typical of my 
 father. He wound himself up every morning for a busy day of 
 hurry and bustle. 
 
 There was also a cupboard I could see from the bed. There 
 were two doors. Behind one, I knew, were those precious china 
 dishes that were used only when distinguished company came to 
 tea. The other door enclosed a family medicine chest. I real- 
 ized, as I gazed with a shudder, just what that door concealed 
 from view. There was that nauseous castor oil ; that detestable 
 rhubard ; those abominable salts ; some peppermint and camphor. 
 There were herbs there also ; burdock leaves for the feet, when a 
 cold had been contracted. I have often wondered since if that 
 burdock plant did not illustrate pretty well some of our moral 
 and physical antidotes of today. That plant was cultivated in 
 those days for its curative properties. Today almost every 
 farmer spends hours in trying to extirpate an obnoxious, useless 
 weed. 
 
 Perhaps some of our social fads, so highly recommended by 
 our professional quacks and learned theorists, may, in the future, 
 stick simply because of their burrs, and not because of any real 
 value. 
 
CHILDHOOD 1 1 
 
 When we had a cold in the head mother put burdock leaves 
 on our feet, so some of these modern old ladies apply the "medi- 
 cine of their advice" to points in the mental body politic farthest 
 from the real trouble. 
 
 I could also see from my bed a small fireplace, and a cranky 
 one too it was, and always smoked when the wind was in the 
 northwest and, as that was the prevailing tendency of the 
 wind, the smoking habit of that fireplace became chronic. I have 
 since discovered that the smoking habit, once assumed, is a life- 
 time habit. I suppose that chimney smoked to cure the effect 
 of the cold north wind, and continued to try the medicine 
 through length of days. So men, with the pertinacity of a 
 senseless chimney, persist in a treatment of some imaginary 
 trouble, hoping that before old age comes on, a complete cure 
 can be accomplished. 
 
 Not long ago I slept in that same room. The clock is 
 gone but the cupboard is there ; the fireplace still smokes, but the 
 trundle-bed is in the attic. 
 
 From the back windows of that room I could see a grove of 
 lofty pines where afterwards my woody temple of worship was. 
 My father's house was situated in the middle of a large plain, 
 which was nearly encircled by a high ridge or horseback. The 
 mill stream and pond subtended the arc on the other side. The 
 house was a large, story and a half one with ells and there were 
 long sheds and a big barn. The chimney of that house was four 
 feet square and stands today a monument of the faithfulness of 
 the artisan of ninety years ago. 
 
 Back of the house, at a distance of a quarter of a mile, there 
 was a deep ravine between two parallel horsebacks. Through 
 that valley flowed a small stream. On both sides of the ridges 
 grew some lofty pines. Opposite the pines was a waterfall of 
 some fifteen feet. I remember now the many happy hours I 
 spent, sitting near that waterfall, hearing the noisy waters dash 
 against the rocks, while the wind soughed through the branches 
 of the somber pines. 
 
12 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 There were a few tall spruce trees near by whose contralto 
 tones coalesced with the high treble of the sharp toned birches 
 and maples. The rhythm was complete. It was Nature's orches- 
 tra, attuned to my appreciative soul. 
 
 I had read about Niagara; but that cataract was to me a 
 paper waterfall. Here was a real one that eclipsed Niagara a 
 thousand fold. That torrent seemed so majestic; that defile so 
 marvelous ; those pine tops so near Heaven. I loved to go there 
 and read the simple rhymes that delighted a rather precocious 
 childhood. 
 
 This was my Paradise. Adam had his, but it was never 
 more real to him than mine was to me. In my childhood days, 
 my mind took on a religious and poetical coloring that seems 
 now rather remarkable. I worshipped here and saw and heard 
 God, speaking to me. The doxology of the majestic, solemn 
 pines, the cooing of the pigeons which filled the tree-tops, the 
 noisy chatter of the fearless squirrels, the reverberating notes of 
 the waterfall, the happy voices of the many colored birds ; all 
 seemed to inspire me to lift up my voice in joyousness and praise. 
 There was a cluster of violets close by and a few bunches of 
 arbutus. In those flowers I saw God, a being so pure, so kind, 
 so sweet and attractive that I could but worship him. And my 
 God talked and walked with me, as with Adam, and sweet was 
 that companionship, and many lessons sank deep into the soul in 
 that, my Paradise. I resolved to be like the God I saw in my 
 beloved Shekinah. 
 
 Those flowers were sacred, those squirrels God's choristers, 
 those pines his temple. And I thought it would last ; never 
 dreamed the scene would change, or that I should ; thought life 
 would be one grand meandering through pleasant scenes, or 
 sauntering through flowery meadows that ever were in bloom. 
 
 After I graduated from college I visited that well-remem- 
 bered Eden, and did not recover my spirits for a month. Black- 
 berry bushes had overgrown the old familiar path, the ruthless 
 hand of man had laid low those sacred pines, vandals had shot 
 
CHILDHOOD 
 
 13 
 
 the squirrels, the pigeons had long - since departed ; the very 
 brook had nearly dried up ; the water, as it trickled over the well- 
 worn rocks, seemed to lament its departed glory. I was sad- 
 dened, discomforted, shocked. I could not worship there, could 
 not dreamily muse and talk with my old friends, could realize 
 one fact only — that my Eden was gone forever. 
 
 I have since learned, in revisiting the scenes of former 
 activities, something sharper than briars have obstructed my 
 pathway ; that the temples of friendship, cemented for eternity, 
 have crumbled to dust ; that selfishness has slain every impulse to 
 even remember. 
 
 There were also mills, — a shingle-mill, sawmill, and grist- 
 mill. In those mills I learned to exercise and develop my 
 muscle. There was no football in those days. 
 
 My father's name was Isaiah, and my mother's Lydia Pol- 
 lard, Knowlton. The Captain Knowlton who fortified Charles- 
 town Neck and fought so bravely at Bunker Hill was one of our 
 ancestors. The first man killed in that battle was Luke Pollard, 
 a great, great uncle of my mother. 
 
 The Pollard family was good stock, but have nearly all dis- 
 appeared from this part of the State. W. T. Pollard, the effi- 
 cient game warden, is a cousin. My father had many brothers 
 and sisters, most of them settling in Sangerville, hence about a 
 quarter of the people of the town are relatives. The Knowlton 
 people in Sangerville were and are good folks. They are indus- 
 trious, peaceable citizens, and are favorably regarded. There 
 have been several teachers in the family — my nephews and 
 nieces. George H. Knowlton was for many years a prominent 
 superintendent of schools in Massachusetts. 
 
 There were fourteen children in my father's family. Xine 
 of whom survive. 
 
 Whether or not any of my ancestors came over in the May- 
 flower I do not know. If they did, I must confess that many of 
 their descendants have sadly departed from their theological 
 views. The name has never been prominent in history. Some 
 
I 4 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 i 
 
 have, however, occupied eminent positions. The Rev. Ebenezer 
 Knowlton was, at one time, a Congressman, and the Hon. 
 Hosea Knowlton was an eminent Attorney-General of Massa- 
 chusetts. No one has ever been hung, and none, to my knowl- 
 edge, have served the State at Thomaston. My father was Cap- 
 tain in the Militia, and came near covering himself with glory, 
 in the Aroostook War. Before he got there that famous com- 
 mand had been given : 
 
 "Run, Strickland, run ! Fire, Stover, fire !" 
 
 He was Justice of the Peace and hence known far and near 
 as "Squire." It was an office of some repute in those days. 
 His father, Isaiah, and his mother, Jemima Johnson Knowlton, 
 came to Sangerville from Framingham, Mass., when my father 
 was seventeen years old. He felled the trees and cleared the 
 farm on which he lived till he was nearly eighty years old. 
 There was, on the falls of the Black Stream, a small grist-mill, 
 when he came. This mill was run by a man by the name of 
 Phineus Ames generally known as "King Ames." It was a very 
 accommodating mill. It took care of itself mostly. Mr. Ames 
 would pour into the hopper two bushels of corn and hoist the 
 gate and go away to his farm. At noon he would put in another 
 two bushels, which sufficed till night. At night he would put 
 in four bushels, and that rickety old mill would rattle and bang 
 and wheeze, and faithfully grind away till morning. 
 
 Father lived, for some time, in a log house. In 1815 he 
 built the house in which I was born. He afterwards built and 
 rebuilt shingle, saw and grist mills. 
 
 Sangerville was settled by five distinct classes. East San- 
 gerville was mostly settled by Massachusetts people. They were 
 a thrifty, hardworking people, who cleared up their farms, lived 
 on them till their deaths and left them to their children. There 
 are few spots in Maine where so many farms in one community 
 have remained in the same unbroken line of possession. The 
 Oakes, the Ponds, the Lanes, the Adams, the Watermans, who 
 
CHILDHOOD 15 
 
 were the early settlers whose descendants are prominent citizens 
 at this time. 
 
 East Sangerville has always been noted for the sobriety and 
 progressiveness of the people, and the interest taken in education. 
 General Jackson was never more firmly established in the prin- 
 ciples of democracy than are those untrammeled voters. 
 
 Toward Dover came the Buckfield clan, consisting prin- 
 cipally of Thompsons, with a few other families sandwiched 
 in. Three Thompson brothers settled on the same road, on 
 adjoining farms and lived there many years. This family 
 became a prominent one in town and county. One of the farms 
 still remains in the Thompson family, F. D. Thompson occupy- 
 ing the farm his father cleared. 
 
 The southern part of Sangerville was settled by people from 
 New Hampshire. This was the religious part of the town. 
 Hon. J. F. Sprague was born here. Sangerville Village grew 
 up, like Topsy, with no particular parentage. There were some 
 very characteristic men, however, among the early settlers. 
 
 The Carleton family was somewhat noted. Old Elder 
 Oakes, the grandfather of Wm. P. Oakes, of Foxcroft, was a 
 noted preacher and when he spoke in stentorian tones "Words of 
 sequipedalian length and thundering sound" came forth and 
 routed all the hosts of sin. His son William, known aa 
 "Colonel," was the father of a large family of boys, all of whom 
 were men of more than ordinary ability. Elder Clark occupied 
 a prominent position in the town. His son, William, died at 
 middle age, but left a large family of boys and one girl. The 
 boys nearly all became lawyers and each one distinguished him- 
 self. 
 
 Four served in the army during the Civil War. Two were 
 Colonels and the others held positions of responsibility. They 
 are nearly all dead now. Col. Charles A. Clark lives in Cedar 
 Rapids, Mich., and is well known in the West and in Maine as of 
 sterling worth and eminent ability. 
 
16 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 The Hussey family was well known. I personally knew one 
 of them. I slept with him one night after he had eaten a quarter 
 of a custard pie, two boiled eggs, three poached eggs and a fried 
 egg or two. He groaned, squirmed, and groaned and "gritted 
 his teeth" all night long. He said, the next morning, that he had 
 the nightmare and dreamed that he was Sinbad the Sailor, and 
 had eaten a roc's egg. 
 
 The Carr family later became well known. One of the 
 original settlers is still living, Moses Carr, over ninety years of 
 age. He has always been a very busy man and has accumulated 
 a large property. He helped build a church a few years ago 
 and is a constant attendant. 
 
 Sangerville Village is now a large and flourishing one ; has 
 modern factories and other industries. The history of Sanger- 
 ville is, on the whole, an interesting one. It is the best farming 
 town in the county and has sent forth into the world some very 
 bright men. "Brockway's Mills" was, in my boyhood, an enter- 
 prising place. There was a hotel, store, and blacksmith shop 
 there and some lumber mills. Nearby the mills lived a very 
 peculiar man by the name of Maxim. He was an undeveloped 
 genius. He invented a machine which would turn out an oblong 
 bowl, but some other reaped the reward. Mr. Maxim used to 
 come to my father's mill to have his grain ground, and often 
 Hiram would come with his father. I remember he was full of 
 fun and a great boy to laugh. He is now Sir Hiram and lives in 
 England but occasionally revisits the scenes of his boyhood. 
 His history is so interesting that I have appended to this paper 
 a more extended narrative. 
 
 Another boy whom I knew was born near by. His career 
 is a noted one. With but a limited education, he started out in 
 life to make his own way. He became a trader, and later, a 
 speculator in real estate. But this did not satisfy him. He 
 determined to educate himself by an extensive course of reading, 
 with the result that he has become a master of classical English 
 and has published books. Mr. S. has been thrice in the legis- 
 
CHILDHOOD 17 
 
 lature and prominent in the political world. In the meantime 
 he was admitted to the bar and has a lucrative practice. He is a 
 member of the Maine Historical Society and is Notary Public 
 and is now Referee in Bankruptcy. 
 
 He is well known to the political world as the Hon. J. F. 
 Sprague. Should Mr. Sprague devote his whole time to literary 
 matters, he would do honor to his native town. 
 
 The Thompson family was a prominent one. I have spoken 
 of them before. Dr. E. A. Thompson, of Dover, is the son of 
 James Thompson, one of the early settlers. The doctor is one 
 of Dover's most prominent citizens. He has had an extensive 
 practice and is still in practice as a consulting physician of wide 
 reputation. Dr. Thompson has been one of the Council, and 
 occupied other prominent political positions, is President of the 
 Board of Trustees of Foxcroft Academy. Four years ago, he 
 gave ten thousand dollars to found the Thompson Free Library. 
 J know of no way in which a man can embalm his memory more 
 certainly in the souls of men than by furnishing them with good 
 books. Bacon says: "Reading makes a full man." No man can 
 be an all-round educated person without extensive reading. 
 The especial reason why one person is a ready speaker, a good 
 conversationalist, a sound adviser and deep reasoner, lies in the 
 one fact, he has read much and read good books. 
 
 But it is all important to know just what books to put into 
 the hands of the young. I know of no better way of judging 
 the influence of a book than for a teacher to read the book and 
 then sit and think it over ; call up the characters one by one and 
 discover where his sympathy lies ; to picture to himself the whole 
 career of the chief characters and discover if the character is 
 one that leaves an impression on the mind of the reader that sin 
 is rewarded. Is vice made attractive, and virtue neglected? 
 Does the book leave an impression that tells for purity, honesty, 
 and a useful life? 
 
 No one would be so stupid as to take a child to an abattoir 
 to teach refinement. Certainly we would shield the young from 
 
l8 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 brutal sights and associations in actual life ; so should the child 
 be kept from brutal mental visions which degrade. But, it is 
 urged, the young do see all these things in real life, then why 
 not in books? In real life the moral goes with the deed that is 
 objectionable. In books too often the sequel is not as well 
 known. The suggestive is often worse than the blunt statement 
 of facts. There are books that, on a casual reading appear all 
 right ; yet a careful perusal locates them among the objectionable. 
 
 There are but few objectionable words in "Don Juan," but 
 the whole poem is fit for the fire only. A superintendent once 
 objected to my pupils reading "Jane Eyre." I can see no objec- 
 tion to the book. A young lady reads the book and learns that 
 wickedness is terribly punished ; that virtue and decency can only 
 bring peace and happiness. The reading of that book, in my 
 opinion, would make every one better, and none the worse. 
 
 "The Scarlet Letter" is another book under ban with many 
 teachers. I would put it into the hands of every young lady. 
 The literary style of the book is worth everything. The book is 
 interesting, and will compel a complete reading. It gives an 
 admirable description of the social and religious conditions of 
 those stern times. 
 
 Lastly — the moral impression left upon the mind is that sin, 
 — however secret, — will be proclaimed from the housetop ; that 
 every deviation from moral rectitude engenders a punishment 
 that is the more terrible as the crime is more repulsive. The 
 book is full of the most minute details in every part that apper- 
 tains to events of life, and especially in describing mental anguish 
 and pain, but the crime is just alluded to. It is the specific 
 details in questionable books that give offence. 
 
 I do not believe in giving to the young nothing but "namby- 
 pamby" books. "The Bonny Brier Bush" will do nicely for the 
 goody boy or girl who dies young. Feed their intellect on such 
 breakfast food as that book for a year; the result would be debil- 
 itating in the extreme. The age does not demand young men 
 
CHILDHOOD 19 
 
 who are good simply because they have not activity enough to 
 lead them in devious pathways. 
 
 Many teachers object to Dickens. They think him coarse, 
 rough, and vulgar ; and advise their pupils to refrain from read- 
 ing his books. I take issue immediately with such critics and 
 advocate reading Dickens' works by all means. The first and 
 obvious reason is that Dickens' characters are so interwoven into 
 literature that a knowledge of his writings becomes indispensable 
 to an accurate appreciation of other books. "Barkis is willing" 
 will never cease to be quoted ; "Like Oliver Twist" will be a 
 simile for many years to come. A page of description and 
 denunciation of brutality can portray no such appreciation as 
 the simple name of "Squiers." I hesitate not to venture the 
 statement that many an incipient Pecksniff has been driven 
 shamefacedly from a chosen course in Pecksniffism by reading 
 the portrayal of that airy impostor. Observation of any man 
 shows very clearly that the man who would win the ladies' affec- 
 tion does as fresh and green things as the man in small-clothes 
 did when he threw cucumbers over the wall to Mrs. Nickleby. 
 How would the aspirant for political honors know how to close 
 a letter to his constituents, if he did not have "Micawber" for a 
 guide? Lots of men and women have been made better by 
 becoming acquainted with Yarden and wife, and Dolly — the 
 charming, true-hearted, good-natured Dolly — every girl ought 
 to know her. 
 
 Someone called Dickens' description of "Little Nell" and 
 her death "bathos." Nothing can be farther from the truth. 
 If that is bathos, then much of the writings of Washington 
 Irving is unworthy of perusal. It seems to me that every word 
 in that almost inspired description expresses the real emotion 
 that a man with a human soul in his breast would feel in seeing 
 and recording his emotions. 
 
 The description of the death of Paul Dombey is unrivaled, 
 No writer has ever even approached the delineation of a charac- 
 ter like Dombey's wife. Esther will never fade from human 
 
20 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 appreciation. I have seen the Cheeryble Brothers in actual life. 
 Mr. Carker lives in every village. No writer ever described a 
 repulsive murder with less unsightly exhibitions of the horrid as 
 did Dickens in the death of Nancy. Mark Tapley has been a 
 source of great enjoyment to me, and not only that, but many 
 a dark hour when the tired brain and discouraged heart was 
 almost ready to lay down the burden, the jolly Tapley has driven 
 away the "blues" and brought back a fresh determination to still 
 strive and hope. Sweet "Little Dorrit" — who does not love her 
 and in loving become better? Tom, loving, trusting, Tom Finch. 
 Every town needs just such a man and, if he cannot b~ found in 
 actual life, then it is something to find the character delineated 
 in books. Nor is Tom Finch an impossible character. I have 
 met just such men. I could not wish all men to be such as he 
 was, neither would the world be very comfortable if everybody 
 was like Martin Chuzzlewit. 
 
 But books are as different as men. One man leads by his 
 association to a higher and better life; while another injures 
 everyone with whom he comes in contact. So with books — One 
 moulds the taste in the right direction, gives true views of life, 
 stimulates the ambition, and furnishes the mind with an immense 
 fund of knowledge. Another book ruins the taste, vitiates the 
 morals, and gives wrong conceptions of the duties of life. It is 
 my opinion, formed by careful observation of young people, 
 that there need be no cheap or bad book read. I fully believe, if 
 a requisite amount of good reading be placed in the hands of the 
 boy or girl while young, that a taste would be formed that would 
 make it impossible for them to read a bad book. 
 
 I am aware there is a great diversity of opinion concerning 
 books and what I might call a good book another might call bad. 
 I lay down this rule that no book should be read that does not 
 refine the taste. No one can afford to be made coarser than he 
 is by nature. 
 
 There must be a good literary style abouf a book; or it 
 should not be read, however much of good thought and fact there 
 
CHILDHOOD 21 
 
 may be expressed within the covers. Every book should teach 
 something, or it is not worth reading. I have been told that the 
 author of "The God of Things" remarked that no definite aim 
 actuated her in writing that book. But still, I can read between 
 the lines, I think, a half-hidden advocacy of a certain condition. 
 
 There are books just to amuse. That is a necessary book 
 for the tired brain-worker. The book may not contain an idea 
 worth remembering, but still, it had an object and had accom- 
 plished it. 
 
 I have no doubt but that, should every woman in the land 
 read "Great Expectations" there would be less termagants in the 
 home. When a person sees a delineation of themselves in print 
 and recognizes the likeness, it leads to reform and a change of 
 life. Even an habitual scold would be disgusted with the per- 
 formances of "Mrs. Joe." 
 
 There have been a few books written that should never 
 become antiquated. "The Vicar of Wakefield" left an impres- 
 sion upon the literature of that day that still lives. The same is 
 true of Dickens' works. Most books die young. All do which 
 do not present to the reader a distinctive character. There is 
 nothing in "David Harum" which will immortalize it except the 
 one point — the presentation of an unique character, coarse 
 though it be. 
 
 My boyhood was so uneventful that but little comment 
 need be made. I know I was a quiet boy, and very shy. 
 I liked some kinds of fun and sports and became an expert 
 wrestler. 
 
 There was a maiden lady living on one corner of our farm 
 who used to lecture us boys a good deal, and we liked to teaze 
 her. One day we threw snow-balls down her chimney. She told 
 father, and he said he would whip all four of us, in the morning. 
 I remember lying awake a long time that night, wondering how 
 he would do it : whether he would stand us all up in a row and go 
 up and down the line and switch each as he passed by ; or 
 whether he would take one at a time, while the rest looked on 
 
22 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 and pitied the one in "actual commission ;" or if he would use a 
 shingle ; and then I wondered if one shingle would last through ; 
 again I pictured the condition of each after the operation was 
 completed. I felt sure I should cry the loudest. 
 
 But the shingle-mill broke down that morning, and father 
 had to go to Bangor for repairs, and forgot all about it. I have 
 ever felt grateful to the unknown workman who manufactured 
 that defective saw. Wish I could feel that mv misdeeds lead 
 to such happy results to somebody. 
 
 I can remember that once, and once only, did I swear. 
 Then I was chasing the sheep. I feel sure that no one ought to 
 swear. But. if the Recording Angel does ever, with a tear, blot 
 out the record of an oath, he will be especially gracious to a boy 
 chasing sheep, or trying to make a calf drink milk. My mother 
 heard me swear, and I was very much ashamed. To evade her. 
 I went to bed supperless that night ; and received a severe pun- 
 ishment, alone with my conscience. 
 
 My uncle lived just across the mill stream. There were 
 three girls in the family. One of these girls was a little younger 
 Iban I. I used to go to school with those girls. That is, I ran 
 along ahead of them, or capered along behind them as boys gen- 
 erally do. I used to be desperately in love with Emily, but wa > 
 <fery careful not to let her know it. In those days there were 
 large farm houses in which was one room without a carpet. Th-; 
 young people of East Sangerville would, in the winter time, meet 
 at our house one week and dance till twelve ; next week at Mr 
 Pond's, and so on. All my brothers learned to dance. I nevei 
 tried to do so. I guess, if my mother had danced I should have 
 learned ; but no desire, however strong, could have made me face 
 a girl on the floor. I rather enjoyed sitting in the corner and 
 watching them. I wonder if I was the last boy created who 
 acted that way ? 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SCHOOL DAYS. 
 
 When I was three years and seven months old I attended 
 school for the first time. The schoolhouse was nearly a mile 
 from my home. To get there we had to pass through a dark 
 cedar swamp, full of death-dealing monsters, as I thought. My 
 older brother and I started on that eventful morning for that old 
 schoolhouse. We came, at last, to a post on which were two 
 boards; on one was painted Dover, on the other Deacon D. I 
 had never seen Dover, did not know whether it was a man or 
 some other animal, or a house. Another board pointed up a 
 road that had much grass in it, with wheel tracks on each side. 
 That board told us that Deacon D. lived up that way. 
 
 I knew the Deacon. He once caught me sliding on Sunday 
 and told me I would go to perdition if I didn't stop that. The 
 Deacon was a nice old gentleman but he had some peculiar 
 notions about how to preach the Gospel of Peace. 
 
 At one time there was a drought and my father's mill was 
 the only one in the county that could grind wheat. As all the 
 people raised the wheat that produced their flour, it is plain to 
 see that the mill had to be kept going day and night and Sundays 
 too. The good Deacon was passing by the mill one Sunday, on 
 his way to church and heard the sound of the grinding. It 
 vexed his righteous soul. He felt it his duty to remonstrate. 
 He remembered that, in ancient times, the Sabbath-breaker was 
 stoned. Just beyond the mill was a steep hill. The Deacon was 
 withal a man of considerable discretion in executing rather rash 
 resolves. So, unlike the strippling David, he selected a large 
 
24 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 stone and, having ascended the hill a little, he hurled it with 
 mighty force against the mill. 
 
 It struck the mill upon the left flank and knocked off some 
 shingles. Those shingles have never been replaced. The old 
 mill shows today the disastrous effect of the Deacon's attempt 
 to enforce muscular Christianity. 
 
 The Deacon was sectarian to a remarkable degree in his 
 religious associations. The Congregationalist church held meet- 
 ings in the Union Meeting house, when I was a small boy. 
 When my maternal grandmother died, the funeral services were 
 observed in that house and a Baptist clergyman officiated. On 
 the following Sunday, as I stood near the door I noticed that the 
 good Deacon hesitated a little and when Deacon F. asked him if 
 he was not going in, he snarled out : "That house must be puri- 
 fied by brimstone before I want to enter it." I didn't know what 
 he meant till mother told me that night. 
 
 It must be difficult for a young person of today to realize 
 that such bigotry could have existed. But it did. The preju- 
 dices existing in the soul of people of one denomination against 
 those of another were the most intense and undying possible ; and 
 the world wondered. But, if the world had carefully considered 
 the conditions, it would have seen that "Such things must 
 needs be." 
 
 If a man should act that way now, he would be thought 
 insane. But the conditions are all changed now. At the present 
 time as each one travels his own chosen road to Heaven he 
 recognizes the fact that there are many other roads, more or less 
 parallel to his, all tending toward the New Jerusalem and that 
 they all finally converge into a common highway at the end of the 
 "Covered Bridge." This makes us tolerant of each other's 
 opinions. We think our road is the best and rather pity the 
 other fellow, stumbling along through by-paths, while we tread 
 the well-paved boulevard of an established thoroughfare, but we 
 expect to find him by the storm-lashed Jordan's bank, and that 
 we shall stand beside him by the still waters of the "Jasper Sea." 
 
SCHOOL DAYS 25 
 
 In the old days each one was sure he alone was right. 
 This was almost imperative from the condition of things. There 
 were so many that not only did not believe but were active in 
 opposition ; so whoever did believe in Christianity had to fight 
 his way all along. Infidels had to be met and answered, unbe- 
 lievers met and confounded, and scoffers put to shame. And as a 
 man who comes home at night after a day's contest in the politi- 
 cal or business world is poorlv fitted to receive advice from his 
 wife in those matters, so the old theologians, fresh from a fierce 
 fight with Appolyon had little patience with an ally who used a 
 different carbine and a longer sword. Christian truth was not 
 so well established as now. It was comparatively new. Fifty 
 years is quite a fraction of the 1900 years comprising the Chris- 
 tian Era. 
 
 I once heard a man preach who was one hundred years old. 
 Nineteen men like that would carry the line back to that wonder- 
 ful Preacher whom the world had awaited for four thousand 
 years. Christianity has done wondrous things, notwithstand- 
 ing the many errors it has committed. What it can do for the 
 world has only been intimated. The Sermon on the Mount 
 today furnishes the text for all pulpits and even deacons have 
 yielded to the marvelous eloquence of that sublime sermon. 
 
 It was said, a few lines back, that the effect of that stone, 
 thrown by the hand of the over-zealous Deacon, could be seen on 
 the side of the mill at the present time. That was more than 
 half a century ago, yet the effect is discernible, and sure am I 
 that that indiscreet act of a rash advocate left impressions on 
 human hearts that will live when that mill has crumbled to dust. 
 One of the most telling proofs of the truths of Christianitv is 
 that it has survived the advocacy of some of its friends. 
 
 The schoolhouse where I learned my A B C's was a low, 
 unpainted, ramshackle of a house. It was built on a small 
 mound rising a little out of a frog pond, in the edge of a cedar 
 swamj). I do not know why it was built there but suppose it 
 was done on ethical and perhaps financial grounds. The town 
 
26 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 did not raise money to pay a music teacher, but the committee 
 were bound to have music anyway, and have it they did. On 
 every dark or rainy day at three o'clock those frogs would com- 
 mence to sing sub-bass in such solemn and profound tones that 
 the bad boy ceased sticking pins in the other fellow and stared 
 in awe-struck wonder. Then the little frogs began to pipe up 
 on the high notes which made the nervous little girl jump. 
 
 The discord was increased by the shrill voice of the teacher 
 and the low mutterings of the bashful boys. 
 
 Nearby was a little brook where we got a supply of rather 
 muddy water for laving and drinking purposes. 
 
 I attended school at that house for several terms. Every 
 year the old building leaked worse and worse, and, at length, 
 took a lurch toward the road and plainly showed that its useful- 
 ness was over. By a vote of the district a new house was to be 
 built farther away from our house. Three years later a "Little 
 Red Schoolhouse" was built and the old one turned into a 
 sheep pen. 
 
 That old house is now gone. Thistles and burdocks now 
 cover the spot. The wide-mouthed descendants of that outside 
 choir still sing and that little brook still lazily passes along. 
 The boys and the girls, where are they? Many are sleeping on 
 the hillside a mile away ; a few still live in the town, while many 
 are in all parts of the land. 
 
 Nearly opposite the schoolhouse was a farm-house. The 
 farmer was also a shoemaker. Here all the boys went to get 
 their boots made and mended. The father of the shoemaker 
 lived with him. The old fellow believed in witches and devils. 
 I was there one day in winter when the old man was churning. 
 The cream was cold and the butter would not come. The aged 
 patriach declared in solemn tones : "The Devil is in it." He 
 heated the tongs red-hot and thrust them into the cream. "Hear 
 him hiss" said the old Puritan. The butter came very soon, and 
 the old man was confirmed in his superstition. 
 
SCHOOL DAYS 27 
 
 The Devil seems to be a kind of "scape goat" for a great 
 many people. Some claim he tempts them when even his 
 satanic majesty would hardly feel complimented by the least 
 association with them. We also often blame him for the results 
 which follow a lack of care on our part. It is much easier to 
 blame an absent party than to face a visible one. It seems to me 
 if a pair of red-hot tongs would drive the Devil out of men as 
 well as cream that every town should have a pair of proper 
 officers to apply them to those who are possessed with such 
 spirits. 
 
 The position selected for the new house was as peculiar as 
 the other. It was in one corner of as bleak a sheep pasture as 
 the town of Sangerville possessed. The snow always drifted to 
 the corner of the house on the south side, and higher still on the 
 other sides. Across the road was a cow pasture, descending in 
 precipitous abruptness ; half-way down the hill was a spring from 
 which an aqueduct ran. We used, in summer time, to eat our 
 dinner here and sometimes put bread crumbs in the aqueduct, 
 just to see if they would come out at the other end. This did not 
 cause Mr. Thompson to love little boys very much. 
 
 A tall elm tree that looked very much as I have seen politi- 
 cians after election, groaned and wailed every time the wind 
 blew, stood a little east of the house ; and close by the lugubrious 
 elm grew a pugnaceous maple tree. Every branch of that tree 
 seemed to be in battle array. They did not, like most limbs, 
 point gracefully upward, but proceeded right out straight, like 
 pikes or bayonets. There were a few dead branches, from which 
 the bark had fallen, bristling like spears. 
 
 Nearby the schoolhouse was a large orchard, owned by Mr. 
 W. G. Thompson. Of course, we small boys visited that 
 orchard every day and partook freely of the forbidden fruit, with 
 the usual results. The first reader, sour apples, the colic, and 
 essence of peppermint all were factors in my experience of those 
 davs. 
 
2 8 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 In this new schoolhouse I enjoyed the ministrations of some 
 very good, and a few very poor teachers. One incident of those 
 days is indelibly stamped upon my memory, and from which a 
 moral can be drawn. For some misdemeanor, I presume, the 
 teacher, a grim, hollow-eyed woman, compelled me to sit beside 
 the wall on an invisible stool, which, indeed, had no physical 
 existence. I sat in that position for half an hour, suffering all 
 the tortures of the ancient martyrs, while the class in grammar 
 was reciting. Inseparably with the recitation of grammar were 
 associated the horrors of that excruciating punishment. When- 
 ever a teacher suggested to me that I ought to begin the study of 
 Grammar, my legs would begin to ache with the most intense 
 pain, from simple recollection. Whatever halting my reader 
 discovers in the grammatical fluency of this book I beg will be 
 ascribed to that unfortunate associating of grammar and aching 
 muscles in the calf of the leg. So, for two years, I refused to 
 study grammar. 
 
 The moral I draw is that there are many men and women 
 in the world who like or dislike sentiments, propositions and 
 relations — not because of anything inherent in them, but because 
 of early associations. There is in my mind, at this late day, a 
 teacher associated with almost every study I pursued when a 
 boy. 
 
 A sour-faced Miss Green attempted to teach me long 
 division. I disliked the teacher and hated long division. One 
 day she kept me at that battle-scarred pine blackboard for a full 
 hour, "bringing down," substracting, multiplying, putting next 
 figure in the quotient, — till I cried for mercy, and was told that 
 the teacher could do the same at ten with perfect ease. 
 
 I remember with great pleasure the first real teacher I ever 
 had. For that venerable lady I have, to this day, the greatest 
 respect and love. She taught me geography and history in such 
 charming ways that I have ever had her pleasant smile before 
 me whenever attempting to teach those lessons. I wish to 
 express, at this time and in this book, a recognition of the deep 
 
SCHOOL DAYS 29 
 
 obligation under which I have ever been to that teacher who first 
 inspired within my soul a desire to become a scholar and teacher. 
 It was so easy to study when she assigned the lessons. I* 
 seemed nice to become a teacher, if she could be imitated. To 
 Mrs. Sarah Carter- Vaughan I owe more than to any one teacher, 
 nay, than to all my early ones. Very few persons ever so per- 
 fectly satisfied every demand made by their positions in life and 
 society as has Mrs. Vaughan. As a teacher, none was her 
 superior, — as a business woman, no one is more implicitly 
 trusted. Kind of heart, sympathetic in affection, interested in 
 all things and persons around her, she does not grow old like 
 most women. Every year seems to me to add some new grace 
 to that dear teacher I loved so well more than fifty years ago. 
 "Redeat serus in coclum." 
 
 That schoolhouse had a blackboard fastened to the wall by 
 small ropes. That little seven by nine blackboard had a history 
 which illustrates the difficulties every teacher meets who seeks 
 to adopt new and better methods. Blackboards were unknown 
 in the town, but one day, a new teacher was engaged, who 
 wanted a blackboard. Everybody in the district laughed at the 
 idea ; ever- old lady said it was ridiculous and every old man 
 objected to such extravagance. The committee opposed the 
 idea and the agent derided, but the teacher, at length, prevailed 
 and a carpenter was employed to build a blackboard. The 
 teacher's plan was discarded. The carpenter thought he knew 
 best how to build a blackboard, as he had built barns all his life, 
 so he matched two wide pine boards and painted them with oil 
 and lampblack. One board had a big knot in one corner, sur- 
 rounded by streaks of pitch pine. When the room became hot 
 that corner of the board would sweat, the same as we did. The 
 carpenter, contrary to orders, persisted in varnishing that board. 
 Vain were the protests of teacher. "I have painted floors all 
 my days," said he, "and I always varnish them." Varnish it he 
 did. The chalk would slide over that board and leave no more 
 impression than the appeal of a tearful teacher to a mean, sullen 
 
3o 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 scholar. Sandpaper had to be used every day. That Carpenter 
 has been dead for forty years, but it took many sheets of sand- 
 paper to rectify his mistake. 
 
 How many times have I had experiences similar to that 
 in attempts to improve the schools where I have been employed. 
 There is always, in every town, somebody ready to immortalize 
 himself as a nuisance. The laws of the State of Maine recog- 
 nize certain things as public nuisances ; now, if that law could 
 be so amended as to include educational obstructions in the garb 
 of committee men and superintendents of schools a great benefit 
 would be conferred upon the course of education. I have found 
 men and women who once were efficient in those positions, but 
 the position has progressed ; they have not, and are hinderances, 
 stumbling-blocks, active and passive in every attempt to pro- 
 mote progress. I have been asked to teach as I once taught, 
 forty years ago. I have been criticized for methods of teaching 
 the most approved by all educators simply because the critics 
 had been so long dead in educational matters that any resurrec- 
 tion could not be even hoped for. Men there are who, because 
 they had planned a very convenient carriage house or barn think 
 they know all about the needs of a schoolhouse ; because they 
 know that potatoes are first planted, then hoed, then dug, — 
 think they are fully qualified to invent a course of study for the 
 development of the mind of a child ; because they can run an 
 engine, or make a martinhouse, with unpardonable pomposity 
 assert that every part of the machinery appertaining to educa- 
 tional progress is fully understood by them. 
 
 That old red schoolhouse still stands on that bleak hillside. 
 The paint has grown somewhat dim, the chimneys show the 
 decrepitude of an old man in his weakness, the blackboard, cleft 
 in twain, hangs from the wall by one end ; the seat where I 
 carved my initials in straggling hieroglyphics, shows the effect 
 of forty years of service and the worse results of ten years of 
 idleness. The groaning elm still moans disconsolately when 
 
SCHOOL DAYS 31 
 
 the wind blows, and the unsightly maple thrusts its dead limbs 
 threateningly toward every passerby; but no boys slide there 
 now, no urchin steals Mr. Thompson's apples, no bread crumbs 
 disturb the aqueduct. The red schoolhouse fuit. Nos dis- 
 ci puli fuitnus. Where forty scholars once slid, played, and 
 fought, the ungainly sheep now run and bleat, and the educa- 
 tional mudcart conveys the half-dozen juveniles, seeking knowl- 
 edge, to another district. 
 
 When I was about thirteen, we were set off into the Corner 
 District. 
 
 I attended that school for two or three years, and occasion- 
 ally went two or three miles to attend some district school while 
 our school was not in session. In fact, I never lost an opportuni- 
 ty to attend school. It must have been almost a craze with me. 
 — Almost every night my mother had to send me to bed. That 
 love for study has never left me, and I hope it never will. No 
 pleasure has ever pleased me as those derived from intellectual 
 pursuits, and I can discern no diminution whatever in this mat- 
 ter. I was, in my younger days, rather prococious in some 
 studies, and just fair in others ; always had a liking for mathe- 
 matics and rhetoric. 
 
 I was a very bashful boy and never appeared in public if 
 I could help it. I have never quite overcome my reluctance 
 to public services. I do not think one ever does. I have often 
 envied the men who seemed to enjoy occupying public positions 
 and exhibiting themselves on the stage. I have never been a 
 fluent conversationalist, have always preferred to listen rather 
 than speak. Perhaps some of my pupils will question the last 
 statement. 
 
 I had become by this time a fair scholar in grammar and 
 mathematics and began to think about attending Foxcroft Acad- 
 emy. I desired much to go but dreaded to commence. I have 
 never met a more bashful boy than I was. Nothing but an 
 irresistible desire for an education led me to present myself at 
 that school. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 VISIT TO DOVER. 
 
 When a small boy the newspaper became my constant com- 
 panion. I read it completely, advertisements and all, and thought 
 the editor wrote it completely and must be a most extraordinary 
 man. The Piscataquis Observer was the family paper. When 
 ten years old I decided to become an editor. 
 
 We lived about three miles from Dover and Foxcroft vil- 
 lages. Those towns personified, in my youthful mind, the sum 
 total of all that was typical of the great, bustling world. One 
 day my father took me to the town to see th sights. I can 
 recall, at this hour, the marvelous things I saw, the individuals 
 I met and the impressions received. The first place we visited 
 was the printing office. Father hauled a load of wood to pay 
 for the Observer. Then, for the first time, I saw a real, living 
 editor. The reverential awe that stole over me as I gazed upon 
 the solemn features of G. V. Edes completely paralyzed my 
 tongue, and caused me to whisper in low tones, as I enquired 
 about the paraphernalia of the office. Mr. Edes was a tall, spare 
 man, somewhat deaf, and spoke in loud tones. He was busily 
 pulling a long lever backward and forward, and I discovered 
 that it seemed hard work. That operation took away some of 
 my desire to become an editor. The dingy little office did not 
 seem just what was expected, and when I saw a compositor pull- 
 ing bits of unwashed metal from the mouth that had become, 
 by association of the same color as the type, my desire grew 
 fainter still, and when Mr. Edes informed my father that the 
 
VISIT TO DOVER 
 
 33 
 
 occupation was not a healthful one, the last desire vanished, and 
 all the glorious achievements of Horace Greeley, that had so 
 stimulated my soul, passed by like the Pharisee, on the other 
 side. 
 
 The memory of G. V. Edes should not pass lightly from 
 the remembrance of the citizens of Piscataquis county. He was 
 not a learned man, but a thoroughly honest one. He faithfully 
 did his duty and made his paper the best possible. With him 
 the publishing of a paper was not simply a business enterprise. 
 He felt that the editor of a paper occupied the position of a moral 
 reformer, and that he ought always to be found on the right 
 side of every social controversy. No doubtful advertisements 
 appeared in his paper. — He never kept silent because silence 
 paid. His influence upon the moral and political world around 
 him was always good, and will never die. I suppose we must 
 grant as true in general terms the statement I heard an editor 
 make that men engaged in newspaper work just as in any other 
 enterprise, for money making only, but the public do not so 
 regard it, and certainly there must be a duty resting upon the 
 editor that he cannot, in honor, escape. 
 
 My father also pointed out to me Deacon Mayo and Deacon 
 Parsons of the Congregationalist church. They were both tall, 
 spare men. I was not then well posted on deacons, so, in my 
 childish mind, I drew the conclusion that a deacon in that church 
 must be tall, very thin and stern-looking. 
 
 Father also informed me that a big, fat man, with a smile 
 that enveloped his whole face, was Deacon Leonard Robinson, 
 of the Baptist church ; hence I became fully satisfied that all 
 Baptist deacons were fat, and jolly, with a nasal twang in the 
 voice. This conclusion was verified in a few moments when 
 Mr. Buck, another Baptist deacon, came along and passed a joke 
 or two with father. 
 
 By the way I came to know Deacon Buck very well when 
 I taught at Foxcroft, and enjoyed his paternal advice very much. 
 
34 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 There was in his makeup a keen appreciation of the finer attri- 
 butes of the soul. I have always thought of him as the con- 
 necting link between the past and the present. There was in 
 his soul the old puritanical conception of duty, rigid adherence 
 to recognized dogmas, and yet, the odors of a kindlier interpre- 
 tation distilled from every exhortation he gave, and showed the 
 prophetic dawning of a Christian era more glorious, because 
 more Christ-like. 
 
 Afterward I became acquainted wth his family. Alfred, 
 late minister to Japan, was a dear friend to me and 
 "steered" me into the DKE fraternity at college. Addison and 
 I were friends to his death. I always enjoyed meeting a man 
 like him who had a kindly word and a warm hand for a fellow 
 mortal. There is lots of good blood in the Buck family. 
 
 I remember also that we, father and I, went into Sawyer 
 and Woodbury's store. Mr. Woodbury sold us some nails. 
 I thought Mr. Woodbury the politest man I had ever seen. 
 He said some nice things to me, and, in fact, the first kinds words 
 a stranger had ever before said. Boys of ten or twelve are not 
 the recipients of many lauditory remarks, as a rule. 
 
 I learned to love Mr. Woodbury when a grown-up boy, I 
 saw him very frequently. He did many kind things for me 
 when I was teaching at Dover and Froxcroft. I always felt 
 that a visit to Dover was never complete without a half hour's 
 chat with C. A. B. Woodbury. The last time I preached at 
 Dover, Mr. Woodbury came to hear me, and said some very 
 kind things about the sermon. Dover has never been the same 
 since that kindly, lovable man passed to his reward. 
 
 In every town there are two especial treasure houses where 
 are recorded the facts that men have lived and died. The one 
 is the living memory of immortal souls ; the other is a costly cen- 
 tograph, covered with snow half of the year, and moss the rest, 
 vainly seeking to make the dying, the perishable, immortal, and 
 forever honored. 
 
VISIT TO DOVER 35 
 
 I also saw Squire Holmes on that trip to Dover. He was 
 the first lawyer I ever saw. His hair and whiskers were very 
 long and white ; so the conclusion was reached that lawyers were 
 never barefaced. I have seen many legal gentlemen since, and 
 the bare- faced cheek of some was rather striking. 
 
 Father called to see "Old Cat" Chamberlain to get him to 
 repair the mill. Mr. Chamberlain was a distinctive character. 
 He spoke with a nasal drawl that no one could imitate, and em- 
 phasized every remark with a sort of prod of his long, stiff, 
 middle finger, which he waved to and fro, sweeping away all 
 adverse argument. His face, as I remember it, was wrinkled 
 to a remarkable degree ; his eyes were rather deep-set and twin- 
 kled just a bit when he said some sarcastic things about the 
 peculiarities of other men. I never saw him smile. Once in 
 a while, the wrinkles on each side of his eyes would begin to 
 curl up a bit at the outer ends, promising a smile, but immedi- 
 ately a counter current would set in, and every line would disap- 
 pear, just as waves do on the lake when winds blow crosswise. 
 Then the old wrinkles would reappear, and the eyes would twin- 
 kle anew with the same critical scrutiny. 
 
 The peculiar sayings of this old-time philosopher were many 
 and original. He occasionally practiced law in a small way, in 
 a manner peculiarly his own. On one occasion a lot of sheep 
 disappeared, and their heads were found in a flour barrel in the 
 barn of a certain man. The man was arrested and tried for 
 larceny. Lawyer Holmes, in conducting the defense, said the 
 sheep were not stolen, but had strayed away, as was common in 
 the spring. Mr. Chamberlain in reply said : "Yes, I know 
 sheep dew stray this time of year but they don't usually leave 
 their heads in flour barrels in the haymow." 
 
 He went to Guilford to settle a case with the selectmen, 
 but failed and gave this report : "Mr. A. will do nothing wrong, 
 if he knows it; Mr. B. will do nothing at all, if he knows it; and 
 Mr. C. will do nothing right, if he knows it." 
 
36 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 On one occasion when the waiter at the table did not refill 
 his cup as quickly as he wished, he threw it into the fire-place, 
 remarking, "I have no further use for you." 
 
 It is only pioneer life that develops eccentric characters. 
 They disappear as the attrition of the daily contact with a bust- 
 ling world rounds off the sharp corners. — They are still found 
 in newer places, and have a distinct individuality. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FOXCROFT ACADEMY. 
 
 I commenced to attend Foxcroft Academy in 1857, and 
 continued till the spring of sixty. Mr. Davis was the first 
 teacher, and S. C. Belcher the last. In those days the country 
 boy had to get "acquainted" with the village boy before he could 
 enjoy life. The first week was not a Millenium dawn to me, and 
 when Friday night came, I had nearly decided to resign, but 
 when Monday morning came a new idea struck me. I resolved 
 to assume the offensive. The change of base was a success. 
 Within fifteen minutes I had humbled the minister's hopeful son, 
 nearly broken the neck of the lawyer's boy and walked into the 
 good graces of the school at a two-minute gait. 
 
 Mr. Belcher was a very stern, exacting teacher; but if 
 Maine ever had a better teacher of Latin and Greek, I have never 
 seen him. Every lesson must be thoroughly mastered and readily 
 recited. When I left Foxcroft Academy, I could commence 
 with the first paragraph in Andrew & Stoddard's Latin Gram- 
 mar and recite it to the finis, exceptions and all. I always fall 
 back upon that old grammar, if in doubt about any peculiar 
 construction. Every word in the text was parsed and rules 
 given. It is the only way to teach Latin. There is no "short 
 course" in Latin ; it is only a part of a course. "Caesar Read in 
 Six Weeks" is the title of a book in my library. The idea is 
 ridiculous, and the experiment a sad failure. 
 
 I wish to explain here the manner in which Latin should 
 be taught. The first book used should be one of the modern 
 
38 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Latin books arranged for the first year. Collier's is a good one. 
 There is only one objection worthy of note. The daily vocabu- 
 laries are too long. There should be about six or seven new 
 words learned each day. At the end of the first year, the stu- 
 dent should have a complete knowledge of all declensions of 
 nouns and pronouns, conjugation of verbs, and the general rules 
 of syntax. 
 
 Caesar and the regulation grammar should occupy the atten- 
 tion of the pupil the second year. The whole attention of pupil 
 and teacher should be devoted to the solving of the construction 
 of the Latin language. If the forms are not familiar, they 
 should be made so at once, then the syntax ought to be most 
 rigidly scrutinized, and finally, every phase of the subjunctive 
 should be understood. I do not think that the literary merit 
 of the text should receive much attention. Many text books 
 and teachers make a mistake in this matter. The whole atten- 
 tion should be given to construction, forms, and rules. If the 
 attention is diverted to other matters, good work will not be 
 done where it should be. 
 
 The last half of the spring term may, with profit, be devoted 
 to Ovid, as a substitute for Caesar. When the pupil has com- 
 pleted the course indicated, he will be prepared to read Cicero 
 with profit and pleasure. Now is the time to study the litera- 
 ture of the Latin language. The metaphors, similes, compari- 
 sons and other beauties of the language should be noted and 
 enjoyed. The same idea should prevail in the reading of Virgil, 
 but still a few moments each day should be given to syntax and 
 the discussion of poetic construction, but the Latin language as 
 a whole should be taught. 
 
 Of course, prose composition should be taught all through 
 the four years, and at the close of the course, three or four weeks 
 should be devoted to composition alone. This should be done 
 in a systematic way, but should be very general, and continued 
 until the student is able to write any statement in Latin with 
 accuracy and readiness. 
 
FOXCROFT ACADEMY 39 
 
 There should be a very thorough training of every student 
 in Latin who proposes to enter college ; because the amount of 
 time devoted to Latin in college is short. If a boy enters col- 
 lege with an inadequate knowledge of Latin, he will certainly 
 come out with imperfect knowledge of it. He certainly will not 
 be fitted to teach it, and I hold this to be true that the teacher 
 who has not the proper knowledge of Latin, is a sinner for whom 
 no repentance is recognized. And if that student does not 
 design to teach, he has lost the benefits resulting from a knowl- 
 edge of the language, because he never can appreciate the beauty 
 of the literature of the language, and the discipline the study 
 engenders has never been received. 
 
 I am every day expecting to read in some paper that Latin 
 will be dropped and some milk and water affair substituted. I 
 hope not, but would rather, if Greek is to entirely disappear, that 
 more time should be devoted to the Latin. 
 
 Greek is passing out, and it seems to me that the deathknell 
 that tolls the passing of that sublime language, rings in a culture 
 as far inferior to that as is a French novel to the unsurpassed 
 poems of Homer. A people who invented the most beautiful 
 architecture that ever existed, whose lines of beauty are unsur- 
 passed, whose literature has been recognized for more than two 
 thousand years as the model of all that can charm, instruct and 
 adorn, should not in this age of progress be discarded without 
 the concensus of opinion of those qualified to judge. 
 
 If the Greek scholars of this country in convention should, 
 after due deliberation, decide to discard Greek, because it is no 
 longer conducive to scholarship and culture, then will be the 
 proper time to substitute French for Greek. The pupils should 
 never dictate a college curriculum. That college that cannot 
 live without catering to the claims of those whose judgments 
 are too immature to be of value, had better write hie jacit on the 
 campus gate. If a knowledge of Greek literature does not refine 
 the literary taste, does not cultivate the sublimest imagination, 
 does not give a style obtainable in no other way, does not infuse 
 
40 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 into the very soul the living fire that burned on the altar of 
 Minerva, then let Greek be dropped. But if it is to be excluded 
 because it is too hard for the carpet-knight pupil of these days, 
 because it takes the time that practical studies need, then let 
 classical colleges be converted into schools of technology at once. 
 French can never be of any practical use to the ordinary college 
 graduate. If Greek is to be dropped, better leave the space once 
 devoted to Greek in the catalogue, a complete blank adorned 
 with an ancient urn closed and sealed. Let not the ashes of 
 Homer be rudely violated by the chattering of any unpoetic 
 modern. 
 
 As long as the Christian religion remains in the world as 
 the only power or influence that can lift humanity from the 
 slough of ignorance and barbarism that today engulfs all non- 
 Christian people, so long should Greek be read and taught, it 
 seems to me. I can never disconnect the Greek from the religion 
 of Christ. The rise and development of the Greek language 
 was, I believe, a part of the new dispensation. There was a 
 people of the same general parentage of all Europe. No his- 
 torian can classify the influences that developed those simple 
 men into the most refined people of the world. I have no doubt 
 whatever but those people were as much commissioned to 
 become factors in propagating the coming religion as Abraham 
 was when God sent him forth to Paran's wilds. 
 
 God inspired this people to love the beautiful, the symmetri- 
 cal, the good, and the true. When the mind had been thus 
 trained, it began to express itself in language fitted to the object 
 that had absorbed that mind ; and thus came forth the Greek 
 language. By means of that language, the most accurate one 
 ever spoken, were recorded the words and acts of the most beau- 
 tiful character ever on earth. No language could do that per- 
 fectly except a God-ordained one. 
 
 When those words and deeds of Christ and the disciples 
 had been once recorded, then it came to pass that the Greeks 
 
FOXCROFT ACADEMY 41 
 
 ceased to become a peculiar people. They fell back among the 
 nations, to their natural level and began to speak a language in 
 keeping with their mental and moral condition. These people 
 ceased to speak the ancient Greek. That became a "dead 
 language," and in that statement lies an important fact. A dead 
 language never changes, never deteriorates. Hence that record 
 mentioned can never become corrupted. 
 
 This consideration makes the language a sacred one to me. 
 Now from this point of view, and from that before mentioned, 
 a conclusion comes that the world cannot afford to lose the influ- 
 ence of the Greek language. 
 
 Manv think that a further knowledge of the Latin will com- 
 pensate for the loss of Greek. This idea is erroneous. "From 
 the Greeks, and not from the Romans, we derive all that is beau- 
 tiful in architecture." The Roman personality gives its own 
 influence, a grand one ; but Rome can teach its own lesson alone. 
 But still there would be something lacking, an indispensable 
 something that nothing else but Greek can supply. Macaulay 
 was right when he declared that the influence of Athens would 
 be in its immortal youth when London had passed to nameless 
 ruin. 
 
 Among the pupils at Foxcroft were several who are before 
 the public at the present time. There was a slim, tallish girl, 
 attending who wore in her hat a small flag with Fremont's name 
 on it. She was quite young, but active in all public matters ; 
 would talk politics, temperance or religion with the older ones, 
 and was a great favorite with the young men. She lived in a 
 pretty house a mile or so out of the village, surrounded by pines 
 and other trees. We knew her as Marilla Ames, and millions 
 know her today, in America and Europe, as Mrs. L. M. N. 
 Stevens. I have had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Stevens sev- 
 eral times within the past few years, and have listened to her 
 eloquence with great pleasure. Se is not only a fine speaker, but 
 a keen business woman ; and is doing a grand work for human- 
 ity. 
 
42 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 There can be no question about the influence exerted by 
 the organization she represents. Many a young man and 
 innumerable young women have received the first impulse to 
 become useful from the ministrations of the leaders in that order. 
 Mrs. Stevens certainly shows that a woman can, with no adventi- 
 tious aid, accomplish a great work among men. The doors 
 through which females may pass to fields of usefulness and inde- 
 pendence are wide open today. No young lady need feel obliged 
 to marry who has a particle of independence. Of course, there 
 are many who can never excel ; but even this ought not to dis- 
 courage them, for only a small per cent of men succeed. The 
 rest must be content to occupy unknown places in the world. 
 Many women do become prominent, and these are not the excep- 
 tions. They strike the average attained by men and ought to 
 be satisfied with that. 
 
 Uriah and C. C. Lee were among the first boys I came to 
 know. C. C. Lee has been a teacher for many years. Lyman 
 K. Lee, late principal of Foxcroft Academy, is his son. 
 
 H. O. Pratt and Evans S. Pillsbury were among the stu- 
 dents who showed that they possessed more than common abil- 
 ity. Mr. Pratt was for two terms representative to Congress 
 from Iowa ; and Mr. Pillsbury is district judge in California. J. 
 F. Robinson of Bangor, was a sure prophet, even then, of what 
 he has since become. S. O. Brown was the best declaimer in the 
 school and a fine all-round scholar. Mr. Brown should have 
 been a literary man. He would have been eminent, I am cer- 
 tain. He has been a success as a business man, but he might 
 have been more than that. It would be but natural for a man 
 of my habits and pursuits to put a premium on intellectual 
 achievements. Recognizing that only one man in a score or 
 more has the natural ability adequate to guarantee success in 
 purely intellectual lines, I feel that the world has lost something 
 when business absorbs the attention of one who possesses that 
 ability. 
 
FOXCROFT ACADEMY 43 
 
 Col. Charles Clark was a fine scholar and showed in those 
 days, some rare fighting qualities. I remember a very pretty 
 girl whose name was Annie Kimball. She had her lessons 
 perfectly prepared and was very smart, but she did like to teaze 
 Mr. Belcher and sometimes adorned the front seat at his sug- 
 gestion. Sarah Bailey, perhaps the most intellectual young lady 
 I ever met, was a student of Foxcroft Academy at that time. L. 
 H. Whittier of Guilford, recalls himself to my memory as a 
 quiet, industrious student attending strictly to business. I 
 remember a very pretty girl in the Latin class by the name of 
 Lydia Brown. She attracted my attention very much. I sup- 
 pose it was on account of the fact that my mother's name was 
 Lydia. Higgins, all the old boys will remember as the janitor, 
 who rang the bell and built the fires. 
 
 One day Mr. Belcher said : "Higgins, increase the caloric." 
 Higgins stood up and looked wildly around the room. Mr. Bel- 
 cher repeated the request. Higgins scratched his head and 
 rolled up his eyes, and said: "Sir?" twice. Mr. B. then said: 
 "Replenish the fire." Higgins' face became a panorama of swift 
 moving pictures for the next moment, at length, grasping the 
 situation he rushed to the stove and put in some wood. 
 
 One day the boys, at recess, tied Higgins to the bell rope 
 and went in and left him. Mr. Belcher went out at last, and 
 rescued the boy. Higgins would not tell who did it, and we did 
 not volunteer any information. 
 
 We use to play football but after a fashion of our own. 
 Two boys chose sides and then the captains stood out in front, 
 facing each other ; then the ball was tossed into the air and the 
 fun commenced, one side kicking the ball in one direction, the 
 rest in the opposite direction. No one was allowed to touch the 
 ball with the hand after the first rush. One day Mr. Belcher 
 was the captain opposed to me and, as I was rushing the ball 
 along toward our goal, he got on my back to stop me ; I felt a 
 slight incumbrance detaining me, but kept right on and kicked 
 
44 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 the ball home. I weighed one hundred and seventy and he 
 about a hundred and ten. The boys called me "Atlas" for a 
 time, as I had carried a world (of knowledge) on my shoulders. 
 
 Elijah Pond, Frank Parsons and I hired a room and boarded 
 ourselves, and attended school. I remember the difficulty I had, 
 the first morning, to make the sheets fit the bedstead ; after sev- 
 eral attempts I discovered that I had got them on cross-wise. 
 Frank settled the coffee with half a pound of codfish skin. I 
 made some toast by stewing some soft bread in milk for half an 
 hour. We improved later on. 
 
 W. T. Stubbs was a very busy student and always had his 
 lessons. He was also a good debater. I am sure Mr. Stubbs 
 would have made a successful literary or professional man had 
 he thus devoted himself. He has been one of the trustees of 
 Foxcroft Academy for some years. Mr. Stubbs was a very 
 successful teacher in the West for many years. It was a loss 
 to the educational world when he retired from the schoolroom. 
 
 Alonzo Bunker was a very brilliant student. He graduated 
 at Waterville College and became a missionary in India. Dr. 
 Bunker is now in America. He was very effective in his work 
 and is highly esteemed by a host of friends. I had the pleasure 
 of eating turkey in his room at college when I was a freshman. 
 His wicked chum, I suppose, furnished the turkey. 
 
 J. H. Wing was a very breezy young man who was a great 
 beau among the ladies. He took Horace Greeley's advice and 
 went West. The Averill young ladies were very fine scholars. 
 Miss Annie Averill has written poetry that places her among the 
 inspired. Miss Mary Averill has been connected with schools 
 for many years'. 
 
 I visited her school, when supervisor, and found the school 
 a model. The quiet, lady-like ways of the teacher, the scientific 
 methods of instruction ; the thoroughness of the work, all made 
 the schoolroom into a home where all were happy. I do not 
 wonder that scholars sometimes do not like to attend school. 
 
FOXCROFT ACADEMY 45 
 
 But a boy or girl that would loiter on his way to Miss Averill's 
 school must be callous to all good influence. 
 
 The school had among its students, one A. B. Stickney — a 
 tall, active young man who took great delight in theatricals. 
 Mr. Stickney is now a very wealthy railroad president out West, 
 and the husband of an admirable wife who once lived in Dexter, 
 and was a pupil of mine. 
 
 Among the sweet faces of the young ladies I thought Miss 
 Mary J. Thompson's was the sweetest. I was not then 
 acquainted with her, but admired from a distance. Among the 
 other young ladies was one Louise Campbell, a beautiful girl 
 with glorious eyes. She became, later on, an active worker in 
 the field of temperance and an advocate of Woman's Rights. 
 She was much older than I, but I thought her sublime, wonder- 
 ful, almost angelic. One night, after Lyceum, she asked me if 
 she could ride home with me. I had to drive nearly four miles, 
 the road passing by her father's house. Of course I consented, 
 with stammering tongue and blushing cheeks. I never expected 
 to attain to such happiness. I did not dare to help her into the 
 wagon, but held the horse by the bits while she nimbly stepped 
 into the carriage. 
 
 We started. She was very gracious, but the bare thought 
 that I was seated beside that beautiful, talented woman so 
 paralyzed me that my ''right hand forgot its cunning" and could 
 hardly guide the horse, and my "tongue cleaved to the roof of 
 my mouth." I remember today every rod of that drive ; what 
 she said going up the Hines' Hill ; how she talked about Venus, 
 slowly descending in the west ; what she said about Mr. Spauld- 
 ing's dooryard ; and her impressions of Mr. Hill, — how slowly 
 I drove that last mile, and when we arrived at her home, I got 
 out of the wagon and helped her down and drove the horse the 
 rest of the way with the other hand. That woman never knew 
 that she, that night, "Raised a mortal to the skies ;" but I felt 
 sure my old horse "drew an angel" home. As I looked upon 
 
46 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Venus last night I again could see the glorious eyes of that rare 
 young lady. 
 
 Among the pupils was a black-eyed miss hailing from 
 Brownville. Her name was Lizzie Nason. She became a 
 teacher and taught for many years in Brownville. I suppose 
 there is not a man forty years of age in Brownville today 
 who cannot remember receiving at least one flogging adminis- 
 tered by the vigorous hand of Lizzie. 
 
 I visited her school several times and always found the 
 strictest discipline. Her methods of teaching were good and 
 progressive. Miss Nason now lives in the West. 
 
 There was also a young lady from Brownville who had shot 
 a bear and hence became a heroine among the boys but I noticed 
 that she could throw a baseball no better than a village maiden. 
 Some of the timid boys who lived on the street where she 
 boarded used to walk home with her to be sure of a safe escort. 
 
 From Sebec came a black-eyed boy whom I much enjoyed. 
 His name was Cushing, Wainwright Cushing. He was a gen- 
 tleman when a boy and has become one of our best known and 
 highly respected citizens. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FIRST SCHOOL. 
 
 My first teaching- occurred in the town of Sangerville. It 
 was in my own district. The schoolhouse was old, cold, and 
 small. The floor slanted upward towards the back seats, where 
 the big boys and girls sat. The aisles were always slippery. 
 When the scholars came in at recess and passed up the aisles 
 one or two were sure to slip down, precipitating several more 
 into a common mass, from which heads, arms, and feet pro- 
 truded. This caused some confusion at first but soon it seemed 
 a part of the program, and ceased to cause any merriment. 
 
 There were sixty pupils crowded into a space where thirty 
 would have been sufficient. In one corner of the room there was 
 a kind of box stall or throne, somewhat elevated from the com- 
 mon floor. Here the teacher sat in all his glory when he was 
 "monarch of all he surveyed." and it became his place of refuge 
 when storms lowered around him. That desk was rather sacred 
 even to the bad boy. In it usually were the teacher's books, 
 some pieces of white chalk just as they came from the earth ; 
 some bottles of ink, pens, writing books and sometimes a ferule 
 and withe. This desk also became a prison house for roguish 
 boys and giggling girls. 
 
 The stove and funnel were divorced once a week regularly. 
 The door was a marvel. There were four panels. No one of 
 these was like any other. One was taken from a blue door, 
 one from a yellow one, and another from a red one, and the last 
 one put in was green. It seemed that almost every old house 
 
48 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 in the district had contributed some part of itself to patch up 
 that old schoolhouse. 
 
 There was a long back seat in the rear, on which sat a lot 
 of large girls. I was very bashful, and the roguish girls liked 
 to tease me. They would ask me to assist them in arithmetic, 
 and when I sat down, they would sit up close beside me just to 
 make me blush. 
 
 I suffered much that winter in this way, but toward the 
 close of school began to realize "blessed are the martyrs." 
 
 There was a board running across the house, separating the 
 boys from the girls ; on one side, perpendicular to the board, 
 was a seat occupied by a girl, and on the opposite side sat a boy. 
 One day I caught my brother kissing a girl across that board. 
 My first thought was to punish him severely, but when I con- 
 sidered that he was much larger than I, discretion suggested 
 that no precipitate act should transpire. It is strange how our 
 moral perceptions are biased by conditions. I also took into 
 account the temptation. She was very pretty and those laugh- 
 ing eyes always seemed to dare one to do desperate things. 
 Those lips I had often thought were just made to kiss. The 
 more I looked at her that afternoon the less wicked my brother 
 seemed, and by the time school closed, I did not think him a bad 
 boy at all, and so let him off with a mild reproof. Teachers, 
 remember he was larger than I, and she was pretty. 
 
 The agent's name was Edward Oakes. There were agents 
 in those days. Perhaps the present system is better, but, in one 
 respect it seems to fail. No one agent could have so many 
 relations as three committeemen and a superintendent. 
 
 Mr. Oakes was one of those very useful men in any com- 
 munity. He never married. He used to beau the girls of his 
 own age around till they got married, then he dropped back to 
 the next product and did his duty to those. When these passed 
 on, he was still in the field. By this time he was recognized as 
 a confirmed bachelor, and hence was always sought after, so life 
 
FIRST SCHOOL 49 
 
 became to him an every-day picnic. He never seemed old, and 
 was everybody's friend. 
 
 Dr. Simeon Mudgett was supervisor. I have his certificate 
 before me. It says that "William S. Knowlton is a young man 
 of good moral character, fitted by disposition to govern, and 
 capable of teaching the branches taught in common schools, 
 especially Arithmetic, Geography, Grammar, Reading and Spell- 
 ing." It does not mention writing. 
 
 I received seventeen dollars per month and boarded myself. 
 The school was fifteen weeks long. Several of the scholars 
 were older than I. There were higher algebra, the national 
 arithmetic, and almost every study in vogue in that school. I 
 never worked harder in the schoolroom. I think the school was 
 fairly profitable, as schools then went. That old house is gone 
 and two houses have been built since. 
 
 I can see, in memory's reproducing mirror, just how those 
 scholars looked, and how I taught. The small girls all stood up 
 in a row in the floor, toeing a large crack which runs completely 
 across the room. The girls all wore short dresses, and panta- 
 lettes with frills round the bottom. The frills were starched 
 stiff and projected downward at an angle of ninety degrees, and 
 reached down to the tops of the boots. 
 
 Some of the older girls wore hoops. Those were made of 
 the same material as baskets were — brown ash — and sewed into 
 the skirt. Crinoline had not made its appearance yet. A young 
 lady then occupied a large portion of space, and when two hap- 
 pened to meet in the narrow aisle there was always trouble to 
 discover who had the right of way. 
 
 My second school was in Dover, on the road to Dexter. 
 It was a small, ungraded school. More than half of the pupils 
 bore the name of Mitchell and Stanchfield. The Mitchell chil- 
 dren were all very bright and industrious. There was one little 
 boy in school who especially attracted my attention. He had a 
 way of spelling every word with a rising inflection, thus: d-o-G, 
 and he has been a rising man ever since he started in business. 
 
 4 
 
50 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 His business powers are wonderful. He can make the wildest 
 Western bronco into the mildest family horse in two hours — on 
 paper. He is one of Caribou's town fathers now. 
 
 While teaching that school, I saw the great comet of '58, 
 for the first time while riding one night with my oldest pupil. 
 We discussed it together. It made a deep impresson upon my 
 mind. I never think of that comet without remembering that 
 girl. Ah, well ! the comet came and went, and never returned 
 to my gaze, and so did the girl. It seems the orbit of both were 
 parabolic. 
 
 There was a cat where I boarded that weighed fourteen 
 pounds, and ate cheese. These were the chief events of that 
 term of school, as I remember them. It was an uneventful term 
 and most of the pupils have joined "the silent majority." The 
 schoolhouse is still there, but only one man lives in the district 
 that did in those days. 
 
 I remember I took turns with the boys, building fires. I 
 also remember there was a schoolhouse minister in the district 
 who used to preach occasionally. He would stand in the floor 
 and, with his long right hand, paddle himself round and round, 
 so that he was back to the audience about half the time. He had 
 a way of ending up every sentence with an "ur." One night 
 he said "I have lived forty years on the Lord's sidur." The 
 good old man tried to do his duty, but I think he could handle a 
 plough better than he could the Scripture. 
 
 I suppose it is a grave question whether or not a censor 
 should be put upon the pulpit, as well as upon the press. Per- 
 haps, since there are all kinds of hearers, there should be all 
 kinds of preachers, but it appears, in a casual survey of the 
 situation that, if a druggist has to study four years to learn how 
 to supplement the knowledge of a doctor, who has studied four 
 years, and a lawyer must study four or five years just to learn 
 how to manage our financial affairs, that a clergyman who has 
 the highest concerns of the human soul committed to his care, 
 should devote himself to an equal educational preparation. 
 
FIRST SCHOOL 51 
 
 My next school was in Abbot. This was a large graded 
 school. War now threatened to destroy the peace of the coun- 
 try. No young person in these days can understand the condi- 
 tion of things in those days. Old friends became bitterest 
 enemies ; brothers ceased to recognize their mother's sons ; 
 societies were severed, and even churches dissolved. I boarded 
 by chance with an intense Democrat. The Republicans of the 
 village insisted that I should change my boarding place. This 
 I refused to do without cause, and for a few days, there was 
 much excitement. At length the excitement began to flag, and 
 finally ceased altogether. 
 
 There were some fine scholars in that school. I remember 
 a girl about thirteen or fourteen years old. Every lesson was 
 perfect, and her reasoning faculty remarkable. In later life, she 
 became just what she promised to be. As the mind reflects 
 upon the pupils in that single term of school, emotions of joy 
 and sorrow arise in surging waves. That girl, Albina, who can 
 estimate the good influence she has produced in the family cir- 
 cle, in temperance work, in every cause calculated to lift up, 
 ennoble and energize human thought. Another young lady 
 afterwards became the wife of a college mate of mine, — a clergy- 
 man of great ability, whose early death caused many eyes to 
 weep. She was a lady of great capability and usefulness. 
 
 There was a teacher who attended school a little while. 
 She later married a Western man and went to his home soon 
 after. More than twenty years after, it chanced I preached in 
 the town of Abbot one Sunday, and was to receive for my 
 "stipend" the whole contribution. The people were not many, 
 the financial condition depressed, and that gaping hat disclosed, 
 after it had painfully made the circuit of the house, just thirty- 
 seven cents. Among the audience was the above mentioned 
 teacher and her husband, who were visiting her brother. He 
 had no money in his pocket on that occasion, but the next day 
 he sent me a dollar. Think of it. my clerical readers ! What 
 think ye of a man who would, unsolicited, a stranger, send a 
 
 f 
 
52 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 contribution to a preacher under such circumstances? That 
 dollar will ever remain one of the most precious treasures I ever 
 possessed, always suggesting more optimistic views of the 
 human soul. May perpetual fortune and happiness be the abid- 
 ing guests of that Western home. 
 
 One studious boy enlisted soon after school closed, and not 
 long after slept beneath the flag he had died to defend. Everett 
 Delano was the first pupil of mine to thus consecrate his young 
 life to the preservation of the government of his native land. 
 A fine scholar, a good boy, a patriot. My kindly remembrance 
 of him will never fade. 
 
 The measles closed that school in a summary manner. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FOXCROFT AFFAIRS. 
 
 In August, i860, I united myself with the Baptist Church of 
 Dover and Foxcroft. Rev. C. M. Herring was the pastor. I 
 have never regretted that step. I firmly believe that it was the 
 proper thing to do, and that great help has come to me there- 
 from. 
 
 I have never been able to discover why anyone should hesi- 
 tate in this matter. It seems to me that religion, or rather, Chris- 
 tianity, has made our civilization what it is, and, if it can help 
 men in the mass, I cannot see why it may not individually. 
 
 Further, the subject presents itself as a duty. If a duty, then 
 neglect implies a loss. The subject has never seemed to me 
 the mysterious, indefinite something that some people believe in. 
 To strive to live according to the Sermon on the Mount, and 
 practically be what Christ declared we may and ought to be, 
 is a very sensible course of life. That created man should 
 revere his Creator is honest, proper, and obligatory. 
 
 When I was a student at the Academy at Foxcroft, I became 
 quite well acquainted with A. G. Lebroke. He was always 
 interested in every boy attending school who was striving to 
 make the most of his opportunities. He himself wasted no time 
 and had no patience with the idle or listless student. 
 
 He, one day, called me into his office and talked to me for a 
 full hour. 
 
 I wish it were possible for any one to fully describe the char- 
 acteristics of Augustus G. Lebroke. It never has been and never 
 will be. I shall only try to give the impressions I received when 
 
54 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 a boy of eighteen. His earnestness and sincerity first impressed. 
 His physique was the indispensable outward form for an orator. 
 He made but few gestures in speaking, but when some especially 
 brilliant thought was flashing from his mental consciousness 
 through the medium of the brain and the tongue, the eye would 
 light up with an electric glow, the whole face became illumi- 
 nated, his words somehow breathed forth pathos, truth, convic- 
 tion, and when that marvelous burst of eloquence had ceased, 
 and the supercharged mind of the hearer had begun to recover a 
 little ; a gentler strain took him over the same ground, and 
 showed less astute reasoning and things easier to understand ; 
 when all was fully comprehended, then occurred another flight of 
 eloquence, loftier than the other, followed by more complete 
 analysis and illustration. 
 
 Mr. Lebroke's mind was so comprehensive in its grasp that 
 every detail received recognition, and each part of the subject 
 discussed was made to become an important factor, necessary 
 to the whole. 
 
 He attacked every position in front and on either flank at 
 once, and enveloped the position by facts arranged in double 
 columns with such impetuosity that unconditioned surrender 
 quickly followed. His mind had such a tremendous grasp of 
 facts which he could instantly group into logical order that his 
 resources never failed. Many of those facts would seem trivial 
 presented by any other man, but when he presented them in 
 proper grouping, each one appeared an indispensable link for the 
 complete chain of evidence. The "mole-hill" did become a 
 "mountain," when he had sunk every surrounding argument to 
 a sea-level. He did not, like many speakers, fight his way along 
 point by point with a vigorous opponent, but sought to confound 
 him at first by impetuosity of the attack, and the overwhelming 
 array of superior forces, and each separate spear and lance were 
 one by one hurled at the prostrate foe no longer capable of 
 vigorous resistance. 
 
FOXCROFT AFFAIRS 55 
 
 His words were remarkably well chosen, and though many, 
 none seemed superfluous. His memory was remarkable. That 
 enabled him to marshal his forces and leave no places or corners 
 unprotected. His quotations were plentiful, and always served 
 as a clinching stroke to the argument. In an arson case when 
 a man was tried for burning a house in the night, when he had 
 dwelt at length upon the enormity of the offense, the endanger- 
 ing the lives of seven innocent women and children and exposing 
 them to terrible torture and death, till the eyes of the jurymen 
 fairly began to flash fire, he turned suddenly more directly to 
 the jury and said, "Shall that fiend of revenge, darkness and 
 death, stalk at midnight around our unprotected dwellings, 
 crying, 'Sleep no more to all the house. Macbeth hath mur- 
 dered sleep, Glamis hath murdered sleep.' Sleep no more, ye 
 innocent babes in tired mother's arms. Sleep no more, wearied, 
 laboring man ! Macbeth hath murdered sleep. The prisoner 
 at the bar has living in his heart the lurid fires of hell that robs 
 the eyes of sleep and banishes every thought of security." 
 
 I recall that scene as vividly as though an event of yes- 
 terday. 
 
 Mr. Lebroke had many remarkable qualities. Among them 
 was the happy faculty of being pathetic without descending to 
 bathos. Few men can do this. How often have I heard 
 speakers, seeking to move a heart to tears, instead provoke him 
 to smiles. Mr. Lebroke never did this. He never descended 
 to commonplace when lofty heights had been occupied. If the 
 end found him there on the mountain top he stood and said the 
 last word. Metaphor and simile were favorite weapons with 
 him, and he used them judicially and forcibly. He was never 
 coarse or common in his public address. His style could not 
 be called strictly classical. There were no isolated exhibitions 
 of eloquence for the sake of eloquence, but it was all eloquent. 
 His style was most like that of Cicero in the second oration 
 against Catiline. Had Mr. Lebroke received a thorough classi- 
 
56 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 cal education, he would have been, in my opinion, the greatest 
 orator Maine ever produced. 
 
 One day he showed the grasp of his mind to me in an hour's 
 talk upon the Bible as the foundation of all law. He discussed 
 the Levitical Law, the Judges, the prophets, the new Dispensa- 
 tion, Paul's expositions of law and Peter's thesis. He grouped 
 all these together in such manner as was marvelous to me. He 
 closed his remarks by saying that every law student should 
 spend many months in Bible study before he opened Blackstone. 
 His sympathies were for all, but he most liked to assist the boy 
 who had his own way to make in the world. He would spend 
 hours talking to such, and rarely refused his council. His sense 
 of humor was keen, and he could tell a commonplace story in 
 such a manner that it seemed new and striking. Of course no 
 one will think that I have attempted to write a memorial of 
 A. G. Lebroke, or even to approach it. I have simply talked 
 about a marvelous man that I knew when a boy as I remember 
 him. His public career is too well known to be noticed in a 
 reminiscence of this kind. The world knows that he was a very 
 successful lawyer, an astute politician and a safe legislator. He 
 would nave made an excellent judge. His capabilities would 
 have put him in the United States Senate. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 COLLEGE. 
 
 At the close of the spring term of Foxcroft Academy, I 
 decided to enter college. I spent most of the summer reviewing 
 my studies. At Commencement time, S. T. Pullen and I started 
 for Waterville with a sort of compromise team. I furnished 
 my father's horse, and he, his father's carriage. We stopped 
 at Pittsfield for dinner, arriving at Waterville at six o'clock. 
 We were examined the next day when Mr. Pullen, two others 
 and myself were admitted without conditions. The rest of the 
 class had assignments to be made up later. I have always been 
 very glad that I decided to secure a college education. That 
 education has not only been a means of livelihood, but has 
 afforded me most exquisite pleasure. But on that momentous 
 occasion, when I sat in that gloomy recitation room, I had quite 
 a mind to withdraw and go home. Had I failed to pass, I am 
 sure I would never have tried again. I remember now just 
 what my examination was. I can repeat the Greek poem which 
 Prof. Foster asked me to read. He requested me to scan a line 
 of Virgil. Now it is well known that there are six feet in every 
 line of Virgil, but I felt generous on that occasion and gave the 
 astonished Professor seven feet. It was a mistake on my part. 
 He said six was enough. Prof, was always a little fussy. 
 
 By kind permission of Herbert C. Libby, I quote an article 
 here that some years ago I wrote for "Colby Stories." 
 
58 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 TOM AND SMITH. 
 
 "One day in July, i860, a carriage passed slowly down 
 College street drawn by a dusty black horse, and containing two 
 very anxious looking boys. The cause of their anxiety was 
 two-fold, — examination next day, and a desire to find a black- 
 smith shop. The shop was soon discovered and a shoe set on 
 the said horse. And when the financier of the duet demurred 
 at the price, fifty cents, the begrimed son of Vulcan informed 
 them that it was 'Commencement Week,' and horseshoeing was 
 on the cornua taurorum. 'Dies irae occurred the next day in 
 the Plutonean abodes of the old Chapel, concerning which 
 animus meminisse horret. 
 
 "By the way, the platform in that underground room became 
 decayed and a motherly-looking toad had a home there, and she 
 came out every day to hear Waldron's essay in the rhetoric 
 class. One summer the wicked boys put ten toads under the 
 platform and waited for the Prof, to come. All were quiet 
 enough till Brackett began to read Latin. They couldn't stand 
 that anyhow, so out they came and hopped for the door at full 
 speed. 'The effect was electrical.' There were few X's that 
 term. 
 
 "On Commencement Day those two adventuresome youths 
 were allowed to follow at a respectful distance the awe-inspiring 
 Sophs down to the church. The boys discovered some very 
 original characters among them. During the halt of the pro- 
 cession, one of the Sophs stepped back and asked Smith in a 
 very peremptory manner, 'How did you get that hump on your 
 back?' Fresh replied that the Almighty had put it there. The 
 Soph seemed to be astonished that it should have been done 
 without his consent. He then demanded of Tom — 'Why in 
 thunder do you wear glasses?' Tom said he was near-sighted. 
 The Soph was still dissatisfied, and said so. There used to be 
 a tradition around the college that the habit of inquisitiveness 
 commenced very young with him. His first inquiry was, why 
 
COLLEGE 59 
 
 he didn't have two mouths as well as two eyes, and his next 
 sentence criticised his father for not wearing more clothes on 
 the top of his head. 
 
 "Soon another Soph stepped back and seemed anxious to 
 know where they had left their 'horns' when they came to col- 
 lege. Smith timidly asked what he meant, and received for an 
 answer that 'cattle' from the country always had horns. Smith 
 replied that he was a 'buffalo' and didn't have horns, and later 
 on showed said Soph that he was a vigorous kicker if he couldn't 
 hook. 
 
 "Another small, back-eyed, blaick-haired. pretty little Soph 
 attracted their attention. He said nothing to them but every 
 hair on his aristocratic head seemed to say, procul, procul, este, 
 ye Freshmen ! He is a great man now and occupies a high 
 position. 
 
 "The two Freshmen looked down the line ahead and noticed 
 in the Junior class a dark-haired man. tall, rather good looking, 
 and modest. Smith afterward learned that the name of that 
 Junior was Isaiah Record. Later he roomed opposite him in 
 North College ; he further learned that Mr. Record was the 
 noblest man he ever knew. Conscience in him was the ruling 
 power. Nor was he a cad. 
 
 "On one occasion when the faculty, disregarding the wise 
 counsels of the students, employed an unregenerate man to cut 
 the grass on the campus, the boys sent Somnus to the ivory gate 
 and helped the faculty out by cutting the grass themselves by 
 moonlight. Every boy practiced in that star-pictured gym. that 
 night. Record and Barker excepted. Barker unfortunately slept 
 over, and Record stayed in his room and interviewed conscience. 
 He reproved no one in the matter, and it was all talked over 
 before him with perfect freedom. There was no Pharisaical 
 spirit in him. In after years Smith sat by his bedside, with tears 
 coursing down his face, received his last farewells, and has 
 found less on earth to enjoy ever since. 
 
60 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 "A strange circumstance was connected with Mr. Record's 
 funeral. At one commencement, Annie Louise Carey sang. In 
 the gallery sat Isaiah Record, Rev. A. C. Herrick, Paymaster 
 Barton, U. S. N., and Smith. At the close of the concert, the 
 four adjourned to the hotel and talked till two o'clock. They 
 were to separate next morning. One was going to Japan, one 
 to California, Record to Houlton, and Smith to Massachusetts. 
 As they parted that night Mr. Record said, 'When shall we four 
 meet again?' One dark day later, the body of Isaiah Record 
 lay at rest in a casket, in the vestibule of the church at Houlton. 
 Gazing sadly down upon those noble features, stood Smith, when 
 upon the right and left stepped simultaneously Mr. Barton and 
 Mr. Herrick, and as they mutely and tearfully clasped hands, 
 they felt they had all met again. (W. S. Knowlton is now the 
 only survivor.) 
 
 "The peculiar laugh of a Soph attracted the boys' attention 
 next. He had a perfect Grecian face and a smile that was 
 exhilarating. Some one called him Thomas. He was a fine 
 fellow and liked a joke. One day the president called him up 
 on review in Butler's Analogy and told him to pass on to the 
 'Future Life.' Thomas promptly responded, 'Not prepared, sir.' 
 
 "Gazing further down the line Smith saw what seemed a 
 human head seated on top of a tall pole, but a rift in the crowd 
 showed that it was a human form divine, but not 'divinely fair.' 
 He heard 'Mac' declaim later on in the Chapel when he, with his 
 head ad astras, in a sort of piping, grunting voice, said, — 'It is 
 strange how little some people know about the stars.' 
 
 "Had 'Mac' lived in Job's days he could have sung with 
 the 'Morning Stars.' 
 
 "While waiting at the church Smith took a good look at 
 his classmates. Near him stood Seeley, — a harmless little fellow. 
 He had a brother in the Sophomore class who was a genius. 
 He went up into Aroostook county to farm and preach. He 
 was a far better farmer than preacher. He made a failure of 
 farming. One day he was ploughing on the side of a steep hill 
 
COLLEGE 6l 
 
 with a pair of steers. Ihe cattle were untrained and he didn't 
 know how to drive. The steers would 'turn the yoke,' thus half 
 the time they faced the plow. To prevent this movement he 
 tied their tails together, and at noon unyoked them thus united 
 a tergo. One started east, the other west. For a time action 
 and reaction were equal ; at last one fell down, the other hauled 
 him down the mountain by the adhesive force of the caudal 
 vertebrae. 
 
 "The sight was inspiring. The bos on pedes, ferens caput 
 altum cornibus, snorting victory with every wild leap; the bos 
 on dorsum, roaring with disgust and marking the dust with his 
 horns like Hector's spear. 
 
 "Brother Seeley gazed calmly on the scene and gently whis- 
 pered, 'Descensus Averno facile est,' and next Sabbath took for 
 his text — 'Be not unequally yoked together.' 
 
 "Next to Seeley stood a tall, finely proportioned man who 
 to-day wears the insignia of a Major General, U. S. A., — H. C. 
 Merriam. He and Smith were great friends later on ; Merriam 
 liked a joke and so did Smith. In those days the Junior class 
 doled out an original declamation in the Chapel every spring. 
 The other classes must attend or be fined ten cents. The whole 
 thing was a bore. The night before '63 spoke, Merriam and 
 Smith went down town and 'borrowed' from Mr. Merryfield's 
 back shop a huge cloth sign. 
 
 "The heraldic emblem on said cloth was a life-size picture 
 of an elephant. The boys added a legend, reading, 'Elephant 
 Show — $.10 admission,' and nailed the advertisement high above 
 the Chapel door. The third-year men were not pleased a whit, 
 but the Profs thought it a grand good joke. You see, they were 
 not in it. 
 
 "The General fixed this all up with Mr. Merriam last Com- 
 mencement. The General was a good scholar and wrote poetry 
 sometimes. There were two or three more poets in the class. They 
 belonged to different schools of poetry. David said if he got 
 the rhyme all right, he didn't care for the metre. Harry said 
 
62 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 if he got the metre all right, he didn't care for the rhyme. And 
 Smith also wrote one poetic translation of Horace. It was Ode 
 XVI, and here is a specimen of it: 
 
 "O ! bewitching filia, 
 Handsomer than your mamma ! 
 How could I such an onus prove 
 To write Iambics 'bout my love ! 
 Burn those verses, every speck; 
 Dump them in the Kennebec. 
 When Prometheus made my head, 
 Softer than a loaf of bread, 
 In my bosom he put this : 
 Vim insani leonis. 
 
 "Smith bet the peanuts he would read it in the class. Prof. 
 Foster was rash enough to call him up on the advance and Smith 
 read the whole thing through. 
 
 " 'Sit down, young man !' 
 
 "Result — Ten minus the one. 
 
 "Smith never wrote poetry afterwards. 
 
 "Nearby stood Mayo. He was a very rigid man in morals. 
 One night when 'town and gown' were discussing how hard a 
 blow it required to paralyze the brain, Mayo received a severe 
 shock from a club in the hands of a 'yager.' He brought up 
 reinforcements and threw said 'yager' into a muddy pool. The 
 'yager' naturally swore. Mayo remarked, 'Look here, this is a 
 Baptist institution and swearing is not allowed. Chuck him in 
 again, boys !' And in he went until the profanity was all washed 
 out of him. 
 
 "A little behind stood Young of Calais. He had a witty 
 way of putting things. When Weston's name appeared in the 
 catalogue with a f before it, Young said, 'Weston must be a 
 mighty good man ; he bears his cross daily.' 
 
 "Just behind Tom stood a girlish-looking boy. His name 
 was Ljttlefield. Studious, talented, he carried off most of the 
 honors. He was verv absent minded. A club of twelve once 
 
COLLEGE 63 
 
 boarded with a lady who frequently reminded them that she had 
 seen better days. Before the term was over the boys thought 
 they had. Now there boarded at the place a very prim lady 
 whose age had never been accurately ascertained. Littlefield sat 
 beside her. One day in the heat of argument he placed his arm 
 on the back of her chair. She sat up a little primly ; he became 
 a little excited and proceeded to put his arm around her, and 
 soon was emphasizing every remark by an unmistakable hug, 
 all unconscious that he was disregarding proprieties. Smith 
 will never forget the expression on that woman's face. Glorious 
 Littlefield ! The daisies adorn his grave to-day. 
 
 " 'Green be the turf above thee, friend of my better days.' 
 
 "Just here the procession moved on ; the two boys were lost 
 in the crowd and Smith has never emerged therefrom." 
 
 There were thirty-five in our class. Most of them were 
 young men of good ability and studious in habit. In those days 
 there were some conditions that seem very strange in these days. 
 No preparation in Geometry was required, and the class were 
 forced over six books in twelve weeks. That class recited at 
 six o'clock in the morning. Think of it ! Six o'clock ! We 
 had to learn the lesson the night before, hence we were very 
 sleepy in the morning. Many a time I have been in bed when 
 the bell ceased to toll. Out of bed we jumped, pulled on our 
 pants and boots, wrapped a long shawl around the shoulders, 
 and minus stockings, coat and vest, raced for the chapel, where 
 the Prex. read a chapter and offered prayer. Perhaps that was 
 a profitable service, but it was rather difficult to concentrate the 
 whole soul upon religious lines with the sword of Damocles in 
 the form of Davies Legendre hanging over one. After reciting 
 we went to the rooms and dressed for breakfast. The amount 
 eaten was proportionate to the result of the attempt to recite in 
 Geometry. If a boy took but one egg we knew there had been 
 some trouble in readily quoting from the text book. If he took 
 
64 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 no egg at all, a dead flunk had predestinated the condition, we 
 knew. 
 
 There were some very fine boys in the class. When the 
 spring term was nearly finished the boys began to enlist in the 
 army. The faculty was patriotic, but did not like to lose the 
 students. Nearly half of our class enlisted. The President finally 
 sent us all home without examination. Those that did not enlist 
 came back for the spring term, but the class was small and at 
 graduation we were only eight. As far as I know, only four 
 survive. N. C. Breckett was one of my chums. He was for 
 many years president of a college for colored people in Vir- 
 ginia, and is enjoying his otium cum dignitate in his native town. 
 
 Freeman, who fancied he resembled Daniel Webster in 
 looks, was in Oregon to the last of my knowledge. 
 
 The irrepressible Waldron, the much engaged man, was 
 living in Ohio a few years ago. 
 
 S. T. Pullen, my room-mate the first term, is living in Port- 
 land. Mr. Pullen has occupied prominent places in the political 
 and commercial world. 
 
 Gen. H. C. Merriam was a member of the class. He was a 
 fine mathematician and a poet withal. I suppose we look upon 
 him as the big man of the class, whose glory will redeem it from 
 oblivion. 
 
 A. H. Keezer was the best dressed man, and a great beau 
 among the ladies. 
 
 E. C. Littlefield was, in my opinion, the most intellectual boy 
 in the class or college. He died a year after graduation with 
 brain fever. 
 
 Cushing was a grand good fellow, and so was H. M. Pratt, 
 but they left us long ago. 
 
 I was class poet at the time of graduation, and Littlefield 
 was orator. I had just recovered from typhoid fever at Com- 
 mencement, and Littlefield's brother was killed in battle at that 
 time, so the class day exercises were omitted. 
 
COLLEGE 
 
 65 
 
 One circumstance connected with that fever I have never 
 forgotten. Dr. Boutelle attended me for seven weeks, day and 
 night, and furnished me some medicine and presented me with 
 a bill for nineteen dollars. I hope the Doctor knows in heaven 
 how much benefit that kind act of his did me. I shall ever have 
 a green spot in my soul for Dr. Boutelle. 
 
 I remember another event of that sickness. Waldron was to 
 be my nurse one night, and promised to come at ten o'clock. 
 My mother went to bed in a remote part of the house at a quarter 
 of ten. Ten o'clock came but no Waldron ; eleven slowly passed 
 by, then twelve and so on until morning. I lived many years 
 during that night. The explanation was this: Waldron went 
 to see his girl and became so absorbed that he entirely forgot 
 me, and that absorption was so complete that even when he had 
 torn himself away and said good-night for the twentieth time, 
 he went in a sort of ecstatic condition to college and never 
 thought of the poor fellow in the delirium of fever. That girl 
 never looked pretty to me after that. 
 
 The class has never received any honors from the college. 
 There have been several D. D. and LL. D. given members of 
 classes graduating since. I do not know under just what con- 
 ditions those honors are given, and hence ought not to discuss 
 it. I have always thought, however, they struck as lightning 
 does. Lightning sometimes strikes a tall oak and sometimes 
 a puny alder. 
 
 The D. K. E. society did me the honor of inviting me to join 
 it. I did so and have never regretted the act. I fully believe 
 in college societies, and regard college life as incomplete unasso- 
 ciated with a society. It may not be easy to define the reasons 
 for this conclusion, but every member of the society fully appre- 
 ciates the benefits. If the society is a proper one, it is a safe- 
 guard, a home, a shrine, and in some cases, the college. I have 
 never lost interest in our society, and enjoy beyond measure 
 meeting the old and new boys whenever I can. I have prepared 
 quite a large number of boy=; for college, most of whom have 
 
 5 
 
66 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 shown in practical life that no mistake was made when they went 
 to college. I have had boys in Bowdoin, Amherst, Colby, Bates, 
 Harvard and University of Maine. I still believe in a college 
 education when the pupil has the capital to commence with. It 
 is a foolish thing for a young man to attempt to attend a college 
 who has no mental capacity. Study never produces, but simply 
 trains and sharpens what God created. 
 
 As I review college life, how many things seem callow, pre- 
 sumptuous and almost silly, but they did not then. All our 
 presumption and zeal was a part of the conditions of things of 
 our ages, and the accumulation of a high self estimate. It 
 naturally follows that when one or two hundred boys meet 
 together, each one possessing just a small per cent of conceit, 
 that the percentage will run up quite far. Well, suppose it does ? 
 Who is injured? Let the boys still enjoy their world with all 
 its freshness. It would not be college without it. Let them 
 feel that the illimitable universe is every day regulated by their 
 desire and needs. We had our day. We swaggered and fought 
 our battles of more importance than Waterloo or Sedan, reveled 
 in veal and enjoyed it. So say I, let the college boy of to-day 
 have his fling. Veal will become beef in due time. I enjoy 
 the boys as they are. 
 
 At last Commencement, after the public services were over, 
 I met some of the boys at the Chapter House and spent two or 
 three hours with them and enjoyed the occasion very much. As 
 we sat around that fireplace, I saw fields of usefulness, positions 
 of importance, sacred trust awaiting those young men in the 
 great world beyond college walls. If ever I offered an earnest, 
 heartfelt prayer to the Master, it was when I retired that night, 
 that they might be kept from sin, that the high ambition animat- 
 ing their souls might find its highest fulfillment in a life of use- 
 fulness, honor and success. I shall probably never meet many of 
 those young men again, but feel sure the world will honor them 
 when the writer of these lines "shall sleep in cold oblivion." 
 Then we say, let them go to college and be a college boy while 
 
COLLEGE 67 
 
 there and then go for work for joy and sorrow as the Father 
 wills. 
 
 I look back to my college life with pleasure, on the whole. 
 There were dark spots which I still remember but care not to 
 recall them. My health was the chief drawback, and sometimes 
 a lack of funds did not cast a roseate light upon the pathway. 
 TUit. on the whole, I enjoyed college life very much. I always 
 enjoyed studying. I was a good average scholar, excelling in 
 Mathematics and Rhetoric. I did then just what I should 
 recommend a student to do now. 
 
 I suggest that he be a first-class scholar and simply that ; 
 then spend what time he can spare from athletics, in reading, 
 reading, reading. In advising this course, I mean reading of the 
 old English classics, poetry, history, essays and lectures. But 
 more than this, he should read some modern books as a sort of 
 pastime. There are a few modern books worth reading and 
 these should be read : but in reading many of them there is no 
 profit. Those one does read should be selected with care and read 
 with a deliberate purpose. What I mean is this : If a pupil reads 
 Addison the purpose should be to enjoy the style. Read with 
 such a purpose, the essays will insensibly steal into the percep- 
 tion and refine the style of the student. Macaulay should be 
 read with the same purpose in mind, but when a person reads 
 David Harum he should do so simply for mental rest and diver- 
 sion, and that fixed purpose should be ever before him, then the 
 reading will do no harm ; but the book should be forgotten as 
 soon as possible. A constant reading of such books would lead 
 to intellectual imbecility. 
 
 I was obliged to be out of college, teaching, nearly halt the 
 time, and made up those terms. Most of the professors I liked 
 very much. There was an individuality about each that I recall 
 distinctly. Professor Hamlin pleased me the most. He had 
 a personal interest in every student, and was not afraid to show 
 it. I remember he called me to the desk one day and asked 
 about my health and suggested some treatment. Stern and 
 
68 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 exacting in the recitation room though he was, we all felt that 
 he was just and kind, and that all received the same treatment. 
 
 Dr. Champlin was never a favorite with the boys, but I 
 rather liked him. 
 
 The Doctor had a grim sense of humor which showed itself 
 occasionally, and he appreciated a joke, even at his own expense. 
 One day he gave us a very long lesson in Butler's Analogy — 
 one paragraph in the lesson said that a man would try with all 
 his might to do a thing, though the chances were ten to one 
 against him. I recited that paragraph when the Doctor said : 
 "Give a practical illustration." I replied : "For a student to try 
 to get such an outrageous lesson as this." The old Doctor at 
 first frowned, then drew his face down several inches and a grim 
 smile began slowly to jump from wrinkle to wrinkle, and he 
 said : "It seems you did succeed." I had the great pleasure of 
 entertaining Dr. Champlin at my house for a week once, and 
 never enjoyed a man more. I shall never forget a scene on the 
 campus, right before the old chapel. Gen. Martel, the janitor, 
 one day became very much intoxicated and wanted to leave. 
 Dr. C. did not want him to go in that condition, so would not 
 pay him. The General, who weighed two hundred and fifty 
 pounds, walked up to Dr. Champlin, who weighed over two 
 hundred pounds, and, shaking his fist in the Doctor's face, said : 
 "Dr. Shamplain, you pay me or I spile your face !" The boys 
 got around the General and led him away. The bets among the 
 boys were about equal. 
 
 The President had a funny way of selecting Scripture for 
 the morning lesson. One day, when some of the boys left town 
 to avoid too intimate acquaintance with the Constable, the Doctor 
 read : "The wicked flee when no man pursueth." Another time 
 he read : "They that were drunken are drunken in the night." 
 That morning two young men had been suspended for indulging 
 in the flowing bowl. When a large freshman class came in he 
 read : "How are they increased that trouble me !" 
 
COLLEGE 69 
 
 I have had the pleasure of knowing every President who 
 has presided at Colby since i860. I thought Dr. Robbins a man 
 of the best intentions. I never listened to a more interesting 
 man than Dr. Small. Every sentence he uttered was a Grecian 
 model ; not one word not the best, every sentence in perfect logi- 
 cal order, and every thought following some suggested idea. 
 Dr. Small is a great man. and is so regarded by men better quali- 
 fied to judge than I. 
 
 One might, perhaps, reverence Dr. Small more than love 
 him. Of Dr. Butler I have the pleasantest recollection. I 
 admired the man for his kindly sympathy, his keen intellect and 
 logical mind. 
 
 Dr. Whitman was a good friend of mine and I dearly loved 
 him. A man of superior intellect, of great heart, of rare elo- 
 quence, he left impressions wherever he went that were lasting 
 for good. I shall not attempt to describe Dr. Pepper. I shall 
 say but a word, simply quoting from the Book of Job, — "Canst 
 thou loose the bands of Orion," etc. I shall attempt neither 
 impossible task. I know Dr. White quite well, and enjoy the 
 man, respect the clergyman, and admire the scholar. The 
 Doctor is a rare speaker and impresses his audience with the 
 sincerity of his convictions and the soundness of his logic. 
 
 Of course, I know nothing about the administrations of 
 these presidents. I knew them simply as I met them in public 
 places and at my home ; and certainly I can assert that they were 
 men of noble character, large ability and earnest piety. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ATKINSON. 
 
 I next became the teacher of the graded school at Atkinson. 
 The town had no village. There was a Corner, and the Mills, 
 situated about two miles further south. I never could discover 
 certainly^why a collection of houses and people is called a village 
 in one town and a larger collection in another town, is simply 
 dubbed a "Corner." 
 
 It seems to be a fact worth remembering that one's estima- 
 tion of himself is always higher than others are willing to grant. 
 Just as long as the people at a Corner call it a Corner, so long 
 will other people call it so. But let the people living where sev- 
 eral roads meet begin to call the dozen or twenty houses there 
 a Village, all the world will dignify it by that title. 
 
 I have noticed, also, that just as soon as a Corner becomes a 
 Village, great changes begin to take place, within the houses, 
 and in the newly-born Village. Lace curtains replace the paper 
 ones, front yards become lawns and fresh paint is in evidence ; 
 and a Meeting House springs up, — another blacksmith shop 
 sends up its black smoke and silk hats appear. All these things 
 would not have been had not some ambitious man or woman, 
 with prophetic inspiration called that collection of houses, a 
 Village. Shakespeare asks "What's in a name," Why, — a 
 good deal, sometimes everything! 
 
 I taught at Atkinson Corner and Richard C. Shannon taught 
 at the Mills. We boarded together at a half-way house. Mr. 
 Shannon was a Senior and I a Freshman at Waterville College 
 and he was a man of note at that time. He was the best athlete 
 
ATKINSON 71 
 
 in college, took first prize in Junior Exhibition, and was honored 
 with a Junior part. He was an excellent reader and the central 
 star in the reading circle that winter. He used to read Dean 
 Swift to me evenings, much to my edification. 
 
 That was his first experience in country life and some things 
 struck him as peculiar. He went out into the barn one day, and 
 noticed how the cattle were fastened to the stanchion, and came 
 in and indignantly protested against chaining cattle up by the 
 neck. 
 
 It was also his first attempt at teaching. The scholars 
 thought some of his methods a little too original. He had a pair 
 of parallel bars built and trained the boys after school in gym- 
 nastics. His farm constituency wanted the boys to chop wood 
 and milk the cows, so that apparatus disappeared one night, 
 and Brother Shannon was very much disgusted. He would 
 have been much more so had- he seen it, as I did next summer, 
 serving ignominiously as a hen roost. 
 
 In the following spring Mr. Shannon enlisted in the army 
 and served during the war, with distinction, becoming Colonel. 
 He afterwards travelled extensively in South America, and held 
 important offices in Brazil. After spending some time in Europe, 
 he came to Xew York and commenced the practice of the law, 
 and was elected to Congress and held the position for four years 
 and was on important committees, and ranks high among his 
 fellow members. Six years ago he gave fifteen thousand dollars 
 to build the Shannon Observatory at Colby. Mr. S. was a mem- 
 ber of the D. K. E. fraternity and took much interest in the wel- 
 fare of the society and has ever been a stout supporter of his 
 Alma Mater. Mr. Shannon is a man of superior ability and 
 kindly spirit and a gentleman of pronounced type. He has 
 amassed a large fortune and has a home where every refinement 
 adorns. 
 
 The school at Atkinson was a good one, and was enjoyed by 
 the teacher. Among the pupils was a bright-eyed girl of ten, 
 whom I especially remember. No lesson seemed too hard for 
 
72 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 her. That sweet smile still remains in memory's grasp and the 
 innocence of that fine face was that of the Madonna. Sweet 
 Mamie Ford ! How I missed that girl when she happened to 
 be absent. In fact, in the whole development of the human face 
 there is none that can compare with the face of a girl of ten or 
 eleven years of age. Younger, there is too much of the child 
 in the face ; at an older age, too much of the world appears to 
 mar the picture I am trying to paint. The first bud of girlhood 
 is getting ready to unfold. There is all the sweet programme 
 that afterwards is spread abroad to the world, infolded in the 
 soul, closely hidden there. Purity, love, sweetness, innocence, 
 every attribute that Heaven can lend to mortals in harmonious 
 commingling, beautify, spiritualize and glorify the face of the 
 sweet girl of this period of life. 
 
 If I ever felt like becoming an idolator, it has been when I 
 have seen girls like this. They seem nearer to the Divine than 
 any created object. I do not say a girl of that age is the most 
 fascinating of all, but do claim that she is more adorable than 
 at any other. Happy is she if she has a mother who keeps her 
 thus as long as possible. Would that every mother could under- 
 stand that there is an angel in the household while her sweet 
 child is standing "where the brook and river meet," and that, 
 like Asturia, that angel disappears when "knowledge comes and 
 wisdom lingers." Not all girls would be recognized by my 
 description. Many are premature in knowledge; some are 
 stupid ; some hereditarily depraved, and others are characterless. 
 But many there are who ought to be recognized as special gifts 
 from God. 
 
 Dickens, with all his marvelous genius, never wrote as well 
 as in describing the life and death of Little Nell. 
 
 There was another girl in school, somewhat older, with the 
 brightest black eyes. Her name was Alice, a sweet name. I 
 expected her to be nice, having that name, and she was. I never 
 could quite disassociate a name from an ideal which I have asso- 
 ciated with the name and have been terribly shocked sometimes 
 
ATKINSON 73 
 
 to find that some coarse, loud, violent girl had been christened 
 "Gertrude," or "Mary," or "Lucy." They should have been 
 called "Joan," or "Martha," or "Belinda." 
 
 There was a small boy in the school that justified my concep- 
 tion. His name was Fremont, and he had all the aggressiveness 
 of that restless campaigner. He was informed one day that his 
 place was in the floor. He allowed that he would not go, and it 
 became necessary for me to show him that superior force could 
 overcome inferior resistance ; and he came out. I don't know 
 the after history of that boy, but feel sure that, unless his dis- 
 cretion has increased, he will find his journey through life some- 
 what thorny. 
 
 There was another Mary, sixteen years old, who was very 
 bright and deserved the name. Louise has always seemed a 
 charming name, and as almost every girl by that name that 
 attended school was a blonde, so the Louise of that school was 
 very fair and exceedingly talented. She would have made a 
 college professor. Hittie looked so much like her sister Alice 
 that I could not distinguish one from the other. Hittie was 
 generally in mischief, and when I called out sharply, "Alice!" 
 by mistake, the painful surprise on Alice's face used to haunt 
 me nights. 
 
 A slender, pale-faced boy of thirteen showed many of the 
 traits that have made him a success in life. He was very stu- 
 dious and obedient. His chief point was mathematics. He 
 became a physician of extensive practice, and can sing a song or 
 take off an arm, with equal grace. His avoirdupois shows that 
 he has never lacked for good living. 
 
 Dr. Ford is now one of the associate physicians in the Sana- 
 torium at Moosehead Lake. The Doctor is very popular in his 
 profession. "May his shadow never grow less!" 
 
 One day there appeared in the schoolroom a very tall, black- 
 haired young man of striking appearance. He desired to study 
 Latin. I can see that young man now, as he appeared on that 
 occasion. His hair was cut short, and every spear stood straight 
 
74 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 up, pointing skyward. There was an individuality about his 
 hair that marked the man. His absorbing power was marvel- 
 ous. Whole pages of Latin Grammar seemed but to whet his 
 appetite for more, until the length of the lesson had to be 
 adjusted to the time the teacher could allot to him. His reason- 
 ing faculties were equally good. He was what we sometimes 
 call "a natural scholar." He would have made an excellent 
 college president, but then the State would have lost an admi- 
 rable librarian. This same boy appeared to me later in another 
 school, where he changed his devotion from Mars to Venus. 
 I shall speak of him again. 
 
 Mr. Carver had a mind decidedly logical. There was 
 method in all that he did. His use of the right word in recitation 
 seemed the result of intuition rather than of training. That 
 careful attention to detail which has made him such an admirable 
 librarian was very marked. 
 
 With that school disappeared many of the names that had 
 been familiar. Hitherto the politics and religious preference 
 of the parents could be ascertained by many of the names of the 
 scholars; — John Fairfield, A. K. P. Paris, Bion Bradbury, 
 Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson ; all told that the father 
 voted the Democratic ticket. Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor 
 informed the world that the parent belonged to the forlorn Whig 
 party. I was sure that John Wesley belonged to a Methodist 
 family and that John Calvin's father was a follower of that 
 stern Reformer. The George Washingtons, alas! disappeared. 
 Whether or not there has been less truthfulness in school I 
 cannot tell. 
 
 By the way, I object to the shattering of my youthful idol by 
 those remorseless vandals who magnify every trait and habit of 
 Washington that would detract from his ideal life. What good 
 can come from proclaiming the fact, if it be a fact, that Wash- 
 ington did sometimes swear, under great provocation? Thou- 
 sands of boys have been kept from swearing by being told that 
 Washington never swore. 
 
ATKINSON 75 
 
 Every nation has some patron saint, a character that boys 
 may imitate. What better one than Washington ? 
 
 A story was published, a few years ago, by the author of 
 "The Honorable Peter Stirling," that perfectly disgusted me in 
 an attempt to glorify Washington by claiming for him many 
 objectionable characteristics. 
 
 Let the boy still believe in the hatchet story,— that Washing- 
 ton could jump twenty feet,— and that he never swore. 
 
 And some "Gadgrind" idiots would destroy every ideal of 
 childhood and banish Santa Claus to the barbaric ages of King 
 Thor. The attempt is positively wicked. Santa Claus is the 
 first supernatural existence appealing to the child's mind. His 
 faith in Santa Claus is implicit. His moral conduct is regulated 
 by Santa's wishes. The boy, through him, learns, for the first 
 time, to have faith in a semi-spiritual agency. Why destroy all 
 the fond fantasies of a thousand years? And just to please a 
 few fanatical philosophers who would take all the poetry out of 
 life, destroy every air-castle, and repress every flight of the 
 imagination. 
 
 There is no attribute of the human mind that conserves 
 greater and grander purposes and results than arise from the 
 proper use of the imagination. It should never be repressed, 
 but should be directed, cultivated, refined and combined with 
 other mental faculties. 
 
 Of course, if the imagination is allowed to run loose, it will 
 run riot and lead to mendacity and story telling. But such con- 
 dition need never exist. The person who fatally is lacking in 
 imaginative power will never rise above the veriest common- 
 place. This world becomes a very small planet to such. Even 
 the stars are only bright spots in the sky if we see in them only 
 stars. 
 
 The war changed the political standing of many parents. 
 New issues arose and gradually the old custom of naming a 
 boy after somebody ceased. I am sorry the habit of perpetu- 
 ating a family Christian name no longer prevails. Isaiah led 
 
y6 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 off in our family for several generations, but finally the mantle 
 fell upon the bachelor brother, and a prophet no longer appears 
 in the family. 
 
 I am sorry that young ladies feel called upon to abbreviate 
 their names. Gertrude is euphonious, Gertie is harsh ; Marga- 
 ret is a sweet name, Maggie is flat ; and so on, through the whole 
 list. 
 
 The old, ungainly names are mostly gone. It is well they 
 should pass out. I once had a pupil by the name of Nehemiah. 
 He was a short, dumpy sort of a boy, and had a piping, shrill 
 voice. When I called the roll in the morning, I did not blame 
 the pupils for smiling when that little chit answered to that 
 ponderous name. 
 
 A young lady, in another school, rejoiced in the name of 
 Mehitable Marjorie Matilda. She was small and squint-eyed, 
 and round-shouldered — and no wonder. Zachary Taylor, in 
 another school, had to fight many a Buena Vista, like his illus- 
 trious predecessor. 
 
 I've no doubt there are boys in prison who are made quarrel- 
 some by the teasing they received from the other boys on account 
 of their names. Parents are more careful nowadays about the 
 matter. 
 
 I made some very pleasant acquaintances in the town. The 
 Snows, the Ramsdells, the Lyfords and the Hammonds were 
 very kind, and made my stay in town pleasant. The cold Friday 
 of 1861 found me walking a mile, facing the north, and wading 
 through snowdrifts three feet deep, trying in vain to protect my 
 unfortunate nose from the wind, forcing the air against it at the 
 rate of sixty miles an hour, which had been cooled down to 30 
 below zero. That nose, the next day, was beyond classification. 
 
 I collected the pupils, that day, around the stove in the 
 schoolroom and taught them till three, and sent them home. 
 That night the Colonel and I read from Milton's "Paradise 
 Lost," and almost envied Satan's new quarters. The young 
 stock froze, that night, in several barns in town ; many poor 
 
ATKINSON 77 
 
 people suffered severely, and two persons perished in the road, 
 not far away. 
 
 The Colonel and I slept in a small bed-room in the north- 
 west corner of the house. We had family prayers and I remem- 
 ber I got so near the stove that I burned a hole in my coat. Our 
 boarding mistress was a lovely woman, blessed by a kindly smile 
 and a sweet voice. 
 
 Atkinson is still a "Corner." There has been but little 
 change. The old families are nearly all gone, however. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MILO. 
 
 Milo next engaged my services. There were three grades 
 in the school. The High School was under my instruction. The 
 school was a large one and pretty well advanced. Milo was, at 
 that time, quite an enterprising village. There were some very 
 prominent citizens and some very peculiar characters. 
 
 There were some very pretty, very smart girls in school, 
 who had a lot of fun with me the first week. I was never more 
 perplexed than in deciding what to do with them. They were 
 the daughters of some of the best families, and simply wanted 
 to have some fun with the schoolmaster. They were too big to 
 whip and too good-looking to keep after school. And they 
 learned their lessons first-class. 
 
 The "innocent surprise" that would show itself in their 
 pretty eyes when I reproved them for any misbehavior would 
 have made Maud Muller seem bold. "I am sure," said Sarah, "I 
 never intend to be out of order," and so said they all. One day 
 all four commenced to chew gum. I suggested that rumination 
 was not in order. "We are sorry," said one, "we have always 
 chewed gum in school and didn't know it was wrong. We are 
 sorry." Ten minutes after each had a very long striped pencil 
 stuck over the ear, protruding six inches before the face ; and 
 thus on through the day. For every act. they were sorry and 
 did not intend to be out of order, they said. 
 
 It is somewhat marvelous what an immense power for mis- 
 chief a pretty girl has when she is inclined that way. I suppose 
 this fact is but the exhibition of a law of nature that whatever 
 
MILO 79 
 
 is capable of producing great good is equally capable of pro- 
 ducing great evil. Caloric, in the form of what we call fire, is, 
 perhaps, our best natural friend, but remorseless and terrible 
 when on mischief bent. The better anything is, the worse it 
 becomes when turned to evil. It took an Archangel, according 
 to Milton, to make a mischief-making Satan. 
 
 The thunderbolt, that for many ages hurled death and 
 destruction among so many people, ought to have taught the 
 world long ago that there was an inestimable good wrapped up 
 somewhere in those bolts of Jove. It seems strange that philoso- 
 phers, reasoning from effect to cause, had not earlier sought and 
 found the good. No one did for ages, — Franklin simply sought 
 to escape the evil or turn it aside. The philosopher should have 
 considered the proposition : "Here is a mighty force doing much 
 harm in the world. God never made it for that purpose. It 
 must have been created for good." When, in these later days, 
 scientific men began to investigate with that idea in mind, the 
 result became apparent at once. 
 
 Why not account for the appearance of sin in the world on 
 the same hypothesis ; that all sin is perverted good ; that God 
 never created sin, or anything sinful, but that all things were 
 good and made for good and that they became evil when improp- 
 erly used. Corn is a blessing when made into bread and an evil 
 when changed into whiskey. The conclusion we reach is that 
 all things were created for good only, — including girls. 
 
 In speaking of mischievous girls, the question arises : Who 
 can do the most harm in the world — a wicked man or a bad. 
 malicious, wicked woman? In a discussion of this nature there 
 should be taken into account the whole influence exerted upon 
 the world, young and old ; which one affects the future the most, 
 which has the most influence to tear down the social fabric 
 Christianity is endeavoring to erect ; which destroys public con- 
 science the more, and exposes abstract goodness and virtue to 
 greater dangers. Does a bad man do harm in the same way that 
 a wicked woman does? Certainlv not. An abandoned man seems 
 
80 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 to possess a personality that a wicked woman does not. She 
 seems to stand for the sex. He passes as an exception. 
 
 She represents a class. Let a man from Siam come to town 
 and show himself a villain ; the people will not judge that all 
 men from Siam are equally depraved. But let the first immi- 
 grant from Siam be an abandoned woman, then the conclusion 
 is reached at once that all Siamese women are bad. It is unmis- 
 takably true that heredity taints more surely follow the sins of 
 the mother than those of the father. It is equally true that the 
 persuasive powers of woman are far greater than man's, for 
 good or evil. 
 
 But there is one grand distinction between a thoroughly bad 
 man and a depraved woman. She may lead her victims farther 
 in some particular direction than a man could, but yet she never 
 quite forgets her mission in all directions. She may murder 
 her rival, but would weep over the sorrow of her aged mother, 
 bemoaning her murdered daughter. 
 
 Well, I studied those girls carefully for two days, and spent 
 most of the nights meditating, and finally decided what to do. 
 The decision was a happy one. It led to a very harmonious 
 state of things. What was it? If I should ever write a sequel 
 to these papers, I will reveal the whole affair, and give my com- 
 ments on it. 
 
 One of the girls afterwards married my college chum, and 
 made a most exemplary wife. I had one boy who never 
 smiled or said a pleasant word. When I asked him how he was 
 getting along his answer invariably was "Well enough." I hope 
 that man never married. Just think of a pleasant-faced woman 
 sitting a whole evening through with a man like that ! Two 
 of the boys became doctors. One bore the distinguished name 
 of Hannibal Hamlin. It took him quite a long time to cross the 
 Alps, but he succeeded at last and sunny Italy appeared to him 
 in the classical town of Orono, where he now very successfully 
 practices. 
 
MILO 8 1 
 
 Another boy became a lawyer and settled in the West. Win- 
 field Scott, true to his name, became a great conqueror of — 
 female hearts, and Zachary Taylor fought adverse fortune like 
 a hero. 
 
 Four of my pupils afterwards entered the Union Army. 
 Many of the girls married very well and are living in Milo and 
 adjoining towns. The school was the best I had taught and I 
 am sure it was so regarded by the pupils and parents, since, the 
 next spring, four pupils went to Monson to attend Monson 
 Academy, where I taught. 
 
 Milo sent a larger percentage of her citizens to the war than 
 any other town in the county except Monson. Most of those 
 came home, and several of them attended school at Monson. 
 
 There were two churches in Milo. In one a very rough, 
 uneducated man hurled all the terrors of the Law at his atten- 
 tive congregation. The house was always full. The other 
 clergyman was an educated man who preached very well pre- 
 pared and interesting sermons to a very small congregation. I 
 asked one of the people how this happened. He said : ''Oh, he 
 gives us brimstone, and we deserve it and like it." 
 
 The people of Milo were very kind to the schoolmaster, — 
 that was what we were then — and I have always enjoyed visiting 
 the town. 
 
 The Leonards and Macombers and Goulds were very nice to 
 me, and so were the Kimballs and Ramsdells, and others. Dr. 
 Kimball was a most excellent man. Three children attended 
 school. They were all very nice and bright. Only one sur- 
 vives. She is now the wife of Bert Ramsdell, a prosperous 
 farmer. Bert was always a good boy and I liked him every 
 day. Mr. Gould had a daughter, Delia, in school, whom I 
 remember as near perfection. 
 
 Mrs. Abbie Owen Stubbs taught the lower grade in the same 
 building. She was a fine teacher and a nice young lady. I 
 boarded at her father's, and she and I, that winter, settled many 
 points in theology and ethics that other people have failed to do. 
 
 6 
 
82 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 If Brother Stubbs listens as attentively to his wife as I did that 
 winter, he will never go wrong. 
 
 Will Owen, her brother, I shall never forget. His son was 
 Senator from Piscataquis County last winter. The youngest 
 Leonard boy was Representative. 
 
 Milo is, at this time, a very prosperous town, and has 
 brighter prospects for the future. 
 
 I remember one very peculiar man in town. He knew a 
 great many small facts in history, most of them unimportant. I 
 have known several men like him ; men who have a naturally 
 retentive memory, but have not intelligence enough to compre- 
 hend any historical fact of importance. These men become the 
 most interminable bores in existence. They will corner some 
 really well-informed man and fire at him a cannon charge of his- 
 torical questions of the most trivial nature and annoy him beyond 
 endurance. 
 
 This man of Milo had made the lives of my predecessors 
 miserable. I had heard of him, and was prepared for him. 
 One day he met me in the Post Office and approached me and 
 said, "I suppose, Mr. Knowlton, you are conversant with the 
 facts of history?" "No, sir," I replied, "I am totally ignorant 
 of the history of any nation or people." With surprise written 
 on every line of his moon-shaped face, he exclaimed, "Why. 
 ain't you a college graduate?" "O, yes," I said, "but it is a 
 lamentable fact that I don't know history." He gave me a look 
 of supreme disgust, and left me. He afterwards criticized the 
 school committee for hiring a man to teach school who didn't 
 know history. 
 
 One day each one of the boys in the army from Milo wrote 
 him a letter. In those days when the mail came in and had been 
 sorted, the Postmaster, with a bundle of letters in his hand, 
 would call aloud the names of the fortunate receivers, and pass 
 the letters to those who responded "Here." When those army 
 letters arrived there was fun in that office. The Postmaster 
 would call out "C. A. Abbee," "Wm. Owen," "C. A. Abbee," 
 
MILO 83 
 
 "Wm. Gould," "C. A. Abbee," and so on till the end. When 
 the historian went home, he had to borrow a small basket, in 
 which to carry his letters. He came down town one day, and 
 said that there was a new General commanding- the fleet in the 
 Mississippi River that was destroying the rebel fleet, "General 
 Rise." 
 
 The paper had said, the day before, that "a general rise of 
 the river had damaged the rebel fleet." He told me, one day, 
 that he did not believe the story in the Bible about the "Sea- 
 pulcre." "The idea of a person's being buried in a 'Sea-pulcre!' 
 I don't know how big a 'Pulcre' is. but I don't believe it is big 
 enough to bury a man in." 
 
 How many men there are very much like him, who, with a 
 little smattering of knowledge in one thing, presume to possess 
 what they never could attain with life-long effort! 
 
 I have a theory that every idiot could be educated in one 
 particular direction. Had I the training of such a person, I 
 would discover in what line there was the most promising out- 
 look, and direct every effort in that one line. Scholars there are 
 who can simply learn to spell ; others to write : and others in 
 some other direction. 
 
 I boarded with Wm. Owen, a very fine man, blessed with an 
 excellent wife. My room was a small chamber, looking out 
 upon the street. I had become addicted to the use of tobacco, 
 but had reformed, and had concluded that, if I was to board at 
 a deacon's. I must be very good. The first few days found my 
 resolution unshaken, but on the fourth day my stove began to 
 smoke, and this fact was seized upon and made use of. My 
 reasoning was. if the deacon's stove smoked, why should not I ? 
 So the stove and I had our social smoke occasionally, during the 
 winter. How many men and women there are to-day justifying 
 their conduct by arguments as trivial as that! Very few are 
 willing to admit that their depravity is really a determined con- 
 clusion to do just what they want to do the most. 
 
84 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Thousands of drones are pleading many reasons why they 
 are not as other men, when the truth is, there was just one 
 cause, — simply laziness. Many, in describing the prosperity of 
 others, say : 
 
 "O, he had a pull, had some one to help him start." That 
 may be true, but I have noticed that the fortunate man always 
 pulls himself. "They all began to make excuses." The fact is, 
 no one is quite honest with himself. "Hamlet" should be 
 engraved upon the tombstones of thousands of men ; men who 
 knew their duty ; wanted to do that duty, but, somehow, never 
 did it ; and, oftentimes no one can assign the real reason why 
 life is a failure in their case. 
 
 With some lack of physical force seems to paralyze energy, 
 ambitions, aspiration. It is difficult for a person to start out 
 on some enterprise requiring great mental effort, and be obliged 
 to execute great undertakings while the feeble body is all the 
 time demanding rest and nursing. Some men can do this, but 
 life generally soon wears out and the end comes as a relief. 
 Another lacks faith in his ability to perform the duty fate assigns 
 him. The mountain seems too steep to climb ; but there is an 
 earnest desire to be upon the height. That desire never dies : 
 He is not content to remain in the valley, nor has he courage 
 to try the ascent. So there he stands all his life long, desiring, 
 fearing, finally dying with life's work all undone. Such men 
 are to be pitied rather than censured. The difficulty is generally 
 a constitutional one, and is rarely overcome. Those men are 
 not utter failures, — many a dreamer has thought out ways and 
 means that men of less brains but more executive ability have 
 presented to the world, and wrought out marvelous results. 
 
 The father of Hiram Maxim was a dreamer, but he con- 
 ceived the idea of the famous Maxim gun long before the boy had 
 thought of such an invention. Neglected and unknown graves, 
 all over the land, hide from human gaze, many forms in which 
 once dwelt the brightest sparks of divine intelligence, while the 
 marble mausoleum flaunts to the world that the remains of the 
 
MILO 85 
 
 Great repose in the tomb. The lamented Great was but the 
 executor of the real genius. Some one has said that every 
 genius was inspired, that such a person was the recipient of a 
 divine influence, only given in rare instances. Granted, then 
 must follow the conclusion that such devine power, operating 
 upon the human, so overmasters the human as to partially para- 
 lyze the common worldly faculties, and renders the man a simple 
 spiritual force, acting almost solely in mental lines. Such a 
 man can invent, can speculate, can conceive of almost divine 
 schemes, and possibilities ; but it must be left to the common, 
 worluiy mortal to put in force that which his inspired brother 
 has received from the great source of all knowledge. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 MONSON. 
 
 I went directly from Milo to Monson. The school at that 
 place had been a failure. A gentleman of that town had once 
 been County Commissioner, and so had Mr. Macomber, of Milo ; 
 Mr. Chapin wrote to Mr. Macomber, inquiring about a teacher. 
 Mr. Macomber called me into his office and informed me that 
 a teacher was wanted at Monson. I accepted the position, and 
 went. That Hegira produced as much influence upon my life 
 as it ever did to any good Mahometan. 
 
 The seemingly trivial circumstance of the acquaintance of 
 those two men, living thirty miles apart, produced a crisis time 
 in my life and predestinated much of my career. I presume the 
 same is true in the life of most men and women. Little things, 
 almost unnoticed events, seeming accidents, have played con- 
 trolling parts, not only in the lives of individuals, but events that 
 shaped the destinies of nations. A slight shower rendered 
 Napoleon's artillery ineffectual at Waterloo and probably 
 decided the battle ; a dinner party, prolonged till midnight, 
 prevented the War Secretary of England from sending orders 
 to Clinton to join Burgoyne at Saratoga, and sounded the knell 
 that was consummated at Yorktown. The poet says : "A pebble, 
 in the current dropped, has turned the course of many a iiver." 
 The history of the world illustrates the same fact. 
 
 These events are crisis times. Though a person live his 
 allotted three score and ten, a retrospect of the past shows that 
 he has experienced only two or three real crises periods, that 
 those events were really his life. All the years, labors, and trials 
 
MONSON 87 
 
 simply led up to the crisis time that predestined many years to 
 come. 
 
 When a young man seriously decides what course in life he 
 will pursue ; when he stands, for the nrst time, with a glass of 
 wine in his hand ; when a profession is decided upon ; when he 
 is aware that he is doing his first deliberate wrong; all these 
 moments are living agents ever acting upon the trivial events of 
 his life which fill up the interim till the next crisis. 
 
 Happy is the man who takes advantage of the tide that leads 
 on to fortune — hopelessly does he battle against the ebb that can 
 only hurry him on to the death-dealing shallows. That man 
 must wait till the tide turns ; all he can do is to keep off the rocks 
 and look out for hidden reefs. He must keep his oars in hand, 
 ready for any current helping him out of danger. 
 
 Monson was, at that time, a small village, nestled away 
 among mountains, lakes and valleys. Half of the township was 
 donated by the Legislature of Massachusetts to Monson Acad- 
 emy and half was also given to Hebron Academy. Monson, 
 Mass. Academy sold its land to settlers from that part of 
 the State, and Hebron did likewise. Each exercised great 
 care in the selection of settlers and the result was that no town 
 could boast a more reliable band of pioneers. Nearly all the 
 pioneers were church members, and soon two churches were 
 formed ; a Baptist and a Congregationalist. A school was 
 organized in the very beginning of the settlement. This was 
 taught first in a private house. An old settler informed me that 
 in his part of the town the first school-house had a peculiar 
 origin. The bears troubled the flocks of the settlers so per- 
 sistently that they gathered together one day and built a strong 
 log house, some ten feet square. In one side they cut a door 
 large enough for a bear to pass. In the door they set a "dead- 
 fall" to which was attached an apparatus so arranged that when 
 the bear went in and began to eat the bait laid out for him, the 
 trap would let fall the door, and bruin would be imprisoned. 
 When bears became scarce and children plenty, the neighbors 
 
88 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 met again, put a roof on the log pen, laid a floor, put in a 
 window and lo! a school-house appeared. The first word the 
 scholars learned to spell was b-e-a-r. 
 
 The town was decidedly puritanic for many years. There is 
 quite a large lake in the center of the town, and also good hunt- 
 ing near the village ; but, during the first years of my teaching 
 there, I never saw a boat on the lake, or a fisherman, with his 
 rod, or sportsman with his gun, on Sunday. Everybody went 
 to church, and very many were members of the churches. There 
 was also a very active literarv sentiment among the people, — 
 among the early settlers were some well educated ladies and a 
 few men. These gave a tone to society that was transmitted 
 and increased as more advantages presented themselves. 
 
 There was, in those days, a great interest in education. This 
 had been shown years before in a practical way. In 1847 the 
 people resolved that there should be an Academy in Monson. 
 They called a meeting and appointed committees, and, having 
 obtained aid from the State, by means of private money and 
 contributed labor, erected a building in 1848. This structure 
 was burned twelve years later, but another was built in 1861, 
 which is still used as a school building. 
 
 The slate quarries had not then been opened. Farming, 
 lumbering, and trading absorbed the attention of the people. 
 There was no railroad to Moosehead Lake, hence all the travel to 
 that place went through Monson. The only riotous times in 
 those days were when the river-drivers went through the town, 
 and when an old Militia Major ran amuck. 
 
 Card playing was tabooed and dancing was thought a 
 heinous sin, and Masonry was not regarded as conducive to 
 righteousness. There was not a large amount of wealth, but 
 quite an even distribution. 
 
 None were very rich, and few very poor. On the whole, 
 there was a high moral tone among the people, who were con- 
 tented with their lot and wanted nothing better. If there was 
 
MONSON 89 
 
 just a trifle of the spirit of the man in the synagogue cropping 
 out occasionally a little, it could readily be pardoned. 
 
 The crisis before mentioned came to me in the most agree- 
 able manner. Among the pupils there was a young lady who, 
 afterwards, became my wife, and I have ever had cause to bless 
 the circumstance that induced me to go to Monson. That lady 
 was an only child ; this circumstance kept me at Monson many 
 years. I passed, in all, some twenty-five years in that town and 
 saw many changes there. In 1871 slate was discovered and a 
 quarry opened, the railroad to Moosehead Lake was built, and 
 the lumbering interest began to flag. A new class of people 
 came in ; new conditions began to appear ; new societies arose, 
 and a new standard of propriety seemed to be raised up. 
 
 The history of the development of the slate quarries has 
 never been written and never will be fully till the Recording 
 Angel renders up his final account. Companies rose and fell, 
 fortunes were made and larger ones lost, in alternate rapid suc- 
 cession. Men came to town for a month, and went away, to 
 give place to more new comers ; new quarries were opened and 
 old ones abandoned ; new companies were formed upon the debris 
 of shattered predecessors, till, at last, the business settled down 
 upon a solid basis and seems now to be profitable to owners and 
 workmen. 
 
 There were many pathetic events connected with the history 
 of those days. I went to bed one night, feeling sure that my 
 name would one day sound very much like \ anderbilt's, but 
 waked in the morning to discover that it would sound better 
 beside that of Lazarus. Wealthy men became poor, and poor 
 men wealthy. Quarries were found everywhere. Every ledge 
 of rock promised its owner a fortune, and everv house-lot invited 
 a mansion. 
 
 One circumstance in the upheaval resulted very fortunately 
 for the recipient. An aged clergyman, who had been pastor for 
 some twenty years in town, had just resigned. His worldly 
 possessions consisted of a small house and a few acres of land. 
 
90 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 In the cellar of that house real slate was discovered. A specu- 
 lator bought the premises and thus the good old man was made 
 comfortable in his declining years. He moved away, but the 
 influence for grace he had exerted still lingers, with sacred 
 memory, in the character of many whose lives he influenced. 
 
 An old pasture that was nearly worthless, belonging to my 
 wife's folks, sold for twenty-five hundred dollars. 
 
 That "Wall Street" financiering in Monson produced some 
 Napoleons of finance. Some of them are still active agents and 
 promoters in the booming business, and are wealthy ; while 
 others met their Waterloo in the first skirmish and had never 
 a St. Helena for refuge. At that time I realized that lack of 
 knowledge is a serious deficiency. Many a day had I sat upon 
 the protruding rock in that old pasture with never a thought 
 there was value in it. I believe there is an old proverb about 
 Heaven lying at our feet, if we can only see it. 
 
 Great changes have taken place in the slate business. The 
 motive force that lifted the rock out of the first quarry was a 
 sad-eyed, long-eared donkey ; to-day several sixty-horse power 
 engines are always at work. The water was removed by one 
 of Uncle James' wooden pumps, — now the steam pump hisses 
 day and night. Roofing slate only was at first manufactured ; 
 now almost every conceivable household and mechanical con- 
 venience is subserved by finely wrought slate implements ; and 
 when one dies, he can sleep his last sleep encased in a highly 
 polished sarcophagus of slate. 
 
 It seems to be a granted fact that Monson slate is the best in 
 the world. It withstands the attacks of acids, and alkalies, 
 better than any other. The business of quarrying and manu- 
 facturing slate has become the all-absorbing interest of the 
 people of the town. 
 
 I cannot see just how slate should be connected with the gun 
 and fishing rod, but somehow, on some alluring Sunday morn- 
 ings, gun and rod have, in later years, occasionally appeared. 
 
MO N SON 91 
 
 Perhaps I may be pardoned if, right here, I discuss the men- 
 tal, moral and physical aspects of fishing and hunting. The man 
 that really enjoys fishing is a fortunate being. He ought to 
 congratulate himself. Of course, I do not mean those men who 
 fish just to get something to eat. There is no more good coming 
 to such men from a day's fishing on lake or brook than there 
 would be to him engaged in any other kind of labor. But to 
 the man who loves nature, solitude, the breezy lake, the sparkling 
 brook, who can see a thousand beauties beaming upon him from 
 beech, maple and pine ; whose tired nerves are soothed to rest 
 by every wave, beating music upon rock and shore, the rod is 
 a magical wand that opens up more treasures than Sinbad ever 
 dreamed of. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 FISHING. 
 
 It may be that an attenuated drop of the blood of the old 
 Druids circulates in my veins, prompting a love for trees. There 
 is something sacred about an ancient tree that seems, almost, to 
 call for worship. Bryant says : "The groves were God's first 
 temples." Wordsworth declares : 
 
 "One impulse from the vernal wood 
 Will teach you more of man, 
 Of moral evil and of good, 
 Than all the Sages can." 
 
 Nature is a wonderful teacher ; but she requires an attentive 
 pupil. The student must be in harmony with nature. Her 
 voice can only be heard and her language understood when 
 teacher and scholar speak the same language. To listen to her 
 voices there must be the attentive ear and absorbed attention. 
 
 To the hunter, with gun on shoulder, with slaughter in mind 
 as he, with Indian-like tread, steals through the forest, nature 
 offers no Paradise, sings no songs, lulls to no repose. I am 
 making no attacks upon hunters or hunting, but simply wish 
 to note the ethical effect of the one and the other recreation. 
 
 Take a trip with me, wearied preacher, discouraged teacher, 
 sleepless man of law, as in retrospection I seek rest, comfort and 
 inspiration from never unwilling nature. The road winds gently 
 away from the thoroughfare and, as the sleepy horse plods 
 dreamily along, through the rifts in the mist veil, more beautiful 
 than princess ever wore, hanging in air, occasional flashes of 
 
FISHING 
 
 93 
 
 sunlight come, making weird forms and shapes dance upon the 
 lazy waves of the lake, just awakened from profound repose; 
 anon the veil would roll itself up into folds made bright and 
 gorgeous, blushing red as the sun god kisses the mythical Lady 
 of the Lake ; at length island and farther shore begin to appear, 
 and loon and wild duck, gracefully sporting in the water, assure 
 us that the marvelous panorama upon which we have been 
 gazing, is a real lake of physical existence. 
 
 Its beauty invites us, its repose allures us, its dreamv calm- 
 ness soothes us, but more charming music the soul requires 
 to-day, more sublime solitude must breathe into the soul its mys- 
 terious repose. Then on we go, with umbrageous accompani- 
 ment on either side, over little streams, some laughing, some 
 complaining in plaintive murmurs, till the deeper forest is 
 reached ; where the hoary trees, in sober garments dressed, begin 
 to infuse into the soul a gladsome feeling of repose. They are 
 so much wiser than the short-lived human passing by. They 
 have seen so much. Beneath their branches the lordly moose 
 mayhap has taken refuge ; the sad-eyed deer ruminated careless 
 of hunter or wolf : the foot of the red man has, it may be, trod- 
 den the leaves at their base, — defiant of storm and lightning flash 
 for ages, have they stood in majestic solitude! 
 
 A slight curve in the road brings the stern, bald head of 
 Boarstone in view. There are no sharp corners in the road, 
 switching off one's dreamy contemplation by violent abruptness 
 to other scenes, but just gentle windings, so that every new 
 view is interblended with the last, as colors of the rainbow blend. 
 Thus the "gentle musing" is uninterrupted, and soon takes pos- 
 session of the whole soul. 
 
 At length the forest path is reached, winding in gentle 
 curves through tangled shrubbery and over gently rising knolls, 
 moss-covered, reaching the tiny lake at a point where the view 
 is most picturesque. 
 
 A gem of a lake lies embossed among circling hills. On the 
 north ridge rises above ridge, till a lofty summit is attained, 
 
94 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 crowned with evergreen trees ; on the east there is forest, cir- 
 cling down to the water's edge ; on the west precipitous rocks 
 rise abruptly out of the water and tower aloft into the air, fringed 
 with mosses, lichens, and trailing arbutus. Every step in the 
 panorama is beautiful, artistic, symmetrical. The alternate 
 ridges, rising with perfect demarcation one above another, with 
 alternate growth of deciduous and evergreen trees, the circling 
 shores, the lofty headlands, the dense forest; all form a natural 
 poem, which the poet, the lover of nature, the aesthetic, can read, 
 feel and assimilate. 
 
 With rod and line we seat ourselves in the boat and gently 
 paddle out from shore. We cast the hook into the water and 
 await results. The fish are not plentiful. We lie back in the 
 stern of the boat and let nature talk to us. Forgotten are cares, 
 enemies, if we have them, everything not in keeping with the 
 almost supernatural repose. We still have the rod in hand, 
 which seems to be the connecting link between purely spiritual 
 enjoyment and earthly pleasure. Should a venturesome trout 
 disturb the bait and rouse us from our meditation, we, for a 
 moment, come back to an earthly existence ; gently lay it in the 
 boat and admire its graceful outline, its ever beautiful livery, and 
 rejoice that it is in keeping with the artistic beauty all around 
 it. Then we fall back again to our meditative state and the 
 mental faculties begin to show their supremacy. Deep ques- 
 tions in philosophy are solved, moral perplexities fade away, 
 theological solutions are now easy. If some congenial friend 
 occupies the boat with us, an occasional word is spoken, usually 
 in subdued tones. 
 
 But under no conditions are friends so near together, so 
 true, so dearly appreciated. 
 
 And so the day passes away and the evening shadows come, 
 all too quickly, and the nervous, pessimistic man of the morning 
 lays his head upon the pillow that night, feeling that he has 
 received a recipe from the Great Physician, and this world, after 
 all, is a glorious one. 
 
FISHING 
 
 95 
 
 Recreation should develop the physical, stimulate the mental, 
 and improve the moral. It should never brutalize or render less 
 refined the sensibilities. There is nothing in a day's fishing 
 calculated to do this. There is no scene that would offend the 
 sensibilities of the most delicate lady, — and great moral lessons 
 may be learned. We discover that if we catch men, lead them 
 to higher and better life, we must not lash the waters of the 
 social world in frenzied fervor; nor shout our convictions as 
 though the world was deaf, but with argument suited to the 
 occasion, cast and wait, ever willing to accept what conditions 
 have offered. 
 
 I spent a day last year on a beautiful little lake where every 
 condition was conducive to repose, to ethical thought, to poetic 
 conception. My companion was a gentleman from New York, 
 a lawyer of extensive practice and successful in every under- 
 taking. But I feel very sure, though the bar would have lost 
 much, that the college would have gained more, had he become 
 a teacher instead of lawyer. We fished, talked, admired, medi- 
 tated, and spent an ideal day. We discussed many weighty 
 subjects, decided, to our own satisfaction, at what age students 
 should enter college, what constitutes an education, compared 
 a liberal education with the practical superficiality of the day, 
 and many others. 
 
 I afterwards tried to reproduce that conversation. It was 
 impossible. The setting was lacking. The genial, inspiring 
 influence of my companion was absent, and that absence was 
 fatal. No substitute could fill that place. He was just 
 the man, with his overmastering genius, that called out 
 the best in me. The lake and the forest had driven 
 away all common thought and cares, and left the mind free to 
 receive impressions of a higher and better nature. Those came 
 from the keen analysis of thought emanating from the brain of 
 my companionable fellow fisherman. His words inspired me, 
 the unspoken sentiments of his soul, by the undefined channel of 
 spiritual influence, inspired my soul, and the unrestrained aban- 
 
96 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 donment of my whole being to every influence around put my 
 mind into a condition capable of the highest intellectual and 
 spiritual efforts. Only occasionally can every condition be so 
 completely met. 
 
 The unseen, self-acting influence of mind upon mind is a 
 common theme for discussion in these days, and much may be 
 said upon the subject, but still the theory is little understood. 
 The phenomenon is still a theory. There are daily exhibitions 
 of what we recognize as simply action of mind upon mind, with- 
 out any physical movement whatever. These instances are not 
 theories, but facts ; but what is needed is to discover under just 
 what conditions this influence will always operate. 
 
 That there is an indescribable influence which emanates from 
 one mind to another cannot be denied. But that influence will 
 sometimes be an active force, and sometimes not. When it does 
 manifest itself, it is the most potent that can be brought to bear 
 upon the human soul. Men have been led by this indescribable 
 influence to do that which no argument or persuasion, expressed 
 m words, could cause them to do. And under no other con- 
 dition can this spiritual influence be felt as in the temples not 
 made with hands and casting shadows upon the placid waters. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MONSON ACADEMY. 
 
 I found the school at Monson in complete confusion. 
 There were no very had scholars, but the school had been an 
 utter failure on the part of the teacher to control the scholars. 
 There were about twenty-five large boys and girls out of a 
 total of sixty-five. Some of these are prominent people in 
 Monson at the present time. Among them was D. P. Bailey 
 of Everett, Massachusetts. Mr. Bailey was a very excellent 
 scholar, and showed at that early age the promise that later 
 reached fulfillment in a very prominent career as a lawyer, 
 financier and statesman. I remember that in one term the 
 whole twelve books of Virgil were read. There were six in the 
 class and each read two books apiece and no two the same. 
 
 The schoolroom was rather dark so I sat a red-headed boy 
 in the dark corner to illuminate that vicinity. That same boy 
 was once out fishing through the ice. Vice-President Hamlin 
 was there, having some live bait. My pupil had none but 
 wanted some so he approached the Vice-President holding out 
 at arm's length a big old-fashioned cent and said, "Meester 
 Hamblen, sell me a chub?" He got the chub. 
 
 At school after a few days everything went on all right. 
 The trustees hired me to teach the fall term and increased the 
 salary. I came back in September and taught. The school 
 was large and advanced. Greek, Latin and French were taught 
 as well as Geometry, Trigonometry and Surveying. There were 
 no graduations in those days, each one went to school as long as 
 he pleased and left when he felt disposed. Five pupils came from 
 
98 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Milo where I had taught, and two or three from Abbott. I 
 enjoyed that school very much although I had to work very hard. 
 There was a high moral tone in the school. Two of the boys 
 became deacons, one a lawyer, one a doctor, one a clergyman, 
 one a financier and one a librarian. While teaching here I "made 
 up" my college work and found myself rather tired at the end 
 of the year. My next term was at Monson. In this school 
 several war veterans became prominent factors. The old poets 
 of Greece and Rome invariably associated Mars and Venus in 
 every prominent act in the drama of social life. They must 
 have been right for ever since they have been inseparable. 
 "The bravest are the tenderest, the daring are the loving." 
 Those war scarred veterans divided their attention between 
 grammar and the doorsteps leading to the many attractive par- 
 lors of that town noted for pretty girls. In two weeks Lord 
 could conjugate amo like an ancient Roman. He always gave 
 the active voice, said he had no use for the passive voice. The 
 progressive form was just suited to his nature. 
 
 Cruel war had deprived Ricker of one arm, but he made the 
 best use of the remaining limb in embracing every opportunity 
 for an education and some other things. His geographical 
 knowledge was defective as he discovered one rainy lyceum night 
 when he offered to gallant a young lady home who lived some- 
 where near Moosehead lake. Carver's hearing had been in- 
 jured in a big battle to that extent that he could never hear the 
 clock strike one A. M. Douglas was more conservative. He 
 never had but two girls at one time. The boys studied well 
 and made good progress in their studies considering how many 
 nights they stood guard pacing the deserted streets and guard- 
 ing the commissary and outflanking the other fellows. In- 
 stinctively they formed themselves in foraging parties, and 
 turnip field and corn patches and cucumber yards suffered. A 
 local poet reminisces about those days as follows : 
 A careful review of the last forty years, 
 In spite of all croaking and carping and jeers, 
 
 .Oh J 
 
MONSON ACADEMY 99 
 
 Shows many bright spots, many labors well done, 
 Some storm, some sunshine, some tears and some 
 
 fun. 
 But 'tis hard to believe that the gray-headed men 
 Were boys and girls at the Academy then. 
 I cannot imagine that staid Deacon John 
 Ever rang a church bell or tooted a horn 
 On the 4th of July, put on the gloves or handled 
 
 a bat, 
 Or talked with the girls at recess and all that, 
 Ever smiled upon Emma or Clara or Nell, 
 Ever wrote little notes and received them as well, 
 Ever flirted or courted, Deacon John, O no ! 
 His children take after the mother you know. 
 And Carol whose wisdom the wisest enjoy 
 Can you even imagine he was ever a boy? 
 There's a story, made up of fiction and truth 
 That Chapin, the banker, was at one time a youth 
 That the Parson, so learned in Biblical lore 
 Stood many a night on the steps of the door. 
 Did Nelson attend with the girls and the boys, 
 That silent, still lad never making a noise? 
 Can it be that these walls did ever resound 
 To the voice of Bailey, so deep and profound? 
 No prophet was needed the future to scan, 
 A boy with the heart and brain of a man. 
 And the records proclaim that a long, stately form 
 Whose head rose far above clouds and the storm 
 Sat in the back seat with his hair standing straight 
 Where now there appears a polished white pate. 
 Twas Carver the soldier. Carver the flirt. 
 Companion of Lord and Loring and Bert. 
 Did Reetus sing then? Ask the rocks and the hills, 
 That echoed his quavers, repeated his trills. 
 Old Orpheus so sang that the rocks jumped around 
 And the trees promenaded all over the ground — 
 But Reetus could stop the wild comet's career 
 And Aurora oft stopped her horses to hear. 
 And once when his tones outrivaled the lark 
 She forgot all about the light and the dark 
 And left the old Sun down under the water 
 Till the school bell struck at eight and a quarter. 
 
 LirfC. 
 
IOO THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 And the world never knew the terrible fix 
 Old Sol was then in at half past six. 
 
 singers, beware, take warning I pray 
 Don't frighten old Phaethon's horses away. 
 Don't deafen the lark when he's up in the sky 
 He flies you know a mile or two high. 
 
 A myth has come down from the oo's or so, 
 If false or if true I'm sure I don't know, 
 Of a boy possessing such marvelous brain 
 That the skull couldn't stand the terrible strain 
 When it worked together, so each part took a turn 
 And what would come out you could never discern. 
 When his eyes were fixed on his reader or grammar 
 A whirl of the brain now 'twas Jennie or Anna. 
 The preaching brain next and then speculation 
 And he tried every one without hesitation. 
 No girl and no boy will ever forget 
 Burb Loring the joker with hair black as jet, 
 And lots more boys whom fama obscura 
 Has hidden from sight, et femina pwa 
 
 And some tell of a girl from the shores of Moosehead 
 Whose weight was 300 or more it is said 
 Lord walked with her home one moonshiny night, 
 When the weather was calm and the stars twinkled bright 
 Till he came to the door he never once knew 
 That Chapin had walked on the other side too. 
 Who pulled up the beans? Was it Chapin or Lord? 
 Or Leonard, or Francis, or mischievous "Thod ?" 
 Who raided the hen-roost and foraged the corn, 
 And courted the girls till the break of the dawn? 
 
 1 shall not tell. Those gray-headed chaps 
 Quite have forgotton those frolics, perhaps 
 Are now warning a daughter or son, 
 Never to do the things they had done. 
 
 Loring- was there too. Shall I attempt to describe him? No, 
 the task is too great. Future historians must do this or he will 
 "die unsung." 
 
 There was a boy who attempted to study Greek. He never 
 got beyond that paragraph in the Anabasis which declared that 
 "To Darius and Parissatis were born two sons." But he was 
 
MONSON ACADEMY ioi 
 
 a genius and became a famous financier and promoter in busi- 
 ness circles in more states tban one. He is now engaged in con- 
 verting Martha's Vineyard into a crockery sbop. 
 
 Not one of the trustees of the Academy of those days is 
 alive at the present time. Aretus Chapin was the President and 
 did all he could to make the school profitable. Mr. Chapin was 
 one of the old settlers, and always held some town office. He 
 was later a member of the House at Augusta. His well known 
 temperance principles produced a marked influence upon public 
 opinion in Monson. He is ably represented at the present time 
 by his son, Hon. A. W. Chapin. Mr. Chapin does a large busi- 
 ness in town and is active in every movement for public 
 improvement or in educational lines. "Bert" was a soldier, 
 and one of the boys before mentioned in connection with the 
 school, but he was always one of the inside guard. 
 
 Dr. Sumner Patten was also a trustee. He was a fine 
 speaker and somewhat of a politician. He was State Senator 
 later. He sent to school one of the sweetest girls I ever had the 
 pleasure of teaching. She is now Mrs. Walter Pullen of Wash- 
 ington. I also have the kindliest remembrance of Walter. He 
 was a fine scholar and a gentleman and has made a very success- 
 ful business man. Charles Pullen, an older brother, I remember 
 with pleasure. He married a favorite pupil of mine, Miss 
 Celeste Knight, and holds a responsible position in the business 
 world in Brooklyn. 
 
 Among the bright-eyed young ladies was a Miss Celeste 
 Robinson of Greenville. She was never idle a moment, or still 
 many, during the day, and had a musical laugh that would dis- 
 arm a cynic, and a smile that brushed away every frown that her 
 mischief caused. She is now Mrs. Sanders of Greenville, occu- 
 pies a very prominent position in the social world and is uni- 
 versally admired. 
 
 From the forest bound shores of Moosehead Lake came a 
 young lady. Miss Masterman, apt to learn, with retentive mem- 
 ory, bringing with her all the modesty and shyness of her sylvan 
 
102 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 home. She was a lovable girl, tall and graceful, and made 
 rapid progress in her studies. She now lives in the West. 
 
 Miss Arvilla Serepta Burdict labored under the most 
 euphonic name of any one. Miss Ellen Carr Flanders' name did 
 not quite suit me, so I persuaded her after five years of assiduous 
 attention to change it to Ellen Flanders Knowlton. Whether 
 or not that change has been beneficial to her the recording angel 
 only knows, but it was the most fortunate undertaking that ever 
 engrossed my attention. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 EXETER and DEXTER. 
 
 In 1863 I taught some weeks at Exeter. A young man 
 commenced the school, but some difficulty arose which termi- 
 nated his stay in town. The school, on the whole, was pleas- 
 ant, but there were disagreeable features in it. Many of the 
 pupils had caught a theatrical fever — which ran very high. 
 There was a young man among the pupils by the name of J. M. 
 Hill who was the leader in the "craze." Every morning, noon, 
 and night theatricals were discussed, and much of the time 
 appropriate for study was wasted. The condition was some- 
 thing like the modern status of interest in education. 
 
 Not long ago I stepped into a hotel in a town noted for its 
 schools. In a few moments several students came in, and for a 
 half-hour those boys conversed together. Football, basketball, 
 and baseball were fully discussed ; the last prize fight received 
 due consideration, but not a word about a single mental exercise, 
 the graduation class, books, rank, college expectations ; all these 
 things would have interested me, but in silence I endured the 
 most senseless gabble of those boys, feeling quite sure that 
 somebody was wrong : either I or the boys, or the teachers of 
 the boys. 
 
 I propose to make no raid upon athletics ; it would be fool- 
 ish to do so. The fever is on ; let it have its run ; there is no 
 such thing as "breaking up a fever." Only quacks ever claim 
 such power. When the poison has worked itself out of the sys- 
 tem the time will be ripe for teaching healthful athletics, mental 
 discipline, moral principles. 
 
104 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Well, I let the theatrical fever at Exeter have its run — when 
 I thought the fever ought to "turn" I just "turned it." All 
 communication in school hours ceased. No more rehearsals at 
 recess or noon, all books or plays were seized as contraband ; 
 study was required, perfect lessons demanded ; and, in fine, a 
 complete change of program was insisted upon. There was 
 rebellion at first, but this soon subsided and some good work 
 was done by the pupils. 
 
 Many of the pupils belonged to families well known in the 
 State. There was a young lady in school who did not behave 
 very well and one day I was discussing the matter with her 
 
 father when he said : "Take a birch and give her a h 1 of a 
 
 licking." Not fully understanding Exeter's interpretation of 
 the amount of punishment permitted by the expression, I con- 
 cluded to adopt another method. 
 
 F. M. Hill became, in after years, the famous theatrical 
 manager of New York and Boston. There was a very pretty 
 boy in the school, about nine years old. His name was Arthur 
 Barker. He was the son of David Barker, Maine's most cele- 
 brated poet. Arthur was a sweet-looking boy, with rather a 
 girlish face, a bright scholar but rather mischievous. When he 
 was born, David Barker sent to the New York Evening Post 
 the following exquisite stanzas : 
 
 "One night, as old St. Peter slept, 
 He left the gate of Heaven ajar, 
 When forth a little angel crept, 
 And came down on a falling star." 
 
 "One Summer, as the blessed beams 
 
 Of morn approached, my blushing bride 
 Awakened from some pleasing dreams, 
 And found that angel by her side." 
 
 "God grant but this, I ask no more, 
 
 That when he leaves this world of sin, 
 He'll wing his way to that blest shore, 
 And find the gate of Heaven again." 
 
EXETER AND DEXTER 105 
 
 I have spoken of Barker as Maine's greatest poet. In real 
 genius I thing he would rank above any poet who wrote in 
 Maine. N. P. Willis, Longfellow, and others, we can hardly 
 claim. Barker was a strange man. Much of his poetry was 
 of a low order, but when a real inspiraton seized him, the truly 
 artistic showed itself. 
 
 In "The Covered Bridge" there is real poetic merit; also in 
 "The Lion and the Skunk," "The Beveled Grindstone" and 
 others. I feel sure that a more judicious editor would have 
 added to the volume some poems discarded, and would have 
 discarded some that were published. Only the best of any 
 man's writings should ever be published. 
 
 There was a very pretty little girl in school, about seven or 
 eight years old. Every hair was firmly laid in just the right 
 spot, and every act and word was always just right. I was 
 very fond of that little girl. In after years she became the 
 "First Lady of the State," and no Governor's wife ever graced 
 the position with sweeter dignity than did Mable Hill Plaistead. 
 
 One girl wore number five boots, I remember, and one boy 
 was six feet and three inches tall. George S. Hill was a mer- 
 chant at the Corner, doing an extensive business. I became 
 very well acquainted with him and enjoyed many pleasant chats 
 in that store : a few years after, Mr. Hill became an Episcopal 
 clergyman and was engaged to preach at Presque Isle, and 
 superintend the services of the St. John's School. I was to be 
 the Principal of the school. Mr. Hill was thrown from a mow- 
 ing machine and killed. No other man could be found for the 
 place, so I lost my position at Presque Isle and went to Caribou, 
 which was a fortunate move as my salary was largely increased. 
 
 I taught one term of school in Dexter, in 1865, a summer 
 term and boarded with my cousin, Mrs. H. C. Parsons. At the 
 same time I studied law in the office of the Hon. Josiah Crosby. 
 Mr. Crosby was at this time in the zenith of his career. Wry 
 few men understood the technicalities of the law as well as he. 
 He was the most painstaking man I ever knew. Although 
 
106 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 remarkably well posted in law, he never prepared papers with- 
 out consulting the Revised Statutes, and never gave advice 
 without doing the same. He had fine literary taste and read 
 many good books. I enjoyed his society very much and heard 
 of his death with regret. Two of his daughters attended school. 
 They were bright, intelligent young ladies. One is now the 
 wife of a wealthy railroad president in Minneapolis. The other 
 lives in Washington. One lawyer came from that school, 
 Edgar Russ of Dexter. The schoolhouse stood on Zion's Hill, 
 so called on account of the pronounced piety of some of the 
 neighbors. The schoolroom was in the second story. One day 
 a fifteen year old girl fainted and I carried her down stairs to 
 the wagon that had come to take her home. She weighed one 
 hundred and fifty pounds. I was not able to teach the next day. 
 One day a young man in reading Latin translated these words, 
 Jacet ingens litore truncus caput avulsum humeris/ — "They 
 put his head in a big trunk on the shore." The same young 
 man translating that passage in Virgil that describes how the 
 Greeks came out of the wooden horse, read, — "They came out 
 through his ears." He was probably thinking of some men he 
 had seen. I remember a Miss Mary Thompson in that school 
 with pleasure, who was a fine Latin scholar. I enjoyed the 
 school and think they liked me. I made many pleasant 
 acquaintances in Dexter who showed me great kindness. Mr. 
 Parsons and I played backgammon every night until twelve 
 o'clock, then we would agree at what hour we would have 
 breakfast and that devoted wife of his would call us at the 
 stated hour. Would every wife have done that? 
 
 Dexter is a picturesque town. A small stream runs 
 through the middle of the village, propelling the machinery of 
 several factories. The town is built upon the hills arising on 
 either side. The roads are "Tommetized" on the upper side. 
 This process consists in placing in the inclined bank alternate 
 rows of grass sods and small rocks. The grass grows up and 
 holds the rocks in place, so that a bank thus "tommetized" is 
 
EXETER AND DEXTER 107 
 
 never affected by rain or frost. Thomas Bicknell first built the 
 wall in Dexter, and immortalized his name by green banks and 
 good sidewalks. "Tommie" was not a great man, but he did a 
 good work and his monument will grow greener and fresher as 
 time rolls on. The world is full of histories of men like Thomas 
 Bicknell. They were humble actors in the great drama of pub- 
 lic life, but left to the world a legacy rich in practical value. 
 The patent office shows that but a very small proportion of the 
 inventions patented is ever available. By the way, why do 
 politicians always send patent office reports to constituents of 
 no especial influence? The book is not very entertaining to a 
 reader of literary or poetic nature. The professional inventor 
 rarely succeeds. The marvelous specimens of machinery now 
 operating in this country are the combined results of the thought 
 of many minds, each adding something to the efficiency of a 
 machine then in use. This teaches the fraternity of man, and 
 ought to teach the moralist, who would make the world better, 
 that he must not destroy all that has gone before but take what- 
 ever is good, add to it, make new appliances, devise new 
 methods and await its results. This suggestion applies especially 
 to teachers commencing a school in a new position. The first 
 impression a teacher has, is the idea that his predecessors were 
 deficient in some lines. The revelations of the first few days 
 convince him that the other teacher did not thoroughly do his 
 work. I used to think so until I began to succeed myself, then 
 I began to understand that vacation makes sad havoc with the 
 memory of boys and girls. Entirely new methods introduced 
 the first week are disastrous, though every new method be in 
 itself better. When a method of doing has been drilled into 
 the every day thought of a young boy no new one will find lodg- 
 ment until the old one has ceased to be an intuitive act of the 
 mind. The better way is proved to be something like this : 
 take the old method in form and add to it on one side, so to 
 speak, and drop off something from the other side. This pro- 
 cess repeated daily will in a little while present an entirely new 
 wav of conducting: that exercise. 
 
108 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 In matters of order a little more strenuous method may be 
 necessary. The first day should show the school that there must 
 be a predominating spirit in that schoolroom, and that factor is 
 the teacher. This should be done quietly but firmly. These 
 ideas are further treated and discussed in a lecture recorded in 
 another place in this book. 
 
 As before remarked, the streets of Dexter are nearly all 
 up-hill one way and down-hill the other. This daily exercise 
 gives the people great strength of muscle in the leg. All the 
 boys are good football players. I noticed that the trousers of 
 most of the men bagged at the knees, caused by the constant 
 right-angle action of the knee in daily climbing. Josh Billings 
 said Dexter was named from the famous trotting horse Dexter, 
 and that it was three thousand miles west of London. It is an 
 enterprising town full of active business men. Political opin- 
 ions are always freely expressed, as are religious ideas. I 
 remember one politician who declared with a string of oaths 
 that would have astonished a river-driver, that he would not 
 vote for a man that did not believe in religion ! They were not 
 an excitable people in those days. I remember an old man hung 
 himself before breakfast. The rope was cut and the man car- 
 ried into the house and the doctor sent for. He came, examined 
 the subject a moment or two and said, "I guess he isn't dead ; 
 after breakfast I will see what I can do for him." After his 
 matutinal meal, the phlegmatic doctor "brought him to." 
 
 Dr. Fitzgerald lived in Dexter at that time. His stable 
 was a marvel. The stalls for his horses were trimmed with 
 ebony. The doctor, I remember, effected a remarkable cure one 
 day when a quarrelsome fellow called him a liar. As the said 
 fellow lay on his back gazing up at the sun, he must have 
 formed a new resolution, for he was never known to want to 
 fight afterward. 
 
 I was well acquainted with Mr. Barron, whose tragic death 
 caused so much discussion later. Dexter is at the present time 
 a very prosperous village. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FOXCROFT ACADEMY. TEACHER. 
 
 In 1864, I became Assistant Teacher of Foxcroft Academy. 
 S. T. Pulleri was the Principal, and, as there was sickness in 
 his family during most of the year, I acted as Principal a part 
 of the time. I became Principal the next year, and enjoyed the 
 school very much. 
 
 There were about one hundred pupils, most of them well 
 advanced in their studies. There were some I especially remem- 
 ber for some peculiar characteristics. I can hear, today, the 
 stentorian tones of A. W. Gilman, as he frightened the timid 
 country lasses, while expounding the mysteries of Algebra, or 
 parsing Milton's "Paradise Lost." I called upon him one day 
 to read that clause wdiich commences as follows: "He called so 
 loud that all the hollow deep of hell resounded." I never knew 
 how loud that was before. 
 
 I remember with pleasure Eugene Wade, a lovable young 
 man with great ability, and that sweet sister, Augusta, whose 
 portrait might have been painted for the face of a Madonna. 
 Near by her sat Eliza Mayo, an excellent girl, and as kind and 
 conscientious as a young lady could be. I remember her with 
 much pleasure. I roomed just across the way from Mr. Mavo's 
 when a boy at the Academy. Mrs. Mayo was very kind to me 
 then, and I have always rejoiced at the prosperity that has fol- 
 lowed the family. The Mayo family is, perhaps, the wealthiest 
 and most prominent one in the county. 
 
 I very distinctly remember the sweet face of Sally Crocker, 
 and she was as sweet as she looked. There was something very 
 
I io THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 attractive about that little Miss. She is now a famous painter. 
 I remember that the handsome, stately Miss Susie Brown used 
 to recite extraordinary lessons in Virgil ; and that there was a 
 stately dignity connected with the movements of Henry B. 
 Flint, which has been a safe-guard against nervous prostration 
 ever since. 
 
 I had the pleasure of teaching E. P. Sampson Latin and 
 Greek for a year or two. No student was more faithful in his 
 work. Mr. Sampson graduated from; Bates and taught in Fox- 
 croft Academy very acceptably. He has been teacher of Thorn- 
 ton Academy at Saco, Maine for a long period of time. 
 Mr. Sampson has become eminent in his profession. Few 
 teachers have been as successful and none surpass him in zeal, 
 devotion and tact. His Alma Mater would honor itself by 
 bestowing upon him a well-merited LL. D. 
 
 Dr. Putnam was a studious boy. He is now in the West. 
 One boy I remember who had a rather swelly way of doing 
 things. Years after I met him and remarked that he had 
 changed somewhat. He replied : "Good Heavens ! I ought to 
 change. I have been in seven states." A nice, quiet, studious 
 little girl sat over in one corner of the room, who always looked 
 very much relieved when the lesson was over. She was a 
 fine singer, and Mrs. Henry Hudson still sings finely, and is a 
 lady much beloved. There were three young ladies from one 
 family by the name of Merrill. They were very nice and atten- 
 tive. Lizzie still lives in the old homestead. I should do vio- 
 lence to my own soul not to mention David Dinsmore. That 
 smile of his cheered me in many a gloomy hour. 
 
 Dr. C. C. Hall was a very diligent student and made his 
 studies go as he has everything since. He not only has occu- 
 pied a high position in his profession, but has held the office of 
 County Treasurer and was Representative at Augusta last 
 winter. 
 
 A very bright young lady, Miss Gilman, I remember always 
 had her lessons nicely learned. 
 
FOXCROFT ACADEMY. TEACHERS 1 1 1 
 
 I can see the bright eyes of Miss Wyman today. How they 
 used to sparkle when she laughed ! And pretty Rowena Wood- 
 bury sat near the post, and Miss Macomber and Miss Robinson 
 just across the aisle. Those two Misses were bright and inter- 
 esting. I liked them exceedingly well, but used to wish, some- 
 times, that Latin was a more serious study, causing less smiles. 
 
 I recollect a very quiet, nice little Miss who sat up very 
 straight in her seat, and was always studying. When she did 
 any work on the board, every figure was just right and in place, 
 as was every hair on the head of Annie Whittier. 
 
 Miss Clara Getchell I well recollect as a very lively young 
 lady of good ability. She is now the wife of L. P. Evans, editor 
 of the well known "Piscataquis Observer." 
 
 A. M. Robinson was President of the board of trustees 
 when I taught at Foxcroft Academy. I became very well 
 acquainted with him, and knew him in his last days. He was 
 by nature a grand man. He possessed great analytical ability. 
 He could dissect a proposition with such nicety that every part 
 appeared in prominent positions easy to inspect. When he had 
 thoroughly inspected every part and searched for the weak 
 places, he attacked these with vigor and persistency. He always 
 massed his arguments upon a few points and continued to 
 enforce them by illustrations, figures of speech, logic — and 
 repetitions. I write of him as he appeared to me, a boy, listen- 
 ing to a very succesful lawyer. There was an air of sincerity 
 about him when speaking, that gave me the impression that he 
 must be right, and the jury apparently thought the same. He 
 gained many cases. He was never what is called "eloquent," 
 but was an excellent debator, persuasive pleader, and held his 
 audience till the end. 
 
 His choice of words was noticeable. Not a word was used 
 that did not drive home the argument. His thought seemed to 
 be, — one link broken, the whole chain was useless. I particu- 
 larly noticed that he used more purely Anglo-Saxon words than 
 any other man at the bar. 
 
II2 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Mr. Robinson's friendship once secured, he was a friend for 
 life. He was a man of few prejudices, and judged every man 
 and principle on its merits. Honest and kindly in all his rela- 
 tions in life, he was honored among men, and loved by his 
 friends and associates. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 BRIM FIELD. 
 
 In 1866 I went West and came back in August. Learning 
 that a teacher was needed at Brimfield, Mass., I went to that 
 town and interviewed the trustees, and secured the position ; 
 and, a fortnight later, commenced the school. It was a very 
 enjoyable set of pupils. The atmosphere of the schoolroom 
 and of the town was conducive to easy teaching. 
 
 Brimfield is a typical Massachusetts town. There is an 
 indefinable something about Massachusetts people that is dis- 
 tinctive and characteristic. An inherited taste is always supe- 
 rior to an acquired one. The people there, through a long line 
 of descent, come naturally by a refinement of manners and 
 thought, and language, which people newer in these matters can- 
 not assume with the same ease, however much they may desire 
 to thus attain. The hospitality of the people is remarkable, 
 when once the doors are opened. It is not the best way, in 
 Massachusetts, to slap a stranger on the back whom we wish to 
 know, but when the proper advances are made and received, 
 there can be no people more cordial and friendly and hospitable. 
 
 I loved that people and remember them with greatest pleas- 
 ure. I sat on the piazza of the hotel, the first night there and 
 enjoyed the view as the evening twilight settled down upon 
 the landscape. In front of the hotel was a broad plain, covered 
 with very green grass. Upon the right, at a little distance, 
 could be seen, through the trees, the spire of the Congrega- 
 tionalist Church; on the left was the schoolhouse, a modest, 
 rather pretty building : several pretty houses could be seen on 
 8 
 
114 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 three or four streets. The fire-flies were flitting over the 
 meadow, lighting their lamps, one by one, as the stars came out 
 timidly to see if the sun had gone down. I remember now how 
 fine it all appeared ; how peaceful. The Committee had met me 
 very cordially ; the village pleased me ; the salary offered was 
 satisfactory ; the evening was magnificent ; I felt that Heaven 
 was very kind, and I was happy. 
 
 A man came along, said "Good evening," and sat down 
 beside me and inquired if I were the new teacher. Being 
 informed that his supposition was true, he commenced an hour's 
 talk by saying: "Well, I can tell you this ; that you will be sorry 
 you ever came." He then mentioned the Committee, one by 
 one, and gave every one a character far from lovable, and 
 totally different from the truth. That libeler then went right 
 through the town and mentioned some sin or crime each had 
 been guilty of. When that man left me that night, I was in a 
 frantic state of dejection. Had there been a train out that night, 
 I should have gone. Upon the next day I met many of the peo- 
 ple, and found them ladies and gentlemen of a high and culti- 
 vated order. I never taught where I loved the people as at 
 Brimfield. 
 
 Every town has a man like that one, but I never before met 
 him the first day. If that man is in Heaven at this time, I 
 would like to hear his description of the inhabitants of that 
 place. 
 
 There were about seventy-five pupils, mostly from Brim- 
 field. The adjoining towns sent about a dozen to the school. 
 There were some very intellectual pupils and some very lovable 
 ones. Taken together the intellectual status of the scholars 
 was very high, as was the moral standing. It was a very easy 
 school to govern. 
 
 Among the pupils was a young man of marked individual- 
 ity. He was a fine declaimer and enjoyed practicing the art of 
 public declamation. His laugh was refreshing. He was never 
 dull in conversation, and had a very happy way of making the 
 
BRIMFIELD 
 
 115 
 
 teacher think he knew all about the lesson. He graduated at 
 Amherst College and became a lawyer in Boston. He is a very 
 prosperous politician ; and holds the office of Street Commis- 
 sioner of the city of Boston. All the old pupils will recognize 
 in the Hon. Salem D. Charles the sequel of the good-natured 
 Salem D. Charles of the Hitchcock Free School of Brimfield. 
 
 There was also a bright-eyed little miss who always had her 
 lessons well learned, but who had an irresistible impulse toward 
 restlessness. She could never be still a moment. There was 
 not a malicious thought in her soul, but the spirit of mischief 
 led her into all kinds of adventures that caused us to become 
 very well acquainted. The thankful manner in which she would 
 receive paternal advice from nxe was very touching, especially 
 when, by accident, I caught the twinkle in her down-cast eye. 
 Just as I expected, she has made a magnificent woman and holds 
 a very responsible position in an old and well-known institution 
 in Aie Bay State — Dean of Holyoke College. 
 
 I As I write, the whole school comes up in array before me, 
 and I see them all as vividly as in sixty-six, seated in that pleas- 
 ant school. I see the dignified Rebecca, reciting "The Cry of 
 the Human," the loving, impetuous Etta, one of the flowers that 
 grows between" the insatiable reaper gathered ; the sweet, sad 
 face of Lizzie, whom the gods loved ; the queenly Miss Cham- 
 berlain : laughing Belle Brown ; Sarah Leombard, so quiet ; and 
 Mary, her chum; Lizzie Monroe, never out of order; and Jen- 
 nie, so positive ; and Sarah, so shy and self-poised ; — all these 
 and many more do I remember as though the long years had 
 never intervened between the last day at Brimfield and the pres- 
 ent time. 
 
 I boarded at the Hotel kept by Mr. Monroe. No more 
 genial landlord ever managed a hotel. Mrs. Monroe became a 
 real mother to me. She had an especial pudding for each day in 
 this week. All those puddings had been christened by a theo- 
 logical name. I ate through the course, and decided that the 
 Baptist pudding was the best, and asked her if she was not a 
 
Il6 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Baptist. She replied she was ; which accounted for the best 
 one being thus named. I asked her to explain the meaning of 
 the names. She did so, much to my amusement. The Uni- 
 tarian pudding was "pudding" today, and became "cake" served 
 up cold to-morrow. The Methodist pudding was what my 
 mother called ''Minute Pudding" — good while hot. The Ortho- 
 dox pudding stood up very stiff and never lost form. Remem- 
 ber these are not my definitions, but the good lady's. 
 
 At the Hotel boarded a young man from Sturbridge whom 
 I enjoyed very much. There was a lot of fun in him ; but it 
 was innocent fun. He was an industrious student. That 
 young man is now a very successful physician at Leiscester. I 
 had the pleasure of meeting him last year at Brimfield, and 
 thoroughly enjoyed his company. We called upon the Doc- 
 tor's old chum, Geo. Webster, and talked over old times. 
 
 Another boy at the Hotel was young Converse, a quiet, nice, 
 boy. What lessons Miss Kenny used to accomplish ! How 
 pretty Lizzie Lombard was ; and what fine pupils those were 
 that came up from Sturbridge ! How well I remember free and 
 easy Miss Achart, Miss Ward with flaxen hair, and her prim 
 sister ; Miss Blashfield, always in earnest ! I have not a list of 
 the names of the pupils, and do not recall the names of all ; but 
 the pupils themselves, I recollect, every one. 
 
 One, I remember very well, wrote me, some years ago, 
 about the old pupils. She lived two or three miles out of town. 
 I can see just how she looked and how she recited ; but her name 
 I cannot recall. 
 
 I still recollect how finely Miss Parker used to recite, and 
 what prettv black eyes she had. I wonder what has become of 
 sweet little Miss Hubbard, and the Warren girls? The Brown 
 boys I always liked. Fred Gates sat down by the door and was 
 a good boy. William Potter, if I remember rightly, never 
 intended to sweat. And Stone who divided twenty-two by two 
 and obtained, as he told me, "two ones," and the McDougal boy, 
 
BRIMFIELD 
 
 117 
 
 who wrote "Penitentiary" ninety-nine times on the board before 
 he got it right ; shall I ever forget them ? 
 
 Miss Orcntt still stands before me. Those nice Chamber- 
 lain girls and the blacksmith's daughter, all these are a part of 
 my soul. 
 
 I visited Brimfield last year, and met a few of the old 
 friends in the Hall ; alas ! how few ! Only one of the trustees 
 saw I there. The anxious eye sought, in vain, the kindly faces 
 that used to welcome me with a smile ; but I could not, did not, 
 regard them as dead. I felt that they were there in the Hall, 
 only the dull, cold eye of the earthly mortal could not see them. 
 I know I felt the influence of my old friends upon my soul, that 
 they too had a word of welcome for me. 
 
 In the evening, I stood alone upon the door-step and sur- 
 veyed the stars ; the seven stars forming that group were shin- 
 ing with unusual luster. I remembered that there were once 
 eight stars shining in that group, and now only seven are seen ; 
 but the eight must be there still, exerting all the influence it ever 
 did, only the finite eye of man cannot see it; so I felt that my 
 old friend, Judge Brown, was giving me the same old, hearty 
 handshake, and inquiring how the school was getting along. 
 The never- forgotten smile of encouragement of Mr. Hubbard, 
 driving away every home-sick feeling; the hearty laugh of Mr. 
 Tarbell, and his cordial recognition still reached me, as if fall- 
 ing from the Empyrim above. They were all with me, though 
 the eye saw them not. Such men can never die! They 
 live in other lives, live in the influence they exerted ; live 
 in the institutions they founded ; live in the unseen 
 power they exert in the uplifting of humanity, the refin- 
 ing of society and the "hastening of the Confederation of 
 the World." "Shall we know each other there?" Yes, I am 
 sure, and we will find each other on some anniversary occasion 
 in the same old dining hall where, as congenial friends, we met 
 and held pleasant converse, while living on earth. So, I appre- 
 hend, will family reunions take place. When father and mother, 
 
Il8 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 brother and sister, never forgetting the old, familiar fire-place, 
 will intuitively gather there and recognize each other, and hold 
 sweet converse together. The thought is a pleasant one, and 
 who shall gainsay the hope? Surely death can never destroy 
 the deep emotions of the soul. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MARRIAGE HOME. 
 
 In 1867, I resigned at Brimfield and went to Monson and 
 was married, the next day, to Ellen Carr Flanders, by the Rev. 
 D. P. Bailey. I was, at that time, twenty-eight years old, and 
 had never seen a person married. I can recall now some of the 
 emotions moving my soul at that time. I wondered if the young 
 lady would be as dutiful as a wife as she had been as a pupil. 
 One thing I fully realized ; that I was about to enter into a rela- 
 tion which death only could terminate. 
 
 That relation has existed nearly forty years, and I have 
 never regretted the words spoken that night. 
 
 My wife belonged to a good family. The Flanders family 
 was a prominent one in New Hampshire ; and is well-known 
 there at the present time. The Carr family of Bradford, N. H., 
 has, for many years, been well-known in financial and social life. 
 
 In my younger days I had resolved to live a single life. I 
 had always had a great admiration for the girls in a general 
 way, but had always thought of them as beings of entirely dif- 
 ferent order from myself. They seemed to be ethereal beings 
 just lent to earth for a time, lifted far above the grosser things 
 or thoughts of an earthly nature. They were to me objects of 
 admiration. — a sort of abstract essence of the divine enlivening a 
 form of clay most beautifully carved. That a being so sweet to 
 look upon, so pure and so modest, so kind and affectionate, 
 sympathetic and just, so witty and graceful, so self-sacrificing 
 and tireless in all things good should ever be monopolized by 
 
120 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 one gross, rough, selfish man seemed to be an abuse of the most 
 glorious gift of Heaven to man. 
 
 But later in life some of those illusions vanished. I dis- 
 covered that a young lady could not only be beautiful, but useful. 
 That her mission while on earth was not only to beautify, but 
 to make all things better. She was to become not an idol to 
 worship, but a being to love, cherish and even to listen to. I 
 discovered by observation that she was a necessity to man's 
 highest moral elevation, and that her influence was the best 
 when she held the responsible position of wife. All these things 
 led me to change my mind and marry. 
 
 I am convinced that man ought to marry. There are many 
 reasons to confirm this statement. The Creator evidently 
 intended that man should marry since there is implanted within 
 the soul of man an intense desire to enter into that condition, 
 and certainly observation teaches us that there seems to be some- 
 thing lacking in the makeup of a man that never marries. Such 
 people never have a home. How many writers have attempted 
 to define that one word home. No one has succeeded fully. 
 Home implies a wife and a house, and many things in it. There 
 must be something more there than just what is needed. There 
 must be something there like the Lares of the ancient Roman ; 
 something more precious than any other thing; something call- 
 ing forth an emotion akin to worship. These household gods 
 may be very commonplace things in themselves, but as precious 
 as diamonds to the possessor, — an old clock that father used to 
 wind up every night, a chair in which mother sat as she mended 
 our tattered mittens, a little shoe that baby once wore, a book 
 that the blushing girl gave before she became the wife, — many 
 things associated with the struggles of the first years of mar- 
 ried life ; these things make home. There can be no home with- 
 out them, but those are not all. Above all these there must be a 
 wife in every home. By the word "wife" I do not mean just a 
 woman who is legally bound to a man by the contract of mar- 
 riage. I mean a wife who loves her husband, loves her chil- 
 
MARRIAGE— HOME 12 1 
 
 dren, her home ; who has the happy faculty of inspiring every 
 one around her with a love for everything good and noble ; who 
 patiently waits for the dawning in the darkest midnight hour 
 and becomes a companion to her husband, a blessing to the 
 community, a God-ordained constituent of a home. But the 
 home is not yet complete. There must be a husband in that 
 home. Not simply a citizen of the United States qualified to 
 vote, but a man who loves his home and is willing to sacrifice 
 all selfish things for its complete perfection. — a man who 
 remembers that his wife paid him the highest compliment ever 
 received when she showed her confidence in him by consenting 
 to entrust more to him than to all the rest of the world, — a man 
 who finds his highest ideals at home, who thanks God every 
 day that there are dear ones for whom he can labor, to whom he 
 can look in sunshine and storm for comfort and consolation. 
 A log house may be a home ; a palace, a barren shelter. Money 
 can make a home glorious, but cannot make a palace a home 
 where the essentials are wanting. Of course, the ideal home 
 implies comfort, culture, music and those surroundings that 
 wealth expended by an ideal man can furnish. But these are 
 few. All cannot be rich, but there may be millions of homes 
 that satisfy every longing. Many there are to whom the reality 
 of the "Cotter's Saturday Night" is realized. From homes go 
 forth children that make statesmen, good citizens. The more 
 real homes there are the better will society be. the more pros- 
 perous our home-blessed land will be. 
 
 Unmarried men do not possess homes. Of course I am 
 speaking in general terms. — there are exceptions to all rules. 
 Unmarried women do often have real homes. They have their 
 household gods, their pretty fancies and always someone to love. 
 Every child is their friend, every suffering one has their sympa- 
 thy, attention and care. Some of the noblest women I have 
 ever known are of this class. Nor do they feel that they are 
 martyrs wasting their sweetness on the desert air. They are 
 loved, respected and never forgotten. Only a month ago an old 
 
122 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 lady, who had been a domestic for many years in the house of 
 a wealthy citizen of Piscataquis, died in another town. Her 
 body was carried to the rich man's house, where services were 
 held in keeping with the position held by that honorable mem- 
 ber of society. The church choir sang the same sweet songs 
 that soothe the souls of the rich and refined, the parish clergy- 
 man was not a whit less eloquent and pathetic than if the wife 
 of some distinguished citizen had crossed the river. 
 
 How many a dissipated young man has been brought to 
 himself and led back to virtue when some day a vision of the 
 old home flashes across his mind ! Away from the scenes of 
 childhood though one be for many years, that home is never 
 forgotten. Unfortunate is that boy whose father has no fixed 
 abode. All my young days were spent in one house, on one 
 farm. Every tree around the house was dear to me, every hill 
 and rock sacred. The barbary bush in the garden, the grape- 
 vine that bore no fruit, the butternut tree that was older than I, 
 the Balm of Gilead that Uncle Joe had planted, the beaver dam 
 where those wonderful animals had once lived, the orchard 
 whose fruit was dearer to me than the apples of Hesperides, the 
 mill-pond where I used to boat and fish, the brook along which 
 for many days I had wandered, — all those and many more were, 
 and are dear to me. There was a large pine stump standing on 
 a high knoll in my childhood days, around which I had played 
 for many hours. Returning to the old homestead a few years 
 ago, I felt that something was wanting. The landscape was 
 spoiled. That stump had been removed. The Balm of Gilead 
 that had buffeted the wind for many years had at last fallen, 
 and gone were the records of the early prowess of the boys of 
 my childhood. No boy could be called a hero who had not 
 climbed to a certain limb and carved his name there. Bheu! 
 fugaces labantur anni! The tree is gone. The record is 
 destroyed, and the boys are gray-haired and preparing to go. 
 The grapevine still trails in negligent profusion over the trellis 
 and the barbary bush looks old and feeble, but there are a 
 
MARRIAGE— HOME 
 
 123 
 
 thousand precious objects still dear to me at that old home. Not 
 far from the house on a gently rising mound is "God's Acre," 
 where my father and mother lie. When "Life's fitful fever" 
 closes, God grant I may close my eyes in the room where I first 
 opened them, and that the feeble engine through which my soul 
 acted, may forever rest on that sunny hill-side, where I spent 
 many hours in childhood days. I have never ceased to find a 
 melancholy pleasure in wandering through the aisles of a ceme- 
 tery. A feeling comes over one there unlike any other. The 
 emotions are not wholly sad, they are subdued, refined, chastened. 
 A kindlier feeling for humanity, a charity for human frailty, a 
 forgetfulness of past resentments steals over one in that silent 
 assembly that makes the man better who in meditative thought 
 is listlessly contemplating the spot where he shall "lie down to 
 pleasant dreams." Irving says, "Who contemplates the grave, 
 even of an enemy, without a compunctious throb?" All are 
 friends where the cypress weeps. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MONSON. SUPERVISOR. 
 
 My teaching at Monson the second time was an unexpected 
 event. I had engaged to teach at Cherryfield, but was per- 
 suaded to remain at Monson. The school had changed some- 
 what, but was enjoyable. I continued in the school until I was 
 appointed supervisor of schools for the county ; then I taught 
 part of the time, and attended to the other duties the rest of the 
 time. I enjoyed the work, on the whole, very much. The first 
 experience was not very flattering. I was comparatively young, 
 and thought I held a very important position. The first school 
 visited was at Sebec village. I went to the door, rapped, and 
 soon a fine looking teacher came to the door. I informed her 
 what my name was, expecting to see great emotion show itself 
 upon her face ; but not a muscle moved. She simply stood there 
 and looked at me in a sort of perplexed way. At length, I 
 added the information that I was County Supervisor, and came 
 to visit the school. She then asked me to come in. I went in 
 and sat down. Finally she came to me with that same look on 
 her face that I had often seen on the faces of pupils who did not 
 know their lessons, and asked me what office I held. I then 
 fully realized that she did not know that such an office existed. 
 
 That morning when I started from home, I thought I was 
 a very important personage and held a very exalted position. 
 As I sat in that chair, I felt that I would sell the whole business 
 for a picayune. Finally she asked me if I would like to hear 
 some of the classes recite. I said I would, when she had called 
 them to order. At that very moment one boy was crawling 
 
MONSON. SUPERVISOR 
 
 125 
 
 out of the window ; another was dragging a smaller boy out of 
 his seat by the hair ; and two or three girls were playing a game 
 of "cat's cradle" with some strings. She looked a little sur- 
 prised at my stupidity and said : "They are in order now." I 
 think that was the noisiest school I ever visited. The school- 
 house was a good one. there were forty scholars, and the teacher 
 was rather handsome, and finely dressed ; but the cause of educa- 
 tion languished. 
 
 The next school visited was taught by a Miss Robinson of 
 Parkman. The very atmosphere of that schoolroom was 
 refreshing. The teacher loved her work, and her pupils, and 
 they loved the teacher, and enjoyed their work. I spent a day 
 there, not to criticize but to admire and enjoy. It was an ideal 
 school, and few teachers could be like Miss Robinson. 
 
 In the next school I found a teacher trying to hear thirty- 
 two classes recite every day. There were twenty-five pupils in 
 all. Of course her time was nearly wasted. In fact, the want 
 of classification was the greatest defect in the schools. 
 
 In one school the class in Geography was reciting, and I 
 asked a boy if he had ever seen the earth. He said he never 
 had. That same boy, at that very moment, had a large portion 
 of the earth on his hands and face. 
 
 The methods of punishment were sometimes unique. One 
 teacher had some clothes pins on the lips of three of the pupils. 
 They looked rather funny, sitting there with those patent 
 clothes pins sticking out under the nose. These pupils had 
 been caught whispering. In another school there was a boy 
 with his mouth propped open by two cedar sticks. I told the 
 teacher that there was danger of strabismus of the masseter 
 muscle. In another school the teacher put cayenne pepper on 
 the tongue to punish that troublesome member for lying. 
 
 In that little red schoolhouse, one day, a teacher told one 
 of those restless, mischievous little fellows to fill the stove with 
 fine wood. The boy did so. Then the teacher put in some 
 paper, got some matches, and called the boy to the stove ; she 
 
126 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 took off the cover and seated the boy on the stove, and lighted 
 the match, and told him she was going to roast him. If ever 
 those walls resounded with ear-piercing howls, they did at that 
 time ! Off from that stove the boy leaped, and, minus hat, coat 
 and shoes, sprinted for home at a break-neck speed ; screaming 
 all the way, "I don't want to be roasted !" 
 
 Perhaps that boy's mother never studied rhetoric ; but one 
 thing I know ; that she fulfilled Webster's definition of eloquence 
 perfectly. He said eloquence consisted in action, action, 
 action." 
 
 The jovial superintendent of one town told me that his 
 method of grading his schools was very simple. There were 
 two panels gone out of the schoolhouse door, making a small 
 and a larger hole. Those that could crawl through the small 
 hole went into the Primary School ; those that went through the 
 larger panel went into the Grammar School ; and the rest went 
 to the High School. 
 
 That County Supervisor law was a good one, and ought to 
 have been continued. I admit that Mr. Johnson was unfortu- 
 nate in some of his appointments, but many of the number were 
 practical teachers. N. A. Luce was a man fully qualified to fill 
 the position. W. J. Corthell was another member eminently 
 qualified. Mr. Corthell has few superiors as an educator. An 
 excellent public speaker, an acute logician, expert in rhetoric, 
 with a mind unsurpassed in analysis, W. J. Corthell might 
 have been one of Maine's best known public men, had his ambi- 
 tion run in that direction. But he loved teaching and has been 
 determined to give all that is in him to that vocation, and has 
 impressed himself upon many minds and built a monument, 
 imperishable as the truths he taught. 
 
 Only three or four of the sixteen survive at the present 
 time. 
 
 Stanley Plummer of Dexter was another Supervisor well 
 qualified to act. He was a fine scholar and an excellent public 
 speaker. Mr. Plummer later became a very successful poli- 
 
MONSON. SUPERVISOR 
 
 127 
 
 tician and held a position at Washington. Mr. Plummer has 
 been twice in the Legislature, and is at present practicing law in 
 Dexter. 
 
 Mr. Eaton of Somerset was well qualified for his work. 
 
 Mr. Stetson was the personification of a Greek statue, 
 speaking grave truths by a mechanical apparatus through mar- 
 ble lips. He was a man of great reasoning powers, but totally 
 lacking in personal attraction. He died several years ago. 
 
 Dr. True was a man of great erudition and rather an inter- 
 esting speaker for a limited time, but when the Doctor once got to 
 going, his speech became "linked sweetness long drawn out." 
 Dr. True did a good work in the educational field, and his name 
 should be honored. 
 
 Mr. Robertson of Augusta was an enthusiastic worker and 
 well skilled in methods. He died lately at Augusta. 
 
 The founder of the Little Blue School at Farmington made 
 an excellent supervisor. Mr. Abbott was a very nervous man, 
 and sometimes became a little rattled, but always recovered his 
 composure. 
 
 N. A. Luce was fully qualified, both by acquirements and 
 ability to occupy the position of supervisor. He had a superior 
 literary ability and was somewhat of a poet. He occupied the 
 position of State Superintendent for several years, with the full 
 consent of the teachers of the State. I must quote a line from 
 a poem of his written while in college. "Conservatism holds the 
 reins, and progress plies the brush." Luce and myself once 
 co-labored on a poem of four lines and produced a stanza that 
 attracted the attention of one man at least. The Supervisor 
 had a meeting at Augusta during the session of the Legislature. 
 There was a member who called himself "the cat under the 
 meal." He advocated the repeal of the law creating the office of 
 supervisor. One day I wrote a couple of lines and, passed it to 
 Luce. He wrote two lines more and passed it around among the 
 members. A reporter found it and sent it to the Portland Press. 
 The next morning I strayed into the House. When I entered 
 
128 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Mr. C. was speaking with his voice raised to the dome, and wildly 
 flourishing a paper around his head. He howled, "I will cane, 
 I will beat him to the earth." He referred to the author of 
 those innocent four lines. Mr. C's. partner, by the way, had 
 been fined for selling liquor without a license. Those lines 
 were these : 
 
 "Have you heard of the cat that's under the meal, 
 That honest old cat that never would steal 
 Except from the government all on the sly 
 By selling, unlicensed, a little Old Rye?" 
 
 But he did not cane us. Mr. Luce is still engaged in school 
 and literary pursuits. 
 
 Mr. Sleeper of Aroostook was a very active man and could 
 pop up and say a good thing and down again with great 
 rapidity. 
 
 During the three years in which I served as County Super- 
 visor, many very peculiar conditions came to my notice. In one 
 town I held a public examination of teachers, and found one 
 young lady totally unfit to teach anywhere. The Town Super- 
 intendent had engaged her to teach in one of the schools. I 
 charged him not to allow that girl to attempt that school. He 
 promised that she should be dismissed. When I came around 
 to visit the schools, I found that young lady in that same school. 
 I took dinner with a prominent citizen and at the dinner table 
 I complained about the matter. Mr. A. said, "Don't say a word. 
 B. is owing me for a cow, that girl is owing me for a cow. I 
 told the Superintendent I would sue him if he did not give the 
 girl a school. Don't say a word, it is all right." Two cows 
 spoiled that school. Another school committee would hire no 
 teacher who did not live in town. In some towns that rule 
 works all right, but in others it is disastrous. The best teachers 
 should be secured regardless of local habitation. I repeat that 
 the county supervisor law was a good one. It would be well to 
 revive it if the appointments could be disconnected from politi- 
 
MONSON. SUPERVISOR 
 
 129 
 
 cal machinery. The system now existing is good as far as the 
 law is used but only a few towns act under the law. There are 
 only two Superintendents in Piscataquis county, none in Aroos- 
 took and one or two in Penobscot. That the schools have 
 improved under the supervision of Mr. Harvey B. Williams, the 
 people of Dover and Foxcroft certify by repeatedly electing 
 the same efficient officer. 
 
 That rigid school inspection is imperative, is apparent to 
 every one qualified to judge in such matters. Even if the 
 teacher is qualified and faithful, he can receive help from a visit 
 of a man whose business is to inspect and suggest. But many 
 candidates for positions are not qualified and should never be 
 allowed to teach. It is positively a crime to put a teacher into 
 a schoolroom to teach children, who is unfit. I repeat, a crime, 
 because the school superintendent or committee make oath that 
 they will faithfully perform their duty. It is their duty to dis- 
 criminate. If they are not capable it is a sin for them to occupy 
 the position. But it is urged that some towns are not the pos- 
 sessors of any one fully qualified. That may be a fact. Then 
 that town should unite with some other town or towns, and 
 unitedly employ some one who is qualified. "But," said one 
 committeeman to me, "Mr. C. taught a good school if he was 
 unqualfied, he was enthusiastic, kept good order and the scholars 
 liked him." Well, suppose I hire a man to drive me around the 
 country on business. He is enthusiastic and can handle the 
 reins like Budd Doble, but he does not know the roads and lands 
 me at last at the end of some cross road in a swamp. His very 
 enthusiasm leads him further out of the way when he takes the 
 wrong road, and the faster the horse goes the further from my 
 destination I am carried. The less enthusiasm an incompetent 
 teacher has the better for the pupil. An error projected into 
 his mind with enthusiastic force penetrates deeply and Eradi- 
 cates with difficulty, if ever. 
 
 But there are teachers who do pass a good examination 
 who do not know how to teach. Inspection shows this, and 
 when this is once discovered, the teacher should be instructed 
 9 
 
130 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 and if he fails to improve, let him be dismissed. A man may 
 know every rule of navigation but he could not sail a ship if he 
 cannot tell the helm from the anchor. A skillfully trained sur- 
 veyor with wooden legs would make a poor land surveyor. A 
 lack of ability to govern a school can only be discovered by 
 inspection. If a teacher shows a natural deficiency in this direc- 
 tion, he should certainly cease to teach. No school can be 
 profitable where there is disorder. I admit that there are 
 schools where too much attention is given to obtain what is 
 called a "still" school, where fussiness prevails. This is not 
 well. There must be a certain amount of noise in every work- 
 ing school just as there must be noise in a machine shop, but no 
 superintendent in such a shop will allow any unnecessary noise. 
 Every adjustment must be so perfect that no friction can occur. 
 The manager of a pile-driver will oil every gudgeon so no 
 unnecessary noise will be heard. 
 
 But how shall good teachers be secured? And how good 
 inspectors? There can be but one answer. The inspector 
 should be trained to the business, and devote his whole time to 
 that one occupation. Nepotism is the cause of more poor schools 
 than all other causes. No business man can be a good super- 
 intendent. Insensibly his business interests warp his judg- 
 ment. I am inclined to think that every school inspector should 
 have authority to dismiss a teacher as well as to employ them. 
 The school committee can delegate the power for hiring teachers, 
 but cannot delegate the power to dismiss. I see no reason why 
 an incompetent teacher should be allowed to remain in the 
 schoolroom any more than an incompetent clerk should remain 
 in the store, but of course, it must be shown clearly that the 
 teacher is at fault. Sometimes through the incompetency of 
 
 the Committee, it is impossible for the teacher to do good work. 
 Text books are not furnished, proper wood is not in evidence, 
 no proper classification has been attempted. Sometimes stupid 
 inspectors become actual impediments barring every attempt at 
 better methods and progress. In fact, few teachers are properly 
 supplied with the externals needful for a good instruction. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 GOING TO HOULTON. 
 
 My going to Houlton was a sudden movement. Dr. Ricker 
 remarked to me. one day while out on the lake fishing, at Mon- 
 son, that perhaps I might receive a call to Houlton some day. 
 One day in September, 1874, I received a telegram to go to 
 Houlton. I started the next morning, went to Old Town, and, 
 on the morrow, took the train to McAdam's Junction, where I 
 commenced the most extraordinary railroad journey I ever 
 experienced. 
 
 The Canada & New Brunswick Railroad, for the consid- 
 eration of five dollars, agreed to convey me to Houlton. The 
 time required was not stated. The ticket was "good for this 
 day only ;" but the day was something like those mentioned 
 in the first chapter of Genesis. The train from St. Andrews 
 had not arrived, so I spent an hour at McAdam, viewing the 
 scenery and trying to feel the full import of breathing the air 
 which circulated over a land which was under the dominion of 
 of a Queen. 
 
 I failed to realize any quickening of the pulse, and conclud- 
 ed to remain at ordinary size. But the landscape ! There were 
 rocks everywhere, and then some stones, then some ledges 
 on which were boulders, surrounded by granite reefs. The 
 earth was nowhere visible ; nothing but rock and sky could be 
 seen, except five or six stumps that were brought down with the 
 drift when the glacier moved down from the North. 
 
 A hasty examination of the geological conditions convinced 
 me that a huge glacier came down from the North, sweeping 
 
132 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 before it every rock it met in its irresistible course, till a moun- 
 tain of rock, boulders and granite ledge was piled up. This 
 mass became so heavy at McAdam Junction that the glacier 
 struck solid rock and stopped. A change of climate melted the 
 ice and scattered the rock round about and thus they lie today. 
 
 Before I had finished the survey, a Canadian Customs Offi- 
 cer examined my modest baggage with a pompous dignity that 
 was amusing. I pitied that officer. His hat must have cost 
 five dollars, the brass buttons on his coat were very brilliant 
 and his badge was fear inspiring. That professional strut of his 
 must have cost many hours' hard practice. The official tone 
 he assumed when he, with stony stare over the top of my hat, 
 said ; "Open your baggage," would have made Wellington jump 
 with alacrity. I hastened, with great speed to comply with 
 his demand. I had simply a well-worn, old-fashioned valise 
 as the sum total of my belongings. As I opened the delapidated 
 jaws of that antiquated receptacle, and exhibited to that officer 
 of the Queen a few handkerchiefs and articles of clothing, I 
 pitied him. 
 
 His makeup fitted him to inspect a carload of diamonds, 
 a cargo of silk or a puncheon of brandy. It seemed so undig- 
 nified for him to simply rumple up a few articles of wearing 
 apparel, without using a single key from that ponderous bunch 
 hanging from his embroidered belt. 
 
 A black-haired girl, in one corner of the station, sold me 
 a sandwich which was the first nourishment I ever received from 
 a foreign potentate. I have been satisfied with Uncle Sam's 
 cooks ever since. 
 
 At length the train arrived, not with the roar and dash of 
 modern trains, but with all the dignity and deliberation of a 
 conservative politician. I seated myself in a car and waited. 
 The train was a mixed one and went up one day and came back 
 the next, — sometimes. 
 
 After the conductor, a sad-looking, cadaverous man with 
 reddish side whiskers, had shouted four or five times : "All 
 
GOING TO HOULTON 133 
 
 aboard !" the train started. I was prepared for some rapid 
 riding 1 and began to catch my breath when they commenced 
 to score as the jockeys do at the race-course. We would go up 
 a quarter of a mile and suddenly stop. The erratic movement 
 would precipitate me to the south end of the seat. The seats 
 ran lengthwise of the cars and were covered with oilcloth. 
 Then there would be a sudden retrograde motion back to the 
 starting point, with the same unexpected halt, throwing the 
 passengers back to "first mentioned bound," as they say in 
 writing deeds. 
 
 This playful manner of entertaining the guests continued 
 till they got the engine warmed up and a final "All aboard!" 
 sent us off. What a rattling of brake chains, clanking of coup- 
 ling links and pins and creaking and groaning of the body poli- 
 tic that delapidated array of moving vehicles made ! 
 
 We arrived, at length, at Eel River, where we stopped an 
 hour. On inquiring, it was discovered that the train was ahead 
 of time, and must wait until the sun caught up with us. It 
 seemed that it was usual to run off the track every trip, and so 
 time was allowed for that performance, but, on that particular 
 occasion, the cars kept the track; so we didn't need the extra 
 hour. 
 
 Eel River was not a very picturesque hamlet. On three 
 sides of the station was sawdust ; and I noticed that they were 
 burning sawdust on the fourth side. There is nothing very 
 inspiring in a field of champed up timber, so the delay became 
 tedious, and I even longed for some more toboggan slides on 
 that slippery oilcloth. Eel River, a year or two afterwards, 
 was the scene of a strange comradeship. 
 
 One day there was a meeting of a lodge of Orangemen, on 
 the twelfth of July, and some of the boys of Houlton were 
 there. There was also some fine, Protestant whiskey in evi- 
 dence, and this had been rather freely circulated; Pat Murphy 
 came along and, not knowing the peculiar mission of the con- 
 vivial picnickers, accepted a half dozen drinks or so. Then thev 
 
134 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 got Pat upon a barrel to make a speech which he did, in these 
 words: "My friends, I'm wid ye, but not of ye." This ex- 
 pression has been, ever since, an explanation of conduct that is 
 a little peculiar. 
 
 We only scored three times before starting from this place. 
 The only delay was caused by stopping to let a few farmers off 
 at cross-roads, and to take aboard a woman or two who had 
 been berrying. At length, Debec was reached. Here Mother 
 Earth was again seen. There was some green grass and a few 
 trees. The conductor began to look cheerful, and, as the road 
 to Houlton was down hill, the first attempt sent us off at a speed 
 of ten miles an hour. In due time we arrived at Houlton and 
 smiling Mike Welsh drove me to the Snell House. 
 
 I spent the first night in Houlton at the home of Deacon 
 Barnes. On the following day I engaged the school and re- 
 turned home. In a week I started for Houlton with a horse 
 and wagon. The drive was a delightful one through the 
 woods. The road was a reminder of the Aroostook War. 
 When the outlook seemed to prophesy war between the United 
 States and England, the government built a broad road, four 
 rods wide, from Mattawamkeag to Houlton. The road was 
 nearly straight and so well built that it was in good condition 
 in eighteen hundred and seventy-five. Most of the way was 
 through woods, with an occasional clearing breaking the monot- 
 ony. Over this road had been conveyed all the supplies for 
 Aroostook county before the railroad had been built. Over the 
 same hundreds of teams had hauled the buckwheat, oats, and 
 shingles that Aroostook sent to market. 
 
 There had been, consequently, hotels built at convenient 
 distances along the whole route, for the accommodation of the 
 traveler and the teamsters. Some of those hotels were very 
 commodious and had done a large amount of business. One 
 room they all had sure, — the bar-room, and I judged by the 
 length of the counters, running completely across the room, 
 that great accommodations were needed in that line. The hotels 
 
GOING TO HOULTON 
 
 135 
 
 fell into disuse and decay after the railroad reached Houlton. 
 Some were closed, some used for private dwellings, and a very 
 few still remained public houses. Not one on the whole road 
 looked very inviting. Somehow an old, delapidated hotel, with 
 signboard still reeling in the wind, with windows broken and 
 paint all gone, is the most desolate appearing of all ruins. 
 
 There is always something wierd about an old, deserted 
 hotel. When a boy, driving a team to Bangor, I used to pass 
 by a deserted house which once had been occupied as a public 
 house. There was connected with the house the old story 
 about the murdered peddler. I used to wonder how so many 
 peddlers could be murdered, and still see peddlers going by every 
 day. I never heard of a haunted house that had not a peddler 
 hidden in some mysterious way, in the cellar. The house men- 
 tioned was undoubtedly tenanted by an uneasy ghost, since a 
 reliable inhabitant assured me that strange noises were heard 
 there nights. 
 
 It seems strange that a sedate, business-loving peddler while 
 in life, should spend his spiritual existence in rattling chains, 
 and pounding the ceiling, and making night hideous. It was 
 a great relief when some tramps burned that old house. 
 
 I spent a night on my journey to Houlton in one of those 
 old Inns. The landlord was an antiquated specimen of fossil 
 that time had somehow preserved. With long, uncombed hair 
 hanging down to his shoulders, with beard growing wild like 
 bramble bushes, and eyes peering out from sockets nearly closed, 
 he allowed I could stay in sepulchral tones that made a shiver 
 pervade the entire lumbar region. 
 
 The ancient wife, with a black clay pipe in her mouth, gave 
 a geneological history of her numerous family. The old man 
 spent most of the evening bewailing the degenerate times the 
 railroad had caused. It took him an hour longer to do this on 
 account of the fearful amount of profanity used. 
 
 The chamber was a large one, with bare floor, in which 
 were countless punctures made by the calks of the river-driv- 
 
136 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 ers' boots. The old lady informed me that room was the best 
 room in the good old times, and bride and bridegroom had often- 
 times occupied it. In the old days, when a couple was married 
 in Aroostook, the bridal tour was a trip to Bangor by stage. 
 If the happy couple came back still happy, future felicity was 
 assurred. 
 
 The road from Mattawamkeag ran seven miles through 
 the woods, over a series of hills to Molunkus. Here was a small 
 settlement, constantly growing smaller. From that place to 
 Linneus there were few hills. Some parts of the drive were de- 
 lightful. In one place tall elms, a century old, waved on both 
 sides of the road, through the branches of which one could catch 
 a glimpse of a small lake not far off. A long swamp with 
 stunted <;rees disconsolately standing alone made a drive of an 
 hour rather dreary, but soon "Happy Corner" made its appear- 
 ance. I applied at a wretched looking house for lodging, but 
 a tow-headed, shabby looking girl informed me that the woman 
 was in jail for selling rum and the husband was on a spree. 
 
 I drove on to the next place where at Haynesville good 
 accommodations were obtained. The weather was delightful. 
 An occasional partridge would whirr across the road, frighten- 
 ing the horse and arousing me from a sleepy reverie ; then a 
 timid rabbit would, with bewildered uncertainty, scurry hither 
 and thither out of the road ; a few hawks screeched as they sailed 
 by and squirrels laughed and quarreled as the mood came on 
 them. 
 
 The time was conducive to reverie, to musing and remi- 
 niscences of the past. I pictured to myself that motley caval- 
 cade of bold militia men as they unflinchingly plunged into 
 that wild wilderness, determined to conquer, to return captains, 
 colonels, nay, generals, or die on the banks of the winding 
 Meduxnekeag. Caparisoned horses, champing the bit and toss- 
 ing plumes in the air, drew those murderous six-pounders, 
 flanked on each side by galloping cavalry and supported by un- 
 ter rifled infantry. I could fancy the echo of the hurried com- 
 
GOING TO HOULTON 137 
 
 mand, given in high falsetto, still reverberated from tree to tree 
 and awakened a spirit of martial glory in every patriot's soul. 
 A line of an old poem came to mind ; "I see them on their wind- 
 ing way ; About their ranks the moonbeams play." There was 
 all the "Circumstance and pomp of glorious war." How dif- 
 ferent the return! That was all summed up in a line of an old 
 poem. 
 
 " 'Run, Strickland, Run ! 
 
 Fire, Stover, Fire !' 
 
 Were the last words of Mclntyre." 
 
 I passed over that road years later with my daughter. We en- 
 joyed the trip exceedingly most of the way, but when we came 
 to the seven miles of unbroken forest, we found an exasperating 
 condition of things. The State was repairing the road, and 
 the commissioner had plowed the entire roadbed for more than 
 three miles, and left it in furrows. It had rained the day after, 
 and thus we found the highway ! There was no chance to walk 
 by the roadside as it was flooded. That poor little horse, weigh- 
 ing eight hundred, had to pull us over that long stretch of road, 
 carpeted with ten inches of mud. 
 
 When we were about half way over it, a man was seen 
 walking before us. We noticed the peculiar way he used his 
 feet. He lifted the right foot up very high, with a sort of 
 spasmodic yerk, as a horse does who has the string-halt ; then 
 it went down like a pile-driver, scattering the muddy water in 
 every direction. We finally overtook that man who, without 
 stopping to say "Good-day," commenced to explode from his 
 mouth the most extraordinary mixture of denunciation and 
 profanity that those forests ever heard. If that commissioner 
 had been within hearing, he would have learned his duty. 
 We listened very sympathetically : barring the profanity, we 
 agreed with him. When we had passed by, looking back, we 
 saw that man walking along quietly, and stepping in ordinary 
 manner. The dynamic force within had expended itself and 
 the natural man asserted himself. 
 
138 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Not long after we met two cyclists on a pleasure trip. They 
 had to tramp three miles through that sticky, clayey mud and 
 push the machines. There is generally on the face of a pleasure- 
 seeking cyclist a look that implies great satisfaction with him- 
 self, and a sort of ownership of the world. That look was not 
 visible on the occasion mentioned. We thought the desire of 
 the heart was that expressed by King Richard on that fatal 
 field of battle. 
 
 On my trip to Houlton I wore a light suit with straw hat. 
 After four day's riding over a dusty road, it seemed best to make 
 a change of garments ; so I stopped at Linneus and got some 
 dinner, and changed the light suit for a dark one. There were 
 several inquisitive girls at the house who were much interested 
 in my movements. I learned afterwards they expressed the 
 opinion that I was a horse thief, escaping into New Brunswick. 
 
 I arrived in Houlton in the afternoon on Saturday, and 
 commenced to teach the following Monday ; and continued 
 that work for ten years. The family remained at Monson dur- 
 ing that year. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 HOULTON ACADEMY. 
 
 I found the school in a peculiar condition at Houlton. The 
 former teacher was engaged to teach for another year, but, for 
 some reason, did not ; and, consequently, when the time came 
 for opening the school, no teacher was apparent. 
 
 This school had been accepted by the trustees of Colby 
 College as a "fitting school." The trustees agreed to endow 
 the school and furnished teachers and all necessary means for 
 prosecuting school work. The Academy was managed by a 
 Board of Local Trustees, conjointly with a board nominated by 
 the College Trustees. Dr. Shaw was the pastor of the Bap- 
 tist church in Houlton and a member of the Board. Charles 
 E. Williams, A. B., a recent graduate of Colby, had been en- 
 gaged as assistant in the school by the trustees. 
 
 Dr. Shaw commenced the school as principal and managed 
 it for a week. I then appeared and assumed control. The 
 Dr. attempted to do but little teaching and less governing. Mr. 
 Williams taught the Latin and Greek in the recitation room, 
 as did Miss Madigan, the French. For a day or two chaos 
 reigned, and T was simply an element in the confusion, hut 
 soon there was a calm ; and within a week the machinery ot 
 the school was in running order. The "Faculty of Instruction" 
 as the old catalogue has it. consisted of W. S. Knowlton. princi- 
 pal ; C. E. Williams, A. B., teacher of Latin and Greek; Miss 
 Fannie Madigan, teacher of French: James Archibald, assistant 
 in mathematics. 
 
I 4 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 The reader will notice that I spell that word catalogue 
 the old way. I cannot endure the sight of the word, mutilated 
 by the modern utilitarian idea. "Catalog!" Just look at the 
 word. Don't it look like a big, shaggy dog with his tail cut off ; 
 or a Chinaman minus a cue, or a kite without a tail? 
 
 I have before me, as I wrote, many old catalogues, and a 
 feeling of sadness inherently steals over me as I glance over the 
 list of trustees and pupils. Every member of the board of 
 local trustees is dead. One of the Colby Board survives, Deacon 
 Moses Giddings of Bangor. 
 
 B. L. Staples was chairman of the Board, whom I shall 
 never forget. He showed me much kindness and became my 
 friend at once. Dr. Donald became my family physician and 
 stanch supporter. With Mr. Cary I had much to do, as he was 
 secretary of the board, and my friend. The office of the Hon. 
 J. C. Madigan and his home became favorite resorts whenever 
 I felt tired or discouraged. 
 
 There were one hundred and nine pupils the first term and 
 no definite course of study. The work done by the instructors 
 would appall a teacher of today. 
 
 I used to commence school at eight o'clock and teach till 
 dark and often heard classes at my home, evenings ; but I en- 
 joyed the work. Nearly all the pupils were anxious to learn, 
 were enthusiastic in the pursuit of knowledge. If pupils only 
 knew how much more work they could get out of the teacher by 
 doing extra work themselves, they would be more inclined to 
 "give and take." I never knew when bed time came as long as 
 a class was ready to recite. 
 
 The catalogue of the first year tells me many sad stories ; 
 many facts to rejoice at. Thirty-five of that number are sleep- 
 ing the long sleep awaiting us all. How many hopes lie buried 
 in those premature resting places ! To me they are not dead. 
 I stood by no bedside and saw no departure. They live in 
 retrospection, and I can see them now, as they sat in that school- 
 room, and remember the pleasant hours passed with them. Still 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 141 
 
 is the influence of the sweet smile of Eveline Plumm/er linger- 
 ing in my soul, which always greeted me when I entered the 
 schoolroom. Laura, always so faithful, and Addie so full of 
 life, will never be forgotton ; and Ella, whose merry laugh was 
 so inspiring; the kind heart of Etta, full of human sympathy 
 and love, ceased to beat all too quick. Sweet, gentle Mary 
 Hussey's ladylike ways I still recollect, and Winnie will never 
 die as long as this heart beats. Georgie Davis and Frank 
 Barker, Xutie Nye, all these were pupils whom it is easy to 
 remember. Others have also passed away, not one of whom 
 would I forget. 
 
 There were many in school that term who have become 
 prominent men in the world, of whom mention will be made 
 hereafter. The same teachers remained during the year, and 
 were very effective co-laborers. Mr. Williams was a fine Greek 
 and Latin scholar. He remained in the school four years, when 
 he resigned and commenced the study of medicine. He gradu- 
 ated from a medical college in New York, and commenced prac- 
 tice in Houlton. where he built up a prosperous business, and 
 is still in practice. 
 
 Miss Madigan had every requisite that could be combined 
 in one woman, hence was a very valuable assistant. Mr. Archi- 
 bald was simply James Archibald, Esq., thirty years younger. 
 Mrs. Seamons also taught one term very profitably. Mrs. Sea- 
 mons has since become a very effective public speaker in reform 
 times. Father Pearley taught penmanship, but failed to make 
 my chirography intelligible. 
 
 We had a peculiar way of hazing freshmen in those days, 
 I used to write something on the board and ask the new schol- 
 ars to read it, while the old ones looked on and grjnned. I used 
 to pity those bewildered seekers after truth. 
 
 Among the students at Houlton there were an unusual 
 number endowed by nature with more than ordinary talent. 
 Many of those have fulfilled the promise of youth, and are at 
 the present time prominent actors in the affairs of life. 
 
I 4 2 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 C. C. King, of Caribou, was one of the very brightest Latin 
 scholars I ever instructed. He entered college at fifteen. Mr. 
 King graduated from Colby and read law with his father. 
 After being admitted to the bar, he practiced for a time, then 
 went into business and has prospered. He represented Caribou 
 for two terms in the Legislature, and was a candidate for the 
 Speakership. He is president of a bank in Caribou at the pres- 
 ent time. 
 
 Fred Perkins was a bright boy and very studious. Un- 
 assuming and modest he gained friends by his merit and had 
 many. He entered college and remained for a time and was 
 then appointed cadet at West Point and graduated from that 
 institution with honor and became an officer in the U. S. army. 
 He participated in the Spanish war and was promoted. He now 
 holds the rank of captain and is stationed at a fort in New Jer- 
 sey. 
 
 Frank Shaw was a fine looking and popular boy, and has 
 made a brilliant lawyer out West. He was a very companionable 
 young man and hence popular. His mind was analytical, vig- 
 orous and discriminating. He was ambitious and deserved to 
 succeed. 
 
 James Archibald was one of the first boys who attracted 
 my especial attention. He was an indefatigable worker and 
 close reasoner. I made a sort of chum of him, but was always 
 very careful how I put things when reasoning with him. He 
 was what I call an incisive reasoner. He penetrated 
 to the interior of every subject, and viewed all argu- 
 ments from their relations to the heart of the subject. In 
 fine, he was the James Archibald of today in embryo. Mr. Archi- 
 bald has a fine legal practice, and is president of the Board of 
 Trustees of Ricker Classical Institute. Mr. Archibald's wife 
 was also a favorite pupil in the Academy. He asked me once 
 whether it would be better to marry, or go to college. I told 
 him to go to college. Since I have had the pleasure of meet- 
 ing his wife and family at their home, I am sure I was very, 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 143 
 
 very wrong in my advice. Mr. Archibald and his admirable 
 wife, talented son and sweet daughter, all know how to make 
 people happy. 
 
 Ulie Withee commenced to fit for college, but poor health 
 caused him to abandon the idea, and he became a dentist ; but 
 has not confined himself to that business. He has become a 
 wealthy business man, and always was a good fellow. 
 
 H. D. Collins of Caribou sat in the back seat and was 
 rather quiet. His mathematical skill show r ed itself at that early 
 period. He is a prosperous business man now and highly hon- 
 ored by the people. He marks his vote in the second column 
 and hence is not always in office. Mr. Collins is doing an 
 extensive lumbering and milling business in Caribou. His 
 honesty, kindness and interest in every good cause has en- 
 deared him to every citizen in the town. 
 
 Arthur Daigle commenced to laugh when three hours old 
 and has not stopped yet. 
 
 Charles Weed was a bright student, and his early death 
 caused much regret. 
 
 I have lost sight of smiling Byron Blethen. He was the 
 gallant of the class and always recited with one eye on the 
 girl that sat next to him. 
 
 I remember Howard Carpenter and Dell Mansur with 
 pleasant recollection. They entered Bowdoin College, and I 
 have lost sight of them. 
 
 Thomas P. Putnam graduated at Colby, read law and com- 
 menced practice at Houlton. Mr. Putnam is a lawyer of good 
 ability, and just such a lawyer as every town needs. Put him 
 into a town full of lawyers, as they go, he would find business. 
 Mr. Putnam's mind, when he was a boy, was analytical. He 
 always looked at a question from all points of view and drew 
 his conclusions with due deliberation. Mr. Putnam has been 
 first selectman of Houlton for several years, and this honor 
 has been given without the least solicitation. Cincinnatus was 
 
144 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 called from the plow to serve the people, so has Thomas been 
 repeatedly called from his law practice to serve the town. 
 
 F. M. Donnell, a Bayard sans puer et sans reproche, gradu- 
 ated from Colby and became a civil engineer after completing 
 a course of study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
 A sweeter, cleaner young man never lived, and a long and useful 
 life seemed opening before him, sed aliter dis. My heart went 
 with the hearse that bore that dear boy to the tomb. Mr. Don- 
 nell was a young man of fine ability. He had an original way 
 of arriving at results in mathematical demonstrations that was 
 very remarkable. At the time his health began to fail a move 
 was contemplated to place him in a professor's chair at a well- 
 known school of science. 
 
 There was a very active young man from Linneus in the 
 next class. He was a fine scholar and with the other boys entered 
 college. 
 
 Byron was graduated from Colby and engaged in specula- 
 tion. He is a very successful politician and has been Secretary 
 of State for eight years. 
 
 Dr. Harry Putnam was also a Colby boy. He was a brill- 
 iant scholar at Houlton Academy, and ranked high at college. 
 He taught for a time in Connecticut and found an excellent 
 wife there. He has been very popular for several years as 
 Superintendent of the schools of Houlton, and has been very suc- 
 cessful in his chosen profession. Harry was in those days a 
 keen reasoner and a genial, whole-souled boy. This success 
 in life was guaranteed even in those early days. 
 
 Very few families in Maine can claim three college gradu- 
 ates. Mrs. Putnam sent her whole family to college — three 
 boys, Thomas, Harry and Beecher, and results have shown 
 that she made no mistake. Those young men have proved that 
 a prophet can receive honor in his own country. They 
 have always lived at Houlton and have come to be recognized 
 as important factors in the town. All honor to that widowed 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 
 
 145 
 
 mother who gave so much to the world. "Her children rise 
 up and call her blessed." 
 
 C. E. F. Stetson showed a decided liking for mathematical 
 studies, and has become eminent in his profession. I suppose 
 Mr. Stetson has hardly a peer in the State in the line of engi- 
 neering. He has been constantly employed for many years in 
 the most intricate work, requiring great skill. 
 
 F. W. Knowlton, my nephew, was a. good scholar and 
 diligent in his work. He was the best declaimer in the school. 
 He entered Colby and, after teaching for a time, studied law and 
 commenced practice at Foxcroft. Later he received an appoint- 
 ment in the treasury department at Washington and was there 
 several years and then resumed his law practice at Old Town, 
 where he has extensive business relations. He is a fine public 
 speaker and believes in Andrew Jackson. 
 
 From Blaine came A. J. Fulton. He was a fine scholar 
 and improved every moment. I liked him personally very much 
 and invited him home frequently and enjoyed his society. Dr. 
 Fulton is a very successful physician, and leading citizen of the 
 town. He represented his district in the last legislature with 
 credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. I 
 also had the pleasure of performing the marriage ceremony 
 when he took to himself a wife. She was also a student very 
 kindly remembered. 
 
 Parker L. Hardison has made his mark as a surveyor and 
 business man. Mr. Hardison has been a candidate for office 
 several times and every time run ahead of his ticket, but his party 
 has alwavs been in the minoritv and Parker failed to be elected. 
 At Houlton Academy he excelled in mathematics. During the 
 whole time he was there, he never failed in a mathematical les- 
 son. Parker was rather shy of the young ladies in those days 
 but improved as time went on and five years ago got married. 
 May perpetual prosperity be his ; he deserves it. 
 
 Herbert W. Trafton of Fort Fairfield was a faithful 
 student and good scholar. He graduated from Colby and set- 
 
146 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 tied at Fort Fairfield as a lawyer. He has built up a large prac- 
 tice and is held in great esteem by his townsmen. Mr. Trafton 
 also rejoices in the luxury of voting with the minority. Mr. 
 Trafton is one of those men whose very face reflects the honesty 
 of heart that prompts every action. He was just that kind of 
 a student at Houlton Academy. He looked at every proposition 
 from a moral point of view, and was ever ready to grasp oppor- 
 tunity to obtain knowledge and light. Though not devoid of 
 a keen sense of humor his energies were constantly devoted to 
 the performance of duty first and he had the fun at the proper 
 time. It is unfortunate for the country that Mr. Trafton votes 
 with the minority in the State of Maine. He has been a candi- 
 date for important offices, but the returns were unpropitious. 
 We need just such men as he in office. 
 
 F. G. Dunn was a quiet, studious young man who did not 
 especially enjoy declaiming. He graduated at Colby, read law 
 and settled at Ashland, where he is a sort of mayor, alderman, 
 chief justice and financier. Mr. Dunn is what everybody calls 
 a good fellow and has a lucrative practice. For some unac- 
 countable reasons he has never married. I am sure he is in 
 great danger every leap year. 
 
 J. K. Plummer was a diligent student, faithful in all his 
 work and a fine young man. He entered Colby and later studied 
 law and was admitted to the bar, but his extensive business 
 transactions preclude practice. He has lately returned from 
 a trip to Europe. 
 
 I recall with great pleasure a pleasant-faced young man 
 from Presque Isle. He stayed at our house his first night in 
 Houlton. He was very studious and quiet among the boys and 
 was salutatorian at graduation. G. Edward Wilkins is now a 
 member of the A. H. Fogg corporation. I expected him to go 
 to college, but he did better by selecting an excellent young 
 lady and securing an exceptionally fine wife. Mr. Wilkins is 
 today one of the most popular business men in the county, and 
 deserves thus to be. His social qualities are exquisite, his 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 1 47 
 
 business methods are unquestioned. Mr. Wilkins is par ex- 
 cellent — an ideal business man. I never could understand why 
 a man need be disagreeable because he is smart or talented. Mr 
 Wilkins would have made an efficient professional man had he 
 willed. 
 
 John B. Madigan was at the Academy for a time and made 
 a good record prognostic of the coming man. He was a 
 young man of excellent judgment. He showed that in his choice 
 of a wife. He has large business relation and extensive legal 
 practice. A few years ago he was elected representative to 
 Augusta though the district was opposed in politics. Mr. 
 Madigan is a logical reasoner and carefully investigates as he 
 proceeds in his argument. He has been a member of the school 
 board for several years. He is also chairman of the Examin- 
 ing Board for admittance to the bar. Mr. Madigan is popular 
 among the citizens of the town and state. 
 
 Cunard Miller was a studious boy : He did like to have 
 some fun occasionally, but I liked the boy just the same and 
 was sorry when he left the school to engage in mercantile affairs. 
 He is now in business in Fredericton, N. B. Mr. Miller's name 
 recalls the many pleasant visits I made to the family home of 
 Cunard. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were very kind to me, and at 
 no house did I enjoy more pleasure than in that pleasant home 
 and with that companionable family, and have never thought 
 a visit to Houlton complete without calling upon the Millers. 
 
 Beecher Putnam, the third boy in the Putnam family, after 
 graduation, taught for a time, and then read law. He has 
 always been much interested in politics, and is one of the pillars 
 of the Republican party. He has twice been Senator from 
 Aroostook. He was one of the committee for the revision of 
 the Statutes of Maine. Mr. Putnam is a natural orator and a 
 great lover of nature. While at the Academy, he was an extra- 
 ordinary scholar, and a fluent speaker even at that early stage 
 of life. 
 
148 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 R. W. Shaw was another very active young man. He ex- 
 celled in rhetoric and ethical studies. His reasoning powers 
 were good. He first took a general survey of the subject and 
 endeavored to find the weak spot in the adversary's defense and 
 that spot he attacked. Mr. Shaw is a successful lawyer 
 and politician. He was county attorney of Aroostook county 
 for two terms and senator at Augusta. Mr. Shaw is an orator 
 and has done considerable stumping in the past five years. R. 
 W. can plead a case in court, prove the Republican party im- 
 maculate, sing a song and tell a good story with equal and ex- 
 quisite grace. 
 
 Charles Carrel was an industrious student with a decided 
 determination to "get there." He showed early in life that he 
 would one day be a millionaire. Mr. C. graduated from col- 
 lege, read law, and opened an office at Houlton, where he has a 
 lucrative practice. My impression is if the Democrat party ever, 
 in the dim future, should be victorious Charles would be a very 
 successful politician. His persuasive powers are invincible. 
 
 P. H. Gillen was a very enthusiastic student always ambi- 
 tious, busy and painstaking. He showed in the Lyceum debates 
 that public speaking would be his especial forte. Mr. Gillen 
 read law with Judge Stearns and opened an office in Bangor. 
 That city was at that time well supplied with eminent lawyers, 
 and to me it seemed a rash adventure for an unknown young 
 man to make. But talent told and in a very short time Mr. 
 Gillen became recognized as an astute lawyer. His practice has 
 increased year by year till at the present time it includes many 
 cases in which thousands of dollars are involved. Mr. Gillen 
 in the old days even when a boy reasoned from cause to effect 
 in a most critical way and then showed that effects could have 
 had no other cause than the one he had assigned. He never 
 left a subject unfinished. Maine has few orators equal to Mr. 
 Gillen. His rhetoric is never turgid and his eloquence never 
 flags but rather captivates. A brilliant future awaits P. H. Gil- 
 len and he deserves it. A friend that never grows cold, a citi- 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 149 
 
 zen always interested in public matters, tolerant in religion and 
 conservative in politics P. H. can but have hosts of friends and 
 innumerable admirers. 
 
 Monticello sent us a fine young man by the name of Guy C. 
 Fletcher. He was very studious and smart. Could handle 
 mathematics with perfect ease. I enjoyed his society and 
 sought it frequently. Mr. Fletcher was postmaster under the 
 administration of Grover. and is now a prosperous business 
 man in Monticello and Bridgewater, and a first-class good fel- 
 low generally. 
 
 Later, Bertram L. Fletcher was a member of the school. 
 He was a good classical scholar and attended strictly to busi- 
 ness, with an occasional lapse "pro bono calico." He read law 
 and is practicing in Bangor with profit. 
 
 From New Brunswick came the Bradstreet boys. They 
 were studious and smart and have made good records for them- 
 selves. Fuller is a prosperous farmer in Bridgewater, and one 
 of the School Board. Asa is a trader and Superintendent of 
 Schools. Henry is a prosperous man in California. 
 
 Chas. Brown, now a prosperous man of affairs in Califor- 
 nia, I enjoyed very much. Charles was an excellent young man 
 and would have been a clergyman had his health permitted. 
 He had the qualifications to have made him eminent in that 
 profession. Of Chas. Parker, the parson, I now know nothing 
 but feel sure that he dresses well wherever he is. 
 
 Among the boys in those days was a young man who trans- 
 lated Latin elegantly. Walter Cary is a successful lawyer, but 
 I feel sure that he would have made an eminent literary man, 
 had he devoted himself to that pursuit. His knowledge of 
 Latin was so pronounced in college that he became known as 
 "Judv," a pet name of Colby's most famous teacher of Latin. 
 Few men have as good vocabulary of English words, and very 
 few know how to use them as well as Mr. Cary. I hope he will 
 devote a portion of his time to literary pursuits. 
 
150 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 From Linneus one day came a tall, rather shy looking young 
 man whose name I learned was Ira G. Hersey. Mr. Hersey 
 even in those days showed a predisposition toward that remark- 
 able eloquence that captures juries and confounds political 
 opponents at the present time. I voted for Mr. Hersey once 
 for Congressman or Governor I have forgotten which, but my 
 vote did not seem to turn the scale and he was not elected. Mr. 
 Hersey was a great worker. If he could not solve a problem in 
 one hour he took two, if he could not pronounce a word right 
 the first time he kept at it till he and Noah Webster coincided. 
 He was a young man of more than common ability and 
 improved every hour in earnest study. Ability and industry 
 have placed him in the "upper story" that Daniel Webster 
 recommended. 
 
 Another family at Houlton contributed three boys to the 
 school. The Hon. A. A. Burleigh sent his three sons to college, 
 all of whom graduated. Everett, known as the deacon ; Preston, 
 the mathematician ; and Parker, the ladies' man. Everett was 
 much engrossed in the science of anatomy. His desk was 
 always full of dry bones. One day I found therein the entire 
 skeleton of a Frenchman's defunct "cheval." Everett would 
 have made a second Darwin had he not gotten rich in land 
 speculation. 
 
 Preston N. Burleigh was one of the keenest original 
 mathematical thinkers I ever knew. Propositions in Geometry 
 vanished before his glance like the mist of the morning. All 
 he had to learn was the theorem. The solution evolved itself 
 from his inner consciousness. I have always been sorry that 
 Mr. Burleigh did not become a mathematical author. I am sure 
 he would have succeeded. Mr. B. is a fine business man ; but 
 though he becomes a millionaire, the world will have lost some- 
 thing. 
 
 Parker Burleigh was a good Latin and all-round scholar. 
 He was the best natured boy in school, and had a smile for 
 everybody. He read law after graduating, and practiced for a 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 151 
 
 time. He is, at this time, extensively employed in lumber and 
 mill matters. 
 
 H. T. Green of Hodgdon was a very polite young man and 
 a good scholar. That such a fine looking young man should 
 have escaped matrimony is surprising. 
 
 Prof. F. W. Watson was a studious young man with much 
 literary ability. He was a good speaker and fine writer. Mr. 
 Watson wrote poetry that deserved notice and received it. He 
 graduated at Colby and became professor in a college in North 
 Carolina, and has attracted much attention, in many states of 
 the Union by his researches and lectures in the field of micro- 
 scopic science. Mr. W. was a very pleasant man to meet. With 
 him at the school was his sister Laura, a lovely young lady whom 
 I remember with much pleasure. She is now the wife of a well 
 known teacher in New Brunswick. 
 
 Aubrey White was the financier of the school and will 
 probably die a multi-millionare. Mr. White is now in the West 
 exploiting irrigation schemes and other financial ventures. 
 Aubrey was always a good fellow and ready to help things 
 along. He is the kind of a man that ought to get rich. 
 
 Chas. Dunn, Jr., last year at Portland executing righteous 
 law in a secant way. was simply the grown up Charlie 
 Dunn of the Houlton Academy. He was a young man of good 
 ability and excellent purposes and one of the most companion- 
 able men I ever met. I have always thought Charles should 
 have been a clergyman. That young man could no more have 
 done a mean or doubtful act than fly. He wore his "heart upon 
 his sleeve" as far as his moral sense went. His health has never 
 been good but he has done a vast amount of work and is most 
 highly respected for his works. His personality caused the 
 Republican Governor of Maine to appoint him, a Democrat, 
 sheriff of Cumberland Co. when Mr. Pearson died. I know no 
 man more worthy of positions of trust than Chas. Dunn. Jr. 
 
 And Parker, the poet. Will his glory ever fade? No, not 
 as long as his immortal poem adorns the book shelves of the old 
 
152 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 graduates of Houlton Academy and is preserved in the archives 
 of that venerable institution. We quote in another place a few 
 stanzas of that poem for the benefit of the boys who have unfor- 
 tunately lost the copy purchased many years ago for a nickel. 
 
 I remember as yesterday the first time I saw David F. 
 Smith. He came from Cary and was rather bashful. He was 
 tall and not very graceful in gait but on the first day of his 
 attendance at school I recognized the existence of a gigantic 
 brain within the head of that young man. He would master 
 the most extraordinary tasks with the greatest ease when once 
 determined upon doing so. Mr. Smith has been district judge 
 in Montana for several years and is one of the most popular 
 men in the West and a polished gentleman. In his boyhood 
 days Mr. Smith had a masterful way of analyzing a subject or 
 problem. I used to state propositions to him purposely to 
 observe his method of thought. He had somehow an intuitive 
 way of getting at facts and when once a fact became indisputable 
 he seemed to see at a glance every line of thought leading to 
 that fact. 
 
 Walter Nickerson paid his whole attention to his books and 
 made excellent progress. I always enjoyed the company of Mr. 
 Nickerson. His kindly disposition and genial smile made many 
 friends. He is now a man of affairs in Houlton. At the school 
 at that time was a sweet-faced young lady that won her way to 
 my heart at once. She was an excellent scholar and a lady. 
 She later became Mrs. Walter A. Nickerson. She died last 
 fall and I cannot write her name but with moistened eye, and 
 while I remember my sweet mother, shall I remember Clara 
 Tracy Nickerson. 
 
 And Dr. Nickerson was there too. He was just as fond 
 of hunting as now, and, if I remember rightly, I had to hunt for 
 him sometimes, but he always turned up smiling. 
 
 W. E. Parsons was a student at the Academy a short time. 
 He is now a lawyer in Foxcroft with an extensive practice. He 
 was senator from Piscataquis county a few years ago. Mr. 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 153 
 
 Parsons is regarded as a very eloquent speaker. He has been 
 one of the leading politicians of the county for some years. Mr. 
 Parsons will undoubtedly be heard of hereafter in a broader 
 field of politics. 
 
 Amos Putnam was never in a hurry, but he always had his 
 lessons prepared. I always liked the boy. He was fitted for 
 college but did not go. I think it was a mistake. 
 
 Arba Powers, the author, comedian, and the "and so forth" 
 man, was what teachers sometimes call a "case." One day he, 
 without the slightest warning, burst out in a hearty laugh. I 
 asked him what the matter was and he replied. "I read a funny 
 story, last night, and just saw the point." 
 
 I remember John Harrigan and his sister with pleasant 
 reminiscences. They were both bright and industrious. She 
 is now the wife of Mr. Benjamin Feeley, an officer in the custom 
 house. 
 
 C. P. Barnes was a good student and excelled in Latin. 
 I always like the boy for the talent he showed, and for the fun 
 that he enjoyed, at times. Charles is a lawyer and is a success. 
 He certainly had the ability to be. He is now county attorney 
 of Oxford county. 
 
 William Braden, I remember as a ladies' man but he was 
 faithful in his work and methodical in every particular. His 
 examples were put on the blackboard with perfect precision. 
 Mr. Braden, I understand, is still discussing the old question — 
 to marry or not to marry. 
 
 E. E. Churchill known as "Foley" was the boy that on 
 examination day, when he was explaining the affinity of the 
 magnet, placed it upon my gold watch lying upon the table and 
 said "It has no attraction for brass." Mr. Churchill has pros- 
 pered in financial matters and is at present keeping a first-class 
 hotel in Presque Isle. 
 
 No record of Houlton Academy would be complete without 
 a recognition of Colonel F. M. Flemming of Missouri. The 
 Colonel was a good scholar and has made his mark in the West 
 
154 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 as a Democratic politician. The Colonel is extensively employed 
 in financial matters and civic problems in Kansas City. He was 
 a candidate for senator last November, but he and Parker went 
 down together in the political landslide. I remember the 
 Colonel had a very pretty sister, now living in the West. 
 
 Poor Mark White, a very bright boy, he sleeps in an early 
 grave. He spent an evening with us at Caribou. By chance 
 there were present four or five of the old girls and boys. Do 
 the best we could, there seemed to be a pall of sadness hanging 
 over us that evening. Mark was very silent and sad. Within 
 a week he was dead with the typhoid fever. 
 
 Teague, Cottle and Gorham were all good boys, and went to 
 college after I left Houlton. Teague was a very busy boy and 
 had good ability. He married an admirable young lady, also a 
 student of Houlton Academy, and is now a prominent teacher. 
 
 Bradbury Cottle, after graduation, was admitted to the bar 
 and practiced in Bangor with success, but soon ill health com- 
 pelled him to retire, and soon after he joined the "silent major- 
 ity." Mr. Cottle's name reminds me that I had more students 
 from Deacon Cottle's family than from any other one family. 
 George Cottle was one of my most esteemed pupils, and he is 
 just the same man today he promised to be in those days. Six 
 members of the family attended the Academy, all of whom I 
 remember with pleasure. 
 
 George A. Gorham, Jr., is a lawyer in Houlton, and has 
 extensive business relations. He was a fine declaimer and good 
 Latin scholar. He was always a good fellow and merits the 
 success that has come to him. We enjoyed many social chats 
 at his father's house. 
 
 James Dougherty was a very industrious pupil and won his 
 way into my soul the first term. He was a good scholar and 
 popular among the pupils. Mr. Dougherty graduated from 
 college and studied law, and is, at this time, a very successful 
 practitioner in Springfield, Mass. He married Miss Hattie 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 155 
 
 Madigan, a most admirable young lady, for whom I had the 
 highest regard. 
 
 Thomas, a brother of James, attended Houlton Academy a 
 few terms, and is now a rising practitioner in law in Houlton. 
 
 W. T. Spear was a very active young man, and a firm 
 believer in the unterrified Democracy. He is doing a good 
 business at Fort Fairfield. The irrepressible George Welch 
 still appears before my wondering eyes. From Fort Fairfield 
 came George Cary. Mr. Cary was a lovable young man with 
 great ability. He made rapid progress in his studies and was 
 very popular with pupils and teachers. He has become an 
 excellent man of business and has amassed a fortune. George 
 always was one of the best fellows in the world. 
 
 Dr. Fred White was very quiet, always in order and a good 
 scholar. He has built up a lucrative practice in the West. 
 
 T. C. White, also of Littleton, was a hard student and never 
 neglected his studies. He has long been a prominent clergy-man 
 in the Methodist church and is now stationed at Newport. I 
 very much enjoyed meeting him last summer and reviewing old 
 times. 
 
 But the list would include the whole catalogue should I 
 mention all the boys who have distinguished themselves. I feel 
 that I am warranted in claiming that no school in Maine in ten 
 years ever had so large a percentage of boys who became promi- 
 nent in practical life. Nearly every one came from families 
 comparatively poor and the boys had, to quite a degree, make 
 their own way. The relationship existing between these young 
 men and myself was peculiar. It was not that usually existing 
 between teacher and scholar, but rather it was the brotherhood 
 of men engaged in intellectual pursuits. The boys liked me and 
 I loved them all and was interested in all that concerned them. 
 The many family meetings we used to hold in the old Packard 
 house on Court street kept me young and permitted me to use 
 whatever influence I possessed to stimulate them to lofty ideals 
 and useful lives. It may not be that a single one was made hgfc- 
 
156 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 ter by my ministrations, but it is pleasant to meet them now 
 and receive the cordial greeting they ever accord to me. I love 
 to feel that my life had been so intimately connected with so 
 many men, and that I may be kindly remembered by them as a 
 teacher and friend who lost no opportunity to prove that friend- 
 ship by faithful work in their behalf. 
 
 I have only spoken of the young men, but what was said of 
 their superiority can be as truthfully asserted of the young 
 ladies. Most of them were young ladies of more than usuaj 
 mental capacity, and many were superior in all those graces 
 that made them lovely. There were some very fine singers 
 a<mong their number. The sweet voices of Lucia and Elloise 
 never failed to awaken most pleasureable emotions, and their 
 voices were but the index of character and soul. I shall never 
 forget sweet May Alexander, stately Jennie Betts, smiling Lydia 
 Clark. Patie Hussey was an exceedingly fine scholar in all 
 branches. She was an excellent teacher later, and is now the 
 wife of C. E. Williams, M. D., of Houlton. 
 
 Miss Carrie Miller was almost the first girl in the school 
 that said kind words to the strange teacher. I have never for- 
 gotten those words, nor the speaker. 
 
 Etta Braden I always associate with that inevitable Caesar 
 in her hand. I was very fond of her. She is now the wife of 
 M. M. Clark, clerk of courts and the mother to two college boys. 
 Jessie was pretty and bright and is married and lives in Phila- 
 delphia. I always liked Miss Lovejoy; she was so smart and 
 sunny. 
 
 How all those young ladies come trooping back to my mind, 
 as I renew the past, the early and the later ones, in sweet con- 
 fusion. Before my mind, at this moment appears a very pretty 
 girl, with pink cheeks that pinker grew whenever she blushed, 
 with light hair, and pretty blue eyes. She was very nice and 
 studied hard; but would sometimes give me a reproving look, 
 when I kept her reciting too long. I was very fond of her, but 
 used to like to tease her and make her blush. 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 1 57 
 
 The Madigan girls were among my finest pupils. They 
 were fine scholars and ladies, and are remembered with greatest 
 pleasure. 
 
 Miss Anna Barns attended the Academy for several terms, 
 and was a much-loved pupil. She also assisted me in the school. 
 I have always felt grateful to that young lady for her thought- 
 fulness. She helped and encouraged me infinitely more than 
 she ever knew. She is now the efficient librarian of the Cary 
 Library at Houlton. 
 
 Whenever I felt a little depressed and disheartened, one 
 look at the cheerful, smiling face of Carrie Hone of Littleton, 
 drove away every vestige of the blues. 
 
 I hope, if a large number of pupils never knew, on earth, 
 how much good their very presence did to the worried, anxious 
 teacher, they will know it in Heaven. 
 
 One of the young ladies that I always missed was Annie 
 Estey. She was a bright scholar and a very pleasant young 
 lady. One day, while I was absent from the room, Prof. Estes 
 was walking to and fro across the room and Annie was follow- 
 ing him with her eyes. He at length said : "Please do not 
 look at me, Miss Estey, I am a very bashful young man." She 
 smilingly replied: "I couldn't deprive myself of that pleasure 
 for anything." 
 
 Aggie McClain-Tabors cheerful smile and studious habits 
 always pleased me. She was a good scholar, and a fast friend 
 of myself and family. She now lives in Los Angeles, Cal. 
 
 Mrs. Sarah May-Packard boarded at our house and went to 
 school. She became an excellent teacher and has the respect of 
 all who know her. Alice Porter. Carrie Hogan and Miss Cas- 
 sidy, I remember as girls whom I always enjoyed. I do not 
 know why I always associate Luella Seeley and Abby Smith 
 together in thought, unless it be that they were both very brill- 
 iant scholars. Sweet Nutie Nye, whose face I could paint 
 today, left us in the very bloom of girlhood, promising so much ; 
 making all hearts sad. 
 
158 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 With much pleasure do I recall the Putnam girls. They 
 were all very bright and nice. I believe Chrisie and I used to 
 have a tete-a-tete after school sometimes but I liked the girl. 
 Cardie, I remember, assisted Father Pearley in his writing classes. 
 She is now the wife of Albert L. Putnam, a very prominent citi- 
 zen of Houlton, and the happy mother of three college boys and 
 a young lady at a seminary. One of whom has recently been 
 elected superintendent of schools. Hattie Bradford of Houl- 
 ton was just as nice, good-natured and sweet as she is now. 
 
 Ada Staples lived nearby our house and I saw much of 
 her. The more I knew her the more I esteemed her. 
 
 I remember, with great pleasure, Myra Seeley and her 
 sister Mamie. Mrs. Seeley-Donald was very studious and 
 orderly, and had an inspiring, musical laugh that still makes 
 her attractive. Mamie was much at our home, a playmate of 
 my daughter. Our home was made sad when the light went 
 out in that young life. 
 
 Hattie Mayo and May Stetson were fine students from 
 Hodgdon. 
 
 The Mulherrin girls were very fine scholars, and have made 
 fine teachers. Hannah in the old days showed great enthusi- 
 asm in whatever she undertook. She has lost none of it. 
 
 Mattie Nye was a favorite with me. Miss Clara Stimpson 
 was a fine mathematician and a very bright young lady in all 
 respects. 
 
 Estella Newhouse was one of the very nice young ladies 
 whom I especially liked. She has become very proficient in 
 music, and spends much time in Boston. 
 
 I used to think, if the Creator should put a model young 
 lady into a school, to show what a pupil may be, that her name 
 would appear on the record book — Belle Lovejoy. I still think 
 so. Every lesson was perfect, and every act that of a lady. 
 
 Five young men assisted me while teaching there. The 
 first was C. E. Williams, of whom I have spoken. Mr. Libby 
 was with me a short time, and was a fine young man and good 
 
HOULTON ACADEMY 1 59 
 
 teacher. He died some years ago. W. W. Mayo taught a 
 year with success. Mr. Mayo is a fine mathematician. He has 
 taught in several prominent schools since, and is now teaching at 
 Hodgdon. 
 
 Frank Bullard was a fine scholar and very enthusiastic in 
 his work. He went to Germany and studied medicine, and is 
 now a physician of great note in Los Angeles, California. Mr. 
 Bullard has invented several instruments for surgical purposes, 
 which have come into general use. Mr. Bullard's wife is also 
 a physician of extensive practice. 
 
 Dr. Estes assisted me one year. He afterwards attended 
 John Hopkins University and is now a teacher in Erasmus Hall, 
 Brooklyn. 
 
 These young men were all Colby graduates and excellent 
 scholars. I have been very fortunate in the assistants who 
 worked with me. I never had but one with whom I had the 
 least disagreement. 
 
 Several young ladies assisted me in surbordinate positions 
 during those ten years. Lucia Rose Madigan was always ready 
 to hear a class on call. Miss Lucia was an excellent scholar 
 and the best elocutionist in school. There was a charm in her 
 voice never equalled by any I ever heard, and it still delights 
 her many friends. I can never repay that lady for her kind- 
 ness to me. Elloise Bagley Ludwig was teacher of the primary 
 department. Happy herself, and throwing sunbeams all around 
 her, Elloise was very useful to me, and was duly appreciated. 
 Her kindnesses then and oftimes since have planted roses in my 
 pathway, whose perfume is a continuous delight. 
 
 Winnie Madigan taught French one term, as did Miss 
 Emma Tenny. Both were very efficient teachers, and ladies. 
 
 Mrs. Annie Bradbury taught painting for a year or two and 
 thoroughly understood her business. She was an educated and 
 admirable lady. Her son James was an industrious student. 
 Beecher Putnam assisted in mathematics one term very 
 acceptably. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 PRESQUE ISLE. 
 
 From Houlton I went to Presque Isle to teach in the St. 
 John's school. This school was founded by Bishop Neely. It 
 was a day and boarding school. There were about one hun- 
 dred pupils. There was a head master and I was selected 
 master. There were a classical and English course of study. 
 It was my duty to teach Latin, Greek and the sciences. Another 
 duty did not please me, I was obliged to sleep in a sort of attic, 
 where small bedrooms had been partitioned off for the boys. 
 There were seventeen boys and myself in that low, badly venti- 
 lated attic. There were many very interesting pupils in that 
 school, some of whom have become quite prominent in the 
 political and financial world. 
 
 At the middle of the winter term the head master resigned 
 and I became head master. Mr. James Vroom of St. Stephens, 
 N. B., was called to be my associate. Mr. Vroom was a cul- 
 tured man, of great erudition, of keen inceptive powers and high 
 moral conceptions. His coming was a great relief to me. The 
 school session was opened each morning by the ceremonies of 
 the Episcopal church. This was all new to me, the blunders I 
 made would make a churchman writhe in agony. I remember 
 one morning I asked the choir to sing a certain hymn com- 
 pletely through. The singers sang the whole hymn with a quiet 
 smile lurking around the mouth. That hymn celebrated the 
 glory of every saint in the calendar and one of the teachers 
 asked me if I thought it was All Saints' day. 
 
PRESQUE ISLE l6l 
 
 I was engaged to teach the next year but circumstances 
 arose that made this impossible and I went to Caribou. The 
 school through poor management and incompetent teachers 
 rapidly declined and at last ceased to exist. The buildings are 
 now occupied by a Normal school. "Of all sad words of lip or 
 pen. the saddest are these ; it might have been." I remember 
 many pupils of that school with much pleasure. The pleasant 
 smile of Miss Johnson, the music teacher, was refreshing; the 
 methodical accuracy of Miss Noland, another teacher, was 
 praiseworthy : the quiet after-hour talks with Mr. Vroom I 
 shall never forget. Mr. Vroom occupies a prominent govern- 
 ment position at the present time in the educational field of 
 New Brunswick. 
 
 Can I ever forget Harry Haynes of Bangor? He was not 
 a bad boy. but full of fun. One night he came in late and I 
 brought him up next morning before the head master, who 
 inquired in sharp tones, "Where were you last night?" "At the 
 hotel," replied Haynes. "What were you doing there?" "Sing- 
 ing." "What did you sing?" was the last question. Haynes 
 with childlike innocence beaming from every square inch of his 
 chubby face replied with a drawl, "Oh we sang 'Where is my 
 wandering boy to-night.' ' Duty elsewhere immediately called 
 me from the room. Harry is now a business man connected 
 with a hardware firm in Bangor. 
 
 A. W. Dudley, another boy who had been a pupil at Houl- 
 ton, the year before, was an excellent scholar, faithful and 
 studious. He graduated from Harvard and is now a very suc- 
 cessful practitioner in Cambridge. 
 
 Roy F. Bartlett of Caribou, was a very lovable boy, whom 
 I came to know so well, and of whom mention will be made here- 
 after. 
 
 A. J. Taylor of Caribou, was a fine scholar and has become 
 a very prosperous man of affairs. 
 
 Dr. Edgar Sincock of Caribou, was an excellent pupil, 
 ii 
 
1 62 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 never wasting any time, and is a very successful physician and 
 business man of Caribou. 
 
 Newman Doyle also of Caribou, was a sort of chum of 
 mine. He and I settled many political and theological ques- 
 tions that winter. He is one of the wealthy farmers of Aroos- 
 took. 
 
 Joel Beal, now an enterprising lawyer in Lewiston, always 
 wore a smile of good nature, and Fred Whitney faithfully 
 labored over the Anabasis. Fred now graces the legal frater- 
 nity. 
 
 I remember with much pleasure pretty Lou Pratt as the 
 girl that gave such excellent translations of Virgil. Miss Pratt 
 would have been a successful literary character had she devoted 
 herself to it. 
 
 Miss Lottie Jenks was also a fine scholar in Latin. The 
 tall, fun-loving How boys were fine mathematical scholars, as 
 was Allie Herdison and Miss Cleaves. 
 
 W. B. Hall was a good scholar and singer as well. Mr. 
 Hall is a successful lawyer at Caribou. Med Hayford I 
 remember as the best natured boy in the school, and Charles 
 Phair as the most dignified. 
 
 Philip Phair, a very studious boy, is now in Washington, 
 D. C. Charles Rolfe is getting rich in Maysville, managing a 
 large farm. 
 
 One can see by glancing at this list that few schools contain 
 so many pupils who become prominent in after life, in so few 
 years. Many of the young ladies became teachers and made a 
 success of life in that line and are now happily married. 
 
 Presque Isle is a very pleasant town in which to reside. 
 There are many educated and refined people there, whose 
 friendship I much enjoyed. The Hon. T. H. Phair, the "Starch 
 King," a gentleman and good fellow, showed me much kind- 
 ness, as did Col. Allen and Amasa Howe and many others. 
 There is a church in Presque Isle that stands upon a lot that 
 was given to the society by a gentleman who inserted in the 
 
PRESQUE ISLE 163 
 
 deed this proviso, "If ever hell-fire is preached in the church 
 edifice, this deed shall be null and void." 
 
 In that school at Presque Isle there was a rule that forbade 
 all intercourse between the sexes. No boy was allowed to speak 
 to a girl anywhere on the school grounds or within the building. 
 I remember one day Leon Howe sat in a seat with a young 
 lady when the head master came in and said some very sharp 
 words to him, closing with these words, "It is an insult to a 
 young lady to sit down beside her." Leon replied, "Oh they 
 like it all right.' 
 
 The question of co-education presented itself in a new 
 light at Presque Isle. Both sexes were in the school, both N 
 recited in the same classes but at recess, noon and after school 
 no one could even address another of the opposite sex. That 
 certainly was a bad arrangement. It led to many clandestine 
 meetings in doubtful places. When I became principal of the 
 school, I allowed unrestrained intercourse between the young 
 men and women in the schoolroom in my presence. The result 
 was there were no more secret meetings. If there be a mixed 
 school there must be a certain amount of social relations. There 
 can be no objection to this if there be proper regulations. The 
 result of observation proves quite conclusively that co-educa- 
 tion is the best under certain conditions. Small boys and girls 
 should go to school together. The boys need the little girls to 
 check them in their rougher sports and treatment of each other. 
 In my opinion, nothing but evil can come from collecting 
 together a score or more of small boys and allowing them to 
 direct their own sports and associations. They become rough, 
 cruel and unruly. Girls are kind, gentle and lovable. With 
 all these commendable traits they become jealous, nervous and 
 fault-finding when collected in masses. Allow these boys and 
 girls to associate together an hour a day, a great improvement 
 will appear in both sexes in a few days. But there comes a time 
 when these same boys and girls should be religiously separated 
 in school life. There should be no mixed school when the 
 
l^ THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 pupils are from ten to sixteen years of age. The boy at this 
 age has ceased to be a child and has not become a man. He is 
 restless, noisy and don't know what to do with himself. He 
 now for a time needs perhaps the rough and tumble experience 
 that his fellows give him. He must run and jump, box and 
 wrestle or he surely will get into mischief. He does not under- 
 stand why the girl that two years ago would run races with 
 him, climb trees and scuffle with him, will not do so now. He 
 cannot assimilate himself to her prim ways. She no longer has 
 any influence for good over him, and he is an injury to her. Of 
 course, I am speaking of the real boy. That cyclone of human- 
 ity that will skate all day and half of the night and sleep till 
 noon on the morrow, who can handle a gun like a veteran and 
 fish till the brooks are dry, who never sees a new boy without 
 desiring to wrestle with or fight him ; that generous, tempest- 
 uous makeup, saucy and irreverent specimen of genus homo that 
 can illy brook any authority or be influenced by gentle means. 
 With hands in his pockets, hat on one side, with almost defiant 
 mien he strides over mother earth with but one idea, to make 
 all the noise he can and have some fun. His pleasures are 
 almost wholly of the physical order. That's the boy that will 
 one day stride into the governor's chair or gracefully sit behind 
 the Senatorial desk. 
 
 "God bless the unspoiled boy of fourteen. Prince thou art, 
 the grown up man only is republican." 
 
 There is but one really counteracting influence that can 
 very much shape that young adventurer's career — the undying 
 influence of a discreet mother. Father just now is not a factor. 
 He has become the "old man" but at no time in his life does the 
 boy love his mother as at the age mentioned. His older sisters 
 don't want the awkard fellow near them at all. Father frets 
 over his disastrous attempts to do any thing just right. His 
 hands and feet are always in his own way, but mother takes him 
 to her heart and excuses all blunders, lets him sleep mornings 
 to his heart's content, and her he loves. Then let that boy 
 receive his education in those years from the mother that bore 
 
PRESQUE ISLE 165 
 
 him, from the attrition received from his boy associates, control- 
 ling discipline of a wise, conscientious, boy-loving' teacher. 
 
 Of the effeminate boy I say nothing; the boy that never 
 whoops and turns somersaults, who at twelve and thirteen 
 wants to be a Beau Brummel, who would make a dudish gallant 
 of himself, and begins to play the sweetheart, of that boy I have 
 no hopes. Better dress him like Achilles in female attire and 
 give him a female doll to caress. 
 
 At sixteen or seventeen the boys and girls should be 
 brought together again at school. Manhood has settled down 
 upon the erstwhile boy, not in full degree, but sufficient to 
 change his whole nature. The mental, the ethical begin to dis- 
 place physical pleasures. The young man now sees attractive 
 qualities in his old associates. He seeks her society, but not in 
 its old way. He wishes to appear at his best in her presence, 
 he will sacrifice something for her benefit. He is pleased when 
 she smiles upon him and unhappy when she frowns. Her nice, 
 ladylike ways leads him to be gentle, courteous and well-man- 
 nered. Tn fine, the associations are altogether happy to him as 
 long as the platonic relation exists. The young lady needs his 
 influence as well. By conversing with him she enters a broader 
 field of thought than girls are inclined to occupy. Through 
 the association mentioned, she becomes more self-reliant. In 
 teaching him by example, she becomes more confirmed in her 
 rules of right and propriety. She learns that certain qualities 
 must be exhibited to attract him and those she assumes. Thus, 
 they help each other develop and educate the opposite sex. 
 
 The optimistic views of these last two gentlemen were a 
 great help to me. If Mr. Howe should wake up some morning 
 on a desert isle in the Arctic ocean, he would go to cutting ice 
 before breakfast for some southern market. 
 
 I remember with gratitude the kindness of Deacon Wilkins, 
 Harry Thayer, Mr. Pipes, Mr. Jenks and many others. 
 
 Of course I knew the Rev. Mr. Parks. Who didn't? He 
 
166 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 is still alive or I should have written a long obituary in these 
 papers. If I survive him I shall take occasion to do so. 
 
 Whatever Presque Isle starts in to do is done with impetu- 
 ous vigor. While I was teaching there a bachelor one day 
 seemed to have conceived the idea of taking to himself a wife. 
 He proceeded to immediately interview a young lady about the 
 matter. He evidently negotiated in the right quarter. For a 
 month his place of business knew him but little, then they were 
 married and "have lived happily ever since." That was busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Presque Isle in the very beginning of its existence became 
 very much interested in education, and very soon an academy 
 was established there. The funds of the academy were, in 1885, 
 turned over to the St. John's Classical School, with the arrange- 
 ment that this school should serve the double purpose of academy 
 and boarding school. The St. John's School ceased to satisfy 
 the needs of the town after a few years, and the town built a 
 fine High School building and have since maintained a High 
 School of superior rank. Some four years ago those enter- 
 prising people decided to have a Normal School at Presque Isle. 
 To determine was to do. The Legislature granted the charter 
 and the school was started. Last winter a large sum was voted 
 to build a dormitory. The school is in a very flourishing condi- 
 tion. 
 
 An incident occurred near Presque Isle some thirty or more 
 years ago that was new to Maine. There was a man working 
 around town who had become a public nuisance. He broke 
 into David Dudley's store one night and stole some articles. 
 The deputy sheriff, Granville Hayden, with a Boston commercial 
 man went to a camp in Mapleton to arrest the burglar. They found 
 him in a camp, arrested him and allowed him to sleep that night 
 with them in the camp. In the night that brute arose, seized 
 an axe, and killed the two men. A posse arrested him the next 
 day and toward evening started for Presque Isle. On the way 
 a crowd of people met the posse, took the man from the sleigh 
 
P RES QUE ISLE i6> 
 
 and hanged him to a limb of a tree. I visited his grave while 
 in town, and could but feel that justice had been done if I did 
 not quite agree with the method of procedure. 
 
 For a few months I was editor of a paper. I found the 
 position required more labor and brains than I had thought. I 
 liked the work and desired to continue in it, but circumstances 
 were not favorable. I do feel that the editor of a country news- 
 paper holds a very responsible position in the community, and 
 can do a large amount of good — or evil. A paper placed every 
 week in the hands of the young does to a large degree shape 
 their thought. Many an editor, could he but know that his 
 weekly utterances had done more than father or mother in 
 moulding the character of the boy reader, would be more care- 
 ful in his utterances. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CARIBOU. 
 
 From Presque Isle I went to Caribou. The establishment 
 of that school illustrates the energy and determination of the 
 hustling citizens of that wide-awake town. 
 
 I received a letter one day from Caribou asking if I would 
 go to that town to teach. I replied that they had no house, no 
 funds, no organization. The next day Mr. Bartlett appeared 
 with a paper signed by six responsible citizens guaranteeing me 
 One Thousand Dollars for a year's work. I agreed to gp. 
 This was the first of August. Mr. Bartlett, C. B. Roberts, Mr. 
 Taylor and others went to work to get things ready for a High 
 School. They rented an unoccupied store, had some seats 
 manufactured, black-boards made and all other necessary appara- 
 tus. Then a paper was circulated among the citizens who sub- 
 scribed twenty-five dollars apiece for the support of a school. 
 In this way two hundred and fifty dollars were raised ; next a 
 meeting of the voters of the district was called and the same 
 amount was voted, which entitled the district to receive two 
 hundred fifty dollars from the State. The remaining two 
 hundred fifty was to be met by tuitions. All this was done 
 within a month. On September first I appeared at Caribou 
 and commenced the school. There were nearly a hundred 
 scholars the first day. Among them were seven who had been 
 pupils at Presque Isle. The task of classifying that heterogen- 
 eous mass into distinct classes was no light task. There was 
 lots of hard work required in the first term. The room was too 
 small, the ventilation very bad and the light insufficient. In 
 
CARIBOU 169 
 
 one part of the room where molasses had been sold the floor 
 was still sticky, and when the room was hot there was a tend- 
 ency toward a fixedness of position that prevented rapid pro- 
 gression. In another corner of the room there still remained 
 the unpleasant odor of kerosene. I sat the red-headed boy as 
 far from that corner as possible. Over my table the plastering 
 was loose and occasionally a piece would become detached and 
 fall upon my head. That pleased the scholars but did not 
 improve my good humor. The Grange would every week hold 
 a session in the room above the schoolroom, which disturbed us 
 not a little. The pupils were fine and well advanced in their 
 studies. I taught Latin. Greek, French. Algebra, Trigonome- 
 try, Chemistry and many other branches. Among those pupils 
 were many who have become prominent in educational and 
 business lines. There were several from other towns. New 
 Sweden sent the largest number. During the ten years stay in 
 Caribou there were always some pupils from New Sweden in 
 the school. 
 
 Among the students from New Sweden was John Hedman. 
 This young man showed, at once, superior ability and an untir- 
 ing industry. He made great progress in his studies, and soon 
 conceived the idea of fitting for college. This he did and 
 entered Colby, from which college he graduated at the head of 
 the class. He was elected instructor, in the following year, 
 and, upon the next year, was elected professor in the same insti- 
 tution, and given leave of absence for a year's study in Europe. 
 Mr. Headman attended that famous school in Paris at which 
 students from all the world attend. 
 
 In a class of six hundred, Mr. H. stood second in the class. 
 Mr. Hedman has been invited to Harvard but feels it a duty to 
 remain at Colby. Mr. Hedman has a brilliant future awaiting 
 him. I know of no young man his superior in the department 
 which he so acceptably fills. I esteem myself very fortunate 
 in having been his instructor and friend in his younger days. 
 
 S. P. Hedman, lohn Learson. Washington Wiren. John 
 
i;o 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Nelson and John Oliemlbaum all went to college and were young 
 men of real merit and fine scholarship. Mr. Wiren is superin- 
 tendent of schools in a city in the Philippine Islands. 
 
 The history of New Sweden is an interesting one. In 
 1875, under the direction of Minister Thomas, a colony of 
 Swedes came to Aroostook and were allotted a township of 
 land belonging to the State. They were to pay for the land 
 principally by building roads. 
 
 At first they built log houses and commenced to fell trees, 
 and by patient labor at length became possessors of valuable 
 farms. Then they replaced the log houses by frame ones and 
 began to make the interior attractive. A person riding through 
 that town today can hardly realize that ony a few years ago an 
 unbroken forest stood where many elegant farm buildings now 
 stand and where three church edifices invite religious worship. 
 There is a large Lutheran church, an artistic commodious Bap- 
 tist church and a very large Free church. These churches are 
 filled Sundays with an intelligent audience. Almost every 
 house has an organ or piano in it, and the town also boasts a 
 brass band. I have never known a people more anxious to 
 educate their children. The parents would hire a room or two 
 at Caribou, bring sufficient furniture and house-keeping sup- 
 plies and weekly bring out some food for the student. The 
 boys would use this food and also cook potatoes, meat and cof- 
 fee for themselves. Nearly all the pupils from that town were 
 superior scholars. 
 
 The school at Caribou was supported the first year in the 
 manner described. At the next town meeting the school was 
 adopted by the district and one thousand dollars raised to 
 support a High school. Tuition was paid by the scholars from 
 other districts. As the number of the scholars increased it soon 
 was found necessary to provide an assistant teacher. Miss 
 Godwin, a Normal graduate was secured. The next two years 
 Miss Grace E. Knowlton very ably assisted me in school work. 
 In the meantime C. B. Roberts and mvself bought a lot of land 
 
CARIBOU l7l 
 
 where the High School buildin? now stands. Tnis lot we sold 
 to the district at the same price. A house was erected costing- 
 some fourteen thousand dollars. This house had the best 
 ventilation of any school I ever occupied. When the law was 
 enacted abolishing school districts, the town assumed the house 
 and re-imbursed the district. I challenge the State to produce 
 an instance where one school district ever eoualled action like 
 that. And the town, too, at the time it assumed that school- 
 house debt, was putting in water works, and building a twenty 
 thousand dollar steel bridge. Caribou has always been an 
 enterprising town. No misfortunes discourage the people, and 
 no prosperity spoils them. When the last census was taken 
 Caribou had about six thousand inhabitants. There are five 
 churches, a Masonic Lodge, Odd Fellows Lodge, Grange and 
 other societies. There are two banks and many stores finely 
 arranged and fully stocked. Six or seven lawyers are flourish- 
 ing on the sins of the inhabitants of the adjoining towns, and five 
 doctors do miracles in the way of healing. There is but one 
 undertaker and he is mostly supnorted by his farm. 
 
 I occupied the new house six years. Miss Webber was the 
 next assistant, a fine teacher. In the meantime Miss Christie 
 Miller and Miss Elva Roberts were sub-assistants. Finally 
 Miss Roberts became the regular assistant. She remained in 
 the school as long as I did. Miss Roberts graduated from the 
 High School and went to Waterville and graduated from the 
 Coburn Classical School. She was a fine scholar, apt to teach, 
 tactful, faithful and a lady. No one could fill the position she 
 graced better than she. Miss Roberts married C. F. Ross, one 
 of the prominent business men of Caribou, and is now the 
 mother of three most interesting children. She is the same 
 lovely woman, diffusing sunshine wherever her presence is. 
 Long may she and her good man enjoy their happv life. 
 
 That school became a part, a very large part of my life. 
 There were very many most enjoyable pupils, — some verv 
 talented and very few disagreeable ones. We had an advanced 
 course of study and regular graduations. 
 
172 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Among the earlier pupils was Herbert Hackett of Wood- 
 land, — a good boy who afterwards enlisted in the army during 
 the Cuban war and died in the service. Peace to his ashes. 
 
 W. S. Webb was one of the first pupils. He afterwards 
 graduated at Orono and taught for some years at Houlton, and 
 was later superintendent of schools at Caribou. Roy Bartlett, 
 A. J. Taylor, Allie Hardison, Newman Doyle, John S. Spauld- 
 ing, and W. S. Webb were students of mine at Presque Isle 
 and the school consequently did not seem entirely like a strange 
 one. It was through their influence and their parents that I 
 received a "call" to Caribou. It has been my singular fortune 
 to teach but two or three schools for which I applied. All the 
 rest have applied to me. I have sought for positions, not many, 
 which I have not obtained, but to the schools where I have 
 taught I have been called. 
 
 W T hen I first thought of teaching I suggested to another 
 boy a little older than I that we start out together to get a school. 
 So Frank Parsons and I started forth on a mission, that has not 
 yet terminated. We drove up to the town of Parkman and 
 interviewed each agent in regular order. Frank, as he was 
 older, had the first bid ; his inexperience barred him out. It was 
 my turn next. I met my agent in the road. He was a large, 
 fat man and stuttered spasmodically. When I told him my age 
 he refused to engage my services, and raising himself upon tip- 
 toe and with mouth twisted into inconceivable shapes, with eyes 
 wildly rolling, with right hand frantically waving and left foot 
 digging holes in the roadbed, he stuttered "n-n-nooo, the-th-they 
 are ug-ug-lv as h-h-h — 11. I was afterward very glad that I 
 did not attempt that school. Some big girls attacked the teacher 
 the next term and drove him from the house minus hat and 
 coat. One never knows how many evils they narrowly escape. 
 A telegram took me to Houlton and the schools at Foxcroft and 
 Monson Academy were voluntarily offered me. 
 
 The first graduates from Caribou High School were New- 
 man Doyle and W. E. Sincock, of whom I spoke in the Presque 
 
CARIBOU 
 
 i/3 
 
 Isle article. That was in 1887. The next year Roy F. Bart- 
 lett, A. H. Hardison and W. S. Webb graduated. Mr. Har- 
 dison is now a civil engineer in California. 
 
 The next class consisted of thirteen, two of whom now 
 sleep in the beautiful evergreen cemetery at Caribou, — sweet 
 Gertie Briggs and noble Vernon Hall. Miss Garden is teach- 
 ing the Grammar School at Caribou very successfully, and 
 Alice Shaw is also a well-known teacher. The rest of the class 
 drew tickets in the matrimonial lottery, and were generally 
 fortunate I should judge. 
 
 Among the earlier pupils who did not graduate was John S. 
 Spaulding. John was a free-hearted, companionable boy, the 
 soul of the social life in town. Always ready to help and sup- 
 port everything that made the town better. His premature 
 death caused many tears to flow among all classes that knew 
 him. 
 
 Thomas C. Tooker was another boy who early showed super- 
 ior ability in scholarship. He fitted for college, and graduated 
 with honor. Mr. Tooker won much praise also by his musical 
 abilitv. He is now a well-known teacher in southern Maine. 
 
 The Lafferty boys were good boys and studied well. Russ 
 attended strictly to business, and showed great good taste in 
 the selection of a wife later on. The Gammon girls were good 
 scholars and fine singers. Sampson was studious and good in 
 figures, and married pretty Gertie Campbell, a favorite pupil 
 of mine. 
 
 Eva Ross was always very nice, and smart, and Idella 
 Holmes never lost her good humor. The Briggs girls and boys 
 will never be forgotten by the teacher of that day. Josie was 
 sparkling and Grace Shaw would never get tired. Sweet Myr- 
 tie Small won her way to my heart the first hour ; and Myrtie 
 Todd was near perfection. 
 
 W. H. Fisher was a very diligent pupil and rapidly 
 advanced. After leaving school he read law and commenced 
 to practice at Augusta. Mr. Fisher has been very successful in 
 the profession of law, and is now in Europe on a pleasure trip. 
 
174 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 One day there appeared in school a bright eyed girl about 
 15 years old, who attracted my attention at once by the accurate 
 manner in which she recited. She told me her name was Chris- 
 tine Miller. She attended school some four years, fitted for 
 college and was a student at Colby two years. She was what I 
 call an intuitive scholar. Her lessons seemed to evolve from 
 her mind. She is at present one of the teachers in the Caribou 
 High school, and deserves and receives great credit for her 
 work. 
 
 I have alluded to Roy F. Bartlett. That young man 
 attracted my attention at Presque Isle at once, and my interest in 
 him increased the more I knew him. I saw much of him at 
 Caribou and learned to love him. His whole soul was the ideal 
 that young men might follow. His intellectual faculties were 
 of a very high order. His reasoning powers were extraordi- 
 nary. A keener sense of honor I never knew in any boy. When 
 life seemed so glorious, when prospects so brilliant, when 
 friends so hopeful — at that hour he faded from life, and left so 
 many hearts sad, and caused a whole community to weep. 
 Rare, lovable, brilliant Roy F. Bartlett, he will never lack a 
 mourner while this hand can wield a pen or my heart beat. 
 
 The Hardison girls were always busy at something good, 
 and have been very successful in their vocations in life. John 
 Gordon, Richard Gardner, A. W. Spaulding were all good boys 
 and are today prominent in business affairs and many others 
 I might recall. Not one is forgotton. Louis Stearns was a 
 fine looking boy and bright. He graduated at Colby and is now 
 reading law. John and Sarah Roberts, Dana Therrieult went to 
 college. They were all fine scholars. Mr. Spaulding has been 
 on the Governor's staff. Mr. Therrieult is a promising lawyer. 
 John Nelson is a good lawyer and first-class fellow every way. 
 John Roberts and Louis Stearns I am sure will do honor to 
 Caribou High in a successful professional career. 
 
 So many more I could mention with pleasure did space 
 permit. 
 
CARIBOU 175 
 
 Madge Goud was a fine Latin scholar. She attended a 
 Normal and Commercial School after graduating from Caribou 
 and has had fine positions in the bank and business houses. 
 
 I remember, with pleasure, the sweet voice voice and cheery 
 smile of Grace Stratton. Grace, somehow, seemed to me as my 
 own daughter. She is still studying and learning, and always 
 will be at something good and useful. 
 
 Hope Gardner, always bright and sparkling; Hannah, with 
 her pretty eyes ; Emma, the irrepressible ; Ray, on whose brow 
 was written success; Roy, the brilliant: Ethel, the thoughtful; 
 all those, and many more, in memory's glass appear in all the 
 freshness of the old days. 
 
 Poetic Bessie, and flirtatious Nellie, I would not forget. 
 Nor the Powers boys, who used to personate each other to avoid 
 declaiming. These boys had great dramatic ability. 
 
 The Gould boys were very popular and May Hitchings was 
 smart. 
 
 The Thomas girls were very bright and I remember them 
 with great pleasure. 
 
 During the years I taught at Caribou, three of the pupils 
 who had become very dear to me, left me for other scenes and 
 brighter skies. Brilliant, thoughtful, lovable Deasey Goud 
 sickened and died just when she was showing a wonderful intel- 
 lect, a heart full of love and purity, and grand aspirations. I 
 loved that young girl as my own, and shall never cease to do so. 
 Gertie Irving, so sweet, so lady-like, so faithful in every 
 duty ; I followed the hearse with the deepest emotion, that bore 
 her to her last resting place. I loved that little girl. 
 
 Ellen Anderson, a favorie with all, and beloved by the 
 teacher, passed from us at the very beginning of a life of great 
 promise. 
 
 "All my fears are laid aside" 
 
 "If I but remember only," 
 
 "Such as these have lived and died." 
 
176 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 They were all so nice, and smart. It was a lovable lot of 
 pupils. I also found many kind friends in Caribou. Many 
 families showed my family and myself great kindness. The 
 Getchells, the Bartletts, the Briggses, the Hardisons, and many 
 others. Caribou is a very enterprising town, and, in the com- 
 ing future will become a large commercial center of trade and 
 manufactories. 
 
 Dr. Thomas and family, during my stay at Caribou, and 
 since, have showed me great kindness and those favors will 
 never be forgotten. The young ladies and Charles were always 
 very kind to me. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 M ON SON ACADEMY. 
 
 In 1895, I returned to Monson and taught ten years. Many 
 of the pupils were the children of the old scholars. The school 
 was much smaller than when I taught there before, for one 
 especial reason. In the old days there were no High Schools, 
 so I had pupils from several towns. Now there are High 
 Schools in many towns, which fact must lessen the attendance 
 at the Academies. I enjoyed the school, however, and had 
 under my care some very bright scholars. Seven pupils entered 
 Colby during the ten years, and two entered Medical Colleges. 
 Mr. Larson graduated from the Medical School at Albany, 
 and Mr. Sampson is at Brunswick. Roth of these young men 
 will, I am sure, make a success of life. They have the ability, 
 and, what is more important, a desire to make something of 
 themselves. 
 
 Miss Bessie Jones was the only young lady who went to 
 college. Miss Jones is a fine scholar and a lovable young lady. 
 The boys now in college are all young men of talent, and will 
 doubtless graduate with honor. 
 
 My first assistant was Miss Agnes Powers. She had every 
 quality requisite for a good teacher. Miss Powers resigned at 
 the close of two years and attended a missionary school in 
 Chicago. Later she married Rev. Mr. Bishop and is now happy 
 in her work as a pastor's wife in Hodgdon. Miss Ethel W. 
 Knowlton was assistant for a year. Her teaching was perfect- 
 ly satisfactory. Miss Flora Gilbert was my last assistant. 
 
178 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 During the twenty years I was teaching in Aroostook, 
 Monson Academy sent two students to Bates College, neither of 
 whom graduated. In the seven years I taught that Institution, 
 eight entered Colby and Bowdoin. 
 
 I have always believed in a college education, provided cer- 
 tain things were true. An indispensable condition is a sufficient 
 mental capacity. I would advise no student to enter college 
 who has not a mental capacity to readily fit for college, and who 
 does not exhibit to the teacher that capacity. 
 
 Secondly, no student should go who is not willing to sacri- 
 fice something to attain a college education. He must be will- 
 ing, oftimes, to sacrifice the gratifications of many desires call- 
 ing for money. He must be willing to use time he would like 
 to devote to pleasure and friends. That one idea, — a college 
 education, — should be the absorbing, all-controlling purpose of 
 life. Of course, no one will understand that I would put that 
 purpose above any moral duty. As I see it, the first great duty 
 of every young person is to start on a Christian life. This 
 course entered upon, will naturally enlarge the desire for use- 
 fulness, naturally suggesting a college course as the best means 
 to prepare for that end. 
 
 During the ten years, we had two debates with other 
 schools. The first debate was with Guilford High School. 
 
 The speakers on our side were John Humphrey, Harry 
 Sampson, and Miss Stella Wheeler. These young people were 
 well fitted for the position. Mr. Humphrey was a fine scholar 
 and pleasant speaker. The logic of his argument was keen and 
 incisive. Mr. Humphrey entered college a year later, and made 
 a good record there until circumstances compelled him to with- 
 draw. 
 
 Mr. Sampson is a very energetic young man of high ability. 
 He is bound to succeed. He was a member of Bowdoin College 
 two years, and is now on the last year's course in the Medical 
 School. 
 
MONSON ACADEMY 179 
 
 Miss Wheeler is a very talented young lady, and a fine 
 speaker. 
 
 On the part of Guilford, Hugh Montgomery, Frank Loring 
 and Miss E. Rebecca Ellis were the speakers. I should cer- 
 tainly class these young people as far above the average in abil- 
 ity. Mr. Montgomery is, at present, reading law with J. S. 
 Williams, at Guilford. 
 
 Mr. Loring, after graduating at Guilford, went to Cali- 
 fornia. When he returned, he entered the University of Maine 
 and pursued a course in that institution. He is at present in 
 Parknian. 
 
 Miss Ellis showed in that debate that a brilliant future 
 awaited her. I was particularly pleased with the originality of 
 thought displayed, and the modest, lady-like appearance of 
 Miss Ellis on the platform. Miss Ellis graduated from the 
 High School and entered W'ellesley College, in 1900. She held 
 so high rank and showed such ability that she was elected 
 instructor of the Sciences of Astronomy and Physics in that 
 well-known institution and will be raised to a full professorship 
 the coming year. 
 
 The victory was with us in the debate, but I should say that 
 the Guilford pupils did not have a fair chance. The principal 
 of that school resigned just before the debate, and the new 
 principal, Mr. Snow, did not have proper time to attend to the 
 matter. 
 
 The second debate was with Foxcroft Academy. Harrv 
 Sampson, John Humphrey, and Miss Lillie Piper were the 
 debaters from Monson. Miss Piper won great praise, deserved- 
 ly, on that occasion. She is a very intellectual young ladv and a 
 well-known teacher. Of the other two I have already spoken. 
 
 Lester B. Howard, H. W. Cass, and Robert E. Hall were 
 the speakers for Foxcroft Academy. These young men showed 
 themselves then and since, as superior in mental caliber and 
 culture. 
 
!8o THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Mr. Howard is taking a course of instruction at the Uni- 
 versity of Maine. Mr. Cass, after spending two years at 
 Bowdoin College, entered a law school at Boston. Mr. Hall 
 entered Bowdoin and has always occupied a prominent position 
 there. His executive ability has been recognized all through 
 the course. He is a member of the Z. U. Fraternity ; was Vice 
 President of N. E. Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association ; Asso- 
 ciate Manager of 'Varsity Track Team ; and many other posi- 
 tions he has held. All that know Mr. Hall predict for him a 
 very successful career. 
 
 The contest was very close but the judges awarded us the 
 victory, though I imagine some of the Foxcroft people did not 
 coincide with the judges. 
 
 Such things are now out of date. Football has supplanted 
 all such things. The intellectual has had its day ; now muscle 
 is at a premium. Perhaps the day will come when each will 
 receive its due attention. 
 
 I should not be doing justice to my own feelings to close 
 my reminiscences of my last sojourn in Monson without men- 
 tioning the Banigan family. Mr. Banigan is a New York law- 
 yer of eminent ability. Overwork broke down his health some- 
 what and he came to Monson to rusticate. We became ac- 
 quainted by a magic wand, — the fishing rod. I found him a 
 most valuable acquaintance. His knowledge of the world was 
 very extensive, his reading universal and his good nature was 
 never ruffled. I never met a more perfect gentleman anywhere, 
 and never enjoyed a fishing companion more. If I ever feel 
 inclined to be critical in the choice of a companion it is in select- 
 ing a man to go fishing with. I could eat with, work with, 
 sleep with a man that I would utterly refuse to fish with. One 
 disagreeable fellow in a crowd of fishermen will spoil the whole 
 day's sport. I enjoyed also the pleasant society and hospitality 
 of Mrs. Banigan. Willie and Lou Banigan I most heartily 
 enjoyed. I hope I shall see them again. 
 
MONSON ACADEMY 181 
 
 It has been my good fortune to have known some very 
 pleasant fishermen. Clergymen, on the whole, are good men 
 to go fishing with. The most of those with whom I have fished 
 have been good fellows, and ready to do their part of the work. 
 I suppose I was wicked when once I rebuked a clergyman for 
 delay caused by a "season of prayer" after the boat was all ready. 
 When I asked him why he prayed just then, he said he was 
 praying that he might catch some fish. I thought he might 
 have included me or taken some other opportunity to pray. 
 
 I went out, one day. with a lot of strange clergymen, on 
 the lake, and among the number was a very sanctimonious min- 
 ister who could not bait his own hook. There was also aboard 
 the boat a professional fisherman. Just for fun, I addressed 
 him as "Brother G." The minister thought he belonged to the 
 "Cloth" and called him "Brother G." Brother T. lost his bait 
 and wanted G. to put on another so he presented G. with hook 
 and chub and said, "Brother G., will you adjust this chub to 
 my hook?" Just then G. hooked a trout and lost him and, 
 
 forgetting his surroundings, ejaculated very fervently : "D 
 
 that trout !" I happened to be looking at Brother T. The 
 dazed look that overspread his face was followed by one of 
 astonishment and when the full import of that word came to 
 him, the flash of indignation that came from his eyes fairly maue 
 the water sparkle. There he stood ; chub in one hand, hook in 
 the other, with both arms extended, for a full minute ; then his 
 spine assumed a very perpendicular direction and, swallowing 
 a big lump in his throat, he said in a hard, dry tone: "Mr. G. 
 will you hook this chub for me?" No more "Brother" for G. 
 that day. 
 
 E. R. Haynes, of Monson, is the most enthusiastic fisher- 
 man I ever met with, and a very companionable man for a fish- 
 ing trip. I think Mr. H. has a wheel-barrow load of fishing 
 tackle. 
 
 The recent graduates from the school at Monson were all 
 young people of good ability and are making a mark in the 
 
l% 2 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 world. Miss Steward, Miss Jackson, Miss Sears and Miss John- 
 son are well known teachers. Of Miss Piper and Miss Wheeler, 
 I have spoken in another place. Miss Grover taught for a time 
 and entered a business college. Miss Phillips taught a year and 
 entered a business college and is now in a printing office. Miss 
 Phillips will be a success anywhere. Miss Wilkins is at Bangor 
 in the training school and teaching. Miss Wilkins is a very 
 fine teacher in the primary schools. 
 
 The Jones boys, Oscar Peterson, William Sherburne and 
 Harvey Gilbert entered college. Ormon Steward was fitted 
 for college but did not go. He is a young man of superior 
 ability and an excellent teacher. 
 
 There were many bright scholars in the senior class when 
 my connection with the school closed. One of the most promis- 
 ing scholars I ever taught is Harry Riddle of that class. He will 
 enter college and some of the young ladies will go to Normal 
 school. 
 
 Frank Phillips of Shirley is a fine mathematician and a 
 first-class young man. I hope he will continue his course of 
 study at some higher institution. I am sure he would be a suc- 
 cess as an engineer. I received many kind favors from his 
 family and himself, while teaching at Shirley. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 SHIRLEY. BILL NYE. 
 
 One summer I desired to test some of the theories upon 
 which were founded some of the new methods of teaching, 
 so I engaged to teach a district school in the town of Shirley. 
 Shirley is a small town, bounded on the east by Douty Hill, 
 west by Squaw Mountain, north by Moosehead lake, and south 
 by the illimitable Universe. The town has some very nice people 
 in it, and I enjoyed the school very much. I drove up nine 
 miles each morning, and back that night. 
 
 Attending that school was a beautiful girl fourteen years 
 of age. She was a sweet and modest, lovable girl and I became 
 very well acquainted with her. as she rode a mile a day to school 
 with me. I taught her the names of the rocks and plants by 
 the roadside and discussed books and lots of things. A year 
 later, that lovely Pirl, her father and mother, were murdered 
 by the most brutal assassin the State of Maine ever knew. 
 
 Sweet Carrie Allen ! I can see her today, in all her modest 
 loveliness, as she rode by my side and talked about the future, 
 planning to get a good education and become a factor for good 
 in the world. No crime has ever seemed so horrible to me as 
 that one. All such things take a shading from our relation to 
 the victim. 
 
 At Shirley Mills there is a house somewhat famous. It 
 was the birthplace of Bill Nye. The house stands on the west 
 side of the Main street and is what is called a story and a half 
 house. It is in a good state of repair. Around the house some 
 old-fashioned flowers grow, giving the premises a cozy and 
 
1 84 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 pleasant appearance. In that house, in the west chamber, was 
 born William Nye. Mr. Nye was, for some years, recognized 
 as an original humorist. As long as Bill Nye wrote occasion- 
 ally, his writings were very readable and oft-times first-class — 
 but when he fell into the mistake that many others have made 
 and began to write by the yard, he became dull and uninterest- 
 ing. 
 
 But the man had real genius and many of his sayings and 
 pieces will survive the wreck of time. Perhaps no one of our 
 humorists has been more maligned than Bill Nye. For years 
 the report has been current that his early death was the result 
 of habits of intoxication. Recent investigation has proved con- 
 clusively that he was not an inebriate, that he used liquors spar- 
 ingly. That in his ideal home in North Carolina, he was a mod- 
 el husband and father. 
 
 References are sometimes made to his last appearance on 
 the stage at Patterson, when it was claimed he was intoxicated. 
 A friend of his has recently publicly declared that he was per- 
 fectly sober that night. The cause of his death was a shock 
 brought on by overwork. 
 
 Maine has produced many writers, wittv and humorous. 
 Some of these will live in history; others will be unknown to 
 another generation. Seba Smith wrote some very bright things ; 
 but only a few people remember him today. Seba Smith wrote 
 some very sarcastic witticisms which showed real genius. 
 
 No one has ever written an adequate definition of wit, or 
 humor. S. S. Cox tried to do so, some years ago, in a maga- 
 zine article ; but even he must have recognized his failure to 
 make the matter clear. I shall only gossip a little about the mat- 
 ter, in a desultory way. 
 
 Wit is purely a mental affair. It consists in the combina- 
 tion of thought in such a way as to produce surprise. The com- 
 bination is always unexpected. The commonplace attracts no 
 notice. It is the extraordinary that causes surprise. One may 
 walk through a forest for an hour without noticing any especial 
 
SHIRLEY. BILL NYE 185 
 
 tree, but a particularly crooked one, a remarkably tall one, in 
 fact, any one differing from the mass, attracts the attention. 
 Any unusual combination of trees of different kinds always re- 
 ceives notice. So, in mental matters, the unusual, the incongruous, 
 the exceptional, the strange, effects the mind in a peculiar way. 
 
 The human mind is so constituted that such combination 
 induces a pleasurable sensation, causing a visible play of the 
 muscles of the face, and the audible exhibition of laughter. No 
 one can tell why we laugh, except that we are made so. It 
 seems a little strange that we do laugh sometimes. For in- 
 stance, let a dignified gentleman come into an audience of 
 refined and educated ladies and gentlemen and accidentally 
 sit clown upon his silk hat; every one will smile, but why? It 
 was simply unexpected. 
 
 We are not universally a witty people. No nation has so 
 high sense of humor as our own people, — and no one has ever 
 produced more enjoyable humorists ; but most of those cannot 
 be called men of wit. 
 
 Artemus Ward was an admirable humorist, but no wit. 
 Mark Twain combines in himself the triune qualities of humor- 
 ist, satirist, and wit. I am inclined to think that the brightest 
 specimens of American wit are found among what is some- 
 times called "the Common People." Wit must be spontaneous. 
 It must come as an electric flash, called forth by a peculiar per- 
 ception of the condition of things. 
 
 Our forefathers, back in Revolutionary days, must have 
 possessed the quality to quite an eminent degree, according 
 to tradition. When the Council in Connecticut passed an edict 
 that a man should not kiss his own wife on Sunday, a young 
 Benedict asked: "Why! Whose wife then shall I kiss?" 
 Benjamin Franklin rather wittily obtained a grant from the 
 Ouaker Assembly of Pennsylvania for two thousand pounds 
 of wheat, and other grains. He purchased one pound of wheat, 
 and 1999 pounds of powder. Powder has grains, he explained 
 later. 
 
1 86 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 There have come down to us from those days but few 
 printed specimens of wit, but reasoning from analogy, we should 
 say that real wit was more abundant in those days than at the 
 present time. The camp, the wood, and the stern realities of 
 a strenuous life are conducive to the development of wit. — 
 Ease, wealth, a happy condition of things, is conducive to hu- 
 mor. 
 
 Matthew Byles was known in Boston as a witty man in 
 Revolutionary days. He was, at one time, anxious to marry a 
 beautiful woman ; but she married Josiah Quincy. When he 
 next met her he remarked, "Well, it seems you preferred Quinsy 
 to Byles." (Boils) There is a bit of a pun in the remark, I 
 admit, but right here I have a kindly word to say about the pun. 
 I know, of late, the pun has been somewhat under ban, but it 
 is coming back into favor again, and properly too. 
 
 Some of the brightest scintillations of wit I have ever heard 
 or read have been clothed in the garments of the pun. — To illus- 
 trate — when the poet said that, in tracing out the family line, 
 "Many an aristocratic family found it waxed at the other end," 
 and a very deaf old lady bought a trumpet, and, "The very next 
 day heard from her husband at Botany Bay." There are the 
 garments of the pun, but there is wit, nevertheless. 
 
 Just after the Revolution two eminent gentlemen were walk- 
 ing by Old South Church, which, at one time, was used as a 
 hospital. One of these men was a Unitarian clergyman. He 
 had formerly been an orthodox. The other gentleman re- 
 marked, as they passed by; "I was vaccinated in that church." 
 The other said : "I was baptized there." "Yes," the first re- 
 plied, "and it took in neither case." 
 
 The only production of Revolutionary days I have ever 
 read which claimed to be witty was written by the author of 
 "The Battle of the Keags," Francis Hopkinson. There are 
 flashes of wit in spots, at considerable intervals. 
 
 In the tragic days preceding the Civil War, when the 
 prophetic soul could almost hear the mutterings of the contend- 
 
SHIRLEY. BILL NYE 187 
 
 ing forces that later shook our national fabric to its foundations, 
 James Russel Lowell wrote pages of satire, from which flash 
 occasionally pure wit. "The Courtin" is full of wit. 
 
 "Zekle's heart went pit-a-pat" 
 "And hern went pity Zekle." 
 
 Our own John Neal wrote a few very witty things. Bob 
 Burdette is the prince of good fellows and humorists, but he 
 is occasionally witty. There is a man in New York, a Mr. 
 Landon (Eli Perkins) who thinks himself a wit, but I never 
 read him or hear him without thinking of a little verse I learned 
 when I was a child — 
 
 "Says Bill : "I really think I'll set up for a wit." 
 
 "Says Jim : "The best thing you can do is down again to sit." 
 
 Dr. Holmes wrote some very witty poetry, and said many 
 witty things in his lectures. John G. Saxe, of Vermont, was 
 
 witty man, though mostly in the way of puns. When he said 
 the fisherman, being a landsman, "couldn't keep the log" and 
 so fell into the water, he surprises us, and hence was witty. 
 
 During the Civil War, Patroleum V. Nasby wrote some 
 very local witty things. Josh Billings was witty. Mark Twain 
 has said many very witty sayings. When he found his friend in 
 Palestine, one hot day in July, watching a mud turtle very care- 
 fully for an hour, and discovered that he was waiting to hear 
 him sing, relying upon the text of Scripture which says: "The 
 voice of the turtle shall be heard in the land," we laugh, for we 
 know that the turtle dove is meant. When Mark wept over 
 the tomb of Adam because he was a relative ; "distant to be sure, 
 but none the less a relative," he was witty. 
 
 There have been brighter exhibitions of wit in the bar, the 
 pulpit and in Congress, than in any professedly witty publications. 
 
 1 heard a clergyman, at a camp-meeting at Charlestown, pray 
 for a young man who had made himself obnoxious ; and he 
 closed his prayer thus: "Now, Lord, we pray that thou wilt, 
 in the mightiness of thy power, take that young man and make 
 
1 88 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 his heart as free from sin as his head is from sense !" I think 
 he prayed for complete holiness. 
 
 That unmarried female preacher who asked the bachelor 
 bishop if St. Paul's exhortation : "Let the bishop be the husband 
 of one wife," wasn't mandatory, expressed a sort of heartfelt 
 wit. 
 
 John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, was one of the wittiest 
 men ever in Congress. It was said that he was the only man 
 that the duelist, Foote of Mississippi, was afraid of. It was his 
 wit, and not his pistol, that awed him. When Hale was told, 
 one day, by Foote, that a donkey passing in the street, was one 
 of his constituents, he replied : "O, yes, going down South to 
 teach school." Tom Carwin of Ohio, was a very witty man. 
 S. S. Cox of New York, was a buffoon generally, but occasion- 
 ally a wit. Tom Reed said a very witty but rather cruel thing 
 when he made that famous reply to a brother member. The 
 member said : "I had rather be right than be President." 
 Reed said : "You will never be either." 
 
 Wit is almost naturally cruel, but yet some of the brightest 
 flashes exhibit the kindliest heart. It seems unfortunate, at 
 first glance, that the great mass of witty sayings are lost. They 
 are never written, they flash forth in unexpected places, and at 
 all times, with no scribe to commemorate. Wit can never be 
 forced, can never be cultivated, except in kind. Cultivation 
 refines wit, but does not produce it. Wit has made a few men 
 famous, and has written the early epitaph of many an aspiring 
 politician. 
 
 Had James G. Blaine never called Conklin "a strutting 
 turkey-cock," he would have been president of the United States. 
 The New York senator's reply was equally fatal, when asked 
 to speak for Blaine. He said he had gone out of criminal prac- 
 tice. He could never be president after that speech. Zack 
 Chandler threw away his last chance for the Presidency when 
 he said that the Republican party, in stealing the Presidency 
 for Hayes, was only guilty of "petit larceny." And many other 
 
SHIRLEY. BILL NYE 189 
 
 witty, but fatal, sayings might be quoted which h->ve had an 
 undying influence upon private and public life. This has been 
 true in all nations and at all times. The Archbishop who 
 preached the Coronation Sermon before Queen Elizabeth pre- 
 destinated his fate, when he took for his text: "A live dog is 
 better than a dead lion." 
 
 I have treated this subject, perhaps, at too great length; 
 but have been impelled to by a native keen sense of appreciation 
 of wit and humor. I never boasted of possessing either, per- 
 sonally, but do enjoy a good thing in that line, coming from 
 others. 
 
 Perhaps I might have had a bit of something of that sort 
 about me, had not my budding genius in that direction been 
 cruelly frozen in the May Day of its existence. I never aimed 
 to be witty or funny but, somehow, I always fired too high or 
 two low, and failed to bring down the bird and sometimes 
 wounded the game-keeper. 
 
 I tried, two or three times, to say pretty things to the ladies, 
 but always failed and had to give it up. When my readers 
 have perused the following lines. I am sure they will say it was 
 the best to resign. One day, while playing Logomachy, I select- 
 ed the letters that formed the word ''Columbia" and neglected 
 to put in the letter "u," and gave them to Miss P., a maiden 
 lady whom Dr. Holmes would not have called a "spring chicken." 
 After a time, she said : "Why ! it is Columbia, the gem of the 
 ocean, but the "u" is not in it! I replied: "My dear Miss P., 
 Columbia would not be the gem of the ocean without you ("u") 
 in it." That lady did not speak to me for a month. 
 
 On another occasion a nice looking assistant of mine by 
 the name of Miss Fields came to school dressed completely in 
 green and when I suggested that she reminded me of a line from 
 Dr. Watt's Hymn Book, — "Sweet Fields, arrayed in living 
 green," I received a box on the ear which thoroughly cured me 
 of that sort of thing. 
 
190 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 I never attempted to be a punster but once. One day I 
 was cutting down a dogwood tree when a man came along and 
 said "Woodsman, spare that tree!" I replied: — "Touch not a 
 single bow-wow." It took him five minutes to see the point. 
 I have ever since confined myself to categorical statements of 
 facts. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 FUNNY PEOPLE. 
 
 Observation and personal experience teaches that all classes 
 of people are inclined to be funny sometimes and at other times 
 to blunder. They are funny when they do peculiar things as 
 when a man with a chubby face wears side whiskers or when 
 a woman of fifty dresses like a girl of sixteen or when a young 
 man of twenty talks too much or when a young lady is sure 
 that fate and not her personality has prevented a good match. 
 
 People blunder when through thoughtlessness or excite- 
 ment they do or say what they did not intend to, or when they 
 misconceived the conditions. That office-seeker who said after 
 his nomination, "For this nomination I congratulate you," 
 simply blundered. The Irishman that thought his ox did not 
 girth six feet because he could not get a six foot chain around 
 him, blundered from a lack of knowledge. Even clergymen 
 sometimes blunder. 
 
 A student from Andover was in Concord last year and was 
 asked to speak to the convicts. He did so, and most earnestly 
 urged them to believe in infant baptism. A candidate once 
 came to the coast of Maine to preach where three-fourths of the 
 audience were fishermen. His subject was "Humility." In the 
 course of his remarks he said : "Be humble. Your Master 
 deigned to associate with fishermen, the most degraded, igno- 
 rant and wicked people on the face of the earth." 
 
 I knew a clergyman who, in a fit of absent-mindedness, sug- 
 gested that the choir sing the fortieth hymn to close a revival 
 meeting. The opening line of that funeral hymn read : "Sister, 
 
192 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 thou wert mild and lovely." The chorister thought he was 
 thinking of his old girl. 
 
 An amusing scene once occurred in a church in the town 
 where I was teaching. The clergyman knew nothing of music 
 but he could sing just one hymn, — Ariel. One Sunday he 
 noticed that some of the choir was absent, so to help them out, 
 he thought he would have them sing this, his only tune. He 
 read a long-meter hymn and, looking across the church to the 
 choir in the gallery at the farther end of the house, he said : 
 "Sing Ariel" as he pronounced it. The chorister did not 
 understand him and asked the soprano what he said. She 
 replied : "He said, 'Sing or I will.' " That chorister was wroth. 
 He arose to his feet, which were two yards from the top of his 
 bald head, and, with indignation written in every line of his face 
 and fire flashing from his eyes, replied : "Sing yourself then !" 
 J ust imagine the effect upon the minister and the audience ! 
 
 There is something peculiar about a chorister. The man 
 is usually a distinct character. His whole soul is so absorbed in 
 rhythm and harmony and the execution of sound, that he often- 
 times becomes oblivious to other things. I once spoke in the 
 Methodist church at Houlton. The chorister was allowed to 
 select his tunes and hymns. I glanced over a list he gave me 
 and looked up the hymns in the book. The hymn he had 
 selected to sing just before the sermon commenced thus: 
 
 "We lay our bodies down to rest," 
 "Lord, guard us while we sleep." 
 
 I thought it was bad enough to have the people sleep dur- 
 ing my speaking, without asking the Lord's blessing upon it, 
 and so changed the hymn. 
 
 The first chorister I can remember was an oldish man, and 
 very spare and tall. There was no organ in the church. When 
 the time came to sing, he would arise, take his tuning fork from 
 his left-hand vest pocket, give each lip of his mouth an outward 
 curl, give the fork a sharp nip with his teeth, which were very 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 
 
 !93 
 
 long, then, with a sort of parabolic curve through the air, he 
 would place the fork to his ear, close his eyes, and hum "Dome" 
 with a nasal twang. The whole choir would "take the key" 
 and "sound" and sing the hymn. 
 
 In the old days the choir always sang the whole hymn 
 through. I once heard the choir sing one of those old hymns 
 in this way. The clergyman told the choir to omit the second 
 stanza; so they sang the first and third without an interlude, 
 and the audience was somewhat amused by the sequence of 
 thought. The last line of the first stanza read "Shall I among 
 them (the ransomed) stand?" The first line of the third 
 stanza read : "Forbid it, Lord, that this should be." 
 
 I remember being once at a funeral of a citizen not particu- 
 larly noted for his morals when the amateur chorister started 
 his improvised choir off with "We all, O Lord, have gone 
 astray." 
 
 We have all heard of the clergyman who married a couple 
 in church and then gave out the hymn commencing "Mistaken 
 souls who dream of bliss." 
 
 When a lady told me that they had the church walls painted 
 a dull yellow because the pastor's moustache was of that shade, 
 I thought it savored of Oscar Wilde. 
 
 I heard an old lady once say, on returning from her hus- 
 band's funeral, "Everything went off tip-top." The phrase- 
 ology was a little unfortunate. 
 
 If I had recorded all the blunders my students made they 
 would have filled a volume. Many of these were very funny, 
 especially when the personality of the boy or girl was in evi- 
 dence. That small boy with molasses and bread crumbs plas- 
 tered over half his face, with hair uncombed and hands fresh 
 from the embrace of mother earth, with a squint in one eye 
 and a voice pitched on high C, had just the toute ensemble to 
 spell "hupping koff" in that artistic way. I give a few of these 
 blunders without the settings. 
 
 13 
 
194 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 A boy in Atkinson astonished me by reading "Queen Mary 
 often spent an hour in hemming pocket jacknives." A girl 
 actually read, in my hearing, that oft-repeated line : "There was 
 a great clam." This method of reading the Bible has led to 
 some strange theology. 
 
 One day a young man was reciting in Physics and was giv- 
 ing the rule for computing the pressure on the bottom of a 
 vessel ; and rendered it thus : "To compute the pressure on the 
 bottom of a ship multiply the area of the base by the height 
 of the liquid, and this result by sixty-two and a half pounds." 
 I suggested there was some mistake, but he said the book said 
 so, that "Ship" was another name for "vessel." 
 
 A young lady, reciting the history of the Civil War, de- 
 clared that they bombarded the fort with "cranberries and 
 grapes ;" a very mild substitute for cannister and grapeshot. 
 The same girl said the ''corpse" of Hooker was swept from the 
 field. Being asked to explain, she said she supposed his body 
 was carried off in an ambulance. A little further on she 
 recited "Hooker re-formed his army." "Ah," I said, "how was 
 that?" "I don't know," she replied, "unless he came to life." 
 
 A boy one day, reading the line 
 
 "Up, up, Maria, 
 
 "The lark is in the sky." 
 
 rendered it thus : "Double up Maria, The lark is in the 
 sky." Another boy read "One by one they dropt down dead 
 and died." A great, awkward boy, reading a line from "The 
 Better Land," — "Is it far away, in some region old?" gave 
 it this way, "Is it far away in some ragged hole?" He got 
 the metre all right but did some violence to the sentiment. Still 
 another boy informed the audience that "Gradgrind iced his 
 coffee in summer." Dickens wrote it "his office." The same 
 boy gave this line, with fervid eloquence : "And his bird stood 
 beside him and briny tears wept." "Bride" would have been 
 more natural. 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 195 
 
 SOCIAL CHEMISTRY. 
 
 Address to the Students and Friends of Ricker Classical 
 
 Institute. 
 
 Scientific men tell us that this great world of ours, with all 
 its wonderful variety of forms and productions, is made up by 
 the multifarious combining and commingling of sixty-four dis- 
 tinct elements. These elements are rarely found alone but 
 almost always either mechanically or chemically combined, 
 sometimes with one but oftener with many others. Five or 
 more of these elements are gases ; one a liquid metal, and eight 
 or ten metals, and the rest metaloids. Among the metals are 
 a few called royal metals on account of their scarcity, purity, 
 and incorruptibility. Nothing corrupts or tarnishes them. 
 Such are gold, silver and platinum. 
 
 But, although there are sixty-four elements in all, yet it 
 is true that the great mass of the earth and the living things 
 upon it are composed of only four distinct elements : Oxygen, 
 Hydrogen, Carbon, and Nitrogen. These are all gaseous : so 
 you see gas is the predominant feature in this peculiar world of 
 ours. 
 
 Now, as the physical world is composed of chemical ele- 
 ments, and governed by fixed chemical laws, so the social world, 
 in which human souls are the elements, were both created by 
 the same Almighty hand, hence there must be a similaritv in 
 the process of development, and one must be closely allied to 
 the other. Then let us take the social world into our mental 
 laboratory and perform a few experiments and form some de- 
 ductions. 
 
 In physical Chemistry all we can do is to take combina- 
 tions as we find them in nature, resolve them into the parts 
 that compose them, and, from what we learn by this process, 
 learn how to make new combinations.. So, in the social world, 
 we take society as we find it and endeavor to discover the ele- 
 ments or influences that produced the existing conditions. 
 
I9 6 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Society is made up of combinations. There are many ex- 
 hibitions of curious forms, ceremonies, and characters, but 
 very little that is new. Almost every peculiar character on 
 earth today is a reproduction of some actor in the past. 
 
 There are Adams and Eves in this twentieth Century who 
 will never see Paradise again, men are trying to climb up to 
 Heaven now as they did on Shinar's plain by stairways of their 
 own constructing, with a resulting jargon of doctrine not un- 
 like the Babel attempts of old. Lot's wife is looking over her 
 shoulder tonight somewhere, while regretfully leaving scenes 
 not conducive to her best being ; Sampsons without number, 
 with shorn locks, are doing their best work by dying. There 
 are daughters of Jephtha everywhere, sacrificing heart and soul 
 that some dear one may live ; Jezebels still curse the earth. 
 
 Ruth and Naomi are still traveling, hand in hand, to 
 find a Boaz ; Mary still weeps, and Martha works ; Judas is 
 forever jingling his forty pieces of silver; and impetuous 
 Peters will sometimes swear. Alexander reappeared in Napo- 
 leon Bonaparte and Caesar ; and so on through history. All 
 these are not the exact reproduction of the past, but as near as 
 the time will admit. 
 
 As every rock of the field is the- result of chemical com- 
 bination, so men and women are what they are because of the 
 spiritual chemistry of their make-up. 
 
 In the chemical world there is one great universal agency 
 forever at work. Its power was mighty, even in the infancy 
 of the earth. Oxygen, the grand central element around which 
 all others center. It has the greatest affinity of all elements. 
 It builds up and tears down, gives life and takes it ; is never 
 at rest and never found alone. 
 
 So there are oxygen men and women in society. They 
 give life to everything around them. Every new enterprise, 
 every bold endeavor, every combination of social or commercial 
 forces, is the result of the energizing force of oxygen men. 
 Those men are indispensable, but they must never act alone. They 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 
 
 197 
 
 are too nervous, too headstrong, too much given to "frenzied 
 finance." They would build a house with such impetuosity 
 that friction itself would set the building on fire. Oxygen men 
 are great joiners. They want to belong to every society and 
 association, and this is all right. 
 
 They are not safe alone, but in combination arc most ex- 
 cellent. 
 
 Nitrogen is a mysterious component of the natural world. 
 It is past finding out. It constitutes four-fifths of the air we 
 breathe yet it does nothing for us in this operation of breath- 
 ing, gives no vigor, clarifies no blood, clears no brain, but sim- 
 ply dilutes the oxygen so we can breathe it. Nitrogen is 
 needed, is useful in a way. So are nitrogenous men needed. 
 And there are nitrogenous men. 
 
 They are useless for any great or important enterprises, 
 but help fill up. Have no great mass of brain but enough to 
 fill the space left vacant by nature. About so many men must 
 die every vear. Just think what a loss of vital force there would 
 be if every man dying was a real oxygen man ; again, if nothing 
 but oxygen encircled the earth, it would set itself afire by the 
 intensity of its own activity : so, if our Halls of Congress were 
 filled with brainy, oxygen men only, we would see the Phoenix 
 flame of genius bursting out through every crevice and cranny 
 of our beautiful capitol and rising to the skies, encircle the 
 whole heavens, like Phaethon of old. Don't be afraid ! Our 
 capitol is safe ! There are plenty of nitrogenous men there. 
 There will never be spontaneous combustion at Washington or 
 Augusta. We need nitrogenous men everywhere. The world 
 would get on too fast without them ; and many places would be 
 left void without them. Where. O, where! would we get our 
 supply of bar-room philosophers and grocery-store politicians ; 
 where our rustic lawyers and senseless theologians if there were 
 no nitrogenous men? Tell me, O thinking moralist! where 
 shall husbands be found for that great mass of industrious, 
 tired women who support themselves, family, husband and all, 
 
198 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 if all the men of straw are no longer in evidence to promise to 
 protect and support? And what should we do in the social 
 circle for amusement and entertainment if the grinning monkey 
 in broadcloth, and the brainless golden calf should be annihi- 
 lated? No, my beloved, we need them. Life would be too 
 serious without them and probably right over across the way 
 there is somebody of the gentler sex, softer she cannot be, 
 who will be happy to lose her personal identity in a union highly 
 beneficial to the party of the first part. And, indeed, nitroge- 
 nous men and women are sometimes needed as a sort of 
 balancing force in the social world. 
 
 A highly charged, oxygen man should always form a union 
 with a partner with a large percentage of nitrogen in her nervous 
 constitution, so that when he becomes cross and irritable, fault- 
 finding and restless, her calm demeanor, unexcitable nature, 
 and non-combatable propensity will check the ungovernable 
 impulses of the unreasoning enthusiast better than any argu- 
 ment or force. But let two positive parties unite, both sur- 
 charged with oxygen, if the divorce court does not raise up 
 an adamantine wall between them, why then, my fellow teach- 
 ers, never go there to board unless you are fond of pyrotechnics. 
 
 On the other hand, let two purely nitrogenous persons 
 unite, one result will surely follow : Love in a cottage, — a small 
 one at that — will be the highest attainment and posterity will 
 languish. I have spoken of these two classes in this matrimoni- 
 al way simply because parties thus connected are the most inti- 
 mately related, but the same idea is true in every relationship. 
 Two friends remain friends the longest when there is a diver- 
 sity of temperament. 
 
 Now, my young friends, don't, I beg you, try to become 
 nitrogenous because I have made this plea for the forceless 
 man. Every institute boy and girl is expected to be an oxy- 
 gen boy and girl, a young man and woman imparting life and 
 energy through every vein, and artery, and capillary of the 
 social world. Men do not have to trv to become useless. Too 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 199 
 
 many are horn so, and grow up that way by a spontaneous 
 accumulation of negatives. There will be dead-heads enough 
 in the world without a single specimen from Ricker. Don't let 
 inertia be your only active force. 
 
 ! Ivdrogen is a notable element in nature. It is very light, 
 spurns the bare earth, and is found soaring among the skies. 
 It is made by the union of very common materials, but, like many 
 nun, seems to forget its parentage, looking down with disdain 
 upon all things less ethereal than itself. In the social world 
 there are many persons who may be called hydrogen men. They 
 think themselves better than others, imagine their conceptions 
 are as much higher than those of other men as the illimitable 
 space is loftier than a cabbage patch. They carry their heads 
 very high, impelled by a law of equilibrium. A rubber bag, 
 filled with hydrogen will rise until it reaches an atmosphere as 
 light as itself, and then rests. 
 
 The men I have mentioned, should the force of gravity 
 be suspended, would leave the earth instantly, and go up, up, 
 up, — how far? Philosophers believe there is a spot, infinitely 
 far away where nothing is — an empty void — ah, there the 
 equilibrium would be perfect, and there they would forever 
 remain, hanging, like empty bladders, for the delectation of 
 the man in the moon, if the old woman that sweeps the cobwebs 
 from the sky did not disturb them. 
 
 And yet a spark of electricity will unite oxygen and hydro- 
 gen so perfectly that a drop of the purest liquid God ever made 
 will trickle forth. So when an impetuous oxygen man becomes 
 associated in business with the hydrogen man and a spark of 
 ambition unites them in common sympathy, the wheels of prog- 
 ress will rapidly revolve impelled by an abundant water power. 
 
 Young man, young lady, if you have too much hydrogen in 
 the cranium, take on twice as much oxygen even at the risk 
 of dropsy on the brain. 
 
 Phosphorous is another element in the physical world 
 totally antagonistic to nitrogen. Some one has rather wick- 
 
200 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 edly said that it is a kind of Baptist element, as it has to be 
 closely connected with water to keep it in a pure state. It is 
 very erratic, liable to spontaneous combustion, will light the 
 house, kindle a fire for breakfast, burn up the house, cook and 
 all, the schoolhouse and the church ; but, when properly com- 
 bined, it becomes safe, useless, and almost indispensable. So 
 there are phosphorus men, ready to strike fire at any moment, 
 whenever the least friction occurs. They are very active but 
 lack discretion. They fly into a whirlwind of passion on the 
 slightest provocation and almost drown themselves in tears of 
 repentance the next moment. Such men, such women should 
 never live alone. Phosphorus has few affinities. It will only 
 combine readily with sulpher and a piece of pine. Form this 
 combination properly, — a first-class match is produced, a very 
 useful article. So when a choleric, sometimes fiery tempered 
 man takes for his affinity a sulphurous woman there is a match 
 made that will burn with a steady glow after the first sulphur- 
 ous smoke and splutterings are over. 
 
 Phosphorus in the physical world has another use. It is 
 one of the constituents of the brain. It is that which gives the 
 intense activity to the brain of the great men of action. 
 
 Now, my young friends, a large amount of this element in 
 the laboratory of Ricker Classical School might be dangerous, 
 but you can, with perfect impunity, lay up in the laboratory 
 of your cranium enough to give you ten in every recitation, 
 and make you a brilliant member of society later in life. Don't 
 be afraid of spontaneous combustion, and don't expect your 
 stomachs, stuffed with fish, to furnish the brain with phos- 
 phorus. The contents of books, meditation, discipline, great 
 desires, and ready execution, is the food that keeps the phos- 
 phorus fires burning in the brain. 
 
 Young ladies, if, later in life, you would make a good 
 match, keep those phosphorus fires ever burning. Young 
 man, if a brilliant career is your ambition, let not fuel now be 
 lacking. 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 201 
 
 Mercury is a cranky element in the physical world. It 
 is a metal, but, unlike every other metal, persists in remaining 
 liquid at anywhere above forty degrees below zero. It is some- 
 times used for a medicine but in the opinion of many it kills 
 more than it cures. But it is good for one thing, at least. It 
 is death on the itch. So you see there is use for the crank 
 even in the social world. I have a certain respect for a man who 
 cannot help being a crank. Some men are made so. They can- 
 not help differing from the rest of humanity. But they are not 
 entirely useless. The world can use them as the homeopath 
 cures his patients; "Similia similibus curantur" is an old 
 proverb. They may be used to kill off other cranks. But we 
 do owe something to the crank of history. Occasionally some 
 enthusiastic crank has made a great discovery, but it is usually 
 an accidental one. 
 
 If the cranks, like the old alchemists, could be shut up in 
 umbrageous log huts, or under-ground cloisters, and allowed 
 to come out only when a real discovery had been made, then we 
 would say with enthusiasm: "Let there be cranks!'* 
 
 If every crank would confine himself to cranky notions 
 and subjects, and let us poor common people alone, still would 
 I say: "Salvate, O Cranks," without regard to race or sex. 
 But there are many subjects which cranks should never meddle 
 with. These interests are too interwoven into the weal or woe 
 of common human humanity. All matters of public interest, 
 of common morals, and beneficial laws should never be even 
 discussed by men of one idea. 
 
 No, let the crank leave these subjects alone, and try to dis- 
 cover how to bottle up dynamic force, or make politicians honest, 
 or find the accurate rule for squaring the circle. — or some 
 method of converting a bore into a useful windmill. The 
 religious crank is beyond endurance. He will fill a volume in 
 describing the delicate structure of an insignificant gnat, while 
 an array of camels go trooping down by without attracting the 
 least notice. He will swallow a theological camel with a hump 
 
202 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 on his back as high as a church steeple and never strangle nor 
 choke, while, with Sam Weller's extra double-acting micro- 
 scope he is hunting for a schismatic gnat hidden in some 
 brother's church creed. Religion is the most reasonable and 
 common sense thing in the world. It should occupy the atten- 
 tion of every man, woman and child every day. God never 
 designed it for the exclusive benefit of hermit, nun, or priest, 
 but for all. He only who by actual association with man, has 
 learned by the anxious heartbeats of the restless world, should 
 attempt to interpret God's revealed will to man. 
 
 The educational crank is also a great nuisance. He wakes 
 up some morning with the echo of a fevered dream still rever- 
 berating through his mind. He immediately, like Don Quix- 
 ote, starts out on a Rosinato received from some bankrupt 
 advertizer and fights windmills with sycophantic Sancho Pan- 
 zas applauding and brings home Saratoga trunks full of rib- 
 bons and gew-gaws for the adornment of country school teach- 
 ers so they may be able to entertain the little folks and teach 
 them. Had I the ability I should like to write a chapter on 
 these trophies — the "exploded facts" that these dons have advo- 
 cated. Better let them lay on the shelf labeled plainly with 
 "vertical penmanship" till the proper writer rises. 
 
 Gold seems to be the old maid of the metal world. I 
 have a great regard for old maids : so I have for gold, when 
 it belongs to me. Gold does not attract by any self-reaching force. 
 All admire it, long for it, somehow few can get it. It is pure, 
 always worth something, and never becomes really tarnished. 
 We need just such people in every community. What should 
 we do without our old maids? They are the fostering patrons 
 of the human race, stand by the sick-bed, close weary eyes 
 in death and place the last flowers beside the cold form bedewed 
 with tears. God bless the old maids of our land. The old 
 maids are not the ineligibles. They are smart, mostly good- 
 looking, and have every quality to make a first-class wife, but 
 do not marry. Why? Simply because they are too good for 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 203 
 
 any one man. Providence did not mean that their ministrations 
 should be confined to one selfish man, but that many should 
 be blessed by their love, care, assiduity and prayers. 
 
 Gold is the most precious of metals. It is good everywhere 
 with the stamp and image of kings and queens upon it. Its 
 value is universally acknowledged, but the veriest beggar could 
 not make its value less by enstamping his image thereon. No 
 corner of the earth would debar gold from its territory. 
 
 So there are gold men, gold women, golden boys and girls. 
 No matter whether joy or sorrow impresses its stamp upon the 
 brow, the heart is gold, unpolluted by base metals, always at 
 par, never in liquidity. 
 
 There are many base imitations. Brass resembles gold in 
 color, and often passes for it, but the most unsophisticated can 
 soon detect the imposition. There are men of brass, but they 
 do little harm, as it develops mostly upon the cheek and one blast 
 of cold contempt exposes the base constituents. 
 
 There is another chemical compound resembling gold. 
 It appears in beautiful cubes, shining with the luster of gold. 
 It will, like the diamond, cut glass, reflect light and ap- 
 pears to be of great value. It resembles two or three precious 
 stones in those respects. Tons of this compound have been 
 quarried with the secret expectation of untold riches. It forever 
 is holding out false hopes to a gullable world and often de- 
 ceives. The chemist calls it iron pyrites, in the chemical 
 world and we call the type among mien a quack. Shun them 
 all ; all quack mines, quack friends, quack doctors, quack re- 
 formers, and appletree men, and quack schoolmasters. 
 
 We come back again to nitrogen. We said it was a mys- 
 terious element. In the air it is simply a passive, idle existence, 
 but that same Nitrogen, mixed with certain other elements, 
 becomes the symbol of intense activity. Combine it with glyc- 
 erine and we have one of the most destructive, diabolical agents 
 in nature. A thimbleful would destroy this hall in the twink- 
 ling of an eye. 
 
204 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 We see now how it is in social life. A man out among 
 men where the combination is just right, will be the very person- 
 ification of good nature and smiles, but at home, where the wife 
 happens to supply the glycerine, — something really good in it- 
 self, — he becomes a bottled-up earthquake, an already full 
 grown cyclone, a smoking volcano, all ready to belch forth and 
 fill the house with domestic smoke, cinders, and ashes! Some- 
 times the nitrogen is the mistress of the house. What then? 
 The question is past solution, and I pass. 
 
 There are a few elements with a very limited range of 
 affinity. They are good, useful and effective when acting 
 alone, but seem always to prefer to thus act. It took forty 
 years hard study to find anything that would unite with caout- 
 chouc. At last it was discovered that when sulphur was united 
 with it there was a perfect union, and a very valuable com- 
 pound produced quite unlike either. So there are, in the 
 social world, characters that seem to have no ready combining 
 power ; they fail to attract or be attracted. We call them old 
 bachelors. 
 
 As woman was created last, she seems to have been sup- 
 plied with every characteristic necessary to perform the duties 
 of life. With man it was different. It was found that he 
 lacked something; so a new creation was ordered to supply 
 the deficiency. That new creation was woman ; hence she be- 
 comes an actual necessity to round out the completeness of his 
 existence. Hence the bachelor is incomplete without the 
 chastening, refining, up-lifting, stimulating influence of women. 
 
 There must have been created for every bachelor at least 
 one helpmate for him and if he ever finds her, what a change 
 takes place. He is no more like his former self than the old- 
 fashioned gum shoe is to the modern tony overshoe. 
 
 Another important fact we learn from the laboratory is 
 that the elements that form sugar, alchohol, starch and vine- 
 gar, are the same combined in different proportions. Starch is 
 rather unstable and passes readily into alcohol, sugar or vine- 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 205 
 
 gar, according to conditions. A little more Oxygen will develop 
 the one, a little more Nitrogen another. Now the conditions 
 must be carefully studied to procure the required result. Sugar 
 is the basis of all these combinations, and from this alone the 
 others may be evolved, with only slight modifications. 
 
 The statement was made, a few moments ago, that the most 
 precious metals sank when the crust of the earth cooled. These 
 were thrown up to the surface later by volcanic force. Nothing 
 but a convulsion of the earth could bring them to the surface. 
 So, in the social and political world, it takes great social and 
 political upheavals to bring the best to the surface. As the 
 present form of this beautiful world was accomplished by 
 earthquakes and volcano, so civilization has been advanced by 
 social and political commotions, each leaving the status of affairs 
 in a better condition. 
 
 The Carboniferous Age covered the earth with a luxuriant 
 growth of lofty trees, but they were of an inferior order. 
 Something better the coming ages needed ; and the far-off, 
 prophetic age in which humanity would exist, would require 
 fuel in abundance. So all those lofty, waving palms must be laid 
 low and piled one upon another, to sleep the long ages through, 
 till the tireless, inquisitive eye of man discovered coal, and his 
 industrious hand conveyed it to fireside and furnace. So many 
 a fair civilization must sleep that others may arise, more glori- 
 ous, warmed and lightened by the imperishable relics of the 
 past. \ 
 
 But great convulsions took place in nature, so they must 
 in society. But progress always is made. 
 
 It takes a political earthquake oftimes to put the best nun 
 into office. I am aware that sometimes those CDmmotions, 
 at first, make very cheap men prominent, and elevate dema- 
 gogues to the position of statesmen, just as iron pyrites are mis- 
 taken for gold, but such men are readily detected and laid aside 
 as worthless. But the gold freed from the bare elements shines 
 all the brighter and never loses its native characteristics. 
 
206 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 And now, my dear ladies in the school, just a word to you. 
 God has placed within your souls a combination of forces found 
 in no other human hearts. Your father has it not, your mother 
 does not now possess it ; the Professor cannot claim it and the 
 clergyman would pray for it in vain. If there is an 'mage of an 
 ideal God I could worship, it is the soul of a young girl, before 
 the cares of life have sobered her, before the sorrow of disap- 
 pointments has robbed her of her sublime faith, before she has 
 ever discovered that it is possible to even tolerate the coarse, the 
 low, or anything less than the purest, the truest and sweetest; 
 before failure has robbed her of the fruition of her glorious 
 dream ; while she is yet a creature fresh from the hand of God, 
 with the odors of Eden distilling around her. 
 
 Ah, how unlike the heartless coquette or the match-making 
 anglers of later years sometimes. There is, my young friends, 
 sweetness in your young souls. God gave it to you for a pur- 
 pose. That sweetness you can preserve there and take to 
 Heaven with you. Carefully guard it. Preserve your hearts. 
 Be as careful of the heart of others as you are of the fragile 
 butterfly that flits at your feet. 
 
 When sugar has been thoroughly refined it becomes the 
 most imperishable substance in the world. Let the spirit of the 
 peace-giving Christ be the refiner ; then you will become the 
 embodiment of all that can charm, elevate and enoble. But 
 don't forget that unrefined sugar changes to vinegar tomorrow, 
 or mayhap, into potential life-destroying alcohol, carrying with- 
 in itself the seed of poison and death. 
 
 Let the fidelity of a Ruth immortalize you, the self-sacrifice 
 of Esther glorify your life, the purity of Francis Willard 
 sanctify you and let your own lives embalm your memory in the 
 hearts of all associated with you. 
 
 But please remember that it is the lovely girl with all her 
 glorious attributes that becomes the designing woman of the 
 world when her heart has become the rallying place for wicked 
 designs and unlovely desires. Mrs. Chadwick is said to have 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 207 
 
 been a most fascinating, charming girl of fourteen. Remember 
 gold is alloyed ; base lead, never. The worst heart possible can 
 only be made from a noble one. There are associations you 
 can form which heighten every lovely characteristic you now 
 possess, will stimulate every ambition and aspiration and beau- 
 tify even beauty itself. When a famous Grecian sculptor had 
 carved a statue of Minerva so perfectly that all Athens declared 
 it perfect, beyond improvement, Pericles, with chisel and mal- 
 let, in a few hours wrought such a change that the statue 
 became ever after the model of all that was beautiful and sub- 
 lime in sculpture. That model every young lady may become. 
 
 Boys, young men. in your souls there ouLdit to be much that 
 exists in the young ladies', and more. Upon yon should rest 
 responsibilities that she ought not to assume, hut there is no 
 reason why you should not be as cultivated, refined and pure as 
 she. This does not imply that you should ever become an 
 effeminate or "carpet-knight." A young man becomes as lov- 
 able as the most accomplished young lady and all the time be 
 fighting the battle of life with the most strenuous means. We 
 need but few Adonises, but many Hercules. 
 
 There are. in your mental laboratory, many forces, given by 
 God and inherited from parents. All you have to do is to make 
 the proper combination with coming forces. The growth of a 
 stalk of wheat straw illustrates, in the physical world how the 
 young man should progress in the human world. That stalk 
 grows very fast for a time, very tall and green ( I have been a 
 boy), anon a head appears, filled with some very valuable mate- 
 rial but it isn't wheat yet, but will make wheat in due time. 
 
 The head now stands up very straight and is caught by 
 every breeze. In a few days to the starch already there albu- 
 men is added, then an envelope of silica surrounds it all. Now 
 we have a real kernel of wheat. The head is a little swelled, to 
 be sure, but will subside in due time. Xext the head begins to 
 maturelv gaze less to the stars, and more toward earth, and it 
 is just here that nature comes in and sends up the stalk a large 
 
20 8 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 amount of silica. This is plastered all up and down the stock 
 and forms a sort of back-bone so firm that, no matter how heavy 
 the head becomes, it stands perpendicular. 
 
 With many young men there is a perfect development in all 
 respects except the backbone part of it. A most essential omis- 
 sion. No matter what else he has he is useless without a stiff 
 backbone so that, no matter what the temptation is, "No" is the 
 easiest word to say. A backbone that will not wilt when ridicule 
 assails, appetite urges, and friends persuade ; a backbone that 
 will not bend when principles are at stake ; that will stand erect 
 when endeavor begins to flag ; when pleasant fields in the valley 
 attract more than mountain height, when less than the first ideal 
 seems to satisfy; when, in fact, you are being content to fall 
 below any attainable heights. 
 
 The lack of silicious deposit is not confined to the young. 
 The lack of it is felt every day in almost every community. It 
 is noticed when righteous, though unpopular, laws are to be 
 enforced, when improper candidates solicit votes, when duty 
 requires action, and self-interest restrains. 
 
 Iodine shows a peculiar trait. It passes from a solid to 
 a gaseous state without becoming liquid. So there are iodionic 
 people in the world. Most people rise and fall by regular 
 grades. The man. solid on some moral or political subjects, 
 begins to mielt a little, softens day by day, till at length every 
 molecule of his conscience is in sliding condition. He is now 
 what the text books call in unstable condition. He then easily 
 passes into a gaseous condition. 
 
 The reverse process is sometimes true when a person 
 decides to change for the better. But occasionally we see men 
 and women unyeilding as Plymouth Rock converted into gase- 
 ous approval of some obnoxious idea by an almost instantaneous 
 spiritual somersault ; and return again to adamantine crystals 
 before the ashes are cold that, a little while ago, caused the 
 transformation. 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 209 
 
 Young men have sometimes discovered this sudden change 
 in the affinity of yesterday, which today becomes actively repel- 
 lant. 
 
 These iodine men are not very dangerous when well under- 
 stood ; but it is sometimes disagreeable to find a man solid one 
 hour and gaseous the next in matters that concern us. 
 
 Iron is, perhaps, the most useful metal in the physical 
 world. It remained on the surface when the other metals sank, 
 affording an opportunity to men to obtain and use it. It is the 
 most commonplace metal in existence, and has done more for 
 civilization than all other metals combined. It makes railroads 
 possible, steamships practicable and life enjoyable. It boasts 
 not at all, but faithfully does its work, modestly and untiringly. 
 
 So, in this great, bustling, toiling, practical, social world of 
 ours, the men of iron build the cities, railroads, and navies; 
 carry forward every great reform, and are co-workers with the 
 Almighty in pushing toward every good work. 
 
 Some metals are isomeric ; that is, they appear under two 
 forms, the brilliant, flashy diamond is simply carbon ; so is the 
 black, unsightly stick of graphite. The one is imperishable, 
 valuable, a thing of beauty. The other wears itself away at 
 every touch, and can be bought in every market at smallest 
 price. One is crystalized, the other is not. So the same 
 amount of facts in one cranium is always available, is brilliant ; 
 while in others there is simply a mass of undigested facts, easily 
 rubbed out, soon gone forever. Every thought in the human 
 mind is only valuable when fully crystalized. This process 
 takes place in the mind, just as it does in the laboratory. 
 
 Conditions must be met to produce crystals in the chemical 
 world. So thought will crystalize only under certain conditions. 
 Facts put into the crucible of the mind, only crystalize when 
 they are associated in such a way that like seeks like, and that 
 they have the proper time to crystalize. No mental work can be 
 done in a hurry. Facts must be accumulated in logical order, 
 and time given for meditation before clear-cut results can 
 
 14 
 
2io THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 be obtained. We learn from chemistry that most useful 
 things have many constituents. That article of food 
 that produces but one ingredient in the body is regarded 
 as a medicine rather than a food. So is it with men. That 
 man who has but one attracting power will ever be lonely in a 
 world where there are men everywhere, hungering for some- 
 thing that a brother man only can give. 
 
 Why is it, we may ask, that Mr. A. or Miss B. has such 
 power among his associates ? Simply this ; he has a soul full of 
 vital forces, assimilating agencies, attractive powers ; has some- 
 thing, some element, every other man can assimilate. It is 
 thought that albumen has 143 differing constituents. Think of 
 it! 143! Now albumen is found in eggs, in wheat, in meat, 
 and, in fact, in most living things. It is the albuminous man 
 that is the power in the world. There is something in him that 
 all men can appreciate ; the wise seek to learn wisdom from him ; 
 the ignorant, knowledge ; the weak, strength ; the old man of 
 seventy and the child of two are attracted to him because he 
 thinks as they think, loves as they love, can solve the deep prob- 
 lem of science, or roll the hoop, ride a velocipede or rule the 
 nation. 
 
 This spiritual affinity, operating in the hearts of the human 
 race, is by far the most important factor used by the Creator for 
 the intellectual and spiritual elevation of humanity. Words 
 may bring tears to the eyes ; eloquence may excite the hearer to 
 rapturous applause ; heroic deeds light up the eye with a pas- 
 sionate enthusiasm, but all these, on the cold, calculating mor- 
 row, have lost their charm and power and the heart remains 
 unmoved toward any assimilation ; but when an undefined some- 
 thing, a love it may be, for some abstract virtue or art; a fel- 
 low-feeling for another's sorrow arises, when, in fine, one can- 
 not tell why it is that he loves that friend so dearly, then the 
 real, imperishable love, Heaven ordained, of the human soul 
 begins to permeate heart, brain, eye and every fiber of one's 
 being, and a new creature then appears. 
 
FUNNY PEOPLE 211 
 
 The flint rock that defies the action of the strongest acids, 
 laughs in definance at the drill of the artisan and the hammer 
 of the geologist : bedewed with teardrops from the skies, and 
 kissed by the smiling sunlight, yields up its stubborn spirit and 
 becomes the productive soil of our alluvial fields. So are hearts 
 softened, characters changed, and new ministering spirits made 
 among men by the undefinable influence of a congenial soul. 
 
 The friendships among men are as mysterious as are many 
 of the chemical unions in nature. But they do not just happen. 
 Somewhere in the heart of one there is a susceptibility which 
 something in the soul of the other causes to vibrate. There is need 
 in the one, a supply in the other and as long as these conditions 
 remain true, so long will they love and delight each other. 
 
 I said, a few minutes ago, that oxygen was the great centra) 
 element around which all others center ; that this element had a 
 great influence on the character of the others. So, in the spirit- 
 ual world, there must be a rallying point, a spiritual force 
 toward which all naturally tend, the center, and are changed by 
 that association. 
 
 Society could no more exist without this center than could 
 the heavenly body revolve around empty space in the sky. 
 The old Greek philosonher conceived that power was a triune 
 one, and thought if he could but discover the true, the beauti- 
 fut and the good, with never a false tint, and every line faultless, 
 these he would defy and cause the whole social world, by cen- 
 tripetal force, to revolve around these, until man became the 
 embodiment of truth ; lover of nothing but the beautiful and the 
 good. But he never found them. But the Magi of the East 
 did when they discovered the Child of Bethlehem, and countless 
 multitudes since have known that a power, not of men, is draw- 
 ing all to one common center, that a heart beating for all created 
 humanity, filled with attributes that attract every soul, glories 
 | with love for each and all, is binding restless humanity to a com- 
 mon center — the man Christ, the beloved. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 SCHOOL OFFICERS. 
 
 In my long connection with school officers, I have had some 
 peculiar experiences. On the whole, their treatment of me has 
 been all that could be desired. Whenever the committee and 
 superintendent have been educated and qualified for the position, 
 there has been harmony and mutual good feeling. That a man 
 knowing the least about a matter is the most censorious, is an 
 old proverb. There can be no doubt that there are corporals 
 in Oyama's army who criticised his movement northward. 
 There isn't a street loafer in any town who cannot solve every 
 question of finance that puzzles experienced statesmen. 
 
 Of all the contemptible little specimens of humanity whom, 
 for purposes unknown, an inscrutable ruler of the universe 
 allows to hold positions of authority, the most nauseating is 
 a man who knows but little, but who, for personal spite, or self- 
 interest, or just to exhibit a little show of authority, struts and 
 swaggers, and swells in his puny world, and abuses those as 
 superior to him as he is below the Hottentot. How much 
 harm such men do sometimes ! 
 
 There is another class of men who are great nuisances, 
 but they are more excusable. These men are proficient in 
 something, and, because they know how to build a chimney or 
 hold a plow, think they can arrange a course of study for a 
 school, or select proper text-books, and criticize the work done 
 in a schoolroom. These men are honest as far as they can 
 be, but have such an insurmountable bump of egotism that they 
 
SCHOOL OFFICERS 
 
 213 
 
 can never be of any use outside of the one little thing they have 
 learned. 
 
 There is another class who take many opportunities to 
 learn how teachers of prominence conduct their exercises, and 
 come back with a large amount of facts, but have not the 
 skill to use these with any profit. Those they do use are 
 so colored by their predisposed opinions that it is like new cloth 
 on an old garment. 
 
 No one who does not know all about teaching, who is not 
 a school teacher, who is not posted in modern methods, has 
 any right to attempt to dictate to those who are by education, 
 training, and experience fully fitted for the work. If the proper 
 man cannot be found for Inspector, then let a man of common 
 sense, a business man, be appointed, and let him select a teacher 
 as he would an electrician, or an engineer, or a surveyor, by 
 means of certificates from past fields of labor. Business men 
 all over the country are conducting enterprizes of vast impor- 
 tance on just this line. They know nothing of the practical 
 working of the vast machinery of their business, but men are 
 chosen to preside over each, in whom the proprietor has con- 
 fidence. 
 
 No teacher should be employed in a new position unless 
 his fitness is unmistakably proved. If this is done to the satis- 
 faction of the committee, surely there should be as little inter- 
 ference with his work as possible. If he is not doing good 
 work, it will become apparent very soon to student and commit- 
 tee and community. When this is seen, let that teacher depart. 
 
 I have had considerable fun in observing the performances 
 of some of my official visitors. Now I wish to repeat that the 
 most of these persons have been qualified, kind, and impartial 
 and I have worked in perfect harmony with them. But there 
 were some striking exceptions. 
 
 When a certain man came in. I always reduced the noise 
 of the school to the minimum, so as not to disturb his slumbers. 
 He would sleep so placidly, with such a child-like expression 
 
214 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 on his face that I hadn't the heart to disturb him. I always 
 dropped a stick of wood upon the floor to awaken him when the 
 time for speech-making came. He always commended the good 
 order. I gave another man, who pretended to know Greek, 
 a German reader while the class read Homer, and he didn't 
 know the difference. He said they translated admirably. 
 
 One man asked the pupils if they would all be ready to be 
 examined the thirty-first day of September ; and they said they 
 thought not. He said that that day would convene him best, 
 and urged them to be ready. The pupils were too polite to 
 smile and so he passed out of the house, feeling sure he had car- 
 ried a point, and had corrected Julius Caesar and all the Popes. 
 
 In one school eight weeks had elapsed, and there were four 
 weeks remaining. The superintendent asked what fractional 
 part of the term had passed. The class answered "Two-thirds." 
 "No," said he, with a knowing look upon them and a disap- 
 proving scowl upon me, "You are wrong." 'T will ask you 
 again before I leave." Just as he stood in the door, when de- 
 parting, he asked the same question again, and received the 
 same answer. "You are wrong again" he said, "just eight- 
 twelfths." And, smiling, he departed. 
 
 One examination day, the class in German put an exercise 
 on the board, and one of the committee, who thought he knew 
 German, in his speech congratulated the class upon the accuracy 
 of the work ; said he did not notice a mistake. I noticed that 
 not a single sentence was just right, but it being examination 
 day I held my peace ; but that class got some hazing next term. 
 
 As I look over my old certificates, I see there is only one 
 in which the name of the town was spelled without the assist- 
 ance of a capital letter. 
 
 Many of my school officers were my best friends, and I 
 have taught years under the same persons without the least 
 friction. I claim no infalibility in matters of teaching, and 
 think I have always been ready to be criticised whenever there 
 was need, and that criticism was offered by a competent party, 
 
SCHOOL OFFICERS 215 
 
 and in the right spirit. I am sure I have the highest regard, 
 today, for the great majority of those men who employed me 
 and superintended my work. 
 
 Some are dead. The memory of no man do I more cherish 
 than that of Doctor Luce, and C. B. Roberts. Both these 
 men assisted me in every way, and left a corner of the soul 
 unsatisfied, when they died. Many others might be mentioned 
 for whom I have the highest regard. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS. 
 
 A pamphlet of a hundred pages has recently been published, 
 in which the opinions of several very distinguished educators 
 are set forth in regard to a college education. Anyone reading 
 that book would certainly be very much in the condition of a 
 man standing near the ancient tower of Babel after the language 
 had been confounded. The Harvard idea conflicts with the 
 Princeton; and the Chicago with all others. Some advocate 
 a three years' course, others more advanced preparation. 
 
 I propose to discuss the problem as it has presented itself 
 to me through a long experience with young men fitting for 
 college and a careful observation of undergraduates in college. 
 
 The college president is not fully qualified to discuss the 
 question, as he only sees the boys after they have been sub- 
 jected to influences which he knows but little about. Before one 
 can fairly discuss the question about the age and requirements 
 of the student entering college there should be determined clearly 
 — what is the object of sending a boy to College, what does a 
 college course do for a boy; and what should it do? 
 
 The obvious answer is that a systematic course of study 
 trains and disciplines the mind, enlarges the mental capacities, 
 and enables the student to comprehend more readily difficult 
 mental problems. This is true ; but by no means all. The same 
 result would be attained with a private teacher. College should 
 do more than this. The young man graduating from college 
 should go forth from the college halls a cultured man, a person 
 
COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS 217 
 
 who had become by the attrition of associates, by the discipline 
 of study, by the moulding of character through the inspiration 
 inherent in a struggle to attain through self-sacrifice a dis- 
 tinctive individuality, "a perfect ashler," a polished image of the 
 God that created him. 
 
 That college educaton is a failure that does not mould every 
 conception of life ; that does not ingraft itself into the formation 
 of tastes, conceptions, and character. If this be true, then the 
 conclusion naturally follows, that boys should be in college at 
 the formative age of life, before their tastes, conceptions, and 
 methods of reasoning are fixed. The boy should be studying the 
 beauties of Greek conceptions, the artistic perfectness of Grecian 
 architecture, both in language and in marble, while his own taste 
 is being formed. Upon the mind of a young man of twenty, 
 whose tastes and habits of thinking are to a great extent al- 
 ready formed, the eloquence of Demosthenes is lost. He may 
 admire the sublime rhetoric and unanswerable logic of the great 
 master ; but the study of the "Oration on the Crown" does not 
 mould his diction and unconsciously brighten his own rhetoric 
 or sharpen his logic. 
 
 The boy of sixteen or seventeen, reading that oration, is 
 stirred to the depths of his soul with patriotic sentiments, he 
 is ready to die for his fatherland, becomes classical in taste and 
 expression, and derives from the study of Greek that undefinable 
 "culture" that college only can give. 
 
 The study of Latin literature should have its influence at 
 the same formative period of life or it is partially lost. Of 
 course, if a student goes to college for the simple purpose of 
 rendering the intellect more acute, for the purpose of executing 
 plans already formed, then the late college life is available; 
 but he could obtain nearly the same discipline out among men 
 in the active affairs of life. 
 
 Perhaps I have not made my meaning clear, but this idea 
 I have endeavored to advocate : that the young man should 
 be in college at that time of life when the books he studies, the 
 
218 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 associations formed, the impressions received, should all become 
 a constituent part of himself ; that they form his taste and con- 
 ceptions, his loves and affinities ; that material, so to speak, be 
 taken into the makeup of the mental man so that the "polish" 
 of college life be possible. 
 
 The conclusion we reach is that the student should enter 
 college at an early age, and that the requirements should not be 
 more than at present, but, indeed, less. That nothing less than 
 a four-year course can do the work required. If the bustling 
 young man of this uneasy age wants simply a practical edu- 
 cation, a means whereby money can be obtained and means of 
 livelihood, then let there be a course of study established in 
 schools adapted to that purpose. But that is not culture; 
 that is not receiving a college education. 
 
 It seems that the day of real scholarship is over in the minds 
 of many engaged in the education of youth. The age is too 
 practical for its own good. There is still need of scholarship 
 even in these days. I admit that specialists are very prominent 
 in science and business, but if no one is to succeed the all-round 
 scholar and thinker of the past, there will soon be a lack of the 
 means whereby the specialist may prosecute his especial calling. 
 Those means come only through the profound researches of 
 the man who knows more than one specific truth. No man can 
 become a profound thinker who reasons only from one point of 
 view. No one human interest can be detached from the general 
 interest appertaining to all the interests of humanity. One of 
 the sad results of simply specific research is seen in the cold, 
 unfeeling, atheistic sentiments emanating from scientific men 
 prominently before the world. 
 
 Parhassius tortured upon the rack a purchased captive 
 that he might paint a face writhing with pain. Though that 
 painter may have been the most famous of all painters, he never 
 should have painted a picture that human eye should see. Every 
 painting of the old masters extant today shows, somehow, in 
 the prospective or background, a recognition of the common 
 
COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS 219 
 
 claims of humanity. Even the angels are painted with human 
 forms, and faces lighted up with human emotions. 
 
 But referring again to the formative age, we meet the 
 objection that young boys are subjected to great temptations 
 at college. I know whereof I speak when I assert that the temp- 
 tations surrounding the boys in most schools where they are 
 prepared for college are far more alluring and fatal than in 
 college. Of course there are especial fitting schools where the 
 students are especially cared for ; but more schools there are 
 where this is impossible, and the unrestrained association of 
 students and town boys is pernicious to an eminent degree. The 
 boy forms tastes and habits that could never be possible in 
 college. 
 
 In the fitting schools there are coarse, uncultivated stu- 
 dents, who are only there for a time, but whose influence can be 
 felt ; these become, per necessity, associates. A young man rare- 
 ly changes his secret tastes and desires after he is eighteen. 
 Then put him into college young in life, where the refining 
 influence of the seniors, the all inspiring dignity of the junior, 
 and, if need be, the discretionary care of the sophomores, may 
 all combinedly chisel out of the plastic marble a prefected, 
 classical, all-round man whom the world needs, and God loves. 
 
 Of course, there must be recognized the moral, refining, 
 enthusing influence of the college faculty. This will, or ought 
 to be, all-powerful for the accomplishing of the objects before 
 mentioned. A college professor never knows what a power for 
 good often lies dormant in his opportunity. No one can so 
 model, uplift and lead out a human being as can that professor 
 who feels that God has commissioned him to be a fellow worker 
 with Himself in fashioning men. 
 
 PREPARATION FOR TEACHING. 
 
 How should teachers prepare themselves for work? They 
 should first get a good academic education. Then, if convenient, 
 attend a normal school. But I insist that thev should be thor- 
 
220 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 oughly prepared to teach, as far as requirements are concerned, 
 before they go to the normal school. 
 
 This is evident for many reasons. It is easy to see that no 
 student has time or ability to accomplish the double work of 
 learning a science and, at the same time, discovering how to 
 teach that science. Whatever teaching "per se" is done in a 
 normal school should be review work. Then the student can 
 have his whole time and energy to perfect his knowledge of 
 that science, and learn how to teach it. 
 
 I certainly recommend young ladies and gentlemen to at- 
 tend a normal school. We have some fine schools in Maine. 
 I am personally acquainted with Prof. Corthell, of Gorham, 
 who is one of the finest scholars, deepest thinkers, and syste- 
 matic teachers in Maine. I also know Prof. Richardson, of 
 Castine, and know him to be a scholar, a fine instructor, and a 
 gentleman. 
 
 Teachers should also visit schools where well-known teach- 
 ers are employed, and observe how these teachers make use of 
 the knowledge they have. Many graduates from the normal 
 schools fail to be able to apply the knowledge they possess. 
 They cannot apply the perfect model to the misshapen form pre- 
 sented them to fit. The funniest thing I ever saw in the school- 
 room, was to see a new graduate, who had never taught, try to 
 run a model school of observation in an old schoolhouse, with 
 twenty ill-assorted, unclassified, uncultured boys and girls. She 
 tried all those side-lights recommended ; put on a new ribbon 
 every day, and did up her hair in forty different ways ; tried 
 to execute all the stilted maneuvers sometimes enjoined ; thought 
 she could induce those uncultivated youngsters to become so 
 in love with books that no mischief would be thought of ; spent 
 half an hour the first day in showing why one and one make 
 two ; and thus on through the day while "Confusion grew more 
 confounded." 
 
 It would be a fine idea to transport a normal school around 
 on wheels one month a year, and let the professor and pupils 
 see our schools as they really are in some rural districts. 
 
COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS 221 
 
 I close these remarks, as I began, by advising all who 
 intend to teach to attend a Normal School. 
 
 Further, no teacher should be allowed to remain in a school, 
 who does not every day read something fitted to enlarge the 
 mind, refine the taste, and give information. Of course, the 
 teacher ought to constantly read books bearing upon his pro- 
 fession, but by no means should he stop here. He should read 
 poetry, essays, history, politics, library books in general. I am 
 inclined to think that no teacher should receive a certificate who 
 had not read "The Vicar of Wakefield," "Pilgrims Progress," 
 "The Scarlet Letter," Longfellow's poems, "Ivanhoe," and who 
 could not tell whether Ruth or Esther gleaned in the field, or 
 what was the matter with Simon Peter's wife's mother. 
 
 I care not what the scholastic acquirements of a person may 
 be ; if they know nothing but text-books he is not fit to teach 
 boys and girls. Another thought is this ; no man or woman 
 should enter a school as teacher who has an interest outside of 
 the schoolhouse tantamount to the work therein. The work 
 there must be all-absorbing all engrossing. No teacher can do 
 his duty in the schoolroom who lives there only six hours, and 
 only in bodily form at that. While county supervisor, how 
 often I saw teachers go through the routine of work like an 
 automatic drilling machine. Their look, mind, interest, soul, 
 were not there, but centered upon something interesting them 
 more than did those exercises. 
 
 I taught school one day, expecting to hear of the death of 
 a dear friend every moment, and realized that night that I had 
 robbed those pupils of six hours' service. I wish every pupil 
 of mine who proposes to teach would go into the first school 
 with the determination that he would never ask for another 
 school. Then they would so work, so devote themselves to 
 the work, that they would make the school such a success that 
 the committee would be compelled to employ them. They 
 would offer such teachers positions, unsolicited. I know a lady 
 who has never solicited a position, since her first school. All 
 
222 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 may not be able to do this, especially where nepotism prevails, 
 and the superintendent has a large circle of relations ; but the 
 experiment is worth trying. 
 
 A young man went, last fall, from Piscataquis county to 
 Aroostook to teach. He made this resolve before he commenced 
 school ; I will compel the committee to employ me another year. 
 Any position in that town was placed at his disposal at the close 
 of the term. 
 
 Finally, that man or woman who would make teaching a 
 life work must resolve to become, to a certain extent, a martyr ; 
 but not a John Rogers. His enemies burned him. No teacher 
 should allow disobedient pupils, unreasonable parents, or cranky 
 inspectors to make him a martyr. I used to lie awake nights, 
 made wretched and sleepless by the misbehavior of some vicious 
 pupil ; but I soon learned that it was far better for him to lie 
 awake than for me. When the conditions are of such a nature 
 that the teacher must act on the defensive or offensive, he should 
 not hesitate a moment. A defensive army is always at its worst. 
 So is the teacher. 
 
 TEACHING THAT PRODUCES POWER. 
 
 {Delivered before Teachers' Association at Monson.) 
 Power is that property of material or spiritual things which 
 is capable of manifesting itself upon other material or spiritual 
 things so as to bring forth results. Thus we say the dynamic 
 power of nitroglycerine is iooo; of powder 75. A cord of 
 wood has so much of caloric power. A flume of water has a 
 certain amount of speed power when properly applied for me- 
 chanical purposes. And this energy is always the same under 
 like conditions. 
 
 The same is true in the mental world. A thought has power 
 in it when said thought has within itself, inherent in its 
 nature, the capability of manifesting an influence upon other 
 thought or mental conditions. That thought has power when it 
 will do, in the mental world, what dynamite or steam will do 
 
COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS 223 
 
 in the physical world. Given a certain amount of dynamite, a 
 mountain range of granite, an adequate, intelligent direction in 
 application, — and the result is sure — a tunnel through the moun- 
 tain. Given the mental capability of the human mind, a proper 
 amount of power-producing thought, and a logical adaptation 
 of the latter from the former, and the result is no less sure. 
 
 Teaching that produces power. To produce is not to cre- 
 ate. The Almighty alone creates, but nevertheless, the ma- 
 jority of things in nature are the product of God's hand in the 
 manipulation of his few creations. 
 
 To produce is to combine given forms and influences so 
 as to bring forth conceptions ; to so combine what is that new 
 developments shall appear. To teach is to draw out what is 
 within, — to assist in the combinations mentioned above ; to sug- 
 gest to another the proper combination of facts and conceptions, 
 so that a given result shall appear. 
 
 In the material world power produced by humanity is the 
 resultant of many forces, generally. A billiard ball is made by 
 a skilful player, to execute a certain amount of work ; for in- 
 stance, to strike two other balls, driving them in different di- 
 rections, and going, itself, in a third direction. But to do this 
 the player must estimate how hard he must strike the ball with 
 the cue — just where the impact must be, he must carefully esti- 
 mate the distance between the other balls, and how far his own 
 is from each ; so that momentum, velocity, space, force, are all 
 acting in and are all used by an all-directing intelligence, acting 
 through the human brain, and the mechanical power of the 
 arm. Let there be miscalculation in any one particular, the 
 usual result is not obtained. There will be a result, be sure, 
 but not the best. 
 
 The man who would make a master stroke on a billiard 
 table, must be master of all the conditions, and could only teach 
 another to make the same stroke when the learner has some 
 knowledge of reflected motion, momentum and space. Mental 
 conclusions are never the offspring of only one mental force, act- 
 
224 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 ing on one objective point. To induce another to accept our 
 theory of a certain condition necessitates discovering the exact 
 condition of the mind upon which we propose trying our power 
 of conviction. 
 
 The politician, the sharper, and the omnipresent book agent 
 understands this, and trims his sails to suit the breeze under 
 which he finds each one sailing. 
 
 I shall assume that the word "power" in the same text means 
 power for good, a power that renders boys and girls proper 
 agents for doing God's will in the world. This is the only 
 power that ought to be developed, but not always the one that 
 is in evidence in the moral world. Sometimes this power for 
 evil is the result of misdirected efforts of unskilled workmen in 
 the intellectual and moral field. 
 
 The child presents himself to the teacher, not with an 
 unmarked mental black-board upon which the teacher is to 
 make certain lines and figures, but he comes with lines already 
 written, crooked lines, zigzag lines, crossed and intermingled. 
 There are many figures there but none that Wentworth him- 
 self could use to demonstrate the simplest theorem. The child 
 has many facts, more fictions, real knowledge and imaginary 
 illusions and illogical conclusions, all in blissful confusion, 
 piled up in his mental storehouse which very much resembles 
 the contents of his pockets, where top, gum, jackknife, gum- 
 drops and matches are jostling each other in dangerous prox- 
 imity. 
 
 In addition to this he has a moral nature in which generally 
 antagonistic forces are seething like contents of an alchemist's 
 crucible ; and all these mental and spiritual forces are housed 
 in a physical dormitory and are acting upon the world outside 
 through physical appliances. 
 
 Now, in order that a boy shall take his place as an active 
 force in the world and become a power which will add one iota 
 to the individual, intellectual, financial, moral influence that 
 is consistent with the nineteenth century, he must be so taught 
 
COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS 225 
 
 that there shall be a perfect conservation of the mental capacities 
 of his brain, a full development of his moral conceptions, and a 
 development of his physical sufficient to allow the most perfect 
 mental activity. 
 
 No one of these three can be neglected without deformity. 
 If the mental alone be developed the boy may become an Aaron 
 Burr, but never a Lincoln ; if the moral alone be matured, he 
 becomes like the latent force of a subterranean stream, or gold 
 hid in the mountain, a Hamlet, knowing his duty, but lacking 
 force to execute it. And that teaching which unduly develops 
 the physical at the expense of the other two reminds us of the 
 man who plated his balance wheel and cylinder of his engine 
 with gold, and took little care to have his steam box tight and 
 in order, and his fires brightly burning. 
 
 I have assumed the Platonic axiom in this paper — that the 
 child has in his nature all the faculties he ever can possess — 
 that all the teacher has to do is to help develop, combine and 
 draw out those. There are, in the mental laboratory of the pupil 
 many elements more than in the physical world. There is 
 ambition, imagination, memory, logical deduction, curiosity, mis- 
 chief, laziness, willfulness, cruelty, kindness, conscience, etc. 
 Hence the regime of good teaching is that of good mental chemi- 
 cal analysis. 
 
 The teacher must play the same part in the work that Mnoi 
 does in the development of oxygen from potassium chlorate. 
 The very presence of the manganese seems to energize the other 
 compounds ; but the manganese comes out from the crucible 
 unchanged. 
 
 Hence the teacher must first discover what there is in the 
 pupil. He cannot teach him otherwise. It would be useless to 
 dig for gold in our slate quarries. It would be foolish to at- 
 tempt to precipitate silver from a solution in which no silver 
 was contained. Teaching is oftentimes useless because it assimi- 
 lates itself to nothing within the mind of the child. It is not 
 always easy to discover just what is there, — a casual glimpse will 
 not reveal it. 
 15 
 
226 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 The other night, just after sunset, I stood by the bank of a 
 lake. I noticed the crescent moon in the sky sailing majesti- 
 cally over the lake. I could only see a silver crescent there, 
 shining in all its beauty. No human eye could see more of that 
 moon, but anon the twilight, fading, fled across the lake, and 
 the stars began to peep forth, one by one, and Lo ! in the arms of 
 the crescent the complete orb of the moon appeared ! So must 
 the student be studied, by daylight, by twilight, by search light, 
 by the midnight lamp of meditation, and every known force 
 in him be discovered and used, not crushed out, not covered up, 
 but used, used, used. 
 
 His imagination, which naturally leads to untruthfulness 
 and fish stories, should be combined with some dull factor that 
 has no chemistry in its nature. I knew a student once that could 
 never learn to decline a Greek adjective till imagining himself 
 a Demosthenes he roared it, with a mouth full of pebbles, out on 
 the barren sea-shore. It then became easy. The very pebbles 
 seemed to fix the slippery endings. 
 
 The student's very sluggishness may be made a balance 
 Wheel, which once compelled to revolve, will produce constant 
 force. 
 
 The teaching that produces power must be that method 
 which will assist the student to make some use of every impulse, 
 thought and capacity of the mind and to waste none of them. 
 But just here, fellow teacher, there is need of caution. A 
 proper charge of powder in a rifle sends the ball with the re- 
 quired force and right to the bull's-eye. If the quantity were 
 trebled there would be a great waste of powder and no more 
 dynamic force. 
 
 It is the all-round scholar we want to assist in forming ; and 
 when only one particular faculty is developed, by the neglect 
 of others, there is a waste. 
 
 I know there is a tendency today toward specific training 
 for one definite end. The idea seems to be to discover just 
 what the student intends to become, and then bring every force 
 
COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS 227 
 
 to bear to perfect him in that one thing. The idea is detri- 
 mental to all good mental training and to a successful attain- 
 ment of the object in view. Teachers discovering some remark- 
 able development in one direction are too apt to pursue this 
 to the great detriment of the weaker mental exhibitions. 
 
 The mistake that we make right here is the result of a 
 misconception of the human mind. We speak of it as though 
 it is made up of parts — each one acting along its own line of di- 
 rection ; when the fact is, the indivisible mind acts, with more 
 or less energy, in all its lines of action. 
 
 The mind of the pupil, like the alchemist's crucible, contains 
 many thoughts, emotions, and conceptions, as I before remarked. 
 A crystal is the perfection of any element, and any element may 
 by crystalized. So may any thought ; and said thought is 
 never a part of any education till it is crystalized. 
 
 Now the teacher has before him a human mind, a mental 
 crucible in which a host of conditions exist, and if power be 
 produced, he must assist in making the best combination possible. 
 He must dissolve some, form others, and teach how the desired 
 crystalization may be obtained. There is nothing in natural 
 chemistry that cannot be made to combine ; so, I claim, there is 
 not a thought in the boy's soul that cannot be utilized by some 
 combination. The teacher must often play the part of the 
 Mno2, — but not always the same, — sometimes more explanation 
 is needed, sometimes more patience obtains a new combination, 
 oftentimes a smile, sometimes a frown. Love one day may be 
 the talisman and severe discipline the next. 
 
 Crystals are generally imperishable. The diamond is al- 
 most indistructable. The graphite, composed of the same ele- 
 ment as the diamond, shows its perishing nature on anv line 
 of written paper. 
 
 To sum up : that teaching produces power that assists the 
 student to assimilate what is already in him to what he wishes 
 to add thereto. Second ; to show the laws and rules of crystali- 
 zation so that every thought shall be a crystal, pure, brilliant, 
 recognized and imperishable. 
 
228 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Thought that is only half crystalized like the graphite easily 
 passes away, or becomes absorbed by other thoughts, and is 
 lost. No lesson, however trivial, should be pronounced accom- 
 plished till perfectly crystalized. Thought is mental process 
 when thus perfected like the diamond, will execute. The dia- 
 mond cuts the hardest steel, makes its impress upon the flint 
 rock, and never grows dim. 
 
 So the immortal thought of the human soul in its best 
 state knows no defeat and writes its triumph upon the adaman- 
 tine walls that would bar its progress. 
 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 PERSONAL. 
 
 I have been a member of several societies. I was made a 
 Mason when twenty-three years old. I have always enjoyed 
 the institution, and a year ago, became associated with the 
 Eastern Star organization. This institution, I think is beauti- 
 ful, helpful and inspiring. There is a wholeness to the idea 
 embraced in a voluntary secret society exemplified in the Star 
 Society that is very pleasing. The father, mother, daughter, 
 can there all meet together and each receive all the benefits that 
 the others do. After all, the family is the grand unit, heaven 
 ordained and self-centered, around which all pleasure and profit 
 centers. 
 
 It was inevitable that the Chapter of the Eastern Star 
 should arise. The condition of social affairs in the twentieth 
 century made it a necessity. Whenever any institution is born 
 in the fulness of the times, it must flourish and never die as 
 long as the conditions continue and the need remains. 
 
 The star came legitimately into existence, and will illumi- 
 nate the Masonic horizon as long as the sun rises in the east. 
 Its influence upon the sisters is wonderful in developing those 
 interests so long dormant, and no man can spend an hour in the 
 society of cultivated ladies without being made better : purer 
 in thought, and hotter in manners. It is in a congregated capac- 
 ity that the refining influence of woman best manifests itself. 
 In private life this is less apparent because the little foibles inci- 
 dental to the sex show themselves — but in public, never. Their 
 better sense of propriety in public shields them even from these. 
 
230 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 I joined the Odd Fellows in 1889, and was very much inter- 
 ested in the order while living where there was a lodge, but 
 when I went away, I lost interest and fell out. I shall always 
 have a good word to say of the order. 
 
 Two years ago, I joined the Grange. Mr. Gardner had 
 suggested that a lawyer could not be admitted, but the Grange 
 followed the advice of Deacon Jones and took me in. In a cer- 
 tain town there was a revival of religion, and a lawyer became 
 converted and applied to the church for admission. The church 
 hesitated a little, but Deacon Jones arose and said : "Brethren, 
 I have already investigated the matter and have discovered that 
 he is not lawyer enough to hurt him any." So they took 
 him in. 
 
 The Grange seems to me a grand institution, and is doing 
 a magnificent work. The work done by the Grange in the towns 
 remote from centers is beyond computation. These towns have 
 not churches nor other organizations. The Grange gathers the 
 people together in orderly lines. All have an opportunity to 
 became participants in the exercises of the meetings and 
 become trained in methods of doing things properly. And more 
 than this, much is learned beneficial to the interests of the farm- 
 er. Still more, and most important, it has dignified the occu- 
 pation, reconciled the young man who was getting uneasy, to 
 stay on the farm and devote his best energies to own and beau- 
 tify a farm of his own. The Grange has mended the broken 
 fences, painted the houses, and adorned the front yard, and put 
 newspapers and books upon the parlor table. 
 
 While teaching at Monson I was ordained to the ministry 
 and was the acting pastor of the Baptist church. During those 
 three years twenty-eight were added to the church, if I remem- 
 ber correctly, the bell was purchased and a new organ bought. 
 
 In my spare moments I occasionally read law. I wrestled 
 with Blackstone for a year or two, and other law books, more 
 for the sake of knowing about law than with the expectation of 
 practicing it. 
 
PERSONAL 231 
 
 In 1869, on the motion of the Hon. A. G. Lebroke, I was 
 admitted to the bar. I did not attempt to practice to any ex- 
 tent, as other matters absorbed nearly all my time. My first 
 case was a divorce case. One of my old pupils was unfortunate 
 in her choice of a husband, and she desired a divorce. I obtained 
 it for her and received, — her thanks. I next defended a man 
 who had struck another man on the head with a sled-stake. 
 I got him off for one dollar and costs. I received a lantern 
 and some promises for my services. The promises were never 
 redeemed. Like Diogenes, I wore out the lantern looking for 
 an honest client. I have sometimes regretted that I did not 
 continue my legal studies and practice ; but "quien sabe" per- 
 haps it is just as well. 
 
 The chief reason why I did not was this ; about that time 
 I signed a sheriff's bond for several thousand dollars, and the 
 party sued converted the property and went into bankruptcy, 
 and I was called upon to pay his debts. I had an opportunity to 
 earn more immediate money than I could at law, so continued 
 to teach, but have never entirely abandoned the study of abstract 
 law. 
 
 I have alwavs been glad that I obtained what knowledge 
 I did. What knowledge I had became very useful in the school- 
 room in certain branches. I do not understand how a teacher 
 can teach the Constitution of the United States without some 
 knowledge of legal terms. 
 
 The lawyer's office has always been a favorite loafing 
 place for me. I have been acquainted with quite a large num- 
 ber of lawyers and have found them, on the whole, a fine lot of 
 men. 
 
 I wish here to acknowledge the many pleasant hours spent 
 in the office of C. W. Hayes of Foxcroft, who has shown me 
 much kindness and entertained me pleasantly in instructive 
 conversation. I also thank Judge Smith of Dover for his kind 
 assistance. 
 
232 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 I used to call upon a young- lawyer, twenty years ago, who 
 was very studious. But he did not confine his study to law 
 books ; he read good literature, poetry, all those books that 
 refine the taste, correct the diction, and expand the mind. That 
 young man is now on the bench of the Supreme Court of Maine. 
 Who knows how much the classical style, choice selection of 
 words, admirable diction, has been shaped by that early reading! 
 I do not think any professional man can afford to ever neglect 
 reading good books. 
 
 The study of law is as good discipline as a person can have. 
 There is a logical sequence of cause and effect brought out 
 in the pursuit of the science that trains the mind finely. The 
 order in which the different branches are presented to the stu- 
 dent is the result of much thought by the old masters. If a 
 friend of mine proposed to become a clergyman, I should sug- 
 gest that the first year's study be a course laid out by a skilful 
 lawyer. The preacher who has studied law would never become 
 as ex parte in his discourses as the purely theological student. 
 
 The lawyer is aware that every statement of his will be 
 criticised. Would not it be for the benefit of some clergymen 
 if they were certain that their remarks would be as fully scru- 
 tinized ? 
 
 I have never held any office of importance, except county 
 supervisor. I once "ran" for Representative, and came so near 
 being elected that I had much difficulty in buying a hat big 
 enough, for the next year or two. 
 
 I have voted the Republican ticket most of the time ; but 
 have been known as somewhat of a "kicker" and have cut the 
 ticket whenever I felt inclined. 
 
 In 1 88 1, Governor Plaisted nominated me for superin- 
 tendent of schools, removing Hon. N. A. Luce. The council, 
 on purely political grounds, refused to confirm the removal and 
 properly retained Mr. Luce. I did not want N. A. to die, it 
 would have been stupid for him to resign, but I did wish 
 he might be chosen U. S. Senator. I had the assurance, if there 
 
PERSONAL 233 
 
 was a vacancy, that I should he confirmed. At that time the 
 Houlton Times published the following - : 
 "Superintendent of Common Schools :" 
 
 "We noticed the fact, last week, that Prof. W. S. Knowlton 
 of this town, had been nominated Superintendent of Common 
 Schools by the Governor. We regard this appointment as an 
 excellent one. Mr. Knowlton was born in Sangerville, Piscata- 
 quis county. He fitted for college at Foxcroft Academy and 
 entered Waterville College in i860. After graduating he became 
 principal of Monson Academy, the principal of Foxcroft Acad- 
 emy. In both of these schools he won an excellent reputation 
 as a teacher. Mr. Knowlton next became principal of the 
 Hitchcock Free High School in Brimfield, Mass., and remained 
 there until he returned to Monson, to take charge of the Acad- 
 emy again. Under the supervisor law he became superintendent 
 of Piscataquis county, and held the office until the law was 
 repealed, and it is worthy of notice that Piscataquis county was 
 almost the only one that voted solid for the law to the end. 
 
 Six years ago, he was selected by the committee to take 
 charge of Houlton Academy. This institution had recently 
 passed under the control of Colby University, and, under his 
 direction, the school has become one of the most flourishing 
 in the State. Teaching has been his life work and the uniform 
 success which has, in the past, attended his labors we feel cer- 
 tain would follow him in the office to which he has been nomi- 
 nated. 
 
 Very few men, we believe, are so well fitted for the posi- 
 tion of state superintendent of common schools. His knowl- 
 edge of teaching and of the wants of our school system is not 
 merely theoretical, but practical. He would, therefore, bring 
 to the position an amount of experience that would enable him 
 to do much better work than could otherwise be possible. It is 
 worthy of mention too, that he has a breadth of culture that 
 few men possess, being a fine scholar, a first-class teacher and 
 a good public speaker. We, therefore, sincerely hope that, for 
 
234 THE 0LD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 the sake of our schools, Mr. Knowlton may be confirmed in 
 the position to which he has been nominated by the Governor." 
 
 BACCALAUREATE SERMON. 
 
 "Every man in his chamber of imagery." — Ezekiel 8 ; 23. 
 
 The prophet of the Lord was in spirit on the first day of the 
 week when the spirit of the Lord led him away to the temple 
 at Jerusalem and leading him to the wall commanded him 
 to dig in the wall. He did so and discovered a hole in the wall. 
 The angel commanded him to still continue to dig. Then a door 
 appeared and the prophet went in and stood in a chamber hidden 
 in the secret recesses of the temple. Then said the angel, "Oh 
 son of man, seest thou what they do, every man in the chamber 
 of his imagery;" The prophet looked, and behold, he saw the 
 priests and elders, whose duty it was to offer incense to the God 
 of Israel and worship the Almighty, every man with a censer 
 in his hand offering incense to the idols he had set up and paying 
 his adoration to them. Here were those men with door shut, 
 every trace of secret entrance obliterated. There in the dark, 
 though no eye saw and no ear heard ; but the eye of the Lord 
 penetrated that dark recess and revealed all the secret wicked- 
 ness of that chamber. Those men had this chamber where they 
 paid adoration to the secret idols of their selection. There they 
 worshiped, there they loved and adored and became assimilated 
 to the very gods they themselves had selected or created. 
 
 So has every man today a chamber of imagery, where in 
 secret he goes and communes with that secret chamber of the 
 soul. From that chamber he comes and mingles with men, 
 with the incense of that secret chamber still pervading every 
 act and thought. When do men enter this chamber? At all 
 hours and in all places. Sometimes in the crowded congrega- 
 tion the vacant eye shows that one hearer, at least, is no longer 
 conscious of his present surroundings, but has floated away to 
 his ideal world, and is dwelling upon scenes the clergyman knows 
 not of. At the evening hour, when alone, almost before he is 
 
PERSONAL 235 
 
 aware, he stands in his chamber with censer in hand and is wor- 
 shiping some idol that he loves. Everyone, I repeat, has this 
 chamber, and there are formed the deepest loves of the heart. 
 It is there that temptation first allures and captivates ; it is there 
 that the great resolves are formed that lead to noble and holy 
 lives. There ideal associates are cherished whose counterfeits 
 we seek in practical life. Every young man especially spends 
 some moments each day as he stands in his chamber of 
 imagery. Into that chamber he goes, shuts the door and fancies 
 the world will never know to what god he sacrifices. Perhaps 
 he ought to be elsewhere, should be in the holy temple of Jeho- 
 vah, ought to be doing some duty for humanity, filling some 
 position assigned by virtue of his condition, but all these he 
 neglects or ignores and flees away in soul to his secret chamber 
 and worships. 
 
 Into that secret chamber of the soul come the silent influ- 
 ences that operate upon the heart and paint upon the walls the 
 scenes, beauties and inducements that each advocates. Ambi- 
 tion, remorseless ambition, that spirit that led the Israelites to 
 ask for a king, that led Napoleon Bonaparte to swim vast seas 
 of slaughter that his insatiate thirst for power might in some 
 degree be satiated, that leads men today to seek power, position, 
 wealth, regardless of the rights of others. — ambition comes 
 and paints upon the walls in gorgeous coloring, the glorious 
 triumphs and magnificent victories the daring may achieve. 
 
 The dead and dying are not represented, the broken hearts 
 are not seen, the dying groans not heard, only the peans of 
 victory swell out upon the air. The young man sits in his cham- 
 ber of imagery and gazes upon these lurid pictures. He is at 
 first, perhaps, shocked at the delineation upon the wall. Con- 
 science reproves, mercy pleads and justice cries in sternest 
 accents, but yet ambition in bright lines, more glorious scenes 
 portray, weaker and weaker grows the reproval of conscience 
 and the voice is drowned in the shouts of victory till at last 
 the surrender is won, and the man stands in his chamber of 
 
236 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 imagery with his censer in his hands, worshiping the ideal pictures 
 upon the walls. There in that secret chamber, the resolves are 
 formed which are executed in practical life. Into that chamber 
 comes an inordinate love of wealth, beautiful houses with brown 
 stone fronts, horses and carriages, bank stock and bonds are 
 painted upon the walls, and how alluring are they ! All the re- 
 finements of life that wealth can bring, luxury can furnish, 
 every aesthetic taste fully satisfied, beautiful scenes of earth visit- 
 ed, — all these pictures are thrown upon the screen where mel- 
 lowed light softly falls. What young man is not allured by 
 such magnificent promises? The sleepless nights of anxiety, 
 the clouds that so often darken the horizon are not painted in 
 the picture. The manhood lost that wealth may be gained, a 
 soul bartered for dollars ; conscience violated that desire may 
 prevail, — all these are in the background overshadowed by the 
 halo from the inviting. The censer stands before the longing 
 eyes of the young man, pondering, hesitating he stands, desir- 
 ing the results, but lamenting the sacrifice. At length when 
 the heart is ready, the hand grasps the censer and adoration is 
 paid to the ideal, and out among men, disregarding every moral 
 obligation, burying manhood under stocks and bonds, he starts 
 on a course of "frenzied finance" which, has he the ability and 
 fortune favors, will carry him to the boulevard that leads to 
 castles and chateaux and secures the stocks and bonds. 
 
 There are many haunted houses in this land of ours. Stalk- 
 ing through the halls and corridors are the ghosts of happiness 
 that die when the first dishonest dollar was obtained, the appar- 
 ition of peace that passed out when unholy desire entered. 
 
 Into that chamber hypocrisy slinks with smiling, smirk- 
 ing face and paints her fancies there. The front view is fascinat- 
 ing in the extreme. The front is only shown. Like many an 
 imposing structure standing upon streets, the front facade but 
 hides the insignificant house in the rear. Strange as it may 
 seem so many stand before that wall with censer in hand and pay 
 their heart's devotion to the false, the hollow, the wicked, and so 
 
PERSONAL 237 
 
 in fancy's flights they build whited sepulchers and call them 
 mansions fair. Among men these idolators live and act accord- 
 ing to their ideals, and leave the world worse when life's course 
 is over, with halting steps and paints her pictures upon the wall, 
 Sloth comes, couches for repose, chairs of ease and shady lanes 
 are the pictures offered. Why tire the muscles and weary the 
 brain and climb mountains when sunny plains stretch invitingly 
 from horizon to horizon? In dulcet tones she sighs, "A little 
 more sleep, a little more folding of the hands in sleep." Why 
 toil and agonize for riches that have wings and fly away? Why 
 weary the brain with fatiguing thought? Why recognize per- 
 sistent duty demanding labor? Why listen to that voice within 
 calling to lofty thought and glorious deeds? And the indo- 
 lent suggard with half filled censer wearily pays his devotion 
 to idleness and sleep. Among men he becomes the reality he 
 desires to be in his chamber of thought. 
 
 Sensual pleasure pictures upon the wall scenes upon which 
 the novice gazes at first with a blush of shame inherited from 
 the mother's soul, but anon those scenes seem less hideous and 
 at length attract, allure and fascinate. 
 
 "Vice is a monster of so frightful mein, 
 As to be hated needs but to be seen. 
 
 But seen too oft, familiar with his face, 
 We first endure, then pity, then embrace." 
 
 Here it is in the secret chamber of desire that the reckless, 
 dissolute youth commences the life of dissipation and disgrace. 
 Bright, glowing pictures allure and captivate in the medita- 
 tion hour. At this quiet hour when no human eye can see, 
 no ear can hear, the young man sits and thinks over the scenes 
 of the day. He recalls the glowing accounts given by his com- 
 panions of the good times they have indulged in, reviews the 
 scenes they have pictured over, and feasts his soul upon the ideal 
 engagements he has conjured up before himself. He sees but 
 one side of it all, calls not up before his vision, health ruined, 
 reputation gone, friends in despair, life wasted. He only sees 
 
238 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 what he wants to see, and when he becomes in love with these 
 he goes out into the world and plunges into the actual with all 
 the disastrous results following. And thus the whole cata- 
 logue of human passions array themselves in that chamber of 
 imagery. 
 
 But these are not the only visitors to that chamber. The 
 better elements of the human soul present themselves and plead 
 for recognition. True ambition, a desire to excel comes to the 
 young in his meditation hour and paints on the walls names of 
 men and women whose fame will never die. These are written 
 high on the walls, enveloped in glory true and undying. As he 
 gazes upon these, a desire arises to write his name along beside 
 them, to so live that all coming ages will remember the name 
 made famous, and which will brighter grow as time passes on. 
 When these illustrations have stimulated the soul to earnest 
 desire, then begins a course in life whose consummation is the 
 highest possible attainment. Then every hindrance is laid aside, 
 weak indulgences he no longer regards, trivial considerations 
 receive no attention, all small desires lie grovelling in the dust, 
 one grand, over-mastering purpose animates the soul, — to make 
 life something grand, something honorable, something that will 
 compel all coming time to recognize and weave into precepts and 
 copy as models. 
 
 Purity dressed in garments of snow with modest mein and 
 downcast eye, with brow serene and step made firm by self- 
 consciousness, paints on the wall the lovely chaste portraits that 
 so resemble the pictures of the Madonna, and she whispers, 
 "These, and these alone, you must worship, O young man, these, 
 and these alone, O dear young lady, you must dare even think 
 about." No gaudy colors plant there their brazen effrontery 
 about the pictures that Purity paints upon the canvas. But they 
 are not attractive. There is inherent in the heart an apprecia- 
 tion of all that is pure and beautiful and good before the taste 
 becomes violated and the desires depraved. If only the young 
 could learn to love the pure with an actual emotion while the 
 
PERSONAL 239 
 
 God given appreciation is active, if he pays his adoration at 
 that altar, if he burns in his censer the purest spices and the 
 frankincense of an unpolluted heart, he will never fail amid the 
 most fascinating temptations ; but that love must be as strong, 
 real and active as a desire for gross things can be. Oftimes a 
 toleration is mistaken for a love. A half-hearted approval never 
 leads to forcible acts. 
 
 On that wall are painted portraits of men and women who 
 have laid aside every selfish thought and desire, and worked 
 together with God for the uplifting of society, the amelioration 
 of suffering. 
 
 Into the chamber of silent thought comes the "still, small 
 voice," pleading for a better life, higher motives, purer thought. 
 Away from the noise of the busy world, separated from influ- 
 ences that have drowned that voice, its power is most potent. 
 
 In the heart can be heard the familiar tones of a mother's 
 prayer, falling, as it seems, from her home above, pleading 
 with her prodigal boy. Gently knocking at that door ever 
 stands the Christ, and asks to come in, pleads to come in. 
 When allowed that to do, what glorious pictures are painted 
 on the walls ! The cross is there to be sure, but a halo of 
 glory illuminates it. Jesus of Nazareth hung upon that cross. 
 Through the cross, life and salvation came to the world ; by 
 means of the cross, humanity dies to sin, and receives "life more 
 abundantly." By the crosses of life, character is perfected ; 
 the heart enlarged and life made worth living. 
 
 But other pictures are there : A glorious life spent in the 
 service of God, spent in doing good among men, a life in which 
 every motive, thought and desire are prompted by the spirit of 
 God. Other scenes are portrayed. Ambition robbed of all 
 selfishness finds its highest conception realized in full develop- 
 ment, emblazoned with undying deeds that Heaven can bless, 
 a Christianized intellect, every fond hope and purpose purified 
 and made clean. 
 
240 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 All these things are on the wall, and more than that, "A 
 home in Heaven," the house of many mansions, the golden 
 streets and pearly gates ; a life with God, where the immortal 
 soul, with its almost infinite longings, shall have opportunity to 
 study, investigate, to know ; a home where all is pure, beautiful 
 and incorruptible ; where friend shall see the heart of friend ; 
 where partings can never be, where all that an infinite God can 
 do for the perfection of human happiness is done. 
 
 As the young man gazes upon these scenes, and listens to 
 that pleading voice, he can but feel an impulse to accept at once ; 
 but there are other pictures upon that wall, other voices call, 
 the voice of the Siren, in dulcet tones, is heard, calling to other 
 scenes. He hesitates, thinks, meditates, stands with censer in 
 hand, almost distracted ; but right there, in that secret chamber, 
 the decision will be made ; a decision that nor time nor eternity 
 will be able to change. In this secret retreat are the issues of 
 life and death. 
 
 O young man, young woman, as you sit alone in your 
 chamber, and fashion for yourself an ideal life; as you review 
 the pleasures of the day, and contemplate the duties of life, 
 as you appreciate the temptations that surround you, fix your 
 eye on the Christ on the cross, and open the heart to the pleading 
 voice calling to better things. Close the eye to every scene not 
 approved of Christ, not embraced within the landscape of his 
 portraiture. 
 
 CONTRIBUTED FOR ALBUMS. 
 
 Several of the students have sent me a contribution from 
 albums in which I had written. I ought to state that two or 
 three of these contributions were written when I was a young 
 man. 
 
 Found in many albums. 
 "You'll not forget, when this you see, 
 That this is my chirography." 
 
PERSONAL 241 
 
 To . ilice. 
 Alice, in your eyes I see, 
 Love supreme, and coquetry, 
 Give to me the first and best. 
 Let the world take all the rest. 
 
 To Lucia Rose. 
 Be a white rose, pure and neat, 
 Be a red rose, blushing sweet, 
 Every path in life adorn. 
 Be a rose without a thorn. 
 
 To Miss Elloisc Baglcy. 
 Elloise, 
 Busy bees 
 
 Honey find in flower or trees. 
 Thus may you 
 Ever do, 
 Find in all things something true. 
 
 On receiving a box of grapes as a philopena present from 
 Miss Ada Staples : 
 
 Accept my thanks, Miss Ada S. 
 Payment in full I now confess. 
 The sweetness of the grapes, methought. 
 Was borrowed from the hand that brought. 
 
 To Mary. 
 Of kind words be never chary. 
 Let your smiles be frequent, very ; 
 When you're sad or when you're merry, 
 Be perfection, then be Mary. 
 
 A PRAYER TO PROF. OSLER. 
 Dr. Osier said that a man at sixty ought to be chloroformed. 
 My dear Professor, if you can. 
 Please lengthen out our earthly span. 
 
 We've passed the sixty milestone by, 
 With step still firm and undimmed eye. 
 
 16 
 
242 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 Can swing the scythe like long ago, 
 Can handle axe, or plow, or hoe. 
 
 Can measure mountains, moon, or star, 
 Can solve the tough hyperbola. 
 
 Of steak or pie can eat our fill, 
 
 With Edwards reason on "Free Will." 
 
 Can Plato read and Socrates, 
 
 And "square the circle," at our ease. 
 
 We still would stem the heat and storm, 
 We do not want your "chloroform." 
 
 We think it hard to leave the track 
 Because that stupid almanac, 
 
 Says we were born in thirty-nine, 
 And must with gloomy Pluto dine. 
 
 We have a nag that's twenty-four, 
 We want to drive that nag some more. 
 
 No man of twenty, none but us, 
 Can drive that fierce Bucephalus. 
 
 Our mooley cow, though gaunt and lean, 
 Makes butter still, at "sweet sixteen." 
 
 No "kid" of forty ever born 
 
 Can milk that cow with "crumpled horn." 
 
 And our old dog, though blind of eye, 
 Still wags his tail, as we pass by. 
 
 Shall we lie silent in the vale, 
 
 While that old dog still wags his tail? 
 
 We have a wife, less old than we, 
 Shall she a youthful widow be, 
 
 And soon her sable plumage burn, 
 While we lie senseless in the urn, 
 
 And grace the home of some young host, 
 That only forty years can boast? 
 
PERSONAL 243 
 
 My dear Professor, don't you feel, 
 
 The world sometimes gets tired of "veal," 
 
 And, like St. Paul, "for stomach's sake," 
 Wants, now and then, a slice of steak, 
 
 Where age and sweetness nicely join, 
 Or juicy roast of tenderloin? 
 
 Go east, Professor, o'er the wave, 
 And shed a tear at Gladstone's grave. 
 
 Go east, Professor, far away, 
 And let me live my little day. 
 
 When "mal de mer" your stomach's on, 
 Then take your dose of "chloroform." 
 
 AN IDYL. 
 
 THE KISS AT PALMER. 
 
 I stood, one day, on the depot steps 
 
 With lawyer, priest and farmer. 
 And my heart was stirred to its lowest depths, 
 
 In the beautiful town of Palmer. 
 
 Close by my side stood a bright-eyed Miss, 
 
 No statue of Juno was calmer ; 
 And the cruel engine began to hiss 
 
 Farewell to that girl at Palmer. 
 
 Her eyes were bright as Venus at night. 
 
 And her heart, through their lashes, bewildered with flashes. 
 And her sunshiny smile would a Cato beguile; 
 
 With voice soft and fine as the breeze in the pine. 
 
 We'd loved, in a sort of Platonic way, 
 
 I and my exquisite charmer, 
 But part we must, forever and aye. 
 
 In that terrible town of Palmer. 
 
 My tongue was tied by a nameless spell ; 
 
 I prayed that nothing would harm her ; 
 And I gave my hand, in a silent farewell, 
 
 In that hopeless town of Palmer. 
 
244 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 She pressed my hand, O, joy! 0, bliss! 
 
 The very air grew balm'er, 
 And with sweetest lips gave me a kiss 
 
 In the glorified town of Palmer. 
 
 The world seemed changed in a moment's time, 
 The Millenium Dawn seemed nigher ; 
 
 That engine, grim with soot and rime, 
 Elijah's chariot of fire. 
 
 I felt like the Peri, when freed from sin, 
 
 She saw the gates of Aiden 
 Open wide to let her in, 
 
 With that precious tear-drop laden. 
 
 That gloomy station, rough and brown, 
 
 Became a mansion, fair. 
 And the Poor House over in Monson Town, 
 
 Grand castles in the air. 
 
 Every pebble seemed a precious gem, 
 
 To the eyes of the Holy Palmer, 
 As he walked the streets of Jerusalem ; 
 
 And I the streets of Palmer. 
 
 I'm a grandsire now, with a child by my side, 
 And the passions of life have grown calmer; 
 
 But I'll never forget till eveningtide, 
 That girl and that kiss, at Palmer ! 
 
 THE PARSON'S EXCHANGE. 
 
 One evening Cupid took a stroll. 
 And brought his bow along; 
 
 He lighted on a grassy knoll 
 And hummed a little song. 
 "The parson is writing his sermon," said he, 
 "What do you think his text can be? 
 I'll sit me down on the window sill 
 And watch the flight of his gray goose quill. 
 Some musty old thought on the duty of man, 
 How Eden was lost and the terrible ban — 
 O! pshaw! parson, now I'll give you a line 
 That serves as a text for all sermons of mine." 
 
PERSONAL 245 
 
 And the mind of the parson was thrilled through and through, 
 
 And his duty he saw in a light that was new. 
 
 And he heard his heart beat in ecstatic surprise 
 
 As a text flashed forth as if from the skies. 
 
 " 'Love ye one another,' " he repeated o'er and o'er. 
 
 " 'Love ye one another.' That I do, and more." 
 
 But the sermon still lingered, his forehead grew hot, 
 
 No spiritual light, no answering thought, 
 
 But the odors of Eden seemed filling the room. 
 
 He Paradise saw with lilies in bloom, 
 
 And angels with garlands of flowers 
 
 Seemed beckoning on to perennial bowers. 
 
 The parson grew frantic. "I'll write it," he cried, 
 
 "Or die the dire death that the martyrs have died. 
 
 What power can it be that is thrilling me so?" 
 
 He then heard the twang of the bright silver bow, 
 
 And the arrow sped straight his corselet between, 
 
 And a sweet voice whispered "Charlene, Charlene." 
 
 A blush of surprise on the parson's face broke; 
 
 He thought his own heart its secret had spoke. 
 
 And visions he saw more precious, I ween, 
 
 Than ever before by mortals were seen. 
 
 Except by a lover — well you and I know 
 
 Just how it was, in the sweet long ago. 
 
 But the sermon stopped there, it couldn't be done, 
 
 And Cupid sat smiling, enjoying the fun. 
 
 He wrestled, like Jacob, with angels unseen. 
 
 But the angel that conquered was the charming Charlene. 
 
 "It's of no use." he cried. "My thoughts they will range. 
 
 It cannot be done. I'll have an exchange." 
 
 Though the highway was rough and the wintry air keen, 
 
 He flew like a dove to the home of Charlene. 
 
 'Twas the same old story, it never will change ; 
 
 Heart spoke unto heart, they made an exchange. 
 
 Influenced by the imperative demand of former pupils of 
 Houlton Academy, I take great pleasure in immortalizing - this 
 book by presenting to my readers W. H. Parker's Byronic poem 
 published in those happy days. 
 
24 6 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 Come, friends, I pray, and listen 
 
 While to you I do relate 
 A few words concerning one 
 
 With whom we often meet. 
 
 "Tis of a brave and gallant youth, 
 
 Well known unto us all, 
 His stature 'tis not great, 
 
 And some might call him small. 
 
 His name is a familiar one, 
 
 But if you cannot guess, 
 I may as well tell it. 
 
 His name is W. J. Betts. 
 
 He is studious and industrious 
 
 As ever was a bee, 
 And when he leaves our school he's going 
 
 At travelling with apple trees. 
 
 He's very fond of the ladies, 
 
 As it's natural for to be; 
 And when he has one by his side 
 
 He seems so full of glee. 
 
 But for one he has a special love, 
 
 As often is the case ; 
 She's tall and young and sprightly, 
 
 But has a freckled face. 
 
 This young Miss is very tall, 
 
 As before I did relate ; 
 In order for to see her face 
 
 He has to look up straight. 
 
 And now I'm drawing to a close, 
 
 I must bid my friends adieu. 
 And all the rest of his worthy acts 
 
 I will simply leave with you. 
 
 But his loved one's conduct toward him 
 The hardest heart might touch ; 
 
 She cares so little for him, 
 While he loves her so much. 
 
PERSONAL 247 
 
 But I must leave the gloomy scene 
 
 And another course pursue, 
 So I will quietly drop my pen 
 
 And bid you all "adieu." 
 
 —IV. H. Parker. 
 
 A PAPER ON ORDER. 
 
 More teachers fail on account of an inability to govern a 
 school than by any other means. They do not understand that 
 there is science in the governing of a school. One fact must be 
 admitted at once; that some are "born to command." But even 
 those have a system by which they work. The very first prin- 
 ciple to learn in governing a room-full of scholars is strategy. 
 The teacher must so plan that the least amount of force possible 
 be called into action. To explain ; every class must sit on the 
 recitation seat in the order in which they come from their seats 
 in the schoolroom. No class should ever, in the smallest school, 
 come into the floor except in regular order, one pupil following 
 another ; then, when all are before the recitation seat, they should 
 all be seated at once, by the tap of the bell. Every scholar should 
 always occupy the same position in the same recitation, through 
 the term. 
 
 The class should be dismissed in the way they are 
 seated, by a tap of the bell calling them up, another tap sends 
 them to their seats, where they stand till the bell seats them. 
 
 No communication should be allowed in the class, and 
 nearly all text books should be left at the seats. No geographies 
 should be carried into the class. The teacher should carefully 
 notice those in the class who are inattentive, and without directly 
 telling them the reason, call upon them the most frequently to 
 recite. They will see the point very soon. Every teacher should 
 tell the pupils, at the beginning of the term, that he will seat the 
 pupils where he thinks it best for all concerned, and should make 
 such changes as he thinks best. 
 
 The school should march out at recess and, when they come 
 in, stand by the seat till seated. They must, by all means, be 
 
248 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 required to come in immediately when the bell rings and that bell 
 should only ring a stroke or two. I advise every teacher to 
 strictly enforce this suggestion. Do not ring the bell five min- 
 utes, or one minute, but strike it so it can be heard and insist that 
 all, large and small, shall come in at once. If this is required at 
 the beginning of the term rigidly, it will save very much trouble 
 and assist in other matters of discipline. 
 
 When I was county supervisor of schools, in a certain town 
 was a schoolhouse so located that the pupils could run around 
 it. One day I drove along by the house and saw half a dozen 
 scholars sprinting around that house with the teacher behind 
 them. I thought they were in sport and stopped to watch the 
 fun, but soon I noticed that, one by one, the pupils dodged into 
 the schoolhouse and, at last, all went in, followed by the teacher. 
 I learned that was the usual program every recess. It was good 
 exercise for the legs, but not a brain developing exercise. 
 
 The water pail is a great source of disturbance in the school 
 room and I am inclined to think it ought to be excluded, but per- 
 haps it is not wise to do so, as so many think that children need 
 to drink every half hour. It is an unhealthy and pernicious 
 habit, and ought to be abolished. Water that has stood an hour 
 in the schoolroom is unfit to drink at all. If the teacher must 
 have the water pail, let the scholars "be watered" at regular 
 intervals, in perfect order, and suspend all other exercises. 
 
 All punishment should follow the offence, as a rule. A 
 pupil caught in the act of disobedience recognizes that he is 
 wrong, and deserves punishment. If he receives it then and 
 there, a reformation usually follows. But if that pupil is told at 
 ten o'clock that at the close of school he is to receive punishment, 
 he thinks the matter over during the day, talks about it with the 
 pupils, and by night comes to the conclusion that the offence 
 does not justify punishment. So, when it is administered, it 
 leads, not to repentance, but to stubbornness. 
 
 Of course, there may be instances where it may be better to 
 defer. 
 
PERSONAL 249 
 
 That teacher who publicly proclaims that he never punishes, 
 had better change his business. My rule is — punish if I must, — 
 but show by example that the minimum quantity only is needed. 
 I have never whipped a pupil or used a ferule. I have shown a 
 few that this world revolves very rapidly sometimes ; I have 
 deprived them of privileges, and subjected them to mortifica- 
 tions; but I always informed the superintendent and pupils that 
 I should whip them, if I thought best, and they deserved it. 
 
 Whispering is the source of most of the disorder in a school 
 room. I suppose there never was a school where there was not 
 some, but it should be reduced to the smallest degree possible. 
 It is often said, "Gain the love of the pupils, and there will be no 
 trouble." A moment's thought will show that this alone will not 
 maintain good order. Johnnie loves his mother better than he 
 can his teacher, yet he needs his mother's slipper quite often. 
 The teacher should seek to gain the love of the pupil, but not by 
 extraneous means. His work for the boy, his interest in his 
 studies, will gain recognition, and love follows. Little and big 
 folks very soon learn to care for those wdio sacrifice for them. 
 It is very difficult to always decide just how familiar one can be 
 with the pupil. My rule is : be friendly, pleasant, kindly, at 
 recess, noon, and all times out of school hours, but never 
 familiar. Never argue, dispute, nor allow them to criticize any 
 act of yours done in the schoolroom. I never ask much of them 
 out of school hours. I would ask a boy to get a pail of water 
 in school hours ; but would get it myself at noon. 
 
 I always say "please" to everyone in ordinary intercourse, 
 in school hours, which serves as a request ; when that "please" 
 is not used, the request becomes a demand. A private talk is 
 very effective with many pupils, useless with others ; nay, harm- 
 ful. One experiment will determine. 
 
 Should a pupil ever be expelled? Certainly. When it is 
 for the well-being of the great whole that one pupil should no 
 longer absorb three times as much of the time and energy of the 
 
250 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 teacher as he deserves, and shows, on his part, no disposition to 
 reform, let him depart, for the benefit of the rest. 
 
 The best way to manage those restless, idle, nervous little 
 folks is to keep them busy about something the teacher suggests, 
 and not what they choose. They must learn that their wills 
 must, for the time being, be subjected to the teacher's. 
 
 The most vexatious pupil of all is that contemptible coward 
 who, every day, will stop just short of punishment. At last, the 
 teacher can stand it no longer, and punishes the pupil, not for the 
 overt act, but for the misdemeanors of the whole week. The 
 boy goes home and reports the punishment as given for the last 
 act of his. His parents and the school committee think the sin 
 was trivial and the punishment too severe. They do not know 
 the many hours of care and perplexity that same boy has caused 
 that long-suffering teacher. 
 
 Some teachers think it brutal to punish a pupil. If punish- 
 ment be administered in a proper spirit, there is nothing brutal 
 about it. The teacher administers that punishment, impelled by 
 duty, not by a love of it, and no one is made worse by doing 
 duty. The pupil who is made to obey and be decent is certainly 
 less of a brute than before. But, of course, the highest ambition 
 of the teacher should be to so interest the pupils in their studies, 
 and in him, that an interest will arise which will predestinate 
 good order and good work. This may be done, in most cases. 
 
 To superintendents I make an earnest appeal. In all the 
 primary schools, let more time be given to reading, spelling, and 
 writing. The Almighty fixed the time in which the mind of a 
 child can best do certain things. No human decree can change 
 that order. Children can learn to memorize readily, and should 
 be taught to do so. They don't stop to consider why a thing is 
 so ; then take advantage of that fact and teach spelling and read- 
 ing at that unreasoning age. The spelling and pronunciation of 
 English is, for the most part, devoid of all reasoning process. 
 All pupils less than ten years old should read four times every 
 day, and spell as many. They should write every day. "But," 
 
PERSONAL 251 
 
 you say, "there is not time." Take time. Let the child learn the 
 addition and multiplication tables. He can do it, and should do 
 so, both for profit and mental discipline ; and let his time-absorb- 
 ing "number-work" be in abeyance till his reasoning faculties 
 are developed somewhat. Language lessons are all right at the 
 proper time, but should not, at an early age, absorb too much 
 time. Many an hour is wasted on children in that exercise, 
 because they are too young to appreciate what is taught. When 
 the child is ten years old, he should be taught simple grammar, 
 both orally, and from a book. Then should commence his real 
 mathematical education. 
 
 In three or four years the boy will learn all the arithmetic he 
 needs. He will learn more at seventeen in one year, than in two 
 at twelve or thirteen. I have taught men of thirty arithmetic 
 easily ; but I could not teach them grammar or reading or 
 spelling. 
 
 Another point interests me very much, the matter of pro- 
 motion. In every school of fifty, there are, at least, five or six 
 who have no especial mathematical ability. These pupils, at the 
 end of the year, fail to pass and hence are retained another year 
 in the same grade. Many of these drop out of school, and those 
 that remain are idle half of the time and become mischievous. 
 In my opinion, such pupils should be allowed to go on, and a 
 course should be adopted, fitted to their conditions. This may 
 lay some additional burdens on the teacher, but the effort is worth 
 the while. Some of the really brightest boys and girls I ever 
 knew, have been pupils of the kind mentioned. The world would 
 lose much should they drop out of school at an early age. They 
 could have some new study assigned, or be required to do extra 
 work in the prescribed course and leave out the mathematics. 
 
 Suppose the pupil be thirteen, and cannot pass in arithmetic. 
 That pupil may go on in algebra all right, and, when he is older, 
 he very likely will accomplish the arithmetic readily. 
 
 A word about supplementary reading. I believe in prac- 
 ticing a class in reading all that is possible, but the book should 
 
252 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 be a drill book. There should be a variety in it, and not simply 
 a continuous story. No pupils become good readers without 
 drill in all forms of reading. 
 
 Let the bad boy suffer, and not the teacher. The same 
 remarks apply to the other parties mentioned. 
 
 But the teacher must, nevertheless, sacrifice something. 
 This sacrifice must be a voluntary one. There are pleasures and 
 social enjoyments which are his by right; but these should never 
 so absorb his interest as to diminish faithful work in the school- 
 room. There cannot be a divided love and interest when that 
 love is intensely active. When the love is cold and dormant one 
 could teach in a listless way, and spend half the night in pleas- 
 ure ; but when pleasure becomes a passion, the whole stream of 
 emotions runs in that direction, and the teaching will be totally 
 insipid. 
 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 SERMON ON INVITATION OF GRADUATING CLASS OF CARIBOU 
 HIGH SCHOOL. 
 
 "I create new heavens and new earth." Isaiah, 65 ; 17. 
 
 In the beginning God created. The heavens were created 
 and the earth was put into form. That form was not a fixed 
 one. Doubtless this earth of ours once consisted of a mass of 
 gases held by affinity in a common mass and by centripetal force 
 moulded into a spherical form. In that gaseous world were 
 included every element that now forms a constituent part of 
 the earth as it exists today. The gases parting with a certain 
 amount of heat became liquid ; then the earth became a new 
 one in appearance though not a new atom had been created. 
 The liquid, under the influence of fixed law, transformed itself 
 into a solid and a new earth appeared, the same in elements, 
 but new in form. But the earth was not yet ready for human 
 occupancy. Countless ages must be consumed before God's 
 transforming work was done. At length amid the beauties 
 of Paradise, God's crowning creation looked out upon a new 
 earth, fitted for the high development of man. 
 
 For many ages, doubtless, man saw no changes in the 
 natural world around him save that which the seasons bring. 
 Certain phenomena were noticed year after year but were little 
 understood. In course of time the laws appertaining to the phy- 
 sical world began to be understood, then a new earth appeared ; 
 the same in reality, but better understood. Old in form but 
 new in force; old in elements but new in combination. In fine, 
 
^54 
 
 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 the earth is never just the same in form and appearance every 
 day, sun, heat and storm, chemical affinity and external forces 
 are forever producing new forms and combinations hitherto 
 unknown, and still it is the same earth that God created in the 
 beginning. 
 
 As man came to use the forces of nature he discovered 
 somje were easily understood and others past finding out. He 
 could use these forces but could not fathom the deep mysteries 
 of their existence. 
 
 Man discovered also that there were many phenom- 
 ena which he could not use. Every day he was aware that nat- 
 ural laws were operating around him that were as far beyond 
 his comprehension as was the divine Author of those laws. 
 One by one these laws have been understood and subjected 
 to the use of man. The force of gravity, the expansive power 
 of water, the terrible explosive force of nitrogenous combina- 
 tions and many others have changed the social relations of hu- 
 manity and made civilization possible. A new earth has ap- 
 peared infinitely superior to the one the prophets saw and under- 
 stood. Mother earth then seemed surcharged with forces that 
 rent her in twain by earthquake shocks engulfing puny man in 
 hopeless ruin. The sky seemed but the depository of hail 
 and snow and the hiding place of the terrible thunder bolt, 
 whose voice alone caused the face to blanch with fear. Today 
 she is Mother earth indeed, holding in her bosom the precious 
 metals and gems that delight humanity, concealing but lightly 
 the fuel for our warmth, force for our machinery and a thou- 
 sand gifts heretofore unknown. The very poisons by whose 
 fiat mjan once died now give health and vigor; and that awe 
 inspiring voice from the sky, once so terrible, now becoming 
 translatable, is simply the concentrated echo of the trolley car 
 and dynamo. It is all the same in God's sight, but to us a new 
 earth. 
 
 "I create new heavens." Perhaps some violence is done 
 to the text in the way the word "heavens" will be used in this 
 
SERMON TO GRADUATING CLASS 255 
 
 discourse, but yet we think it may fairly be used to designate 
 our conception of the future abode of man. The earth is his 
 present abode. By the term "heaven" we designate in general 
 his abode after his disappearance as a living, acting being on 
 earth. 
 
 God made the earth man's present habitation. God made 
 heaven man's future abode. God's creative power stopped 
 when the elements composing the earth were finished, so heaven 
 was finished when God made it. The earth we see and study, — 
 heaven we believe in and see by faith, and as the Holy Book 
 says, I, God, create new earth, so I, God, create for man new 
 conceptions of heaven. The heaven of our fathers is not 
 today our heaven, though in God's sight the same forever, and 
 as man's conception of heaven changes, it follows that our ideas 
 change in regard to what is requisite for that heaven. But it 
 may be urged man cannot change these things, God only can. 
 True, but it is God who makes all these changes, using man 
 sometinues as an agent or co-worker. The theme led directly 
 to a discussion of a somewhat difficult subject, — progressive 
 theology. Difficult, because erroneous premises were assumed 
 and hence wrong conclusions reached. All things in God's 
 world are progressive, his creation was first the living plant, at 
 length the giant oak and lofty pine, — at first the uncouth monster 
 of the early ages, those were superceded by the graceful, athletic 
 animals of later days. Each were necessary in his time and con- 
 dition. The immur millions of ants were necessary, so were the 
 ant-eaters, equally so the carnivorous anmals to destroy the 
 same. So in teaching man and leading him up to his real life, 
 God works in progressive ways and gradually leads from higher 
 to higher till the summit is reached. Now understand me here. 
 God never changes, not a natural law is ever changed or annulled. 
 Abstract right as God sees it never changes. But our concep- 
 tion of right may change. The application of moral law may 
 change; expediency may change. What was once right may 
 become decidedly wrong. The applications of prohibitions may 
 
256 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 be right in one age and wrong in another. Now what our con- 
 ceptions of the future state are must have a bearing upon our 
 moral conduct and religious life here. In fact one can write 
 a history of civilization and of culture by simply consulting the 
 recorded conceptions man has of the future. In Homeric days 
 the poets conceived that the heroes passed to the Plutonian 
 regions with all their scars, human resentments, their horses 
 and dogs. The wicked were punished by physical tortures and 
 bodily pain. 
 
 That conception plainly showed the ethical condition exist- 
 ing among men. It was all physical ; the spiritual hardly ex- 
 isted in their conception. In Virgil, the heroes still had these 
 scars, but they were scars impressed upon a spiritual body. 
 The people now began to recognize a spiritual existence here 
 on earth. In Dante there was pictured a heaven from which 
 all baser things are banished, but all the loves, resentments, jeal- 
 ousies of earth were reproduced. A great advance has been 
 made in civilization and spiritual pleasures and sorrows dis- 
 placed the love and hate of the physical life which had pre- 
 vailed in former days. In Milton's "Paradise Lost," we have a 
 pen picture of a purely spiritual heaven. All the earth is left 
 entombed with the physical body — all human affection, every 
 earthly hope and ambition were gone. Man's only employment, 
 joy, desire, was to praise God for the great boon of salvation. 
 The conception of Milton fairly illustrated the puritanical 
 thought of the day. Butler, a hundred years later, voiced 
 modern thought in conceiving heaven as a spiritual existence 
 where all the surrounding influence, atmosphere, the Divine 
 presence brings all into harmony, where nothing but purity can 
 exist, where God's will will be man's desire, where those im- 
 mortal longings that rob the eyelids of sleep while vainly seek- 
 ing satiety here on earth, will have opportunity to study, admire 
 and in humble reverence glorify the all-glorious Jehovah, who 
 spoke and it was done. In truth the Christ had made salva- 
 tion possible. 
 
SERMON TO GRADUATING CLASS 257 
 
 In this ethical aye the spiritual, the ethical is the only rec- 
 ognized part of man worthy of consideration. The body is hut 
 a temple in which the man lives. Our conception now is that 
 not a noble attribute of the soul can die. A love for the beauti- 
 ful here on earth will make the pure life all the more enjoyable 
 where all things must be charming. A love for humanity here 
 on earth will find eternal joy in realizing the felicity of the in- 
 numerable multitude in the many mansions. A love for par- 
 ents or child, that made all those places of life sublime, must 
 find its fulfillment where that love can render perfection. That 
 hungering after knowledge that wearies the brain in unsatis- 
 fying researchings must be satisfied where God has prepared 
 a perfect habitation. Of course the first, the great, the all-ab- 
 sorbing emotion of the soul will be to give glory and honor 
 and adoration to God the Father for his unnumbered blessings, 
 mercy and love, and thanksgiving and praise to the Christ who 
 hath made heaven ours. 
 
 \Ye have no very definite description of Heaven in the 
 Bible, but are told that God is there. God the Almighty, the 
 pure, the holy, the just, our Father. Christ told the world that 
 there were mansions prepared for those who are pure in heart 
 and love God, Christ will be there. 
 
 John saw the Holy City with its streets pure as gold, its 
 gates as imperishable as precious gems, and heard the uncounted 
 millions sing songs of praise to God the Almighty and to the 
 Lamb who hath redeemed us. But whv did not Christ coming 
 from that blessed abode fully describe it to an anxious world? 
 Evidently for the very reason already hinted. Heaven must 
 forever remain to us while on earth as a conception inherited 
 from our Father in Heaven. That conception must change as 
 man changes, as civilization advances. 
 
 Now civilization can only become possible where Christian- 
 ity prevails, hence the conception of Heaven that man enter- 
 tains is the direct result of the same Christianity. Granted this 
 proposition, — the conclusion naturally follows that our concep- 
 17 
 
25 g THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 tion of Heaven must become grander as the state of society 
 becomes more elevated. At some periods in the history of the 
 church, piety consisted chiefly in faithfully adhering to the 
 dogmas of the church. When that idea prevailed the concep- 
 tion of Heaven must have been a place where the man of prayer, 
 the martyr and the faithful defender of the faith would receive 
 his reward. 
 
 Today all is changed. There is one great theme absorb- 
 ing the soul of the thinking world ; who was Christ, and what did 
 he do and teach? The answer comes breathed forth from the 
 soul of hungering humanity that he was the Incarnate Son of 
 God ; that he lived among men, loved humanity, healed the sick 
 and taught men how to live and how to die. Christianity today 
 consists in being Christlike and obeying his commandments and 
 following his example. Christ recognized all as offsprings of 
 the common Father. To be Christlike is to realize that every 
 man has an immortal soul for whom Christ died, and to feel a 
 brother's love for every one needy, to weep with those that weep 
 and rejoice with those that rejoice. Heaven, to a man thus 
 feeling, must seem but the perfect realization of what he has tried 
 to realize on earth, and he knows that the more he understands 
 God's laws written upon every leaf of nature's unsealed book, 
 the more he delves into the deep mines of human researches, 
 the more he discourses truth and beauty in all created things, 
 the more he understands God's moral laws. 
 
 If then a Christian life here on earth becomes broader, 
 grander and more useful the wiser man becomes, it follows that 
 a conceived heaven must present the opportunity for gratifying 
 the undying thirst in the human soul to know, to study, to in- 
 vestigate and understand. This is the new heaven only in our 
 conception. If the reverent being standing on some lofty moun- 
 tain with soul surcharged with admiration while viewing the 
 glorious scenery of nature, lifts up his heart and voice in praise 
 to the Almighty God, who could so create, how much loftier 
 must be that hymn of praise, when with spiritual body this same 
 
SERMON TO GRADUATIN CLASS 259 
 
 being, having listened to the "Song of Stars" as they go cir- 
 cling by, having seen with spiritual ken the unnumbered sys- 
 tems of worlds circling by other systems still more remote, will 
 raise to the wonderful creator of worlds without number — to 
 Him who has obtained mercy by being merciful, here on earth, 
 the heaven awaiting him will be full of the recipients of mercy. 
 He that has so loved on earth can but expect to love in Heaven. 
 Nor do all these things one whit detract from a reverential 
 belief in the Bible. That book must never lose its power in the 
 human heart. But I repeat it was given for all time, and is to 
 be interpreted by the light of each age. Nor does this in the 
 least detract from its authority. Whether the narratives of 
 Jonah be the statement of an actual occurence or an allegory, 
 the moral is the same. A man fled from duty and God and 
 fell into great distress. Repenting, he was rescued and became 
 obedient. No one now claims that the world was created in 
 six days, — similar to ours, — yet many once did. That was well 
 in those days, it is well now as we understand it. The terror 
 of the law did its work among lawless men, the Gospel was far 
 better when the time was fitted for the coming of Christ. A 
 miraculous conversion was necessary to turn a Paul from a 
 persecutor to a believer. Great revivals were of immense value 
 in Wesley's day. A stern creed of thirty-nine articles was a 
 bulwark over which the infidel would not pass when unbelief 
 was rampart. 
 
 But new days are upon us. New civilization blesses us. 
 more sensitive spiritual fiber responds to gospel truth today. 
 The still small voice does the work now that the thunder peal 
 did on Sinai's mount. The child of tender years begins to 
 realize for the first time that it once lay in Jesus' arms. De- 
 voted Christians are zealously working in the church who 
 describe the Kingdom of Heaven as Christ described it, — "First 
 the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." The 
 awe-inspiring priest with mitre, robe and censer were essential 
 when men were moved mostly by physical exhibitions. The 
 
2 6o THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 effective minister in the twentieth century is our friend and 
 brother, more austere in his own morals but charitable toward 
 ours. He is not less zealous, faithful and devoted than his 
 ancient brother. He recognizes the needs of his flock with a 
 heart full of sympathy, with a faith never flagging. He feels 
 sure that Christ demands that his church in these better days 
 shall be first in every movement, lifting humanity above the com- 
 monplace, — that the good Samaritan should be found at every 
 street corner, — that love is the great spiritual lever that lifts 
 men out of the slough of sin. By faith he foresees that coming 
 day when '"Sin shall be banished, and death yield his prey and 
 earth her nations Jehovah obey." Then, indeed, shall there be 
 a "new earth," a new humanity, a new interpretation of God, 
 a new heaven, a millenium of peace, love and holiness. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM ADDRESS AT THE FUNERAL OF ROY F. BARTLETT. 
 
 Were I asked why Electra the Beautiful should have 
 apparently fallen out of the glorious pleiades I could not tell ; 
 but this I know, there was harmony in the sky when eight stars 
 shown. There is harmony now when but even seven shine 
 down upon our mortal vision. 
 
 Though unseen by us, I know the "lost to sight" must still 
 be shining upon more glorious shores than ours. 
 
 Why the beautiful flowers of summer must fade and die 
 and lay their heads upon the sympathetic bosom of Mother 
 Earth, I cannot fathom, but of this I am assured, the kind Father 
 so orders it in his infinite love for the harmonious symmetry of 
 all created things. 
 
 I do know there is harmony in all God's creations. When 
 the "morning stars first sang together" all creation joined in the 
 grand Diapason. The soughing of the gentle zephyrs, the 
 thunder of the cataract, the deep voiced thunder, all blended 
 with the timid note of the sweet songster of the heavens, in one 
 universal harmonious hymn of praise. 
 
ADDRESS 261 
 
 Why the good Father should have covered this earth of 
 ours with beautiful trees and dowers in the ages past, and then 
 have swept them all away and hidden them in the ocean's 
 depths for the future use of his created man, I cannot tell ; but 
 it was God's way of supplying man with needful things, and 
 must be right. There was nothing lost. Angels must have 
 wept o'er the scene of desolation, but out of it all comes light 
 and joy to man. 
 
 God's love is manifested in it. 
 
 The harmony of his government was not impaired, and 
 it is well. 
 
 Should you ask me why that divine teacher, sent by the 
 beneficent Father to lead them into all truth, and interpret to 
 them the mysteries of nature's laws, who came to feed the hun- 
 gering multitude, to triumph over wave and wind, to heal the 
 sick and raise the sleeping dead, who came to heal man from 
 sin and call him back to his loving Father, should have lived but 
 three years in his divine ministrations among men, I reply I 
 cannot tell ; but this I know, he declared, amid the quaking 
 of the earth and the rending of the temple, "It is finished." 
 It was God's way of accomplishing man's redemption, and must 
 be well. 
 
 But is Christ dead? Nay, he rose from the grave, he 
 promised his disciples to be with them. He said "1 will not 
 leave you comfortless." How many mourning souls today can 
 testify to the truth of a realization of this promise? 
 
 Earth was too narrow, too earthly, for the sphere of 
 Christ's physical influence longer. He came to earth, left his 
 influence here and returned to the Father's House to accomplish, 
 in a spiritual condition, the work he had to do. 
 
 So do our dear ones come to us. They enter into our souls, 
 become a part of ourselves and can never die to us. We may lay 
 the house they live in in the tomb; but they are not there, they 
 are still in our hearts. 
 
'■ 
 
 262 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 "There is no death ! The stars go down 
 To rise upon some fairer shore; 
 
 And bright in heaven's jewelled crown 
 They shine forever more." 
 
 "There is no death ! The dust we tread 
 
 Shall change beneath the summer showers 
 To golden grain or mellowed fruit, 
 Or rainbow-tinted flowers." 
 
 The granite rocks disorganize, 
 
 And feed the hungry moss they bear; 
 The forest leaves drink daily life, 
 From out the viewless air." 
 
 "There is no death ! The leaves may fall, 
 And flowers may fade and pass away; 
 They only wait, through wintry hours, 
 The coming of the May." 
 
 "There is no death ! An angel form 
 Walks o'er the earth with silent tread; 
 He bears our best loved things away; 
 And then we call them dead." 
 
 "He leaves our hearts all desolate, 
 
 He plucks our fairest, sweetest flowers ; 
 Transported into bliss, they now 
 Adorn immortal bowers." 
 
 "The bird-like voice, whose joyous tones 
 Made glad these scenes of sin and strife, 
 Sings now an everlasting song, 
 Around the tree of life." 
 
 "Where'er he sees a smile too bright, 
 Or heart too pure for taint or vice, 
 
 He bears it to that world of light, 
 To dwell in Paradise." 
 
 "Born into that undying life, 
 
 They leave us but to come again ; 
 With joy we welcome them the same, 
 Except their sin and pain." 
 
ADDRESS 263 
 
 "And ever near us, though unseen, 
 The dear, immortal spirits tread ; 
 For all the boundless universe 
 Is life. There are no dead." 
 
 Your son. my dear friends, is no less yours because he 
 can no longer sit at your table and gladden your physical eyes. 
 Is all the care and love bestowed upon him lost? By no means — 
 all these things are immortal, because they are a part of the 
 undying soul. Though you may feel like writing upon his 
 tombstone, '"How many hopes lie buried here," yet remember, 
 dear friends, though hopes may perish, possibilities on which 
 hopes are built can never die. These live somewhere — are ours 
 still by faith now, and by fruition hereafter. 
 
 Purity can never die. God takes the influence of every 
 pure life and scatters it, like sweet incense, over the whole 
 community. 
 
 Honesty can never die. The will of the Almighty im- 
 mortalizes it. Nor can men die ; but they pass over to other 
 scenes in their active life, leaving their influence, — yea, all 
 that they were, and thought, and planned as an immortal memo- 
 rial among men. But the spirit has passed to its own natural 
 condition — the spiritual. 
 
 "But the universal toll 
 
 Is the outward garb which the hand of God 
 Has flung around the soul." 
 
 Roy Bartlett can never die. "The "outer garb" lies before 
 us, but to the dear family, to those who loved the noble and the 
 true, who admire manly character and lofty aspirations, he can 
 never die. 
 
 He accomplished life's mission. 
 
 "That life is long that answers life's great end." Happy 
 is he who can, in a brief period of years, accomplish what three- 
 score years and ten can only do with many anxious souls. 
 
 He was a remarkable young man. Possessed of more than 
 ordinary natural ability, endowed with an inherent love for the 
 
264 THE 0LD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 noble and the true, cherishing high aims and ambitions, he added 
 a steadfastness 01 purpose which would have led to a high posi- 
 tion in the world. Selfishness was no part of his nature, nothing 
 low or base could appertain to his upright soul. 
 
 A devoted son, loving those who loved him so fervently 
 with all his heart, a faithful student, a friend that never failed, 
 he has left to all a rich legacy of worth, worthy of tears and ever- 
 lasting remembrance. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 BRIDGEWATER. 
 
 My youngest and latest child is the High School at 
 Bridgewater. I spend six hours a day with the boys and girls at 
 the high school building, and the evening with the boys and girls 
 of my younger days in my "Chamber of Imagery.*' 
 
 The school at Bridgewater is a very pleasant one. One of 
 the committee and the superintendent were my scholars at 
 Houlton. Their children are now my pupils. There are about 
 forty scholars, among them several teachers. Bridgewater is 
 a very pleasant town in which to teach. The people are cordial, 
 and the school unusually bright, pleasant, and enjoyable. 
 
 My readers need remember, if this production is not very 
 brilliant, that it was written in the night, after days of teaching. 
 I wonder if in six weeks more I shall write at the close of my 
 last school report — "Finis." I think not; provided health and 
 strength and brain remain as at the present time. I have been 
 so long with the girls and boys that no other association seems 
 fitting. I seem to need the exhilarating influence exhaling 
 from their hopeful, sunny, joyous hearts. 
 
 There is, at this period of my life, an interest in youth never 
 felt fully at an earlier date. At sixty-five one can look back 
 over the way and discover the glorious successes, and lamentable 
 failures in the lives of former pupils. A retrospective view of 
 this field causes the teacher of advanced age to feel all the deep- 
 er the possibilities wrapped up in the hidden future of those 
 immortal souls committed to his care. Now he knows that some 
 of those before him will become bright lights in the world, a 
 
266 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 power for good, a force injected into the mighty influence 
 emanating from God, flowing down through the ages, washing 
 away the follies of the darker days, and ushering in the Millen- 
 nium Dawn. 
 
 He sees now that the quiet boy before his eyes may make a 
 name that many thousands will honor ; that another may so live 
 that the only tears he will ever cause to flow, will fall on his 
 bier, as the surviving multitudes pass by; still another may 
 find ways and means to alleviate human suffering, help the needy 
 and "rescue the fallen." 
 
 Looking out over those bright faces, that teacher can see 
 a half century of time stretching out before him, a brighter day 
 than he ever knew, a civilization more nearly ideal, a Christianity 
 more Christ-like ; a conception of the Father more in keeping 
 with his will as revealed in nature ; a recognition of a more uni- 
 versal love for the pure, the beautiful, and the good; a more 
 general desire in human souls to rise above mediocre, a public 
 conscience taking the Sermon on the Mount as the unchanging 
 standard of right, spurning every unholy act in the political 
 world ; a toleration in religious matters that will make angels 
 rejoice; a Good Samaritan at every street corner, and a. Moses 
 in every dark Egypt ; a humanitarianism recognizing the divine 
 rights of every man ; a scientific world, conserving more of the 
 forces of inexhaustible nature, an ethical condition in which 
 the unsolved mysteries of this age shall be proclaimed from the 
 house-tops ; — all this and much more he sees, and knows that 
 these will become factors in the "new earth" to be. And, alas ! 
 he also knows there may be some who, — God forbid, — may 
 cause many hearts to bleed, may bring misery upon the world 
 and close a life of sin in wretchedness and shame; that the 
 bright, pure souls now so child-like, may become the rendezvous 
 of all that is vile, debasing, Satan-tainted. 
 
 It is well that the teacher cannot fully realize the full re- 
 sponsibilities resting upon him as he stands before that school. 
 He would be so appalled that he would hesitate to assume the 
 
BRIDGEWATER 267 
 
 position. He is aware he gives to those pupils just what he 
 has, as Peter did to the lame man. 
 
 All that is in his soul becomes known to them whether he 
 will or not. Nay, those plastic recipients will discover in his 
 heart that which he himself knew not of. 
 
 But he should feel it to a degree, and carry to that school the 
 brain that can instruct them ; the love that will infold them ; the 
 heart whose secret thought will enoble their lives when infused 
 into them. There does, every hour, come to me, at this time 
 of life, as I look over the schoolroom, brighter visions of the 
 possibilities awaiting that group of hopeful young souls. When 
 I consider the undying influence of a truly good man or woman, 
 how the good they do, in ever-widening circles, like the waves 
 of the sea, goes on and on, till other spheres are blessed by the 
 benign graciousness of a Christ-like deed, — I can see, in that 
 studious boy ; the deep thinker of the coming age, the philoso- 
 pher to whom nature shall reveal mysteries so long sought 
 for in vain. 
 
 Another stands before me as the prophetic statesman who 
 sacrifices every personal desire that liberty, justice, and right- 
 eousness may prevail. That boy with thoughtful mien is a 
 Wesley in embryo, or a Spurgeon. I can see the stores closed, 
 the workshops idle, and tears falling like April showers, as a 
 sorrowing people gather around the casket of a man the world 
 loved, that man a boy now in school. The lawyer and judge, 
 the doctor and clergyman, the painter and poet, the artisan and 
 farmer, the teacher, the merchant, the soldier leading his coun- 
 try's army to victory ; the admiral, making immortal the nation's 
 arms, the martyr dying that others may live. 
 
 I can see in that timid, modest girl a woman, gracing a 
 home where refinement reigns queen, where heaven almost 
 seems to reflect itself, where Happiness and peace, looking in, 
 declare : "This is Home !" 
 
 I see in another a Martha, standing beside the bed of pain, 
 with hands filled and heart overflowing. Again I see, stand- 
 
268 THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 ing before assembled multitudes, a woman to whom God has 
 especially spoken, leading men and women upward to higher 
 and better lives. I see Mary sitting at the feet of the Great 
 Master, qualifying herself for his service and to serve humanity. 
 
 These are but a few ; but other visions arise, oh how dif- 
 ferent ! To these I shut my eyes, and pray God that the reali- 
 ties may never come. 
 
 In reviewing life's work, I see much to regret, much I 
 would fain forget. My life has been nothing like I had planned. 
 Of financial ability I had but little. Of an ability to work I 
 had a large amount ; have been able to do hard mental work for 
 twelve hours a day, for weeks ; and I cannot discover any dimi- 
 nution of that ability. I have never pretended to be a genius, 
 whatever I have accomplished is the result of work. I have 
 always liked mental exercise, and have rarely become tired. 
 
 Whether I should have been a success as a lawyer, no one 
 can tell. Think perhaps I may have been ; my mind has a logi- 
 cal element in it necessary for a lawyer. I had ability to study, 
 another requisite ; but whether I had the faculty of combining 
 theory and fact, of applying law to particular facts, is an un- 
 solved problem. 
 
 I do not think I should have succeeded as a pastor. There 
 was too much of the schoolmaster' about me. There would have 
 been, I am afraid, friction between pew and pulpit when the 
 church became sluggish. 
 
 I am content if those with whom I have been connected 
 recognize in me a man who has done aught to encourage, as- 
 sist, guide and develop. If I have ever been a force awakening 
 the dormant energies of any, an influence leading to a more use- 
 ful life, an active quickening, undying impulse to attain some- 
 thing grand in the world, a moral power that has appealed to the 
 soul, and led to better lives, and toward God ; then I feel that 
 life has not been wasted. God knows if these things have been 
 true. 
 
BRIDGEWATER 269 
 
 If I should write my own epitaph, I would, perhaps, write 
 but one word upon the head-stone, — "Hamlet." A man who 
 knew he had great duties to do, and recognized in some degree 
 that he had the ability to accomplish them ; but, somehow, could 
 never reach the plain on which those duties lie. The circum- 
 stances of life, the lack of courage, distrust of ability, an inde- 
 finable something - , physical disability — all these have stood 
 between many a man and the duty that follow him through 
 life. 
 
 But I am content to let the boys and girls whom I have 
 lived with, whom I have loved as my own, for whose welfare 
 I have been so solicitous, whose lives and careers I have 
 watched with almost parental care, write my epitaph. 
 
 I feel sure, if they could all stand around the "narrow 
 house" when the bell shall be rung by other hands than mine, 
 and school is dismissed, and the last good-bye is spoken, for- 
 giving whatever was not pleasant in the by-gone days, letting 
 time obliterate all but what is sweet to remember ; they will 
 not let me wholly die. "E.vcgi monumentum acre perennium" 
 if I can but live in human souls, and could I arrange those 
 services, no word should be spoken there, no song sung, no 
 prayer offered except by those who knew me best, and whom I 
 had taught and loved. 
 

 oS 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' V 
 
 
 
 ■ .*><%*. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 t >. ~ *?i 
 
 A^ X 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 013 995 579 1 •