The spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1840-1844, 1842-12-09
PEN CIL-PAP Pc RS.
Ill.
I'll

Ill.
This is Il curious world, and full of qups and
cranks and strange vicisitudes, wFal. Who would
have thought years ago, when the gallant Col.
wenl-to-Greece Miller was beating our laxen pate
in the old Red School House, just opposite the
yellow meeting house, in the goodly town Of Barn
ard, that, IN the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and forty two, and of The lndepen-
dence Of the United States of America the sixty
sixth, we should be The weather beaten con,nan-
der Of a vessel of war on the high seas politics.
Not soul, well wager not n soul. We have moi
the slightest notion tina, il ever entered The head Of
the gallant old Col himself, shrewd as he was in
those days, when he was making The filling fly
| like cloud Of DUST from the seat Of our unwhli-
perables, that he was educating the future genius
of "The Age" So as the sin of ignorance is
to be winked at, we have long since forgiven
him for the many indgnilics we suffered at his
hands, and have ioresworn our intention of giving
him regular thrashing when we got to be big
enough 10 do it,which, by-he-way was "long time
ago"
Well
But sr,I thought you were going to tell US some
thing about the old Red School House
So We are, madam, We arc coming to /, as
fast as we can, pray don't hurry u.s.
Well, ho~s in the old school house All!
those were days! None of these short, busting
halfhours thal"dawn on us now. most mpudcnlly
attempting to palm themselves Off for fair and hon
est days; but full, plump, long, sun-and-sun icl-
lows, with bright skies, singing brooks, gay birds
and green leaves in summer, and glare ponds,crus-
ted hills and hand .seds in the winter; and,
saving faint recollection of hint or two we &C.
casonay got from the huge paw Of the old Col.
for playing boo-peep with pair Of blue eyes over
the top of Noah Webster, there is not a blot on
the page of memory TO mar the purity or,he brgt-
est leaf in the record Of our life; ard often do we
exclan when sick of the jars and shocks and graz
, tings Of our maturer years, nh! what would we
not give TO go back, in the freshness of boy hood, 10
the old red school house, the pockets full Of
parched,corn, Uhe Col. never caught us at Mai)
the bright eyes by the stove, the snow.balling and
= goal at noon-tmc, and the swapping Barlow
= knives when the boys went out
] Never was there such Sc, Of fellows congrcga-
+ ted together in one place as lispcd their A, b, C.
= in that old school house, never! None Of your
n laundering sap-heads, madam. but regular devils
. up 10 anything, and down 10 anything; no matter
e what. They could run better, skate faster, throw
t snow bail further and lruer and dodge lhrashina
= neater than any other so many scamps That cv'
CT lived that's the truth, wilhou, the shadow Of .
lic-We'Il leave it to the Col. if il isn't
But, there was one capcr we cut, we don't like
the thought Of it now, even to this day, and we
would never relate it but that we somehow, think
by conlessng, we shall get absoulon.
Pray what was it,
Have the goodness, madam, to let Us have oul
own why; we shall &c, along much faster, though,
by-'hc-way, suppose we don, tell iha, scrapc! VT
really don't like the thoughts of it.
y Yes, yes, tell it! tell il! you shall be absolvcd
Very welt, madam, If we must, we must
= Wen take pinch Of snuff and go on,
You must know, madam, that. in the days oil
which we speak, we don't know how i; is now
there used to be small brook running through n
mowing-lo, lying jus, in the rear Of the schooI
house. Well, over this brook Uncle Moses Fay, OF
Squire Cary or some one of the old settlers, who
owned the mowing-lo:, we. have forgotten which
if ever we knew and we don't believe we ever
did, now we think of it, but no matter; over this
brook, uncle Moses Fay or Squire Caryl or
somebody had built bridge stout enough for the
passage of load of hay, or anything else that it
was necessary 10 draw over il. The bridge was
constructed after this fashion, which we believe i,
the usual fashion. Two pretty stout logs were
laid down in the ground parallel with each other
some two or three feet apart, on either side OF
the brook, the water running between them, you
know. Across these logs the bridge was built in
the same way that such bridges are usully built,
and if you don't SnOw how that is, i, is your bust
ness, not ours
As it grew along late in The fall Of each year
when the school bcgan,he Monday after ihankssw-
ing, YOU know that, we presume, madam, If you
don't know how TO build bridge--about this time
; in the year the bridge was lue used and the
planks somehow disappeared. It may oe tina, the
boys split them up for kindling wood, when
il cane their turn 10 build the fire. We don't
know how that was, though. Blu, the plank got
of somehow. One January ,haw, the water. for
/, several days poured away between the old logs Of
the bridge, like a miIl-ail and somehow or anoh-
er as the devil, we expect it was, would have it,,
: we found that the girls when they went out, were
in Inc habit Of running board across the logs, and
: one or two getting on TO the middle spling
it down till il would chuck, chuck, on the
top of the water. Well, one day we were taken
with an uncommon Ct Of study. The way we