The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1857-01-09

part OF DIR. Watts Psalms and Hymns !
could repeat nadnioriter, at ten or twelve
years of age. ! am sure that no other
sacred poetry willevcr appear to me so
affecting and devtut.
remember that my father prought home
from some of ,Ee bwcr towns Popc's Essay
on Man, puhlisEedin sort ofpamphlct. /
took it, and Tery s,on could repeat it from
beginning o'end, We had so few books.
that TO read them once or twice was nothing
We thought they were all to be got by heart.
! have 'houg1 Of this frequently since, when
that sagacuds admon,ion Of one of the
ancien's (wb it Pliny y has been quoted,
lcgcre 'm"ittm non malta.
/ rcincm! Der one occurrence that shows
the value diem attached TO books The
close Of ,hY year had brought along the next
years almanac.
This was ap acquisition. A page was
devoted to each month, and on the tc, Of
each page were four lines of poetry some
moral, some sentimental, some ludicrous.
The almanac came in the morning, and be-
fore night my brother and myself were mas
tcrs of its contents, at least Of its poetry and
and its ane,'dotcs. We went to bed upon
it but awaking long before the morning
light, we had difference Of recollection
about one word, in the third line Of Ipr;Tx
poetry. We could not settle it 10y argument,
and there was no umpire. But the tuct
could he asccrt tained by inspection OF the
book. | arose, gropcd my way to the kitclr-
Ell, lighted candle, proceeded to IL distant
room, in search of all almanac, found it and
brought it away. The disputed passage
WAS examined. ] believe I WAS found to br
in the wrong, alr blew out my candle aud
went to bed. l|ut the consequences Of my
error had well nigh been serious. 1t was
about 2 o'clock in the morning, and Just as |
was again going to sleep, / thought saw
signs Of light in the room had visited. l
sprang out of bed, ran to the door, opened
the room and it was all on fire. had let
fall Il spark, or touched the light to some
thing which had communicated fire to a
parcel of cotton clothes, they had communi
Gated it to the furniture, and to the sides Of
the room, and the flames bad already begun
10 show themselves through the ceiling, in
the chamber above. A pretty earnest cry
soon brought the household together. by
e.'"at good luck we escaped. Two or three
>','"'''"s :r"rr:au'i - shonldsail have been
, =. ''angor q! na'.iiug lsl:srinrr- ~ L wse
. :oak the uoY,4 w.~ s"vcL J., my f:,t;I..rs
,e'ce O! m;ar. tFi,'ir ''r. wcrr 90
twaier he saizl..l eve .u;!is iaovea!,!c w,:l..
.,waa . fst,, and wrapncl;t IL up in woel,n
ktankats." MY mstcra.. "raHl;.oIi.ur. .'cn
fot the age ol eish:y, wns slccf.sng IL. TIE
Fse9m. HI! . i;ea hiGts ~, 5+.a. r,.: ....
|.a At Fryeburgi1 found another circulating
Library and.maAe s6me use ofiE, Il remem:
Der to have read, while at,sFryeburge, Ad.
ams's Defence Of the American Constitu.
ton, Moshein's Ecclesiastical History, Gold
smiths History of England, and some 9TH
or small things. l borrowed Blackstone's
Commentaries, also, and read, think, two
or three volumes Of them. Here also
found Mr. Ames's celebrated speech on the
British Treaty, and committed it TO memo
ry From September, 1902, to February or
March 1904, lremained in Mr.. Thompson's
office and studied the law. lie was an ad-
mirabe man and a good lawyer himself :;
but i was put to study in the old way-tGaat
ia, the hardest books first, and lost much
time. | read Coke on Littleton through withs
ont understanding quarter part Of It.
happening to take up Espinasse's Law of
Nisi Prlus, l found could not understand
it, and, acquiring that the oljectof reading
was to understand what. was wfitten,T laid
down the venerable Coke ct alios sinsikes
reverendos, and kept company for a time
with NJ: Espinasse and Others. ithe b, most
plain, easy and inteligibIe writers. 4 boy
ofst@erly, with no previous knowledge ION
sueh subjects, cannot understand Coke. II
is folkto setnhim on such an author.
1 Tlcre are Spop ositions 'in Coke SO alb
STRAIT, and distinctions sonice and doctrines
embracing SO many conditions and ndualifi-
caiohs. that it requires ian effort not only
Of annfatGre mind butt Of mind eboth
hrong and matureIto understand him.
Hiy.aisgust and discolrage H. buylby, tel.
.1ipg him that hesnusksbreak into his profes-
sion through afch a, wall ass this r r really
despaired. ! thought never could make
|iiIm myself lsYye and was almost, gong
back to ths business Of school !keehing. .H
friend has fecent J. ,refufhed .to hit, miS iettef
Written ,byfhe 70 him al Iii h Tine; sffoRiny
ny as fssl bf - ddsspohd sacs And 'ddSsJai:
|Mg. yeyer,a NE ipad siiie 9 Ho,,t a
|asg|ssa sIi I..lI sestIs A spa sS Y
rs "a Do not know whether sf Tedi hidEii ssdaJ
ring thig eaf ara haiEf ibesida lag
FAalR tso execp ptiont; Ffea8 Home rough
kaS sgE sgI Itlfss 5!as satmy 3, Ptiasies q S e
s1saiff sfafsfH assI, sslsssib b.s si0heit
s M D
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