Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-29

family Of a blacksmith. 70 a boy -
Charles temperament an existence sdch
as he lived under this roof was almost
, uncomfortable, no matter now Well mean
ing the people might have been toward
! him. Then, To cap the climax. he over
| heard them one evening planning TO APP
prentice him to the old man. All MS
desire for book learning flooded Charles
mind, and this. cQntr3sted with future
made up of an existence spent before the
forge of a blacksnith's shop. soon de
cided him. IN the dead Of night he fled.
running away from New Castle as last
as his energetic legs would carry him.
Fortunately. these legs carried him in
The safe direction with lady travelling
to her home on the outskirts Or New Cas-
lie Upon seeing such haste manifested
by a boy of about fifteen she inquired
into the cause. Charles had no hest
fancy in telling her the whole story.
whereupon she asked him if black
smiths life was 81 distastefu' what he
would choose for himself. The answer
came promptly and emphatically. He
would choose for himself the life Of
scholar. one who made his way by brain
and pen.
So delighted was the lady with this re-
ply that she took the boy home with her
and later sent him to school This was
the turning point in the life of Charles
Thomson, the point where his career
flowed from the brook of manual labor
into the broad stream of an intellectual
future 1t was this which was the begin
ming the end of which was to be Charles
Thomson secretary of the Continental
Congress.
And Thomson overlooked no opportu-
nifty i'm the way of gaining knowledge 1t
is said of him that coming across a few
stray pages of the Spectator, he was so
charmed with them that he decided that
fk,;,
however. necessitated a trip to Philadel-
phia, which he made, walking there and
back by night in order that he would not
be late at school the following morning.
On another occasion it is said of him
that he went a considerable distance to
visit a man he was not acquainted with
in order to ask If he might borrow GER
tain Greek and Latin books in his IL
brary.
His education was obtained at the New
London Academy, under DR.. Francis AL
lison who was induced to accept him as
a pupil the tutor of so many men who
afterward left their impress upon the
events of that time, 1t seems a pity that
the lady who thus gave Thomson such an
opportunity for realizing his dreams
should receive only little credit but no
record has been found SO far as is
known, giving her name.
At the New London Academy Thomson
specialized on Greek and Latin. for which
| he developed an abnormal love, although
| his brightness along all lines soon won
| him the respect of DR.. Allison. 1t was
here, too. that he became acquainted with
| Benjamin Franklin. an acquaintance
which soon ripened into friendship. as at
tested by the fact that upon leaving the
academy it was upon Franklin's recon-
mendation that Thomson secured a pro-
! fessorship of Greek and Latin in a
Friends school.
| During the time he was a teacher he
| also wrote articles on various subjects,
! the majority of which were printed in
| Franklins paper. In this way Thorn
sons learning and ability began to be
known among the people Of Philadelphia,
| Principal among the topics with which
he dealt in his articles were those on
the Indians. His interest in the welfare
of the Indians was marked. and the just
and truthful manner in which he dealt
with them led to his adoption by the
De'awares in 1756 They gave him the
name of Man of Truth" This interest
and knowledge concerning the Indians
! later led to his appointment a COM
missioner among them.
| Thomson remained tutor of Latin and
/ Greek In the Friends school until 1115
! having been there five years. He return
| ed to similar work, however, after a
! couple of years. becoming an instructor
| in what was later known as the VIII
| liam Penn Charter School in Philadel-
phia He gave up this position in 17et
and entered the mercantile business. be-
! coming an importer of hats and other
wearing apparel.
| 1t was during this time that the stamp
act went into effect, and feeling it's in
fiuence upon his trade. he became more
| than ever a believer in the freedom OF
the colonies He also took an active in