habits of early rising, promptness in action, industry, and concentration upon the matter in hand. Regularly were they summoned in the morning; and there was no more "folding of the hands in sleep." They were obliged to respond at once with their feet striking the floor. It happened that the butcher usually drove into the yard at the same time; and the rumbling of his chariot, as it broke upon the dream-land, and seemed to suggest the father's call, serving as its unwelcome prelude, made the useful vender of meats unpopular with the boys.

The observance of the Lord's day he regarded as of the first importance, and strictly enjoined it upon his children as he did also a reverential regard for the public Fasts and Thanksgivings, instituted by our pious Pilgrim fathers. The church edifice stamped its picture on the children's memory. Arthur thus alludes to it in his remarks at the public dinner on the Bicentennial Anniversary of Groton: "I remember the ancient church, then unchanged by the hand of modern improvement. I can see to-day those oldfashioned pews, so high that only by a peep through the rounds which ornamented their tops could I discern the faces of youthful comrades; and there seems yet to echo in my ear the hearty slam with which the pew seats, raised during the prayer, descended in a rude chorus of accompaniment at the signal of the minister's Amen!' a not unwelcome word, I fear, to undevout children of that day or this." Quite as impressive to the youthful mind was the high pulpit, ascended by a winding stair, on whose dizzy elevation the preacher was just visible, emerging

from the damask cushion toto vertice supra. What lent a great interest to the minister in the childish view, was his apparently critical position of imminent peril from the huge hemispheral sounding-board suspended by a frail tenure above his head. There was nothing to indicate to the child's speculation that this massive superstructure was hollow, and therefore adequately secured by the apex fixed to the ceiling.* Noteworthy also was the psalmody, especially the agonized moment when the strangely assorted instruments strove to take the pitch. The individuality of the surly bass-viol and the intensely strung fiddle was never lost in their assembled harmony. Alas! the glory of those orchestras has forever passed away!

In family government, Timothy Fuller did not wholly dispense with the rod, though we recall but one instance when Arthur was made the subject of it. That occasion is well remembered, because, from participation in the punishment, it made a marked impression both upon the back and mind. Arthur and Richard (by two years his younger brother) had been quarrelling, in that unmalicious, but bearish brotherly style paternally denominated "squabbling." Smarting with reciprocal wrongs, they resorted to the legal father as the fountain of family justice, each preferring his complaint. They did not fail to obtain what Molière's Scapin so little relished,-justice: but, though no reproach could be cast upon the unsullied ermine of the family judge, yet the result of the cause discouraged them from afterward submitting their griev

* A witty clergyman compared these old-fashioned pulpits to a hogshead, with the minister speaking out of the bunghole.

ances to the same tribunal. Hardly were the pleadings in, when the proceedings began to assume an ominous aspect. The father proposed to adjourn to his chamber, as affording a better opportunity to sift the matter. Among the family effects was a certain black riding-stick, with which the children, in their equestrian efforts, were wont to invigorate the energies of the tardy family steed, known as "old Charley." The father accompanied his proposition to adjourn to the chamber by the assumption of this stick, which may have resembled the black rod of Parliament. This significant act justified the apprehension that the case would have an unpleasant issue for one or the other litigant, and, before the die was cast determining which, the rod cast an unpleasant shadow upon both. The boys felt some disposition to withdraw, for a settlement in pais. But galeatum sero duelli pœnitet. In other words, the locus pœnitentiæ was reserved for a later stage of the proceedings.

Arrived at the chamber, the parental judge directed Arthur, as the eldest, to open the case. In vain Richard attempted to break in, with an indignant protest against the allegations and arguments. The court calmly but firmly enjoined silence upon him till Arthur had first fully enjoyed his constitutional right to be heard. When his breath or narrative had given out, the signal was made for Richard's wordy onset. Arthur, in his turn, was thwarted in eager attempts to interrupt the younger advocate. When both sides had been duly heard, the court, with no dilatory curia advisare vult, proceeded forthwith to deliver a somewhat elaborate judgment, reviewing the variances as

well as coincidences in the statements of each side, and drawing from the latter the inference that both were to blame; concluding with the sentence that the boys should take off their jackets, in order that the black rod might be more closely applied to their backs. As the father assured them that the infliction would pain him much more than them, they indulged the hope of a light chastisement; in which, as in speaking, Arthur, from priority of age, had the first lot. This expectation proved illusory; for, though the whipping was calm and deliberate, it was eminently thorough; nor did he "spare the child for his crying."

Another illustration of home government was furnished soon after the removal to Groton. It was early summer, the skies blue and bright, the breezes grateful, and the birds melodious. How dull and dingy the school-room in comparison ! Out-of-door

laborers seemed to enjoy a comparative holiday to Arthur, who had thus far only applied himself to work when so inclined, for variety, and had no conception of the labor improbus which omnia vincit. He also persuaded Richard to be of the same mind; and they both besieged father and mother with entreaties to allow them to work instead of study. The father held out long against them, assuring them that they would soon find labor very irksome, and wish to return to study again. But no! they were sure they should enjoy labor in the free air better than the pent-up toil of the school, in the beautiful season which lured all creatures forth. He advised them to try the experiment, before a final choice, offering to let them

work for a few days on trial, and to continue it or return to school, according as they should find most agreeable. But they were so sure they should like work, that they preferred to sever the school tie, and make choice of it at once. The father, having warned them that, if they made this election, it would not be revocable, thought it would be a good lesson for them to have their own way.

Great was their delight in getting rid of school; and for the first half-day they exulted in their choice. But presently blisters and fatigue came, and they began to waver. They held out for a time, ashamed to admit their folly, but gradually gave way; and then they pleaded for leave to go back to school. This the father firmly declined. The boys fretted and murmured, but failed to move the father. As a last resort, they fled from the work one day, and ran to entreat their mother, throwing themselves upon the floor, and bewailing their sad fate. The mother was much moved, and soon joined her entreaties with theirs to bring over the father, who had followed the boys, and stood a calm spectator of the scene. He replied, that to yield would have a very bad influence upon the boys; that they had chosen to rush into the difficulty, despite of counsel and warning, and ought now to bear the consequences of such conduct, as they would have to on the stage of life, for which they were training; that they had entered into a fair and deliberate engagement, and ought not to wish nor to be permitted to violate it. The adamantine statue of Themis would have swerved as soon as he; and so back the boys