"Nat, you are the best penman in the mill," said Dr. Holt to him one day, as his attention was called to a specimen of his handwriting.
"Where did you learn to write so well?"
"At school, sir," was his laconic reply.
"But how is it that you learn to write so much better at school than the other boys?"
"I don"t know, sir!" and he never said a more truthful thing than he did in this reply. For really he did not know how it was. He did not try very hard to be a good penman. He did many other things well, which did not cost him very much effort. It was easy for him to get the "knack" of holding his pen and cutting letters. He would do it with an ease and grace that we can only describe by saying it was Nat-like. It is another instance, also, of the advantage of that principle or habit, which he early cultivated, of _doing things well_. As one of his companions said,
"He can turn his hand to any thing."
One evening in October, when the harvest moon was emphatically "the empress of the night," and lads and la.s.ses thought it was just the season for mirth and frolic, the boys received an invitation to a party on the following evening.
"Shall you go?" inquired Charlie, when they were in the attic study.
"I should like to go, but I hardly think I shall. I want to finish this book, and I can read half of it in the time I should spend at the party."
"As little time as we get to study," added Charlie, "is worth all we can make of it; and Dr. Franklin says in those rules, "lose no time." I shall not go."
"I don"t think that all time spent in such a social way can be called "lost," for it is good for a person to go to such places sometimes. But I think I shall decide with you _not to go_. I suppose that some of the fellows will turn up their noses, and call us "literary gentlemen," as Oliver did the other day."
"Yes; and Sam said to me yesterday as I met him when I was going home to dinner, "fore I"d work in the factory, Charlie, and never know any thing. You look as if you come out of a cotton-bale. I"ll bet if your father should plant you, you"d come up cotton," and a whole mess of lingo besides."
"And what did you say to him?" asked Nat.
"Not much of any thing. I just said, "if I don"t look quite as well as you do, I think I know how to behave as well," and pa.s.sed on."
That Nat met with a good many discouraging circ.u.mstances, must not be denied. It was trying to him occasionally to see other boys situated much more favorably, having enough and to spare; and now and then a fling, such as the foregoing, harrowed up his feelings somewhat. He was obliged to forego the pleasure of many social gatherings, also, in order to get time to study. Sometimes he went, and usually enjoyed himself well, but often, as in the case just cited, he denied himself an evening"s pleasure for the sake of reading.
About this time, when he felt tried by his circ.u.mstances, he said to his mother,
"I don"t know much, and I never shall."
"You haven"t had an opportunity to know much yet," answered his mother.
"If you continue to improve your time as you have done, I think you will be on a par with most of the boys."
"But poor boys have not so good a chance to stand well, even if they have the same advantages, as the sons of the rich."
"I am not so sure of that," replied his mother. "I know that money is thought too much of in these days, and that it sometimes gives a person high position when he does not deserve it. But, as a general thing, I think that character will be respected; and the poorest boy can have a good character. Was not that true of all the good men you have been reading about?"
Nat was obliged to confess that it was, and the conversation with his mother encouraged him, so that he went to his reading that evening, with as much pluck as ever. The more he learned, the more he wanted to know; and the faster he advanced, the higher he resolved to ascend.
CHAPTER XII.
THE DEDICATION.
Soon after Nat entered the factory, a hall was erected in the village, and dedicated to literary purposes. Nat was all the more interested in the event because it was built under the auspices of the manufacturing company for whom he worked, and their library was to be somehow connected with the inst.i.tute that would meet there.
"No reading to-morrow night," said he to Charlie, as they closed their studies on the evening before the dedication. "We must go to the dedication of the hall without fail. I want to know what is to be done there."
"They say the library is going up there," answered Charlie. "Have you heard so?"
"Yes; but we shall have just the same privileges that we do now, and I expect the library will be increased more rapidly, because they are going to make provisions for others to take out books by paying, and the money goes to enlarge the library."
"But the more persons there are to take out books, the more difficult it will be to get such books as we want," said Charlie. "Do you not see it?
"Yes; but then "beggars must not be choosers," I suppose," Nat answered with a quizzical look. "_Your_ chance will be poorer than mine in that respect, for you read more books than I do, and of course you will want more."
Nat was in season at the dedication, and secured a seat near the platform, where he could see and hear the speaker to the best advantage.
He was not there, as doubtless some boys were, just to see what was going on; but he was there to _hear_. An address was to be delivered by a gentleman whose reputation would naturally create the expectation of an intellectual treat, and that address was what Nat wanted to hear. It was singular that the lecture should be upon the life and character of a self-made man, of the stamp of Dr. Franklin and others, whose biographies our young hearer had read with the deepest interest. But so it was. The subject of the address was Count Rumford; and you might know that Nat swallowed every word, from the leading points of it, which were in substance as follows:--
The real name of Count Rumford was Benjamin Thompson. He was born in Woburn, Ma.s.s., in the year 1752. His father was a farmer in humble circ.u.mstances, and he died when Benjamin was an infant. His mother was only able, when he attained a suitable age, to send him to the common school. He was a bright boy, though he was not so much inclined to study books. He preferred mechanical tools, with which he exhibited considerable ingenuity in constructing various articles, particularly rough drafts of machinery. Among other things he sought to produce a model of perpetual motion. He was sure he could do it, and he set to work with a resolution worthy of a n.o.bler enterprise. When one attempt failed, he tried again, and yet again, until his friends and neighbors called him a "simpleton," and openly rebuked him for his folly. His mother began to think he never would learn any craft by which he could gain a livelihood, and she was really discouraged. He was not vicious nor indolent. He had energy and perseverance, intelligence and tact; and still he was not inclined to choose any of "the thrifty occupations of human industry." At thirteen years of age he was apprenticed Mr.
Appleton, a merchant of Salem, where he distinguished himself only by neatly cutting his name, "Benjamin Thompson," on the frame of a shop slate. He cared less for his new business than he did for the tools of the workshop and musical instruments, for which he had a decided taste.
He soon returned to Woburn.
When he was about seventeen years of age, he began to think more seriously of studying, though most youth in poverty would have said, it is useless to try. But he had great self-reliance, and now he began to think that he could do what had been done by others. It would cost him nothing to attend the lectures on Natural Philosophy at Cambridge college, so he resolved to walk over there, a distance of nine miles, a step which laid the foundation of his future fame. In all weathers he persevered in attending the lectures, and was always punctual to a minute.
Soon after, he commenced teaching school in Bradford, Ma.s.s., and subsequently in Concord, N. H. In the latter place he became acquainted with the rich widow of Col. Rolfe, and, though only nineteen years of age, married her. But this calamity he survived, and acted a conspicuous part in the American Revolution. Soon after the battle of Bunker Hill, having lost his wife, he embarked for England, bearing despatches to the English government. There he soon became distinguished as a learned man and philosopher, and was elected a member of the Royal Society. He was knighted in 1784.
The King of Bavaria became acquainted with him, and, attracted by his marked abilities, appointed him to a high office of trust and responsibility in his court. There he reformed the army and established a system of common schools. He was strictly economical, and saved thousands of dollars to the Bavarian government, by "appropriating the paper used to teach writing in the military schools, to the manufacturing of cartridges by the soldiery."
He was a man of great kindness and benevolence, by which he was prompted to establish a reformatory inst.i.tution for the mendicants of Bavaria, and so great was its success that it became renowned all over Europe.
The sovereign conferred one honor after another upon him, and finally "created him a count by the name of Rumford, in honor of Concord, New Hampshire, whose original name was Rumford."
His writings upon philosophical subjects were valued highly, and widely circulated. He was a leader in founding the Royal Society of Great Britain. He gave five thousand dollars to the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Ma.s.sachusetts to establish a premium to encourage improvement and discoveries, and a like sum to the Royal Society of Great Britain. He died in 1814, at the age of sixty-two, and by his will "bequeathed $1,000 annually and the reversion of his estate, to found the Rumford Professorship of Cambridge College, Ma.s.s.," to which University he felt much indebted for his early instruction in Natural Philosophy.
His life ill.u.s.trates not only what a poor boy may become, but also what simple things a great man can do to promote the welfare of his fellow men. The military cla.s.ses of Bavaria, and indeed all the poor of Europe, suffered for the want of food, and Count Rumford brought to their notice two articles of food to which they were strangers, healthful, nutritious, and cheap. The first was the use of the potato, which was raised only to a limited extent; but, through his exertions it came to be generally cultivated, much to the improvement of the condition of the poor. He received the grat.i.tude of thousands for his efforts. The other blessing was the use of Indian corn in making _hasty-pudding_, which is a live Yankee invention. His instructions on this point shall be given in his own words, as they appeared in his essay written for European readers.
"In regard to the most advantageous mode of using Indian corn, as food, I would strongly recommend a dish made of it, that is in the highest estimation throughout America, and which is really very good and nourishing. This is called _hasty-pudding_, and is made in the following manner: A quant.i.ty of water, proportioned to the quant.i.ty of pudding to be made, is put over the fire, in an open iron pot or kettle, and a proper quant.i.ty of salt, for seasoning; the salt being previously dissolved in the water, Indian meal is stirred into it, little by little, with a wooden spoon with a long handle, while the water goes on to be heated and made to boil, great care being taken to put in the meal in very small quant.i.ties, and by sifting it slowly through the fingers of the left hand, and stirring the water about briskly at the same time with the spoon in the right hand, to mix the meal with the water in such a manner as to prevent lumps being formed. The meal should be added so slowly that when the water is brought to boil, the ma.s.s should not be thicker than water-gruel, and half an hour more at least, should be employed to add the additional quant.i.ty of meal necessary for bringing the pudding to be of the proper consistency, during which time it should be stirred about continually, and kept constantly boiling. The method of determining when the pudding has acquired a proper consistency, is this: the wooden spoon used for stirring it being placed upright in the kettle, if it falls down, more meal must be added; but if the pudding is sufficiently thick and adhesive to support the spoon in a vertical position, it is declared to be _proof_, and no more meal is added."
Then he goes on to teach them how to eat it. "The manner in which hasty-pudding is eaten, with b.u.t.ter and sugar or mola.s.ses, in America, is as follows: the hasty-pudding being spread out equally on a plate, while hot, an excavation is made in the middle with a spoon, into which excavation a piece of b.u.t.ter as large as a nutmeg is put, and upon it a spoonful of brown sugar, or, more commonly, mola.s.ses. The b.u.t.ter being soon melted by the heat of the pudding, mixes with the sugar or mola.s.ses, and forms a sauce, which being confined in the excavation made for it, occupies the middle of the plate. The pudding is then eaten with a spoon; each spoonful of it being dipped into the sauce before it is conveyed to the mouth; care being taken in eating it to begin on the outside, or near the brim of the plate, and to approach the centre by regular advances, in order not to demolish too soon the excavation which forms the reservoir for the sauce."
A great man must be very benevolent and humble to condescend to instruct the poor cla.s.ses in raising potatoes and making hasty-pudding. The fact magnifies the worth of the man.
"Well, Nat, how did you like the address?" inquired his mother, after they reached home.
"Very much indeed," answered Nat. "I had no idea that the address was to be about Count Rumford. He makes me think of Dr. Franklin."
"You see that it is not necessary for a boy to have a rich father to buy him an education," continued his mother. "Where there is a will there is a way."
"I couldn"t help laughing," said Nat, "to think of that great man teaching the people how to make hasty-pudding. I declare, I mean to draw a picture of him stirring a kettle of pudding."
His mother was quite amused at this remark and responded,
"I think the lecturer was right, when he said that such a condescending act by one so high in honor as Count Rumford, was a proof of his greatness. You remember that he said, "a truly great man will do any thing necessary to promote the interests of his fellow-men.""