The Bobbin Boy

CHAPTER I.. A Good Beginning.

A GOOD BEGINNING.

The patch of squashes--counting chickens before they are hatched--ifs--ducks, and the bright side--explanation--hopeful Nat--Nathaniel Bowditch--Sir Humphrey Davy--Buxton--benefit of hopefulness--the squashes coming up--Frank Martin--"all play and no work"--Ben Drake--scene when Nat was four years old--"thinking on his own hook"--men of mark think for themselves--"niggers' work"--great men not ashamed of useful work--the harvest-day--Frank's surprise--Nat as a peddler--his sister--his drawings--Samuel Budgett, Dr. Kitto, and the rich merchant peddling--"creep before you can walk"--the errand-boy and his success--what his culture of squashes shows 1-17

CHAPTER II.. Upward and Onward.

UPWARD AND ONWARD.

Winter--in school--proposition to declaim--the dialogue, "Alexander the Great and a Robber"--Nat is the robber--his reason--sympathy for the poor and unfortunate--the dialogue learned and spoken--Nat's eloquence--some boys who declaim poorly at first make orators at last--Demosthenes--Daniel Webster--Nat declaiming before visitors--the petition for shorter lessons--Nat won't sign it--Sam Drake's predicament--the teacher hears of the movement--his remarks about dull scholars--Newton, Dr. Barrows, Adam Clarke, Chatterton, Napoleon, etc.--necessity of application 17-27

CHAPTER III.. Saturday Afternoon.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

The bright summer-time--sport at Frank's--the dog "Trip" playing hy-spy--the boys hiding--Trip finding them--the result of the first game--the second game--the court scene--talk about it with Sylvester Jones--Nat goes to court--the prisoners are two of his schoolmates--his sympathy for them--examination of witnesses--the remarks of the justice--Nat proposes to plead their case--the sensation and result--what was said of it--another instance of Nat's sympathy--what it foreshadowed--Howard--Wilberforce--Buxton 28-37

CHAPTER IV.. The Wild Cherries.

THE WILD CHERRIES.

The excursion--John's proposition--decision to go--the cherry-tree--is it wild?--a discussion--filling their caps--surprised by the owner--their escape--Nat's and Frank's caps left behind--the owner carries them to the house--Nat's resolve to go to his house--rapping at the door--his explanation and confession--the caps restored with a plenty of cherries--the end thereof 38-47

CHAPTER V.. Athletic Sports.

ATHLETIC SPORTS.

Bathing--a passion for it--a particular swim--Nat the best swimmer--swimming under water--a trial--a game of ball--Nat the best player--the result of the game--remarks of spectators--the fastest runner--a principle to be best--excelled in athletic sports through same elements of character that made him excel in school--the best shoe-black--Reynolds made every picture best--Buxton's sports in boyhood, and Sir Walter Scott's--Wellington's remark--Nat's remark twenty-five years after--Nat saving a boy from drowning--his picture of the scene--how he used his experience in athletic games 48-56

CHAPTER VI.. A Mistake.

A MISTAKE.

Winter school again--the skating proposition--the proposed grammar class--Nat does not accede--discussion on the way to the pond--Nat the best skater--the palm yielded to him--home to supper--teacher's remarks next day about grammar--advice to Nat and Charlie--his reference to Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry--Nat and Charlie join the class--conversation among the boys, and with Nat in particular--Sam put into the objective case, and his mischief-making propensity--tying a tin-pail to a dog's tail--the delight of Sam--the sorrow of Nat, and verdict of the boys--Sam an improper noun--the end of school 57-68

CHAPTER VII.. Prospect Hill.

PROSPECT HILL.

Proposed visit to Prospect Hill--a hundred churches--situation and description of the hill--view from the top--Trip accompanies them--meeting with Sam and Ben Drake--Sam's assault upon Trip--Frank's feelings--Nat's love of nature--this characterizes youth generally who become renowned--Sir Francis Chantrey--Robert Burns--Hugh Miller--more hope of boys who love the beautiful of nature and art--reaching the summit--a fire in the city--Sam's anger--counting the churches--Sam kicks Trip down the precipice--Frank and Nat crying--Sam's ridicule--Sam and Ben leave--Nat tells a story--carrying dead Trip home 69-82

CHAPTER VIII.. The End of School-Days.

THE END OF SCHOOL-DAYS.

The agent of the factory wants Nat--picker-boy in Lowell a short time--his home-sickness--a good sign for boys to love home, and why--bad boys do not love home--the young man in prison--such lads sneer at home-sickness--interview of Nat's father and mother on the subject--their conclusion to put him into the factory--end of school-days 83-89

CHAPTER IX.. Opening the Subject.

OPENING THE SUBJECT.

Nat coming home--telling the sad news to his mother--sifting Sam Drake's character--going to Frank's to bury Trip--asking permission of parents--how some take advantage--Frank's arrangement for the burial--Trip's coffin--buried in the garden--Nat's funeral oration--going to supper--the difficult lesson in arithmetic--stunned by the announcement--his objection--his mother suggested that the operatives had a library--the result, and Nat's last thoughts at night 90-99

CHAPTER X.. The New Call.

THE NEW CALL.

Monday morning--prompt boys--not a lazy bone in Nat--how the bell called him--his first appearance at the factory--remark of the overseer--meeting with Charlie Stone there--Charlie's character--making use of knowledge acquired and difference in boys--talk with the agent about the library--his advice about spare moments--William Cobbett's account of his own privations in early life--Nat's first noon-time--his work as bobbin boy--takes the life of Dr. Franklin out of the library--meets with David Sears--punctuality a cardinal virtue--how the factory bell cultivates punctuality--here the beginning of his student life--read through life of Franklin before Saturday night 100-112

CHAPTER XI.. The Lofty Study.

THE LOFTY STUDY.

Nat's proposition for systematic study--Charlie goes to his house--his study in the attic--Dr. Kitto's study not so good--nor St. Pierre's--they read and discuss Franklin and Patrick Henry--copy of Franklin's rules--Patrick Henry's faculty of observation--Nat like him--studying men and things--the case of Shakspeare--Nat the best penman in the mill--choice between study and the party--obliged to deny himself for the sake of study--some disarrangements--thinks he can never know much--the poor not so good a chance as the rich--wealth of character 113-123

CHAPTER XII.. The Dedication.

THE DEDICATION.

A hall to be dedicated--Nat's conversation with Frank about it, and removal of the library--going to the dedication--the address on Count Rumford--a sketch of the address to show why Nat was so deeply interested--Count Rumford's origin, boyhood, rise, learning, benevolence, and fame--conversation with his mother about it--conversation with Charlie at the factory--a life-long impression made on his mind by it 124-133

CHAPTER XIII.. A School Scene.

A SCHOOL SCENE.

A difficulty with Sam Drake in school--Nat hears of it--a true account--Sam writes a letter about the teacher--the teacher discovers it--many words spelled incorrectly--a copy of the letter--Sam called into the floor--made to spell the words he has spelled wrong--spells Alpheus, Coombs, knife, bargain, spectacles--merriment it occasioned in school--Sam refuses to spell more--he is punished and conquered--spells again--then he is ferruled--sent to his seat--advice to the school--a good teacher--his case before the committee--expelled--what the incident teaches 134-141

CHAPTER XIV.. Taking Sides.

TAKING SIDES.

The Federalist--Jefferson and the Democrat--the four votes--studied with all his soul--Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence--reading it--difference between Jefferson and Adams --Jefferson's views of slavery--extract from his writings--another extract--why Nat adopted these principles--his early sympathies--the life of Jefferson made lasting impression on his mind--case of Guido--Cotton Mather's "Essays to do Good"--Dr. Franklin--Jeremy Bentham and greatest good to greatest number--Alfieri and "Plutarch's Lives"--Loyola and "Lives of the Saints"--a picture made--Dr. Guthrie 142-155

CHAPTER XV.. Three Important Events.

THREE IMPORTANT EVENTS.

Frank in the factory--bad to be poor--worse to be mean--great men generally poor--dispute with Dr. Franklin--intimate friendship with Frank--the poor sympathize with each other--so with the rich--influence of kindred occupation--the new comer--his poverty--who Marcus was--the kind letter that brought trial--proposition to leave home--talk with his mother--reminded of Marcus--decision to leave home--departure and new field--gone three years--his return 156-164

CHAPTER XVI.. Finding a Lost Opportunity.

FINDING A LOST OPPORTUNITY.

Odd moments at grammar--making up for a lost opportunity--confession of an error--inquiry after Sam Drake--his bad character--Ben Drake--mastering grammar alone--nothing dry in which we are interested--Nat's literary pocket--Roger Sherman's pocket--Napoleon's pocket--Hugh Miller's pocket--Elihu Burritt's pocket--many boys carry only a jack-knife in their pocket--value of one hour a day--ten years of study in half a century--lost opportunities not found--the proposed debating club--Marcus again 165-173

CHAPTER XVII.. The Purchase.

THE PURCHASE.

A spare day--visit to Boston bookstores--shoe-leather cheap and the proposed walk--conversation with Charlie and Frank--the walk to Boston--what would attract some boys there--the book-stores drew Nat--conversation with a bookseller--purchase of "Locke's Essay on the Understanding"--his examination of books--bits of knowledge--Dr. Kitto and the book-stall--homeward bound--Monday morning with Charlie--influence of Locke's Essay on him--its influence was such on Robert Burns, Samuel Drew, and Mendelssohn--it aids the speaker to understand the laws of human nature--more visits to Boston 174-182

CHAPTER XVIII.. The Debating Society.

THE DEBATING SOCIETY.

Plans carried out--its object--how it must be conducted--the organization--rule to make it respectable--his desire to make all things respectable--the fire company reformed--the first discussion--the question--an evening without a question--how they got over it--Nat's speech--curiosity to hear--tremendous compliments--Nat wards them off--contends that a man may become what he wants to be--this the view of Buxton and others--influence of the debating society on Nat--a similar society influenced Curran, the Irish orator--and a living American statesman--Canning, the English statesman--and Henry Clay--interesting account of a similar society in Boston 183-195

CHAPTER XIX.. Coming and Going.

COMING AND GOING.

Ben Drake's visit--the welcome of Frank--Mrs. Martin's questions--surprise at learning that Ben is a Christian--going to the prayer-meeting--Frank surprised to hear Ben speak--goes to tell Nat the next morning--their conversation--Ben calls around--announcement that Webster would speak in Boston--Nat's resolve to hear him--the walk to Boston--the speech--Nat's observation and remarks--power of the human voice--hearing Edward Everett--walks to hear other speakers--learned much of the use of language and oratory by observation--so with Robert Bloomfield--the charm of the voice 196-205

CHAPTER XX.. Gossip.

GOSSIP.

Talk which Nat created--scene in the sewing circle--use of spare moments--boys who read their leisure moments not get into mischief--old Mrs. Lane on education--her ideas about his going to hear Webster and Everett and the book in his pocket--how much time he saves a day for reading--wants more boys like Nat--his going to the party--sympathy for the slighted--explanation of the scene--waiting upon the slighted girls--the effect of it--Nat's decision, independence, and kind-hearted nature enabled him to do it--like Robert Burns in this respect 206-213

CHAPTER XXI.. Going to the Theatre.

GOING TO THE THEATRE.

Nat's desire to witness a tragedy played--resolve to go and hear Booth--talk with his companions--what would be said--the evening of his visit--the play--after conversation with his companions--the bar--why vices connected with theatres--can they be severed from it--Nat wants to hear more--at home at one o'clock--outside remarks afterwards--his course criticized--went a number of times thereafter--his object in going good--yet it was not safe---the Roman youth at the amphitheatre--so with theatre-goers--theatres always been schools of vice--acts of Congress against--vain attempt to make theatres respectable in Boston--the legend of Tertullian--the actor Macready exposed the vice of theatres--Judge Bulstrode's charge--Sir Matthew Hale's experience in boyhood--opinion of the infidel Rousseau 214-225

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