Banister, late Miss Z. P. Grant (the associate, at Ipswich, of Miss
Lyon, who died recently at South Hadley, who was his pupil), thus speaks
of his rigid habits:

"He not only uniformly rejected whatever food he had decided to be
injurious to him, but whatever he deemed necessary for his food or
drink, was always taken, whether at home or abroad. As his diet, for
several years, consisted generally, either of bread and milk, or of
bread and butter, what solid food he wanted could be supplied at any
table."[16]

It is also testified of him, by his brother, Prof. Emerson, of Andover,
that "for more than thirty years he adopted the practice of eating but
one kind at a meal." If I do not misremember, for I knew him well, he
was in favor of banishing flesh and fish, and substituting milk and
fruits in their stead, on Bible ground.--I refer here to the Divine
arrangement in the first chapter of Genesis; and which has never, that I
am aware, been altered.

TAK SISSON.

Tak Sisson, as he was called, was a slave in the family of a man in
Rhode Island, before and during the Revolution.

From early childhood he could never be prevailed on to eat any flesh or
fish, but he subsisted on vegetable food and milk; neither could he be
persuaded to eat high seasoned food of any kind. When he was a child,
his parents used to scold him severely, and threaten to whip him because
he refused to eat flesh. They said to him (as I have been told a
thousand times), that if he did not eat meat he would never be good for
any thing, but would always be a poor, puny creature.

But Tak persevered in his vegetable and unstimulating diet, and, to the
surprise of all, grew fast, and his body was finely developed and
athletic. He was very stout and robust, and altogether the most
vigorous and dexterous of any of the family. He finally became more than
six feet high, and every way well proportioned, and remarkable for his
agility and strength. He was so uncommonly shrewd, bright, strong, and
active, that he became notorious for his shrewdness, and for his feats
of strength and agility. Indeed, he was so full of his playful mischief
as greatly to annoy his overseer.

During the Revolutionary War it became an object to take Gen. Prescott.
A door was to be forced where he was quartered and sleeping, and Tak was
selected for the work. Having taken his lesson from the American
officer, he proceeded to the door, plunged his thick head against it,
burst