as a true blue[20] Tory[21] to the backbone, and believed
honestly that the powers which be were ordained of God, and that
loyalty and steadfast obedience were man's first duties. Whether it
were in consequence or in spite of his political creed, I do not mean
to give an opinion, though I have one; but certain it is, that he held
therewith divers social principles not generally supposed to be true
blue in color. Foremost of these, and the one which the Squire loved
to propound above all others, was the belief that a man is to be
valued wholly and solely for that which he is in himself, for that
which stands up in the four fleshy walls of him, apart from clothes,
rank, fortune, and all externals whatsoever. Which belief I take to be
a wholesome corrective of all political opinions, and, if held
sincerely, to make all opinions equally harmless, whether they be
blue, red or green. As a necessary corollary[22] to this belief,
Squire Brown held further that it didn't matter a straw whether his
son associated with lords' sons or plowmen's sons, provided they were
brave and honest. He himself had played foot-ball and gone
birds'-nesting with the farmers whom he met at vestry[23] and the
laborers who tilled their fields, and so had his father and
grandfather, with their progenitors.[24] So he encouraged Tom in his
intimacy with the boys of the village, and forwarded it by all means
in his power, and gave them the run of a close[25] for a playground,
and provided bats and balls and a foot-ball for their sports.

[20] #True blue#: genuine.

[21] #Tory#: a member of the conservative party in politics.

[22] #Corollary#: an inference from something before stated.

[23] #Vestry#: parish meeting.

[24] #Progenitors#: forefathers.

[25] #Close#: any inclosed place; here, probably a field.

TOM'S WATCH-TOWER BY THE SCHOOL.

Our village was blessed, amongst other things, with a well-endowed
school. The building stood by itself, apart from the master's house,
on an angle of ground where three roads met; an old gray stone
building, with a steep roof and mullioned[26] windows. On one of the
opposite angles stood Squire Brown's stables and kennel, with their
backs to the road, over which towered a great elm-tree; on the third,
stood the village carpenter and wheelwright's large open shop, and his
house and the schoolmaster's, with long, low eaves under which the
swallows built by scores.

[26] #Mulli