. He was destined in after years to be ruler over the whole
American people, whom he contributed so much to form into a nation."

Grandfather here remarked that many a New-Englander, who had passed his
boyhood and youth in obscurity, afterward attained to a fortune which he
never could have foreseen even in his most ambitious dreams. John Adams,
the second President of the United States and the equal of crowned
kings, was once a schoolmaster and country lawyer. Hancock, the first
signer of the Declaration of Independence, served his apprenticeship
with a merchant. Samuel Adams, afterwards governor of Massachusetts, was
a small tradesman and a tax-gatherer. General Warren was a physician,
General Lincoln a farmer, and General Knox a bookbinder. General
Nathaniel Greene, the best soldier, except Washington, in the
Revolutionary army, was a Quaker and a blacksmith. All these became
illustrious men, and can never be forgotten in American history.

"And any boy who is born in America may look forward to the same
things," said our ambitious friend Charley.

After these observations, Grandfather drew the book of portraits
towards him and showed the children several British peers and members of
Parliament who had exerted themselves either for or against the rights
of America. There were the Earl of Bute, Mr. Grenville, and Lord North.
These were looked upon as deadly enemies to our country.

Among the friends of America was Mr. Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham,
who spent so much of his wondrous eloquence in endeavoring to warn
England of the consequences of her injustice. He fell down on the floor
of the House of Lords after uttering almost his dying words in defence
of our privileges as freemen. There was Edmund Burke, one of the wisest
men and greatest orators that ever the world produced. There was Colonel
Barry, who had been among our fathers, and knew that they had courage
enough to die for their rights. There was Charles James Fox, who never
rested until he had silenced our enemies in the House of Commons.

"It is very remarkable to observe how many of the ablest orators in the
British Parliament were favorable to America," said Grandfather. "We
ought to remember these great Englishmen with gratitude; for their
speeches encouraged our fathers almost as much as those of our own
orators in Faneuil Hall and under Liberty Tree. Opinions which might
have been received with doubt, if expressed only by a native American,
were