ormer
home to engage in agricultural pursuits. But while thus engaged he
little anticipated the designs of Providence concerning him. Improving
his leisure hours, he had made considerable progress in the study of
theology. At length he selected his text, and composed a sermon,
without education or teacher. It happened thus: In the family of
Deacon Rose, the evening preceding the Sabbath was customarily devoted
to family instruction and religious worship. Haynes was occasionally
asked to read from the sermons of Watts, Whitefield, Doddridge or
Davies. Called upon to read as usual one evening, he slipped into the
book his own sermon which he had written, and read it to the family.
Greatly delighted and edified by this sermon read with unusual
vivacity and feeling, Deacon Rose, who was then blind, inquired:
"Lemuel, whose work is that which you have been reading? Is it
Davies's sermon, or Watts's, or Whitefield's?" Haynes blushed and
hesitated, but at last was obliged to confess the truth--"It's
Lemuel's sermon."[4]

It was then discovered that in this young man was the promise of
usefulness. The community encouraged him to look forward to the
Christian ministry. Referring to this, he said: "I was solicited by
some to obtain a collegiate education, with a view to the gospel
ministry. A door was opened for it at Dartmouth College, but I shrunk
at the thought. Reverend Mr. Smith encouraged me with many others. I
was at last persuaded to attend to studying the learned languages. I
was invited (1779) by the Reverend Daniel Farrand, of Canaan,
Connecticut, to visit him. I accordingly did. With him I resided some
time, studying the Latin language."[5]

How long he studied under Mr. Farrand is not known. He devoted a part
of his time to belles lettres and the writing of sermons. While with
Mr. Farrand, Haynes composed a poem which was surreptitiously taken
from his desk and afterward delivered by a plagiarist at a certain
college on the day of commencement. During these years he labored in
the field to defray the expense of board and tuition, but the mind of
this student underwent unusual development for which Mr. Haynes
retained to the end of life a grateful remembrance of his friend and
patron.

After making an extensive study of the Latin language, he felt a
desire to study Greek that he might read the New Testament in the
original, but he had no means to prosecute this study. While in doubt
as to how he could attain so d