ould have been so tied down by iron doctrines, and
should imagine his Creator to be so niggard of His mercy as to withhold
it from nine-and-ninety in the hundred. Well, a man is as he is trained,
and if my father bore a narrow mind upon his broad shoulders, he has at
least the credit that he was ready to do and to suffer all things
for what he conceived to be the truth. If you, my dears, have more
enlightened views, take heed that they bring you to lead a more
enlightened life.

When I was fourteen years of age, a yellow-haired, brown-faced lad, I
was packed off to a small private school at Petersfield, and there I
remained for a year, returning home for the last Saturday in each month.
I took with me only a scanty outfit of schoolbooks, with Lilly's 'Latin
Grammar,' and Rosse's 'View of all the Religions in the World from the
Creation down to our own Times,' which was shoved into my hands by my
good mother as a parting present. With this small stock of letters I
might have fared badly, had it not happened that my master, Mr. Thomas
Chillingfoot, had himself a good library, and took a pleasure in
lending his books to any of his scholars who showed a desire to improve
themselves. Under this good old man's care I not only picked up some
smattering of Latin and Greek, but I found means to read good English
translations of many of the classics, and to acquire a knowledge of the
history of my own and other countries. I was rapidly growing in mind as
well as in body, when my school career was cut short by no less an event
than my summary and ignominious expulsion. How this unlooked-for ending
to my studies came about I must now set before you.

Petersfield had always been a great stronghold of the Church, having
hardly a Nonconformist within its bounds. The reason of this was that
most of the house property was owned by zealous Churchmen, who refused
to allow any one who differed from the Established Church to settle
there. The Vicar, whose name was Pinfold, possessed in this manner great
power in the town, and as he was a man with a high inflamed countenance
and a pompous manner, he inspired no little awe among the quiet
inhabitants. I can see him now with his beaked nose, his rounded
waistcoat, and his bandy legs, which looked as if they had given way
beneath the load of learning which they were compelled to carry. Walking
slowly with right hand stiffly extended, tapping the pavement at every
step with his metal-headed sti