Page:Letters of Life.djvu/74

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62
LETTERS OF LIFE.

his strictness, which I think scholars generally do, not withstanding what they may say to the contrary.

I was removed from his regency to share the benefits of a school unique in those times, and, I am inclined to think, not easily paralleled in any. A young gentleman of superior talents, education, and position in society, having been compelled by some infirmity of health to abandon his choice of the clerical profession, consented to take charge for one year of a select circle of twenty-five pupils. A rare privilege was it, indeed, to be under his guidance. He had but recently completed his collegiate course, and it seems a scarcely credible fact that, ere he had reached his twentieth birthday, he should have judgment to conduct such an institution, and to impress every varying spirit with respect and obedience. Yet so it was. The secret of his sway was in his earnest piety and consistent example. We revered both, and would not for the world have done aught to trouble him. The order of the school was perfect. The classics were excellently well taught, as were also the English studies. Among the latter, I recollect geography was quite a favorite, probably because it was deepened by our construction of maps and charts, in which we were strenuous for accuracy, and some degree of elegance. The former we decorated by painted vignettes and devices, and for the latter had immense sheets manufactured at the paper mill on purpose for us. These, being divided into