HENRY PDRKITT KIDDER. 529 



son-in-law Mr. Thayer after him, whom Mr. Kidder in his turn suc- 

 ceeded in the watchful care of our modest funds. It may be said, in 

 passing, that the life of Ebenezer Francis would be a curious and 

 might be an interesting addition to the history of the growth of the 

 town of Boston, and would mark the steps by which the little town 

 opened its communications with the West, and made the sudden 

 growth in population and wealth which followed fast on the incor- 

 poration of the city. Mr. Francis was the son of the Colonel Francis 

 who was killed at the head of his regiment when charging the English 

 for the third time, as he covered St. Clair's retreat before Burgoyne. 

 Burgoyne's despatches speak of Francis as " one of their best and 

 bravest officers." 



The private bank of Ebenezer Francis was small in comparison with 

 the banking institutions of to-day. When Mr, Kidder entered it, it 

 was largely directed by the brothers Thayer, one of whom had married 

 Mr. Francis's daughter. The great railway enterprises of the country 

 were beginning, and, after the natural timidity of capitalists had been 

 conquered by the courage and success of adventurers, the brothers 

 Thayer had joined wisely in their promotion. Mr. Kidder, entering as 

 a beginner, stated at once to his young friends the rule in life which 

 he afterward often urged on another generation. The success of the 

 firm, he said, was his success, and it was his place to see it succeed. 

 Very early in his connection with the house he was able, in his subor- 

 dinate place, to discern methods of enlarging its work which instantly 

 approved themselves to the sagacity of the brothers Thayer. They 

 saw, and were glad to see, what manner of man they had in their em- 

 ploy, and advanced him rapidly in confidential positions. 



From early life he was ready, was determined indeed, to do his 

 part, whatever it might prove to be, for the community in which he 

 lived. But he was modest and would never push himself as an ap- 

 plicant for any public trust, and it happened — not unnaturally per- 

 haps — that the first public function he was ever asked to assume was 

 that of teacher in the Sunday school, if indeed that can be called a 

 public function. But the duty should be spoken of here, because, in 

 the crowd of public trusts afterward imposed upon him, he had to say 

 that the first time any one asked him to " be " anything was when he 

 was asked to be a teacher in a Sunday school, and the second was 

 when he was asked to serve as the youngest member of the church 

 standing committee. To each trust he would carry a sensitive, perhaps 

 a proud conception, of what it is to be asked by other men to fulfil a 

 duty for the general good ; and, as his life went forward, his readi- 

 voL. XXI. (n. s. XIII.) 34 



