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otherwise ordered. His uncle, who had now retired from public 

 life, and was living on the family estate with a widowed sister and 

 her only daughter, never having been married himself, became so 

 attached to his beloved nephew, that he could not consent to part 

 with him. Without formally adopting him, he ever after treated him 

 as a son, and never was any parent more blessed in an own son. 



John, thus made a fixed resident in Salem, at the age of nine 

 years, soon resumed his studies with renewed health and energy. 

 His character, having received such a powerful impulse in the right 

 direction, could not fail to be carried forward in strength as well as 

 excellence under the somewhat sterner influences which were now 

 brought to bear upon him. In his uncle, alike dignified, wise, and 

 affectionate, he found the best of domestic guides. His master in 

 the Latin Grammar School was Belcher Noyes, an experienced 

 teacher, and a man of some classical learning, as it would seem 

 from a Latin grammar of which he was the author. His writing- 

 master was Edward Norris, of whom he took lessons every day, 

 for some length of time, with complete success. He was remark- 

 able for his handwriting before he left Philadelphia, and it deserves 

 notice here as one of his distinguished literary accomplishments. 

 The handwriting, it has been said, indicates the writer's character. 

 In him, certainly, both were alike clear, simple, and beautiful. 

 Nothing perplexing was ever found either in his chirography or his 

 character. The rank which he speedily attained as a classical 

 scholar was high, as might be inferred from a fact related by a 

 venerable gentleman, now living, — which deserves remembrance, 

 too, as having served to swell the tide of good influences then bear- 

 ing upon him. When President Washington visited Salem, in 1789, 

 young Pickering Avas placed at the head of the Latin school in the 

 procession on that occasion. What more powerful incentive to all 



