f 



j * 



Birth and Education 



description is not to be depended on. There have indeed 

 been traditions and surmises printed from time to time, 

 but these are not to be relied upon for accuracy. 



It was, on the whole, a good thing for Josiah that he 

 was one of a numerous family. On entering life he 

 found a little world of boys and girls about him. The 

 child in a large family receives a kind of social educa- 

 tion by contact with his brothers and sisters. The 

 little corners of his temperament are rubbed off and 

 smoothed down, as with boys in a public school. If 

 he wishes to pass comfortably through life, he finds 

 that he must give and take, especially when, like Josiah, 

 he has to make his own way in the world. 



Not much is recorded about his boyhood. He 

 played about the fields and strips of waste ground 

 near the Churchyard Works. There were occasionally 

 pack-horses at the pottery waiting for their loads of 

 ware. As riding was one of his early ambitions, he 

 occasionally bestrode the pack-horses, held on by the 

 willing packmen. 



The mother had of course plenty to do in bringing 

 up such a "long family." She had to feed, to 

 clothe, and maintain them. But she never was found 

 wanting. She was, as we have said, lively, quick, 

 and sensible, with a soul full of kindness. She was 

 anything but selfish or hardened by the number of her 

 children. With a heart opened to them all, young as well 

 as old, she proved herself one of the best of mothers. 

 She taught her children the value of industry; for, 



