HIS CHILDHOOD AND EARLY HOME. H 



usually half a dozen horses and two chaises, we were toler- 

 ably provided for ; and the horses under the saddle some- 

 times carried two, a female riding on a pillion or a blanket, 

 behind a man or a lad. My brother and I were sometimes 

 instructed to take each of us one of the daughters of our 

 clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Eliot, who had more girls 

 than horses ; and we were at an age when the jeers of our 

 school-fellows made this a rather embarrassing duty. At 

 our Sabbath evening prayers there was always a hymn 

 sung, and as the members of the family were most of them 

 good singers, this addition to the usual service was very 



The Sabbath was considered as beginning on Saturday 

 evening at sunset, and ending on the next evening at the 

 same hour. All farm-work and other labors, as far as pos- 

 sible, were adapted accordingly. Family visits and calls of 

 particular friends were, however, interchanged on Sabbath 

 evening, and the children were indulged in moderate play 

 with the setting sun and the appearance of the first stars. 



My Maternal Grandmother, Rebecca Fish. This vener- 

 able lady, after her husband's death, in May, 1781, removed 

 to Fairfield and became a member of the family of my 

 father and mother ; and although she died when I was only 

 between three and four years old, I retain a distinct recol- 

 lection of her person and manners. She took the charge 

 of dressing and undressing us ; she knit our warm stock- 

 ings for winter ; and I have no doubt taught us our early 

 prayers and hymns, although this latter fact I do not 

 remember. We were always accustomed to kiss grandma 

 for good-night, when we were about retiring to bed ; and 

 on one occasion we were told that grandma was sick ; and 

 I well remember her appearance as she lay in the bed, the 

 last night that we saw her alive and received her last kiss. 

 The next day, when we came to bid grandma good-morn- 

 ing, she did not speak to us as usual, and they told me that 



