Youth and Education. 29 



hand and the passion for reading on the other. When 

 warned by friends, he did not seem to realize his dan- 

 ger, and would either reply carelessly, or perhaps ex- 

 claim, with the rash warmth of youthful blood, that he 

 would rather be a blind man than an ignoramus. Nor 

 did the parents understand the seriousness of the situ- 

 ation. In the minds of people in Saratoga County, or 

 any other rural neighbourhood sixty years ago, there 

 was little or no idea of inflexible laws of nature ruling 

 our lives and bringing upon us the consequences of 

 our actions. A summary reference to the dispensa- 

 tions of Providence was apt to dispose of such matters. 

 We are thus brought once more to the religious 

 experiences of the family, to which I have briefly al- 

 luded. The father and mother were very unlike in 

 their way of looking at things. Vincent Youmans 

 seems to have been a born doubter and rationalist, 

 with clear ideas and a ready flow of language. His 

 wife was a marvel of common sense, along with a deep 

 religious tendency. Outside of her daily duties and 

 the practical questions involved in the maintenance 

 of the family her religion explained all the problems 

 of life ; and she exerted a powerful influence over her 

 husband, who otherwise might perhaps never have 

 become a member of the church. There was much 

 that was interesting in the reaction of those two strong 

 natures upon each other. They were in the habit of 

 discussing all sorts of questions in the presence of the 

 children ; and in regard to political and social matters 

 much freedom of speech was indulged, for in that little 

 rural world the leaven of great moral reforms was 

 working. Between husband and wife there was com- 

 plete harmony on the " temperance question," and 

 they belonged to the dominant and most respectable 



