Francis Parkman 227 



Unconscious of their character and origin, and 

 ignorant that with time and confirmed health they 

 would have disappeared, he had no other thought 

 than that of crushing them by force, and accord- 

 ingly applied himself to the work. Hence resulted 

 a state of mental tension, habitual for several 

 years, and abundantly mischievous in its effects. 

 With a mind overstrained and a body overtasked, 

 he was burning his candle at both ends." 



The conditions which were provided for the sen- 

 sitive and highly strung boy during a part of his 

 childhood were surely very delightful, and there 

 can be little doubt that they served to determine 

 his career. His grandfather Hall's home in Med- 

 ford was situated on the border of the Middlesex 

 Fells, a rough and rocky woodland, four thousand 

 acres in extent, as wild and savage in many places 

 as any primeval forest. The place is within eight 

 miles of Boston, and it may be doubted if any- 

 where else can be found another such magnificent 

 piece of wilderness so near to a great city. It 

 needs only a stray Indian or two, with a few bears 

 and wolves, to bring back for us the days when 

 Winthrop's company landed on the shores of the 

 neighbouring bay. In the heart of this shaggy 

 woodland is Spot Pond, a lake of glorious beauty, 

 with a surface of three hundred acres, and a homely 



