2 



BOYHOOD. [Chap. I. 



memory by friends and pupils, render any further delineation 

 of his character superfluous. His mother's influence was less 

 wide, but no less deep. She was the daughter of James and 

 Bridget Penn, of Kidderminster, and niece of the Rev. T. 

 Laugher, of Hackney; and she inherited from her maternal 

 ancestors superior mental endowments, as well as strong re- 

 ligious feelings and principles. When Robert Hall called on 

 her (1828), he spoke of her mother as "the most excellent 

 woman he had ever known, and said it must be a blessing 

 to be her child." Mrs. Penn died September 25, 1800, and for 

 the remainder of her life (more than half a century) Anna 

 hallowed the anniversary, as the time when she was quickened 

 to an earnest desire after holiness, 



Philip was the only one of the family who was born at 

 Bristol. The others were natives of Exeter, where Dr. Car- 

 penter had resided from 1805 to 18 17 ; and the sisters fondly 

 remembered the early days, when they were in a smaller house, 

 with fewer pupils, and had more intercourse with their father. 



Philip had always a strong affection for his native city. 

 When he was fifty, he wrote : " All my life appears unreal to 

 me, except my boy's life in Bristol." Of that life there is little 

 to record, except some of the influences which moulded his 

 character. As a minister he preferred the poor ; but the com- 

 panions of his childhood were rich. The terms of his father's 

 school were high, and the pupils, many of whom afterwards 

 entered Parliament, were chiefly from affluent families ; but 

 though no expense was spared which health and comfort 

 demanded, frugality and simplicity prevailed. Dr. Carpenter 

 was a minister of the Lewin's Mead congregation : little of 

 the wealth for which it was then noted had been bestowed on 

 religious objects ; but, greatly owing to his efforts, Sunday 

 schools were established, school-rooms were built, and, in 

 addition to the old endowed Charity Schools, with their quaint 

 costumes, three new day schools were opened. Faith was 

 shown by works, and a spirit of life animated the congregation ; 

 but, first, many difficulties had to be overcome, for his senior 

 colleague and many of his friends opposed what they regarded 



