been selected from an adjacent neighborhood to conduct the winter campaign against the unruly urchins, who, at that season of the year, assembled there for mischief and education. In body and mind he was like another distinguished dignitary, "loosely hung together." He was upwards of six feet in height; and, as if to show how nearly a man can be divided-halved and live, he was endowed with a length of legs that always gave him the appearance of standing on stilts. His arms, for length, corresponded with these locomotive forces; and when he seized his long birchen rod, and flourished it in token of his right to rule, or applied it to the back of some mischievous boy who had been engaged in adorning the coat of his master with some significant placard, the most distant spectator in that small room was in imminent danger of sharing these occasional demonstrations. of his authority.

This man, after having been employed in the same district for three several winters, boasted to some of his pupils that he knew nothing of English grammar, and coolly appealed to his own position in society as a proof of its utter inutility! If a man could teach school without it, of what avail in the great purposes of life could it be!

Yet this man had many excellent qualities of heart, and in the branches which he taught was not unsuccessful. James became much attached to him, and was a favorite with him. And through life he cherished his name in grateful remembrance, and his person among his "queerest" recollections.

I give this case, as illustrating to some extent the lite

rary attainments of his first teachers. That some of them were better qualified for their calling, is by no means denied; but the standard was low.

In such nurseries of education, my brother received its first rudiments, making very little progress until after he was eleven years of age. At home, the straitened circumstances of the family, prevented much attention to his improvement on the part of his parents, and, consequently, depending solely on school facilities, little was achieved.

Such are some of the influences of a social and educational character under which the journey of life, with him, was commenced.

There are circumstances, prophetic in their nature, and connected with this period of his life, which deserve a brief notice here. We have said that James was the preacher in the family circle. In the summer of 1823, an infant brother, after a protracted sickness, passed hence to the better world. At the funeral, the Rev. Isaac Whitnall, an eccentric but worthy minister of our order, officiated. Though but a child himself, James was an attentive listener. He noticed the appearance of the preacher in reading, in prayer, and in preaching. The discourse was full of consolation, and delivered with touching pathos. The bereaved parents felt its power, and for a time their tears ceased to flow. The solemnities at the house were closed, the family, with their precious charge, accompanied by many friends, repaired to the grave, committed the "dust to dust," and returned home to mourn their loss. It would seem that this child had noticed the effect of the discourse in

soothing the feelings of his mother, and when, afterwards, he saw her give way to her grief, in tears, he more than once proposed to preach to her. And often did he gather around him his brothers and associates, and with great gravity go through the forms of devotion which he observed at this funeral. At such times he could tolerate no lightness of manner among his auditors. If the imperfection of his speech, or the tones of his voice, always raised to the highest pitch, provoked a smile, the offender was visited with demonstrations of displeasure which he could not soon forget. In recurring to these scenes, with an air of satisfaction, he always congratulated himself on the order which he maintained in these "primary meetings."

His somnambulism also dates from this period. Frequently, when a child, he would leap from his bed, plant himself on the floor in an erect posture, and commence some stirring harangue on topics that had engaged his thoughts when awake. At such times, he usually displayed more vigor of thought, and more force and propriety of expression, than ordinarily characterized his waking efforts.

How true it is that "coming events cast their shadows before."

CHAPTER IV.

REMOVAL NEW INFLUENCES.

IN the spring of 1829, the father of Mr. Cook, having sold his farm and committed his manufacturing business to the hands of his second son, removed with his family to another section of the town of Marcellus, for the purpose of settling with greater expedition an estate of which he was administrator, and which belonged to the heirs of his brother-in-law. This new residence was located in a most beautiful valley. The hill-side, forming the southern boundary of the valley, was covered with a dense forest, unbroken, as yet, by the woodman's axe. To the south-west of our humble dwelling, a little clearing had been made, whether the more effectually to disclose to the inhabitants of the vale the glories of autumnal sunsets, or as an opening to the regions of civilization on the hill-country above, I will not now pretend to say. On the north, the primal forest had gradually yielded to the demand for fuel and for lumber, and the soil, once crowned with its majestic grandeur, now shot forth the most luxuriant "thickets," which, when clothed in verdure, were most enchanting to behold. At the east, the valley gradually widened; the hills were less

rugged, and the landscape, in this direction, adorned, at the period of our removal thither, with orchards blossoming for fruit, and patches of woodland, scattered here and there, putting on their livery of green, presented to the admirer of nature a scene of unsurpassed beauty and loveliness. Through this valley meandered a most charming stream, gradually swelling, as it passed along, from the contributions of various little springs and rivulets, issuing from the hill-sides, until, a few miles distant, its waters were applied to mechanical purposes, and served the convenience and comfort of the inhabitants. In this stream sported the speckled trout; and on its banks the subject of this memoir spent many hours, more for amusement than for profit, in the somewhat exciting employment of angling. Who, that then observed the animated features of the boy, thus engaged, — the indications of joy which success diffused over his countenance, read his destiny, or foresaw those developments of divine Providence which eventually made him a "fisher of men?"

But what a mighty influence there is in a name! This spot, so beautiful, so charming to the lover of landscapes, was repulsive to his young heart, from the shadow resting upon it- the shadow of its name! It is ever with a struggle that one with strong local attachments breaks up the associations of childhood, bids adieu to the only spot ever regarded as home to schoolmates and friends, and goes forth to other scenes. But there is often a compensation for such sacrifices, which serves to moderate and diminish the period of regret, in the novelty of a new residence, and in the excitement of new asso