The Bobbin Boy; or, How Nat Got His learning

A little patch of ground enclosed by a fence, a few adjacent trees, Nat with his hoe in hand, his father giving directions, on one of the brightest May mornings that was ever gr...

"Not a very heavy burden, I am thinking," responded Nat. "I see no need of making such a fuss about a trifle, just as if we boys would spoil the whole town! If Shakspeare were a...

"Nat," said Frank, as they were going home from school one Friday night of the following summer, "let us go up on Prospect Hill to-morrow afternoon; it will be a capital time fo...

"I have been reading the Federalist," said Charlie one evening, as he entered Nat's study, "and I am a pretty good Federalist." He looked very pleasant as he spoke, and Nat repl...

Monday morning came to Nat, seemingly, before Sunday had time to get by. Thirty-six hours scarcely ever passed away so rapidly to him before. But it found him ready. He was one...

The plans of Nat for a debating society were successful, and arrangements were made accordingly. Permission was obtained to use the school-house for the purpose, and Tuesday eve...

Stern Winter locked the streams again. A snowy mantle covered the hills and valleys, and the bleak winds moaned through the naked trees. The merry sleigh-bells jingled in the st...

Nat had become an admirer of Shakspeare's dramatic works, and hour after hour he read them with increasing interest. The more he studied them, the more he saw to admire. He had...

"I have a nice place to read and study all by myself," said he, "and I want to talk over some subjects we read about with you. Besides, what do you say to studying mathematics t...

At this time Nat occupied a position of honor and influence which few persons of his age ever attain. But let not the reader suppose it was the result of chance, or the conseque...

In Nat's boyhood the principle of total abstinence was not advocated by the friends of temperance. He was considered temperate who drank intoxicating liquor sparingly, and there...

The news that Nat would give a lecture on the subject of temperance soon spread through the town, and both the friends and the foes of the cause discussed the anticipated event.

"Scholars," said the teacher one day, "it is both pleasant and profitable to have an occasional declamation and dialogue spoken in school. It will add interest, also, to our spe...

The bright summer-time had come again, when the sweet-scented blossoms beautified the gardens, and the forming fruits gave promise of a rich golden harvest. The school-bell sent...

The door suddenly opened, and in rushed Nat, under great excitement, with his eyes "as large as saucers," to use a hyperbole, which means only that his eyes looked very large in...

Soon after Nat entered the factory, a hall was erected in the village, and dedicated to literary purposes. Nat was all the more interested in the event because it was built unde...

"I shan't dispute with him on that point," replied Charlie, "for there is only one side to that question. But I was thinking how poor boys are obliged to work instead of going t...

At this period of Nat's boyhood, there was almost a passion among the boys for athletic sports, such as swimming, jumping, running, ball-playing, and kindred amusements. For som...

Frank had really no better opinion of Ben now than he had when Trip was tumbled down Prospect Hill, and he was sorry to see him coming up to his father's door. Still, he was so...

It was a few weeks after Nat's return to his native place, where he was most cordially welcomed by his old companions, Charlie and Frank in particular. He was now an apprentice...

Nat, Charlie, and Frank planned a pleasure excursion one Saturday afternoon, when cherries were in their prime. They did not even think of the cherries, however, when they plann...

"It will make a cozy room," said Charlie, "though it is a little lower down in the world than your other study. It seems you are really going to be a student and nothing else. Y...

"I should laugh," answered Charlie, "to see us undertaking the drama. I guess it would be straining at a _gnat_ (Nat) and swallowing a camel," attempting to perpetrate a pun, ov...

"I should think it would be nothing but an aggravation to examine a bookstore and not be able to buy what you want. It is like seeing a good dinner without being permitted to eat."

One such youth as Nat in a country village is the occasion of a good deal of gossip. Many opinions are expressed in regard to his motives and prospects, though in this case ther...

"What do you say about letting your boy come into the factory to work?" said the agent. "We are greatly in need of a boy to carry bobbins, and we will give him two dollars a week."

"The teacher had a real tussle with Sam Drake, and for a little while it was doubtful who would be master. They both fell flat on the floor, tipped over the chair, and frightene...

"I had not heard of it," replied the neighbor. "Some people at the head of the street were conversing about something that had occurred as I passed, but I did not understand wha...

One of the brief periods in which Nat worked at his trade, after he commenced to study more systematically, was spent on the Mill Dam in Boston. At a machine-shop there, he purs...

Let almost a quarter of a century pass, and inquire, where and what are Nat and his associates now? We have advocated the sentiment throughout these pages, that the character an...

Nat's desire to witness a tragedy played--resolve to go and hear Booth--talk with his companions--what would be said--the evening of his visit--the play--after conversation with...

The news--discussion in the town lyceum--occasioned by the dramatic society--the question "Are dramatical exhibitions beneficial to society?"--the evening of the debate--Nat goe...

Monday morning--prompt boys--not a lazy bone in Nat--how the bell called him--his first appearance at the factory--remark of the overseer--meeting with Charlie Stone there--Char...

The patch of squashes--counting chickens before they are hatched--ifs--ducks, and the bright side--explanation--hopeful Nat--Nathaniel Bowditch--Sir Humphrey Davy--Buxton--benef...

Winter school again--the skating proposition--the proposed grammar class--Nat does not accede--discussion on the way to the pond--Nat the best skater--the palm yielded to him--h...

Plans carried out--its object--how it must be conducted--the organization--rule to make it respectable--his desire to make all things respectable--the fire company reformed--the...

Beginning of the total abstinence movement--Nat espouses the cause--talk with his companions about forming a society--James Cole opposes--making a beast of one's self--the gutte...

News of the lecture flies--scene in Miles's grog-shop--the rumseller resolves to go--a crowd to hear the lecture--"The Fifteen Gallon Law" was his subject--portrayed the evils o...

Talk which Nat created--scene in the sewing circle--use of spare moments--boys who read their leisure moments not get into mischief--old Mrs. Lane on education--her ideas about...

Nat's proposition for systematic study--Charlie goes to his house--his study in the attic--Dr. Kitto's study not so good--nor St. Pierre's--they read and discuss Franklin and Pa...

Bathing--a passion for it--a particular swim--Nat the best swimmer--swimming under water--a trial--a game of ball--Nat the best player--the result of the game--remarks of specta...

Proposed visit to Prospect Hill--a hundred churches--situation and description of the hill--view from the top--Trip accompanies them--meeting with Sam and Ben Drake--Sam's assau...

A difficulty with Sam Drake in school--Nat hears of it--a true account--Sam writes a letter about the teacher--the teacher discovers it--many words spelled incorrectly--a copy o...

A spare day--visit to Boston bookstores--shoe-leather cheap and the proposed walk--conversation with Charlie and Frank--the walk to Boston--what would attract some boys there--t...

Ben Drake's visit--the welcome of Frank--Mrs. Martin's questions--surprise at learning that Ben is a Christian--going to the prayer-meeting--Frank surprised to hear Ben speak--g...

The Federalist--Jefferson and the Democrat--the four votes--studied with all his soul--Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence--reading it--difference between Jefferson...

Winter--in school--proposition to declaim--the dialogue, "Alexander the Great and a Robber"--Nat is the robber--his reason--sympathy for the poor and unfortunate--the dialogue l...

A quarter of a century passed--what and where is Nat and his associates--the drunkard--Sam and Ben Drake in prison--power of early vicious habits--Frank Martin at the head of a...

Odd moments at grammar--making up for a lost opportunity--confession of an error--inquiry after Sam Drake--his bad character--Ben Drake--mastering grammar alone--nothing dry in...

The proposition--how it was met--they undertake it--how the theatre creates love of such amusement--the nephew who became an actor by hearing--playing Macbeth--make their own sc...

The bright summer-time--sport at Frank's--the dog "Trip" playing hy-spy--the boys hiding--Trip finding them--the result of the first game--the second game--the court scene--talk...

A hall to be dedicated--Nat's conversation with Frank about it, and removal of the library--going to the dedication--the address on Count Rumford--a sketch of the address to sho...

Nat coming home--telling the sad news to his mother--sifting Sam Drake's character--going to Frank's to bury Trip--asking permission of parents--how some take advantage--Frank's...

Making a new study--conversation with Charlie--Nat's new plans--study furniture--manual labor--Charlie's opinion--excessive reading bad--using what is learned--Coleridge's descr...

Frank in the factory--bad to be poor--worse to be mean--great men generally poor--dispute with Dr. Franklin--intimate friendship with Frank--the poor sympathize with each other-...

The agent of the factory wants Nat--picker-boy in Lowell a short time--his home-sickness--a good sign for boys to love home, and why--bad boys do not love home--the young man in...

News that James Cole is frozen--Frank's version of the affair--made drunk at a grog-shop--lay senseless in the street all night--his previous character--his good abilities--all...

Nat's position--worked for it--bobbin boy father of the orator--so with other men--Sir James Mackintosh--Audubon--Benjamin West--Eli Whitney, and what his sister said--poem of L...

The excursion--John's proposition--decision to go--the cherry-tree--is it wild?--a discussion--filling their caps--surprised by the owner--their escape--Nat's and Frank's caps l...

Working on the mill-dam--news of the eulogy on Madison--how much he would sacrifice to hear him--general regard for personal appearance--goes in his workshop dress--a view of hi...