Produced by Ted Garvin, Janet Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE BOBBIN BOY; OR, HOW NAT GOT HIS LEARNING. AN EXAMPLE FOR YOUTH. BY WILLIAM M. THAYER, AUTHOR OF "THE POOR BOY AND MERCHANT PRINCE," "THE POOR GIRL AND TRUE WOMAN," "FROM POOR-HOUSE TO PULPIT," "TALES FROM THE BIBLE," ETC., ETC. BOSTON: J. E. TILTON AND COMPANY. 1862. Entered according to Act of Congress; in the year 1860, by J. E. TILTON AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. University Press, Cambridge: Printed by Welch, Bigelow, and Company. PREFACE. The design of this volume is to show the young how "odd moments" and small opportunities may be used in the acquisition of knowledge. The hero of the tale--NAT--is a living character, whose actual boyhood and youth are here delineated--an unusual example of energy, industry, perseverance, application, and enthusiasm in prosecuting a life purpose. The conclusion of the story will convince the reader, that the group of characters which surround Nat are not creations of the fancy, and that each is the bearer of one or more important lessons to the young. While some of them forcibly illustrate the consequences of idleness, disobedience, tippling, and kindred vices, in youth, others are bright examples of the manly virtues, that always command respect, and achieve success. W. M. T. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. A GOOD BEGINNING. 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--benefit of hopefulness--the squashes coming up--Frank Martin--"all play and no work"--Ben Drake--scene when Nat was four years old--"thinking on his own hook"--men of mark think for themselves--"niggers' work"--great men not ashamed of useful work--the harvest-day--Frank's surprise--Nat as a peddler--his sister--his drawings--Samuel Budgett, Dr. Kitto, and the rich merchant peddling--"creep before you can walk"--the errand-boy and his success--what his culture of squashes shows 1-17 CHAPTER II. UPWARD AND ONWARD. 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 learned and spoken--Nat's eloquence--some boys who declaim poorly at first make orators at last--Demosthenes--Daniel Webster--Nat declaiming before visitors--the petition for shorter lessons--Nat won't sign it--Sam Drake's predicament--the teacher hears of the movement--his remarks about dull scholars--Newton, Dr. Barrows, Adam Clarke, Chatterton, Napoleon, etc.--necessity of application 17-27 CHAPTER III. SATURDAY AFTERNOON.