Aha! here, then, we have a man who knew _Latin_ in the Year of our Lord 1727. "_Idem_"--that is such a good word that he uses it often, and it has a good sound, too. Through January, February, March he attends daily to this high duty, and tells us how it was: "A bright morning, but a dull day. "Windy. "Cool." On the 27th, "Much rain, a violent storm, snow'd up." In April things change. His interest flags. He does not write down his record every day. Has W. S. grown lazy? Is it too warm for assiduous tasks, or has a new element come into his life? Let us see. He begins April: "1. A clearer day. "2. Set my clock forward 20 m. "3. Lethfield arrived from London." The clock--that, I believe, was the great event, and that it came from London. What may it have been? Clearly one of those tall, stately pieces with the moon and the sun showing their faces on the silver dial, the fine mahogany case worthy to uphold all. Where is that clock now? Who can tell? From this time forth this was the object of interest, for in nearly all the months we have this record, "Set my clock." He grows terribly indifferent to the weather. A clock then was a wonderful thing, and it is a wonderful thing now. Think of it. How these little wheels and springs are so contrived that they tick the seconds and the minutes and the hours day and night, so that Father Time might himself set his watch by some of them. But then it was a rarer and a more interesting thing than now. We can easily fancy the neighbors gathering to see the fine clock standing in its place in the hall, telling its monotonous tale all the nights and days. But another interesting record now comes in. This, too, is an event--in May: "17. I bottled cyder." And then in October again: "20. Cyder come." Cyder is not a thing to be despised even by a man who knows Latin. But is not cyder an important thing to everybody? They had neither tea nor coffee then, and man likes to drink. We may know, too, that in those days every good woman made a few bottles of currant wine, made also her rose cakes to sweeten her drawers, gathered and dried lavender to make lavender-water, also sage and hoarhound, "good for sickness." Alas! that people might be sick even in those "Good old Times," we know, and we find that in January, 1727, W. S. puts down carefully this: "A Recipe for y^e cure of Sciatica pains--viz.: "Take 2 ounces of flowered brimstone, four ounces of Molasses. Mix y^m together, and take a spoonfull morning and evening, and if y^t do not effect a cure, take another spoonfull at noon also." You continue until you get well, or--something! Why endure sciatica pains after this? We make no charge for this valuable knowledge. But in June we find it put down: "Mr. Davenport Chosen Tutor And confirmed by y^e overseers." Here we have a clue to the Latin. And in August is another entry: