Through the school: The experiences of a mill boy in securing an educationBrown, Frederic Kenyon
Philosophy
Through the school: The experiences of a mill boy in securing an education
Brown, Frederic Kenyon
Education
I led Mr. Blake to the Point Road, the peninsula which juts out like
a forefinger from the south end of New Bedford into Buzzard’s Bay.
We walked along the grassy foot-path, near the low wall, past the
shimmering sea, the flying, croaking gulls, and a parade of scallop
boats. My companion had a very ambitious moustache which was trying
hard to mature, and he had a trick of unconsciously aiding the ends
by pulling them as he talked. While he interjected theological shop
talk, and had a long dissertation on Textual Criticism versus Literal
Inspiration, when he found that I had been in such a conservative
theological atmosphere as Evangelical University, and though he
prattled familiarly the names of Renan, Weissmann, Schleiermacher, and
Ritschl, I found inspiration in the man himself, for I kept thinking
to myself on that walk, “He has attained to what you are after.” We
came to a grove of spruces that had grown on the edge of some rocks
by the side of the road. Here, a quartet of blue-bloused Chinamen
were celebrating some sort of a holiday by playing strident tunes on
queer pipes and tom-toms, joining in with their falsetto voices. Mr.
Blake and I found a secure place on some ledges, from which we could
throw pebbles at the white gulls that walked up and down the beach in
lady-like fashion.
When we returned, at the supper hour, we sat down with Mr. Woodward at
the table, where both men set my head to whirling by the confidence
with which they recounted my future enjoyment of the Seminary.
Had it not been for the crumpled fifty dollars in my pocket, the
entire experience would have had the shape of a dream, for only two
days before I had stood before my critical aunt with no plans and
with thirty-five cents for my fortune. My freight ride and Buffalo
experience seemed years back, in a dim haze.
On arriving home, I pulled out the fifty dollars and showed the amount
to my aunt and uncle.
“Where did you get all that?” gasped my uncle.
“Borrowed it,” I replied. “I go to a theological seminary in two days.”
My aunt wanted to know what sort of a lunatic I was to borrow money on
which to get an education. Her theory yet remained, that only those
with large fortunes were entitled to an education.
But from the shining eyes of my uncle, I gathered that he felt glad
over my prospects, as I unfolded them to him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account