unspeakably comforting now, in looking back, to remember that he always had our hearty sympathy and help in every project of pleasure he proposed. It was very seldom that we found any need of objecting to any of his wishes, but on the few occasions when this did occur, he was so sure of our earnest desire always to gratify him where it was possible, that he found no difficulty in yielding. And there never was a shade upon the most perfect openness and freedom of our mutual intercourse. Frank knew all of our secrets, and we knew his, and I am sure no father and son ever more thoroughly delighted in each other than did our boy and his father.

In the spring of 1866, when Frank was twelve years old, some of his cousins and friends of about his own age came down to Millville to spend the Easter holidays. They were a happy young party, and made the house, and woods, and river ring again with their joyous merriment. Among other things they formed a society called the "S. S. S.," which was from that time the centre of a great deal of interest to all its members, and the source of much happiness to our boy.

Its object was to bear a protest against the tendency of the age towards making boys and girls into premature young ladies and gentlemen, and for the promotion of healthy, hearty, youthful fun. They had a regular Constitution, with rules and regulations, some of which were very amusing, and yet perhaps truly sensible also. Article I. read as follows:

"Be it enacted, that we, the members of this society, do one and all pledge ourselves to unite together in an

unbroken phalanx to resist the fearful assaults being made upon 'fun' in the present age of the world."

ARTICLE II. "Be it enacted, that each member of this society be required to plan and carry out all sorts and manner of fun, upon every possible occasion, and to join in it wherever it may be going Also to laugh, shout, climb, race, leap, and

on.

tumble whenever moved thereto.'

ARTICLE III. "Be it enacted, that our members, when together, shall only wear such garments as shall be able to stand the wear and tear of fun ; garments that can scale rocks, wade streams, climb trees, walk fences, and run races. Further, be it enacted, that our garments shall never be in the height of the fashion."

ARTICLE VIII. "Be it enacted, that fun, according to our meaning of the word, includes the play of the intellect, as well as the play of the body; that a race of wits is as legitimate as a race of feet, or a leap of the fancy as a leap over fences, and that to climb means as well to scale the hills of knowledge as the hills of nature. Be it enacted, therefore, that we keep each other stirred up to all sorts of mental activity, as well as bodily; and that to further this, debates, essays, epistles, and skirmishes of the wits generally, shall be continually carried on among us, by letter and otherwise."

ARTICLE IX. "Be it enacted, that we have as frequent meetings as possible, and that we always meet, whenever practicable, at 'Liberty Hall,' kept by

C

R. P. & H. W. S., and that between our meetings we keep up a vigorous correspondence."

ARTICLE X. "Be it enacted, finally, that we never grow old in feeling ourselves, nor ever permit any one else to do so."

The hearty innocent associations and interests of this S. S. S. Society, we felt to be very valuable to our boy; and we are sure they contributed not a little to the healthy development of his character, preserving him in a large measure from the sentimental unreality of the age, and inciting him to all that was truly natural and manly.

In the fall of 1867, Frank's cousin, Whitall Nicholson, the next to him in age of the large family of grandpa Whitall's grandchildren, came to Millville to spend the winter, studying and playing with Frank. It was a merry, happy winter, filled with quite as much play as study, and one that we all enjoyed very much. I find in one of my old letters to Whitall's mother the following reference to it :-"The two boys are so happy together that it is a pleasure to have them about. Their rifles have come, and they are full of excitement about them, cleaning, and greasing, and getting the very blackest hands that ever adorned the ends of any boy's arms. They have a great deal of fun modelling the clay used for the glass pots into mock battles, and Whitall's figures are really capital. They do this in the evening, while Mr. F. or I read to them out of Queens of England.' They are making scrap books too. And their workshop is always a resource for rainy days; and altogether, they are a busy and happy pair of chaps."

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D

CHAPTER III.

JURING all this time at Millville, Frank was surrounded with very precious religious in

fluences, both from the circle of friends who visited us, and from the natural flow of happy Christian life and conversation which was the atmosphere of our household. It was an inestimable blessing to him, that the truth set before him was the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, unmixed with the commandments or traditions of men. It had been the privilege of his parents, after many years of seeking, to be brought out clearly into the full light of the gospel of grace; and from the moment when our boy had started to walk in the heavenly pathway, at the age of four years, we had endeavored carefully to guard him from the many errors that so often obscure the truth as it is in Jesus.

Frank was taught that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, and that in His atoning death on the cross He did bear our sins in His own body, and did take upon Himself the stripes that were our due. He was taught that by means of this sin-bearing, God had reconciled the world unto Himself, and that He no longer imputed their trespasses unto them; and he understood

the gospel to be a message of glad tidings to sinners, telling them the wondrous fact that their iniquities had been taken off of them, and laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and that God was reconciled to them by the death of his Son. Thus understanding the gospel, it was easy for Frank to see, that the only thing left for him to do in the matter was to believe this good news, and through believing to find eternal life. He was taught that his own part in the work of salvation was simply to believe, and that then the blessed Holy Spirit would never fail to do His accompanying work of creating within him a new heart and a right spirit. "He that believeth hath everlasting life," the believing only being our part, the giving of eternal life being the work of God, always accompanying our believing. Thus the plan of salvation was not hidden from Frank by any system of works. He was taught that good works must follow, and not precede, the new birth; that they were the results of this new birth, and not the cause of it. And he learned thoroughly the blessed truth, that the Christian life ought to begin with the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins, instead of this knowledge being attained only at the end of a long course of faithful obedience and service.

It was a happy faith that our boy was taught, and the results were to be seen in a life, even then almost blameless, and a confiding trust in His Saviour that shed a brightness over all his pursuits and pleasures.

Such was Frank, during our life at Millville. But after all, his religion was not an active religion. It made him good, and obedient, and dependable, but it did not make him zealous in the Lord's work, nor