CHAPTER II.

Comprising a period of three years from the time of his leaving College.

MR. PAYSON graduated at Harvard University, at the commencement in 1803. Soon after leaving college, he was, on recommendation, particularly of Professors Tappan and Pearson, engaged to take charge of the Academy then recently established in Portland. He continued in this office for three years, at the close of which he was, by the terms of his contract, at liberty to resign it. Of this liberty his new views of duty, at the time, disposed him to avail himself.

It would seem, from some allusions in his sermons, as well as from hints derived from other sources, that, during the early part of his residence in Portland, he indulged himself in such amusements as were fashionable, or were considered reputable; and that too with a gust as exquisite as their most hearty devotees ;— but how frequently, or to what extent, the writer is ignorant. This practice, if it were more than occasional, would indicate a relish for social pleasures, in the usual sense of the expression, which did not long continue; for after his seriousness became habitual, he was averse to going into company, even to a fault. He dreaded an invitation to a social party, though he had reason to expect nothing there directly offensive to his religious feelings. But there were companions whose society he sought, and whose intercourse was so regulated as to subserve mutual improvement. They were select literary friends, some of them his classmates, whose fellowship was in a high degree

intimate and endearing. With these he passed many pleasant and profitable hours, and cemented a friendship which continued till death, and which has been faithfully reciprocated by the surviving members of the little band, and continues to exhibit itself in unfeigned respect for his memory.

But no distance, employment, or friendships, could weaken his attachment to his paternal home, or diminish the strength of his filial love. His letters, while they exhibit the son and the brother in the most amiable light, serve also to illustrate some of his intellectual qualities. They are addressed to his "Ever dear and honoured Parents."

January 14, 1805.

'I congratulate you both on the welcome news, which my sister gave me, of your amended health and spirits. Mine I feel flow with double rapidity, since I received her letter. I witness, in fancy, the happiness of home, and long to participate and increase it; but for the present must be content with rejoicing alone. I cannot possibly plead guilty to the charge of 'not thinking of home, so often as home does of me.' On the contrary, I believe home has very little due on that score, if we consider the frequency, and not the value of the thoughts. But, my dear Parents, if a few of those thoughts could be embodied on paper, and sent me, how much more good would they do, and how much more pleasure would they communicate, than if they were to remain in their native place.

I am still without an assistant; and, as the number of students has been increased, my task is very laborious. However I shall soon be supplied.-Just now I was interrupted. It was my assistant. He is young and raw; but so much the better. He will not render me small by comparison.'

The following letter describes a scene in a stagecoach. Those, who have witnessed the writer's

unequalled command of language, and his power to accumulate facts and imagery to give it effect, will most readily conceive the overwhelming torrent of satire which he must have poured forth on the occasion described. Travellers have often brought themselves into a highly mortifying dilemma, by allowing free license to their tongues among strangers. It was happy for the hero in this adventure, that he expended his forces upon a legitimate subject of raillery.

'My dearest Father,

Portland, Oct. 8, 1805.

In hopes of rescuing you for one moment, from the crowd of cares and occupations which surround you, I will give you an anecdote of my journey, and if you condescend to smile over it, so much the better.-When seated in a company of strange phizzes, I immediately set myself to decypher them, and assign a character and occupation to the owner of each. But in the stage which conveyed us to B- there was one which completely puzzled me. I could think of no employment that would fit it, except that of a representative, unless it was that of a **********, whose pride, being confined in B-, by the pressure of wealth and talents, had now room to expand itself. A certain kind of consequential gravity, and pompous solemnity, together with his dress, might perhaps have impressed us with respect, had not a pair of hard callous hands, with crooked dirty nails, lessened their effect. During a pause in the conversation, he presented me with a paper which, on examination, I found to be one of those quack advertisements, which Mr. has honoured with his signature. Not suspecting, in the least, that the good gentleman had any concern in the business, and feeling a fine flow of words at hand, I began to entertain my fellow travellers with its numerous beauties of expression, spelling,

and grammar. Finding them very attentive, and encouraged by their applause, I next proceeded to utter a most violent philippic against quacks of all denominations, especially those who go about poisoning the ignorant with patent medicines. I could not help observing, however, that my eloquence, while it had a powerful effect on the muscles of the rest of my companions, seemed to be thrown away on this gentleman aforesaid. But concluding that his gravity proceeded from a wish to keep up his dignity, I resolved to conquer it; and commenced a fresh attack, in which, addressing myself entirely to him, I poured forth all the ridicule and abuse which my own imagination could suggest, or memory could supply. But all in vain. The more

animated and witty I was, the more doleful he looked, till having talked myself out of breath, and finding the longitude of his face increase every moment, I desisted, very much mortified that my efforts were so unsuccessful. But in the midst of my chagrin, the coach stopped, the gentleman alighted, and was welcomed by a little squab wife into a shop decorated with the letters, MEDICAL CORDIAL STORE.' I afterwards learnt that he is the greatest quack-medicine seller in B- Excuse me, my dear father, for this long dull story. I thought it would be shorter. I feel rather out of tune for embellishing to-day.'

EDWARD PAYSON.'

October 29, 1805.

'I must, my dear mother, give you some account of my comforts. In the first place, I have a very handsome chamber, which commands a delightful view of the harbour and the town, with the adjacent country. This chamber is sacred; for even the master of the house does not enter it without express invitation. At sunrise, a servant comes and lights a fire, which soon induces me to rise, and I have nothing

do, but sit down to study. When I come from

school at night, I find a fire laid, jack and slippers ready, a lamp as soon as it is dark, and fuel sufficient for the evening. An agreement with a neighbouring bookseller furnishes me with books in plenty and variety.

The objection to our meals is, that they are too good, and consist of too great a variety. And what gives a zest to all, without which it would be insipid, is, that I can look round me, and view all these comforts as the effects of infinite, unmerited goodness; of goodness, the operations of which I can trace through all my past life; of goodness, which I humbly hope and trust will continue to bless me through all my future existence.'

I last night witnessed a scene, to which I had before been a stranger; it was a death-bed scene. A young gentleman of my acquaintance, and nearly of my own age, had been confined thirty-two days, and I was requested to watch with him; and a more exquisitely distressing task I hope never to undertake. When I went, there was little, if any, hope of his life. His mother-whose favourite he deservedly was-though she is, I believe, a sincere Christian, seemed unable to support the idea of a separation. Fatigue and loss of sleep made her light-headed; and, at times, she raved almost as badly as the patient. His sister, a gay, thoughtless girl, was in a paroxysm of loud and turbulent grief; while a young lady, whom he was expecting to marry, heightened the distress by marks of anguish too strong to be concealed; and which seemed to flow from tenderness, equal to any thing I have met with in romance. As I had seen nothing of the kind before, its effects on my feelings were irresistible. The perpetual groans and ravings of the dyingwhose head I was for hours obliged to support with one hand, while I wiped off the sweat of death with