Autobiographical Recollections of Sir John Bowring

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: how untiredly he laboured for the improvement of his pupils?how lucidly he taught, how practically As regarded the young people of his congregation, it was all gratuitous service. He lectured, he catechized, he exhibited experiments in chemistry, electricity, and galvanism?he taught us geography,...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: how untiredly he laboured for the improvement of his pupils?how lucidly he taught, how practically As regarded the young people of his congregation, it was all gratuitous service. He lectured, he catechized, he exhibited experiments in chemistry, electricity, and galvanism?he taught us geography, astronomy, and the use of the globes, and wrote a book of Scripture geography, principally for our instruction. For many a year I deemed him the wisest and greatest of men, as he assuredlywas one of the best. Otners 'nad the title of Doctor?there were Doctors of Divinity, Law, and Medicine, but he was the. Dnctor, far above all, and to dispute his authority or to doubt his judgment, would have appeared to me almost sacrilegious. WORKMEN. I remember well the groups of workmen in my grandfather's employ. There was a surly foreman of the name of Simmonds, who was thought wise because he was taciturn. There was an old fellow of extremely diminutive stature, whom the others called The Pixie, and who was the object of the daily jeers and jests of his fellows. He was rather given to tippling, and I remember on one occasion, when he refused to make up a quarrel over the ale-pots, an inscription was written on the walls of one of the workshops, far above the pixie's reach, ?on such a date Pixie Soper refused beer, which remained a record of his infirmity for many a year. There was an apprentice called Jack Kelly, who was always lost in arithmetical and mathematical abstractions. A sprightly sexagenarian was the genial spirit of the place, and was habitually called Young Omer, his real name being Oram. He had a stupid sort of a son, who bore the designation of Daddy Omer, by contrast. The great event of the year was the jollity of Christmas eve, when the great logs were burnt, and...