"
The sentiment is better than the poetry, and it shows that the hero of
our tale had a treasure in the uncle for whom he was named. Doubtless
"Uncle Benjamin's" interest was largely increased by the loss of his
own children. He had quite a number of sons and daughters, and one
after another of them sickened and died, until only one son remained,
and he removed to Boston. It was for these reasons, probably, that
"Uncle Benjamin" came to this country in 1715.
Among his letters was one to his brother Josiah, our Benjamin's father,
when the son was seven years old, from which we extract the following:
"A father with so large a family as yours ought to give one son, at
least, to the service of the Church. That is your tithe. From what you
write about Benjamin I should say that he is the son you ought to
consecrate specially to the work of the ministry. He must possess
talents of a high order, and his love of learning must develop them
rapidly. If he has made himself a good reader and speller, as you say,
without teachers, there is no telling what he will do with them. By
all means, if possible, I should devote him to the Church. It will be
a heavy tax upon you, of course, with so large a family on your hands,
but your reward will come when you are old and gray-headed. Would that
I were in circumstances to assist you in educating him.
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