The Bondage of Ballinger | Page 2

corner, contained such notable aids to mental advancement as Law's "Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life," Massillon's "Sermons," Dwight's "Theology," Faber's "View of the Prophecies," and Vincent's "Explicatory Catechism." Added to these were several copies of the holy scriptures in microscopic print, an almost illegible presentation of "The Pilgrim's Progress," and in time, though not without certain troublous misgivings, so secular and dangerous a work as "The British Spy." These were the literary temptations on which the wise and ministerial Ballingers relied to woo their offspring from a pernicious excess of youthful sports and pleasures; and coupled with a judicious and emphatic use of the rod, this library went far in impressing upon the Ballinger tribe as it grew to manhood and womanhood the beauties and felicity of a home beyond the skies.
Whether any or all of these excellent treatises gave rise in Theophilus Ballinger to a restless and roving spirit cannot be satisfactorily established, yet it is true that as soon as possible, and greatly to the grief and scandal of the Reverend Jacob, he broke away from such excellent environment and started out to "teach school" on his own responsibility. Excellent teacher though he is conceded to have been, the nomadic impulse kept him moving up and down the New England coast until he could fairly say that he had taught in every district from Portland to the tip of Cape Cod. The love of reading and of books had come down from the old minister to the school-teacher, just as it was destined to influence the life of the grandson, and so with all the wanderings and the changes the little library grew until it had reached most respectable dimensions, and was fast becoming a source of perplexity when the fever of moving returned and the order to strike camp was issued.
Fortunately or unfortunately, as the matter may be considered, the literary taste of the schoolmaster was far more catholic than that of any of his forbears, and while, as every reading person should, he conceded the literary qualities of the ministerial selections, and warmly defended the truth and virtue of their teachings, he did not scruple to go beyond their limitations, even adding such worldly books as would have brought his father and grandfather before the church tribunal. The schoolmaster had also a certain sort of canniness in his dealings with books, and would discourse at great length to his son Thomas in appreciation of the value of an autograph or inscribed sentiment in a good book. And having enlarged with enthusiasm on the virtue of the reading habit, he would usually conclude with some such wholesome admonition as this:
"Thomas, in the general reckoning, you have fifty good years ahead of you. Think of that, my boy! Fifty glorious years for collecting and reading books! Now is the time to begin the accumulation of those delights which will be a blessing to your fading days and a never-failing source of gratification as a connecting link with the past. But in all your transactions, my son, remember this: never, even for the sake of financial profit later in life, lumber up your shelves with what is trashy and worthless. Never wittingly buy an inferior book. But when a poet, or a historian, or a story-writer, or an essayist of your acquaintance, puts forth a venture well worth the while, approach him with modesty and deference, and ask him to be so good as to bring it a little nearer home to you by writing his name, with possibly a fitting sentiment, on the fly-leaf. Then twenty, thirty, even forty years hence, perhaps long after he has gone to rest, full of honor and good works, that book, with its mute testimony of friendship, will bring you such happiness and pleasant thoughts as your present youth cannot conceive. Incidentally, my son though this is the very last and most unworthy consideration that faded first edition, with its inscription and autograph, may prove a very present help in time of trouble."
To this paternal admonition young Thomas listened with respectful attention and with evidence of shrewd understanding, and as he was a seriously minded youth, with an inherited liking for books and a proper appreciation of a great man, he took full advantage of the opportunities which the family wanderings presented, and cultivated literature in the flesh as well as in the spirit, and by candle-light. So it came about that long before the schoolmaster yielded to the rigors of the New England climate, Thomas had built up a distinguished patronage of his own and had agreeably profited by the counsels of his wise father. In this he was aided by the democratic spirit of the time and the smallness of the communities, to say nothing of a