| Show from alie to the observatory my birthplace was in northern the part of nova scotia and the surroundings of my childhood and youth were such as deeply to tinge the economic views of my later years people lived there much as the settlers of new england lived before the revolution the children of allbut the rich went barefoot in bummer and except the rare and costly sunday suit nearly every family had to make its own clothes the men and boys tilled the ground or cut and sawed lumber for exportation to more favored climes the women and girls sheared the sheep carded the wool spun the yam wove the homespun cloth and made the clothes partly from necessity partly froma fear of and a desire to strengthen ray bodily constitution about half my time from the age of eight to that of sixteen was spent in worling on farms the more intelligent of the banners generally had two or three boos which there were occasional opportunities port unities of reading by the light of the blazing fire in winter evenings up to the age of twelve the laws of nature remained a mystery to me about that time I 1 remember once my father what light was and why not see in the dark he tried to give me an idea of something he had read or beardon the subject but the question was one which nothing in our reading could help to answer he could tell about gravitation the names and order of the planets history and navigation but 1 doubt if a book on natural philosophy had ever fallen within his reach professor simon newcomb in forum |
