No More Learning

265
" How old must he be, mamma,
before he can understand them ? "
" How wise must he be, you should
ask, my dear," said his mother; " for
his being able to understand such
things will not depend upon the num-
ber of years he has lived, but upon
what he learns in those years. "
" True, madam, there is Mr. ,
What's his name ? the gentleman who
rode with us the other day, Mr. Rogers,
who has lived more years than I have,
but you saw that he did not understand
these things," said the engineer.
" Nor wish to understand them,"
said Frank: "that did surprise me. "
" And there is the gardener's boy,
Frank," said his father, " who is not
many years older than you are, and
he understands that which you want
to know. "
vol. i. 2 a
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FRANK.
" Does he indeed ? " said Frank.
M Yes ; now I remember seeing in his
book drawings of triangles and circles,
and I could not guess of what use they
could be. "
" His father said, as you told me, that
he was learning mathematics," said
Mary, " and trig "
" Trigonometry, I suppose," said
the engineeer; " which, translating the
Greek word into English for you, my
little lady, means the measuring of
triangles. "
" Of triangles! " repeated Frank,
taking up one of the paper triangles
which lay upon the table, and looking
at it " Can measuring this have any
thing to do with the measuring that
tower ? "
" Yes; a great deal to do with it,"
answered the engineer. " I cannot ex-
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? FRANK. 267
plain to you how; but I may, without
giving you any false ideas, tell you in
general, that the power we possess of
measuring that tower, and the most
distant objects that can be seen on
earth, and not those only on earth,
but those in the heavens, depends upon
our understanding the properties of a
triangle. "
" If the gardener's boy has learned
trigo-no-me-try," said Mary, " why can-
not Frank? "
" Is there any quick way of learn-
ing it ? " asked Frank.
" No, there is no quick way," said
the engineer.
" You must go regularly through
this," said his father, taking down a
book from the book-case.
" What is it? " cried Frank, seizing
and opening it. " The very thing I
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? 268 FRANK.
saw with the gardener's son, Euclid's
Elements of Geometry. "
" A square is a figure that has
four "
" Oh, we know that," said Mary,
lookiug over his shoulder.
" But how shall I understand these
drawings of circles and triangles ? " said
Frank: " the line a b is equal to the
line c d ; proposition the 1 st, propo-
sition the 2d; and axiom the 1st,
axiom the 2d: almost as hard sound-
ing and difficult as the beginning of
the Latin grammar. "
" Yes," said his father, " in the be-
ginning of all sciences there are dif-
Acuities; a sort of grammar, which
must be learned, before you can get
on to the smooth and pleasant part. "
" But in this book, and in this
science, you will find," said the engi-
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? FRANK. 269
neer, " that each step leads on securely
to another: not one will ever be lost. "
" That is a comfort," said Frank.
" But," said Mary, <<I hope we
may look through the telescope, and
see the men and mountains standing
on their heads. "
The engineer promised that she
should. But he had some business to
do, before he could comply with her
request; and, in the mean time, the
young people were desired to go out.
While Mary went to put on her
bonnet, Frank was left in the hall by
himself. Several of the engineer's
books and instruments, which had been
taken out of his carriage, were lying
on the hall table, and, among others,
one of the telescopes belonging to his
theodolite.
Frank ventured to take up this tele-
2a 3
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FRANK.
scope, which he ought not to have
touched; he thought, however, that
he could not do it any harm by just
looking through it. He took off the
brass cover at one end, and slid back
the brass slide at the other end, and
looked through it at the tower, and at
some men who were at work in a distant
field.
" What can be the reason," said he
to himself, " that these men seem to
stand on their heads? This telescope
looks as if it were quite the same as
my father's. I wish I could find out
the reason. I should be so glad to
prove that I could understand it,
though they all say I cannot. "
He saw some very slight wires, as
he thought them, behind one of the
glasses ; and as there were none such in
his father's, he fancied that these i had
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? FRANK.
271
something to do with the secret, which
lie longed to discover.
" I know how to unscrew this
glass," said he, "I will not do it the
least harm. "
He unscrewed the glass, and, looking
into the tube, he could scarcely see
what had appeared to him to have been
wires. He put his hand in to feel for
them. There were no wires, there
was nothing that he could feel -- no-
thing ! except some very slight cob-
webs. These threw no light on his
difficulty; he blew them away, and,
despairing of making farther disco-
veries, and unconscious of the injury he
had done to the instrument, he screwed
on the glass, and left the telescope, as
he thought, in perfect safety, exactly
where he had found it on the table.
Frank, having no idea that he had
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FRANK.
done any mischief, did not even men-
tion to Mary his having looked at
the telescope. She put it out of his
recollection by beginning to talk to
him, the moment she saw him, about
the parrot's cage, the door of which
had been broken; and Mrs. Catherine,
who was now standing with that broken
door in her hand, was anxious that it
should be mended immediately.
Mary had undertaken for Frank, that
he had both the power and the in-
clination quickly to accomplish her
wishes.
Frank instantly ran in search of the
osiers, that were necessary for the work.
As there was no one in the house-
keeper's room, except Mrs. Catherine,
his mother gave them leave to do the
job there, and to take the osiers to the
cage, instead of carrying the cage to
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273
the osiers. She, moreover, was so
good as to promise, that she would call
them, as soon as the engineer had
finished writing his letters, if any thing
entertaining should be going on.
The repairs of Poll's habitation cost
Frank more trouble than he had ex-
pected ; as it often happens, he found,
that which he thought could be done in
five minutes, required five and twenty.
But the door at last turned easily
on its ozier hinges, and Poll was just
replaced in her cage, when their atten-
tion was suddenly roused by hearing
somebody sobbing in the passage.
Mrs. Catherine opened her room door,
and they saw a black boy, standing
in a corner, crying. Mrs. Catherine
asked what was the matter. The
boy began to stammer something in
broken English ; but before he could
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? 274 FRANK.
get out any thing intelligible, a
man, whom Frank recollected to be one
of the engineer's assistants, came into
the passage, and told Mrs. Catherine
that she need not waste her pity upon
this boy.
" No use, ma'am, listening to
him, or asking him any questions,
for he is a sad liar--never can
speak a word of truth. His master,
who is the best of masters, has done
all he can to cure him, and so have I.
It was but last week he was guilty of
a falsehood, and his master said, and,
begging you pardon, ma'am, I swore,
he should be parted with the next
lie he told; and he has told a He
now, and he is to go; that is what
he is crying for, and nobody can help
him. "
" Nobody can help him to be sure,
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? FRANK.
275
if he is a liar," said Mrs. Catherine,
who held liars in just abhorrence.
"But are they sure he is a liar? "
said Frank.
" He cannot deny it," said the man.
The Negro boy went on sobbing;
and when Mrs. Catherine asked if he
had any thing to say for himself, he
could only say,
" Me liar last week, ma'am, yes;
to-day, no liar--no lie! "
" Oh, if you were a liar last week,"
said Mrs. Catherine, "who can know
that you are not telling a lie this mi-
nute? "
The boy turned his face to the wall,
and cried more violently than before.
" I can't help it, nor nobody can
help it," said Mrs. Catherine : " I have
nothing to say for liars. Miss Mary,
master Frank, you had better go away,
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FRANK.
if you please; you have no farther
. business here. "
" But," said Mary, turning back, as
they reluctantly went up stairs, " I
think he is telling the truth now ; are
you sure, Catherine, that he has not
told the truth to-day? "
" Pray, good Catherine, find that
out, will you," said Frank.
Mrs. Catherine, whose countenance
now looked severe, as it always did
when she thought a liar stood near her,
said she must leave it to his master,
who knew his character, to settle the
business; it was not proper for her to
interfere. " When a boy was a liar, and
told a lie last week, who can know,"
said she, "that he is not telling a lie
this minute? "
"But, since he confessed that he
told a falsehood last week," said Frank,
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? FRANK.
277
"perhaps--do, do, good Catherine
inquire into it. You know papa says
you are a just woman. "
" Well, well, go you both of you
out of the way, in the first and fore-
most place, for I am sure your papa
and mamma would not be pleased to
see you here, meddling with such things
-- so up stairs this moment. "
Up stairs that moment they went,
and Frank followed by Mary, who
could hardly keep pace with him,
ran to the library, where he had left
the engineer writing: but he was
gone.
" Well, Headlong ! " said his father,
when Frank threw open the door,
"What now? "
" And why do you look so terribly
disappointed, Mary," said Frank's
mother: " I told you that I would call
vol. i. 2b
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FRANK.
you as soon as the engineer could show
you his telescope. "
" Oh, it is something of much more
consequence," said Mary.
Frank told all they had heard ; " and
though Catherine says it is not our
business, yet it is every body's busi-
ness to see justice done, especially to a
poor black boy, who cannot speak for
himself, is not it, papa ? " said Frank.
" I will go and find out that good-na-
tured master of his, and ask him to go
to the bottom of the affair this minute. "
Frank's father held his hand, how-
ever, and prevented him from going;
for though he liked his eagerness to
have justice done to the Negro boy, he
thought, he said, that this boy's master
must know his character better than
any stranger could; and that his master
would in all probability take care to
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279
find out the truth, without Frank's in-
terference.
" But," said Frank, " they are going
to turn him out of the house directly.
Only just let me find the engineer,
and tell him this. "
Here he is, my dear," said Frank's
mother, " now do not be in a hurry.
Speak distinctly: for I could hardly
understand your story, you spoke so
very quickly. "
The engineer came into the room
with his telescope in his hand; that
telescope with which Frank had med-
dled. A sudden flash came across his
mind : a thrill came all over him.
" Miss Mary," said the engineer,
" I am sorry that I cannot keep my
promise to you, yet; but I must first
set to rights something which has been
broken in my telescope. The cross
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FRANK.
wires," continued he, turning to Frank s
father, ''- I should say the cross cobweb
threads have been broken, and swept
away, as I believe, by a little lying boy. "
" No; they were broken by me,"
interrupted Frank, stepping forward and
standing firm, though he grew ex-
tremely pale.
" By you ! " repeated Frank's father,
and mother, and Mary, with astonish-
ment.
"By you! " repeated the engineer.
" I never thought it possible ! and I
have been on the point of committing
a great injustice. "
"Oh, sir! " said Frank, "stop
them from turning away the Negro
boy, and punish me as you please.
May I go and tell them ? "
" Stay where you are, Frank," said
his father.
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? FRANK. 281
The engineer went immediately to
repair the injustice that had been done
to the poor boy. Frank's father and
mother continued in the mean time
quite silent. Mary saw that they were
much displeased: she hoped, however,
that it would all be over when the
engineer, returning, said, that he
had seen his servant, and that
the Negro boy was safe and happy
again.
Frank, relieved from a dreadful sus-
pense, now took breath, and he went
forward towards the table on which
the telescope lay. He told exactly
what he had done, when his curiosity
had tempted him to meddle with it;
but said,
" I assure you, sir, that I did not
know that I had done any mischief, or
I would have told you of it that mo-
2b 3
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FRANK.
ment. I never guessed that the
Negro boy was accused of it. I am
sure I never thought, that his crying
had any thing to do with my having
meddled with the telescope. "
"But you knew, Frank," said his
father, " that you did wrong in med-
dling with what was not your own, very
wrong. Whether you did mischief or
not was mere accident. You were too
ignorant, you see, to know, whether
you had injured the instrument or
not. "
" You thought that you were only,
brushing away useless cobwebs," said
the engineer, " when you were de-
stroying an essential part of the in-
strument. "
Mary said she hoped that it could be
repaired. The engineer said that it
could, and Frank was glad ; but, look-
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? FRANK.
283
ing up at his father, he saw that the
displeasure in his countenance was not
abated.
" You have done wrong, Frank," re-
peated he. " And though the mischief
can be repaired, that does not diminish
your fault. You knew that it was not
strictly honourable or honest to touch
what was not yours. And when once
you deviate from strict honesty, no one
can tell what the consequence may
be. Not only a valuable instrument,
but the character and happiness of
one of your fellow creatures, might
have been destroyed, even by this,
which you thought an error not worth
mentioning, and had forgotten while
you were mending a parrot's cage. "
" Let this be a warning to you,
Frank, as long as you live," said his
mother.
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FRANK.
And that it might be so, that the
impression might not be lightly effaced
from his mind, his father ordered hirri
to go to his own room, and forbid him
from mixing with the rest of the family,
and from seeing this day any thing
that the engineer was going to show
them.
The engineer was too sensible a
man to ask that Frank should be spared
this punishment; he knew that the
purpose of just punishment is to do
future good. Far from begging that
Frank might stay and be forgiven, he
strengthened the right impression.
" I am going to mend what you
broke, Frank," said he, " and I know
that it would entertain you to see how
this is done. But before I heard what
your father has just now said to you,
I had in my own mind determined
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285
not to let you have this pleasure.
I think," continued he, speaking to
Frank's mother, and laying a detaining
hand upon Frank, who was leaving the
room, " I think that people are mis-
taken, who say, that when children tell
the truth and confess a fault, they
should not be punished for it in any
way. I have always let my children
feel the natural consequences, or receive
the just punishment for their faults,
even when confessed; else they would
be quite deceived as to what would
happen to them in real life. And
besides, there would be little or no
merit in telling the truth, if people
never were to suffer by it. My boys
can tell the truth and take the conse-
quences, thank Heaven ; and so, I see,
can yours. "
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? 286 FRANK.
This was a comfort to Frank: he
walked more firmly out of the room.
Mary followed him, but he would not
let her share his punishment.
" No, Mary," said he, " you have
done nothing wrong: go back and be
. happy, or I shall be more unhappy. "
Mary left him, because she was
afraid of making him more unhappy.
But though she saw and heard many
entertaining things this day, though a
microscope was lent to her, with which
she saw a spider draw out the fine
cobweb thread, which was to repair
the damage, and though she watched
with breathless attention the nice ope-
ration of replacing the cross threads,
and though she learned their use, and
even though she saw in this wonderful
glass the men and mountains on their
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? FRANK.
287
heads--yet none of the things she saw
or heard pleased her half as much as
if Frank had shared her pleasure.
Frank had one comfort, and a great
comfort it was; during the hours
when he was sitting lonely in his own
room, he heard the Negro boy whis-
tling merrily. Good Mrs. Catherine
came in the first interval, which the
business of the day allowed her, to tell
Frank how happy the poor black boy
had been ever since his master had
been convinced that he had told the
truth.
" And I am convinced," continued
she, " that what has now happened, -
and, in short, his being saved from
harm by your telling just the plain
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FRANK.
truth, will show him more to his own
feelings the use and beauty of truth,
as I may say, than all the scoldings he
ever had: aye, and than all the
whippings about lying, which he had
with his old master. "
This poor Negro had been but a
very short time with the engineer; he
had formerly lived with the cruel
captain of a slave ship, and tyranny
had made him a coward and liar.
The next morning Frank heard him
singing the following ditty, while he
was brushing his master's coat, in the
court near the window of Franks
room.
Mango happy man, sir,
Never lie again, sir.
Mungo he may thank
Truth-tell-master Frank.
These Negro rhymes gave more plea-
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289
sure than Frank had ever received from
any compliment before, either in prose
or verse. This day all was bright to
Frank within and without. His friend
the engineer shook him by the hand,
when he bid him good morning. And
Frank observed with pleasure, that no
precautions were taken to prevent him
from touching the instruments; but
that his honour was trusted, and that
all seemed secure that he would not
repeat his fault.
This day he was allowed to follow
the engineer about, wherever he went.
At about twelve o'clock he heard him
say, " I must go out now, and take
an observation of the sun. "
An instrument which Frank had
never before seen was now produced.
It was like a triangle made of brass,
and there were on it two small
vol. i. 2 c
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FRANK.
mirrors, one in the centre, and the
other between the centre and the cir-
cumference of the circle; there was
also a telescope attached to the in-
strument.
A cup, or box, filled with quick-
silver, was placed on a smooth part
of the gravel walk in the sunshine.
Upon the quicksilver floated a cir-
cular piece of flat glass, and through
this, in the quicksilver, was seen the
image of the sun.
Frank was going to ask some
question, but his mother, who was
standing beside him, put her finger
on his lips, and he was silent.