Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Memorials of Henry Brace Norton: Born February 22, 1836; Died June 22, 1885
His father soon removed to Wyoming County, New York, where eight years of his early childhood were Spent in village life, in a home adjacent to the High School, or Academy, of the place. The Principal of this school usually boarded in his father's family, and his older brother and sisters were members of the school, so that the child was allowed to go with them when much too young to share in the studies of the pupils; and though he had very little direct teaching, he began to read when he was four years of age. The young soul also began early to drink in other lessons from nature. His father's garden was bounded in part by a river, beyond which rose a bold and beautifully wooded hill. What lessons a rushing stream furnishes to the sensitive mind of a child! In what different voices and moods does it speak to him, as the seasons come and go! Many happy hours were spent beside it, or upon it in winter, with his sisters, with whom he shared so much of the joys and sorrows of his youthful life. Together under a noble elm, they watched the oriole build its hanging nest; together they read their lessons, in the branches of an aged, leaning ash, while the trout sported beneath them. Well would it have been for child and man, if a much larger portion of his time could have been spent in the open air and in that communion with nature which marked his later years. His scientific tastes were early developed, and undoubtedly stimulated, if not inspired, by his older brother, Orlo, who was an enthusiastic student of these subjects, both in youth and manhood. The village and school libraries afforded some good books, and those which were drawn for the elders of the family were eagerly pored over or devoured by the precocious child, who would often be found in the garret with Stevens' Travels or some other work equally beyond his years. His parents were appreciative of good poetry, and in that time, when children's books were few, this boy was reading, from the age of six to eight, the poems of Cowper, Whittier, The Lady of the Lake, and Homer's Iliad, and trying to tell his youngest sister of the world of wonders which they opened to him.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
