But a really clever lad with a mechanical turn,
not only gathers present pleasure, but lays up a
great deal of really valuable knowledge. The simple
and patriarchal state of society in old-fashioned
villages and small towns, allows him to go and see all
that is going on. He watches the different artisans
at their labours, and makes friends amongst them ;
so that he can go and hammer, and saw, and file to
his heart's content. It is true that more and higher
kinds of mechanical operations may be seen in large
towns and cities, but then a boy has rarely the same
easy access to them ; nor can he be suffered to go
amongst workmen with the same confidence that he
will be welcome, and that he will not be in the way
of evil communication.
Charles Botham, a young relative of mine who
lived in a small town in Staffordshire, was the most



COUNTEY-BOOK. 125

perfect example of what enjoyment and advantage a
boy may derive from mechanical amusements that I
ever knew. He was a fine active lad, of a frank
and intelligent disposition that made him a universal
favourite. He was quite at home in the yards and
shops of ropemakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, watch-
makers, turners, and I know not how many trades
besides. When he was a little lad of not more than
four years old, he used to sit on the hearth-rug of an
evening, or of a winter's day, cutting little logs of
wood with his knife into windmills, boats, and ships.
