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CHAPTER VI

THEODORE PARKER. -- A BELFRY LISTENER

      "THE rehearsal of these trying experiences through which our ancestors passed was of great interest, and subdued us all to a condition of seriousness," said Uncle Eli. "But John Parker broke the spell when he said, 'The British got the worst of it. They came out here to capture Hancock and Adams, as well as to destroy the stores at Concord; but they missed their aim here, and fared hard indeed in their entire enterprise. Pitcairn probably thought he had so used our company that we would not rally again; but he got some shots from us as he came down through Lincoln, and not a few farewells were hurled at him as he left town.'"
      Among the attentive listeners of the belfry workshop none attained greater eminence than Theodore Parker. Endowed with an enviable inheritance on both sides of his family, he went forth, overcoming all obstacles, as an example of Christian heroism; standing out against opposing forces as distinctly and grandly as did his honored grandsire on the field of Lexington, April 19, 1775.

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      It is fitting to make a digression at this point from the main line of my subject, and consider a brief sketch of the life of Theodore Parker, as given by his old belfry companion, Eli Simonds.
      Theodore was the youngest of eleven children of John Parker and Hannah Stearns. He was born in 1810. Eli Simonds was the tenth of a full dozen of children of William Simonds and Susan Pierce. He was born in 1817. Although seven years the junior of Theodore, the two boys had much in common. While Eli was too young to be profitably employed about the farm, he found a nook in the belfry workshop, where Theodore was trying to aid his father in the struggle for the maintenance of the family.
      The humdrum of the workshop was irksome indeed to the boy Theodore, whose tastes for literary pursuits began to develop very early; but constrained by a sense of duty, he was faithful at his post, whatever it might be.
      The manufacture of wood pumps was carried on by John Parker, much of the work being done in the belfry shop. The logs, cut thereabouts, were trimmed and bored by hand; the great auger used in making the circular hole in the green pine log was turned by hand. This work required a good deal of force; and Theodore detested it, and assumed very early the duties of the farm in place of that of the workshop.
      Although located on a farm which might have

[Photo - "Munroe House, Lexington"]

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given good returns for faithful cultivation, John Parker had but little taste or inclination in that direction, preferring the work of a mechanic Hence, both father and son pursued the line of choice, as far as circumstance admitted. "When the school was kept at the little brown schoolhouse at 'Kite End,' " said Uncle Eli, "we were

[Photo - "Birthplace Of Theodore Parker"]

always in attendance. The schoolhouse was rude and the room unattractive; although the old fire place had been superseded by a large square stove, around which we gathered to warm our bare feet in the late autumn days, and to thaw our fingers and lunch in the winter. Theodore took but

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little interest in our games, but spent his odd moments over some book; but they were scarce indeed, yet such as could be obtained never escaped his faithful attention.
      "We went together to the village to attend service at the meeting-house on Sundays. It was there that he had access to an old association library, from which he drew books to use at home. I have seen him open a book, when starting homeward after service, and become oblivious to all else. He would become so absorbed as to lose his bearings, and occasionally come in contact with a tree or stone wall; but tacking about, he would start on again, still engrossed with some deep study, that offered no attraction to me or other boys who were in our company.
      "I well remember when, in about the year 1820, the subject of a Sunday-school was advanced. Parents as well as children were full of wonderment as to what would be studied. We had studied the Westminster Catechism at the little brown schoolhouse. The younger of us having the 'New England Primer,' a sort of juvenile catechism, in which we had learned, --

'In Adam's fall, we sinned all,' 'An idle fool is whip't at school,' 'My book and heart shall never part.'

      "We also had learned the story of John Rogers, 'Agur's Prayer,' and the 'Dialogue between Youth,

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Christ, and the Devil.' But what could be studied at a Sunday-school was the subject for general speculation until the time set for the opening of a school. We were all there, excepting those whose parents were jealous of the school being a desecration of the Lord's day. In the great square pews we were classified, and Deacon Mullikin was our teacher. Theodore hailed the Sunday-school with delight, because it suggested study, and of course books were provided. He improved every opportunity for study, and did succeed in getting away a few weeks during the winter to a school where there were better appliances for school work. We had not ceased regarding him as 'one of the boys,' when it was whispered among the families that Theodore Parker was going to 'keep school.'
      "I had begun to look upon him as a superior being, even when we were the most intimately associated, particularly when going in his company to Boston to market the peaches and other produce of the Parker-Simonds farm. We rode to market in the night, and Theodore would talk about the stars, and upon things of which I had failed to get any information. But when he began the life of a schoolmaster, I felt that I was left entirely in the rear.
      "After the close of his Waltham school, it was rumored that he was not very successful; and when inquiry was made, we learned that Parson

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Ripley, the minister of the place, had told the secret in his prayer at the close of school. The burden of his petition was that the young man might learn to so govern himself as to be able to teach a school equal to his ability. Theodore frankly acknowledged that his greatest struggle had been in trying to govern himself.
      "When Theodore Parker was pursuing a course of study in college, he spent a portion of two of his summer vacations at work on my father's farm, receiving seventy-five cents per day for his labor. It was a pleasure to be with him in the field, so interesting and elevating was his conversation.
      "In after years," said Uncle Eli, "I heard that Theodore Parker was to preach at Waltham in Dr. Ripley's pulpit. I made it in my way to attend the service, which was most uplifting to me. I lingered at the close, and succeeded in getting the attention of the young preacher, my former companion, who came to me, and while our hands were clasped in the interchange of silent joy, I whispered to him, 'Do you suppose Dr. Ripley has found that you have learned to govern yourself so as to preach equal to your ability?' To this the ready wit of my old friend led him to reply, 'That was the best thing he could have done for me; for it cost me more exertion to learn to control myself than all else.'"
      Mr. Simonds was in a most thoughtful mood

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when he closed his story of Theodore Parker by saying, "Our united homestead has passed into the possession of other families. The old squirrel musket has become the property of the State. The little brown schoolhouse has disappeared; and of all the voices echoed by the old belfry workshop, mine is almost left alone. Even the old belfry itself has gone back to serve as a monument of its April alarm in '75. Yet I have never lost my interest in my early companion. Although his voice long since was hushed, his influence will be felt long after the old belfry ceases to gratify the eye of the tourist, or its oaken frame to echo the voices of the patriots who climb to the rustic retreat of Belfry Hill."

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