the most they could out of Thanksgiving, knowing that the winter school would begin on the following Monday, when they must take up their studies, and that there would be no more holidays till the Fourth of July.

Everybody wore home-spun clothing. The girls, like the boys, had no idle hours, for there was flax to comb and spin, to be woven into sheets, pillow-cases, and table-cloths. No girl could think of getting married. till she had all these for house-keeping. There was the carding of wool by hand into rolls, spinning them on a large wheel, walking to and fro through the long and weary days, turning the wheel with one hand and holding the thread with the other; then the yarn was reeled into skeins, dyed and washed, and put upon the warping-bars and into the loom; then each thread of the warp must be drawn through the "harness" and

through the "reed;" then the shuttle was thrown backward and forward, and the thread beaten in by the "lathe." There was the weaving of linen for sheets, pillow-cases, towels, table-cloths, and under-clothing, of tow and wool; the making of "linsey-woolsey" for gowns, or of all-wool

cloth for men's garments. From early morning till the fire burnt low on the hearth mother and daughter were at work wielding the handcards, throwing the shuttle, or whirling the wheel. When the carding, spinning, dyeing, and weaving were done there was still more to do-the making of quilts, coverlets, and sheets; for no girl could think of being married till she had a bountiful supply.

The people of New England governed themselves more directly than the people of the other States-holding town-meetings, electing a moderator to preside, a clerk to keep the town records, and three select-men, who assessed taxes, cared for the poor, and kept roads and bridges in or der. In town-meeting every man could speak and vote. It was a parliament, a congress where all the affairs of the town were discussed and set

tled. The majority ruled. It was the people ruling themselves-the simplest and best government ever attained by the human race.

In the New England States the Fourth of July was celebrated as in no other section of the country. At sunrise there was firing of cannon and ringing of bells. Later in the day there was mustering of soldiers, picnics, orations, rehearsing the patriotism and heroism of the men who achieved the independence of the nation, drinking of beer, lemonade, and rum-punch. It was the nation's birthday, and the beginning of a new order of things in human government. It was felt that such a day ought to be forever kept in remembrance. President John Adams said that it ought ever to be celebrated, and the people agreed with him. Old and young-men, women, and children--all participating in the enjoyments, to keep alive their love of country.

The Yankees were restless. Their beliefs, their sense of obligation,

made them so. To accomplish the great end of life-to make money, to settle new lands, build school and meeting houses, and convert the world. to their ideas of liberty, government, and religion-made them the most. restless people in the world. The soil was hard and stony. The ocean off Newfoundland and Labrador swarmed with fish, and fleets of small vessels sailed from Cape Ann and Cape Cod for the Northern seas. Great

ships sailed far away to the icebergs of the Arctic Ocean, or southward round Cape Horn and out upon the Pacific, manned by the huntsmen of the sea, to capture the monsters of the deep. Long voyages they were. When the crews bade their friends farewell they knew that it would be three years before they would drop anchor again in the home port. Off the shores of Greenland, or beyond Behring Strait, or southward beneath the Southern Cross of the midnight skies, the sturdy whaleman of Nantucket and New Bedford, keeping keenest watch from the swaying topmast, shouted to his comrades upon the deck, "There she blows!" Then came the lowering of the boats, the chase, the throwing of lance and harpoon, the death-struggle of the monster, or the crushing of the boats between its jaws, or by a stroke of its tail.

To India, to China, to every port on the globe, sailed the ships of the merchants, manned by the hardy sailors.

The Yankees made clocks, tin pans, wash-boards, pails, and brooms, which they peddled through the country, gathering up rags, hogs' bristles, old pewter, and making money out of the odds and ends of things. They crossed the Hudson and made the Knickerbockers of Albany and Schenectady uncomfortable with their ideas and notions. They swarmed into Vermont in such numbers that, in 1791, it became a State. They crossed the Alleghanies and took possession of Ohio, building schoolhouses and churches, making their power and influence felt from the Atlantic to the Mississippi; while on the sea they were carrying the stars and stripes to every quarter of the globe.

THE

CHAPTER VII.

SOCIAL LIFE IN OTHER STATES.

IIE Knickerbockers lived in New York. In Holland a "knicker" is a small clay ball, baked and oiled, which the boys use instead of marbles, for Holland has no marble-quarries. The people who make and bake the balls are called knickerbocken. The Knickerbockers of New

York lived in steep-roofed houses, with porches by the doors, where the burghers sat and smoked their pipes. Upon the doors were great brass knockers, ornamented with griffins' heads. The brick walls were thick and strong, the kitchens large, with wide-mouthed fireplaces.