“An attempt to describe it,” said the traveler, “would be an attempt to paint the sunbeams.”  It was now a matter of curiosity and inquiry who the old gentleman was.  The traveler concluded that it was the preacher from whom the pulpit eloquence was heard; but no, it was John Marshall, the Chief Justice of the United States.

Notes.—­David Hume (b. 1711, d. 1776) was a celebrated Scotch historian and essayist.  His most important work is “The History of England.”  He was a skeptic in matters of religion, and was a peculiarly subtle writer.

George Campbell (b. 1719, d. 1796) was a distinguished Scotch minister.  He wrote “A Dissertation on Miracles,” ably answering Hume’s “Essay on Miracles.”

John Marshall (b. 1755, d. 1835) was Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death.  He was an eminent jurist, and wrote a “Life of Washington,” which made him famous as an author.

LXXXVII.  THE BAREFOOT BOY. (317)

John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807-1892, was born in Haverhill, Mass., and, with short intervals of absence, he always resided in that vicinity.  His parents were Friends or “Quakers,” and he always held to the same faith.  He spent his boyhood on a farm, occasionally writing verses for the papers even then.  Two years of study in the academy seem to have given him all the special opportunity for education that he ever enjoyed.  In 1829 he edited a newspaper in Boston, and the next year assumed a similar position in Hartford.  For two years he was a member of the Massachusetts legislature.  In 1836 he edited an anti-slavery paper in Philadelphia, and was secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society.  Mr. Whittier wrote extensively both in prose and verse.  During the later years of his life he published several volumes of poems, and contributed frequently to the pages of the “Atlantic Monthly.”  An earnest opponent of slavery, some of his poems bearing on that subject are fiery and even bitter; but, in general, their sentiment is gentle, and often pathetic.  As a poet, he took rank among those most highly esteemed by his countrymen.  “Snow-Bound,” published in 1805, is one of the longest and best of his poems.  Several of his shorter pieces are marked by much smoothness and sweetness. ###

Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan! 
With thy turned-up pantaloons,
And thy merry whistled tunes;
With thy red lip, redder still
Kissed by strawberries on the hill;
With the sunshine on thy face,
Through thy torn brim’s jaunty grace;
From my heart I give thee joy,—­
I was once a barefoot boy! 
Prince thou art,—­the grown-up man
Only is republican. 
Let the million-dollared ride! 
Barefoot, trudging, at his side,
Thou hast more than he can buy
In the reach of ear and eye,—­
Outward sunshine, inward joy: 
Blessings on thee, barefoot boy!