while in Holland was placed at school, first at Amsterdam, and afterwards
in the University of Leyden.

A letter of the father, dated at Amsterdam, 18th December, 1780, gives us
a glimpse of the system of instruction approved by him, and a pleasant
view of the principles which he deemed it important to be inculcated.

"I have this morning sent Mr. Thaxter with my two sons to Leyden, there
to take up their residence for some time, and there to pursue their
studies of Latin and Greek under the excellent masters, and there to
attend lectures of the celebrated professors in that University. It is
much cheaper there than here. The air is infinitely purer, and the company
and conversation are better. It is perhaps as learned a University as any
in Europe.

"I should not wish to have children educated in the common schools of this
country, where a littleness of soul is notorious. The masters are mean
spirited wretches, pinching, kicking, and boxing the children upon every
turn. There is, besides, a general littleness, arising from the incessant
contemplation of stivers and doits, which pervades the whole people.

"Frugality and industry are virtues everywhere, but avarice and stinginess
are not frugality. The Dutch say, that without a habit of thinking of
every doit before you spend it, no man can be a good merchant, or conduct
trade with success.

"This, I believe, is a just maxim in general; but I would never wish to
see a son of mine govern himself by it. It is the sure and certain way for
an industrious man to be rich. It is the only possible way for a merchant
to become the first merchant, or the richest man in the place. But this is