A half century among the Siamese and the Lao : an ... - Khamkoo

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 21
Scotland, and his own piety was of a distinctly oldschool
type. He was a ruling elder in the church at
Buffalo, Fayetteville Presbytery, in which office he was
succeeded by my brother, Evander, and three others
of his sons became elders in other churches. No
pressure of business was ever allowed to interfere with
family worship night and morning. A psalm or hymn
from the old village hymnbook always formed part
of the service. My father was an early riser, and, in
the winter time, family worship was often over before
the dawn. Almost every spare moment of his time he
spent in reading Scott's Family Bible, the Philadelphia
Preshyteiian, or one of the few books of devotion which
composed the family library. The special treasure of
the book-case was the great quarto Illustrated Family
Bible,
with the Apocrypha and Brown's Concordance,
published by M. Carey, Philadelphia, 1815. It was the
only pictorial book in the library, and its pictures were
awe-inspiring to us children—especially those in the
Book of Revelation :—The Dragon Chained, The Beast
with Seven Heads and Ten Horns, and the Vision of
the Four Seals. These and the solemn themes of Russell's
Seven Sermons—which on rainy days I used
to steal away by myself to read—made a profound impression
on me.
Scottish folk always carry the school with the kirk.
Free schools were unknown; but after the crops were
" laid by," we always had a subscription school, in
which my father, with his large family, had a leading
interest. The teacher " boarded around " with the
pupils. Our regular night-task was three questions
and answers in the Shorter Catechism—no small task
for boys of ten or twelve years. My memory of the
Catechism once stood me in good stead in after-life.