In a prospectus, containing commendations of the work from many eminent
men of learning, the Honorable Josiah Quincy, LL.D., president of
Harvard College, said of it: "A work which was used for more than a
century in the schools of New England, as the first elementary book for
learners of the Latin language; which held its place in some of the most
eminent of those schools, nearly, if not quite, to the end of the last
century; which has passed through at least twenty editions in this
country; which was the subject of the successive labor and improvement
of a man who spent seventy years in the business of instruction, and
whose fame is second to that of no schoolmaster New England has ever
produced, requires no additional testimony to its worth or its merits."
A copy of this edition is now in the library of the Massachusetts
Historical Society. Dr. David W. Cheever, of Boston, a descendant of the
schoolmaster, also has one in his possession.

There is another old book in the Boston Athenaeum, published in 1757,
containing three short essays under the title of Scripture Prophecies
Explained. The first one is "On the Restitution of All Things"; the
second is "On St. John's First Resurrection"; and the third, "On the
Personal Coming of Jesus Christ, as Commencing at the Beginning of the
Millenium described in the Apocalypse." These were written by Mr.
Cheever, but at what time of his life there seems to be some doubt. They
indicate his religious zeal, which at this time in New Haven was put
forth for the good of the church. Although he was never ordained to the
ministry, yet he occasionally preached. In 1649, however, he dissented
from the judgment of the church and elders in regard to some cases of
discipline, and for some comments on their action, which seemed to them
severe, they brought charges against him. Two of the principal ones
were: "1. His unseemly gestures and carriage before the church, in the
mixed assembly;" and "2. That when the church did agree to two charges
(namely, of assumption and partiality), he did not give his vote either
to the affirmative or the negative."

As showing some of the phases of a common humanity, the reading of the
trial is interesting. Mr. Cheever, who was then thirty-five years old,
was desired to answer these charges of unseemly gestures, which his
accusers had brought down to a rather small point, such as holding down
his head into the seat, "then laughing or smiling," and also "w