ts received but little attention
in Loudoun, and school-houses, always of logs, were scarcely to be
seen. Schools were sometimes opened at private houses or at the
residence of the teacher; but "book larnin" was considered too
impracticable to be of much value.

While the standard of morality, commercial as well as social, was of a
high order, few of these settlers were members of any church. Many of
them, however, had been reared in religious communities by Christian
parents; had been taught to regard the Sabbath as a day of worship,
and had been early impressed with a sense of the necessity of
religious faith and practice. Some of the prominent citizens
encouraged these views by occasionally holding meetings in their
cabins, at which the scriptures and sometimes sermons were read and
hymns sung, but no prayers were offered. The restraining and molding
influence of these early Christian efforts upon the habits and morals
of the people was in every respect wholesome and beneficial. The
attention of the people was arrested and turned to the study and
investigation of moral and religious questions, and direction was
given to the contemplation of higher thoughts and the pursuit of a
better life.

In the meantime, other elements were introduced which effected a
radical change in the habits of the people for both good and evil. The
first settlers lived in the country, in the woods and wilds, whose
"clearings" were far apart. Not one in ten of them had dwelt in any
town, or even visited one having as many as a thousand inhabitants.
And now there came the merchant, the lawyer, the doctor, and the
mechanic, who resided in the towns which began to grow and to take on
new life. Most of these had enjoyed superior advantages, so far as
related to education and that worldly wisdom which comes from
experience in older communities. Some of them had come from across the
ocean and others from the large American cities, bringing with them
manners, customs, furniture, and wares, of which the like had never
been seen by the oldest inhabitant.

And thus were gradually introduced the methods and appliances of a
more advanced civilization. The pioneer and his wife, hearing of these
things, would occasionally "go to town" to "see the sights," and would
there discover that there were many useful and convenient articles for
the farm and kitchen which might be procured in exchange for their
corn, bacon, eggs, honey, and hides; and although th