nd a freeman was a member of the church;
but this interpretation was too confined for the growing diversity in
colonial and provincial life. It served well for the time, but new
conditions demanded that it be superseded. The property qualification
has likewise virtue in it, and the educational test of Massachusetts has
much strength. This test is quite limited in the nation; nevertheless,
if general, it would be for the saving of many of our political
troubles. Election or town-meeting day had its treat. Its cake has left
a precious memory behind, and many an old-timed family observes the
custom until now. The town meeting was opened by prayer by the town
minister, and much decorum and orderliness was observed by the citizens.
The day was jovial, however, despite the solemnity attending it.

Prudence and economy had to be exercised, even in the more prosperous
days. Little was wasted. There was not much money in the market. To
trade, barter, and dicker was the custom. For amusements, the game of
"fox and geese," and "three" or "twelve men morris," served well. The
mingling of work and pleasure was common. The husking-bee and the
quilting-bee afforded sources of much enjoyment. Prudence and economy
hurt no one, but the mingling of these in the life of childhood and
manhood aids in developing character which makes men and women hardy for
the race of life.

The ever-famous New England Primer, small though it has been, was one of
the most influential of publications. It was in every home. From it the
children learned their A, B, C's. In it were pert rhymes expressing the
theology of the people, such as "In Adam's fall, We sinned all"; and the
set of biblical questions beginning with "Who was the first man?" The
prayer of childhood, "Now I lay me down to sleep," is in its pages. Of
songs, most familiar is the

"Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber.
Holy angels guard thy bed."

The picture and story of John Rogers' burning at the stake, with wife
and nine small children and one at the breast looking on, beholding the
martyrdom of this advocate of the early Protestant church, did much to
keep alive the bitterness between the Protestant and Catholic churches.
The Catechism, known by all, began with: "What is the chief end of man?"
Then followed the words of this conclave of divines, the teachings of
Rev. John Cotton, which he named "Spiritual milk for American babes,
Drawn out of the Breasts of both Testaments for