ree, from which a block was cut and taken to a man (Crain) who
made spinning-wheels, which was by him turned, globe-shaped, about
a foot in diameter, and hung in a frame. My father marked on it
the lines of latitude and longitude and laid off the grand divisions,
islands, oceans, seas, etc., and with appropriate shadings to
indicate lines or boundaries, it was varnished and became a veritable
globe, fit for an early student of geography, and far from crude.
It now stands before me as perfect as when made fifty years since.
In mathematics I soon, out of school, passed to the study of algebra,
geometry, natural philosophy, etc. My common school and home
advantages were excellent, and while my father lived, even when at
work in the field, problems were being stated and solved, and
interesting matters were discussed and considered. The country
boy has an inestimable advantage over the town or city boy in the
fact that he is more alone and on his own resources, which gives
him an opportunity for independent thought, and forces him to become
a _thinker_, without which no amount of scholastic advantages will
make him, in any proper sense, learned.

I had the misfortune, before ten years of age, of injuring, by
accident, my left foot, and in consequence went on crutches about
two years of my boyhood life. This apprehension of again becoming
lame early turned my thought to an occupation other than farming.
When sixteen years of age I decided to try to become a lawyer, and
in this decision my mother seconded me heartily. Though continuing
to labor on the farm without intermission, I pursued, as I had long
before, a regular study of history, and procured and read some
elementary law books, including a copy of Blackstone's _Commentaries_,
which I systematically and constantly read and re-read, and availed
myself, without an instructor, of all possible means of acquiring
legal knowledge. In my eighteenth year I was regularly entered as
a student at law with Anthony & Goode, attorneys, at Springfield,
Ohio, though my reading was still continued on the farm, noons,
nights, and between intervals of hard work.( 7)

Lyceums or debating societies which met at the villages or schoolhouses
were then common. They were usually well conducted, and they were
excellent incentives to study, affording good opportunity for
acquiring habits of debate and public speaking. They are,
unfortunately, no longer common. These lyceums I frequente