Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/405

Rh  1em 1em  CHANNING, (1730-1842), was the son of William Channing and Lucy Ellery, and was born at Newport, Rhode Island, U.S., on the 7th of April 1780. The place of his birth is situated amidst scenery of great and varied beauty, the influence of which upon his mind may be traced in many allusions in his writings, and in the vivid admiration which he ever expressed for it in after life. To the society of the town of Newport he owed but little ; it was a bustling, crowded seaport, where a certain Puritanic strictness, inherited by tradition from the founders of th3 State, was kept up, not only in connection with, but too much as a salvo for, a considerable amount of laxity both of speech and practice. As a bathing-place it was a resort for strangers from other parts, and the interfusion of French and British officers tended to modify the peculiarities which the unmixed influence of retired sea captains, West Indian traders, and keen New England lawyers might have rendered too strong. As a child, Charming was remarkable for a refined delicacy of feature and temperament, which made him an object of admiration and affection in the household. From his father he inherited a fine person, simple and elegant tastes, sweetness of temper, and warmth of affection ; from his mother (who appears to have been a remarkable woman) he derived the higher benefits of that strong moral discern ment and straightforward rectitude of purpose and action which formed so striking a feature of his character. By both parents he was carefully instructed in those strict religious principles which were characteristic of the people of New England ; and by both, but especially by his mother, was his moral training most sedulously cared for. Other influences, however, were in the meantime operating upon him. The excitement of the revolutionary war was inspiring him with a profound and ardent love of freedom. The sick chamber of an aunt of his father, who was a woman of much piety and sweetness, was the source of many serious and hallowed lessons of gentleness and good ness. An amateur Baptist preacher, who was by trade a cooper, by refusing, though very poor, to manufacture any of the articles of his trade used for containing ardent spirits, gave him an impulse which he never lost in favour of temperance. A female servant, whose religious views were of a more cheerful cast than those prevalent in his circle, used to talk to him in a way that greatly engaged him, and probably sowed the germ of not a few of the ideas which afterwards regulated his modes of religious sentiment. Able and free-minded men, like Dr Stiles and Dr Hopkins, frequented his father s house, and the quiet and thoughtful boy listened to their conversations, and laid many suggestive words that fell from them to heart. While but a child he had begun to draw inferences from what he heard from the pulpit and elsewhere that were not quite such as his guardians would have wished him to draw ; and he &quot; was even then quite a theo logian, and would chop logic with his elders according to the fashion of that controversial time,&quot; as he himself tells us. Whilst very young, he was sent to a dame s school, who exacted from the incipient republicans the title of Madam, and enforced her authority and her lessons by means of &quot; a long round stick.&quot; From this he passed under the care of two excellent women, by whose instructions he profited greatly. His next step was to the school of a Mr Rogers, considered the best at that time in the town ; and in his twelfth year he was sent to New London to prepare for college, under the care of his uncle the Rev. Henry Channing. His career at school does not appear to have been marked by any remarkable aptitude for letters ; on the contrary, his progress was at first somewhat slow, though after the few initiatory difficulties were overcome, he advanced rapidly, both in a knowledge of the classics and an appreciation of their excellencies. His disposition was thoughtful and retiring, though among his companions he showed no absence of relish for lively conversation or hearty amusement. A certain mingled dignity and sweet ness gave him a commanding influence in the school, where he went by the name of &quot; the Peacemaker,&quot; and &quot; LittJe 