Page:The Life and Works of Christopher Dock.djvu/106

94 themselves what to do with children whom they earnestly wish to teach something good, for many parents in this country are obliged to teach their children themselves, (and others should do so rather than send them to teachers whose lives are stained with vice). These and other considerations have induced my beloved father to write to one of his good friends, as may be seen from the following letter.

Thus our good friend Dock was willing to write such a work, but when it was completed, he could not make up his mind to have it printed, because of a certain modesty, fearing that it would be looked upon as a monument to himself and thus be taken amiss. For this reason he was unwilling for it to be published during his lifetime, and it therefore lay nineteen years, until a few friends of the common good begged him persistently to have it published. Finally he yielded, and in the year just passed it was given me to publish. After reading it, and finding much pleasure therein, I consented to print it, but before I could attend to the work, the MS. was mislaid that I knew not how to find it again, and I feared that it had been sold as plain paper, so that I advertised in the newspaper for its return and offered a reward to the finder. When it still remained undiscovered, some people cherished evil thoughts, charging me with willfully putting it out of the way on account of some possible distasteful features in it. This I was forced to bear for some time, and had nothing to justify me but my good conscience. However, the author was not unhappy