Willcoxen--had, of course, received them into his house to be reared and
educated; but no education would he afford the lads beyond that
dispensed by the village schoolmaster, who could very well teach them
that ten dimes make a dollar, and ten dollars an eagle; and who could
also instruct them how to write their own names--for instance, at the
foot of receipts of so many hundred dollars for so many hogsheads of
tobacco; or to read other men's signatures, to wit, upon the backs of
notes of hand, payable at such a time, or on such a day. This was just
knowledge enough, he said, to teach the boys how to make and save money,
yet not enough to tempt them to spend it foolishly in travel, libraries,
pictures, statues, arbors, fountains, and such costly trumpery and
expensive tomfoolery.
To Thurston, who was his favorite, probably because he bore the family
name and inherited some independent property, Mr. Willcoxen would,
however, have afforded a more liberal and gentlemanly education, could
he have done so and at the same time decently withheld from going to
some expense in giving his penniless grandson, Cloudy, the same
privilege. As it was, he sought to veil his parsimony by conservative
principle.
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