responsible cases, to allay exciting difficulties, to settle estates, or to manage the trust funds of the people. The life of Benjamin Franklin Hancock is an honor to his name.

Mrs. Hancock, the mother, possesses equally marked traits of character, of a different type. A kinder, more benevolent, unselfish woman it would be ex tremely difficult to find. Her name is a sweet savor of sincere Christian piety wherever she is known.

It is perfectly safe to say that many of the prominent traits in the distinguished character of General Hancock may be directly traced to the moulding influence of his parents.

His military education and life, and the opportunity afforded by his influential part in the suppression of the great rebellion, have developed in a remarkable degree the qualities that began to show themselves in his boyhood, and that were guided and fostered at home. His ability to command, his facility in controlling great masses of armed men, his skill in the use of means, his patient industry in overcoming difficulties, his dashing energy to accomplish great objects in the midst of danger, may all be ' traced back, like living streams from the living fountain, to the hidden power of that one word-HOME.

The old two-storied school house near DeKalb street

has been swept away by the march of improvement. Not a vestige of it remains; and even its site is now hidden from view, being demanded by the extension of the street, for the purposes of travel. Here, where whole generations of children have studied and played together, where the hum of busy searchers after knowledge has sounded from the quiet walls, like the music of bees in and around the silent hive; where the gray-haired or more juvenile teachers have filled their tripod with alternate joys of victory and sorrows of defeat; where from this spot, once so sacred to learning in other days, have gone forth the boys who have filled their places in society, grown old as the teacher was, and passed, like him, away,—all now is given up to the rush of business, the passage of hurrying or tardy feet, the roll of wheels, and the tramp of horses. But, with all these and other changes, forever cherished shall be the memory of

the old Airy street school-house in Norristown.

CHAPTER IX.

ORDERED TO FLORIDA.

"Be it thy aim to be useful in private, than, rather, in thy youth, to be too conspicuous."-Proverb.

D

URING the year 1856, when Winfield filled the

post of Quartermaster, ranking as Captain, of the Sixth United States Infantry, he was stationed in Florida. A part of this time of service was spent near Saint Augustine. This is a commanding position, a city, port of entry, and capital of St. John's county. It is two hundred miles east of Tallahassee, and one hundred and sixty south of Savannah. It has the distinction of being the oldest town in the United States, having been settled by the Spaniards in 1565. Its location on the navigable waters of Matanzas Sound, only two miles from the Atlantic ocean, (from which it is separated by the island of Anastasia,) gives it a marked commercial and naval importance.

The city stands on a plain, only a few feet above the

level of the ocean. The streets are nearly all built

on the old Spanish

eighteen feet wide.

pattern, being only from ten to

The houses and public buildings

are usually low, the former being not more than two stories high, and all made of durable materials, the stone or shell mixture of the sea shore. The upper

stories of the dwellings and stores project over the streets, so that passengers crowd along the narrow side-walks under the hanging verandas, while the horses, mules, and cattle straggle and jostle their way through the narrow avenues. Beside the county buildings there are four churches, a newspaper, and a United States land office.

The harbor of Saint Augustine is safe and commodious, but the bar at the entrance prevents the approach to the wharves of large ships, having only nine or ten feet of water, at low tides. The climate is mild and pleasant; the cool, refreshing breezes from the contiguous sea rendering the spot a favorite resort for invalids. Beautiful trees abound

orange, and the lemon.

-the olive, the palm, the The loveliest birds of the continent crowd the air, while choice fish and game are in abundance. Navigation is carried on between St. Augustine and New Orleans, Savannah, and other sea-ports, so that the town has become one of the largest in Florida.

The location of Winfield was at Fort Meyers, in the vicinity of Saint Augustine, where he remained in active service until the year 1857.

It was at this place he occupied his talents as a delineator in making drawings of the ground-plans of the old Forts and adjacent surroundings-a work that still remains at the home of his parents

a worthy sign of his skill and industry as a draughtsman.

On the 7th of November, 1856, having been assigned to more active duties in the United States. Quartermaster General's Department, for the Western District, he was ordered to the United States territory of Utah, on the slope of the Pacific ocean, and to accompany General Harney on his expedition to Kansas and the regions beyond.

Many persons, especially those abroad, who are aware of the existence of the crime of polygamy in Utah, are not conversant with the fact that it is several thousand miles distant from the national government, at Washington. Bad as the influence. of that crime is on its immediate participants, and on the aboriginal tribes around, it should be remembered that those who practice it are mostly foreigners, and that the United States are no more responsible for it, in a governmental point of view, than is England for