As her father was President of Harvard College, it may be inferred she had an extended reading course; but in a catalogue of Harvard College library printed a year or two later there is not a title in it of any of the works of Addison, or any of the poems of Pope, nothing of Dryden, Steele, Young, or Prior. In 1722, when Jane Turell was twenty years old, the works of Shakespeare were first advertised for sale in Boston.
The Copley Family
In many families of extreme Puritanical thought, the children developed at an early age a comprehension of religious matters which would seem abnormal to-day, but was natural then. A striking instance of this youthful development (as he was of highly sensitive thought of every description) was Jonathan Edwards. A letter of his written when he was twelve years old is certainly precocious in its depth, though there is a certain hint of humor in it. Some one had stated the belief that the soul was material and remained in the body until after the resurrection. Young Edwards wrote:—
"I am informed yt you have advanced a notion yt the soul is material and keeps wth ye body till ye resurrection. As I am a profest lover of novelty you must alow me to be much entertained by this discovery. 1st. I wd know whether this material soul keeps wth in ye Coffin, and if so whether it might not be convenient to build a repository for it in order wch I wd know wt shape it is of whether round, triangular or foresquare or whether it is a number of long fine strings reaching from ye head to ye foot, and whether it does not live a very discontented life. I am afraid when ye Coffin gives way ye Earth will fall in and crush it, but if it should chuse to live above Ground and hover above ye Grave how big it is, whether it covers all ye body, or is assined to ye Head or Breast, wt it does when another Body is laid upon it. Souls are not so big but yt 10 or a dozen of ym may be about one body whether yy will not quarrill for ye highest place."
His paper on spiders, written when he was but twelve, has become famous as a bit of childish composition. It shows great habits of observance, care in note-taking, and logical reasoning; and bears no evidence of youth either in matter or manner.
A typical example of the spirit of the times in regard to juvenile education is found in the letters of Mrs. Pinckney. She writes to a friend:—
"Shall I give you the trouble my dear Madam to buy my son a new toy (a description of which I inclose) to teach him according to Mr. Locke's method (which I have carefully studied) to play himself into learning. Mr. Pinckney (his father) himself has been contriving a sett of toys to teach him his letters by the time he can speak. You perceive we begin betimes for he is not yet four months old."