The best education, therefore, that could be procured by persons in
their humble sphere of life, they received. The eldest brother, whose
name was Brian, did not, as is too frequently the case with the eldest
sons of small farmers, receive so liberal a portion of instruction as
Frank or Art. This resulted from the condition and necessities of his
father, who could not spare him from his farm--and, indeed, it cost the
worthy man many a sore heart. At all events, time advanced, and the two
younger brothers were taken from school with a view of being apprenticed
to some useful trade. The character of each was pretty well in
accordance with their respective dispositions. Frank had no enemies, yet
was he by no means so popular as Art, who had many. The one possessed
nothing to excite envy, and never gave offence; the other, by the very
superiority of his natural powers, exultingly paraded, as they were, at
the expense of dulness or unsuccessful rivalry, created many vindictive
maligners, who let no opportunity pass of giving him behind his back the
harsh word which they durst not give him to his face. In spite of all
this, his acknowledged superiority, his generosity, his candor, and
utter ignorance or hatred of the low chicaneries of youthful cunning,
joined to his open, intrepid, and manly character, conspired to render
him popular in an extraordinary degree.
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