The Days of a Man 1869 



Once in his shirt sleeves lying in the grass, 

 Under the shadow of a chestnut tree, 

 I saw James Russell Lowell face to face, 

 And the great poet rose and spoke to me! 1 



Not long after, attending service at the Unitarian 

 church, I was ushered into the same pew with 

 Lowell "a seat among the gods," it seemed 

 to me. 



Bayard Taylor gave a most interesting and in- 

 structive course on Early German Literature. An- 

 other delightful visitor was Thomas Hughes, author 

 of the famous "Tom Brown" books. At the Cas- 

 cadilla reception which followed his address, I first 

 helped pass around strawberries, ice cream, and cake, 

 after which I put my apron in my pocket and became 

 a guest. 



In the field of History which deeply interested 

 me, not as a record of battles and intrigues but as 

 the '' biography of man" -we had excellent in- 

 struction. Ancient History was taught by William 

 Channing Russel, the vice-president, whose lectures 

 were both effective and well planned. More appeal- 

 ing to me, however, were White's courses in Medieval 

 and Modern History. These covered particularly 

 the later years of France, including the French 

 Revolution; they were accompanied by an exten- 

 sive syllabus, with bibliography. White, as I have 

 indicated, used language in a noble fashion, choosing 

 words of dignity and strength, and leaving sentences 

 to linger in the memory. His lectures I therefore 

 took down very fully, writing them out so that the 



1 It is hardly necessary to add that his companion was George William 

 Curtis. 



: 90 n 



