1843] Life in the New Purchase 



her of the board of trustees, identified as Dr. David 

 H. Maxwell, father of Dr. James D. Maxwell. 



Commenting on the Doctor's rough and careless 

 dress, Hall calls it 



a leaden casket with a rare jewel within. With a little fixing 

 this gentleman would easily have adorned and delighted the 

 best company in the best places. He was a brave soldier, an 

 able statesman, and a skillful physician; and if not learned, 

 he was extensively and profoundly read in his favorite studies, 

 medicine and politics. His person, even disfigured by his 

 dress, was uncommonly fine, his countenance prepossessing, 

 and his conversation easy, pleasant, and instructive. . . . He 

 would have graced the halls at Washington. 



The professor also writes fairly of the students of 

 those days: day , 



students 



The speeches were equal to the best in our schools. Gener- 

 ally the young men are superior to the young gentlemen of 

 old settlements in both scholarship and elocution. 



For this he gives several reasons, which I here 

 condense : 



1. They come to learning as a novelty. Nothing exceeds 

 their interest and curiosity. It is long before the novelty 

 ceases, and then the habit of hard studying takes its place. 



2. They regard learning as the lever to elevate them, to 

 help the New World to cope with the Old. 



3. They have more energy than the young gentlemen. 



4. They have few temptations to idleness and dissipation. 



5. The tuition fee of ten dollars the value of ten acres of 

 land is too hard to obtain to be squandered lightly. 



6. They are inquisitive like Yankees, and gain knowledge 

 by torturing professors. 



7. They come into more immediate contact with professors 

 than do Eastern students. 



" Seven more reasons," no doubt good, he refrains 

 from giving in detail, but the chief one is that they 



C 1973 



