334 PROCEEDINGS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



recitations in Lardner's Natural Philosophy for many years of his 

 life, and for a part of the time he heard each lesson three times over, — 

 the class in Physics being divided into three sections. The book was 

 very elementary, and far from interesting, and the class was boyish in 

 attainments and in spirit ; but year after year he performed that 

 humble function with an absolute fidelity. For many years he gave 

 illustrated lectures on all the main subjects in Physics, — generally 

 two lectures a week throughout the academic year ; and he himself 

 made all the preparation for the experiments, with no assistance 

 except that of the bell-ringer, who came in to help him move heavy 

 pieces of apparatus or to work the air-pump. With perfect patience 

 he performed weekly for years, without any assistant, this great 

 amount of manual labor in connection with his lectures ; and, as his 

 lectures were repeated year after year during more than forty years, 

 the weariness of repetition was added to the physical fatigue. 



For twelve years, from 1857 to 1869, he was Regent of the College. 

 That officer kept the records of absences and of the marks received by 

 the students at their recitations. With his own hand Professor Lov- 

 ering entered the absences and the marks in the record books, kept 

 watch on the absences of every student in College, considered excuses, 

 and reported delinquents to the Faculty week by week. The Regent 

 exercised discretion and needed good judgment ; but far the greater 

 part of his time was devoted to accurate, patient, clerical labor. He 

 was in his office three days of the week for two hours each day, and 

 his compensation was five hundred dollars a year. I mention these 

 details because they perfectly illustrate a quality in Professor Lover- 

 ing which the men of a younger generation may well imitate, — a 

 capacity for assiduous routine labor. Every great scholarly achieve- 

 ment is accomplished by just such faithful industry. An inspiration is 

 a momentary flash ; a high purpose has an instant of formation ; but 

 inspiration and purpose have to be wrought out through years of 

 unremitting labor. 



I have always admired in Professor Lovering the mixture of con- 

 servatism with openness of mind. His natural conservatism was 

 modified by a true scientific candor. Change for its own sake he 

 never desired ; but he could be convinced by experience that a given 

 change was an improvement. He held to the opinions and practices 

 which he had adopted before he was forty years old ; but his mind 

 was also open to new projects. When the rapid expansion of Har- 

 vard University began in 1866, just after the close of the Civil War, 

 Professor Lovering was already fifty-three years old and bad been 



