334 FRANCIS JAMES CHILD. 



his classes was so unmingled with pretension or conceit, that it was ad- 

 mitted without question or envy. Mr. Dixwell became strongly attached 

 to him, and, in view of the great promise of his talents and his character, 

 secured the means for his support in college, which he entered in the 

 autumn of 1842,* Harvard was then still a comparatively small institu- 

 tion, with no claims to the title of University ; but she had her traditions 

 of good learning as an inspiration for the studious youth, and still better 

 she had teachers who were examples of devotion to intellectual pursuits, 

 and who cared for those ends the attainment of which makes life worth 

 living. Josiah Quiucy was approaching the close of his term of service 

 as President of the College, and stood before the eyes of the students as 

 the type of a great public servant, embodying the spirit of patriotism, of 

 integrity, and of fidelity in the discharge of whatever duty he might be 

 called to perform. Among the Professors were "Walker, Felton, Peirce, 

 Channing, Beck, and Longfellow, men of utmost variety of temperament, 

 but each an instructor who secured the respect no less than the gratitude 

 of his pupils. 



The Class to which Child belonged numbered hardly over sixty. The 

 prescribed course of study which was then the rule brought all the mem- 

 bers of the Class together in recitations and lectures, and every man soon 

 knew the relative standing of each of his fellows. Child at once took 

 the lead and kept it. His excellence was not confined to any one special 

 branch of study, he was equally superior in all. He was the best in the 

 classics, he was Peirce's favorite in mathematics, he wrote better Eng- 

 lish than any of his classmates. His intellectual interests were wider 

 than theirs, he was a great reader and his tastes in reading were mature. 

 He read for amusement as well as for learning, but he did not waste his 

 time or dissipate his mental energies over worthless or pernicious books. 

 He made good use of the social no less than of the intellectual oppor- 

 tunities which college life affords, and became as great a favorite with his 

 classmates as he had been with his schoolfellows. 



The close of his college course was marked by the exceptional distinc- 

 tion of his being chosen by his classmates as their Orator, and by his 

 having the first part at Commencement as the highest scholar in the 

 Class. His Class Oration was remarkable for its maturity of thought 

 and of style. Its manliness of spirit, its simple directness of presentation 



* The pecuniary debt thus incurred was afterwards paid with interest. But 

 thoutjh only thus could Mr. Child's spirit of independence he satisfied, he clierished 

 through life the most grateful affection for the friend who had thus served him. 



