670 JOHN PISKE. 



chosen, and taking upon himself the chance of supporting his family 

 through the precarious channels of literary contributions to newspapers 

 and magazines, there is a touch not onl}' of the simple faith and opti- 

 mism of youth, but of the Bohemian indifference to money-matters 

 characteristic of the John Fiske whom we knew in later years. His 

 confidence in himself was apparently justified by the result, for by 

 some means or other, then and ever after, he was able to keep the wolf 

 away from the door, and in an easy and comfortable style of living to 

 support his family. It is evident, however, that at a later period he 

 realized the boldness of the step then taken. " Literature as a pro- 

 fession," he said to an interviewer a few years ago, '* looked as precari- 

 ous in that generation as it does to you in this, but by the time I was 

 four years out of college I managed by constant labor to earn enough by 

 my pen to keep house and support a small family. ... I wrote at first 

 for the magazines and newspapers . . . upon science and philosophy 

 and literature, and I sometimes wrote political leaders. ... I earned 

 more by my review work and historical and literary studies than I 

 thought was possible when I stood upon the brink ; but an intellectual 

 revolution will be necessary before my experiences and that of my 

 generation can be repeated by the young men who are looking towards 

 literature to-day." 



In 1868, he published a little book called " Tobacco and Alcohol. 

 It does pay to Smoke — The Coming Man will Drink Wine." In this he 

 criticised the hasty and unscientific writings of James Farton on the 

 same subject, and as a reviewer states, "clearly developed " '• the funda- 

 mental principle that everything in diet and medication depends on the 

 dose." 



He was appointed, in 1869, as Lecturer on Positive Philosophy at 

 Harvard, which place he filled for two years. During the second half 

 of 1S69 he was also an Instructor of History, and from 1872 to 1879 

 be was Assistant Librarian. In 1885 he received the appointment as 

 Professor of American History at Washington University, St. Louis. 

 The duties of this position were fulfilled by the delivery there of occa- 

 sional courses of lectures. Durinor 1895-96 he was Lecturer at Harvard 

 on the Campaigns of the Civil War west of the Alleghanies, and was also 

 durins: 1896-97 Lecturer on Colonial Virginia and other Southern Colo- 

 nies. He was elected an Overseer of Harvard in 1879, again in 1885, 

 and a third time in 1899. He took his A.M. at Harvard in course, and 

 in 1894 received the honorary degree of LL.D. The same year the 

 University of Pennyslvania gave him the degree of Litt.D. He was a 



