to any one. It was very different with the proper work of the gym- 

 nasium, for Goldie was an admirable teacher and many of his pupils 

 acquired a degree of proficiency as gymnasts and acrobats that would 

 have done credit to a circus. 



The first Christmas vacation brought me a novel and delightful ex- 

 perience, my first visit to Washington. General David Hunter, my 

 step-grandmother's brother, invited his nephew Charles and myself to 

 be his guests for the vacation. The old gentleman, who was so bitterly 

 hated in the South because of his actions in the Civil War, was, like 

 so many other soldiers with a fire-eating reputation, the kindest and 

 gentlest of men and he took pleasure in showing us the sights of Wash- 

 ington. One especially memorable occasion was a public reception at 

 the White House, when he introduced us to the President, General 

 Grant being a warm personal friend of his. Washington made a great 

 impression on us as a stately and beautiful place, though with a great 

 many blemishes, some of which still persist, but the potentiaUties of 

 the city were already obvious and we found the machinery of the gov- 

 ernment fascinating. 



In 1874 the intercollegiate regatta on Saratoga Lake was established 

 and our class crew won the Freshman race and, for many a long year, 

 that was Princeton's only aquatic triumph. The '83 crew came nearest 

 to a victory and was the occasion of the Glee Club's satirical descrip- 

 tion of the event: 



The boat-crew thought it won a race, 

 But it only tied for second place. 



As the canal was the only place for rowing practice, it is hardly sur- 

 prising that Princeton crews did not distinguish themselves. In those 

 days the shells were six-oared and there was no coxswain, the bow oar 

 steering with his feet. Though I did not "make the crew," despite 

 strenuous efforts, I learned to row and got a deal of pleasure from it, 

 especially in a pair-oared shell. 



The greater part of Sophomore year I was away from college, because 

 of an illness which befell me in the Christmas vacation. I have long 

 believed that that illness was chiefly, if not altogether, imaginary. Not 

 that I was a malingerer, for I first thoroughly deceived myself and then 

 the family and the doctors. I was ordered to stop all work and live in 

 the open air. My Grandfather decided to send my Mother and myself 

 to Europe to recuperate; for her it was the fruition of a lifelong, pas- 

 sionate desire and she had infected me with much the same spirit. We 



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