218 Notice of the late Sheldon Clark. 
peared to him to involve a waste of time and money; and he 
does not appear to have granted him any extraordinary opportu- 
nities for education, except a period of instruction at Litchfield, 
South Farms, in 1805 and 1806. But the active mind of young 
Clark could not be restrained, entirely, within the prescribed 
bounds; he. diligently read suf books as he could find, and 
early indulged in habits of intellectual exercise—reflecting and 
reasoning upon a wide range of topics, and often adopting pecu- 
liar views of his own, in neglect of those more generally received, 
or.in opposition to them. This independence of thought he 
carried through life, and it appears to have been the more firmly 
established, because his solitary walks did not lead him to contend 
With intellectual rivals and mpetitors 5 ‘he measured himself by 
in the 
that by the prudential views of his grandfather, he bad been de- 
barred from obtaining a liberal education, and ‘eagerly inquired, 
whether there was any thing in Yale College to which he could 
have access, without being a regular member of the institution. 
He was, of course, encouraged to expect the use of the libraries, 
with access to the lectures on science, and a hope was held out 
that he = perhaps, by special favor, be admitted to the reci- 
tations and discussions of the senior class, under the direction of 
President Dwight. - “The death of his grandfather a short time 
before, left him the liberty to pursue hi own course, @ and the 
