EZRA CORNELL-1864-1874 317 



brilliantly as he had ever lectured at Oxford; gave his 

 library to the university, with a large sum for its increase ; 

 lent his aid very quietly, but none the less effectually, to 

 needy and meritorious students; and steadily refused 

 then, as he has ever since done, and now does, to accept 

 a dollar of compensation. Nothing ever gave Mr. Cornell 

 more encouragement than this. For &quot;Goldwin,&quot; as he 

 called him in his Quaker way, there was always a very 

 warm corner in his heart. 



He also found especial pleasure in many of the lecture- 

 courses established at the opening of the university. For 

 Professor Agassiz he formed a warm friendship; and 

 their discussions regarding geological questions were very 

 interesting, eliciting from Agassiz a striking tribute to 

 Mr. Cornell s closeness of observation and sagacity in 

 reasoning. The lectures on history by Goldwin Smith, 

 and on literature by James Russell Lowell, George Wil 

 liam Curtis, and Bayard Taylor, he also enjoyed greatly. 



The scientific collections and apparatus of various sorts 

 gave him constant pleasure. I had sent from England, 

 France, and Germany a large number of charts, models, 

 and pieces of philosophical apparatus, and regarding 

 some of them had thought it best to make careful expla 

 nations to him, in order to justify so large an expenditure ; 

 but I soon found this unnecessary. His shrewd mind 

 enabled him to understand any piece of apparatus quickly, 

 and to appreciate it fully. I have never had to deal with 

 any man whose instinct in such matters was more true. If 

 a book or scientific specimen or piece of apparatus was 

 necessary to the proper work of a department, he could 

 easily be made to see it ; and then it must come to us, no 

 matter at what cost. Like the great prince of navigators 

 in the fifteenth century, he was a man &quot;who had the 

 taste for great things 7 &quot; qui tenta gusto en cosas 

 grandes.&quot; He felt that the university was to be great, 

 and he took his measures accordingly. His colleagues 

 generally thought him over-sanguine; and when he de 

 clared that the university should yet have an endow- 



