154 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



tures of Oken, while following at the same 

 time Schelling's courses, where he was shift- 

 ing the whole ground of his philosophy from 

 its negative foundation as an a j^'i^iori doe- 

 trine to a positive basis, as an historical 

 science. He unfolded his views in a succes- 

 sion of exquisite lectures, delivered during 

 four consecutive years. 



" Among my fellow-students were many 

 young men who now rank among the highest 

 lights in the various departments of science, 

 and others, of equal promise, whose early death 

 cut short their work in this world. Some of 

 us had already learned at this time to work 

 for ourselves ; not merely to attend lectures 

 and study from books. The best spirit of 

 emulation existed among us ; we met often 

 to discuss our observations, undertook fre- 

 quent excursions in the neighborhood, deliv- 

 ered lectures to our fellow-students, and had, 

 not infrequently, the gratification of seeing 

 our university professors among the listeners. 

 These exercises were of the highest value to 

 me as a preparation for speaking, in later 

 years, before larger audiences. My study 

 was usually the lecture-room. It would hold 

 conveniently from fifteen to twenty persons, 

 and both students and professors used to call 



