38 Edward Livijigston Youmans. 



all such strong words as appealed to this peculiar taste. 

 And does not this, I may ask, seem almost prophetic of 

 that high place he subsequently attained as a writer, in 

 spite of the small aid derived from the schoolroom and of 

 obstacles that would have dismayed a soul less strong? 

 Scarcely less noticeable also was the ample storehouse of 

 facts and observations he had accumulated upon almost 

 every conceivable subject, indicating a *^oracious hunger 

 for information and a natural ability to gratify it even out- 

 side the traditional means furnished by our systems of 

 education. 



Having different studies and classes, I am not able to 

 speak of his standing or proficiency, except to state that he 

 seemed a diligent scholar and deeply interested in the dis- 

 charge of every duty. Between recitations it was our wont 

 to seek the shelter and shade of an open shed near by, and 

 in the comfortable seat of a cutter* standing there in sum- 

 mer quarters we passed many an hour with our books and 

 in the abandon of school-fellow talk. He spoke often of 

 his desire to fit himself for active life with the best educa- 

 tional training in his power, but expressed the fear that his 

 eyes would not permit him to accomplish all he wished. As 

 I was about to enter college, he frequently referred to the 

 advantages of such an opportunity, though I do not remem- 

 ber that he ever expressed any intention to enter upon the 

 acquisition of what is generally termed a " liberal educa- 

 tion." Its chief attraction to him seemed to be in the vast 

 storehouse of science, literature, and general knowledge to 

 which a college life was supposed to give access, and in 

 which his insatiate thirst for information could be fully 

 gratified. With the close of the first term our personal in- 

 tercourse was interrupted, never again to be renewed ; but 



* For my British readers this word needs defining. A cutter is " a 

 small, light sleigh, with a single seat for one or two persons, usually drawn 

 by one horse." — Century Dictionary, s. v. 



