The Man and His Work. 385 



house the last two nights with the pupils of the schools, let in 

 free a capital arrangement, as I would always much rather talk 

 to them than to old folks. I gave them a piece of my mind (in a 

 dignified way), at the close of the last lecture, and it was a 

 successful hit. I turned the tables, and showed that it was those 

 who betrayed their skepticism as to the safe effects of demonstrat- 

 ed truth wlio were the real infidels 'infidels,' unfaithful. At 

 the close of the lecture a certain Mr. Mitchell, member of the 

 Presbyterian church and president of the bank, a splendid man, 

 the perfect image of Uncle Good, came up to the platform and 

 collected the committee together. He then said : ' I will myself 

 stand the expense of an immediate repetition of this course free, 

 if Prof. Youmans will stay and deliver it.' They lost $300 on the 

 course. The price was $400 for my series, but they quietly, 

 without explanation, handed me $860 $90 apiece which, of 

 course, I accepted without objection." 



The fact that Prof. Youmans was a good lecturer is attested by 

 the circumstance that he could speak two hours without wearying 

 the audience. I will read from one more letter, which records the 

 speaker's own estimate that he had reached the summit of his 

 lecturing career. He writes from Fairibault: 



"This is a little place of a thousand people, but they gave me 

 a fine house last night, and I in turn gave them (pardon me) a fine 

 lecture, 'The Rise and Influence of Modern Science.' I happened 

 to be in the best of trim, and they happened to have the most 

 agreeable place to speak in. (I tumbled off the platform twice, 

 and we all had the jolliest kind of a time.) I spoke two hours, 

 and a committee of gentlemen, among whom was the Chief 

 Justice of this State and the Attorney-General, called on me this 

 morning with enthusiastic assurances that the audience would 

 have gladly staid two hours longer. It was the best and most 

 telling lecture I ever gave in my life upon any subject. They 

 gave me $100, with a profusion of thanks, and urged me very hard 

 to stop and lecture again on my way back, which is now impos- 

 sible, I am all right here for the future, at $100 a night the top 

 of my lecturing ambition." 



Prof. Youmans was a broadly educated man. It would be a 

 mistake to suppose that his advocacy of scientific studies as 

 against classical in the schools arose from deficiency in classical 

 education. On the contrary, his sister tells us, in her biogi-aphical 

 sketch in the Popular Science Monthly, how with him classical 

 studies preceded his scientific training, and inclined his mind 

 first toward language. After a classical education he became 

 satisfied tliat more science was needed. Indeed, it was Mr. 

 Spencer's treatise on "Edvication" which first influenced his 

 mind toward Spencerian philosophy. He had asked himself the 

 question of that treatise, "What knowledge is of most worth ?" 

 And there he found his answer; in that answer he constructed 

 his own work as an educator knowledge, scientific knowledge, 

 first in all things. 



But though first a scientist. Prof. Youmans was not forgetful 

 of other branches of literature tlian the scientific. He was fond 

 of poetry. He was not a novel-reader, nor did he esi^ecially 



