1 68 Edward Livingston Youmans. 



friendship such as hardly comes but once to a man. 

 At that first meeting I knew nothing of him except 

 that he was the author of a text-book of chemistry 

 which I had found interesting in spite of its having 

 been crammed down my throat by an old-fashioned 

 memorizing teacher who, I am convinced, never really 

 knew so much as the difference between oxygen and 

 antimony. At first it was a matter of breathless in- 

 terest to talk with a man who had seen Herbert Spen- 

 cer; but one of the immediate results of this inter- 

 view was the beginning of my own correspondence 

 and life-long friendship with Mr. Spencer. And from 

 that time forth it always seemed as if, whenever any 

 of the good or lovely things of life came to my lot, 

 somehow or other Edward Youmans was either the 

 cause of it, or, at any rate, intimately concerned with 

 it. The sphere of his unselfish goodness was so wide 

 and its quality so potent that one could not come 

 into near relations with him without becoming in all 

 manner of unsuspected ways strengthened and en- 

 riched. 



His next letter, in which his scheme has taken on 

 still more definite shape as to the volume of essays, is 

 highly characteristic : 



NEW YORK, December 14, 1863. 



MY DEAR MR. SPENCER : Your favour of November i8th 

 reached me about a week since. I was very glad to get it, 

 as it put an end to my suspense and settled at once what 

 was to be done. ... I like the prospect of the volume of 

 selected essays, and am glad that you agree to the notion 

 of a new title. Either of the titles you suggest might an- 

 swer, but I have thought that with more time you might 

 perhaps improve them. I think it important that the term 

 "progress" should be incorporated in the title, but should 



