358 AS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT-V 



have burned a copy of it publicly in one of the college 

 quadrangles. He seemed somewhat dismayed at my ques- 

 tion, and said, in a nervous sort of way, "That was a 

 young man's book a young man's folly," and passed 

 rapidly to other subjects. 



From the stimulus given by the non-resident professors 

 the resident faculty reaped much advantage. It might 

 well be said that the former shook the bush and the latter 

 caught the birds. What is most truthfully stated on the 

 tablet to Professor Agassiz in the Cornell Memorial Chapel 

 of the university might, in great part, be said of all the 

 others. It runs as follows: 



"To the memory of Louis Agassiz, LL.D. In the midst 

 of great labors for science, throughout the world, he 

 aided in laying the foundations of instruction at Cornell 

 University, and, by his teachings here, gave an impulse to 

 scientific studies, which remains a precious heritage. The 

 trustees, in gratitude for his counsels and teachings, erect 

 this memorial. 1884." 



An incidental benefit of the system was its happy in- 

 fluence upon the resident professors. Coming from 

 abroad, and of recognized high position, the non-residents 

 brought a very happy element to our social life. No vet- 

 eran of our faculty is likely to forget the charm they 

 diffused among us. To meet Agassiz socially was a de- 

 light ; nor was it less a pleasure to sit at table with Lowell 

 or Curtis. Of the many good stories told us by Lowell, I 

 remember one especially. During a stay in Paris he dined 

 with Sainte-Beuve, and took occasion to ask that most 

 eminent of French critics which he thought the greater 

 poet, Lamartine or Victor Hugo. Sainte-Beuve, shrug- 

 ging his shoulders, replied: "Eh bien, charlatan pour 

 charlatan, je pref ere Lamartine. ' ' This provoked another 

 story, which was that, being asked by an American 

 professor whether in his opinion the Empire of Napo- 

 leon III was likely to endure, Sainte-Beuve, who was a 

 salaried senator of the Empire, answered with a shrug, 

 "Monsieur, je suis paye pour le croire." Agassiz also 



