LOUIS AGASSIZ 3 



half. Then I should like to pass four 

 years at a university in Germany, and 

 finally finish my studies in Paris, where 

 I would stay about five years. Then, at 

 the age of twenty-five, I could begin to 

 write.'' 



The apprenticeship in commerce dis- 

 appears from the future plans of the boy 

 and his parents alike, as it becomes evi- 

 dent that his passion for study is not a 

 passing taste. Many country-bred chil- 

 dren have pursued and petted and col- 

 lected without having anything come of 

 it; and so have many school-boys prickled 

 with delight over poetry and romance 

 who are content to spend their manhood 

 in chasing a sixpence from column to col- 

 umn. The parent, whose fourteen-year- 

 old son announces his intention of becom- 

 ing an author, is apt to ignore the an- 

 nouncement ; but M. and Mme. Agassiz 

 appear to have been thoroughly wise in 

 bringing up their brilliant son, and to 

 have changed their plans slowly but 



