LOUIS AGASSIZ 39 



have entertained very conservative views 

 on the possibility of self-support for a 

 man of no profession except professor- 

 ship, although they never urged the 

 lack of practical, wage -measured utility 

 as a reproach against knowledge herself, 

 but only as an excellent reason why their 

 own particular penniless Louis should 

 have a bread-winning profession (like 

 that of medicine) as a preliminary. No- 

 where in their letters is there a sordid 

 ideal of success : they never overvalue 

 wealth or undervalue intellectual pleas- 

 ure, but they speak constantly of good 

 citizenship, and of the shame of depend- 

 ence on others. Louis was already be- 

 trothed to Cecile Braun, and he had no 

 dollar of income what was he to do ? 



His passionate desire to give himself 

 wholly to science, his growing distaste 

 for the daily work of a physician, and 

 his pleading with his parents give us a 

 vivid and pathetic picture, our feelings 

 being saved by our knowledge of the 



