CHAPTER II 

 LIFE AND STUDY IN EUROPE 



For five years the father had been quietly watching 

 and testing his son. Very soon after receiving the 

 letter just quoted he decided to give him an amount 

 equal in value to the farm already given to each older 

 brother on the attainment of his majority. With this 

 to rely on, Mr. Johnson started at once for Germany. 

 He went first to Leipsic where he worked in Erdmann's 

 laboratory at pure chemistry, studied German, made 

 acquaintances and friends, and gradually gained a 

 sympathetic insight into German family and social life. 

 The diary, kept from the time he left New York until 

 he arrived at Munich the following year, and family 

 letters furnish a picture of his student life abroad. 

 His last letter before sailing in May 1853, is addressed 

 to his sister Sarah. In it he mentions having sent to 

 her husband his "3d of Exchange" and describes the 

 delays attending the ship's departure: 



— The Good Ship New World with all her cargo, crew and 

 passengers lies at anchor now in New York Bay, just inside 

 Sandy Hook. We left Peck Slip, foot of Beekman Street, at 

 1 o'clock P.M. We were towed out by a steamboat to our 

 present anchorage, about 18 miles from N. Y. city. We have 

 a fair wind tonight, but the crew is too drunk to warrant 

 proceeding, by morning, however, the liquor will all be gone 

 and we then expect to get under weigh for England if the 

 wind is favorable. The night is calm and starry, the old ship 



