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clock.’ I told him we must ask his father for some tools, 
and perhaps he would succeed; and he did succeed, — con- 
structing a clock in all its parts, with face, hands, &e., and 
which went for a time, being duly mounted on the kitchen 
shelf, and for making which his only tools were a pair of 
scissors and a jackknife. 
“ After that, his father procured him a small chest of tools, 
and from that day he had full employment for every leisure 
hour. The attic was appropriated for his wood-work, and 
the back piazza for his crucibles, castings, &c. Most of his 
leisure time before entering college was devoted to making 
a telescope, which proved to be quite a good instrument, and 
which he sold toa gentleman from Catskill, soon after he 
entered college, He made also a camera-obscura, which 
afforded a fund of amusement to himself and his playmates, 
and a press for binding books. As long as his father lived 
he used the blank books with which the boy supplied him at 
this time. 
“When fitting for college, while visiting some mechanic's 
shop, in pursuit of material or instruction, he came in contact 
with EBENEZER Mason, who was then one of Yale’s en- 
thusiastic astronomers, and at once there sprung up between 
the young man and the boy a kindly sympathy. Mason 
introduced the lad to his own chosen associates in study, in- 
vited him to their rooms for work, experiments, &c.; and 
from that day his scientific life began in earnest. Nothing 
could make him so happy as permission to spend the even- 
ing he could spare from daily lessons with Mason and 
Hamitton Situ; and, when in college, to be invited to 
watch shooting-stars or take observations with Mr. HER- 
RICK, was the greatest boon the world could afford him. 
His standing in college was abové mediocrity, but not what 
he could easily have made it. His mind was so entirely 
