356 Memoir of William C Redfield. 



During tlie latter part of his apprenticeship he united with other 

 young raen of the village in forming a debating society under 

 the name of the *' Friendly Association," with which was con- 

 nected a small but growing library. To this humble literary 

 clubj Mr, Eedfield always ascribed no small agency in inspiring 

 him with a love of knowledge, and a high appreciation of its 

 advantages; and during his future years, he nursed and liberally 

 aided by his contributions this benefactor of his youth. 



Fortunately for young Eedfield, a distinguished and learned 

 physician, Dr. William Tully, fixed his residence in the same vil- 

 lage, and generously opened to him his extensive and well-selected 

 library ; and what must have been equally inspiring to youthful 

 genius, Dr. Tully furnished him with a model of an enthusiastic 

 devotee to knowledge, and of a mind richly stored with intel- 

 lectual wealth. The modest youth who first presented himself 

 as a suppliant for the loan of a book from the Doctor's library, 

 was soon recognized as a congenial spirit, and was admitted to 

 an intimate friendship, w^hich lasted to the day of his death. Dr. 

 Tully has favored us with the particulars of his iirst acquaint- 

 ance with our friend. On his application for a book to occupy 

 such moments as he could redeem from his daily tasks, the Doc- 

 tor, being then ignorant of his acquirements or his taste, opened 

 different cases of his library, submitting the contents of each to 

 his selection. Among a great variety of authors, that which deter- 

 mined his choice was Sir Humphry Davy's Elements of Chemis- 

 try. As this was one of the earliest systematic works that con- 

 tained the doctrine of Chemical Equivalents, a subject then con- 

 sidered as peculiarly difficult, and one understood by few readers 

 of the work, the Doctor had little expectation that his young 

 inquirer after knowledge, would either understand or relish it. 

 In a short time he returned the book, and surprised the Doctor 

 by evincing a thorough acquaintance wuth its contents, and ex- 

 pressing a high satisfaction, in particular, with the doctrine of 

 chemical equivalents, which, he said, he had then met with for 

 the first time. 



Some time before young Eedfield reached the end of his ap- 

 prenticeship, his widowed mother had married and removed to 

 the state of Ohio. He was no sooner master of his time than he 

 set out on foot to pay her a visit in her new home, distant more 

 than seven hundred miles. It was a formidable undertaking, m 

 that early period before the age of steamboats and railways, and 

 when a large part of the way was covered with dense forests, 

 with hardly an open path even for the pedestrian. Stage coaches, 

 indeed, ran on the nearer portions of the route, but these were 



his knapsack and commenced the arduous journey, . 



ning he noted down the incidents and observations of the day 



