368 Obituary. 



" Alexander Metcalf Fisher, late Professor of Math- 

 ematics and Natural Philosophy in Yale College, was born 

 in Franklin, Massachusetts, in the year 1794, July 22; the 

 oiliest chi!d of his parents, wiio still live to mourn, with 

 their remaining children, his untimely death. Of his 

 childhood and early youth, it may be sufficient to state, shat 

 he soon discovered an aptitude for learning, and a strong 

 desire for a public education, — a disposition which his pa- 

 rents very wisely determined to foster and indulge. After 

 completing the preparatory course of study, he entered 

 Yale College in the year 1809. Here he was immediately 

 distinguished for his sobriety, his diligence, his scrupulous 

 attention to all the regulations of the College, and his rapid 

 advances in the studies of his class. So early did his real 

 character as a scholar unfold itself, that in the very first term 

 of his c)llege life, he look a place among his companions, 

 where he saw no superior, — a station which he never relin- 

 quished." 



" It deserves, likewise, to be here mentioned, that he 

 early gave evidence of an independence of mind, a disre- 

 gard of the opinion and practices of otuers where they at 

 all interfered with his own views of right, — as honourable 

 as it is rare, and which, perhaps, more than even his native 

 sagacity and penetration, contributed to his success as a 

 scholar. If he wished to secure the approbation and es- 

 teem of those around him, he knew well, it was not to be 

 sought by connivance at faults or base compliance with 

 corrupt solicitations, but to be commanded by a resolute 

 performance of his duties as a member of the institution, 

 and a strict obedience to the dictates of his own con- 

 science." 



"At every exercise, whether recitation or lecture, he was 

 always present, always attentive, and always prepared." 



"Yet in this exact and punctilious attention to his duties 

 as a student, he was never, it is believed, suspected by any 

 one of his companions io be influenced by unworthy mo- 

 tives: — the honours of College were his right; every one 

 admitted his deserts ; he looked for no favours, and practi- 

 ced no artifice. His preeminence in scholarship caused 

 no relaxation of his efforts. His industry was unremitted; 

 and his attachment to knowledge seemed strengthened as 

 his acquisitions increased." 



