=F eae 
~ * é 
- The American Geologist. January, 1902. 
Edward’s early training was severe and protracted. His 
parents were unable to do more than to guide and instruct him 
at home. His good mother was, in many respects, a remarka- 
ble woman and her counsel and admonition made lasting im- 
pressions upon his character. In classical lore, his father was 
very proficient, and with his aid the son made such rapid 
progress that, at fifteen, he was able to assist in teaching. Two ~ 
years later he passed the matriculation examinations of the 
university of London, but was pecuniarily unable to avail him- 
self of further advantages of that non-instructing body, which 
at that time required graduation from certain accredited schools 
as a preliminary to the granting of degrees. These restric- 
tions being removed in 1859, he soon after met all the require- 
ments for both the baccalaureate degrees, in arts and scicnce. 
There would have been no great difficulty in obtaining the ad- 
vanced degree of doctor of science at this time, by further ex- 
aminations, but Mr. Claypole refused to do this, upon principle; 
and he, therefore, waited many years until the terms for grant- 
ing this degree had been so altered as to make it an honor 
worth having. Accordingly, he then presented some original 
work and was highly complimented when the degree was con- 
ferred upon him in 1888. 
Whatever we may think of the scholastic methods of the — 
period of his youth, there can be no two opinions regarding 
the advantages of the old classical drill, in linguistic results, 
to such, at least, as were worthy to survive its drudgery. Here 
we have the secret of his remarkable power of expression, his 
masterful command of the English language. One of the 
strongest features of our friend’s influence in the world was 
the adequate use of rhetoric. His pen and voice invariably 
attested his classical training, although they never lost sight of 
the sturdy power of clean-cut Saxon deprived of its sting. 
Two sisters of his mother, residing at Cheltenham, England, 
gave him his first inspiration towards the study of nature, when 
he was but a boy of 10 or 12 years of age. They encouraged 
him to observe and classify plants and to collect fossils from 
the quarries near by. Later, while teaching others, he laid 
the groundwork in other branches of science, though pos- 
sessed of scant opportunities and more meager facilities. Old 
bottles and wisps of straw with original apparatus constructed 
