LEWIS D. VON SCHWEIN1TZ. 
7 
assiduously devoted. Being.the eldest son of his parents, 
and, at that period, of delicate constitution, it is reason¬ 
able to suppose that maternal influences had much to do 
in the developement of his faculties. It was, moreover, 
on the side of his mother that he was related to Watte- 
ville and Zinzendorf; hence, we may readily suppose 
that from this source he derived the partiality for ad¬ 
dressing to his friends short speeches and little sermons 
with which he is said occasionally to have amused the 
circle around his paternal fireside* 
We are aware that, in general, anticipations founded 
on an exhibition of precocious talents are apt to be sig¬ 
nally disappointed ; but when the display is that of an 
intellectual tendency , rather than a mere capacity for 
some one attainment, and when the spirit for mental 
labour is found capable of being directed into different 
channels at the instance of others, and does not consist 
of a blind instinct compelling the possessor to follow 
some narrow path of intellectual effort, the augury 
may, we apprehend, be received with less doubt and 
uncertainty. Such was the case with Schweinitz. 
His mind was vigorous and his temperament en¬ 
thusiastic. The first direction of these qualities was 
given by his relatives as they dwelt on the unwearied 
and successful exertions of his ancestors among the fra¬ 
ternity, in promoting whose interests he was taught to 
feel that it would be most honourable to excel; the se¬ 
cond was subsequently given by his teachers, when, by 
the casual exhibition and explanation of some specimens 
in natural history, they struck a vein of talent, part of 
