Harvard memorial biographies ...

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Harvard Memorial Biograpzies.

the school by his oratory, and on one occasion, at least, electrified his auditors by a burst of genuine eloquence. Not only
was his command of language large, his perception of the
ludicrous keen, and his powers of sarcasm and ridicule strong,
-but he had a fire and passion in his speaking that came
from natural intensity of feeling. Well prepared; and with
this school reputation, he entered Harvard College in July,
1855.
While at Harvard, his estimate of college rank was not sufficiently high to secure very patient and constant application to
the studies of his Class; he was a quick and bright scholar,
with a thorough foundation well laid, but he trusted much to
his ability to use his powers on the spur of the call to recite.
With a mind more than usually logical and analytic, with a
strong love for argument, he yet was less apt at mathematics,
and, perhaps, as suggested by a classmate, his characteristic
temperament " could not take interest in anything so wanting in
novelty, and the result of which was so predetermined." He
was very fond of the debates in the " Anonyma" and the
" Institute," and noted as a keen and telling speaker. He was
also eminent among his classmates, and upon the scale of
marks, for ability as a writer. His reputation in college was a
marked one, but for some causes to be presently mentioned,
not so distinguished as his friends had anticipated. He was
very influential during the early part of the course; his fluency
of speech and ardor and mobility of nature rendering him a
very attractive companion. But later in his college life he
became more and more absorbed in anxieties, pursuits, labors,
and pleasures other than those of college. His inclinations
and his sense of duty led him more and more away from
college scenes and associates, and his purely scholastic acquisitions and distinction were in consequence not what they
otherwise would have been, and were expected to be, by those
who best knew his abilities.
In the winter of 1854, while a boy yet under sixteen years
of age, his attention was drawn by apparently slight causes to
an investigation of the Roman Catholic belief. He attended