St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-09-20

VI acquisition VI kUOWleuBe tHdt
have enabled him to provide mental
nutriment of a most invigorating
kind, to thousands and thousands of
delighted people on two continents.
At seven years Of age he was read
ing Caesar, and had read Rollin,
Josephus, and Goldsmith's Greece.
Before he was eight he had read the
whole OF Shakespeare, and a great
deal of Milton, Bunyan, and Pope.
He began, at nine, the study Of
Greek. BY eleven he had read Glib.
bon, Robertson, Prescott. and most
of Froissart.
At the same age he wrote from
memory, quarto of sixty pages OF
chronological data from b. {. 1000
to A. D. 1920 At twelve he had
read most OF the Collectanea Greeca
Majora, and at thirteen had read the
whole Of Virgil, Horace, Tacitus,
Sallust, and Suetonius and much OF
Livy, Cicero, Ovid, Catullus, and
Juvenal.
With the same astounding avidity
he had acquired Euclid, plane and
spherical trigonometry, surveying
and navigation, and analytic geome-
try, and was well into the differen-
tial calculus At fifteen he could read
Plato and Herodotus at sight and
was beginning German.
The next year he was keeping his
diary in Spanish, and was reading
French, Italian and Portuguese. He
began Hebrew at seventeen, and
Sauskrit the next year. Meantime
this all devouring reader was hard
at work in science.
He averaged twelve hours daily
study before he was sixteen, and
fifteen after, for twelve months of
the year.
His college life was quite as active.
His linguistic pursuits cover a wide
range OF modern languages. He was
two years at the Law School and
took his degree. In 1869 he gave
course of lectures on the Positive
Philosophy, at Harvard University;
and in 1871 course of thirty-6ve
lectures on the Doctrine of Evou.
ton, afterwards eXpounded into his
Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy.
Since 1879 he has severed all
academic connections, excepting
as an Overseer of Harvard, and de-
voted himself entirely to writing and
lecturing. He is lucid expositor OF
Spencer and Darwin. His two
notable contributions, The Destiny
of Man and The Idea of God marked
a new era in scientific thought. Of
late he has lectured to large audiences
and won the attention of thousands
of readers, while he has expounded
the subtle influences that have
wrought out the mighty structure of
the American Union.
His tremendous activity in the &C.
QUESTION of knowledge has been
quite equalled by his great energy in
productive work. Besides innumer-
able articles for the magazines, and
the books already cited, he has writ
ten Myths and Mythmakers, The
Unseen World and other Essays, Ex-
of an Evolutionist, Darwin
ism and other Essays, The Critical
Period of American History, The
Beginnings OF New England, The
War of Independence, The Discovery
and Spanish Occupation of America,
Civil Government in the United
States, and American Political Ideas.
His style is so picturesque and his
thought so easily understood, that
everyone who hears or reads him is
delighted and instructed. Young
and old, of all classes and conditions
unite in the decision that Mr.. Fiske
is a master in the art of portra wing
the decisive characteristics OF men
and events.
st. Johnsbury is to be congratulate
ted that this eminent lecturer has
consented to point out to us on the
evenings of Tuesdays Oct. /, IS and
Nov. II, &c, Some of the Forma tive
Influences in the History ofthe Amer
lean Union" The times of Hamilton,
Jefferson and Jackson will be re-
viewed. S. O. TODD.