第4章

WhenwereachedDresdenweyoungerchildrenwerelefttospendthesummerinthehouseofHerrMinckwitz，amemberofeithertheMunicipalortheSaxonGovernment——Ihaveforgottenwhich。ItwashopedthatinthiswaywewouldacquiresomeknowledgeoftheGermanlanguageandliterature。Theyweretheverykindestfamilyimaginable。

Ishallneverforgettheunweariedpatienceofthetwodaughters。Thefatherandmother，andashy，thin，studentcousinwhowaslivingintheflat，werenolesskind。WheneverIcouldgetoutintothecountryIcollectedspecimensindustriouslyandenlivenedthehouseholdwithhedge-hogsandothersmallbeastsandreptileswhichpersistedinescapingfrompartiallyclosedbureaudrawers。ThetwosonswerefascinatingstudentsfromtheUniversityofLeipsic，bothofthembelongingtoduelingcorps，andmuchscarredinconsequence。One，afamousswordsman，wascalled/DerRotheHerzog/(theRedDuke)，andtheotherwasnicknamed/HerrNasehorn/(SirRhinoceros)becausethetipofhisnosehadbeencutoffinaduelandsewnonagain。I

learnedagooddealofGermanhere，inspiteofmyself，andaboveallIbecamefascinatedwiththeNibelungenlied。GermanproseneverbecamereallyeasytomeinthesensethatFrenchprosedid，butforGermanpoetryIcaredasmuchasforEnglishpoetry。Aboveall，IgainedanimpressionoftheGermanpeoplewhichInevergotover。FromthattimetothisitwouldhavebeenquiteimpossibletomakemefeelthattheGermanswerereallyforeigners。Theaffection，the/Gemuthlichkeit/(aqualitywhichcannotbeexactlyexpressedbyanysingleEnglishword)，thecapacityforhardwork，thesenseofduty，thedelightinstudyingliteratureandscience，theprideinthenewGermany，themorethankindandfriendlyinterestinthreestrangechildren——allthesemanifestationsoftheGermancharacterandofGermanfamilylifemadeasubconsciousimpressionuponmewhichIdidnotintheleastdefineatthetime，butwhichisveryvividstillfortyyearslater。

WhenIgotbacktoAmerica，attheageoffifteen，IbeganseriousstudytoenterHarvardunderMr。ArthurCutler，wholaterfoundedtheCutlerSchoolinNewYork。IcouldnotgotoschoolbecauseIknewsomuchlessthanmostboysofmyageinsomesubjectsandsomuchmoreinothers。InscienceandhistoryandgeographyandinunexpectedpartsofGermanandFrenchIwasstrong，butlamentablyweakinLatinandGreekandmathematics。MygrandfatherhadmadehissummerhomeinOysterBayanumberofyearsbefore，andmyfathernowmadeOysterBaythesummerhomeofhisfamilyalso。AlongwithmycollegepreparatorystudiesIcarriedontheworkofapracticalstudentofnaturalhistory。Iworkedwithgreaterindustrythaneitherintelligenceorsuccess，andmadeveryfewadditionstothesumofhumanknowledge；

buttothisdaycertainobscureornithologicalpublicationsmaybefoundinwhicharerecordedsuchitemsas，forinstance，thatononeoccasionafish-crow，andonanotheranIpswichsparrow，wereobtainedbyoneTheodoreRoosevelt，Jr。，atOysterBay，ontheshoreofLongIslandSound。

Inthefallof1876IenteredHarvard，graduatingin1880。I

thoroughlyenjoyedHarvard，andIamsureitdidmegood，butonlyinthegeneraleffect，fortherewasverylittleinmyactualstudieswhichhelpedmeinafterlife。Morethanoneofmyownsonshavealreadyprofitedbytheirfriendshipwithcertainoftheirmastersinschoolorcollege。Icertainlyprofitedbymyfriendshipwithoneofmytutors，Mr。Cutler；andinHarvardIowedmuchtotheprofessorofEnglish，Mr。A。S。Hill。Doubtlessthroughmyownfault，IsawalmostnothingofPresidentEliotandverylittleoftheprofessors。IoughttohavegainedmuchmorethanIdidgainfromwritingthethemesandforensics。Myfailuretodosomayhavebeenpartlyduetomytakingnointerestinthesubjects。BeforeIleftHarvardIwasalreadywritingoneortwochaptersofabookIafterwardspublishedontheNavalWarof1812。Thosechaptersweresodrythattheywouldhavemadeadictionaryseemlightreadingbycomparison。Still，theyrepresentedpurposeandseriousinterestonmypart，nottheperfunctoryefforttodowellenoughtogetacertainmark；andcorrectionsofthembyaskilledoldermanwouldhaveimpressedmeandhavecommandedmyrespectfulattention。ButIwasnotsufficientlydevelopedtomakemyselftakeanintelligentinterestinsomeofthesubjectsassignedme——thecharacteroftheGracchi，forinstance。A

verycleverandstudiousladwouldnodoubthavedoneso，butI

personallydidnotgrowuptothisparticularsubjectuntilagoodmanyyearslater。ThefrigateandsloopactionsbetweentheAmericanandBritishsea-tigersof1812weremuchmorewithinmygrasp。I

workeddrearilyattheGracchibecauseIhadto；myconscientiousandmuch-to-be-pitiedprofessordraggingmethroughthethemebymainstrength，withmyfeetfirmlyplantedindullandtotallyidea-proofresistance。

Ihadatthetimenoideaofgoingintopubliclife，andIneverstudiedelocutionorpracticeddebating。Thiswasalosstomeinoneway。Inanotherwayitwasnot。PersonallyIhavenottheslightestsympathywithdebatingcontestsinwhicheachsideisarbitrarilyassignedagivenpropositionandtoldtomaintainitwithouttheleastreferencetowhetherthosemaintainingitbelieveinitornot。Iknowthatunderoursystemthisisnecessaryforlawyers，butI

emphaticallydisbelieveinitasregardsgeneraldiscussionofpolitical，social，andindustrialmatters。Whatweneedistoturnoutofourcollegesyoungmenwithardentconvictionsonthesideoftheright；notyoungmenwhocanmakeagoodargumentforeitherrightorwrongastheirinterestbidsthem。Thepresentmethodofcarryingondebatesonsuchsubjectsas“OurColonialPolicy。”or“TheNeedofaNavy。”or“TheProperPositionoftheCourtsinConstitutionalQuestions。”encouragespreciselythewrongattitudeamongthosewhotakepartinthem。Thereisnoefforttoinstillsincerityandintensityofconviction。Onthecontrary，thenetresultistomakethecontestantsfeelthattheirconvictionshavenothingtodowiththeirarguments。IamsorryIdidnotstudyelocutionincollege；butIamexceedinglygladthatIdidnottakepartinthetypeofdebateinwhichstressislaid，notupongettingaspeakertothinkrightly，butongettinghimtotalkgliblyonthesidetowhichheisassigned，withoutregardeithertowhathisconvictionsareortowhattheyoughttobe。

Iwasareasonablygoodstudentincollege，standingjustwithinthefirsttenthofmyclass，ifIrememberrightly；althoughIamnotsurewhetherthismeansthetenthofthewholenumberthatenteredorofthosethatgraduated。IwasgivenaPhiBetaKappa“key。”Mychiefinterestswerescientific。WhenIenteredcollege，Iwasdevotedtoout-of-doorsnaturalhistory，andmyambitionwastobeascientificmanoftheAudubon，orWilson，orBaird，orCouestype——amanlikeHartMerriam，orFrankChapman，orHornaday，to-day。MyfatherhadfromtheearliestdaysinstilledintometheknowledgethatIwastoworkandtomakemyownwayintheworld，andIhadalwayssupposedthatthismeantthatImustenterbusiness。Butinmyfreshmanyear(hediedwhenIwasasophomore)hetoldmethatifIwishedtobecomeascientificmanIcoulddoso。HeexplainedthatImustbesurethatIreallyintenselydesiredtodoscientificwork，becauseifIwentintoitImustmakeitaseriouscareer；thathehadmadeenoughmoneytoenablemetotakeupsuchacareeranddonon-remunerativeworkofvalue/ifIintendedtodotheverybestworktherewasinme/；butthatImustnotdreamoftakingitupasadilettante。HealsogavemeapieceofadvicethatIhavealwaysremembered，namely，that，ifI

wasnotgoingtoearnmoney，Imusteventhingsupbynotspendingit。

Asheexpressedit，Ihadtokeepthefractionconstant，andifIwasnotabletoincreasethenumerator，thenImustreducethedenominator。Inotherwords，ifIwentintoascientificcareer，I

mustdefinitelyabandonallthoughtoftheenjoymentthatcouldaccompanyamoney-makingcareer，andmustfindmypleasureselsewhere。

AfterthisconversationIfullyintendedtomakesciencemylife-work。

Ididnot，forthesimplereasonthatatthattimeHarvard，andI

supposeourothercolleges，utterlyignoredthepossibilitiesofthefaunalnaturalist，theoutdoornaturalistandobserverofnature。Theytreatedbiologyaspurelyascienceofthelaboratoryandthemicroscope，asciencewhoseadherentsweretospendtheirtimeinthestudyofminuteformsofmarinelife，orelseinsection-cuttingandthestudyofthetissuesofthehigherorganismsunderthemicroscope。

Thisattitudewas，nodoubt，inpartduetothefactthatinmostcollegesthentherewasanotalwaysintelligentcopyingofwhatwasdoneinthegreatGermanuniversities。Thesoundrevoltagainstsuperficialityofstudyhadbeencarriedtoanextreme；thoroughnessinminutiaeastheonlyendofstudyhadbeenerectedintoafetish。

Therewasatotalfailuretounderstandthegreatvarietyofkindsofworkthatcouldbedonebynaturalists，includingwhatcouldbedonebyoutdoornaturalists——thekindofworkwhichHartMerriamandhisassistantsintheBiologicalSurveyhavecarriedtosuchahighdegreeofperfectionasregardsNorthAmericanmammals。Intheentirelyproperdesiretobethoroughandtoavoidslipshodmethods，thetendencywastotreatasnotserious，asunscientific，anykindofworkthatwasnotcarriedonwithlaboriousminutenessinthelaboratory。Mytastewasspecializedinatotallydifferentdirection，andIhadnomoredesireorabilitytobeamicroscopistandsection-

cutterthantobeamathematician。AccordinglyIabandonedallthoughtofbecomingascientist。DoubtlessthismeantthatIreallydidnothavetheintensedevotiontosciencewhichIthoughtIhad；for，ifI

hadpossessedsuchdevotion，Iwouldhavecarvedoutacareerformyselfsomehowwithoutregardtodiscouragements。

Asregardspoliticaleconomy，Iwasofcoursewhileincollegetaughtthe/laissez-faire/doctrines——oneofthembeingfreetrade——thenacceptedascanonical。MostAmericanboysofmyageweretaughtbothbytheirsurroundingsandbytheirstudiescertainprincipleswhichwereveryvaluablefromthestandpointofNationalinterest，andcertainotherswhichwereverymuchthereverse。Thepoliticaleconomistswerenotespeciallytoblameforthis；itwasthegeneralattitudeofthewriterswhowroteforusofthatgeneration。Takemybeloved/OurYoungFolks/，themagazineofwhichIhavealreadyspoken，andwhichtaughtmemuchmorethananyofmytext-books。

Everythinginthismagazineinstilledtheindividualvirtues，andthenecessityofcharacterasthechieffactorinanyman’ssuccess——ateachinginwhichInowbelieveassincerelyasever，forallthelawsthatthewitofmancandevisewillnevermakeamanaworthycitizenunlesshehaswithinhimselftherightstuff，unlesshehasself-

reliance，energy，courage，thepowerofinsistingonhisownrightsandthesympathythatmakeshimregardfuloftherightsofothers。AllthisindividualmoralityIwastaughtbythebooksIreadathomeandthebooksIstudiedatHarvard。Buttherewasalmostnoteachingoftheneedforcollectiveaction，andofthefactthatinadditionto，notasasubstitutefor，individualresponsibility，thereisacollectiveresponsibility。BookssuchasHerbertCroly’s“PromiseofAmericanLife“andWalterE。Weyl’s“NewDemocracy“wouldgenerallyatthattimehavebeentreatedeitherasunintelligibleorelseaspureheresy。

TheteachingwhichIreceivedwasgenuinelydemocraticinoneway。Itwasnotsodemocraticinanother。Igrewintomanhoodthoroughlyimbuedwiththefeelingthatamanmustberespectedforwhathemadeofhimself。ButIhadalso，consciouslyorunconsciously，beentaughtthatsociallyandindustriallyprettymuchthewholedutyofthemanlayinthusmakingthebestofhimself；thatheshouldbehonestinhisdealingswithothersandcharitableintheold-fashionedwaytotheunfortunate；butthatitwasnopartofhisbusinesstojoinwithothersintryingtomakethingsbetterforthemanybycurbingtheabnormalandexcessivedevelopmentofindividualisminafew。NowIdonotmeanthatthistrainingwasbyanymeansallbad。Onthecontrary，theinsistenceuponindividualresponsibilitywas，andis，andalwayswillbe，aprimenecessity。TeachingofthekindIabsorbedfrombothmytext-booksandmysurroundingsisahealthyanti-scorbutictothesentimentalitywhichbycomplacentlyexcusingtheindividualforallhisshortcomingswouldfinallyhopelesslyweakenthespringofmoralpurpose。Italsokeepsalivethatvirilevigorforthelackofwhichintheaverageindividualnopossibleperfectionoflaworofcommunityactioncaneveratone。Butsuchteaching，ifnotcorrectedbyotherteaching，meansacquiescenceinariotoflawlessbusinessindividualismwhichwouldbequiteasdestructivetorealcivilizationasthelawlessmilitaryindividualismoftheDarkAges。IleftcollegeandenteredthebigworldowingmorethanIcanexpresstothetrainingIhadreceived，especiallyinmyownhome；butwithmuchelsealsotolearnifIweretobecomereallyfittedtodomypartintheworkthatlayaheadforthegenerationofAmericanstowhichI

belonged。