YALE UNIVERSITY

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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE UNFOLDING LIFE

THE UNFOLDING LIFE
PASSAGES FROM THE DIARIES, NOTE
BOOKS AND LETTERS OF HOWARD
MUNRO LONGYEAR, AND FROM THE
LETTERS HE RECEIVED FROM HIS
PARENTS AND FRIENDS. ARRANGED
AND EDITED BY HENRY D. NUNN

PRIVATELY PRINTED BY D. B. UPDIKE
THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS, BOSTON, IN
THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, MDCCCCI

CHARACTER IS THE STAMP ON OUR SOULS OF THE
FREE CHOICE THAT WE HAVE MADE THROUGH LIFE
OF GOOD AND EVIL.  GEIKIE.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION xiii
CHAPTER I
Howard's infancy and early life at
HOME under THE INSTRUCTION OF HIS
MOTHER I
CHAPTER II
SCHOOL DAYS IN CLEVELAND, COVERING A
PERIOD OF NEARLY THREE YEARS II
CHAPTER III
¦ EXPERIENCES ABROAD, ESPECIALLY IN FRANCE
AND GERMANY 47
CHAPTER IV
LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL  A RECORD OF
TWO YEARS OF EARNEST THOUGHT AND HARD
STUDY 69
CHAPTER V
INKLINGS OF HOWARd's LIFE IN THE WOODS
AS DISCLOSED IN HIS NOTES OF WALKING AND
CANOEING TRIPS III
CHAPTER VI
HOWARD AS A COLLEGE MAN. THE HISTORY OF
A VERY BUSY YEAR AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY IS3
CHAPTER VII
SENTIMENTS OF SYMPATHY AND REGARD FROM
FRIENDS, TEACHERS AND CLASSMATES 183

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
THE purpose of this book is not to glorify a person
or keep a name from perishing, but to preserve the
lineaments of a charaSfer moulded by Truth and softened
by Love. This work has been undertaken in the hope
that all who read it may see beyond the mortal and tran
sient, and come in touch with the influences which en
camped round about this boy, that the spirit of noble en
deavor may be quickened in their hearts.
No one can add to the sum of goodness, for that is the
infinite fulness of God as Good. Whether he who makes
his life report the unseen Truth be a carpenter's son, a
ploughman or a poet, is of no consequence — /"/ is the life
shining as a light in the dark hours of human experi
ence that is important, and it is the light of Howard
Longy ear's life which these pages are intended to re
flect: and the life is transcribed only that the light may
be diffused.
The aim kept in view in the preparation of this his
tory was to let Howard' s journal and letters tell of his
life as far as possible, supplying the supplementary de
tails chiefly from the letters of his father and mother.
There being no desire to depiSi Howard's life in other
than its true colors, letters and extracts from his jour
nal are quoted which show how extremely hard it was
for him to heed the promptings of conscience and the
pleadings of his parents. He was not unusually will
ing to be good, or easy to lead up to the point of fer
vently desiring to improve. After the winsome innocence
of early childhood had been outgrown, the boy began

XllI

to manifest faults which would have discouraged his
mother but for her confidence, gained through Chris
tian Science, that divine Wisdom and Love would
teach her how to guide her child safely through the
maze of boyhood's temptations.
It is true that in some respeSts Howard early gave evi
dence of admirable qualities, but the " carnal mind" was
constantly at war with his higher nature. Except for
the persistent manner in which his true charaSier was
solicited to assert itself — through the loving addresses of
his mother and father and through the influence of one
who, at an important period of his life, was almost like
his own mother to him — it is not likely that Howard
would have risen much above the general state of spirit
ual twilight, in which the conscience is almost asleep.
That he did shake off the enslaving torpor of the senses
and rise up in determined rebellion against their down
ward tendencies, was due to the saving influence of
Truth. They who read thinkingly, will discover the constant
operation of Law in Howard's life. He had all the com
mon adversaries to meet, but in each encounter stood
panoplied in Truth, and prevailed. It was not any
power of his own — not human will or wisdom —
which shielded him, but the comprehension of God's
definite plan of salvation, which he had learned from
his mother's teachings and by his own study of the Bi
ble and "Science and Health with Key to the Scrip
tures," the text-book of Christian Science of which
Mary Baker G. Eddy is the author.

XIV

Howard was himself a Christian Scientist. He not
merely yielded assent to its doSirines, butaSiively sought
to exemplify them in his life. He had learned from ex
perience the surety of God's love and protection ; and
depended upon his heavenly Father for health, and for
strength to master sin, just as trustikgly as he depended
upon his earthly father for food and clothes. God was
not, to him, " a God afar off" because the boy had so often
felt His power in times of sickness and difficulty.
Howard was saved much sin and suffering by keeping
his thought always open to his mother. Beginning when
a small boy to keep a diary, he took an inventory of his
thoughts and deeds each day, and could not avoid a
close examination of his own heart. His mother put her
self in the way of receiving his confidence by treating
him with that loving compassion which never fails to
unlock the most secret chambers of the human heart.
Thus she knew his every thought, and the temptation
to multiply lies to hide secret sins was robbed of its
power. His mother says: "Howard let me read his
diaries. I have often wondered at that, but now I see
that he wanted me to know him as he was. I would say :
' Howard, your desk is untidy ; shall I clean things out
for you ? ' ' Tes, I wish you would,' he would reply.
' Well, that means to read over everything,' I always
said as a warning. ' / don't care,' would be the answer.
So I knew his inmost heart. I never read his notes or
papers at any other time."
People are generally prone to underrate the importance
of their own lives. Goodness never wears out or loses its

XV

lustre, and greatness is nothing if it be not goodness; yet
we often fail to see that being good is one with being
great. If, then, a person be doing well his common task,
living each day as righteously as he can, why should he
not intelligently value his life? Rightly appreciating
our lives, we would be apt to better them. The person
who feels that his place in the world is insignificant,
is tempted to excuse himself for inferior work and a low
standard of conduSl. It is not for the purpose of giving
emphasis to the thoughts and a£ls of Howard Longy ear
that this history of his life is given, but to emphasize
the importance of life itself, that some may be thereby
encouraged to live to higher ends than most persons try
to reach. His particular experiences point the way.
Howard's letters from his mother form a necessary part
of his history ; for they not only supply the links which
complete the chain of his human relations, but record his
spiritual growth, and afford glimpses of the inner sanc
tuary of the boy's thought. In reading these letters we
see Howard as his mother saw him. In her careful guid
ance of her child she lets it be clearly felt that she is
merely handing on the commands of God, — her Father
as well as his, — and that she holds Howard responsible
not to her, but to God.
Obedience to the arbitrary human will of another is
difficult, and when required of a mettlesome youth is apt
to lead to friction ; but in Howard's case the assertion of
human will was not necessary, and it never is necessary,
where the Divine will is honored. He and his mother
simply and sincerely accepted God as their supreme and

XVI

only law-giver, and any advice based on God's law was
not questioned by him ; although it might not be quite easy
to follow. The letters show that the mother regards her
son as an equal, indeed, as a brother, — in the highest
Christian sense, — and yet they are true motherly letters
too. They deal with all sorts of questions that come up in
the training of a child, and show how Howard's mother
handled them, in accordance with her understanding of
the Science of life. She resolutely kept her thought above
illusive forebodings and fears, clinging to the inspiring
faith that "the secret place of the most High" in spite
of contradictory appearances, is nigh.
This faith proved indeed to be "the substance of things
hoped for" when the material and visible lost their
semblance of reality; and it was this faith, "the evi
dence of things not seen" which made it possible for her
to rise above the crushing, stupefying evidence of things
seen. In the darkest hours of waiting, mother, father,
sisters and brothers remained steadfast, and sure of
God and the permanence of His handiwork : then con
solation came filling their hearts with a blessed, holy
peace. If the Christian's conception of life embraced nothing
higher or more enduring than the so-called life of the
body, he might well lament and say, " There is no God";
but having before him the example of Christ Jesus, who
overcame death, and, having experiences of his own, con
firming his faith and proving that enduring life is not
only accessible to man, but that man already moves and
has his true being in God, who alone is Life, he is un-

xvu

dismayed by that "last enemy," even though not ad
vanced far enough in understanding to overcome the
foe. Those to whom Howard Longy ear is nearest and dear
est, rejoice in the sure knowledge, — which has taken
the place of hope, — that "many waters cannot quench
love, neither can the floods drown it."

XVlll

L HOWARD'S INFANCY AND EARLY LIFE
AT HOME UNDER THE INSTRUCTION
OF HIS MOTHER
Every one is the son of his own works. — Cervantes.

I. HOWARD'S INFANCY AND EARLY LIFE
AT HOME UNDER THE INSTRUCTION
OF HIS MOTHER
HOWARD MuNRO LoNGYEAR Came into
the world apparently foredoomed to a very
brief stay. He seemed too frail to gain a
foothold among mortals; but God-given mother-
love was ready to welcome the child, tempering
the atmosphere of earth to such genial warmth that
he lived; yet lived but falteringly at first. Wanting
this nurturing love, even a King's son is an outcast :
having such love, any child is well born. Mother-
love is not personal, but it is God's great gift to in
fancy, shared by all races, nations and castes. Ad
vantages of rank or wealth to a child are as nothing
compared with God's care over him, expressed
through motherhood.
Howard's frailty touched the tenderest cords of
affedtion in the depths of-the mother-heart, and so
God richly blessed His two children. The influence
of this sandtified relationship was never outgrown,
and when the boy had come to be almost a man, the
love he bore his mother was the tender loveof alittle
child, mingled with manly reverence. Enfolded thus
together in the embrace of divine Love, mother and
son were blended in thought and affedtion, and for
the first few years of his childhood, Howard was not
happy when his mother was out of his sight. He
lacked none of the endearing graces of babyhood,
and all the family loved him with lavish devotion.
All the love he received was welcomed and he gave
back measure for measure, but the mother-love was
his refuge and retreat.

Very early the child's eager questionings by natural
steps led his mother to begin teaching him, with his
sister, the rudiments of knowledge, and delightful
hours were spent together over pidhire books and
primers. The mother was playmate, teacher and spir
itual guide. When Howard was three and his sister
four years old, their mother had a kindergarten in
the nursery, eight little friends in the neighborhood
joining the class, and all having their studies and
games together. Howard's mother was the teacher,
and the little folks called her " Miss Mollie," pre
tending that "mamma" was an entirely diiferent in
dividual. The second year the school was held in
the billiard room and was taught by a trained kin-
dergartner who was engaged to come from New
York. When Howard's two younger sisters were big
enough, the four children were taught together, un
der theirmother's care. Later on the experiment was
made of sending Howard to the public schools in
Marquette, but he was so excessively shy that it dis
tressed him greatly to be among so many children,
and it was thought best to resume lessons under his
mother's tutorship. The Scriptures had an impor
tant place in the home study. Howard had learned
to repeat passages from the Bible before he knew
how to spell out the words ; and the beautiful narra
tives about Joseph and David and Daniel, and the
history of all that Jesus did, were familiar to him
when he was very young.
When Howard was seven years old, his mother,
yearning to know more of God, turned to Christian
Science and found the light she prayed for in read
ing the text-book " Science and Health with Key to

the Scriptures," written by Mary Baker G. Eddy.
Soon afterwards it became the custom with the fam
ily, every morning after breakfast, to seek " God's
room," as the children called it, and listen to the
reading of seledions from the Bible and " Science
and Health." Although the children were never
asked to come, or rebuked if they did not appear,
they seldom lingered at the breakfast table. The cor
related teachings of the Scriptures and "Science and
Health " thus became the groundwork of Howard's
education. Among the books he delighted to hear
his mother read before he was able to master them
himself, were Bryant's translations of the Iliad and
Odyssey, which were very great favorites, and he
often chose books for his entertainment that young
children do not usually care about. His mother's
aim in her teaching was to impart to Howard and
his sister a sense of responsibility for their own pro
gress in learning ; and it was a rather solemn matter
to prove deficient in lessons, for the delinquents
were made to repeat some verse or proverb to fit the
case, in which they were brought face to face with
the ideal of right condudt from which they had de
parted. Thus when they were careless and did poor
work in writing, they were called upon to recite these
lines from one of George Eliot's poems :
" Who draws a line and satisfies his soul.
Making it crooked where it should he straight?
An idiot with an oyster-shell may draw
His lines along the sand, all wavering.
Fixing no point or pathway to a point;
An idiot one remove may choose his line.
Straggle and he content; hut God he praised, 3

Antonio Stradivari has an eye
That winces at false work and loves the true"
Along with the religious teaching, and with the
lessons in reading, writing, grammar and arithmetic,
the children were constantly drilled in manners and
aided in the formation of habits of personal neat
ness and promptness. Howard had the difficulty
boys have always experienced in acquiring these
habits, judging from the following portion of a let
ter he received from his mother when he was sepa
rated from her for a short time:
Phoenicia, N. T., July 20, 1 89 1.
My DEAR Howard : We are in the Catskills where
Rip Van Winkle took his long sleep. My ! what if
it would have the same effcdt on us. I would n't like
to spare any years of my life just now, when my
darling needs me so much.
I hope you are trying to depend wholly upon
yourself and keep your own teeth clean, and your
hair brushed. You have now, deary, a good chance
to show what a boy can do. I hope you will be kind
to Auntie and not make her any trouble. Lovingly,
Mamma. When he was nine years old his mother carefully
instrudted him regarding sex and related matters, in
order that the impure perversions of the subjedt
by older boys might not becloud his thought. The
first talk a child hears concerning sex is often of
such a nature that he is ashamed to speak of it to
his mother, and this shame locks the defiling secret
in his heart until it makes a home there for itself
and a dark brood of its kind. Howard's mother took
4

the flowers, symbols of purity and all loveliness, as
types, by use of which to clear away all mystery, and
raise the subjedt of sex to the level she wished it to
hold in his thought. She impressed upon him that
the boy who was pure in heart need not be afraid
to talk to his mother on any subjedt, and that such
a boy would not listen to talk that was unfit for his
mother's ears. She also told him how priceless is the
freedom and joy of guiltlessness.
The close comradeship of Howard and his mother
was good for him in a great many ways, but he grew
to be too dependent. To induce him to take part in
outdoor play and teach him to be more self-reliant,
ponies were bought for Howard and his oldest sis
ter, and the children were taught to ride, a diversion
they both enjoyed very much. Accompanied by a
groon;, they often took long rides in the neighbor
ing country. A turning pole was set up in the play
ground, with a thick mattress under it, and Howard
and his sister were left to gain the mastery of their
own muscles ; the mother, with bated breath, watch
ing their fearless performances, and trying not to be
anxious. The two children liked gymnastics so well
that they grew to be almost as agile as squirrels,
climbing the loftiest trees with little difficulty or fear.
When Howard went away to school he easily took
front rank in athletics and his teacher in Cleveland
said that he had "never known so fearless a boy " ;
but he was never fond of games which required him
to strive against others. What he gloried in was free
dom of adtion.
When old enough Howard was allowed to roam
the woods, but always in company with the hardy
5

son of a shipmaster, who was hired to be his com
panion and to teach him to swim. Very soon Howard
became a devoted lover of the forest. He seemed to
understand the trees, and birds, and brooks, better
than he did people, and they taught him many a
secret. It was his friendship for the trees, thus
early begun, which later determined his choice of
profession. By children of his own age, Howard was not easily
understood. H e was extremely sensitive and secretly
suffered much on that account. He felt that he was
different from others and imagined that his play
mates held aloof from him. He lived in the com
pany of thoughts which other children generally did
not share, and the freedom gained through loving,
he had yet to learn. We can never really know any
one unless we know his thoughts, and so often the
best and purest thoughts of those, even, who are
nearest us, seem turned wrong side out in the crude
encounter of ordinary intercourse, and we get no
deeper acquaintance with our friend, or enemy, or
brother, than our own fondness or prejudice per
mits. Although Howard grew to be fond of riding
his pony and of the woods and fields, he did not care
much for childish frolics and seemed to find rare
pleasure in learning ciphers and pidture languages,
even construdting them himself. This fondness for
ciphers and languages he retained in later years.
One of his very first letters to his mother was a mix
ture of English and hieroglyphics. At the end of his
letter he has drawn what looks like the scaffolding
about a half^finished smoke-stack, regarding which
he says: "Guess what this is in my new language?"
6

Then he writes a postscript in dots and dashes. In
a letter to his younger sisters, written while he was
at school, when he was about eleven years old, he
says: "I will write: 'I see the cat,' in all the differ
ent languages I know: twenty-three different lan
guages." Then followed the sentence in twenty-
three different cryptographic forms. All through his
letters and diaries there are examples of systems of
shorthand writing, hieroglyphics, cuneiform char-
adters, etc.
Even before he was ten years old, Howard had
travelled somewhat extensively for a boy. The
knowledge thus gained gave him a right sense of
the relation and scope of things. We find by notes
he obtained from his father for the purpose of com
pleting his own chronological record, that he was in
Philadelphia in December, 1887, where he had ex
cellent opportunities for storing his mind with im
pressions of early American History. In March,
1 8 8 8, he sailed for Cuba, where he found the Span
ish-American civilization of the sixteenth century
preserved almost intadt, and on the way back he
stopped in Florida. Then he made his way leisurely
northward, seeing everything historical in Norfolk,
Richmond, Jamestown and Williamsburg. After a
stay at Old Point Comfort he went to New York
by steamer, and there, too, saw much that was of
interest to him. In the spring of 1889 he visited the
Republic of Mexico, stopping en route to see Mam
moth Cave in Kentucky, Nashville, Mobile, New
Orleans, Galveston and San Antonio. In July,
1890, he was among the mountains of Idaho and
through the Yellowstone Park. The early part of
7

1 89 1 was spent in California, where he visited the
cities of importance, and places most worth see
ing, including the Yosemite Valley. He was also in
Colorado among the Rocky Mountains in 1891,
the record showing that he visited Leadville, May
seventh of that year. All these places he visited when
between six and ten years old, and everything he
saw had educative value for him. He thus obtained
an acquaintance with the main charadleristics of his
native land, its boundaries, its cities and its people,
such as few Americans of mature age possess.
Howajrd remained at home as his mother's pupil
until he was ten years old, when he had to go forth
into the world to learn other lessons, and master new
conditions.

II. SCHOOL DAYS IN CLEVELAND, COV
ERING A PERIOD OF NEARLY THREE
YEARS
A man must stand ereCf, and not be kept ereCt by others.
Marcus Aurelius.

II. SCHOOL DAYS IN CLEVELAND, COV
ERING A PERIOD OF NEARLY THREE
YEARS HOWARD entered the University School
in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1892, at ten years
of age. The change from the familiar sur
roundings of home and the love and companion
ship of his own kith and kin, to the strange and
unfamiliar precindts of a big school where he was
totally unknown, was doleful enough. His parents
were loath to part with their boy, but his own wel
fare demanded the sacrifice and they gave him up
to be taught by rough but merciful experience.
Howard faced the new conditions with a falter
ing heart. Thrust in among a lot of strange boys,
he shrank from their curious, taunting looks, and
would have given anything to be safe again in his
own home. He felt that he had been weighed in the
scales of the world and found grievously wanting.
The boys teased and worried him almost beyond
endurance and the first week or two was a very
unhappy time for him. Goaded to desperation by
the persistent nagging of his schoolmates, Howard
finally turned on one of his tormentors, — who hap
pened to be a boy much larger than himself, — and
won such respedb for his valor that persecution
ceased. After that the boys were ready to admit him
into full fellowship. Howard wrote to his mother
describing the affair as follows :
Dear Mamma: I had a fight yesterday. A big fat
boy has tormented me ever since I came here. Yes
terday in the dressing room of the gymnasium he
stuck a pin into me. I couldn't stand it any longer
II

and jumped on him and knocked him over and
pounded his head on the floor. He had to get ex
cused and go home. The next day another boy
pitched into me and I pitched back. I got my face
all scratched up. The boys haven't any of them
teased me since. Your con-fedtionate son Howard.
It was not long before he wrote again saying that
he was having a "fine time."
One of Howard's aunts was a resident of Cleve
land, so that he had some of his own kindred to go
to, and a place where he was welcome. A friend of
his mother also lived in the city, and, being a Chris
tian Scientist, she was asked to watch over Howard
and protedt him. She took the boy into her affec
tions and whenever he needed help, and asked for
it, either in sickness or in any difficulty arising in
school, this friend always gave it. During Howard's
two years' attendance at the University School, he
and his mother's friend became very close compan
ions on Saturday afternoons and Sundays, and her
letters telling of her experiences with him from time
to time, form a very good history of his life during
that period. In a reminiscent letter this lady wrote
to Howard's mother in the autumn of 1900, she
says of him : "He so often let me see Into his inner
charadler and I learned to love and trust him, and
know him as he was. He did not make many friends
among the boys, for he saw so far beyond them they
could not understand him. Many and many a happy
hour we spent together; I telling him of the things
of God, as I understood them, and he like his
way-shower, Jesus, surprising me by the depth and
breadth of his thoughts, — hidden from the world
12

because the world did not understand him and hence
called him odd. I used to tell him not to mind what
was said, for One knew him who did not judge him
wrongly, and that keeping his thoughts pure and
right in the sight of the One all-knowing God, would
do more for him than all the world could do. I often
told him when he would come to me, starving (as it
almost seemed) tg be understood, that some day he
would be known even just as he was. I knew him
from the first and I feel that God brought us to
gether for a purpose. To many when he met them
he seemed indifferent, but when he came to me, and
could be with me alone, he appeared a prophet.
Where was there ever one besides him, who would
leave all the young people as he did at the club
house on Lake Superior, and go off for all day In
the woods alone ? Yet he never felt alone, as he
told me, and when he would come back, and could
get a chance to see me, oh, how he would talk — not
like a boy, as he was called — but like a man."
HOWARD'S mother and fatherwere like older
sister and brother to him, and while ever re-
spedlful toward his parents, the boy was as fre:e as a
younger brother to speak his mind to them on any
subjedt. During the school years in Cleveland the
correspondence was tolerably one-sided, as is usu
ally the case where a boy is one of the parties to it.
At times he would seem to lapse into complete in
difference and would ignore for weeks the frequent
appeals of both father and mother to write to them.
It was a very critical stage in his development; for
evil sought by various allurements to lead him into
13

the mire. He was often enticed aside from the right
way ; but what he knew of the saving Truth, and the
watchful thought of his parents and Mrs. C, pre
vented him from straying far. Sometimes it seemed
to his motheras though Howard were slipping away
from her love and influence, but her letters show
how she resisted this discouraging thought and re
newed her faith In God and in her boy, by clinging
more closely to the spiritual logic that God is om
nipotent Love and therefore all Is well. The mo
ther's letters were always tender and loving, though
severe when severity was required, and were con
stant reminders of the brooding love of the Father-
Mother God, and of the child's duty to look to God
for help. About the first letter he received after leav
ing home says:
My own dear Boy : Do read your Bible, Howard
dear: it Is the only guide that will lead you right.
You are not alone In Cleveland: close beside you
and nearer than mother, is the Holy Spirit, who
will teach you all things. God is with you, dear one,
and will keep you from all harm. Lovingly, your
own Mamma.
Nearly every letter Howard got from his mother
at this time contained an earnest appeal to him to
study his Bible. The following extradls show how
she yearned to keep him in the right way :
Aprilio, 1 892. Read the twelfth chapter of Romans
beginning at the ninth verse. You can't get spiritual
food unless you read your Bible. Let me give you a
form for prayer, a real Christian Science prayer. If
you will put this under your pillow and read it over
every morning, I am sure you will feel the benefit.
14

I wish to know every little thing about your school,
your pleasant Saturdays and all. I will keep your
letters and you can see, when you get to be acollege
young man, what nice letters you used to write.
October i, 1 892. If you were the best scholar In the
whole school and forgot that God Is your life,
strength and health, it would amount to nothing.
I do hope, my dear boy, that you read your Bible
and that you listen every morning for the voice of
the Spirit.
November 13, 1892. I am very much pleased to see
that you try to follow the advice I give you. I am
sure you are going to make a man we will be proud
to own as our son. It Is so very pleasant for me to
have Mrs. A., Aunt H., Mrs. C. and your teach
ers all speak so well of you. I know you will be
glad to hear that your papa Is coming to Cleveland.
I hope you spend some time reading your Bible.
Did you get the tablet \Bible Texts'] I sent you?
and is It hung on your wall? and do you read it
every morning? It would be a nice attention for you
to get Mrs. A. to send Aunt H. some flowers for
her Thanksgiving table, from you. You want to do
something for her, she is so kind to you. Don't for
get it, please. You might take them over yourself.
December 14, 1892. Do, dear one, remember that
Aunt H. is the best friend you have in Cleveland. I
hope you appreciate her kindness to you. Do be sure
and go to see her before you go away ; and kiss her,
and tell her how thankful you are to her for all her
kindness. Ask Mr. A. if you can get away Wednes
day. Be sure and be polite and say "Good bye" to all
in the house, shaking hands with them, and wish-
15

ing them a " Merry Christmas." Also go to see Mrs.
C. and say "Good bye" to her, and remember your
teachers too. Ask Aunt H. for some money to treat
the boys with candy. Tell her mamma wished it.
A postscript to one of his letters from his mother
at this time says : " Keep my letters, you will be glad
to have them when you get to be a man ; they will be
a diary for you." This advice he was very careful to
heed. He seems to have saved nearly all the letters
he received from his parents, and from these we are
able to measure his progress and to understand the
trend of his thought. Extradts from these letters
would make a very complete code of laws for right
condudt under almost all circumstances. His mother
was particularly careful to have him learn always to
be grateful for the attentions of his teachers, friends
and playmates, and to have him observe all the nice
ties of good breeding.
All of the above letters were written during the
first half year of his attendance at the school in
Cleveland in 1 892. The letters from Howard's mo
ther during 1893 ^""^ ^"-^^ of home news, motherly
advice and inspiring appeals to his higher nature to
assert itself. Just after Howard had gone back to
school at the close of the Christmas holidays, Jan
uary seventh, she writes:
My own dear Boy : I have been lonesome all day.
... I don't like to look into your room, but I try
to be brave and think I mustn't let my selfish love
stand in the way of your making a useful man.
Did you go to see Mrs. C? Did you get your
trunk open? Don't forget, dear son, to be polite to
Mrs. A. and kind to H. and thankful to Aunt H.
16

and loving to grandma and to read your Bible every
day. Your loving Mamma.
Howard was not made to feel that only his faults
were noticed, for full credit was given for every
praiseworthy adlion. In the parts of a letter written
by his mother February 3, 1 893, here given, he re
ceived praise, encouragement, admonition and news,
and the hope of reward for a good record is held
out to him:
. My own dear Boy: Your last letter was the best
one I have had since your return. I felt as gay as
a lark all day just because my boy thought enough
of his mother to sit down and write her a nice letter.
We are getting along splendidly. The weather
was twenty-six degrees below zero last night and
nine degrees below this morning when the children
started off for school. How do you like your warm
flannels? We have been thinking and talking about life,
lately, and we have made up our minds it Is all a
choice. Everything depends on our choice. A scholar
who won't do work unless he is made to do it, isn't
learning in the right way. Every day we choose a
new brick in the building of our charadters. We can
have it a neat, honest, clean brick, or a slovenly, im-
perfedt one. If you dress yourself neatly, brush your
teeth, tie your shoes straight, brush your back hair,
you are choosing to build yourself into a glorious
manhood. Oh, dear boy, we do expedl so much of
you. How do you think mamma could ever bear to
have you away from home if she didn't feel that
you were growing stronger and better?
Do go and see Mrs. C. Saturday or Sunday and
17

talk to her freely of all your perplexities and she
will give you good advice. If you make a good rec
ord next month I will let you stay up until half-past
eight o'clock for a month. Your own Mamma.
Into almost every letter the faithful mother man
ages to infuse the subtle flavor of home and feed
the child's mind on an ennobling diet. September
28, 1893, she writes:
Dearest Howard: Ajax Is condemned to go to
the club house for the winter. He is getting to be
a regular tramp dog and won't mind any one. We
found a dear little kitten on the street the other
night; it is as friendly as Prosser's cat. Pont walks
very stiff legged when he sees it petted. Latin will
seem easier to you after a little while. When Mrs.
C. comes home she will tell you just how to study
it. I can see from the looks of your letter that you
are manifesting love, — remember, dear boy, that
that is what you are living for to-day. God made
you to show Him forth. I am so glad you went to
the Christian Science church and paid attention to
the sermon. You are a little careless about the use
of your capitals, "aunt helen" would really wish
more deference paid her. I am going to write Mrs.
A. to give you some money every week. If you don't
spend more than fifteen cents on things to eat. You
must buy your own pencils. Do try to save enough
to buy a knife. You can pay your car fares out of It,
too. I will furnish your paper.
Tell me something about the baby, how he looks
and what he says, and also about the other boys,
how they look, where they live, and how you like
them. I am sure you are trying to be gentlemanly
18

and polite, saying, "Good morning" and "Good
night" to all. Here goes a whole bushel of ripe
kisses and big hugs, from your loving Mamma.
In a letter dated Odtober 5, 1893, she says:
My dear Howard: I was so glad to get your
letter and am so happy to think that you are busy
every day. You seem to feel bad about your birth
day. I am sorry but I sent word to Aunt H. to let
you have some money to buy you a present from
me, and papa put some money in the bank for
you, and the children showed their love, by put
ting in time and work in making candy ; so I think
you fared very well, especially when Mrs. A. and
Aunt H. did so much to make you happy. Don't
get discouraged about your Latin ; it is hard to com
mit to memory what you do not understand, but if
you will remember that God is the only Mind and
knows all things. He will help you to understand it.
Ajax seems to be very lively now that Pont has
gone with Papa. He tries to scare me by jumping,
but he doesn't long, if your big sister is around;
for she whips him with a little stick and he adls very
much ashamed.
My dear boy, you never answered one of my
questions in my letter. Now, of course, you don't
have to do so, but I ask you things I would like to
know, and It Is n't really polite not to notice them.
Have you seen Mrs. C. since her return? Are you
trying to do your best In singing? I see that you
are trying to please me by telling me all about
yourself. I see your love in that. Affedlionately,
Mamma. Negligence was never overlooked: it was rebuked,
19

with great kindness but with unmistakable author
ity, as shown in the two following letters :
Oitoher 13, 1893.
My own dear Howard: I expedt you to go to
church every Sunday, dearest son, rain or shine.
I hope, dear, that you are "choosing" of your own
accord, every day to be loving, studious, and just
the kind of a boy God meant you to be. Show love
to every one and love will put out every disagree
able thing. Your mother's thought is with you con
tinually. Lovingly, Mother Dear. October 28, 1 893.
My dear little Son: I am going to write you
a Sunday letter. You are not here to gather with
the other children around my chair and have me
talk to you, and I know you used to like to come
even if you did wriggle some.
When the one perfedi: boy, Jesus, was twelve years
old he said: "I must be about my Father's busi
ness," and began to show to all, the love, and power,
and wisdom of God.
Now, Howard, you are not what you appear to be
to mortal sense, a careless, untidy, indifferent boy ;
lazy about studying and not kind to other people
who wish you to do right. Let me tell you what you
are. You are a perfedi spiritual boy made in the im
age and likeness of God Himself; made to refledt
His love, by your kindness to others, — His intelli
gence, by your attention to study, — His power, by
your dominion over all sickness and sin. It Is time,
my dear one, that you be about your heavenly Fa
ther's business. When you find a lesson hard to get,
20

go off by yourself and shut your eyes and think of
God who made all things and knows all things, and
ask that His Intelligence be refledted through you.
You will be helped.
I am so sorry to hear that your standing was so
low: don't, please, let it happen again. You mustn't
only think you have your lessons, but you must
know you have them and remember the reason.
When reports came from Cleveland informing the
parents that Howard was getting to be untruthful,
his mother took up the matter vigorously In the fol
lowing letter written November 4, 1893:
My own dear Boy: I hear that you are allow
ing Satan (the evil thought) to control you so much
that you do not speak the truth at Aunt H.'s, Mrs.
A.'s or at school; that no one can trust your word.
Now, dear boy, if a snake were to come up to you
and go to bite you, you would kill it as soon as you
could. Are n't you wise enough to see that It is the
devil tempting you to trust in his power? You will
knock him in the head flat, if you go to Aunt H.,
Mrs. A. and your teacher, — knowing that you are
God's child, true as He is true, brave as He is brave,
— and say or write: "I mean to fight this habit of
careless speaking; will you help me? I am not a liar;
I hate It as much as anybody. I went for a whole
year once without lying, and I can do it again. My
mamma would be sorry to hear how weak I have
been, for she trusts me." You must, darling, just
open your eyes to the fadt that you must not be
regarded as untruthful. I shall treat you against that
belief every morning and you must ask God night
21

and morning to "write His Truth In your heart."
Lovingly, Mamma.
The following week, November ninth, she writes
again on the same subjedl, as well as on the sub-
jedlof"Cold": My dear Howard: I am surprised that you
should say a horrible cold attacked you. You ought
to have gone immediately to Mrs. C. and had her
treat you. Will you tell me, dear boy, why you don't
go to see her? I hope you are not being led away by
the thought that there is power in anything but God.
She will help you to show out God, the Truth.
As soon as you get this letter tell Mrs. A. that
mamma wants her to let you go to Mrs. C.'s, and
you go and tell her how you have been telling false
hoods and ask her to treat you. You must turn to
God, dear, and never take syrups, or medicine; for
there is no power In them. If you are anxious to
follow God, you will go and see Mrs. C. every Sat
urday morning and talk over everything. Tell her
all your mistakes and get her to help you. Write
me that you will as soon as you get this. Dear Boy,
your mamma loves you.
Howard, turning critic, calls his mother's atten
tion to an exceptionable phrase, to which she good-
humoredly replies in the following letter dated No
vember twenty-first: "No, dear boy, I fear I have
not got over the habit of using have got quite yet.
I mean to try. Your big sister catches me on 'try
and do so' instead of 'try to do so.' I declare my
children are getting too smart! . . . Shut your ears
to all evil. See no evil, think no evil, but show forth
the love of God every day. Your mamma will be so
22

glad to see you home at Christmas, and I hope very
proud of you too."
In a letter written about this time but not dated,
she says:
My dear Howard: Your Father who created
you, and who loves you, is watching you and taking
the best of loving care of you. There is nothing to
be afraid of. There is nothing to be excited or ner
vous about. The promise is, to those who do right,
"I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee," and you will
do right, of course. When you lay your head down
at night just rest in the thought of the great Love
that surrounds you. God is harmony and you refledl
that harmony. God is saying " Come unto me and
rest" and go to sleep with that In your mind. You
are not excited, you are not nervous, you are not
timid and why? because God is your Life, your
strength, your Mind. Nothing can harm you when
you put your trust In Him. Many loving kisses
while I commit you to your Father's loving tender
care. Your own Mamma.
Howard having evidently somewhat redeemed
his true charadter from the smirch of untruthful
ness and negligence, his mother writes him a letter
on December tenth, joyfully awaiting his home
coming. She says:
My own darling Boy: Only one more Sunday
before I will clasp you In my loving arms. I can
hardly wait for the time to come. I had a letter from
Aunt H. to-day and she said something about you
that made me very happy. She wrote that you were
so loving and kind; so much better than you were
last year; and she thought that you loved your
23

mother so much that you were trying to please her
and follow her instrudlions. To learn that you are
growing in "love" Is far more to me than all book
"larnin'." I know that God is answering my prayers,
that you may refledt Him in love. Be sure to thank
Aunt H. for her kindness to you, before you come
away, and don't forget to be gentlemanly to Mrs.
A. when you say "Good bye." Please remember
to see Mrs. C. and give her my best love.
THE following are extradts from his father's let
ters of 1 8 93 .On November fifth, he gives How
ard some wise advice on the subjedt of" Lying" :
Dear Howard: I had some business to do with
a man this week who has probably ruined himself
because he told lies. People found him out and
then they would not believe anything he said again.
I knew him when he was a boy and he used to tell
lies then, but no one thought he would do so after
he grew to be a man. He did though, — I suppose
it grew to be a habit with him. He is a very smart
and able man, but that one thing ruins him as a
business man, for men hate a liar more than they
do any other kind of man. It makes all this man's
friends sad to think of him, for they liked him very
much. They do not dare to do business with him,
because they cannot depend upon what he says. So
they shun him when they would like to help him. I
know a splendid lawyer who might be doing a fine
business, but he is poor and has very little business
to do, because people have found that he lies some
times. I know that boys often tell lies because they think
24

'.."'

My\'\'

by so doing they may escape punishment. If they
would only stop and think of it afterwards, they
would be surprised to find how many lies they have
been obliged to tell to help them out of the first
one, and that It would have been much better and
easier to have told the truth at first and taken the
consequences, which would often be much less dis
agreeable than the trouble the lies led them Into.
The boy or man who always tells the truth has not
only the esteem and confidence of his associates but
he has his own self-respedt, which is of far more
value to him than anything he can possibly gain by
any lie. If people would only stop and think once
in a while of the trouble some one little lie has led
them Into, I do not believe there would be any liars
left in a year.
I want to call your attention to this because you
are away from us and we cannot talk to you as we
might If you were here. I do not suspedt you of ly
ing intentionally, but, thinking of the man I first
spoke of above, made me think how Important it Is
for a boy to get started right. I feel sure that you will
be a strong, able, fearless man. If you do not make
some wretched mistake in forming your habits of
life. If you never do anything to be ashamed of you
will not be tempted to lie. If you find you have done
wrong, confess it and take the consequences, like a
manly boy. You will find that you will like yourself
better and that others will like you better, but your
own good opinion of yourself is of the most conse
quence. The liar when he Is alone with his own thoughts
must say to himself, " I am a liar and a sneak. I am
25

always afraid of some one — that I shall be found
out!" — etc. But the boy or man who always tells
the truth is never afraid of any one. If you know any
boys who lie, compare what you think of them with
your own opinion of the boys who tell the truth,
and then decide which kind of a boy you prefer to
be. Other people look at these boys just as you
do. I did not intend to write you a ledlure when I
started in on this subjedt, but It is so important that
I kept on, for I am very anxious that you get the
right start. Truthfulness is one of the most impor
tant things you will ever have to decide and you
must decide it for yourself.
Here are some quotations I wish you would com
mit to memory.
Dare to be true: nothing can need a He;
A fault, which needs it most, grows two thereby.
And he that does one fault at first.
And lies to hide it, makes It two. Watts.
" Liars begin by imposing upon others, but end by
deceiving themselves."
"Liars have short wings."
No pleasure Is comparable to standing on the van
tage ground of Truth. Bacon.
For Truth has such a face and such a mien.
As to be loved needs only to be seen. Dryden.
He is the freeman whom the Truth makes free.
Cowper.
The truth shall make you free. John viii. 32.
Learn these by heart and you will be glad you did
so as long as you live. Your loving Father.
26

Writing at about that time Howard's father says
in another letter :
Dear Howard: We speak of you many times a
day and wish that you were with us; but it seems
to be best for you to be there, and we try to be sat
isfied with that idea. Grandma B. wrote to me that
Aunt H. says that you are much improved and she
seems to be very fond of you. It made us all very
happy to think that you are making such good
friends on your own account.
I do not think we have heard how you are pro
gressing in your school work, but take It for granted
that when we do hear, the report will please us. It
always gives us the greatest pleasure to hear good
reports of you In any way and especially if the re
port Is one showing that you are gaining in things
that go to make a strong, bright and good man.
So, as we want you to make a success of your life,
we are glad whenever we see that you are equip
ping yourself with traits, habits and knowledge
which will be of use to you hereafter. Your lov
ing Father.
Another letter, dated November 12, 1893, con
tained the following friendly "talk" on the subjedt
of "Honest Work":
Dear Howard: W. is in great trouble because
he did not pass in Algebra or Calculus and he must
give up one of his studies for this term. In order to
make up what he Is behind In mathematics. If he
cannot make up his mathematics and the dropped
study before his class graduates, he will not be able
to graduate with them. This will prevent his taking
his degree, unless he makes up the deficiencies in a
27

supplemental course, after the rest of his class have
finished and gone away.
All this difficulty comes from not getting a good
start last year. I am telling you about it so you may
see how important it is to have your foundations
well laid and to know thoroughly each step in your
studies, for if there is a weak spot in your under
standing, it is sure to show later on and to give you
much more trouble than it would to have done the
work thoroughly at first. It is like a man putting up
a building. If he gets his foundation well laid and
sees to it that there are no weak places In the walls,
as he proceeds with them, the building will stand.
No cracks will be seen in the walls and the whole
will be a great satisfadtlon to him. But If he is care
less about the foundations and allows "slop work"
In the walls, giving all his attention to making them
look well on the outside and only aiming to get his
work accepted by the inspedtors, bad cracks will
soon begin to show. Then he must "patch" and do
the work over and over again, often costing many
times as much as it would If he had done It right In
the first place. Often, such a building must be taken
down altogether. When a builder is known to have
built such a strudture, no one will let him do any
work and he finds himself without business and un
able to get any.
It Is just so with a man's education. If he does
thorough work as he goes, he will have no trouble
in the later steps of his progress, but one little weak
spot may ruin the whole of his work. W.'s weakness
was not due to poor work, I think, but to the fadt
that he started a month behind his class and has not
28

been able to make up the lost time. So, my dear
boy, be sure you know your lessons, not only so
that your teacher will pass you, but so that you un
derstand all about them. Then you will find, as you
go on in the higher studies, that It Is all much easier
than you had expedled it to be. After you get out of
school, you will find yourself in a school which will
last as long as you live. It will not do there to sim
ply try to pass the teacher's inspedtlon ; for if your
work does not pass, you do not have the chance of
trying again. We are very anxious that you should
be a success in life, but all we can do towards it is to
give you the chance. You must do the rest yourself.
It is like the old fable of taking the horse to water:
any one can lead him to water, but the horse must
do the drinking for himself. No one can make him
drink. Lovingly, Papa.
On November 19, 1893, Howard's father writes
on the subjedt of "Success":
Dear Howard: I think that E. is going to be
an Illustration of a successful man who gains success
by steadiness of purpose and resolute hard work.
He was a good student in school and has worked
with great steadfastness for four years, often under
very discouraging circumstances ; but he kept at It
and now he has an interest in two mines which will
probably give him a comfortable income for a good
many years to come. My interest in these mines Is
larger than E.'s, but I am sure I shall derive much
more satisfadtlon from seeing his success than I ever
shall from what the mines may yield to me.
Nothing in the way of success comes to a man
without work. Steady, persistent hard work is what
29

tells in the end, and when I see a young man work
ing steadily and honestly to accomplish something,
it gives me much pleasure to see him succeed: and
I think of you and Jack, saying to myself: "They
will be doing for themselves in a few years; I won
der if they will do as well as this young man does?"
I watch young men with much interest, for I shall
soon have a couple of sons doing their part of the
world's work. You will have a tremendous influ
ence on Jack's career. He looks up to you and
loves and trusts you so implicitly that what you do
will have a powerful influence on him. He will want
to do as you do. If you make the most of your op
portunities, he will do the same. So, you see much
more than the consequences to yourself depends on
what you do with the opportunities you are given.
Ajax is getting fat and very playful. He is so
glad to see us that he runs against every one of the
family he meets and he is so heavy that, if you don't
look out, he is apt to knock you down. I am training
him to keep off when he is told to. I give him rough
play for a while, which he is very fond of, and then
tell him to stop it, which he is not fond of. I make
him stop and then leave him for that time. Your
loving Father.
THE history of Howard's life in Cleveland is
partly refledted in the letters of his friend pre
viously spoken of, whom his mother had commis
sioned to keep watch over him. One of her letters,
dated Odtober 12, 1892, contains this testimony:
" Howard Is a very promising son, in fadt a wonder
ful charadter in many respedls, and I do not think
30

you will have any regrets for sacrifices made in his
behalf. I have made inquiry about him and find his
standard is high."
In another letter written December 13, 1892, she
says : " I will take a few moments to write to you of
the dear Howard. He Is earnest in the work set be
fore him. I had such a nice chat with him Saturday.
He told me his aim was to stand excellent in all
his studies, and I have no doubt of his reaching his
mark. He has planted his standard high but not too
high. Yesterday the president of the school asked
me if I would not go out on Friday and see the boys.
To find his unbiased opinion about the boys [the
president not knowing of her interest in Howard], I
asked him to tell me of some of them he considered
the brightest. He mentioned several and amongst
them our Howard. I can tell you I was as much
pleased and interested as if he were my very own
dear son. Howard masters a thought while nine out
of ten are thinking about it. As he lets me see his
inner self, I find a manly man, the boy so called.
His charadter Is beautiful and every one in my home
loves to have him come Into it."
In a letter dated February 6, 1893, she tells his
mother of Howard's neatness and of his self-denial
in wishing her to send a box of candy to his little
brother, which she had offered him. The letter reads :
"Howard was here on Saturday, and I wish you
could have seen him. He was as neat as wax in ap
pearance and as manly as any man I ever saw. I
always question him closely about his studies and
about the boys. I believe I do get more than any
one else, his inner thought, and I find him pure:
31

he has no use for the impure. I had a box of candy
when he came and he was so manly about that, and
asked me if it would give me much trouble to send
it to Jack. I could not say to him it was not worth
that trouble, for it was love that prompted him to
want to send it, yet I could see that it would be so
acceptable to him, for boys all like candy."
Howard's mother made inquiries about his work,
as he had been getting low marks, and her friend
writes her the following reassuring letter under date
of March 20, 1893 : "Howard was here yesterday;
said he was going to Chicago in a week. You speak
of his not standing well in his studies. I know that
of late he has not stood so well, and I have talked
with hini about it, just as I would to my own boy.
He says he applies himself to his work and cannot
see why he stands so poorly. I have made inquiries
of mothers who have boys at the university, and
find that Howard stands, according to his age, as
well as any other boy there. Now, my dear sister,
you are not to worry about God's child; He does
not ask or require this of you, and many times par
ents' anxious thought about their children's studies
is refledted on the children, and does harm instead
of good. You are only required to do your part
well. God will not ask you to answer for another.
You are to be a good, faithfiil mother to this gift
from God to you, but you are not to be anxious
or to worry. If you worry you are not trusting, and
the command is to trust with all your heart. Many
times parents want their children to manifest man
hood or womanhood before they have been given
the light. We can only go as we are led, and we are
32

to understand just where we are, before it will be
said of us, 'well done, come up higher.' We are
never to trust mortal mind, for there is no such a
mind. Mind is God, and God does not need any
help." Writing on June 12, 1893, of Howard's condudt
in church, she says: "Howard was at divine service
yesterday and not one there listened more intently
than he. The preacher took for his text these words
from Samuel : ' Speak, Lord ; for thy servant hear-
eth,' and he showed that one must be in a listening
attitude to hear; for God speaks to His children
just the same to-day as He did in the days of Sam
uel. Howard looked beautiful to me yesterday. He
is so bright and natural, and the natural is real. He
is far beyond those of his age in understanding; so
much comes to him diredt. To me It is so grandly
beautiful that God's thoughts, the good thoughts,
come diredt from Him to His children."
Howard's openness to the Truth which heals is
shown in the following letter written by his guardian
and friend on February 28, 1894:"! intended to
have written Monday last, to tell you of Howard.
The dear little man came to service last Sunday
almost on one foot. . . . When he got to me he
was as white as snow; and trembled like a leaf. He
told me his leg was drawn up so he could not get
his foot down. I gave him a treatment then and
there and told him he would see the healing mani
fested before he left the hall, and was so glad and
happy after service to see what Truth had done for
him. Howard comes regularly to Sunday service and
sits as quiet as one could, seeming to drink in all he
33

hears. Many times he holds my hand and I let him,
for I know it is a hungry thought for mother, home
and love. One morning he stood up back of me and
when I pointed out a seat to him, he said, ' I would
rather stand by you.' When Mrs. P. heard him she
got up and brought a chair to him and said, ' I would
rather stand than see that earnest boy stand.' All
seem so interested in him. Why? Because he is such
a bright manifestation of Intelligence."
In a letter dated March 23, 1 894, the same writer
says: "I attended Howard's school exhibition and
he did as well as any other boy as far as I could see,
and much better than some older than himself. I saw
no more manifestation of error called excitableness,
or restlessness, in him than In the others. While I
always treat a boy as I would a man, in all my deal
ings, yet I never expedl a boy to manifest the attri
butes of a man. He is not there yet, but progression
or the unfolding leads him on. I talked with one of
the teachers about Howard, and was told that the
teachers like him very much and speak very highly
about him. I could ask no more of them were he
my own son instead of yours. In church he sits as
quiet as I do and is attentive."
THE good fellowship existing among the
younger members of the family helped much
to brighten Howard's life. He loved his brothers and
sisters, and they were exceedingly fond of him. The
following letter written to him from home by one of
his sisters September 21,1893, pleasantly introduces
the home circle :
Dear Howard: Happy birthday, dear brother,
34

and many of them too. We have been making a
pradtlcal joke on Jack. He remarked when asked
why he ate so fast, that he was hurrying to catch the
train to Chicago. We carried out the joke. I gave
him five cents to give the street car man and a ticket
to give the condudlor. We told him what to do and
where to go. My fez and Judith's jacket were put on
him, umbrella, etc. He went out. We watched him
go to the steps. Then he came back. — "I want my
umbrella opened, it Is wet." The umbrella was put
Tip. He went off again. Then he came back. — "I
want my rubbers." When he had his umbrella and
rubbers he started time No. 3. Then he came back
again. — "I don't want to go to-night," he con
fessed, "but I will go in the morning." We laughed
and rolled over on the floor.
The boys at our school fight. One boy got a black
¦eye and a piece bitten out of his arm. This Is
"Comme II faut." Equinox weather. I have some
clay to model with Judith and Helen; well, I guess
I won't tell. Ask them. Mice! Mice! Lizzie M. is
Iiere. She Is lovely. Write me a long, long letter.
Do you like the candy? (i) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
(8) (9) (10) (11) (12) kisses and i to grow on.
Love, from Abby.
HOWARD'S letters to his mother during his
stay in Cleveland were for the most part just
boyish epistles, giving frank and ready estimates of
things that came up in his experience, but not at all
precocious. In one of them, dated September 26,
1893, he writes:
Dear Mamma: In language and history we have
3S

an easy time of it. I got those books and proofs that
you sent me last night. When papa and I were in
Chicago we saw" Aladdin, Jr." at the Chicago Opera
House. I have kept my diary faithfiilly ever since
January. I am reading "Taking the Bastlle" by
Alexandre Dumas, — it is about a boy whose mo
ther dies and he was taken care of by a fidgety old
lady who did not like him, and inside of five years
she sent him out of her house. I have gotten as far
as where he was taken captive by three men but he
was loosened by somebody and he ran as hard as
he could and got away. From your affedtionate son,
H. M. LoNGYEAR.
Howard sometimes mixed thoughtful ness with
fun in a very confiising way, as in the following let
ter dated January 13, 1894:
Dear Folks: On Saturday I began to acquire
the bad habit of staying in bed late, for I read the
" Blue Fairy Book." I read some fine stories such
as the "Yellow Dwarf" and the "Bronze Ring,"
so that I was late to breakfast. After breakfast A.,
E. and I got on our things and went up in the garret
to play still pond. The game is this, — "It" blind
folds and counts twenty while the others are hid
ing. He then says " Still Pond," and hunts for them.
The one he finds has to be "It." In the afternoon
I went to a play: It is called "Wang." I have no
need of my bicycle, so I want to get your consent
to give it to H. He is so in need of one. May I
give it away? From your affedtionate Son.
In the spring of 1894 he became absorbingly in
terested in a little girl, and his effort to enlist his
eldest sister as an aid in winning the favor of the
36

little belle, brought about quite a comedy state of
affairs. On May 3, 1894, he wrote to his sister as
follows: Dear A. : On Monday I had a great time after
school. I played tag with  . She called me
" Daddy Longlegs." We played wood tag. Of course
I did all my tricks for her such as bending back
wards and double handspring, etc., for her. She said
"Good night" to me. Yesterday I had the greatest
time with her; we played tag, old witch, and school.
She gave me several lickings. Then the other chil
dren that were playing tag with us went In the house
for dinner. I sat on the rail with her. Then I read
my diary of the first six days of January to her and
got her gradually acquainted with you. I then told
her that you would like her to write to you. I wrote
the address in my best handwriting (with the flour
ishes on the g's and y's and t's). While we were play
ing she chewed the first one up so I had a chance
to improve the B, the 6, and street. She said she
would write to you this morning. I '11 bet mine gets
there first. Be sure to write a good long letter to
her. From your confedtionate Brother.
P. S. I have acquired a better handwriting. Do
you not think so?
Obedient to his request Howard's sister wrote to
the little girl, but the effedl was not what he had
hoped for, and he was not pleased. His mother
made some inquiries about the girl, which was ob-
jedtlonable to him also, and he wrote home about it.
In a letter dated May 30, 1894, his mother took
him to task for the way he had written, giving him
a plain "talk" calculated to let him down "a peg or
37

two," but she softened his fall by playfully but kindly
closing her letter with, " Lovingly your best girl for
ten years. M amma. "Inanother letter written a short
time after the grievance about his little sweetheart,
Howard's mother said: "I am going to send you
my pidture very soon and every time you look at it
imagine me saying — 'I love and trust you.'"
IN the autumn Howard's parents went to Europe,
but mother-love still brooded near the boy. The
letters show the same interest in his work and play.
Just before sailing the mother writes from New
York : " Dear Boy : Be sure to show love to Mrs. A.
and all the boys at the house : tell me about them,
I shall look for a letter on the steamer."
The following are extradts from his mother's let
ters from abroad.
Paris, October 12, 1 894. I want to know everything
about you, how you feel, eat, sleep, do, dream, study,
dance, etc. Be sure to hold your heart full of love to
everybody and all will be well.
Paris, November 19, 1894. How I wish you were
here to-night so that I could love you and hug
you and tell you how much I long to have you
grow to be an honest, upright, pure man, one who
always speaks the truth and scorns a lie. Your
own Mamma.
[In one of Howard's letters to his mother, dated
November 1 9, 1 894, he says : " I am standing 'very
poor' in one of my studies, 'poor' in another, and
'fair' in two. This is the lowest report I ever expedt
to have."]
Paris, December 2, 1 894. 1 am very sorry, Howard,
38

you are standing so low in your studies. It will be a
great disgrace if you would have to fall back into a
lower class. If you could know that whatever you
do well is doing "unto the Lord," I am sure you
would make a great effort to conquer disinclination
to work. All wisdom is from God and you ought to
go to Him and ask for wisdom. Cheer us, dear boy,
by a good report this month. Now, Howard, I want
you to promise me to commence the first of January
to read the second chapter of Matthew, and we will
read together every night.
Paris, December 28. You have something yourself,
my darling, to do, if you would manifest God (or
Good), and that is to take every little fear and care to
your loving adviser and friend Mrs. C. Whenever
any one says to you, "Howard, I am afraid of so
and so," always think back, " I live in Love, that
which is good, — good thoughts, good words and
good adls." It made me very sorry to think that you
suffered: suffering is not of God. You must learn to
fight the evil thought yourself, that It may not over
come you. Every night, dear boy, say this to your
self, learn It by heart and go to sleep with It in your
thought: "I am made in the image and likeness of
God : I refledt all power over evil, all wisdom, all joy.
Nothing can come to hurt or harm me, for God is all
there is." When you think that God is the onXj power
then no cloud of error can bring you any 111. Your
own Mamma.
THE following is an extradt from one of his fa
ther's letters written from Paris, November 4,
1894: 39

Dear Howard : I hope you will succeed in your
wood carving work. It will train your hand and
mind as no other exercise will, and the ability to
do such work will give you and your friends much
pleasure as long as you live. When you come to
travel you will see wonderful wood carving in al
most ail countries. If you have a good knowledge
of how it Is done you will be able to appreciate such
things better than people who do not know how
difficult it is to do such work. There will be a fine
chance for you to do some wood carving in our cot
tage at Pine River. You can carve faces, etc., on the
ends of logs, poles, etc.. In the house every year;
also on the sides of the logs. Heads of dogs, fish,
wolves, bears, deer; figures of ducks, partridges,
fish, gulls, loons, squirrels, etc., would add very
much to the Interior of the house. There will be
lots of places where such things can be put on, a
few every year, and by the time you are a man the
house will have an interest for you that no other
will. Get up a subjedt to cut on the end of a log in
the new cottage next summer: do it on rainy days.
Lovingly, Papa.
ABOUT the time that Howard's parents were
. preparing to return to America, his mother re
ceived the following letter, dated March 24, 1895,
from her friend in Cleveland, this being a final re
port: "I am just going to welcome you to your
beautiful home, and also remind you in your joy to
be home again, of the true home. Do not for one
moment forget that the real home is In the Father's
house, Mind, and in the understanding of this you
40

will truly be at Home. Your dear son sat beside me
at service this morning, and I could but think how
your mother heart would rejoice could you see him.
He has grown in Truth, and this brings the change.
There came a time when the thoughts of error were
thrown at him on every side, so much so, that it
seemed to me that I had to do as Jacob did, wrestle
with a man until the break of day, and then the peace
came to both Howard and me. It rested also on all
the dear ones who had been so anxious about him.
" Mr. and Mrs. A. called me up by telephone and
wrote me notes every time. It seemed to them
wrong, and then they had an opportunity to see the
working of Truth. Howard came up like a ball. We
had such nice long visits and he seemed to love and
trust me. Oh, how my heart went out in gratitude
to the loving Father for His great manifestation of
love which had been poured out so freely."
WHILE at school in Cleveland, Howard
formed an intimate friendship with one of
his classmates to whose good Influence he often bore
testimony. As this friendship was a part of Howard's
school life in Cleveland, the expressions of both boys
In after years, concerning each other, are given here.
In his diary for July 28, 1898, Howard speaks of
this friend as follows: "H. W. is the one of my boy
friends in whom I first found the virtue of morality,
and, following the example that he held out towards
me, have tried to make my life much better by not
even thinking bad thoughts. It was hard at first, but
continually has become easier until now I hardly
ever have bad thoughts." 41

It seems that this friend was not conscious of be
ing held in such high esteem by Howard and when
the above quotation from his diary was sent him
long afterwards, he wrote the following letter to
Howard's mother, dated July 22, 1900:
" Howard's departure has made me very thought
ful and sombre, and also very humble of spirit. If
it had been any one else of whom I thought so
much, I probably would have given away more to
my feelings, but with Howard it was different. I
feel that he has simply gone on a little way farther
toward perfedtion, and left ever present with us, the
beautiful influence of his life. He was different from
my other friends because of the remarkable purity
of his thought, which even though unexpressed,
could be plainly felt, and the good his presence, or
the memory of him always did me. It quite over
awes me to think that I was an Influence in How
ard's life; for I always thought It was just the other
way around, all the power for good emanating from
him. It was very good of you to send me the letters
and extradts from the diary. I have all Howard's
letters, and those with the ones you sent me fill out
one of the most interesting and important chapters
in my life.
"When I think it over, I conclude that if I was a
good influence for Howard it must have been that
it was impossible for me to turn any but my best
side to him. His spirit being clear and pure, saw
only what was clear and pure in mine. With much
love for you all, H. W."
The time Howard spent in Cleveland was a sea
son of great intelledlual and spiritual growth, but
42

the results were not Immediately seen. Itwas a tran
sitional period between the mental dependence of
childhood and the independence of youth, Howard
passed through many phases of thought while un
dergoing this change, and often his friends felt un
easy on account of the objedlionable traits of char
adter he manifested, but these proved to be passing
shadows, Howard left the University School in June, 1895,
and It may be said that even then his awakened
thought discerned something of the ideal man.

43

III. EXPERIENCES ABROAD, ESPECIALLY
IN FRANCE AND GERMANY
The man who masters himself is free. — Epictetus.

Ill, EXPERIENCES ABROAD, ESPECIALLY
IN FRANCE AND GERMANY
THE fibre of Howard's charadter was so
strengthened by his experience in depend
ing on himself, during the two years in
Cleveland, that he no longer leaned unduly on his
parents. Conscious of having in a measure gained
command of his thought, he stood plumb, fronting
life's difficulties with courage. At the close of the
school term in June, 1895, ^' ^^^ decided by How
ard's parents to continue his education abroad, and,
after a vacation filled to the brim with the delight
which the freedom of the woods always yielded, he
sailed for Europe with his mother and the other
children. It was quite a hardship for him to leave
his own country and give up his summers in the
Michigan woods, even for the sake of seeing foreign
lands. Toward the close of the summer he men
tions the prospedtive trip several times In his diary,
but without enthusiasm. On August twenty-fourth
he writes: "To-day I went down to the boat, the
'City of Marquette,' and nearly cried as I thought
of leaving my heaven for two whole years ; but a
man's courage must be kept up within him."
On the page in his diary for September twelfth, un
der the heading, " Sailed on ' Normania,' " he writes :
"Went across the ferry to Hobo ken, where we took
the steamer ' Normania' for Cherbourg, France. We
went down the Hudson to Governor's, Ellis, Lib
erty and Oyster Islands. We passed Sandy Hook
and then went out into the ocean to see no more
of America until April, 1897. I felt very queer In
leaving my native land for even a year and a half."
47

The fly-leaf of his diary for 1896 bore the fol
lowing words: "The real is the good, — the true.
Write only that; all else is a lie. From Mamma."
We have now come to a period which was rich in
interest to Howard. He had advanced far enough
in the knowledge of the world, and the arts and
sciences pertaining to it, to have the keenest relish
for study and experiment. He had his camera, his
tools and apparatus, his books, and a continent full
of interesting people: he was busy all the time, and
happy In his manifold adtivity. But he was by no
means carried away by these interests, for he knew
that his foundation was In God, the divine Mind,
and unfailingly he turned to his Bible and "Science
and Health" for guidance. There are many sen
tences in his letters and journal which show that
Howard only sought the best in people, rejedting the
bad unerringly, and his diary during the first year
in Paris shows how discriminating was his sense of
right and wrong.
THE entries from Howard's diary which follow
record some of his experiences and meditations
while abroad.
January 6, i896.P<2m. Got up and dressed and had
dejeuner in my room. Got my capuchon and hat on
and got my books under my arms when I perceived
it was only half-past eight, so mamma read to me
out of "Science and Health," and I went away feel
ing so much the better for it.
January 1 2. We expedled papa to-night from Amer
ica, so I stayed awake nearly all night, but he did
not come at all.
48

January 13. Went to school kind of disappointed
because papa did not come, but I got news to come
home for lunch and go down with Mr. G. to meet
him. I tell you I was glad to see papa, and I think
he was glad also.
January 19. Slept late in the morning. Got on my
wrapper and went Into the parlor and heard the read
ing and helped it on by my "Science and Health"
by Mary Baker G. Eddy. Went and got dressed
and had lunch. Profited by the permission to speak
English there, by demanding of my beloved " Pop "
to take me to the Musee de Cluny.
February 2, 1 896. In the morning played chess with
papa and had a great time.
March 7, 1 896. 1 am picking out the best boy In the
school now, to follow for an example, and I think
I will take Boigue.
March 13. Got up when Mr. V. called me because, I
said, "When a plunge has to be made there is no
use lingering on the bank."
March 16. I am now trying to follow advice: Al
ways mind your own business. Never be a cause of
remark to anybody if you can help It. If you know
your way is right, be firm. Be patient and slow to
anger. Be prompt in commencing work, because of
the proverb, "Well begun is half done." Be coura
geous and persevering under severest difficulties.
Don't be too forward in doing things, unless some
body urges you on. Never think bad thoughts. If
a bad thought escapes try to feel bad yourself about
it. Never laugh at dirty things as all the Frenchmen
do. Be sincere In everything you do. Never make
yourself prominent in any place. Never say any-
49

thing bad about anybody. Try to make friends, be
cause in future years you may have some need of
them. Never help in any enterprise that you see
is wrong, and don't say, "If things were so — but
as things are so, I shall get the best I can out of
them." March i8. My maxims are very hard to acquire. I
have added : Think before you speak, because I find
myself giving bad counsels to my companions, and
I try to break my old habits, which are harder to
break than I thought they were. Habit is a cable:
we weave a thread of it each day and at last it is so
strong that we cannot break it. I see that I am too
easily led. Firmness is another thing that I ought to
do (acquire).
May 14, 1896.
Habits gather by unseen degrees,
Brooks make rivers and rivers run to seas.
I have decided that I must waste no time but keep
right on the best that I can. When I am expedled
to work, I must work; and when I am given a holi
day, I must play. I cannot pradlice the last part of
this now because I am not in a regular school where
I ought to be, because I am behind in Algebra,
Botany and Physical Geography. I have also decided
that I would ratherwork this summer than play, be
cause I am so much behind. My routine is: June,
July, August and September — Prepare for Virgil;
run through the Algebra perfedtly with a special
teacher that can talk English; run through Botany
and Physical Geography and have a little beginning
in German. Then from Odtober to June or May,
I will have German, Virgil and Wells' Geometry.
50

Then from June to September, 1897, I will go
through examinations and preliminary work at the
U. S., finish the course there, take two years at
Harvard, four years at the M. M. S., and then go
into papa's office and work as an apprentice, and
then work with papa, and keep his business run
ning for him. I am now trying to work as hard as I
can and keep up a determination to do the best that
I can when I get back to the university. I am go
ing to try to be at the head of the class there and at
Harvard, and also at the M. M. S. If I can ever get
at the head of my class I am going to try to keep
there. I am not going to study any longer than the
rest of the boys, but play with all my might when I
get at it. I am trying to get rid of  's company,
but I cannot do It easily. He will "go the wrong
road for the sake of company." Never read silly
books that aren't thought anything of, or by the
reading of which you cannot learn anything. Read
the newspapers, but leave out all murders, deaths,
etc. Never read degrading literature because it never
does you any good. If you do not know whether it
is bad or not, ask a person who has read It and find
out his opinion. [Howard's mother says: "Mr. L.
and I were away in Italy and Howard was working
this thought out by himself."]
May 17. 1 shall be gladwhenlget to America, where
one does not think low-down, disgraceful, degrad
ing thoughts, as over in France. I cannot look at a
woman over here that I do not think to be a "true
soul wronged," or somebody led to disgrace by the
counsels of bad men. I went to the American Church
and there my thoughts about women being impure,
51

changed in a moment, and I then thought, "with
Heaven above and Faith below, I will not yet yield
to the devil." There are so many bad women in
Paris, that there are convents where they put the
young girls that think nothing at all impure, and
keep them there from one year's end to another,
without once seeing or hearing of the outside world.
Hardly any woman on the street is considered pure
and in America it is thought that every woman is
pure. In church I considered what a degraded crea
ture man will be if he follows the course he has
started. I made a resolution that my soul would not
be sold to the devil if I had my way. I sincerely
wish that I had never seen  because he seems
bound to go around with me and lead me into bad
habits, such as saying sentences with two meanings.
I think myself that it is a disgrace to me and my sis
ters. A. is fond of making remarks on how I now
go to church every Sunday and say little, but I don't
care about saying much, because "To keep one's
peace has never done harm for any one: to speak
has done ill to many."
June 5, 1896. Papa left for America to-day.
AT the beginning of the summer vacation, after he
Jl\. had been in school a year in Paris, his mother
and the rest of the family went to Holland to study
the country, but of his own choice Howard went to
a small summer school at Pretreville, where he lived
in a French household while studying under a pri
vate tutor. During the residence of the family in
France and Germany there were but few occasions
for correspondence between Howard and his mo-
52

ther. Once she left the children with a friend and
went to Italy. From there she wrote them this fa
ble in a playful vein, which greatly delighted the
"brood": "A mother bird had tried to teach her
little birds to sing, to chirp, and to feed themselves.
One day a wise man said to her, ' You must let them
try their wings for themselves : you must go away
and see if they appreciate and understand their teach
ings.' So the poor mother bird flew off a long dis
tance, but she had a magic glass, through which she
could see what her birdies did. Her biggest birdie
helped the little ones. She wrote little messages of
love each day on the green leaves which the wind
wafted to the lonesome heart of the mother. She
thought not of self, of her voice, of her plumage,
more than she thought of expressing love, and her
mother-bird was happy, and said, ' My work has not
been in vain.' The next birdie said to himself, — he
was a beautiful yellow canary, with curly feathers, —
' Now that I have a chance to show what I can do for
myself, I will show that I deserve confidence.' He
preened and washed himself every morning in the
pure limpid streams and sent such glad songs of joy
to his mother, that she said, ' Happy am I in having
such a treasure.' The little ones played and hopped
from bough to bough, never quarrelling or pecking
at each other. They always found time from their
own pleasure and studies to send sweet messages to
their far-off mamma, — who thanked the Good Fa
ther each night for all the love manifested."

H

O WARD wrote home frequently to his father
while abroad, and as his letters give some ac-
53

count of his occupations, the following extradts are
taken from them: Paris, November 30, 1895.
Dear Papa: Received yours of the seventh and
twelfth. I hope you had a good time up at the
club. I can imagine your horses wading through
the snow on the lonely road past Sugarloaf. I sup
pose you huddled together to keep warm, and felt
miserable. I have never been to Crary's camp, but
I should like to go there very much. At Crary's
camp it must have been miserable sitting around
waiting for daylight. You must have been "Big In
jun Me" when you shot that partridge. Will B.
used to say that S. thought the world of his home
stead. I would have liked to go there with you very
much. It was very nice of you to write that letter
describing the hunting trip with the sole hope that
I was the only one that was going to be interested
in it. If you could have seen the happy faces around
the table when mamma read the letter to us children
you would not have thought so. Paris, June 18, 1896.
Dear Papa : I am feeling kind of blue now be
cause mamma has just been over here, taken away
all my ink bottles that I used for mechanical draw
ing, and routed everything out because she didn't
see the use of such trash, but I suppose you know
how dear a boy's paraphernalia Is to him. In fadt I
feel a little off, but when I come to think about
It seriously, I find that I have not lost anything
worth thinking about. I could not write to you
Sunday because I went to the Grand Prix (horse
54

race). I got next to the bars when the race went by
and came very near getting knocked over by the
horses, because leaning over the edge of the Inside
railing. Then we went for a ride In our carriage,
which I did not like much, because we went so slow
and the other carriages were so thick that we could n't
breathe, I use my camera obscura for making a magic lan
tern now. I take the box and place it with the end,
with the round hole in it, on top, and place a candle
(A) inside and let the rays come out of the hole.
Then I put In the small part of the wooden cover,
which I cut in two parts (B). Then I take a piece of
ground glass and slide It in above this (C), and with
a piece of cardboard, with a hole in it just the size
of my photograph, on top of it. Between the two I
slide my film. The only trouble with it is that such
rays of light as X, Y and Z which pass the lens, dis
perse their light around the room, which makes the
objedt on the screen less luminous. If mamma had
not confiscated all my things I should have put my
lens on a piece of wood with a hole of the lens' size
in it, so that no rays except those diredled on the
screen and those coming out of the air hole in the
top of the box, could escape into the room. [This
description was accompanied by a drawing^
To-day I took a walk from our school down to
the front of the Trocadero, where I took a pidlure.
Then I went up into the Trocadero, where I took
a pidture of the Eiffel Tower. Then I came down,
crossed the bridge and went under the Eiffel Tower,
where I took a pidture of the Palais des Machines.
Then I walked a long way and took a pidture of the

Chambre des Deputes. Then I crossed the bridge
and took the Place de la Concorde. Then I went
down the centre of the Gardens of the Tuileries and
took a pidture of the Arc du Carrousel from the
back. Then I took a pidlure of the Palais Royal.
Then I took the interior court of the Louvre. From
there I went up to see the Bourse and the Halles
Centrales, and took a pidture of the magnificent
carving on the portals of the Church of St. Eustache.
Then I took a pidlure of the carving on the Church
of St. Merri. Then I took the Tour St. Jacques.
Then I took a bad one of Notre Dame from the
Pont au Change while an omnibus was in front, so
I think I lost the pidlure. Then I got the bridge,
an omnibus, and the Tour St. Jacques. Then I
rounded the end of the Island and took the Palais
de Justice. Then I crossed the bridge and went
down to the Musee de Cluny, of which I took the
interior court. Then I took the Sorbonne (Col
lege of France). After that I got a good one of the
Pantheon. Then I got a good one of the Jardin du
Luxembourg. Then I got one of the Musee du
Luxembourg, which was not exadlly what I wanted,
but was the best I could get. Then I took one of
St. Sulpice, of which I only got the lower half. Then
as it was 4:201 came back and crossed the bridge
to the Island. When I got there I went along the
edges of the river and got a pocket edition of Virgil
without notes or vocabulary. Then I took a pidture
of Notre Dame and came home.
Mamma does not think she will take me to Hol
land with her, but she is going to put me In a school
at Trouville, in the north of France, where they
56

prepare English and American boys for English
and American schools and colleges. I hope that you
will send me your Frieze's Virgil because the small
book that I have is only to read when I have noth
ing else to do. Lovingly, your Son.
P. S. June 19, This morning I went for another
walk and took five pidlures of the Cafes, etc., in the
Champs Elysees, two of the Column Vendome, the
Opera, the Church of Trinite, the Porte St. Denis,
the Porte St. Martin, the Conservatoire twice, the
Place de la Republique, the Place de la Bastile
(twice) and came home on the boat.
Pretreville, France, July 26, 1896.
Dear Papa: I received your letter of July third
to-day with a letter of mamma's. I am working like
the "very divil himself bedad " In Algebra, and the
teacher says that at the rate I 'm a going now I can
finish the whole show in two months. I much pre
fer studying to skipping about the country seeing
everything, and getting a big mixture of every
thing in my head, like I did when I went to Tours.
I have got a more secreted place in the woods and I
like it ever so much better. I am now at the point
marked A on the map. [Howard drew a map of
the woods in one corner of the letter^ Our farm is at
the S, Eastern end of the woods, so it is easy to see
that I chose the most remote place In the woods.
I have not yet explored the N. Eastern part of the
woods, so that I don't know what sort of trails there
are. I have not had my photos developed yet.
I hope that you will find your Frieze's Virgil to
send me because I am very anxious to commence
In reading Virgil.

I suppose you were glad you were not in the cot
tage when it was struck by lightning. I hope you
will make a pretty yard out of the B.'s property be
cause It will be a great surprise to all of us when we
come back to our fatherland. A new boy has come
whose name Is Wandby, and he comes from Eng
land. He is very jolly. All the boys generally go
in swimming at 4:30, and I think that I shall go in
swimming as soon as I finish my letter to you. I
would like to receive copies of Smith's reports as
soon as possible, so that I can put them In my map
books. Your loving son, H. M. Longyear.
Pretreville, July 31, 1896.
Dear Papa: I pity poor Ajax with gout in his
foot. I suppose that he is feeling down in the mouth
now. "Paddy" the bear must be getting quite old
now as it is quite a while since they have had him,
about two or three years now. I told you In my last
letter that I had not gotten my photographs de
veloped. I have one pidture of the street sprinkler,
but not of the street sweepers. I am making a fine
map of the club on vellum and am waiting for the
plates of the sedllons, before I finish it. I have a roll
of vellum about 7^ feet long and ^ of a yard wide.
I asked you for these plates in one of my letters but
it is possible that you did not notice It. I would
rather have them on the report sheets divided into
squares of 100 paces. Instead of those of 125 paces.
I have a small map on vellum already made, com
prising all the sedllons that Smith, Brotherton and
Forbes explored last year, with the sedllons of this
size. Lovingly, your son, H. M. L.
58

Pretreville, August 5, 1896,
Dear Papa: I have almost waited in vain for my
Frieze's Virgil, I have three Virgils now, but none
of them has a vocabulary, I have just taken up
Geometry and Algebra together, I would like you
to send me Frieze's Virgil and the plates of sedllons,
and add to them all that you know about them,
because I do not wish to be behind in knowledge
of the club. If the new maps are out yet I should
like one of them, I am trying my hardest to get
German so that I can get a dial compass when I
get back to America. I hope that you will tell me all
that you know about the new things at the club. I
have a fine nest in the hay-loft here and on some
afternoons I go in and sleep there. Hoping that you
are having a fine time up at the club, your loving
son, H. M. L.
Pretreville. [Not dated.] I am thinking of buying
one of the goats If they will not cost too much, be
cause the people here want to sell him and he and
I are such great friends that I should hate to have
him go away from the farm.
IN the fall of 1 896 Howard was summoned from
Paris to Dresden by his mother, and he made the
trip all alone. There he was put in a special school.
While In France he did not have much to contend
with In the way of sickness, for the French people
take life with so much zest and gusto that they have
small room in their thought for fear and expedlancy
of disease. Sickness being less thought about, was
less prevalent, and Howard enjoyed more freedom
in that diredtlon than usual, for he was extremely
S9

sensitive to the mental conditions surrounding him.
In Germany it was very different. There the people
have grown morbid on the subjedl of disease and
there seems to be an all but universal fear of con
tagion. Howard went to board in the school in Dres
den — a very stridl one, where there was a very high
regard for what the medical authorities call health
laws, and he had a good deal to meet.
One of his experiences Is told in a letter to his
father dated Dresden, Odtober ii, 1896, as follows:
"About two weeks ago they put me to bed here at
school because I looked sick and had a headache.
The dodlor came in and ordered me a whole box of
medicine. In the afternoon mamma came and took
me out. I stayed out for a week and had a fine time
going to the opera, going out to teas, and to make
calls." Every Sunday morning he was permitted to go
home to his mother, who, with the other children,
was living in a hotel in the city. One time Howard
went home having every manifestation of chicken-
pox, but it was promptly met in accordance with
Christian Science methods, and the evidence of the
error disappeared. The baby brother showed some
signs of having taken on the disease, — or claim of
disease, as we prefer to call it, — but he was brought
out of it at once.
Howard was able to help himself to quite an ex
tent, in such trials, by the use of what he understood
of Christian Science, and he was diligent in his
study of the subjedt. His Bible and "Science and
Health" are much marked and underscored. On
the page margins it was his pradlice to set down the
60

dates when he had read different passages, and these
notes show that he was a faithful student. He also
had at this time a copy of the familiar devotional
book of texts, "Daily Light on the Daily Path,"
which his mother had given him. Its page of Scrip
ture for each day was seldom if ever negledled. The
markings and notes Indicate that the book was liter
ally his "daily light." Inthe space overthe question
from Proverbs, "Who can say, I have made my
heart clean?" which appears at the top of the page
for February fifteenth, Howard wrote, "I can say
I have tried." He clearly saw the far-reaching na
ture of the question, and was able to face it, giving
an answer which was fearless yet devoid of conceit.
On the fly-leaf at the back of the book, he wrote,
"For resistance of evil see February 25," The first
reference on the page is, "Resist the devil and he
will flee from you," His schoolmates in Dresden
could not understand why he took such an amaz
ing Interest in the Scriptures, and his devotion to
the Book made a great impression on every one
connedted with the school.
In a letter written to his father from Dresden, No
vember 23, 1896, Howard says: "I have taken to
reading the Bible lots and I find that there are many
things that I did not suspedt of being in it. Mamma
says, 'When you find yourself in an embarrass
ing situation, think what papa would do under the
same circumstances,' but I follow Jesus' example,
do what I think is altogether right. I find that the
main thing is the Bible, It says in the Bible, ' If any
man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow me,' and now reading
61

in the Bible is my greatest joy. When I first began
taking up the Bible I used to worry my head over
Revelation, but when I had studied on It for three
days, I made up my mind that I did n't have enough
of the Spirit in me to understand it."
One time he did not go to see his mother on a holi
day and she was very much hurt by what she thought
to be his indifference. Afterwards she learned that
he had remained away because he was fighting the
claim of measles and wished to prove the sufficiency
of his own understanding of Christian Science. He
finally had to call out for help. His mother writes :
"Well do I remember the Sunday morning that
a big boy came to the door of our apartments, and,
throwing his arms around my neck, said: ' Mamma,
I 've done all I could.' I saw what it was, but I had
no fear. I did my best, but at night the fever was
raging, and so I called the proprietor up and told
him of the case, assuring him that there would be no
contagion If he would keep quiet about it. He was
afraid for his hotel, however, and called a dodlor. I
told this dodlor that I did not employ him for any
other reason than to satisfy the law's demands. I
talked to him about Christian Science and he be
came much interested, but for the sake of abiding
by the law, Howard had to go to the hospital. It
seemed wicked to take a child in that condition out
in the bitter cold, but he was supported and pro-
tedled through the ordeal by Divine power. I went
with Howard and after seeing him safely in bed,
left him to God in all faith. I forbade all remedies,
which are little used in German hospitals anyway.
The next day the nurse showed me a fever chart re-
62

cording Howard's temperature, with the mark to
the highest point, and she told me In a whisper that
he was 'very sick.' I sat by his bedside a few mo
ments, and demonstrated — proved the truth of Be
ing — for pretty soon he peeped his head out and
said: 'Mamma, will you play a game of checkers
with me ? ' We spent a happy afternoon together, and
afterwards they could find no trace of fever. The
next day I found Howard swathed in hot cloths and
down again, under the thought that the fever had
gone to his lungs, and he coughed dreadfiiUy. I used
authority over error and commanded the cloths to
be taken off. I told Howard to ' Rise, in the strength
of Spirit, to resist all that is unlike God.' ' Science
and Health,' page 392. I told the dodlor he must
quiet the fear of the nurse, and tell her to leave
Howard alone. If he coughed all night. I felt the do
minion of Spirit to be absolute. The next morning
Howard told me that the dodlor ran in early and af
ter pulling down the bed clothes and listening at his
breast, said : ' Well ! your mother Is the best dodlor
I ever saw.' In five or six days Howard was out of
the hospital, and In another hotel, but they would
not let him come back to us for three weeks, al
though he was entirely free from the claim."
A TOUR of the principal cities of Austria, Italy
and Greece brought Howard's European visit
to a close. He used quite a large book for his notes
of this trip, in which he wrote elaborate descriptions
of the buildings, paintings and statuary he saw, sup
plementing his notes with drawings, measurements
and diagrams. Interspersed among the notes of his
^3

travels, are occasional refledlions, which reveal what
was going on in his inner consciousness. These, with
references to the places where he stopped, are here
given. January 25, 1 897. Left Dresden for Vienna via Bo-
denbach at 11 : 25 a.m., and arrived at Bodenbach at
I and at Prague at 3 : i o. Papa told us stories all the
way. We reached Vienna at 10:25 p.m.
January 27. Got on board train at 7 : 25 for Venice.
Reached Venice at 11:05 ^^^ ^'^'^ ^ "'^^ ^^ ^ go^~
dola to the Hotel Royal Danieli.
[While in Venice, Howard asked permission to
goto St. Mark's alone, and he sat there all one after
noon. Speaking to his mother afterward about his
visit, he said: "Mamma, if a man had never heard
about God, I believe that he would feel that there
was one, if he went into that Cathedral."]
February 2, 1 897. Went on the cars at 2 :3oandrode
to Trieste. Went to Hotel de la Ville in Trieste,
where they had candles In our rooms.
February 4. Went on board of the "Hungaria,"
which started at 1 1 :3o. The Dalmatian and Mon-
tenegran Islands were in sight all the way to lar
board. Sat up on deck quite late star gazing.
February 6. Stopped at Brindisi in the morning at
I o'clock, but did not wake up. In the morning at
7, Turkey and Corfu were in sight. Stopped at a
small settlement near to which were a lot of ruins.
A lot of Turks got on board. Then we went to
Corfu. Left Corfii at 5:25 p.m.
February 7. (January 16, Julian.) The Julian Cal
endar Is used here in Greece, so that they are eleven
days behind time. When I woke up, we had stopped
64

at Patras. Got on board the train at 7:45 a.m. and
left for Athens. Saw Corinth at i :30. Got off and
had lunch. Came to Athens and went to the Hotel
de la Grande Bretagne.
February 15. In the morning at 6:25 we took the
train to Corinth. Stopped at Corinth for lunch at
10:40.
February 20. In the morning went along the shore
of Corfu to Corfu, where we stopped from 10 to 4.
February 21. Arrived at Brindisi at 7. We took a
ride around the city for an hour, after which we took
the train for Naples. Made up my mind to learn
Italian for my own good. Got to Naples at 9 and
went to the Grand Hotel. Found out that I ought
to have dressed up because all the other men there
did. Found out that I must also learn table man
ners. I am now making up my mind to be some
thing In this world and I had better reform my bad
habits pretty quick.
March i, 1897. Took the train to Rome at 3 p.m.
and arrived at 8:30.
March 15. Rome to Florence, 9:30 to 3.
March 27. Took the train for Milan, where we ar
rived at I p.m.
After March twenty-seventh, Howard made no
more entries either in his journal or note-book dur
ing his visit abroad, and a few weeks later he landed
in America, feeling a more earnest desire to acquit
himself nobly in life's struggle than when he left
home.

(>s

IV. LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL— A REC
ORD OF TWO YEARS OF EARNEST
THOUGHT AND HARD STUDY
Be not simply good — be good for something.
Thoreau.

IV. LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL— A REC
ORD OF TWO YEARS OF EARNEST
THOUGHT AND HARD STUDY
ON reaching America in May, 1 897, Howard
was ready and eager for serious work. The
resolutions he adopted while abroad, to
make the best use of his opportunities, had not been
forgotten: he showed at once that he intended to
keep them all unbroken. Although he had been
away from home so long, — and no boy ever loved
his home more than he, — Howard put away his
longings and went almost straight from the steamer
to school. He entered the Lawrenceville School in
Lawrenceville, New Jersey, May twenty-third, and
settled down to the hardest kind of work, because
it was necessary for him to make up a whole year in
Greek, in the short time remaining before the sum
mer vacation, and during the vacation itself. In or
der to take his rightful place In the classes at the
beginning of the next term.
All through the two years in Lawrenceville, How
ard seemed to keep his ideals ever In remembrance ;
and to strive honestly for their realization in his own
life. He was a severe critic of his own work and con
dudt, and an unrelenting taskmaster, though a just
one. Although he played golf and was a good oars
man and wheelman; took pleasure In long walks,
dancing and horseback riding; played chess and
checkers and was somewhat of a musician, Howard
did not lose himself in any of these things, but
steadily held to the course he had mapped out in
France, in order that he might be both good, and
"good for something." 69

THE following seledlions from his letters writ
ten to his parents during 1897, show how
much zeal Howard began to manifest in his work
and what a clear purpose was back of nearly every
thing he did:
January 9, 1897. In unpacking my trunk I found
that quite a number of things had been left out.
One of them was my little brass clock, and another
was my big Bible, which I need very much. I also
left my " Miscellaneous Writings" by Mrs. Eddy.
I wish that you would send me the " Christian Sci
ence Quarterly" so that I can keep up with you in
the good work. I have quite a lot of spare time now
and am reading "Tom Brown at Oxford." I think
that I shall adl on mamma's suggestion and buy a
good book every month. This month I will buy
"Tom Brown's School Days." Be sure and send
my clock, my Bible, my " Miscellaneous Writings,"
and the "Christian Science Quarterly" in a good
strong box.
June 6, 1897. I will not need a Greek tutor now
during the summer, so I have made up my mind to
study "like a trooper" and get all done now.
June 14. My Greek Is getting along swimmingly;
but, as the lessons let out earlier than I expedled, I
shall have to study much harder than I have been
studying. My Greek for the summer will only be
twenty-five pages In Xenophon and I expedt that
I shall do a little more also, both for the pradlice
and for a start in next year's work. I should like it
immensely if papa should buy me a small tent and
provisions and let me shift for myself in the woods
for a week or two, in which time the mornings would
70

be employed In looking (up) the sedllons south of
the Big Huron River, i.e. those sedllons on the club
map that S. and B. have not done yet. During that
time, I could study in the afternoons and evenings
and look over the Latin, Greek, Geometry, English
and Bible for next year's work, so that I would n't
have to study so hard here next year. As it is my de
sire to be in the first division of my class, the work
done during the summer will be so much gained.
... I guess that my account is fifteen dollars, al
though I don't know, and would like enough money
to get home on, with a two days' stop at Cleveland
and a little extra. I would like to see Mrs. C, H.,
Aunt H. and all the boys of the University School;
and I would like to have H. come up to the club this
summer, because I never saw any boy that compared
with him in everything or anything. Besides I would
like H. to go with me to Harvard, and he says that
he is rather undecided between Princeton and Har
vard, but says that he will go to Harvard If he can go
with me. I would like very much to renew the best
friendship that I ever had.
[Not dated but probably written before Oifober 9, 1 897. J
Dear Parents: I have not received any letters
from you at all this week. The last ones were blow
ing me up about something about which I did not
deserve to be blown up. All the same, I saw that you
were trying to instrudl me in the way that I should
go, and that eased my mind concerning your tribu
lation considerably. In my studies, I am in the first
sedtion In everything except Algebra, in which I am
In the second sedtion ; but we have an examination
71

Wednesday and I hope that I may be able to re
deem myself.
October lo, 1 897. 1 lost my Bible two weeks ago and
have not been able to find it since. I think some
body has borrowed it with the intention of never
returning it. ... If I don't get it inside of a week
I will write you to send me another. I have already
written twice for a Bible Didtionary and it has not
been mentioned in any of my letters for two weeks.
October 24. I mailed my C. S. application to Mrs.
C. to-day, after having signed my name to it. [How
ard refers to his application for membership in The
First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.] I am first
sedtion In everything now, having started in the third
sedtion in Algebra.
October 3 1 . By the paper which I send you, you will
see that I am on the honor roll in both Greek and
Latin. ... I am studying my Latin quite hard, be
cause all the names in Forestry are in Latin. I am
also reading a book entitled "Outlines of Forestry"
by Houston. I wish that papa would get it for his
library because it sets forth very clearly the reasons
why Forestry is so Important, and at the end of each
chapter, it gives quotations from other books such
as pertain to Forestry.
November 7, 1 897. In the letter that papa wrote me
he said: "Who ever hears of a man who stood at
the head of his classes at college?" Mr. B. stood
at the head in his classes, and I think you have
heard enough of him: if you haven't I will tell you
something more about him. He used to say: "Who
will ever hear of me? No one: but the charadter
which is in me shall be imparted to every young
72

man that I come across and he will bless the name
of B. to his dying day. I am one of those few men,
who seek not for praise, who make no boast in
their own powers; but I, B., am right now. I am
laying a foundation for the future generation. Will
the name of B. be spoken? No: it will be treasured
up in the hearts of the few truly great men whom
I have made." Imagine this speech being spoken at
five o'clock in the morning, — Mr. B. out in front
of a French farm-house in his night-shirt, pacing
up and down ; two English boys swallowing it all,
and myself giggling. I go to the Y. M. C. A. here
because I was unanimously eledled a member by all
the other members ; besides I, by going there, find
out the boy in his best light,
December ^,iSgj. By "The Lawrence "which I send
you, you will see that now I am as high up as I can
go in my classes, being one of the eight leading boys
of the third form.
HOWARD'S diary for 1897 gives abundant
evidence of his earnest thought on the ques
tions of highest importance, as the following ex
tradts will Indicate:
November 15, 1897, Why do we suffer P The pres
ent American is too content to say that sickness is
natural and that it is the lot of every being to suffer
continually. Now my theory is that every time we
do a wrong deed, whether we know that it Is wrong
or not, we suffer for it. For instance, I believe it Is
wrong to mention the word "sickness." I once read
of a very sensitive man, to all kinds of diseases, who
once read in the papers all the symptoms of Asiatic
73

cholera, and as he found himself believing them all,
he had them all. The consequence was that he died
the next week from that same disease.
November 17. On this day my Greek lesson seemed
exceptionally hard because to-day I was notified
that I had only gotten fifty-eight In my Greek ex
amination when the passing mark was sixty. I posi
tively shunned the book. After reasoning with my
self whether I had enough time on the next day to
get my lessons I found out by great studying I might
effedl my purpose, but happening to look at the first
lines of the advance lesson, I noticed that the words
were very hard to get ; but I thought that the " mak
ing of a man is not entirely the zeal which he puts
into the work which he is doing, unless the diredlion
of his zeal is placed in right channels." For instance,
a poor man might work with all his energy at wood
chopping, or a rich man at reading novels ; but whom
would these two creatures help, aside from the small
circle of their families? The man from whom the
poor man bought his axe, and the rich man his nov
els. If a man really wishes to do great things, first,
he must plan what he is going to be, and exert nearly
— not all — his energies In that diredlion, not neg-
ledtlng the necessary accomplishments of the world.
For should he exert all his energies in one diredlion,
he would become narrow-minded, egotistical, self-
conceited, — such a man as Mr, B., of whom you
will hear later. [Mr. B. was a teacher in France,
an American.] Mr. B. was not exadlly what might
be called eccentric, but he was very peculiar. He
did not seem that way when one was talking to him,
but when one got away from his speech he could
74

scarcely get away from his Influence. He would tell
amazing stories (all about himself, of course) and
then would show us his muscles. He took a hot
bath every night and covered himself with soap.
He had been the head of his class at the university,
had been a woodsman, wolf tamer, snake charmer,
had played on the foot-ball team at college and had
done everything under the sun ; but he was, never
theless, a physical wreck. Thus it gives us a good
lesson. A man who strives to be great, has conquered
everything he has run across, but who has not been
trained in the right channels of that prime fadlor in
the making of a man, — religion, — may be merely
a blade of grass in a pasture or a bull in Texas or
some other insignificant creature.
November 19. True Religion. True religion does not
consist so much in what one shows to the world but
what is stored away In the depths of one's conscience.
It is better to attack evil than to merely ward it off.
Some people say, "This man is awfully religious,"
and others say, "This man lives a good life." I think
the second is entitled to more credit. A murderer
, . . may be very religious, saying his prayers five
times a day, — he Is not leading what the world calls
"a good life." But a man cannot lead a good life who
goes about bragging about his religion, and asking
everybody he meets on the street, "Do you go to
church every Sunday? I do," or "Do you say your
prayers every Sunday? I do." Every really religious
man cannot live without quite a lot of religion,
whether he shows it, is ashamed to show it, or will
not show it. If we do not attack wrong whenever it
comes to us it is not because we are too weak to, but
75

because we do not think it worth while. However,
a very small pebble hitting the same place every
time Is likely to make a big hole; and drops of water
of which one is hardly felt. In dropping on a man's
head. If they fall continually are apt to drive him
crazy, I believe in avoiding the appearance of evil.
If any evil is going on let it go and don't get mixed
up in It. S. Clemens (Mark Twain) tells the story
of a good little boy who found a lot of bad little
boys fixing a can of dynamite on a poor little dog's
tail. He told them to stop it and he knelt down to
untie the can from the dog's tail. At this point a
policeman came along and saw him, and, thinking
that the good little boy was wrong and not know
ing that the can was full of dynamite, he threw his
club at the boy and hit the can instead. A terrific
explosion followed, blowing the policeman, the dog
and the good little boy up In the air and the good
little boy did not have a chance to deliver his last
speech which he had already written out. The mak
ing of a man is not the zeal with which he pursues
studies which he likes, but the firmness with which
he encounters tasks odious to him but which he has
to go through,
November 21. There are two places in the Bible, —
one where the Pharisee is condemned for professing
his faith, and another which says that another man
was condemned for being ashamed of his religion.
The first is found in Luke xviii. 1 2-14. 1 do not ex
adlly understand these passages, but it seems to me
that the difference In them is between confessing
one's religion with a proud heart and with a humble
heart. The right thing to do is to live up to what
76

one says ; but it is wrong to shout out on the house
tops "I am a Christian" — and then to be base and
deceitful in private.
December lo, 1897. There is no respedl of persons
with God. It matters not whether a man is a min
ister or a coal heaver, whether he will receive eter
nal life; but if the minister sins and the coal heaver
does not sin, the coal heaver will go to heaven and
the minister — ? There is a French proverb "He
that doeth wrong will do it again." Although I be
lieve this proverb to be the general state of affairs,
I do not believe it Impossible for a sinner to turn
over a new leaf and keep it spotless. In Romans
i. 4,* it says Jesus determined to be the son of God
with power, and I think this shows how much there
is In a good resolution well kept. He determined to
be just, upright and pure. God will render to every
man according to his deeds. When Jesus was a boy
he helped his father in a carpenter shop and we be
ing scholars ought to do our work faithfully as he
Is thought to have done his. He pradticed a money-
earning trade because he thought it was his duty, and
so we ought to do our duty In our lessons whatever
the objedl of them. " For wherein thou judgest an
other, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest
doest the same things." I once accused a fellow of
using a pony in Virgil, and after a little while I found
that when I got stuck I had a strong temptation to
go and see what the right translation was. I yielded
once to the temptation, but once was not enough.
Then I reasoned, only once more won't hurt, and
after a while I got dependent on the translation for
* Howard was mistaken in his quotation. 77

my lesson and that has been one of the hardest habits
to break that I have yet come across. Now the tables
are turned, that fellow accuses me of using a pony.
HOWARD'S letters from his mother during
1897 "^^^^ full of good counsel, adapted to
the larger needs of the student. The following let
ter without date, but probably written soon after
Howard entered Lawrenceville, shows how ready
his mother was to acknowledge her own mistakes :
Dearest Son: I erred in giving you advice about
friends. The boys there are all your friends and you
need not fear any of them: only "be wise as a ser
pent." Hold continually your true Idea of yourself
— God's image, and hold all the other boys in the
same light. What you look for you will get. Look
for kindness from all and expedt it from all because
you are the expression of God, not for any other
reason. Read your Bible and "Science and Health"
daily, and try to adl at all times as though harmony
and love were the only reality, which indeed they are.
Remember your true thought gives you dominion
over everything unlike Good.
Although Howard at this time is fifteen years of
age his mother does not once relax her watchfulness
but writes to him just as of old, advising him on all
points and still with the tone of loving authority.
These extradls which follow are from a long letter
dated September 26, 1897.
Dearest Howard: Tell us about foot-ball. I hope
you were not eledled captain, for you are too young
to take charge of anything. Don't forget, dearest,
that you are young, — younger than most boys in
78

your class, — and to make true progress in every
thing and to be estimated at your true value by your
schoolmates, you need to be very retiring and let
your real merits be discovered gradually. I don't
think you had better have your banjo until Christ
mas; then you will be more settled In your work
and see what you have time for. If one tries to do
too many things his end will be like the man who
was allowed to put his hand in at an open window
where were stored many treasures, and secure all
he could in a given time. He glanced at a glitter
ing ruby, then reached for a diamond, then some
sapphires linked together caught his eye, a golden
net, — alas! when his time was up, as he had not
firm hold on any, he lost them all. You will be wiser,
sonny, and not be too ambitious to shine, all at
once. Have you found out the C. S. boy yet? I know
you are adting the wise virgin, keeping your lamp
filled every day; for sometimes the darkness comes
upon us suddenly and we must be prepared. I know
your nature — your thought — better than you do
yourself, dear, and would suggest that you try to
care only what God thinks about you, and not mind
what people think at all. God is the one you are
working to please. You are loving and kind and
would like to have everybody think well of you, and
like you, but you must earn your own self-respedt.
Learn to think well of yourself, and of the real boy
that dwells in the secret place of the Most High.
Be what you know jyoa are in reality. Make friends
with any one, but let God send your friends. Please
answer every question and write a little longer let-
79

ters. Every little thing interests us. Lovingly your
best friend, refledling the Mother, God.
In Odtober she writes him a letter describing the
autumnal show of trees and sky, reporting events
at home and giving him more advice mixed with
playful scoldings. These are extradls from it:
Sunday Morning, October 17, 1897.
My own darling Boy: The glory of the out
look from the sitting-room windows is beyond de- .
scription. It is surely the "garden of the Lord." All
colors of red from the deepest red to a mere rosy
flush cover tree and vine. The white wax-berries
and the brilliant ones of the barberry, the deep blue
of the bay, the softer blue of the sky with fleecy
white clouds floating in It and the distant shimmer
of the mountains beyond make one feel that the
mysteries of Eleusis are still with us, and that na
ture is a veil which faintly conceals the real, spirit
ual world. All things seem to glorify God, to typify
Good, to express Good, and I feel as I hold you In
thought in writing to you that the grandest creation
of God is revealed in man, — in you, — that His
eternal beauty, strength, intelligence and love are
expressed in you.
I am always so happy to get your letters although
they do not answer the questions I would so like to
have a response to, but I know that as you are on the
"go" for Improvement you will begin to look over
our letters before answering them. Corresponding
is just a conversation. Suppose Mrs. L. would say
to a friend, — "I am very much interested In you.
Did you succeed in getting the piece of music you
80

were looking for ? " and her friend's reply would be,
— "Apples are larger this fall than usual and I am
eating so many I am getting fat." Interesting as you
see, but not to the point.
"What 's going on at the dear old home?" Well,
for one thing, housecleaning with a vengeance. Not
a cockroach dares to peep its miserable head out of a
crack below, or skurry over the newly painted floor.
Every reform possible is being made below stairs
and even the whole village is being taken into con
sideration. I hope that you have found your Bible. I
amglad you are taking an interest IntheY.M.C.A.,
but, darling, do not speak from any other motive
than the desire to help others; and you can help
others most by being rather than talking. Read daily,
my dear boy, "Science and Health" or "Miscella
neous Writings." Remember you are, or will soon
be, a member of The Church of Christ, Scientist. I
will send you papers to sign and please send them
again to Mrs. C.,for she needs to add her signature.
The application for membership in The First
Church of Christ, Scientist, referred to in the letter
just quoted, was accepted and he became a mem
ber of the Mother Church in June of the next year,
as the following notice records:
Mr. Howard M. Longyear, Marquette, Michigan.
Dear Brother: Your application to become a
member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in
Boston, Mass., has been received, and you were ad
mitted to membership with the Church in conform
ity with the Tenets and Rules, June 4, 1 898. Yours
in the bonds of Christ, William B. Johnson, Clerk.
81

The following letter written by Howard's mother
Odtober 23,1897, shows that he had not made him
self comfortable In the new environment.
Dearest Howard : Just wait In patience and God
will show Himself to you in the loveliest of all ways,
a friend. You are liked, Howard, for everybody Hkes
love, goodness, and joy, and you are the refledlion
of Love and nothing else.
I see your thought, dear. You are trying to make
us proud of you by standing high in your studies,
but do not do it at the expense of every-day joy.
Be steady and moderate, be content to stand lower
and give more time and thought to others. You have
a right to a fulness of joy every moment of your
life, — yes. It is your duty to enter into the joy of
Our Lord. Now I know you will welcome these
helpful words of motherly love and will adl upon
them. Read your "Daily Light" when you arise. Ask
God to let His Love shine through you ; that you
may feel an interest in, and a love for, His children.
Empty your thought of self and try to live for others.
When you go to breakfast, greet every one as you
would wish others to greet you. Talk of others and
outside things, never of self. Try to be jolly, frank
and open. Adl to please God, and do not care what
you may imagine others think of you. I saw your
real self, loving, cheerful and gay, on our trip to
Italy and Greece. , , .
Promise yourself to read in " Miscellaneous Writ
ings" half an hour every day, and then go out and
live It. God will send you friends, dear, and will be
your helper, guide and friend. Your part is to be ab-
82

solutely true in word and deed and to look for re
ward in a free consciousness. Suppose you were the
best scholar in the whole school, what would that
bring to you? Nothing but vanity, envy and con
tempt. Suppose you refledted Love every day, were hon
est, meek, obedient to Good, frank and happy; what
will that bring? You are, darling, looking In the
right diredlion for help and you will get It. You are
naturally a most lovable boy, and If you will stran
gle that miserable lying, mortal claim of a creature
which tries to talk lies to you, as well as to all of
us, you will find your thought firmer and steadier
and your life growing happy. Be ambitious to be
the expression of God. Hold this thought while in
chapel, — "God is all in all: then Spirit and its
glorious expression fill this room." In studying, —
"There is but one Mind, and I am the refledlion
of it. In it is no thought of fatigue or ignorance. I
can never feel proud of refledling God, but most
humble to think He will shine through me."
That you do love us, dear, we both feel and we
know that you are striving to do just what you think
is right, but listen often to the still small voice. Ask
God for friends, don't try to make any for your
self, — that is my definite idea. God Is fitting you
to have some lovely ones, but do not try to please
others, or to win friends by brag, or show, or tricks.
Don't try to lead, but be willing to follow and to
learn games and take instruction cheerfully.
Write me a little loving private note, my dear, and
tell me how you feel about this letter, and ask for
whatever help you need. You have a right to every-
83

thing you desire that is just, and you should have
it. Answer me frankly about your organ, Howard.
I do not understand your silence. I would give up
some of my other studies to take It. That little
sentence error is trying to write, that it hopes for
relief from this school. Is met with an emphatic de
nial, "There is no place where God is not. He is
the one Mind and there is no mind to be fatigued."
The grand art of living is to have each day a little
eternity just full of good. God (or duty) does not re
quire us to do more than we can thoroughly enjoy
doing. Now try, dear, to put self out, — self-will,
self-love, self-justification. Just give up and let Love
rule. I know so well, my dear, my mental struggles,
that I can appreciate yours and perhaps hqlp you
out. How I wish you were to be with us Thanksgiving !
Wherever you are, try to make some one happy, and
you will have a jolly day. How much better It is to
find out some Intrinsic worth in a person, than to
have it flaunted in one's face.
Send me a soul-cheering letter. Won't we have a
jolly time Christmas! I try to live only in the now,
but I find that I am anticipating a lot of fun. If you
will send the first three pages of this letter to A., after
assimilating the love thoughts therein, I will thank
you. Please tell me frankly if you like to have me
write thus helpfully. If you don't I won't write so
any more. Do show love and interest in the chil
dren, dear; they would be so happy to hear from you
diredlly. Rest in this thought, dear, " My mother loves and
understands me."
84

Begin the change by dating your letter. I did not
do so the other day, and as it was a business letter,
I received notice of it. I felt humiliated, but " the
trier wears the crown," and God will give it. Lov
ingly, your own Mamma.
Howard received the following from his mother,
dated November 7, 1897:
My darling Boy: I sit down with your letter
before me to see if there are any questions you
wish answered and to give you the feeling that I am
continuing your conversation, and that I am really
deeply interested in what you are writing about.
Many congratulations for being on the honor roll.
I know that means hard, honest study. If you can
keep thoroughly happy, natural and loving, while
you are doing good work, you can be sure divine
Love, and not self-will. Is leading you.
I am glad that you are getting interested in For
estry. I saw in the paper the other day that Wiscon
sin had taken it up. Papa and I are glad enough that
you didn't go into foot-ball. It is all for the best.
Don't I revel In the thought of my home gathering
at Christmas !
I sometimes feel sorry that you are not of a more
social nature, dear, — that you see so little around
you to enjoy ; but I know that everything will come
all right in time. You would rather be alone than as
sociate with Impure or profane boys, and I respedl
you for it. If you would forget yourself, your mortal
claim of self, and let the real, natural boy appear,
you would find many congenial friends. I would
rather have you make too few than too many. You
are my heart's delight, anyway, and as I know whose
85

boy you really are, and what your motives and de
sires are, I know you ought to be and will be happy
every minute. We all have many weeds In our nature
to overcome and root out. Look out for the good.
Strive to find God in every one, and just be your
natural self and God will show Himself to you in
His other children. Lovingly, your own Mamma.
A week later, November 15, 1897, his mother
writes from Chicago: "Abide in Truth, dear one,
and you, as the refledlion of God, will have domin
ion over all the world. What papa meant to say
was, that you should not use willpower, and study
with the motive of beating others. Refledling the
one Intelligence and studying to show forth the one
Mind is all right and will never tire you."
Reproof was sometimes needed, and if so, was
forthcoming in bare and unmistakable words, of
which the following is an example : December 3, 1897.
My dearest Howard: The air Is fiall of Christ
mas cheer and everything is humming with joy. Jack
has been doing up his bundles, and he says he feels
that Christmas is here now. Your letter about your
Christmas presents received ; Its wording, I know,
did not convey your meaning. I am sorry that you
saw fit to deliberately disobey me in regard to the
photos. I expedt obedience and shall always expedl it
from you. It is God's law and no one ever gets too
old to obey. I do not give many commands, but to
those I do give I exped to have entire trustful obe
dience. Now, dear boy, you who are striving to put
down all claims of error, read these references care-
86

fully, and make them your own : Col. ill. 20; Eph. vi.
2 and 3 ; Lev. xix. 3 ; Prov. xv. 20.
If we allow you to stop in Chicago one day. It is
on condition that you go the first thing in the morn
ing and have your photos taken. Send your account
(this is a command) In your next letter, of the twenty-
five dollars the bursar gave you to go to Philadel
phia. Remember, dear boy, that was not your money,
but papa's. You forgot to say that you received the
money papa sent. Your happiness at home depends
largely upon the spirit of love and unselfishness you
bring with you.
You do not like to be corrected, — then do not put
yourself in the way of corredllon. Try to please
others and to conform in every way to the rules of
the house. You are the oldest boy and will set the
example. If you will be my aide-de-camp and help
the boys to "work off steam" out doors, — will give
willing and quick obedience to the mother who is,
by the grace of God, Queen of the household, —
the rebellious words, " not on your life," will not be
heard. There must be a ruling power; that will be
Love. Don't allow error to dispute or argue. Let
perfeidl peace reign. We are planning for a lovely
time. I am led to write this from the tone of your last
"Barnardy" letter. " I, the great, the wise. I k.rvov/
best. Who are you to presume to teach me?" None of
that, if you please. A mother is entitled to all obe
dience and reverent love. I was glad to have you
choose for yourself, but I look for a different tone
from the son I bore, nurtured and raised to obey the
command of Love. You are the dearest and most
87

lovable boy in the world and the bear skin must
come off. Now, my darling, if you will let my words
sink deep Into your heart you will get no rebuffs or
rebukes. In love. Mamma.
ON the fly-leaf of his diary for 1898 Howard
wrote these lines:
Good thoughts are better than common deeds.
Good thoughts are what one mostly needs.
I'll write my deeds and thoughts as well.
For in a world of thought I dwell.
In one of his books which he used for figures
and rough notes, the above verse was found in the
following rudimentary stages:
Thoughts are almost always better than deeds.
Thoughts are always better than deeds
And thoughts are what one always needs.
Good thoughts are better than common deeds.
And these are what one mostly needs.
So write the deeds and thoughts as well.
For in the land of thoughts we dwell.
Howard's diary for 1898 was the most volumi
nous of all his note-books. The original book was
much too small, and for many of the days he added
from five to ten extra sheets of thin paper closely
filled with writing, on both sides of each sheet. The
book Is also profusely illustrated with pen drawings,
maps, diagrams and curious red and black pidlures
which he loved to make. His notes tell all about each
day's work and play ; his reading and his thoughts.
He made a record of everything : his examination
marks, the money he spent, his golf scores, the
changes In the weather, what he saw, heard and
88

said. Out of his great abundance of notes, only a
few are seledled, and they are mainly of a charac
ter that will show Howard's attitude toward the
supremely important Interests in life. The notes
are as follows:
January 6, 1 898. Order and cleanliness are the hab
its which I am trying to acquire, and gluttony and
exaggeration are the ones I am trying daily to over
come.January 9. My creed differs from theirs because I
believe that God is all, and error an illusion. Hence
forth I am going to let people see what kind of a
fellow I am and not bawl it out in meetings. A man
does not gain anything by covering his sins with a
cloak. The only way to repent of sins is to destroy
them. "Verbum satsapienti." On thefirst of January,
1898, I did not make any resolutions as so many
did, but in the same town where I was there was a
fine girl In whose eyes I was desirous of appear
ing faultless. I had learned In reading " Science and
Health," by Mary Baker G. Eddy, that deception
before marriage is the greatest generator of trouble
after marriage, and holding that in mind I said to
myself, " I wonder if I have any faults to overcome
or virtues to acquire." Before meeting this girl I had
made the great mistake of believing myself faultless,
but I found out that I was not faultless enough to
have enemies. That day when I saw a few other per
sons talking with this girl, I became aware of quite a
number of faults : one of them was exaggeration, an
other uncleanliness, and when I took her into sup
per I discovered that I had a terrible appetite which
is called gluttony : and after the ball when I entered
89

my room, I found it all topsy-turvy; and then I
thought "What if she should come in here!" I am
now earnestly striving and working to become fit
to appear well in her eyes and in the eyes of other
people. "To build aright, we must first tear down."
"Science and Health," page 97. When a man starts
to reform he must not be surprised If he finds that
when he first starts the reform he is seemingly worse
off than before. An unsafe elevator is worse than
none at all. A man does not truly reform if he only
adds better things to his charadter and does not
banish those things which are sinful or untrue. A
shanty cannot be made into a palace by only cov
ering it with marble slabs and gold, and putting
beautiful furniture inside of it. It is still a shanty.
Thus with a man's charadter. He must expel ma
terial thoughts, habits and deeds and fill his mind
with spiritual things. I am a Christian Scientist but
I like to hear the thoughts of Presbyterian boys and
of other creeds. During my first half year at Law
renceville I attended the Y. M. C. A. there and got
great pleasure in listening to the thoughts of other
boys in respedl to religion ; but I never spoke, be
cause I thought that If I spoke my thoughts and
said, "In Truth there Is no evil: evil is but an illu
sion," they might not like it, thinking I was trying
to convert them. If my life from the beginning had
been destined to be that of a reformer, to-night
would have been my chance, for the secretary of
the Y. M. C. A. asked me to lead the class meet
ing, at which about fifteen of the most religious fel
lows of the class of 1899 would be present. But I
believe in leading a stridlly upright life and in giv-
90

ing a good example, expedling others to follow it.
Abstaining from the devil profits not If we turn
not to Christ. Luke vi. 12; Matt, xxviil. 18. One
of the greatest mistakes, it seems to me, is to teach
religion by telling the pupils to abstain from for
nication, uncleanness, deceit, drunkenness, and so
on; and never telling them what to do. If the
temperance associations were done away with, it is
my opinion that there would be fewer drunkards.
In . . ., in the year 1868, was started a temperance
club which broke up one night in the midst of their
speeches when the president of the association was
brought in drunk. At the next meeting, he, as an
apology, said, that as he had his mind constantly
dwelling on drunkenness he thought that to drink
must be a very pleasant sensation, seeing that so
many were drawn away by it, and that the more he
tried to keep his body in subjedlion, the more he
felt that he wished to experience the sensation of
being drunk. So, hardly knowing what he was do
ing, he went into a small saloon, and drank until he
fell asleep. Then his friends came and carried him
into the meeting. My mother, who frequently went
to those meetings for the purpose of hearing the
fellows speak, says, that they all turned out hope
less drunkards but one.
January 17. The days are progressing as fast as ever,
,but each day brings its possibihties. I think there
are two things that make a good charadter: first to
have a younger brother who copies your virtues
and defedts, and secondly a girl.
January 20. Perfedtion in all things is very difficult
to obtain, and most persons are used up in securing
91

it. Benjamin Franklin's story of the speckled axe
shows this clearly. A farmer, not content with hav
ing only the point of his axe sharp, wanted to have
all the. rest bright like the point, so he took it to a
blacksmith, who said he would brighten the axe if
the farmer would turn the grindstone. The farmer
was so tired after a while that he said "he liked a
speckled axe."
January 11. Every bad trait of charadter that Is not
mastered on its first appearance will become " pricks
in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex
you in the land wherein ye dwell," Numbers xxxiii.
55. Therefore drive out all evil so that only good
shall remain. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall
die : but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live." I have often pon
dered over this saying : " If God be for us, who can
be against us?" Either the persons like Anthony
Comstock, missionaries and others, do not have
God's sandtlon for their work, or those who op
pose them are only shadows that disappear when
seen in a strong light.
Reformer's Mistakes. One of the greatest mistakes
that would-be reformers like Anthony Comstock
make, is to say, "Thou shalt not!" If Anthony
Comstock says such and such a book is not to be
read, everybody would read it that could lay hands
on it. The best way is to go and recommend some
good book. If all the four hundred of New York
society instead of saying that such and such a theatre
is a terrible place to go to, would say: "Such and
such a theatre is fine; I wish you would go to it," —
the standard of New York operas would be elevated.
92

" If any man defile the temple of God, him shall
God destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, which
temple ye are." I understand this text to mean if
any man wastes his substance in riotous living God
will not renew it for him. Therefore keep yourself
holy and do not pollute the temple of God by be
ing immoral, dishonest, deceitful or impure. " The
charadter of a man's mother can be told by the man
himself." To choose a wife look for her charadter.
"Science and Health," page 132, line 12.
February 12, 1898. The Book of Revelation pos
sesses a charm for me, partly on account of the mys
teries there involved, and partly on account of the
freat promises given to those who do no wrong.
Those passages in Revelation concerning "overcom
ing" are underscored in Howard's Bible.] One of the
greatest mistakes that old persons make is looking
upon death as the door to heaven. Death, as the
Bible declares, I Cor. xv. 26, is an enemyto be "de
stroyed," because death "cometh not without sin,"
and if we could once conquer the desire to sin, we
should not die. "The wages of sin is death." "Sin,
when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Most peo
ple of the nineteenth century believe that changes
of the weather, food or moisture bring about sick
ness ; and sickness, death; but if they trace their sin
ful deeds and thoughts back they will see the cause,
which is mental, not physical. The only way to re
pent for disobedience to God's law. Is to suffer for
sin thus brought Into the world. Obedience is better
than a thousand sacrifices. "How difficult It is to
save the bark of reputation from the rocks of Igno
rance." [Petrarch.] This all depends on the good or
93

bad nature of the crew whose name is Charadter, and
on the captain whose semblance we are.The very best
steering is required. The waves are the world.
February 13. In the night B. asked me my religion,
and thank God that strength was given to me to ac
knowledge Christ!
February 19. II Chronicles xvi. 12: "Yet in his dis
ease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physi
cians." This verse shows more clearly than any
other that I have yet seen in the Bible, the fallacy
of depending on physicians. Some people are apt to
say: "The Lord does not heal now as He used to";
but they are in the wrong, because Christian Scien
tists have proved that disease is nothing, — only the
absence of perfedi health. Disease is darkness, health
is light. If a person Is all In darkness, it is not so ter
rifying as when there is a very little light, because in
perfedi darkness nothing can be seen, while in a very
dim light objedls present a much more terrifying as-
pedl; but as the light grows stronger the uncertainty
concerning the objedt passes away, and when once In
this state of perfedtion nothing is terrifying or hid
eous. It Is truly the millennium of the Lord.
March 20, 1898. The cure of the physical does not
help the mental, but the cure of the mental helps
the physical. Read In the night James I. 12 and I
had a new thought. It is better for the soul to en
dure temptation than to flee from it, because no man
is tempted more than he can endure.
March 30. Evil effects of thought. Most people are
hypnotists without knowing it. They say in their
minds, "Don't do such a thing or you'll get such
a thing" and it nearly always turns out so. Persons
94

also hypnotize themselves in the same manner. Doc
tors only look on one side of the case, i.e. the physi
cal. Now the Christian Scientists are studying the
mental side of the case and find that when the men
tal side Is cured the physical is also. Therefore it Is
the mind that ought to be guarded more than the
body .Whoever wishes to live must try to conquer.
May 15, 1898. To learn the faults in one's own
charadter, learn from all the disagreeable traits in
everybody else's charadter. One day this spring Pop
Stevens came into my room and asked me a ques
tion. By force of habit I happened to say, "What?"
"Do you notice you always say, 'What?' to all
questions asked you?" Again I said, "What?" by
force of habit, and saw what a serious habit It was.
I then resolved to corredt that habit, but found it
an awfully tenacious habit, as I could never catch
myself in the adl of saying it, since it came off my
lips as unconsciously as breathing. I find that these
unconscious habits are a hundred times worse than
conscious habits. For instance, the habit of expec
torating saliva from the mouth. One night while
carefully reviewing my charadter, I found that this
habit had grown upon me since I came to Law
renceville. Well ! I checked that habit inside of two
weeks. One of my worst habits is making the person
to whom I am talking feel uncomfortable. I hardly
ever say things about a person to his face with evil
intent, but sort of jokingly. The best way to reform
one's own life is to go into new places with none
of the old obstacles hindering him. — To better il
lustrate this motto, I will relate an account of my
life. When I was In Cleveland, Ohio, in 1893, I
9S

was a perfedi terror. I took doors off their hinges,
took jewels out of watches and could never stay still
without doing something. I think that this was
partly due to the opinion others held of me. . , .
I see clearly now my aunt tried to do the best she
could, but as soon as she was out . . . the restless
adtivity of my system always set me to doing some
thing, whether itwas counting the number of figures
in the carpet or playing with match boxes or calcu
lating some astronomical problem. In 1895 I went
to France and there I learned to behave myself bet
ter than before, being put among strange people, and
when the people there came to know me, held my
deeds in a little bit higher esteem than  had
done. I went to Lisleux, In Normandy, and there I
created a very favorable Impression on persons by
my studious adllvities. Then In 1 896 when I went to
Germany, I was about as good as they make them ;
but in 1 898 I went back to [Cleveland] for a week
and found that  thought I was the same old ter
ror that I had been four years before. This opinion
In which she held me, almost succeeded in destroy
ing the charadter that foreign agencies had been
building up for two or three years; but one thing
saved me : I have a friend, whom I notified of, or
who noticed through my letters, my change of char
adter; and the high esteem in which I held him,
served to help me preserve my good name. I did
not realize how critical a struggle this was while I
was going through it, but now I see how great it
was, and shall always be thankful to H. W., who
saved from falling, inside of a week, the charadter
which was two years In building up.
96

June 4, 1898. This is the first time this year that I
have not felt like studying. I must write to mamma
telling her not to worry about my studies, because
I think that her worrying is the main cause of my
disinclination. July 20, 1898. I hate immorality in all forms, be it
in boys or girls', but I like a person who has some
real "fun" in his or her charadter.
July 28. Really I don't beHeve that I do love as
much as some people. My love consists In search
ing out all the good points In a girl that I can, and
I love the girl with the most good qualities. Purity
comes at the head of the list. Charadter and thought
come next, and looks last. I think that purity is one
of the most desirable qualities in any person.
October 30, 1 898. "Help Lord; for the godly man
ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the chil
dren of men." " They are all gone aside, they are all
together become filthy: there is none that doeth
good, no, not one." "They are corrupt, they have
done abominable works, there is none that doeth
good." "How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord?
for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from
me?" "Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my
cry, give ear unto my prayer that goeth not out
of feigned lips." "Why standest thou afar off, O
Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?"
The above sentiments from the Psalms of David
appeal very strongly to me for several reasons.
Fool that I was and should be still.
Had not kind Providence with favoring will
Placed in me the power divine
To always worship at her shrine.
97

^^ Always worship? Always pray?
On the knees?" I answer, "Nay/"
Make every thought a living prayer
And you can worship everywhere.
Nimium Fortunatus [Howard's nom de plume].
[Not dated ; probably November 20, 1898.] Romans
i. 8 : "Your faith Is spoken of throughout the whole
world." Christian Science is getting to be largely
talked about In all circles and pretty soon every one
will be interested in It. Romans i. 17: "The just
shall live by faith." If God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men
who hold the truth In unrighteous courses, all sick
ness, disease, etc., comes from some sin. Persons in
the nineteenth century are apt to say," Well, every
body is learning that now" ; but they do not under
stand that if they are stricken with some disease it Is
because they have sinned. When a person Is young
it is apt to be the fears of his mother which are re
fledted on him, but when he gets beyond fifteen or
sixteen it Is his own sin which gives him colds, etc.
By sin, I mean even evil thoughts, fears, and some
things which would not regularly be called sin, but
which are nevertheless.
[Not dated; probably November 22.] How to choose
a wife. The choosing of a wife depends upon the
station in life of a man who Is to choose her. If a
man intends to be a capitalist, he ought to choose
a beautiful wife; one accomplished in all the fine
arts, who knows how to lead balls. In short every
thing that Is needed to make a society belle. But if
a man's father has spent all his money on that man's
education so that the man comes Into the world
98

without money, — that main fadlor of success to
get which he must strive twenty years, — he should
marry a lively, pure. New England girl skilled in the
arts of cooking, gardening and housekeeping. Then
he should buy a small cottage out in the West some
where with his wife to take care of it, while he goes
to business to make his fortune, while his wife keeps
house, tends the garden, and has a good meal put
out for him when he comes home. Phoebe, described
in the "House of the Seven Gables," was such a girl.
I do not doubt but there are many such girls living
in New England to-day or In Michigan even. Even
though the heart of youth yields to the charms of
a dashing, pretty and accomplished young lady, he
should never think of taking her for his wife unless
he has money enough to keep him for the rest of
his life in clover. He should love the self-possessed
New England maid who knows how to cook and
tend the garden. She should be full of fun, adlive,
not too fat, not necessarily pretty, but such a one
as is likely to make the most useful wife that any
man could have.
[Not dated; probably November 27.] If a man once
loses his reputation In a certain town, he is never
likely to regain it again In that place; but If he goes
to some other place he Is more likely to regain It
again even if the people have heard something of
his former vicissitudes. The man who has lost his
charadter In the eyes of the people, is like a man who
has fallen off some steep cliff. He can never climb
up again in the same place where he had fallen down,
but by trying various places on both sides of him,
there is likely to be a crevice where he can climb up.
99

IN 1 898, while at school, Howard wrote to his par
ents frequently ; seldom less than once a week.
Portions of some of these letters are here given :
March 6, 1898. I have just come back from hear
ing a most villainous attack on Christian Science
by a preacher here at Lawrenceville. It was very
evident that he knew nothing at all about Chris
tian Science ; but he ought not to have talked about
it in that manner, anyway. Please write and tell me
what to do about it; because I don't want to listen
to things which I know are false, in a house where
the preachers are expedled to know something.
[Howard called upon Dr. M., the head of the school,
and entered a protest against allowing any religion to
be talked against in the pulpit, and Dr. M. promised
that it should not happen again.]
March 27. The teachers in this house have gotten
so tired about keeping the boys down by force,
that at last they have given up and had to place us
on our honor, and now the house is fifty per cent
quieter than It used to be. As a persuader to this
new surprising state of affairs, they have given us
liberties in lots of things and have taken off one
half of our marks altogether.
April 1^, 1898. The time seems to be going very
rapidly now, but I hope that summer won't come
too quick for you to buy me a canoe and a 3 8 revol
ver for use In the woods, because ever since I have
been in the woods, and when I saw those bear
tracks on the trail between 9 and 10, 15 and 16, T.
51 N. R. 28 W. I have often wanted some defense
besides my axe.
May I, 1898. Please tell me in your next letter
100

whether I can have a canoe and a 44 revolver or a
45-50 rifle. I think that I am getting almost old
enough to use one now. Have you got the field
notes for the Huron Mountain, So-sa-wa-ga-ming,
and Sauk's Head clubs yet? Please send me that
map of the Huron Mountain S. & F. C. as soon as
it Is printed; for I am anxious to see what kind of a
map it is. I should think that in the map of the So-
sa-wa-ga-ming lands, you would include the East
part of 51-28, so that both clubs would have the
benefit of the Salmon Trout River. For instance,
have the map go as far North as the end of Salmon
Trout Point, leaving out S. 30 51—27, and as far
West as Oscar's homestead, thus including the dam
and falls on Salmon Trout River; and let both clubs
have the benefit of the fine fishing there. Also tell
Mr. A. that there are three fine little lakes about two
and a half to three miles S. S. W. of Sauk's Head,
and that there is probably good fishing in them.
On your map of the So-sa-wa-ga-ming lands don't
forget that there is a wagon road from Burns' Land
ing to the N. W. end of lake. I know that the road
is there because H. and myself went along It. There
is another nice pond W. of Lake Independence:
it is either in the S. E. corner of 8, 7, 17 or 18, but
I am Inclined to think that it is in S. 8. 1 think that
there Is a spring somewhere along the shore of
Little Ives' Lake, because the large amount of water
which flows out of it at both ends, into both the Sal
mon Trout River and Ives' Lake, could have its
source in no other way. Are the mosquitoes thick
in the swamp back of the So-sa-wa-ga-ming? If they
are, what are you going to do about it? Please write
lOI

me a long letter about the club and send maps.
May 22. The woods are fine now, —
"Every clod feels a stir of might.
An instinct within it that reaches and towers.
And, groping blindly above it for light.
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers."
June 16, 1898. I would like very much to be as
"busy" as you are. I am now "working" like a
steam engine, but all my work is done sitting still
and in the same place. We drew lots for our rooms
in the Upper House yesterday and I got the best
room. I hope our camping trip to the Pidlured
Rocks comes off all right : I have always wanted to
go up there again ever since I explored those caves
near Miner's Castle. I expedl to have some fun with
Ajax this summer if he is as playful as he always
was. Last Thursday I was called up on the platform
in the auditorium at the school, and was given my
"First Testimonial."
December 11, 1898. I think that last summer was
the most pleasant one that I have ever had. I at
tribute that fadt partly to my canoe, partly to my
camping and partly to my unrestridted freedom in
the woods. The only thing that I would like for a
Christmas present is a good compass. It is true that
I cannot use It until summer, but as I now have
everything that I want, I shall not need anything
else while I am in school.
HOWARD'S father and mother both wrote to
him regularly and frequently. The following
are a few letters, and extradts from letters, from his
father during 1898:
102

February 13, 1898.
Dear Howard : We have not heard from you this
week. If you have so much spare time as you say
you have, you should not fail to use part of It writ
ing to us at least once a week. Perhaps you have
done so and the letter has gone astray.
A. has sent me the letter you wrote to her about
 . The good name of a girl or woman is a very
sacred thing. A good name Is easily ruined, and once
injured, is almost beyond repair. So such things
should be treated with extreme caution and deli
cacy. Of course, if you see or hear anything against
the charadter of an associate of any of your family,
it is your duty to heed It sufficiently to satisfy your
self whether there are grounds for the allegations,
and if there are grounds, take such cautious steps
as the case may seem to require. In such a case as the
one under consideration, you should have spoken
to mamma or to me.
It is a common thing among boys and men of a
certain class to say things about girls or women
which they would not dare say to the vidtims them
selves, or to their friends. Sometimes such things
are said in a low spirit of revenge for slights, fan
cied or real : sometimes they are inspired by a ma
licious desire to do a cowardly injury to some one
the mallgner could not hope to count as a friend.
Sometimes a low idea that It enhances his impor
tance to seem to know something about the ma
ligned one that his hearers do not know, and are
not likely to be able to prove the truth of, causes
him to make remarks and insinuations which may
do untold damage to an entirely innocent person.
103

I do not know that any of these remarks are ap
plicable to this case, but I mention them that you
may see how easy it Is to start an evil report and
how helpless the vidtim may be. It is an excellent
rule to refrain from discussing or talking about girls,
especially when the talk is derogatory. Your own
good judgment should tell you when such talk is
of a charadter to entitle it to your attention, which
would only be when the subjedl is a friend of yours,
or of your family, and then your attention should
be diredled to ascertaining if there are just grounds
for criticism, or to resent any statements your judg
ment declares against. Shun anything of the kind
which has the charadter of mere gossip. It is so unfair
to say things about people which they have no op
portunity to reply to, or defend themselves against.
Lovingly, Father. March 6, 1898.
Dear Howard: We had a letter from you this
week and also received your standing for the first
semester. It was on a sheet of paper labelled "First
Testimonial." The standings seem to be good and
some of them high.
You seem to have misunderstood our idea about
your studying hard. You should do your best al
ways, and not undertake more than you can do your
best work at. We did not want you to work to be
at the head of your class just for the glory of It, or
as a matter of personal vanity. If you can stand at
the head, without sacrificing other equally impor
tant things, we should be glad to have you do so.
I do not deem It essential that you should stand at
the head, or even very near It, if you thoroughly un-
104

derstand what you study, but you should do work
which you feel is your best, without setting a pace
you cannot maintain by your best, steady work.
Your work should be such as insures your own self-
respedt and if you do the work that you feel is good
work, and such as is worthy of you, the results will
fully satisfy us. I think that mamma wrote you
sometime ago diredling your attention to the motives
that seemed to be Influencing your work.
You can probably do with ease as good work as
any one does in the school. If you find you can do
so with perfedi justice to yourself in all ways, and
with perfedi fairness to your development in all
ways, you should do it. Don't do It for the mere
vanity of being at the head, but do it for the sake
of bringing out the best there is in you. Your lov
ing Father. May I, 1898.
My dear Howard: When you were about to go
to Cleveland you wrote us that you would telegraph
us when you arrived, but you did not do it and
we heard nothing from you for two weeks or more.
The greatest fault was your negledting to keep your
promise. When you make a promise you should be
very particular to keep It. Failure In this respedl
soon makes a reputation for unreliability which will
injure you In many ways. If a man has a reputation
for making promises which he does not keep the
best class of people will have nothing to do with
him. I refer to it now so that you may begin to cul
tivate the habit of doing whatever you promise to do.
Be careful what you promise, but regard a promise
once made as sacred. Lovingly, Father. 105

THE first half of 1 899, Howard passed in Law
renceville. The following extradls from his let
ters to his parents during that time show him to be
deeply interested in his work:
January 29, 1899. I find that after all it is a good
thing not to worry about the morrow. Last Wednes
day I had a lot of work to do Thursday. I had to
write an essay, learn an oration by heart and get
material for a debate. I naturally began to worry;
but stopped very soon and went to bed at eight
o'clock Wednesday night. The next morning, I
learned that Thursday was a holiday.
March 8, 1899. I have spent nearly six hours this
week learning the logarithms from i to 100. . . .
There is a man in town from whom I am taking
"memory lessons" and by this system I have been
enabled to learn one hundred and twenty-three log
arithms in six hours. One hundred of these loga
rithms are above one thousand, and twenty-three
are above one hundred thousand. By this I will be
enabled, from the top of two mountains, to find the
distance of a third mountain; to tell the distance
across a lake from one shore and to tell the distance
of a ship from another ship ; to tell the height of a
mountain from the base of it, and do other things
of great use in my surveying work.
March 12. I have learned a few more logarithms
which will enable me to measure the height of moun
tains and determine contour lines without a survey
ing machine, which I thought some of making. It
enables me to tell the distance of any mountain
from two other mountains about which I know;
and many other things of inestimable value to a
106

surveyor. I expedl to survey 50—30 or Isle Royale
next summer. I will buy my camp goods out of my
own allowance.
April 9, 1 899. 1 am doing a little better in my Ger
man, now, and think that I shall be able to pass the
college exams all right. I am sure of passing in
French, Plane Geometry, Adv. Algebra, Solid Ge
ometry and Plane Trigonometry ; because I am the
best in the class In the first five subjedls and second
In German, although the marks don't show it.
May 21, 1899. Commencement begins on the nine
teenth of June and ends the twenty-first. You will
have rooms in Mr. Hull's house during commence
ment. Toward the end of his senior year at Lawrence
ville, Howard's letters to his parents were filled
with information about his studies, his essays, etc.,
and suggestions for a camping trip he and his father
were planning to take together. It was a time of
excitement In the school with all the preparation
for the literary and social fundlions attending com
mencement. He did not find such things just to
his taste, as the following from one of his letters
suggests : " I have found out lately that I don't like
debates, because the works of the flesh are made
manifest, which are these: variance, strife, wrath,
seditions, etc."
Howard graduated In June, 1 899, with "Honor
able Mention" for "Head of the School"; he and
a classmate sharing the honor equally.

107

V. INKLINGS OF HOWARD'S LIFE IN THE
WOODS AS DISCLOSED IN HIS NOTES OF
WALKING AND CANOEING TRIPS
Whoso walks in solitude
And inhabiteth the wood.
Choosing light, wave, rock and bird.
Before the money-loving herd.
Into that forester shall pass.
From these companions, power and grace.
Clean shall he be, without, within,
From the old adhering sin. — Emerson.

V. INKLINGS OF HOWARD'S LIFE IN THE
WOODS AS DISCLOSED IN HIS NOTES OF
WALKING AND CANOEING TRIPS
TO this young forester, the woods were a
fairy-land, where cares dissolve and dreams
come true. Plunging into the wilderness,
the poetic sense awakened in him. He roamed the
dim arcades, his heart swellingwith joy; and, wrap
ping himself closely in Nature as in a cloak, he was
brother to cricket and bird and tree. To everything
expressing Life he found himself akin.
The country back from the shores of Lake Supe
rior on the upper Peninsula of Michigan, which was
the scene of most of Howard's wanderings, but for
the absence of warlike Indians, is almost as wild as
it was centuries ago. Indeed a few of Nature's red
children, as Thoreau tenderly called them, still lin
ger in the land of their fathers, and eke out a liv
ing by hunting, trapping and fishing, and serving as
guides to sportsmen. These forest lands are still the
range of deer, the hiding-place of bear and fox, the
home of the porcupine and the covert of wild birds.
In winter the wolves leave their dens In the remote
and secret places among the hills and prey upon the
deer, sometimes even prowling near the cabins of
the "homesteaders."
All the country round about Lake Superior is
touched with romance. This was part of the mission
field of the adventurous French priests of the seven
teenth century, who made converts of the Indians
and in their spare time explored and mapped the
country. Pere Marquette passed along this shore
of Lake Superior in 1668 on his way from Sault
III

Sainte Marie to La Pointe; and though the county
which embraces most of the wilderness trodden by
Howard, is called Marquette, there is no record to
show that the brave Pere stopped anywhere there
abouts. A cross, cut Into the rocks on the summit
of one of the turrets of "Miner's Castle," at the Pic
tured Rocks, is evidently very old, and it is called
"Pere Marquette's cross." Tradition says that he
cut it and dug a little hole beside It, in which water
coUedls in wet weather. The hole is called "Pere
Marquette's Holy Well," and It is said he blessed It,
so that for evermore all water found in It should be
holy. This water is held in great reverence by the
Catholic Indians and French-Canadians. In these
romantic wilds, Howard spent nearly all of his sum
mers : in his later years only missing the one summer
while in France, when, true to his love for Nature,
he found a place to live on the edge of a forest, and
spent his vacation there, hiding himself every after
noon in the remotest part of the woods.
Howard was hardly ever seen carrying rod or gun;
for he took no pleasure in killing. He usually went
forth unarmed, simply as an observing friend of all
the wild tribes. Though he went alone on most of
his trips, Howard was always glad to take any one
along who genuinely cared for the woods ; and so
he often had schoolmates visit him for a week or a
month at a time, in vacation. Whenever he had a
companion who was new to the region, he would
take the keenest delight in showing him the wonders
of the forest, introducing him to hills, lakes, rivers
and caves, as long as his visitor cared to endure the
vigorous walking, rough climbing and hard paddling.
112

Howard was not satisfied to merely know the
woods casually: he wished to be intimately ac
quainted with every square yard of the ground;
almost to know the age and identity of every tree.
He had hardly more than learned to write before
he began to make notes about the woods and draw
maps of them.
During the summer, Howard had three habita
tions in the forest, to which he could go. The Huron
Mountain Shooting and Fishing Club, at the mouth
of Pine River, forty odd miles west of Marquette,
was a favorite place of resort for him. There he was
on the verge of the wildest part of the peninsula.
The So-sa-wa-ga-ming (Yellow Dog) Club, fifteen
miles nearer Marquette, was another shelter. Near
the Huron Mountain Club, some distance Inland,
is his father's hay farm on the shore of Ives' Lake,
which was the third lodging-place. The man in
charge of the farm was an old woodsman, who often
entertained Howard by the hour with stories of his
experiences. The boy was always on the move. He made a
pradlice of rising early every morning and would
put in his whole day exploring the woods ; not oc
casionally, but day after day, as long as he remained.
The following portion of a letter he wrote while in
Cleveland, shows that even thus early he had not
only begun to thirst for exploration, but was already
well acquainted with the woods. May 21, 1893.
Dear Mamma: I expedl a map of the Huron
Mountain Hunting and Fishing Club. I have
heard that Mt. Huron is 1 500 feet high. Rush Lake
"3

is shaped something like this [Here he drew a dia
gram] , and there is a small lake south of it which I
intend to explore. In 23 days more I expedt to be
at the World's Fair and two weeks from then at the
new house or Pine River Club House. There is a
lake at the Pine River Club named Howe Lake.
It has no visible outlet and I suppose it has an un
derground outlet if there is any.
Howard, a few months later, — then being only
eleven years old, — wrote a description of the coun
try lying about the Huron Mountain Club, which
contained nearly three thousand words, and yet he
closely confined himself to describing the things he
saw and had become familiar with. The description
In part, given verbatim et literatim, is as follows :
A Week at the Club. On the 8th. of July 1893 I
went up to the pine river club House. It is situated
on lake superior 44 miles from Marquette and At
the mouth of the river there is a bathouse and
every other day we swim in the lake which is cold
and then jump into the river is warm compared
with the lake but cold compared with a swimming
tank. There are seventeen lakes and ponds Howe,
Rush, Pine, cliff mountain, Trout, Ives, S Moun
tain, west conway, conway, Ashby, North salmon
trout. Pony, South Salmon trout. Portage, Inde
pendence and Superior. There are seven rivers
Huron, Little Huron, Pine, Little pine, Howe,
salmon trout, and Yellow dog Rivers. The nearest
town Is Skanee 20 miles away in Huron Bay. All
the land between Pine Lake and Lake Superior
was once covered by the lake but the soo Has low-
114

ered the Lake lo or 14 feet so that it is all sandy
soil. Pine lake is about half a mile from the club house
and is about three miles long. It is divided into
three lakes. The first lake is about a mile long and
a mile wide. The path from Rush lake leads off of
it about at its western end and Is about a mile long
the trail to mountain lake leads off the southern
shore of it and the trail from the club house comes
in at its northern end. At the south eastern corner it
is about 20 yards wide and it opens out into another
lake about half a mile wide and a mile and a half
long. The trail to Trout lake opens off this at its south
western extreme, and is about 3 miles long at the
eastern end it Is about 8 feet wide and opens into
a smaller lake about a quarter of a mile wide and
a half a mile long. On the southern shore of this
lake solid rock which slopes down at an angle of
45°, This Is called Dogslide Hill. At the eastern
part a trail starts which is y^ mile long. The first
part of this path is through a forest swamp and the
last part is a steep path cut through a rock this rock
opens out into Ives lake. This lake is about 2 miles
long and 2 miles wide It has an Island at the east
ern part which is 300 yards in circumference and
is barren.
In the north eastern end of Ives lake there is a
pebbly beach and In the river that runs off it there
are frogs in abundance about 300 feet down the
river there are rapids about 100 feet high then there
is a long log shoot which Is about J^ of a mile long
and is very old. After the river overcomes all these
115

changes it settles down peace fully and flows into
Pine Lake. The river which flows from pine lake
to Lake Superior is about a mile long and is the
shape of a inverted C one of the ends being at pine
lake and the other at the mouth of the river.
The club house is situated on a neck of land which,
with the river on one side and the lake on the other
Is about three quarters of a mile long.
Rush lake is crescent shaped and "there Is a bay
at the eastern end that extends westward" on the
southern part of this bay there is an Ice cold spring
which furnishes water for picnics or porcupine hunts.
The northern part of the bay abounds in such ani
mals. Pony lake a little lake about an eighth of a mile
wide and an eighth of a mile long Is about an
"eighth" from the end of Rush lake bay.
Mountain lake is a lake about 3 miles long and
varies from a mile to a quarter of a mile in width
At about the middle of this lake on the eastern side
there is a small island 16 feet wide and 20 feet long
it Is rocky and has three or four small trees on It.
At the southern end of this lake a small river flows
into it from Cliff lake. This is a small lake which
is half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide is
surrounded on all sides by nearly perpendicular
cUffs. Howe lake Is about three miles north of the west
ern part of rush lake It is about one mile long and
three quarters of a mile wide. It has no outlet but
a small stream dribbles thro' the sand In the summer.
Trout is half a mile by ^ miles It is called trout
116

lake because not a trout has been caught there that
weighs less than 4 lbs. It is about two miles from
the island in Mt. lake and two miles west from the
island in Ives lake.
West Ives lake is about half a mile wide and a
mile and a half long. It, however is not very much
account because it is in a big swamp which comes
from the overflow of Ives lake.
Conway lake is about four miles N. E. by E.
from the club House. It is about one quarter of a
mile from the Lake (Superior) and Is inland and
has no outlet. It is of the same dimensions as West
Ives and there is a long sandy strip on the N. E.
end of the lake which extends to the lake and on
it are some indian houses.
West Conway lake Is a small lake in the midst
of a cranberry marsh which abounds in duck grouse
and deer. It yields 40 bushels of cranberrys yearly.
N. and S. Salmon trout are each of them about
half as small as West Conway are about half a mile
apart and the salmon trout river flows between them
and they are in a swamp. They are about four miles
S. by E. from conway lake.
Lake Independence is a lake about four miles
long and three miles wide. The Yellow Dog river
flows Into it in the S. E. corner and flows out of it
at the N. E. corner into Lake Superior. The north
ern shore is about half a mile from the Lake.
The river from Rush to Pine lake Is not a navi
gable stream but follows along the trail. The rivers
from pine to Mountain Trout and Ives Lakes fol
low along the trails and are not navigable. Pine river
is navigable to the falls at Pine lake. The Huron.
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Yellow Dog and The salmon Trout are all naviga
ble for quite a way.
The Yellow dog river (or Iron as It is sometimes
called) is navigable for the longest distance up
stream. Huron next and Salmon trout last
My Father is the president of the club and it is
limited to lOO members and is called "The Huron
Mountain Shooting and fishing club." In the sum
mer a member or friend of a member comes to the
club for fishing.
In Pine lake there are pike, wall-eyed pike and
black bass. The favorite place for bass is at the
"old log" opposite the landing and for pike at
the widest narrows there are pike weeds here and
we (I and my friend) caught twelve pike in half an
hour. My father two years ago saw a sun fish but
I believe It was the last of its kind.
Rush lake has Salmon trout and larger pike than
pine lake. My father and I were once fishing there
and he caught a three pound pike that had teeth
marks in It four inches apart. Papa said they must
have been made by a forty pounder. Mt. Lake
abounds In pike trout and bass. There are very few
caught here however. Ives lake has Rainbow Lake
and Brook trout and a curious kind of fish that is not
given in the fish catalogue but was caught in some
nets. The waters of Trout Lake abound in large
trout with their lower jaw projedtingway out under
their upper one which has over 280 little teeth on
its top. Pony — West Ives west conway, N. & S.
salmon trouts and Howe lakes have no fish at all.
Salmon trout River abounds in trout all the way
from minnows to three pounders. At the falls my
118

father and the guide caught 96. The guide caught
36 with a bent pin in a pool below the falls. There
were none of them over a foot long and none un
der 7 In.
The best place for deer is about three miles this
side of conway lake. Another good place is around
west conway Lake.
The best place for ducks is at the cranberry marsh
and south of conway lake. There are quite a num
ber of wolves there and my father is going to take
a sleigh ride up there in the winter and kill them
because they are very bold when they are hungry
and would kill all the deer and ducks for next years
hunting season.
THE following extradls, taken here and there
from his diaries and letters, show that Howard
never ceased to think about the woods very long at
a time.
July 19, 1894. Went over to Rush lake with papa.
Caught two big pike coming across Pine lake. Got
a cupful of sed:ion-line gum. Went over to Pony
lake and saw beaver cuttings, deer tracks and a duck
in the long grass. The fish in Pine lake were chewed
by an otter.
July 23. Went over to Portage lake and saw two
mink at the Mt. lake landing; saw a deer at Portage
lake. Went over to 4th river two times for a drink.
July 24. Went over to Mountain L.; ate our lunch
on toad beach. Saw glacier marks on Grand Island.
July 25. Mr. B., Charlie, 2 Indians and a canoe came
to Pine river in morning. I have been to Mt. lake
3 X in succession. 119

January 11, 1895. Went over to H.'s house at 7: 00
and stayed until 8:15, talking over maps of Pine
river. Found curious things in Sec. 32. T. 52. N. R.
29 W. Made plans of a shanty 9x7.
January 23. Made map of Pine river and vicinity
in the red book that Mr. A. gave me.
January 26. Made map of Big bay, etc., in my little
red book.
January i']. I woke up "when the sun was shining,
Mary Ann," but turned over and thought about a
"scoop roof" on our Grand Island shanty.
February 1 2, 1 895. Wrote on sees, 1—2—3—4—5—6—7,
all that I knew about them In my 5^ note book.
. . . Made maps of the six townships from Mar
quette to Big Bay pt., the size of a sedlion of my
Marquette map.
March 5, 1 895. Fooled awaymy time in Latin, mak
ing a pidture of Pine, Rush, Mountain and Supe
rior lakes. Began to feel a yearning for the summer
months. June 20, 1895. Papa and I got ready and took the boat
over to the Mt. lake landing on Pine lake. Walked
over to Rush lake, and saw deer lick. Went over to
Mt. lake and saw partridges. We discovered a mud
hole which papa speedily transported into a bub
bling spring. Found stag horn at Portage lake land
ing. ... It rained just as we got to Grande Isle, so
we had to go on the land and put the boat up and
eat our lunch under it. Went along the shore and
saw Porcupine island and rocks. Came back pretty
well fagged out, by the way of Mt. lake landing or
Pine lake, where we left our boat going over.
June 30. Took knapsack and went over to Pine lake
120

and rowed over to the Mt. lake landing and went up
to the top of Mt. Huron. Went south from there to
Pony lake, where I saw the town line. Went down the
ravine to Rush lake, where I found a spring where
the mosquitoes were thick. Saw the trail to Howe
lake that is not blazed plain. Went up to the north
side of Howe lake and went north to lake Superior.
Went south along the shore to club house. From
Mt. Huron you can see Rush, Pine, I ves, Mt., Por
tage, Trout and CUff pond. Papa went over to Mt.
lake looking for me.
July I, 1895. Started at 7 o'clock with papa and
went over to Ives' lake. . . . Went over to Bush's
camp, where we saw a porcupine. Went south by
west down to the Salmon Trout river ; worked east
to the ravine and falls on the sedlion line. . . . Went
west yii mile and north by west to the road to es
cape the hills. We found we were a mile out of our
reckonings when we struck the swamp. We were
glad to get home.
July 10. Saw two boats on the horizon at 7 o'clock.
The second was the "Flint," and with it came H.
[Howard' s friend from Cleveland^
July II. "In the morning by the bright light," H.
and I went out to Presque Isle with A., Pont and
the pony cart. Walked around Presque Isle and Pont
fell down a hill near the cave and I had to go and
boost him up the hill.
July 12. H. and I scooted to the "Marquette" and
got there just as the gang-planks were being pulled
in. [They went by boat from Marquette to the Huron
Mountain Club on Vine River.]
July 13. Took H. over to Ives' Lake via Joe P.'s
121

homestead, where we got some new onions and ate
them. Took swim on sedlion line with H. Went over
to the range line and It was the hardest climb I ever
had. . . . Saw Cliff pond. . . . Saw a cave on the
Trout lake trail that looked great.
July 14. In the morning H., O., and I went up to
Huron river point and about half a mile beyond
until we came to Howard's Island, and I climbed
up to the top of it. Sailed to the Huron islands &
Found two young gulls. Climbed to the lowest sum
mit of the first island  Saw the cave and I crawled
through it with H. O. couldn't do it. Sailed back
to little Huron and O. rowed home to the Club
house.Pretreville, France, July 15, 1896. [From a letter to
his father^ I like it here on the farm very much
and I like It a little more because I have a secret
place in the woods, with a table and a chair In It.
I made the table by driving one stake in the ground
and nailing the top of a box on to it. I got a Chinese
lantern (red, black and yellow) at the French In
dependence Day fete and it is now hanging over
my head. I put it in there so that I could work here
nights. I come here every afternoon from i to 4:30
P.M. and read, study, write, make maps, etc. I am
the only one that can find it because it is right in
the midst of some very thick woods. On my table
I have little sticks to tell me the time. The shadow
of the sticks falling on a graduated scale with the
quarter hours marked out on it, tells me the time.
This afternoon I think I shall make me a chair on
the same plan as the table, and I am going to dig
a hole to put a box into full of books, maps, letters,
122

papers, etc. I like to be alone here by myself with
nobody around to take away my attention.
Pretreville, August 4, 1896. [From a letter to his
mother.] I am in my secret place in the woods now
and there are about eight boys and girls playing on
the pans trying to find me, but I am safe from their
clutches.Pretreville, August 1 1 . [To his mother.] My place In
the woods was discovered to-day by the kids that I
was telling you about in my last letter.
Dresden, October^, 1896. [To his father.] In my
spare time here I think about the club and plan
excursions for next year so that I can make up what
I lost last summer.
Dresden, October 11. [To his father.] My friend C.
is soon going away. He Is a mighty nice boy, — just
like H. was, — and he got very interested in the club
when I showed him my maps and things, and when
I told him I had tired out H. and lost him near
Rush Lake he was not a bit discouraged. I think
that C, H. and myself, with a guide (to carry packs
and things), would be quite a jolly party to make
long journeys around the club. I will be glad to get
back next summer.
Dresden, October 20. [To his father.] I have no time
to study maps of the club now, but I know it so
nearly by heart that I do not have to refer to them
to know where any place is that is spoken of in your
letter. When more bicycle roads are made, up at the
club, it will be a great place for everybody; but too
many improvements ought not to be made because
the forests will lose their beauty and nobody will
ever have an idea of what they were hundreds of
years ago. 123

HOWARD had full freedom of the woods dur
ing the summer of 1898 and reaped a rich
harvest of experiences which he garnered into his
note-books until they could hold no more. The
previous vacation he had considerable work to do
in Greek and other school studies, and was some
what restrained on that account. The summer of
1896 was spent In Europe, and so when July, 1898,
came round Howard was eager for the wilds; and,
being free from any necessity of thinking about
Greek or Latin, he gave full rein to his longings
and revelled in daily journeys over the trails in all
diredtlons and in canoe trips on rivers and lakes.
From the following accounts Howard wrote of his
experiences that summer, some notion of his wood-
life may be gained :
July 10, 1898. We went up on Monument Rock
and kept quiet for about half an hour expedling to
see some deer, but as none came we followed the
deer-trails to the head of the big ravine, and found
a "slashing," from where there is a lumber road, all
the way down to Second Pine. From here we went
on top of the hill on the south side of the ravine and
from there went down towards where we thought the
boat was, but on our way we came to a cliff about
forty feet high, at the foot of which were some large
boulders. As we could not get down this cliff we
went down a small ravine where the boulders were.
When we were within 500 feet of the mass of rock
I said, "This is just the place to find a cave," and
then I found an entrance between two boulders
where I thought the cave must be, and came into
a gallery 1 5 feet long running north and south, but
124

opening slightly at the top and at the south end.
Then I went to the north end, where I found a
small space of circular form with a small hole in
the top, and a dark passage-way leading to the east.
When I entered this passage-way I called to H. but
he was only at the opening between the boulders,
because he made a falling entrance into the cave
over some wild gooseberry vines which grew there.
I waited until he came up and we finished the ex
ploring of the passage-way together. This passage
way was about six feet long, filled with boulders, but
at the end of it was a reward for our search. A room
with a lofty roof presented itself with a small open
ing at the eastern side. Outside of this there was
sort of a parapet which we decided to use as a look
out. Then we came back to the farm, had breakfast
and told S. the whereabouts of the cave.
July 12. I started for a walk around Yellow Dog
Point with Queen (a dog belonging to one of the ,.
settlers). When I got within a quarter of a mile of
Durant's homestead I turned up a lumber road and
soon arrived at Pedee's homestead. I inquired the
way and proceeded on my journey. As the woods
beyond this was hard wood. Queen had a fine time
phasing up squirrels and chipmunks: so far as I
know not catching any. After coming out of the
hard wood through a swamp I came to some fine
plains where the wintergreen berries abounded; then
I saw an owl.
July 13. In the morning H. and I took the red boat
and went to the cave. We took an old shoe filled
with salt, a trap, a pail, a hatchet and a knife. We
went up to the cave and found It without difficulty.
125

Then we came back [to the lake], got a pailful of
water and started making a trail. The task was la
borious, but we succeeded in making a fairly good
trail up to the cave. When we reached the cave we
went through to the other entrance, where we rested
a-while and saw blackberries, gooseberries, raspber
ries, huckleberries, wild roses and Virginia Creeper.
After talking over the proposition for some time
we decided that the best thing to do was to block
up the entrance D [referring here to diagrams made
in his journal], use the place C for a chimney, and
have B for a living room. We then built a fire in
the cave In order that we might explore the hidden
depths of our living room, but were smoked out.
Then we went down to the beach south of Trea
sure Island and had a swim, after which we went
to the farm for lunch. In the afternoon we took up
six boards 12 feet long, a sledge hammer and some
cookies. H. and I spent from 12:15 ^° 3 o'clock
with hardly a stop clearing out some of the large
and small rocks from the living room. We cleaned
away about 72 square feet of rock and dirt In that
time. Then, as we got the insane notion of having
running water up there, we went exploring the stream
along which the road runs, but as we had no accurate,
measuring instruments we could not decide much
about it. We did, however, follow the road down to
Second Pine Lake and discovered with joy that this
was the shortest way to get to the club. We came
back to the cave and did a little more work, then as
it was five o'clock we quit work and ate the cookies
which we had brought up,"and I took another swim
off Treasure Island while H. swam off the shore,
126

and we went back to the farm for supper. After sup
per I let H. row me across the lake and took the
road across the hill near the boat house, to the club.
When I was 200 paces west of the east quarter post
of 28, 52, 28 I saw my first deer at close range. I
think It was a doe, I am not quite sure.
July 14. In the afternoon I packed up my valise,
took a small boat and rowed for the Yellow Dog. I
wet my hands every 200 strokes or one half mile,
and drank some of the good, clear, cold Lake Su
perior water. Passing Conway Point I looked down
into the water and saw deep, so-called, riffle marks in
the sandstone. The lake from the club to Salmon
Trout Point was a dull grey color and was about as
smooth as I ever saw it. In order that I might bear
the monotony of rowing I counted my strokes, and
5200 just brought me to Salmon Trout Point. On
this point about twelve feet above the lake level I
saw a white spot. It did not attradl my attention es
pecially, but after going to the other side around the
point I saw the same white spot. I was just going
to pry into this mystery more thoroughly when I
saw a black streak in the lake about three miles off.
I kept on rowing so that I might get across the Big
Bay as soon as possible. But in about a half a min
ute I perceived that the streak was growing larger
and larger. Then I experienced a very curious sen
sation, one that I never felt before, but the way I
imagine a person would feel who should see a cloud
approaching him the first time he was in a balloon.
When the edge of the blackness was about a half
a mile away and I was one quarter mile from the
point, it flashed across me that this was a terrific
127

squall, and I made all possible haste to reach the
point. I had only taken twenty strokes of the oars
when the squall from the north struck me, and I had
to sit over on the windward side of the boat and row
for all I was worth. I rowed as hard as I could
straight for the point, expedling every minute to be
capsized, but God was gracious to me and pre
served me safely to the end of my journey. It was
not until I had come to shelter that I realized how
terrific the power of the wind had been, for it had
blown me one mile and a quarter south In the time
that I was rowing one quarter of a mile west. I went
behind the point under a ledge of black granite un
til the squall had abated. South of the point, at the
jundtion of the sand rock and granite, I found a small
cave at the water's edge. In which I went with the boat.
The roof of the cave was the thing that attradled my
attention because It shot out from the surrounding
rock like a parasol. When the wind had died down I
proceeded towards Big Bay Point, feeling safer than
during the squall, and went past the reef about one
half mile south of the 1 8 foot buoy. When I had
passed Big Bay Point, ten and a half miles, I began
to get the readtion of the terrific experience I had
been through, and began to lag In my pace; but
when I saw the white and red buildings of the Yel
low Dog Club I took a brace and arrived there at
five o'clock,
July 1 5. After supper I told A. I was going after the
boat that had been left at the spring and asked her
if she felt like going; she said she would like to go
up, so I asked my sister and H. A. to go along with
us. We went along the eastern bank of the river, hav-
128

ing a fearfully hard time to find the road. However,
we reached the spring safely, when somebody pro
posed to go up the river for a row. It was romantic
in the extreme to go up the river at night in the fog.
Our guide was a group of three pine trees about a
quarter of a mile up the river. When we got past
these, our only guides were the sand banks which
are distributed at regular intervals on opposite sides
of the river. These could be but dimly seen and often
we would go into a lagoon in trying to keep to the
middle of the river. We mistook a mud bank for a
sand bank and tried to go through the place marked
C with the boat. [Reference is here made to a draw
ing in his journal.] There was a tree across it, but we
found a place near the left bank where we could get
through with difficulty. When we had done this we
went all around the lagoon marked D and tried to
find the opening. When we had explored this lagoon
thoroughly, we thought we had better go back, so
we told A. and H. [the girls] to remain in the boat
while we pulled off the sand bar. When we came
into the river again we decided to start for home.
When H. A. had rowed just a little way, the boat
ran aground and while he was trying to push it off
with an oar, the oar lock fell out, so he had to pad
dle. We were very much disturbed, for we kept
on seeing two or three groups of pines that looked
just alike and I thought we were going in a circle
around them, or that we were turned around and
going toward Lake Independence, but we found
out different when we saw the lights of the Yellow
Dog pavilion.
July i6. Walked from Yellow Dog Club to Marquette.
129

We had a small lunch put up and after we had said
" Good bye," started in the diredlion of Marquette.
Queen followed us and we could not make her go
away, so we had to let her come along. She enjoyed
herself immensely all the way catching chipmunks
or at least trying to catch them. When we got to
Pedee's homestead we asked the way of an old
gentleman who was hoeing in the garden and he
showed us a road that looked like a winter lumber
road more than anything else. When we had gone
one mile from Pedee's we saw a beautiful spring or
stream, at which we stopped a long time to drink.
When we had gone along a mile and a half further
we came to a place all cut up with lumber roads
running crosswise to the road which we were on.
As all these roads were very hard to follow, ours
included, we came to Durant's homestead with dif
ficulty. By asking we found It was only 22 miles
farther to Marquette. When we had gone on about
two miles the good clay road began to get sandy,
so we took the first road towards the lake and came
to the sand beach about a mile from Sauk's Head.
We walked along this beach about a quarter of a
mile and then struck in towards Garlic Lake, when
we ate lunch, — two sandwiches apiece. I gave Queen
a part of one of mine, which she went off and buried
in the sand on the shore of the lake. We sat here
ten minutes and then went on. I noticed how skil
fully the road had been cut through the granite
rocks at Sauk's Head. We took another drink and
went on without another stop to Stewart's, the half
way house. There was a good road all the way from
Crary's (Sauk's Head Lake) to the Harlow Plains,
130

one mile beyond Stewart's. The huckleberries were
very thick on these sand plains. By the time we had
reached the other side, we wanted to rest, but our feet
wouldn't let us: at one time, I remember, I wanted
to stop a minute, but my feet kept on going in spite
of all I could do. The hills northwest of Sugarloaf
Mountain discomforted us in a small degree, but we
surmounted all difficulties and by three o'clock we
were stretched on the sands near the mouth of Cam-
peau's Creek. (We started from the Yellow Dog
Club at 8 :30.) We only staid there for five minutes
and then we got up and nearly sprinted along the
shore to Presque I sle. We cut across the neck of land
straight for the L. S. & I. station, where we arrived
just in time to catch the 4 : i o car for Marquette. We
calculated the time it had taken us to walk 28 miles :
it was exadlly seven and one half hours, which beats
all records so far except that of Jake Nelson in 1 897,
who went from the Huron Mountain Club in nine
hours. July 2 1 . I went up Ives' Mountain by way of the
trail which H. and I made on the thirteenth and
then began excavating the cave on my own hook.
There were strange sounds which disturbed me.
Every now and then I would hear an indistlndl
sound which seemed like the blast of a horn, but I
was puzzled because I only heard it in the cave. At
last, however, I discovered that the real cause was
a hornets' nest In a hollow log above our cave, and
that there was a hole about 2 feet square that led
down from the nest Into the cave.
July 11. S. and I decided to go to Big Bay. We
knew that if we told C, and H. we were going In
131

the buckboard, they would want to go too, so we
let on that we were going to walk so they didn't
care to keep up the pace with woodsmen like S. and
myself. So after C. and H. had made their plans
for the day, S. harnessed up the buckboard and we
started for Big Bay. I don't think I could have had
a more interesting trip, because S. was telling stories
all the time. He told four stories going. He told me
that the squaws at Big Bay used to come up to his
homestead and clean it out for him, so that he had
to stop them. . , , By the time he had told me some
of his most interesting tales, we had arrived at the
west line of his homestead and he pointed out to me
the Ironwood tree through which the quarter-line
passes. When we got to the homestead S. put up the
horses and took me into the house and showed me
all around and then went down to B.'s hay barn,
where we saw M. and an "Injun" friend of his from
Baraga Mission. S. unfolded to him the projedl of
papa's that he adl as a kind of boat keeper to the
members of the Yellow Dog Club, promising him
$ 1 .00 a day during the season when he did nothing
and $2.00 extra every day he adled as a guide to any
people demanding his aid. S. also told M. that a
house would be built for him of any dimensions
from 1 2' X 1 2' to 40' X 40' and that he could build it
himself if he wanted to. M. is a large, squarely built,
jolly old fellow, and has lived for twelve years in the
vicinity of Lake Independence. I noticed from a few
of his remarks that he was a veteran liar. I told S. of
my discovery and he said "M. wouldn't be an Injun
if he did n't lie." After S. had clinched the bargain
we started to walk on the road to Big Bay. When we
132

got there we went to call on ... , the sister of M.,
and to see her baby. . . . There was a good-looking
young squaw also to whom S. was Introduced. After
a little while we started on to B.'s house. B. is a man
who has an "Injun " wife. S. asked him to come down
to the Yellow Dog Club and build the house for M.
Then we left on foot for his homestead, where we
left the horses. When we got to the second fork of
the road we met M. and his friend going back to
Big Bay. S. and I had a cold meal at his homestead,
and after we had had a talk on the veranda for nearly
an hour, we came back in the buckboard, and he told
me a lot of stories. When we got back to the farm
about five o'clock C. had not come back, and after
dinner we went down to look for him and could not
see him. About 7 :oo p.m. S. saw him walking along
the shore very slowly. We waited half an hour for
him to come and he told us his tale. He had walked
twelve miles in twelve hours, caught seven trout,
got lost once and had seen a porcupine.
July 24. From H. M. C. toY.D. C. in a canoe. In the
morning when we got up It was not six o'clock but
nine. We asked Hans what the weather was going
to be, packed up our valises and left the clubhouse
at the rate of five miles an hour. When we got past
Pine River Point, we slackened our pace until we
came to Gillet's Landing, where we stopped to eat
luncheon. As it was only eleven o'clock C. thought
he would fish for an hour or so before lunch. He
went up the road a way hunting grasshoppers, but
as they were scarce I got a bumblebee and gave it
to him, and while he was fishing I scratched a dia
gram of our trip on the dirt, so I could calculate how
n3

many miles we had gone and how many we were to
go. After I had done this I went back to the woods
and looked at the quarry to see what sort of rocks
they had obtained from it In the past years. I sup
pose C. did n't catch anything because of the fear
the fishes had of the bumblebee. About twelve
o'clock we went down from the rock to the canoe
and had lunch, which consisted of hard-boiled eggs,
ham and chicken sandwiches, cake and raspberry
jam. After lunch we laid around on the beach and at
last took to the canoe again. C. wanted to keep in
close to shore, because there was quite an off-shore
breeze, so I kept In about half a mile away. When
we reached Salmon Trout Point I again noticed the
white spot in the cliff side and went ashore to exam
ine It. I found out that it was a hole about 1 2 feet
from the water's edge and one foot In diameter. C.
would not go and look through, for he said the rocks
above looked as if they were liable to fall at any min
ute, but I told him they would not fall until winter
time. There were several boulders at the foot of Sal
mon Trout Point and I tried to cut through them
in the canoe, but the lake was rough and so I did
not do it. When we got past Salmon Trout Point
we found that the sea was too rough to attempt to
cross Big Bay, so we went close to shore. The dis
tance across the bay was three miles, but the distance
around was seven. C. did not like the idea of going
four miles longer than was necessary, but I told him
it could not be helped, so we had to go. We got to
Burns' at half-past two and had the unparalleled
good luck of finding there M., who recognized me,
and agreed to carry the canoe over to Lake Inde-
134

pendence. M. seledled two sticks about like bed
slats, strung them from one of the seats to the centre
beam and tied them In place with a piece of string.
C. took all the light articles and I took the satchels.
M. only rested once (It is one and one quarter miles
from Big Bay to Lake Independence) and then he
apologized, saying he was not resting from fatigue
or too much work, but there was a nail In one of the
slats. When we got to Lake Independence, as we
were a little thirsty I got out my cup and was about
to drink the water, when M. warned me against It.
. . . He then took us back on the road, about one
eighth of a mile, turned west and took us around a
deer trail to one of the best springs that I ever saw.
I suppose that C. and I are the first white people
that ever saw it. Then he came back to the lake with
us and on the way told us that " Porky " [j)orcupine]
was the best bait and that a friend of his caught over
one hundred black bass In a day with the same piece
of bait. I thought of S.'s remark, " M. would n't be
an Injun if he did n't lie." He told us the best places
to fish were sand banks that could be seen along the
shore of the lake. C. and I started out from the
landing place keeping a stridl lookout for the tops
of submerged trees in the water. C. began paddling
with that remarkable laxity which he calls "sojer-
ing." Pretty soon we noticed a S. S. W. wind was
coming up, and made for the bank on the N. side
of the lake about three eighths of the way to the
outlet. We got there, pulled up the canoe on a large
stranded log and waited for the storm to abate. C.
broke one of his precepts, grievously, by fishing on
Sunday, but he did n't catch any. The storm seemed
135

to increase every hour, so we decided we would
make for the boat house, running the risk of a tip-
over. We had to keep both of the paddles on the
same side of the boat. I did not do any back watering
with my paddle to steer it and stroke after stroke, I
worked as hard as I could. C, who without doubt
thought that he was going to be drowned for his
fishing on Sunday, worked with despair and as a
consequence we went a mile in nine minutes in a ter
rible sea. The canoe behaved finely in this instance
and I was proud of her. Although she was in the
trough of the sea all the time and in the heaviest
seas, she always rolled with the wave and never
tried to keep straight up. She never even got the
gun-wales wet, much less the inside of the boat. I
think that is as fast as the canoe has ever gone or
ever will go. When we neared the outlet we found
that there was a boom of logs across the lake to keep
the logs from blocking up the dam, but we found a
place where the boom came within ten feet of the
shore and it was over there that we decided to land.
I got out first, and was standing on a boom log and
another log behind it, when C. tried to get out. He
was very clumsy in his efforts and of course the sen
sitive canoe turned over sideways just enough to
soak C. and to drag me into four feet of water; but
I held on to the canoe and succeeded in righting it.
We drew It up on the rocks to get the valises out
and then we emptied out the water. We had landed
on an unfavorable spot, but I went ahead and found
out that by wading forty feet through four inches
of water and mud that we could reach the dam in
safety. We got the canoe down to the dam and while
136

we were waiting there we saw Nelson, the owner of
Queen. We inquired the best way to get the canoe
down to navigation and were told to take a certain
trail for one eighth of a mile, and that we would
soon come to navigable water, but the one eighth of
a mile was the longest I ever walked. We rested five
times and I smiled to think that yesterday we had
carried the canoe one half a mile with only one stop.
— (In 1899 I carried the canoe alone for one mile
without a stop.) [This comment was inserted at a later
period.] Perhaps these stops were due to the fadt that
we had to carry our valises and paddles In one hand
while we supported the canoe on our shoulders. At
last we reached the river and a heavy, short rain
storm began. We got the canoe to the river and went
down slowly on account of the rocks under the wa
ter. The rain only lasted ten minutes, but at the end
of that time the canoe had an inch of water in the
bottom of it. When we got to the Yellow Dog Club
we took the canoe up to the floor of the pavilion and
placed it with its bottom side to the wind.
July 25. Paddled from Yellow Dog Club to Marquette.
In the morning got up and found my clothes were
nearly all dry, and called C. There was a fresh N. W.
breeze blowing, but the waves were not very high.
At eight o'clock I asked the owner of the Red Dog
if there would be any squalls on the lake. H e said that
he was n't sure, but would tell me by nine o'clock.
. . . We pushed off from the shore, nearly tipping
over the canoe as we did so, and started off at the
rate of five miles an hour. We kept it up until we
got around Granite Point, where the wind ceased to
strike us. We went very close to Granite Point but
137

not close enough to see the bottom of the lake. I
was for heading straight for Sauk's Head, but C.
wanted to keep close to shore ; so as a result we were
about three eighths of a mile from shore all the way
down to Sauk's Head. From Granite Point to Sauk's
Head we had a delightful breeze from the northwest
at our backs. We started to go outside of Sauk's
Head Island, but as the sea began to get rougher, I
took C. behind the island. When we got to Granite
Point It was noon, so we disembarked on a smooth
pebbly beach on the north side of the point and ate
lunch. C. was obliged to step in the water when get
ting out and he said that he had never felt any water
that was as cold as that was. We rested for about
a half an hour and then proceeded on our journey.
The wind suddenly shifted E. N. E. and on account
of that C. and I had a hard time getting to the
neck of land between Little Presque Isle and the
mainland. We remained here nearly twenty min
utes to stretch our legs and cliftib the sandstone
pillar which stands at the end of the neck of land.
When we got ready to go farther we carried the
canoe to the other side of the point. The wind was
against us for nearly one mile, when it stopped al
together. The distance from Little Presque Isle to
Gull Rock seemed extremely long; but we kept up
the pace with scarcely any stops until we were within
one half mile of Gull Rock. Then the gulls began
to come. At first we could scarcely see them. The
gulls give a different call when they are welcoming
each other than when they are hurling out invec
tives upon the human race. When they meet one
another they give vent to a noise something like
138

the quack of a duck, but when they are warning
their comrades of the approach of men, they give
a series of shrill cries which can be heard as far as
the bird can be seen. The gulls increased greatly
until at one time there were as many as twenty-five
or more to be seen In our neighborhood. . . . When
we were within one eighth of a mile of Gull Rock
they had all disappeared. . . . Some went out on
the open lake and others went for the rocks at the
base of Sugarloaf and others settled down into the
water not one hundred feet astern of us. . . . Per
haps they were fearful of betraying their home by
hovering too closely about it. But without doubt
Gull Rock is the home of all the Marquette gulls,
as the appearance of the island testifies. When we
passed within one hundred feet of the island there
was not a gull in sight. After we had paddled about
one quarter of a mile past Gull Rock a very curious
stratagem of the gulls exhibited itself. All the gulls
seemed to appear again. They would fly one by one
to a point about one hundred and fifty feet In ad
vance of the canoe and all making a slow turn would
come diredlly for the boat on a downward course that
threatened to strike C. unmercifully. One time that
a gull did this C. struck at it with his paddle and
threatened to upset the canoe. This stratagem was
carried out by the gulls about ten times, and they
always came nearer, but after C. struck at one, they
stopped this game and settled down again. They
might have employed this ruse to make us think
that their home was in advance of us : but the only
place in advance that the gulls were known to in
habit was Gull Islands, a group of bare granite and
^39

serpentine rocks nearly three and a half miles in
advance. The paddle from Gull Rock to Partridge
Island was the longest half mile that I ever paddled.
There was quite a sea off Partridge Island, but we
did not notice It until we tried to land and then It
inconvenienced us seriously. . . . We staid here
nearly a quarter of an hour and then went on our way .
The three miles from Partridge Island to Presque
Isle did not seem very far because I had many
stories on hand about Fourth of July Island, Mid
dle Island and about islands In general. It seems
to me that I can never get interested In telling stories
until there is only one person to listen to me, and
that one person has to be sympathetic. We took the
canoe into the cave at Presque Isle, where we dis
embarked and walked around on the gravel beach
inside. I showed C. where H. and myself had once
come down to the mouth of the cave and where
Pont had followed us. I also told him how Pont had
been unable to get back again and how H. and I
had to boost the dog up ten feet. When I had fin
ished my string of stories we re-embarked, and to
my surprise when we got out of the cave the lake
was as smooth as glass, — there was not a ripple. As
we proceeded on our way we could see the shadow
of the canoe gliding along on the bottom of the lake.
When we got near the new wooden breakwater off
Presque Isle, we saw a great school of lake trout
which were from five to fifteen pounds in weight.
C. wanted to fish, but I told him If he should catch
a fifteen-pound fish he would have to swim for the
breakwater. We had a quiet but speedy journey the
rest of the way. 140

[The two boys, dressed in their outing clothes and with
faces reddened by the sun, arrived at the house just as
Howard's oldest sister drove up with a school friend
who had come to visit her : he writes of the encounter
with the stranger as follows :] She had just arrived
on the 5:25 train and the sight of us boys was the
first impression she received of our home at Mar
quette. When I think of it now, I must have looked
hideous, with matted hair, red nose, dirty face, dirtier
hands, torn trousers, a coat that was too short in the
arms, and a valise with some clothes hanging out of
it, a dirty white canvas hat, muddy shoes and flannel
shirt without a necktie. A man's criticism may open
a person's eyes to his short-comings, but a girl's si
lent censure — what doesn't that do?
July 29. 1 went out across the bridge to make a call
on my friends the woods and the night hawks. I
had the most restful time of the summer, among
the sand ridges, listening to the night hawks and the
sound of the wind In the trees, the Minne-wawa, as
Longfellow has It. I also heard the Mudway-aushka.
I think I like no feeling better than to be in the
woods at night, without precisely knowing where
you are, but knowing you aren't lost. In my ram
bles I came upon an indistindt lumber road leading
southward and imagine my surprise when I came
out upon the river one mile above the bridge. Here
I found two logs across the river, on which I laid
down and enjoyed the sounds of the woods. I must
have remained on this log for an hour taking in
everything I saw, listening to the white-throated
sparrow, who sings my favorite song in the evening
or afternoon and another pretty one in the morn-
141

ing. I don't know whether It is the same bird or
not. Whenever I come around to the clearing in
the woods I always whistle the first song. I went
back to the shooting grounds, where I observed the
night hawks' swift flight. Their silent, swift passage
through the air made me feel a bit creepy. I know
as I was standing looking at one of the species one
whizzed past my head so fast that I could feel the
wind from his flight.
August 21, 1898. This Is the first day In the whole
summer that I have remained Inadlive, which Is the
best record so far.
HOWARD went homeforthe summervacation
in 1 899 after graduating at Lawrenceville, and
made a canoe trip from the So-sa-wa-ga-mIng Club
to Huron Mountain Club with his brother Jack. It
was the first time Jack had ever been honored by
an invitation from his big brother to be his com
panion on a long trip and he made the following
record of It:
June 29, 1899. My First Canoe Trip. It was a fine
June morning when we went to the Huron Mt.
Shooting and Fishing Club. Howard's canoe was
aboard and he had been paddling Helen around
in it. When we got to the So-sa-wa-ga-ming Club,
Howard asked Mamma if he and I couldn't stay
there a few days, and go up in the canoe a few days
later. Next morning we woke up, and heard crash-
ings outside. It was the logs banging against each
other in the surf. We had as bad luck on the 28th.
On the 29th, in the morning itwas still rough but we
launched the canoe In the afternoon. We followed
142

the shore in case of a squall, but Howard called to
Mr. P. who kept the light-house on Big Bay Point,
and said: "O ! Mr. P., will there be a squall for an
hour to come yet?" And Mr. P. who was fishing on
the dock, said, "No, not to-day." So Howard said,
"Jack, I 'm going to see in how many strokes I can
make that cove on Salmon Trout Point ! one ! two ! "
etc. He made it in 700 strokes. He brought me into
the cave, and we went all through it. There was a
long shelf running the length of the cave. He told
me never to tell Helen about it. Then we ate the
lunch which Mr. B. at the Club had put up for us.
As we were eating we heard a launch coming. We
both yelled as hard as we could, but they didn't
hear us. Then we jumped in the canoe and Howard
took up the double paddle and paddled as fast as he
could. I took the smallest single paddle, and struck
the water as hard as I could, which proved fatal for
over I went ! I sat up in the canoe whimpering, and
Howard said, "Well, what are you crying about?
You're out aren't you?" I realized I was so I went
up in front again. Then we went back to shore after
giving another yell. There I changed my clothes and
we went on our way again. When we got to Conway
Pt., I buried my clothes in the dry sand, and then
I put them on. Then we started for the club arriv
ing there safely. J. M. Longyear, Jr.
Soon after the trip Jack describes, Howard left
with an exploring party, earning a dollar a day, look
ing for minerals. He was out nearly three weeks and
during all the time he spoke nothing but French
with the Canadian woodsmen, and his letters to his
mother were written in French also. After he re-
143

turned from the exploring trip, his friend H. W.
arrived and the two spent most of the summer to
gether. They went off in a launch for an outing,
armed with neither rod nor gun, but books. They
carried with them Mrs. Eddy's works, some of
Thoreau's books, which are veritable treasuries of
wood-lore, and Marcus Aurelius. Howard did not
keep aloof from the young people at the two clubs
as much as formerly, but, during the intervals be
tween trips he and his friend took together, mingled
freely with those of his own age and was especially
attentive to his older sister and her friends. It was
more and more apparent that Howard was ready
for the responsibilities of manhood, and his right to
develop in his own way was wisely recognized by
his mother. The following entry is found in her
diary for September ii, 1 899 : " I must not hold A.
and Howard as my own, but let them develop by
themselves." ONE of Howard's humble friends was Ajax, a
noble mastiff, who became the boy's property
when Ajax was a big puppy, as fat and awkward as a
grizzly cub. Another friend of Howard's by the name
of Pont was always loving and faithful. Pont, a gen
teel hunting dog (a setter), was claimed by Howard's
father, but he was very popular with the children
and considered himself their dog more than his. A
narrative of the boy's life without special mention
of his animal friends would be incomplete. The
biographies of Ajax and Pont are somewhat fully
sketched in the following extradls from letters to
Howard from his father:
144

October i, 1893. Ajax is getting big and strong, so
that I think I shall have to take him with me every
day, when I am at home, and train him. He does not
pretend to mind any one but me, and he does not
pay much attention to me! He has had no training
and does not know what is meant when any one gives
him an order. He is very good-natured and a little
training will be all he will need. The other day he
started to follow Helen, Judith and me down town
when I had. told him to stay at home. We shut the
south gate on him, leaving him in the yard, but he
went out the front gate and overtook us in front of
Reynolds' house. He paid no attention to me when
I called and just proposed to do as he liked, regard
less of my wishes. I finally got him by the collar and
pulled him, by main strength, back to the south
gate. He struggled and pulled back for all the en
ergy he had, but I was too much for him, although
sometimes he would almost pull me along his way.
He was determined that he would go with the little
girls, who kept on their way to school. The strug
gle was all good-natured and he gave up when I got
him to the gate. I petted him all the time I was mak
ing him do what I told him to do. Since then he
has been very fond of me.
October 14. I have been educating the dogs a little
to-day and I am going to try and give Ajax a les
son or two every day. He is good natured enough,
but he doesn't know anything. He doesn't know
what Is meant by ah order. This morning he fol
lowed us off to church. Pont also started to go, but
I took him back home and put the dog-chain in my
pocket. I caught Ajax at the old Watson house;
145

took him into the Everett house yard and chained
him to the picket fence In the yard. I left him there
while I went to church. He was mighty glad to
see me after church and I led him home. I gave
him a lesson and found him quite teachable. I said,
"Sh-h-h," and forced him down into a "charge."
Then I made him stay there until I told him to get
up and come to me. He learns quite readily and I
think I shall be able to make a well-behaved dog
out of him. I took Pont in hand next and taught
him the "Sh-h-h," or "charge." I tried him twice
and he seemed to take the lesson nicely, so I tried
him longer. I put him in the position of "charge"
and walked away for about a hundred feet before
looking at him. When I turned around he was just
disappearing into his kennel. He wouldn't come
out and he got so far back that I could not reach
him. I took a whip and thrashed it around in the
kennel and he came out "Instanter!" Then I com
pleted the lesson and let him go. Ajax has been tied
up ever since 10:30 a.m. and it is now 3 :30 p.m.,
so I think I will go and give him a run. Lovingly
yours. Papa.
October 11. Ajax is coming on finely in his educa
tion. I have only been training him for a week and
he minds very well. He likes me, too. I make him
"charge" and lie there while I fix his food and until
I tell him to come and get it. He doesn't like to do
it, but he has found that he gets It quicker by obey
ing than he does by trying to have his own way about
it. He will be a noble dog when he learns how to
behave himself. We keep him tied up all day, until
after four o'clock, when he is turned loose. He has
146

a way of running away to play with the children
at the school-house and that gets him into trouble
with the B. dogs. We want him to stay at home, so
we keep him tied up until the school children are off
the streets and he will not find them If he gets out
of the yard. He does not get out much. I have put
a chain on the large gates, so that he cannot push
them open. Helen and Judith have the pleasure,
when they come home from school, of seeing that
the gates are all fastened and then of letting him go
free. He does not like to jump off the wall, he is so
heavy, and if he cannot open the gates, he stays in
the yard. For the first few times he was unchained,
after the gates were fastened, he ran to the gates and
tried to open them. When he found them fast, he
sat there waiting for some one to come along and
open them for him ; but, for the last day or two, he
seems to have given up the idea of getting out on the
street and goes first to see if there is anything to eat
near the kitchen. I am in hopes that he will get so in
the habit of staying at home that he will not want
to run away, and when he learns that, he will not
have to be tied up at all. The other night I heard
Ajax barking and went out to see what he was ex
cited about. I found that Pont had taken possession
of Ajax's kennel and did not dare come out while
Ajax was there. Ajax was barking outside and Pont
was growling inside. I tried to make Pont come out,
but he saw Ajax waiting for him and did not dare.
I took Ajax out, tied him up and went back to get
Pont out, but he had " skipped ' ' into his own kennel
while I was tying Ajax. Ajax was afraid to go into his
kennel until I showed him that there was no other
dog there, 147

October 29. The B. dogs made it very lively for Ajax,
but when he gets his growth and strength, he may re
member them in away that will astonish them! He
will be a very powerful animal. It is about as easy to
lead him as it would be to lead a fradllous horse !
November 26, 1893. The children have great fun
playing with Ajax in the snow. They jump off a
wall or bank into a deep drift and he jumps after
them, which buries him in the snow. Then they
wash his face in snow and have a great time with
him before he gets out where he can use his feet.
When he does get out, he makes them scatter for
a while!
December 3, 1893. I have just come In from a walk
with Pont and Ajax. They had a fight when they
first started, and, as Ajax was the one In fault, I gave
him a whipping, which restored the proper equilib
rium between them and they were very good friends
after that. Neither seemed to bear any malice and
they trotted along as good friends as ever.
December 10. Ajax is looking through the library
window at me. He saw Abby, a few minutes ago,
with her things on ready to go to Sunday-school
and he is watching the door, expedling her to come
out, but she has gone out the other way ! The chil
dren tie their sleds to his collar and he pulls the
empty sleds up the hill when they are coasting.
December 17. We have had snow-storms almost
every day for over a week and it is now very deep
everywhere, except where it has been blown away.
The dogs have just about room enough to get in
and out of their kennels, the snow almost stopping
up the arches under the veranda. It makes their
148

nests all the warmer and I think that they are as
comfortable as possible. The kennels are full of
straw and there Is a curtain over the door of each.
The dogs do not seem to approve of the curtains,
and when there was one of the kennels without the
curtain, they would fight for that one. They do not
seem to appreciate the comfort of having the door
closed when they are Inside. I suppose they like to
be able to look out and know what is going on out
side. February 4, 1894. The weather has been fine, most
of the time, and the ground-hog saw his shadow, on
the second, if he remembered to come out and look
for it. To-day Is a beautiful day. The dogs are sun
ning themselves In the sunniest places they can find.
Pont is curled up on the walk, near the south gate,
with his back against a snowbank. Ajax is spread
out on the veranda, near the sitting-room window.
They both seem to enjoy the warmth of the sun
shine. I found Ajax in Pont's kennel a few days
ago and I tried to get him out. He wouldn't come
out when I told him to and then I whipped him in
the kennel, hoping to drive him out, but he didn't
come. Then I tried to pull him out, but he braced
his feet against the sides of the kennel and I could n't
"budge" him. I pulled at him for a long time and
until his collar came off over his head. Then I took
turns at pulling and whipping, but he still " held the
fort." I couldn't whip him very hard in the kennel,
but I made him very uncomfortable. Finally, I went
off a little way and began to pet Pont. Ajax then
rushed out of the kennel, but did not come near
me. He bolted around the house, out of sight. I have
149

watched him since, but have never caught him near
that kennel. He goes to his own, now.
March 4, 1894. The dogs are both fat and happy.
I think that Ajax helps Pont now if he gets into a
fight. I saw Pont pitch into a dog of about his own
size and the other dog (a spaniel) did not fight at
all. He seemed afraid of Ajax, but Ajax did not go
very near him. He just stood and looked on. The
dogs probably have a way of understanding each
other. I stopped the "scrimmage," so I do not know
how it would have resulted if I had not been there
to Interfere.
Both Ajax and Pont learned to be very well-be
haved dogs and they were always happy to take to
the woods with Howard whenever he whistled, or
said "Come."

150

VI. HOWARD AS A COLLEGE MAN. THE
HISTORY OF A VERY BUSY YEAR AT
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
These trees shall be my books. — Shakespeare.

VI. HOWARD AS A COLLEGE MAN. THE
HISTORY OF A VERY BUSY YEAR AT
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
THE man whose life-work satisfies his tastes
and gives adequate scope for the exercise
of his talent, is so seldom met with as to be
singular and noteworthy. When there is a perfedi
adjustment of the man to his work. It is no longer
work : it is a sort of serious play. Such a coincidence
promised to result from the choice of work made
by Howard Longyear. The previous chapter tells
enough of his love of the woods, and of his careful
study of them, to leave no one in doubt regarding
his fitness for the profession of Forestry, which of
fered him the opportunity of spending his days in
the manner that pleased him best ; and of being at
the same time highly serviceable to civilization.
Important problems wait to be solved by the sci
entific forester, — problems which diredlly affedl the
interests of millions of this country's population,
and the same problems exist in most other coun
tries. It is the forester's business to teach men to
reap the harvest of timber, without sacrificing the im
mature crop and destroying the forest, whose thick
carpet of decayed leaves holds the waters in check,
releasing them gently to feed the brooks. Instead
of in floods that destroy. It Is the forester's busi
ness to prevent the awfial blight of fires In the for
est, which man's ignorance. Indifference and negledt
so often occasion ; but which could be very largely
avoided by the observance of rational methods of
cutting the trees so that lopped-off branches would
not be left on the forest floor to dry out and become
153

enticing fuel for any chance flame. It is also his busi
ness to manage and plan for the propagation of trees
In the deserts and waste places of the earth, where
trees have never been. Incidental to all the forest
er's work, yet the inspiration of it all. Is the enlarge
ment of Beauty's domain. In Forestry, utility and
beauty unite; it is a trade which poets might deign
to follow; indeed the forester must be half poet to
be pradtlcal.
At the close of his last year at Lawrenceville,
Howard had decided to take the Forestry course at
Cornell University, instead of carrying out his ear
lier plan of going to Harvard; and so, in the fall of
1899, ^^ went to Ithaca.
Commencing with his life at the university, How
ard was expedled by his parents to be a man, and was
left free to govern himself. Writing In her diary Sep
tember 13,1899, his mother says: "A. and Howard
start off with their own money. I push them from
the nest. They must now learn to choose." He soon
became fully Identified with athletics, took his place
in the social life of the university, and yet kept his
spiritual ideals and his educational goal ever in view.
He was developing on all sides, physically, socially,
intelledtually and spiritually. Because of Howard's
astonishing energy in his studies and In athletics, he
made fewer records of his meditations, and time for
meditation was very much curtailed; but wherever
he was, in the fraternity rooms. In his classes or at
the training table of the Freshman Crew, his char
adter refledted the Truth he had Imbibed, and was
recognized as an influence for good among his fel
low-students. 154

HOWARD'S letters to his parents the first
half-year at Cornell, are short and crisp, but
they refledl the eager, honest, spirited boy, bent on
making something worth while of his life. Follow
ing are extradts from some of these letters for the lat
ter part of 1899:
[Not dated; but probably September, 1899.J I don't
find college life very different from school life. I
suppose it is because I never had any very great de
sire for freedom. Some of the freshmen here nearly
go crazy over their freedom, but I don't see very
much to go crazy about,
October 15, 1899, [To his mother^ I am In the Glee
Club now, but cannot go on any trips because I
am a freshman, B. is also on. ... I do not begin
Physiology until winter, so you need n't worry about
the Kats just yet. ... I am working hard for the
Freshman Crew in SS now. ... I am greatly in
terested in my work here, — Physics, Chemistry,
Zoology, Botany and Meteorology. ... I don't
think I have thanked you for your birthday pres
ents to me yet, but I assure you that they were
greatly appreciated. I don't know who sent them.
Therefore I am thanking everybody In hopes of
striking it right. . . . You seem to be rather curious
about my meals. Some mornings I have soup, rolls
and coffee ; other mornings I have eggs, bread and
cocoa ; and as a third variety I have sausages, coffee-
cakes and coffee. ... I don't think I shall be able
to come to Boston at Easter time on account of the
Freshman Crew. They say that if a person expedts
to make the Freshman Crew he has to go In for it
for all he is worth. There are one hundred and
155

twenty-five freshmen trying for it, so that It will be
the result of pretty stiff work If I get on it. " This
must thou do if thou have it, and that which rather thou
dost fear to do, thou wishest should be undone ! ! ! " Be
sure and write me soon about your plans for the
game, for I '11 be there with Cornell flags and rib
bons galore. The Glee Club is going down to Phila
delphia for Thanksgiving and if I am allowed to go
with them I will not see you until next summer. I
haven't been able to hear anything about the C. S.
services here in Ithaca at all. My landlady, Mrs.
P., is much interested in C. S. and she comes up
and reads my "Science and Health" every day. I
was defeated in eledlion last week. I was running for
one of the eledlion committee. The days here are
just the same, — study, eat, play and sleep: there
Is no variation except Saturday night, when I usu
ally go to the theatre with the boys In the frat.
October 17. [To his father.] I am terribly busy now;
I have made the Glee Club, am trying for the Fresh
man Crew and also for the leader of one of the win
ter Gym Squads. I am also taking dancing and sing
ing lessons. My studies are not negledled either. So
far I have 95% in Geom., 100% in Botany and also
xoo% in Zoology and you will see that I have not
very much time to write letters.
October 11. [To his father.] My studies are coming
along all right in spite of Freshman Crew, Gym
nasium, Glee Club, dancing, and singing lessons. I
got 93% in Zoology in the first examination; am
one of the best three in Physics and Geometry;
100% in Botany and my marks are fairly good all
the way around. I am not grinding myself to death
156

by any means. I go to the theatre every Saturday
night and am always up to the Frat. House when
they have a rarebit or a musicale. My only rule Is
not to waste any time.
October 29. [To his father I] I got the highest marks
of anybody in the Solid Geometry examination the
other day, and am still keeping up with my other
records fairly well. I also received a bid from the
Gymnasium instrudlor to lead the Freshman Gym
Corps, of which I feel quite proud. Last week I suf
fered a defeat in eledlion. I was running for one of
the eledlion committee of the Freshman Class, but
I got defeated by a vote of 185 to 220. . . . How
about my . . . stock? If the company turns out an
automobile this winter, I want it in Ithaca next year.
There are two in town already, owned by students.
November 6, 1899. [To his father I] I was one often
freshmen rowing to-day, trying for the Freshman
Crew. ... I am now the leader, or one of the lead
ers of the Freshman Gym Corps and am entitled
to wear a black shirt with a white "G. C." on it.
November \i. [To his father.] You have not yet told
me how to get shares In the . . . company. I want
to have an automobile here in Ithaca next year for
"rushing" purposes and for use. There is great use
for such a thing here on account of the steepness
of the hills and the beauty of the scenery around
here. All of my studies are coming along well ex
cept Meteorology. In an exam the other day I only
got 44%, but I did n't feel very bad about it because
30% of the class got 43%; 20% got 44%; 20% got
45% and only 20% of the class passed; and since
there are only ten fellows In the class there weren't
157

so many passed as you would suppose at first. After
the examination the professor said that he would
destroy those marks and give us another trial. The
opinion In the class at present Is that he gave us
those marks In order to make us work harder, but
nevertheless I am going to study hard for the next
exam. This week has been an exceptionally busy
one because of the mid-term examinations.
A REFLEX of Howard's Hfe during his first
term in college Is found In the letters received
from his mother, from which the following extradls
are taken : Marquette, September 24, 1899.
My dear Son: I found when I paid my bill at
the Auditorium that you had kindly put up for the
lunches. I will speak to yourfather about it this time,
but I would like to have you confine your business
arrangements to his limits. I want to stand an inter
ested, unadvising spedlator of a "chappie" handling
wisely his first freedom. It must be bewildering to
be the recipient of so much attention. You must
feel like a blushing damsel with persistent suitors. I
trust to divine guidance to lead you just where you
should be. The lovely thing about it to me Is that
these boys are all working for their fraternity — it
Is loyalty and impersonality combined. Holding
your own God-given thought steadily, you will be
a true light wherever you are and do lots of good.
I fancy you in the morning with a cook stove In
your bedroom or parlor, I know not which, a coffee
pot on It bolhng like mad; — but the better vision
would be a nickel alcohol lamp, which requires no
158

cleaning, a cunning httle cupboard with jam, rolls
and crackers in it, all behind a screen, a dear little
nickel-plated coffee-pot and a tray covered by a nap
kin witn honey, etc. I'd like to be there. Do tell me
what kind of a cook stove you mean.
[Date missing. This letter was written from Boston
probably about October 4, 1899.J Maybe you don't
realize that now is the most critical period of your
life, and to keep7?r»? on the side of Good, you may
need a little help. ... It is hard to refledl the Good
always, but it is much harder for us If we drift Into
evil. Won't you give me an account of a day, —
what you do and what you study? ... I look at
the unseen Christ and see you as the true refledlion.
With much love. Mother, — your best friend.
Boston, October 8. Under your quiet exterior I know
a deep fondness is hidden for your father and for
me, and I know that the greatest motive you have
in your career is to make us proud of you, — after
the first and only scientific one, which is to find
your place in God's kingdom and refledl Him. I
was very glad to hear from you. I have great faith
in your judgment (for I know you seek the one
Mind), and I know you have done well to join the
fraternity you did. I know that only a certain class
of boys has any attradlion for you and I feel per
fedi confidence In you. It Is a grand thing for a man
to feel that his mother backs him against the whole
of mortal sense, for she sees the real man. By the
way I find there Is a C. S. meeting held in Ithaca,
at Red Men's Hall, at eleven Sunday morning. See
page XV in Odtober "Journal." Do explain about
your meals; every little thing is of Interest. Lov
ingly, Mamma. 159

Boston, October lo. Just a thought of the purest love
sent to you from the one who believes in you fully.
Lovingly, Mother.
Boston, October 24. Just to write to my own son at
stated times seems so stilted and unnatural and I
am going to gladden your heart by a little message
often, — ^just to say. Good morning, and, God bless
you. ... I know that you love me and I thank
God for His loving gift.
Boston, November 18, 1899. We have been through
an exciting siege to-day, — it has been the day the
girls have dreamed of for weeks. . . . Even your
father and your staid mother caught the infedllon
and ate their lunch with the same undue haste the
children did. We started in a carriage at one o'clock
with Cousin H. N., Helen, Judith and Jack and
drove to Soldiers' Field. We had to walk part of
the way, and the money tossed on the wind, for flags
— at a dollar apiece — was considerable — badges,
too, decorated our persons. . . . Well, fancy thirty-
five thousand people looking at this fiercely con
tested game, — for two hours. It was grand. Jack
gave the Harvard yell, with half a heart; for his
sympathies were with Yale. He said blue was "his
color." You, if you as eagerly devour the foot-ball
news as you do your breakfast, know already the re
sult. Itwas the first game your father had ever seen :
he enjoyed it greatly. I enjoyed your last letter: you
just seemed to take a little time and talk to your
mother. We will have a fine time In Philadelphia. I
hope you can get tickets for Uncle M. and Aunt A.
too. If you look in your " Christian Science Jour
nal" you will see that In Ithaca — in Red Men's
160

Hall I think — they hold a meeting. It is under the
head of"Meetings." I neverworry about you, How
ard, for I have given up fully. I trust you to the care
and keeping of the real Father and Mother God,
and yet I do not forget that I am the refledlion of
the Mother God, and must try to do my duty by
you as well as I can. Boston, December 3, 1 899.
Dear Howard: I must write you a little love
note to tell you how happy it made me to see you
so happy, strong and clean. You surely did every
thing In your power to show us your affedlion, and
the memory is pleasant. You seemed to labor un
der a little disappointment at one time, but if we
look for any mortal to give us any pleasure, in any
way, we learn by disappointment to depend on the
One friend who never fails us. I know your true,
lovely thought better than you do, dear boy, and
I find that under all your ambitious thoughts lies
the earnest desire to give pleasure to us all, and that
unselfish desire will bring you all you wish of good.
To ask in the morning dawn, that " thy will be done "
and then give up all effort is the height of the nar
row path. Good then supplies our every need; gives
us poise, self-respedt and love and interest In others ;
leads us to think right, and brings us the friends
we most need: so, we know we will be provided with
all that is good if we send out loving thoughts and
always adl from disinterested motives. I leave you
with perfedi confidence in Love's care, for I know
you are earnestly seeking the real. If you read
prayerfully the lesson Love has prepared for us
every day you can't go astray. 161

Christian Science is the best etiquette teacher I
know of; it teaches us to be self-forgetful and to rec
ognize God's refledlion in the boys. When you seek
for Him in humanity you will find Him. Wouldn't
it be nice to look out for some struggling fellow and
lend him a hand? You grow strong mentally by lift
ing others, you know. Your loving Mother.
HOWARD spent the Christmas season with his
parents in Boston. His mother gives the fol
lowing account of his visit: "When Howard came
to us at Christmas-time, he seemed so relieved to be
at home : he did not want to go out in society, or to
entertainments. He played games with the children
and spent one entire day teaching Jack his memory
system which he had learned at Lawrenceville. He
had lost all aggressiveness and was serenely happy
to be in the family circle. He had taken private sing
ing lessons while at Cornell and sang for us with
great feeling and modesty. I find recorded in my
diary January i, 1900, 'Howard and I had a lovely
soul-to-soul talk. Love protedts him.' I remember
that I told Howard that it was necessary (as he was
in a place where there was so little understanding
of christian Science), In order to keep his thought
steady, to have some Scientist help him whenever
he needed help in any way ; going to the Scientist
as he would to a Physician. Howard, as was his duti
ful custom, adled on my suggestion. Howard never
talked against any of the boys to me, in all his school
days." IN the last half of Howard's freshman year, his
steady, unflagging candidacy for the Freshman
162

Crew showed the stability of the boy. The following
notes of Howard's progress toward the goal of his
ambition, were prepared by his father.
In the Freshman Class (i 903) there were one hun
dred and twenty-five candidates for places on the
crew, and Howard was one of them. In January
forty-one of the one hundred and twenty-five were
requested to report forpradlice after 5 p.m., all other
candidates being expedled to row before that hour.
In the list of forty-one Howard's name was third.
The " Cornell Era" of January 27,1 900, says : " The
freshmen have finally been weeded down to some
sort of form and system. The men have been di
vided into squads and the combinations row to
gether daily. The first eight is at present stroked
by Frenzel, with Kushke 7, Benedidt 6, Hutton 5,
Tourison 4, Osborn 3, Balllnger 2, Longyear bow."
The "Era" for February 17, 1900, says: "The
freshmen are all doing very well. There are at pres
ent some seven or eight combinations, and all are
rowing very creditably. Two crews will soon be se
ledled from the best men in the various eights." The
"Era" for April seventh speaks of two of the fresh
man crews rowing a" scrap "in which Howard's crew
won by a small margin. The "Era" for April four
teenth mentions a list of fifteen freshman candidates
who had been exempted from drill and Howard's
name is in this list. The paper says: "Coach Court
ney expresses himself as particularly well pleased
with the work of the two freshman eights." Accord
ing to the "Era" of April twenty-first the make-up
of the first freshman boat shows Howard holding
the bow-oar, which he held to the end of the year.
163

The "Era" for April twenty-eighth says: "The
Freshman won against the Second Varsity Crew on
Monday and again on Thursday." The "Era" for
May fifth states that in an "exciting pradlice" the
Freshman came in second, being ahead of the Sec
ond and Third Varsity Crews. An item in the " Era "
for May nineteenth says: "During the past week
a number of important changes have taken place
among the crews. The Freshman Crew has been
taken to the training table in place of the Second
Varsity. At the present time it looks very much as
if the crew which will row at Philadelphia on Dec
oration Day would be composed mainly of 1 903 men
and it Is possible that the regular Freshman Eight
now rowing on the lake will represent Cornell in
this regatta. The Freshman Crew continues to Im
prove steadily and it is safe to predidl that this will
be the fastest Freshman Crew Cornell has had since
that of 1899. (The Freshman Crew of the class of
'99, which rowed in 1 896.) Several rows have taken
place on the lake, in which, taking experience Into
consideration, the Freshman Eight have made much
the better showing." (Comparison being made with
the Varsity Eight.) The "Era" for May twenty-
sixth says: "It has pradlically been decided that the
Freshman Crew will be sent to Philadelphia to row
against the Pennsylvania Second Varsity." This was
done and Howard's crew rowed against the Second
Varsity Crews of Pennsylvania and Columbia, com
ing in second — Pennsylvania first. Mrs. Longyear
and I landed in New York from Europe the day be
fore the regatta at Philadelphia. A note from How
ard met us at the steamer asking us to come there.
164

We went and saw him several times during the day.
Howard also rowed in the race at Poughkeepsie on
June thirtieth (I think), but I have no data. I be
lieve Cornell was beaten.
Concerning Howard's efforts to win his place on
the crew, his mother says : " I don't think Howard
ever really cared for competition of any kind, and
had we advised him against rowing on the crew, he
would gladly have gone back to his meditative life.
He did what he thought would please us. After
February Howard was so extremely busy, he had
no time for thought: all was adtion."
Toward the beginning in his competition for a
place on the Freshman Crew, Howard seemingly
became so sick that he could not keep up his prac
tice with the oars, and It seemed likely that he
would have to abandon the hope of winning the
coveted honor; but he asked at once for help, and
employed a Christian Scientist in Boston to treat
him absently. The result was that Howard resumed
his rowing almost immediately. Again in March at
a very critical stage in his training, he, together
with other boys, was sent to the hospital, but re
jedting medical treatment, he sent word to the Bos
ton Christian Scientist for help and in about two
days left the hospital, well. Concerning his hospital
experience he writes thus blithely to his mother: " I
cannot answer your last letter because it has not yet
been fumigated and I can't get at it. The dodlors got
hold of me Monday night and chucked me in the
' horsepistol,' but I got out Thursday morning. I
am all right now, but I missed three examinations.
I was rowing yesterday and I think that I stood
165

it better than most of the fellows there, which is
quite an unusual occurrence. B. W. has been In bed
for three weeks now." To him there was nothing
strange about the quick disappearance of disease
under Christian Science treatment, for all his reli
gious teaching and pradlical experience made it
seem the only natural thing to expedt. It was not his
way to say a great deal about his religion, any more
than it would have been for him to talk about his
love for his mother or father: it was among those
things which needed no mention, for it was a part
of him. It Is only in his journal that he expressed
his views on religion to any extent. For the rest of
the term Howard made good progress in his stu
dies notwithstanding his deep interest in athletics.
HOWARD'S letters at this time contained al
ternate sentences about his studies and his
sports, like the following:
January 28, 1900. [To his father^ I am now row
ing on the first squad of the freshman candidates.
There are one hundred and forty men trying alto
gether. [In other letters he said one hundred and twenty-
five,] On Saturday all of our squad got up in the
crew room at four o'clock, when there were no others
in the room, and rowed for nearly half an hour.
February 18,1900. [To his mother^ If I don't make
the Freshman Crew, I will try to get you to come
down here as a chaperon for Senior Week. If I do
make the crew, I will not be allowed to dance, or to
do anything Senior Week ; but I suppose you will be
in Europe anyway, so it does n't make much differ
ence what I may plan now. . . . Since I have begun
166

trainingfor the Freshman Crew (we began last week),
I have been keeping a regular routine of living.
February 25. [To his mother^ In a recent examina
tion in Chemistry I drew 9 5%, and in an examination
in Mineralogy in which no marks were given I got
the best paper in the class. I think that, with a good
start, I might as well try to get pretty good marks
this winter term. Your loving son, Howard.
March 4, 1900. [To his father^ You asked in your
letter of the twenty-fifth post, if I was on the Fresh
man Crew. The Freshman Crew has not been chosen
yet and will not be chosen until some time in June,
so you will see I will have to remain in uncertainty
until that time. What do you think of the idea of
my bringing a boy in the Forestry course up to
Marquette next summer? He Is a German and is a
very nice fellow, from what I have seen of him. I
think I will need at least one assistant in my For
estry work at the club and this fellow Is congenial
and bright. He expedts to graduate from the For
estry Department at the same time that I do, and
I think that If I am going to have any assistants at
all, that I would better have one that is brought
up especially for the place. He was an officer in
the German army. Lovingly, Howard.
March 4. [To his mother^ I am horribly scared to
go calling here in town. I don't know why, but I
lose my resolution every time. To-day I started to
go calling but I got scared and came back home.
I wish you would tell me what Is the matter. I have
some social obligations which I really ought to ful
fil, but I can't seem to get there. Waiting for the
recipe, I remain your loving son, Howard.
167

March ii. [To his father^ The only trouble with
the Forestry course so far is that there is not any
Forestry In it; but I expedt to have a small talk with
Prof. Fernow next term, and find out what to do
this summer with SS. 4 and 5, T. 5i,N. R. 28, W,,
and elsewhere. I am paying especial attention to all
Geology courses here because I expedl to study up
on iron and copper mines whenever I have any time
after I get out of here. Your loving son, Howard.
March 24. [To his father^ Sometime this vacation
I am going to Prof. Fernow and get him to advise
me about starting my forest near the farm this sum
mer. Would it be all right for me to write to S.
and get him to send me the estimates of timber on
the land that we own or on adjacent land? I will
also write and ask him how much land and what the
location is. As it now stands I think I would like to
go up into the Adirondacks for two or three weeks
at the beginning of this summer and get an idea of
how the thing is started and then come up to the
farm and help start the forest there. Your loving
son, Howard.
May 12,1 900. [To his parents^ I am now rowing
on the Second Varsity Crew, and I expedl to go to
Philadelphia on the thirtieth of May and have a
race with the University of Pennsylvania. I expedt
to have another race on the thirtieth of June with the
freshmen of four or five colleges at Poughkeepsie,
but I think that some of the men in our boat are go
ing to be changed to-morrow, and I may be one of
them. Rowing Is n't such hard, weary work as most
people suppose. The men in our boat do not fall over
and faint at the end of the races as they are sup-
168

posed to do, but are good for rowing four miles after
every two-mile race. Your loving son, Howard.
Quarters of the Cornell Crew, Krumb Eldow, Hudson River.
[No date; probably a few days before June 30.]
Dear Folks : The general feeling Is that all three
of the Cornell crews are going to win on Saturday.
The freshmen have to sleep in a barn which they
call Chateau de Frosh. The rough houses which we
have at night are lovely. We break down each other's
beds, have pillow fights, and fill the other people's
beds with gravel, railroad spikes, soap, water, hay,
etc., etc. I think I will stop at the Soo and come along
by train to " Markett." I have engaged my passage
to Duluth, but that doesn't matter. I expedt to be
in " Markett" on the morning of the sixth of July
and from there I will take my "quenoo" up to the
H. M. Club. I have to go to row now, good bye.
Your loving son, Howard.
TO the end of the correspondence between the
boy and his mother, she continued to faithfully
advise him and prompt him to look to God. Follow
ing are a few extradls from her letters in 1900:
Boston, January 7, 1900. I am interested in every
little thing concerning you. I want to know if you
have gone into training. You know perfedtly well
that food does not affedl the life of man and that all
the strength one can have is spiritual strength ; it Is
not In the body, though mortal mind would have us
think this. Muscles are Mind forces. If before you
begin your rowing you declare mentally that Spirit
is the only power, and that all adtion Is in God, you
169

will be on the right basis and not have readtion or
over adtion. Dear boy, you have enough of Truth
in your consciousness to be a great help to others.
God will give you your work, you need n't look af
ter It. Never seek to please mortal mind, and you
will find yourself independent in the Good.
Boston, January lo. Dear, don't get into a sense of
hurry or will-power: "He that trusteth in the Lord
(not in his own strength or intelligence) shall not
make haste." Too much hustling before one is fiilly
in the light of Spirit leads to a belief in reaction. Keep
each day balanced and you will find daily strength
for daily needs. Walk steadily and quietly in the
path of duty. It Is a great lesson to learn to be rest
ful in thought. Many congratulations for your high
mark. It was given by the One Intelligence. Should
error try to delude you in the thought of lack of
time for the study of the Sunday lesson, see clearly
that you gain time (or eternity) by so doing, and you
cannot do that work well without gaining greatly
in everything else. Do pardon my advice and take
it as from Love. You are seemingly In the atmos
phere of dense mortal thought. Love points above.
Look up for your adtion, intelligence, rest and love.
I hope you will get your heart's desire for the crew :
if not. Love means to give you something better.
Lovingly, Mother.
Boston, January 15. I am trying to make each day
complete in itself. We can only live one day at a
time and we should try to get all the good, love,
work, happiness and rest that belong to a lifetime,
expressed in one day. . . . May you feel the good,
loving, trusting thought that comes with this letter.
170

Boston, January 17, 1900.
Dear Boy : Your letter, so lookedfor every Thurs
day morning, has not arrived. Do not, for the sake
of the development of your own charadter, negledt
that important duty and pleasure of writing to your
father and me every Sunday. It inculcates prompt
ness, honor to parents, and reliability, and strength
ens your sense of love and duty to us. It is not
enough to love a person, we must express our af
fedlion systematically. The great corner stone of
charadter building is love and honor to parents.
Where a boy is reliable in that respedl, he grows to
be reliable in every department of work. To justify
oneself, mentally or audibly, for negledt of duty, is
weakness. This is written In all love; for I do hope
this year that you will make great strides in the
diredlion of reliability, so that men will say, "There
is a boy who can be depended upon to do his duty In
every department." Ask yourself what do I owe to
my father and mother? — and pay up In letters of in
terest and affedlion. H.'s birthday comes Saturday.
Won't you write her a note and send her a dollar
bill? She is trying to buy a camera and we are all
going to contribute. Read "Science and Health,"
311-19; 270-8; 132-21. Boston, February 11, 1900.
My dear Son : a. arrived here safely ; full of praises
for Cornell and her big brother. I am more than
happy over her trip. She brings me good reports
of you, but I know a boy of principle cannot be any
thing but upright. She says you are the best dancer
in the frat. H. and D. are here now and are howling
171

at the top of their voices, "When Molly Dooley
Scrubs the Floor, You Bet That Floor Is Clean,"
from the cadet play of " MlladI and the M usketeer,' '
so I cannot write in the serious strain I am accus
tomed to. Jack's graphophone is going too, full
blast. Robert is going to have his birthday fete to
morrow; It Is due to-day, but I forgot to get the ring
and cake so we moved it all off until to-morrow. It
won't be long now before papa and I sail for Paris.
We hope to go to Sweden and Norway. I hope you
will go to the Red Men's Hall Sunday. You will
find some other boys who are in earnest in the ser
vice of Truth too. Lovingly, Mamma.
Boston, February 25, 1900. 1 sentProf. W. a"Science
and Health" with comments. If he hands it to you
don't be surprised, keep it to lend. Now, dear, open
your loving heart and try each day to do something
for some one else. You will succeed In all you expedt
If you can let go of yourself, and seize the good out
side of yourself with both hands. It won't be long
now before papa will be here or before we sail. Three
years ago we were in Naples. I can remember the
shudder I experienced when you children stood on
the brink of Vesuvius. You have a great, generous,
open heart, Howard, and are willing to be obedient
to the right. Take time to listen to the "still small
voice." Lovingly as ever and always. Mother.
Boston, March 5, 1900.
My dearest Howard: I have a heart full of
thankfulness every time I think of you. I have
such abiding confidence In your purity of thought
and I know you look always to God to deliver
172

you from temptation. I have been reading an arti.-
cle in the "Atlantic Monthly" about college boys,
and this accounts for my outburst. I will send you
the article and I know you will feel the need of
standing more strongly, and of giving the helping
hand to any weak brother more than ever. You have
had your experience and are much stronger than
many who have been sheltered. Yours most lov
ingly and trustingly. Mother. Boston, March I2, 1900.
My own dear Son : I think of you every day
and love you more than ever. When I realize you
were younger than Jack when I cast you Into the
midst of discipline, I rejoice that you came out of
it so well. You must remember, dear, that in be
lief you were a little mischief. There is nothing else
in the world to be learned but the Science of Life.
When we master that, everything will be easy. Fill
your thoughts full of love, dear, and try to do for
others. You were kind to think of H. and J. They
appreciated the books and will write.
I know that you are not mortal but an Immortal
now, refledling Life, Truth and Love, and that
thought rests me. I am never anxious about you.
Lovingly, Mommy. Boston, March 18, 1900.
My dear Child: Your nice letter came pundtu-
ally and I enjoyed it greatly. I was delighted to
hear of the power of Love as manifested through
you. Only think, one week from to-night we start
for New York ! How I wish we could see you before
you get to be such a trained-down methodical fel-
173

low ; but we will be glad in the spring. Lovingly,
Mamma. New York, March 25, 1900.
My dear Boy: I must write to you before leav
ing my native shore. With what different feelings
I leave you all, than eight years ago. I have learned
to trust God, and you are learning to listen to His
voice, too. . . . We heard Ernest Seton-Thomp-
son's ledlure and enjoyed It intensely. He does
not kill animals now : he talks decidedly against it,
— says, "Shoot them with a camera." ... I hope
you will make the crew if you deserve it, and I am
sure you will. ... I see the real boy whenever I
think of you. Lovingly, Mamma. Boston, June 6, 1900.
My dear Howard: I received your welcome in
vitation to stay away to-day. I think I '11 accept It,
for it Is a long road to travel with no boy to pet at
the end. I hope you will come home as soon as the
race is over. Error tries to make us think that we
ought to work, work, work and not spend time in
thought. Error doesn't want us to read "Science
and Health," and meditate on the realities of life;
for when we get to working in downright earnest
for the Light of Truth, we are lost to error. Error
says, "I want to do something." Truth says, "Study
to find out what God has done and all else will come
to you easily." Well, if I am not preaching, — but
I know you like it. Lovingly, Mamma.
AMID all the preparation for examinations and
±\. finishing off work on the crew, H oward showed
his thoughtfiilness for others by writing the follow-
174

ing letter to Dr. M., head of the Lawrenceville
School, which was returned to him with the names
he asked for written on the back. June 4, I goo.
Dr. M., Dear Sir: Will you kindly give me the
names and addresses of all the Lawrenceville boys
who expedt to come to Cornell next year? I grad
uated from Lawrenceville last year and know what
a hard time a stranger has trying to get settled dur
ing his first week or two at college, and for that
reason would like to help them a little. Sincerely
yours, Howard Longyear.
SOME idea of the impression Howard made on
his fellow-students may be gained from the fol
lowing extradls from two letters written by one of
his classmates. West Nyack, N. Y., August 3, 1900.
My dear Mr. and Mrs. Longyear: Kindly
pardon the liberty I take in thus addressing you
in this time; but I wish to express to you In some
way the loss I feel. ... I cannot realize that the
news I received a short time ago is true. I feel as
if I had lost my own brother. As we were mem
bers of the same crew at Cornell, we lived together
much of the time and I came to know him as the
faithful friend, — the one to whom I could always
turn when in trouble. My acquaintance with him
shall always be remembered as one of the bright
est features of my freshman year. Sincerely yours,
R. L. HuTTON, Ridgewood, N. J.

175

Ithaca, N. Y., January 7, 1 90 1.
My dear Mrs. Longyear: I was delighted to
receive a letter from you and want to thank you for
your thoughtful kindness in sending me the card
with the quotation. I think a great deal of It, and
shall treasure It among some of the tenderest mem
ories of my college life.
I am only too glad of an opportunity to give my
impression of the charadter of one to whom I grew
so attached in my short acquaintance with him. I
was more closely associated with him on the crew
than in any other branch of university adtivity, and
although that is merely a side Issue from the work
of college, in what other way can one boy come to
know another more thoroughly than that, — rowing
hundreds of miles together, being with each other
In the crises of vidtory and defeat, success and dis
couragement? It is from such an association with
Howard, that my impressions were received. . . .
I considered him one of the first whom I would
take into my confidence in any matter. He always
showed a disposition to help a fellow in anything,
important or insignificant, and this charadleristic is
one which will quickest win its way into the affec
tions of a fellow-student, as it did into mine. Among
many things, I felt the little things he would do for
me at the table when I was temporarily crippled by
a felon on my hand. You know he sat next to me
for the three months we were at the training table.
When one is associated with a great number of
boys, he learns to appreciate the worth of a :Q-iend
who Is perfedtly pure in conversation. This char
adleristic was found in Howard in a most perfedi
176

degree, and it is that which, perhaps more than any
of the others, made me seek him as a personal friend.
He was full of fun, — of the fairest kind of fun, —
perfedtly square and frank, never taking advantage
of anything which would hurt the feelings of an
other fellow. ... I am sure that any of his many
friends here could speak of him only as a fellow
whom everybody liked and would do anything for.
. . . Thanking you for so kindly writing to me, and
especially for sending me the card and calendar, I
remain very sincerely yours, R. Leroy Hutton.
HOWARD'S books and papers were sent home
from the university and among them were
found the following extradts from the "Christian
Science Sentinel" which had been pasted on a card,
and which bore the marks of constant handling. To
the parents these few sentences were like a last sweet
message from the noble boy they loved.
"I call that mind free which masters the senses,
which protects itself against animal appetites, which
contemns pleasure and pain in comparison with its own
energy, which penetrates beneath the body and recog
nizes its own reality and greatness, which passes life,
not in asking what it shall eat or drink, but in hun
gering, thirsting, and seeking after righteousness.
" I call that mind free which escapes the bondage
of matter, which, instead of stopping at the mate
rial universe and making it a prison wall, passes
beyond it to Its Author, and finds in the radiant
signatures which it everywhere bears of the Infinite
Spirit, helps to its own spiritual enlargement.
" I call that mind free which is not passively framed
177

by outward circumstances, which is not swept away
by the torrent of events, which is not the creature
of accidental impulse, but which bends events to its
own improvement, and adls from an inward spring,
from immutable principle which it has deliberately
espoused. " I call that mind free which sets no bounds to its
love, which Is not imprisoned in itself or in a sedl,
which recognizes in all human beings the image of God
and the rights of His children, . . . which conquers
pride, anger, and sloth, and offers itself up a willing
victim to the cause of mankind.
"In fine, I call that mind free which, conscious of
its affinity with God, and confiding in His promises
by Jesus Christ, devotes itself faithfully to the unfold
ing of all its powers, which passes the bounds of time
and death, which hopes to advance forever, and
which finds inexhaustible power, both for adtion and
suffering, in the prospedl of immortality." W. E.
Channing. " To you who are perplexed and of doubtful mind,
then, in these days of conflidl and uncertainty, I
say, — Try what trusting to the Living Soul will
do; try whether God will speak to you there. Do
what prophets and psalmists did; do what Jesus
and the Apostles did : Believe in God, the Living
God, for yourself. Try all dodlrines by the touch
stone of pure thought, devout feeling, and religious
trust. Believe nothing on any outward authority, but
compel all to submit to the test of reason, con
science, and love. Believe only because you feel, ap
prove, and know; believe like happy children, not like
178

submissive slaves. So shall you be truly free; and,
within yourself, you will have the witness that what
you hold by is from God." J. Page Hopps.
" God's thought, the universe, is perfedi, harmo
nious throughout, and good; the natural law that
runs through all, like some refrain through com
bination of sweet sounds, binds all in unity. Whence
then the seeming discord? 'Tis alone in him who
hears. Attune your soul, O man ! to the sweet melo
dies on every hand, the perfedi harmony of nature's
law. Then discords cease, and harmony of thought and
soul will then accord with the pure harmony of uni
versal law''
"A holy life consists in resisting every temptation
of evil, every suggestion, audible or mental, of the
tempter. The world is not generally aware that evil
thought can be lodged in unsuspecting and unpro
tected minds, and do its pernicious work without
being audibly expressed. This Is one of the vital
lessons for mankind yet to learn."
The words in italics are the ones Howard had
underscored and thus they were made the vehicle
of his own thought, and so, by virtue of intelli
gent adoption, they are his words, and measure his
progress heavenward.

179

VII. SENTIMENTS OF SYMPATHY AND
REGARD FROM FRIENDS, TEACHERS
AND CLASSMATES
He who lives well is the best preacher. — Cervantes.

VII. SENTIMENTS OF SYMPATHY AND
REGARD FROM FRIENDS, TEACHERS
AND CLASSMATES
IT was difficult for Howard to believe that peo
ple really admired and loved him ; and he was
far from realizing how many devoted friends
he had who watched his course, and were deeply
interested in his plans. The expressions of esteem
of which this chapter is made up, show that a noble
boy's life is always Important in the eyes of men,
and that Its influence touches the lives of many
other boys.
IN the Issue of "The Lawrence" of Odtober 3,
1900, the following article appeared:
Howard Munro Longyear: born, September
23, 1 881; entered Lawrenceville School, May 24,
1 897; graduated, June, 1 899, with Honorable Men
tion for "Head of the School"; entered Cornell
University, September, 1899; drowned in Lake
Superior, Saturday, July 7, 1900.
These are the dates In the life of Howard Long-
year that are of chief interest to his school friends ;
but they merely place a few guide points in a life
that was strangely full of varied interest and early
fruitage. Only those who knew Howard intimately
could appreciate how well his few years of earthly
life had been employed for growth in scholarship,
culture and real manliness. Before coming to Law
renceville he had attended various schools in this
country and in Europe, had travelled much, had
widely read and discreetly, and was mature beyond
his years in acquired wisdom and sound judgment.
183

The priceless blessing of a refined Christian home
had softened and enriched his moral nature; clear-
eyed vision of many parts of the world had made
him alert and catholic; and his ambition for sturdy
growth had made him see already the need of patient
Industry and honest work. To those who knew him
only in a superficial way he may easily have seemed
reticent and self-centred; but to those whom he
trusted he was ready to talk most freely, to reveal
his serious thoughts, to show how widely he had
read and how clearly he had planned for his life
work. Open-hearted, frank and manly in all his
plans for life; dignified and serene; ambitious for
growth and real service to his fellows ; deeply reli
gious, but unwilling to make an effusive exhibition
of his real beliefs lest he might seem to cheapen
what Is holy ; this is the Howard Longyear whom
I learned to know and to love in the associations
of the Kennedy House. The records of the school
bear testimony to the effedliveness of his life as a
school-boy. The testimony of his college classmates
show how rapidly he had won the love of his friends
at Cornell University. In the class-room and in ath
letic life he had shown his growing ambition and
industry; and his nature was mellowing in the so
ciety of devoted classmates and friends.
Such a life had in it the promise and the certainty
of extraordinary development. Such a boy could
not but win the love of friends who learned to know
him well. His school life Is worthy of admiration
and must have Inspired many boys with passion for
honest and sturdy growth. As his former housemas
ter I am glad to avail myself of the opportunity to
184

pay this little tribute of esteem and love to one of
my dear old boys. Lawrence C. Hull.
HOWARD'S Lawrenceville classmates pub
lished the following resolution in " The Law
rence": Whereas, We, the members of the class of '99,
of the Lawrenceville School, now graduated, and
alumni of said school, have heard through the pub
lic press of the death by drowning of one of our
classmates, Howard Munro Longyear, of Mar
quette, Michigan ; and, feeling the loss not only to
our class, but to the college world at large by such
a death ; and, furthermore, in our endeavor to com
fort his bereaved family, be it
Resolved, That we, members of the class of 'gg,
extend our sincerest sympathy and regret at the
death of our classmate, to his family. Be it further
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be in
serted in " The Lawrence " and a copy be sent to his
family. T. G. Gaylord, President of Class of '99.
THE members of Psi Chapter of Zeta Psi fra
ternity at Cornell, which Howard joined soon
after entering the university, were requested not to
wear mourning. The following is a part of the sec
retary's reply:
My dear Mrs. Longyear : We have found it
Impossible to comply with the wish . . . that we
should not drape our pins in mourning, principally,
because it is an old established custom of the frater
nity and one of its inviolable laws; and also, because
we wished to show some expression of our sorrow at
185

Howard's untimely departure from amongst us. Al
though we may have a very different manner of ex
pressing our feelings, nevertheless we believe that
they are, in respedl to Howard, virtually the same
as yours. We realize that he has simply gone before
us, and that he is still with us In spirit, and we con
tinue to call his name in our chapter meetings.
We have an enlarged pidlure of Howard, but we
shall be very grateful for the portrait you spoke of,
and it will be the more appreciated as coming from
Howard's mother. . . . The brothers feel very much
gratified at your desire to keep In touch with the
chapter and wish to extend to you and your family
a very cordial invitation to visit them at any time.
Very sincerely yours, The Psi Chapter of Zeta
Psi. Welford J. Golden.
Howard's brothers of the fraternity made the fol
lowing contribution to this history of the boy's life:
Howard M. Longyear. He came into our midst
pradlically a stranger; he departed therefrom a friend
and a brother in the truest sense of the word, leav
ing the Indelible imprint of a truly Christian exam
ple upon the hearts of all those who had been for
tunate enough to be on terms of fraternal intimacy
with him, while at college. His religious attitude
was of that type which makes converts of those
who behold it. While young In years, his influence
made itself felt, not only on those of his own age
and class, but also on his older brothers. This In
fluence was not due to any gift of persuasion that
he may have had; but rather to his inobtrusive and
engaging individuality. Blessed with a wonderfully
i86

even temper and a disposition that knew no malice,
he made an ideal comrade ; and happy he who could
live with him as such.
In every phase of university life and adtivity our
brother stood pre-eminent among his fellows. The
fraternity as a whole, as well as each individual mem
ber, feels the terrible loss sustained in having our
young brother taken from us; on the other hand,
we glory In the thought that Howard is one of our
number, and the spirit which his life and death have
infused shall be handed down from generation to
generation as a symbol of all that is good, loyal, and
true in Zeta Psi. The Psi Chapter of Zeta Psi.
PROFESSOR Fernow of the Cornell Forestry
School, In writing of Howard to his mother,
said: Dear Madam : It is with deep-felt regret that I
have learned of the sad bereavement which has
befallen your family and this college.
In losing your son Howard from our midst so un-
expedledly we mourn one of the most lovable com
panions and one of the most promising students,
whom this young institution was especially proud
of having on its rolls and could 111 afford to lose.
In offering you my heartfelt sympathies, in which
the few companions summering here join, I can as
sure you that he will continue to live In our memo
ries as a type of a noble, manly nature. With great
respedl, sincerely yours, B. E. Fernow.
THE following extradts are from some of the
many comforting letters received by Howard's
parents :

" I hasten to express to you my heartfelt sympa
thy for you in this your hour of trial, — I will not
say afflidtlon, such a statement would be a misap
plication In your case. I am led to believe, be this
as it may, that this must be the crucial test of your
Christian faith ; and if it does not leave you wounded
and bleeding there must be more in it than I appre
hended." " Dear Howard was so sweet and strong and pure.
I have never known a boy to whom I was more at
tradled by all the best attributes of a man."
"It is a comfort to think that you both are so
united, so loving, so helpful to each other that the
seeming hardships of this life will be borne easier
for that unity."
"That a philosophy should be able to stand the
supreme test of a personal loss such as yours, en
titles it to respedl."
"What a comfort and pleasure the diary must be
to you ! Who would have thought under Howard's
childlike and simple exterior were hidden so many
grand thoughts? and yet I always felt It too; for
in talking with Howard I always felt that he under
stood everything that it takes some a lifetime to
compirehend." "What a dear legacy Howard left you in the diary !
I am glad you have it, and I am glad to catch this
glimpse of his heart-life given in the paper. How
much more we should love one another, could we
know more of one another."
i88

"From the meagre newspaper details, I gather
that the beauty of the world Is not veiled for you,
because the music of the voice you love, is, to-day,
blended with that of the singers in the heavenly
choir. There is no shadow between you and God's
sunshine, such as comes to many who do not share
your beautiful belief, because, unlike them, you feel
that he is not dead, but risen."
" I can but cry from my heart, God comfort and
sustain you. The seeming in this is so sad that we
can only strive more earnestly to turn our gaze be
yond the shadows where we know in reality we all
are, in the Christ mind, united. We shall awake when
we have finished our work and kept the faith : the
dear boy too, like us all, has his work to do."
"What a blessing to know that God reigns in such
a trial ! The cruelty of mortal mind Is made mani
fest in such experiences, and we are prompted to yet
greater faithfulness as we see the madness of the One
Evil. I know that divine Love has been your strong
support and your protedting shield; and that you
will be stronger for this great trial of your faith."
"What a comfort to know that Howard under
stood the Truth of Being and his relationship with
the Father, who is Life!"
"Your Christ can and does strengthen you, for he
is your Life and without a knowledge of this you
would be stricken indeed."
"I must write you before I begin my duties of
the day, to tell you that I am treading every path
in this dark valley with you, and helping to hold up
189

your hands. This Is your Gethsemane. We know
that the darkest night always has its dawn."
"We know that thoughts from God are your com
forters ; that He helps you to move in Life instead
of Death."
"You and your dear boy are still climbing the
heights together. Never for a moment have you
been separated. No view of death exists for the true
followers of Christ Jesus."
"I rejoice that you had with you here, for a few
years, such a noble son. His visible presence was a
blessing, and in your progress heavenward, his com
panionship will be forever an inspiration and help.
His life is eternal. It began with God, and can never
end." " I rejoice with you that the inspired word, 'Why
seek ye the living among the dead?' rings out so
truly; and that your friends, and the people who
cannot but know something of your experiences,
have this opportunity of seeing how Christian Sci
entists find God, Life, a very present reality."
"All is well, for God and His Ideas constitute all.
Mortal existence Is but a dream at best, — and how
this proves it! Dear Howard is not conscious of
separation but is looking heavenward, — is in good
company, is fully conscious of Individual existence,
and Is happy. We can learn to bear our loss and
will finally all meet in one grand brotherhood with
God the universal parent of all."
"As you know, last year I had to make the same
demonstration that is now for you, I hope. I be-
190

lieve that you will learn, as quickly as I did, that
there is no separation in Love. What though he
has gone to another land (dream) and daily inter
course is for a time broken? it is all God's land
with discords overcome and the infinite commun
ion of Love perfedted. Mind holds all communion,
and there can be no sorrow where this is realized,
and no real sense of separation."
" Not long since I was much impressed by Christ's
words in the Sermon on the Mount found in Mat
thew vii., twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth verses. I
had never before seen clearly that those who kept
the words of Truth must be tested to the utmost
by rain, flood and tempest, — even as the ungodly;
but the difference is in the final result: the house
built on true foundation stones stands."
" What a blessing it is that we know that the dear
boy Is simply going on in life!"
" I cannot offer you sympathy in the old way, and
'weep with those who weep,' when God has wiped
away all tears; but I can and do rejoice with you
In the certainty of Life, and the ever-presence of
Love." "It is surely a joy to know, through our blessed
Science, that shadow is not substance. The reverse
of the material sense will bring in the real comfort,
and God will be found omnipotent."
" Keep your thought in divine Love ; there is where
your son is."

191

REMINISCENCE
In noble thoughts he found his true delight;
" To overcome" his motto, so he'd climb
To gain the free view from the mountain height.
He loved to wander in the trackless wood.
Alone with God, so not in solitude.
He loved the radiance of the wide blue lake
Whose waters from the sky their color take
Reflecting glory that inspires the mind;
And like a voyageur, who leaves behind
The misty land, so from the shores of time
He seemed from us to go, but with his friend
He knows the eternal peace, and joy that never ends.

PRINTED AT THE MERRYMOUNT
PRESS, BOSTON, IN THE MONTH OF
APRIL, MDCCCCI

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