Cambridge Sketches | Page 8

and conclusive manner.
It is pleasant to think that such a man should have met with unusual
prosperity in his old age--and the person to whom he owed this
improvement of his affairs was Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston. Mr.
Thayer took charge of Doctor Peabody's property and trebled or
quadrupled it in value. Mr. Thayer was very fond of doing such
kindnesses to his friends, especially to clergymen. He liked the society
of clergymen, and certainly in this he showed excellent judgment.
During the last ten years of his life he spent his summers at the Isles of
Shoals, and generally with one or more reverend gentlemen in his
company. He was besides a most munificent patron of the university.
He provided the means for Agassiz to go on his expedition to South
America, and in conjunction with Doctor Hill reëstablished commons
for the students--a reform, as he once stated, as advantageous to their

morals as to their purses. He afterwards built the dormitory which is
known by his name. He was so kind-hearted, that he was said to have
given up banking because he was not hard-hearted enough for the
profession. After his death his family received letters upon letters from
persons of whom they had never heard, but who wished to express their
gratitude for his generosity.
Prof. Benjamin Pierce, the mathematician, was rather an awe-inspiring
figure as he strolled through the college grounds, recognizing few and
speaking to none--apparently oblivious to everything except the
internal life which he led in the "functions of curves" and "celestial
mechanics." He was a fine-looking man, with his ashen-gray hair and
beard, his wide brow and features more than usually regular. When he
was observed conversing with President Hill the fine scholars shook
their heads wisely as if something remarkable was taking place. The
president had said in one of his addresses to the Freshmen that it would
require a whole generation to utilize Professor Pierce's discoveries in
algebra; and I believe, at last accounts, they have not been utilized yet.
He would often be seen in the horse-cars making figures on scraps of
paper, which he carried with him for the purpose, oblivious as ever to
what was taking place about him. To "have a head like old Benny
Pierce" has become a proverb in Boston and Cambridge.
Neither did he lack independence of character. In his later years he not
unfrequently attended the meetings of the Radical Club, or Chestnut
Street Club, at Mrs. John T. Sargent's, in Boston, a place looked upon
with pious horror by good Doctor Peabody, and equally discredited by
the young positivists whom President Eliot had introduced in the
college faculty. His remarks on such occasions were fresh, original, and
very interesting; and once he brought down the house with laughter and
applause by explaining the mental process which prevented him from
appreciating a joke until after all others had done so. This naive
confession made his audience like him.
It is a curious geneological fact that Professor Pierce had a son named
after him who would seem to have been born in mirth, to have lived in
comedy, and died in a jest. He was a college Yorick who produced
roars of laughter in the Dicky and Hasty Pudding clubs. Another son,
called affectionately by the students "Jimmy Mills," was also noted for
his wit, and much respected as an admirable instructor.

Doctor Holmes says, in Parson Turell's Legacy:
"Know old Cambridge? Hope you do,-- Born there? Don't say so! I was
too. Born in a house with a gambrel-roof,-- Standing still, if you must
have proof.--
* * * * *
--Nicest place that ever was seen,-- Colleges red and Common green,
Sidewalks brownish with trees between."
This describes Cambridge as it was forty years since. In spite of its
timid conservatism and rather donnish society, as Professor Child
termed it, it was one of the pleasantest places to live in on this side the
Atlantic. It was a community of a refined and elegant industry, in
which every one had a definite work to do, and seemed to be exactly
fitted to his or her place,--not without some great figures, too, to give it
exceptional interest. There was peace and repose under the academic
shade, and the obliviousness of its inhabitants to the outside world only
rendered this more restful.
How changed is it now! The old Holmes house has been long since
pulled down to make way for the new Law-School building.
Red-gravel paths have been replaced by brick sidewalks; huge
buildings rise before the eye; electric cars whiz in every direction; a tall,
bristling iron fence surrounds the college yard; and an enormous clock
on the tower of Memorial Hall detonates the hours in a manner which
is by no means