[7] of designs against their daughters or their purses. But a modest, intelligent, well-educated, and well-bred young man is always sure of a frank and kind reception. So much for the class to which you belong; but you have recommendations peculiar to yourself, which insure you a proportionate reception. You have a great fund of knowledge, and of that kind of knowledge most valuable in England, and it lies accessible and within your grasp; and your manners are very well calculated for the meridian of England. Besides you have the charm of youth, which adds the beauty of promise to the beauty of fulfilment. I should have laid a wager without hesitation before you went, that you would be better received than any young man who has ever gone there; and I say this without meaning to flatter you, for our best men do not usually go there till they have ceased to be young; and as I said before, other things alike, a young man is received with more empressement than a middle-aged one.
Mrs. Samuel Lawrence wrote, May 12, 1838:—
I will not say with how much regret I found my Saturday evenings broken up. I think we enjoyed them so much that I trust the memory of them will induce a renewal at some future day. Then we shall have the extra pleasure of hearing your feats of valor and adventure. Your anticipations, you say, great as they were, were fully realized on landing in France. I think you peculiarly fitted to enjoy travelling. All is novelty and freshness, and with your energy, ardor, and untiring perseverance no information will be left vnattained, and no rational pleasure unsought. You have my best wishes that nothing may occur to mar this enjoyment.
Dr. Palfrey wrote, Sept. 25:—
You are, I will not say an enviable, but certainly a very fortunate, man; and are thus another illustration of the connection between good luck and good conduct.
Governor Everett wrote, May 20, 1839:—
I rejoice, my dear Sir, to hear from all quarters, public and private, of your great success abroad. I consider the country as under obligations to you for the favorable impression of our means of education and our institutions generally, which must be produced by the specimen of early scholarship and extraordinary attainment you have exhibited. Take care of your health; stay abroad till your eye is tired of seeing and your ear of hearing, and then come back and give your country the benefit of your observation and rare opportunities of improvement.
Dr. Lieber wrote, Oct. 9, 1838:—
‘Greenleaf runs up and down the coast of the Atlantic like an anxious hen, while you, a young duck, swim lustily on the ocean. He is very much afraid you will become too principled and too unprecedented. ’1
