that his hands are left " full of leisure." He represents his cousin



1825.] STUDY OF THE LAW. 25

as kind and attentive, his boarding house snug and comfortable,
his roommates pleasant and agreeable ; and yet he confesses that
all these circumstances are not sufficient to protect him from what
he calls " the hyp" He felt, unquestionably, that " aching void,"
from which nothing could relieve him but the one thtng for which
his spirit was panting. He expresses a strong desire to return
home; a measure to which, he says, he is doubly induced, by judg-
ment as well as inclination. He seems to feel, for the moment, as
if necessity were laid upon him to pursue the study of the law.
On this subject he says, " I begin to grow uneasy at the thoughts
of suspending my professional pursuits any longer, I have spent
time enough in the pleasures of desultory study. I do not, however,
regret that they have detained me from an earlier application to the
law — ' not taking thought,' as Milton says, ' of being late, so it gives
advantage to be more fit.' . . . . As an auxiliary to Edwin,
my stay is of no sort of consequence. He would regret to have
me leave Albany, but wishes me to consult solely my own advan-
tage, which, I am confident, I should do by retracing my course to
New Haven."

He speaks in this letter of the old rectory house, in which he
had spent a portion of his childhood, as looking perfectly natural.
" We were shown," he says, " into the back room opposite the
library, in which the stove and piano were precisely of the same
pattern with ours." The remainder of this letter is filled up with
pleasant gossip, and with some political hints and reflections which
would be neither seasonable nor profitable at this day, and concludes
with this salutation : " Give my aflfectionate remembrances to the
whole circle of relatives and friends, ' one by one, according to the
scrip.' "

To this communication he soon received a hearty response from
his father, and also from his brother Sherman, who playfully assured
him that he would be met " while a great way off"," (at the end of
Long Wharf,) and received in all respects according to the parable.
He arrived at home on the evening of the 5th of December.

During the ensuing year, 1825, which he spent chiefly at home,
much of his time was given to reading ; but he probably made but
little progress in his law books. He never thought seriously of
pursuing the law as a profession, and evidently took no interest in
the study. He cherished his passion for poetry ; and it is supposed
that some of the most interesting and popular juvenile productions
of his pen were written at this period. The following fragment,
under date of 1824, is found among his loose manuscripts ; and
being in his own handwriting, and without quotation marks, it is to
be presumed that it may have been liis first, and, for aught that
appears to the contrary, his last attempt at blank verse. It shows
he devout turn of his mind at this period : —
4



26 MEMOIR OF AVILLIAM CEOSWELL. [1825.

Lord of the Sabbath, hear me — even Thou

In the beginning who didst consecrate

A meet proportion of the new-born time

To thy perpetual service, to assist

The deep infirmities of mortal kind ;

Blessing the seventh day and hallowing it

As a memorial of thine own repose

From thy creative labors, and a pledge

And presage of the glorious rest eterne

Remaining for the Israel of God.

Here let me worship, as the Hebrew did,

In the serene of yon deep vault, ere Thou,

Half veiled within the tabernacle bright,

Made thy pavilion in the wilderness,

Amid the long, white avenues of tents.

The world's great Fathers, in those primal days.

Drowned in the abyss of ages which have been.

Made each high hill their altar. Happy they

Who met together, at this holy hour,

Beneatli some mountain palm, the place of prayei,

Ere temple rose, or oratory cool

Was built fast by the sea or river side

1824.

But he had no ambition to see his writings in print ; and until
he became, afterwards, a joint editor of the Episcopal Watchman,
very few, if any, of them found their way to the press. An inci-
dent may here be mentioned, to show that, while his thoughts were
ready to flow in poetic numbers, he had no desire to see them per-
petuated by publication. He was invited, by the corporation of the
city, to dehver an oration, as a part of the public exercises of the
4th of July. To a youth of twenty years, this was considered as
a high compliment ; and he was unwilling to refuse. But dreading
the idea of writing a prose oration, on an occasion which had been
so often celebrated in this way, and having no hope of giving any
thing like an air of novelty to the subject, he proposed to substitute
a poem. This offer was readily accepted. The poem consisted of
several hundred lines, and contained some brilliant passages, and
was considered, as a whole, very creditable to the author. He was
requested, in terms sufliciently flattering, to furnish a copy for
publication ; but though he had so far overcome his natural diffi-
dence as to deliver it with considerable animation and fluency, he
could not be persuaded to give it to the press. This poem is
probably lost, as no trace of it can be found among his papers.
He doubtless destroyed it, lest it might, at some future time, be
drawn from its concealment, and exposed to the public eye. This
would have been in accordance with his general views, in respect



1825.] EARLY POETRY. 27

to the publication of his writings, as expressed in the restriction
ah-eady mentioned in the Introduction.

How much of his juvenile poetry may have met, first or last,
with a similar fate, it is impossible to tell. A few of his early
productions have been recovered, through the kindness of his friends
and correspondents. Some, especially those of a serious or devo-
tional cast, were subsequently transferred to the columns of the
Episcopal Watchman ; and others may have found their way into
the periodicals of the day. If any have been suppressed, they are
doubtless those of a lighter character. He sometimes indulged, by
way of amusement, in strains of pleasantry and wit ; but as he had
no ambition to shine as a facetious writer, he probably took no pains
to ijreserve copies of productions of this nature. It is not known
at what time the following was written. Though bearing date
February, 1820, it was communicated to his cousin E. S. at a much
later period. He ascribes it to an imaginary character, Mister Peter
Pattieson, whom he calls his " late lamented classmate," and affects
to be reminded of it by hearing the chapel bell in the morning,
while on a visit to New Haven. He begs his cousin to be very
particular about showing it to any body, lest it might be supposed
that he had some hand in the composition — assuring her that " the
Rowley papers are not more genuine ! "

THE CHAJPEL BELL.

FB.OM THE MANUSCRIPT OP A LATE POOR SCHOLAR.

" The chapel hell with grief they heard,
The dinner bell with glee."

Old Song.

Dan Chaucer, in my dreaming ear

Methinks thou reasonest well —
" What jingleth in the wind so clear

As doth a chapel bell ?"
The tongue, that once roused holy clerk

To lauds and primes, is still,
In college towers, as hard at work —

As lively and as shrill.

That chapel bell no ear forgets

That once its voice has known,
And way of turning somersets

Peculiarly its own :
Hark ! how they follow round and round,

And oft in silence dance.
As if, for very joy, the sound

Had lost its utterance !



lIEMOm OF WILLIAM CROS^^TILL.

Alas ! old chapel bell, to me,

Whose precious dreams are broke
By these remains of Popery,

Thy jargon is no joke !
I've mixed too much with Protestants,

And trust I ever shall,
To relish these monastic haunts,

And hours canonical.

No hooded monks, 'tis true, meet there,

O'er shrine of martyred saint ;
But martyrs we to drowsy prayer,

As lamps burn dim and faint.
As prayers grow dull and lights grow dim,

More dull and faint grow we.
Till we might well recite the hymn,

" Usque quo, Domine !"

And duller yet that scene of gloom

Where students stretch and yawn.
Pent up in recitation room

An hour before the dawn ;
Well may the cheek with blushes glow,

To think of wrongs then done
Thy injured shade, O Cicero !

And tliine, O Xenophon !

A fig for all the silly talk

Of early matin prayers,
Of long and lone suburban walk.

And bracing morning airs ;
If stomachs are unbreakfasted,

The case can scarce be worse ;
And if as empty is the head,

'Tis sure a double curse.

I'll bless my stars, which shine so bright,

When I shall be no more
Compelled to rise by candlelight.

But vote it all a bore.
I'll laugh as I have never laughed.

Nor dread the coming ill
Of meeting some protested draft

Of monitorial bill.

O, how I grudge that graduate's luck
Who has of sleep his fill.



1825.1 EAELY POETRY. 29

And snores like Captain Clutterbuck,

Released from morning drill.
He rises not at tuck of drum,

Nor with the daybreak gun,
Nor always, it is said by some,

With winter's tardy sun.

Like him, these summons I'll deride.

Draw closer down my cap,
And, turning on my other side,

Resume my morning nap.
I'll linger for a riclier tone.

Till in the breakfast bell
I feel, and with the poet own.

Thy touch, Ithuriel ! *

From the collections of a friend, another specimen of his early-
poetry may be given. A ballad, without date, bearing the title of
" New Haven," appears to have been written under the influence
of some old college reminiscences, and is exceedingly picturesque
and grapliic. Parts of the ballad, however, must be omitted ; as
there are some ludicrous incidents alluded to, which, though suita-
ble enough for a passing satire, it would be hardly fair to perpetuate.
The lines seem to have been suggested by seeing a colored engrav-
ing of the centre of the city in a shop window.

A window in a picture shop ; it brought all back to me
The churches and the colleges, and each familiar tree ;
And, like a sunlit emerald, came glancing out between
Its pretty, snow-white palisades, the verdure of " the Green."

O, could T write an Ode, like Gray's, " upon a distant view
Of Eton College," — could I draw the pictures that he drew, —
How would the pleasant images that round my temple throng
Live in descriptive dactyls, and look verdantly, in song.

" Tres faciunt collegium," each jurist now agrees ;
Which means, in the vernacular, " a college made of trees ; "
And, "bosomed high in tufted boughs," yon venerable rows
The maxim in its beauty and its truth alike disclose.

Not 30 when, lit with midnight oil, the casements in long line.
Where more is meant than meets the eye, like constellations shine ;
And, " alma mater like," the kine, from dairy fields astray.
Make every passage where tiiey pass a sort of milky way.



IthTuiel's whisper in the breakfast bell."

N. P. Willis.



30 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CR0S^\T;LL. [1826

And on the green and easy slope where those proud columns stand,
" In Dorian mood," with academe and temple on each hand,
The football and the cricket match upon my vision rise.
With all the clouds of classic dust kicked in each other's eyes.

I see my own dear mother Church, that Avarned me from my sin,
The walls so Gothic all without, so glorious all within.
And, emblem of that ancient faith her hallowed courts that fills,
Reared from the adamantine rock, " the everlasting hills."

O, could the vista of my life but now as bright appear
As when I first through Temple Street looked down thine espalier,
How soon to thee, my early home, would I once more repair.
And cheer again my sinking heart with my own native air !



1826.



We now come to an eventful year, 1826, when, having passed liis
minority, and taken due counsel, and sought divine direction, he
became fixed in his purposes, and, turning away from all other
pursuits, resolved to devote himself to the study of a profession, for
which he was, in all respects, peculiarly fitted. He made a full
disclosure to his father of his doubts, difficulties, and misgivings ;
but with all his fear and trembling, he felt such trust in the help of
his heavenly Father, that he no longer hesitated in his decision.
Arrangements were accordingly made for his entering the General
Theological Seminary in New York ; and at the opening of the
term in the ensuing autumn, he became a member of that institu-
tion. Under date of October 17 and 18, 1826, he writes as follows :
" I am here safe in the seminary house, after a most delightful
passage. I counted about thirty passengers at table on board the
Hudson, and exchanged a word with one or two of them.
At half past nine, when the boat was just opposite the revolving
light at Stratford, I clambered up, and laid myself to rest on the
upper slielf, spending the remainder of the night in that comfortable
kind of repose vulgarly called dog sleep. At half past three, some
of the passengers might have reported themselves where Milton has
placed his Death and Sin, " fast by Hell Gate ; " * and in another
hour we were at our place of destination. I felt grateful to Him
who is the Preserver, as well as the Maker of men, when it was so •,

* So this rugged pass was usually called, instead of Hurl Gate.



1826.] THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 31

for the tremendous and incessant rumble of the engine made me
aware of my own insignificance, and the awful agency within whose
reach I lay. I could also hear the waves gush and gurgle against
the side of the boat ; and a sense of my insecurity occurred to me,
with the reflection that but a few planks separated my berth from
the billows. I rose at five, while the moon was yet shining, and
had a fine opportunity to see the morning gradually open upon the
harbor of New York. At half past six I started for Tripler's, and
arrived there in time for breakfast. I delivered my letters, found M.
and Y., and spent most of the day in unpacking and arranging my
books. I was not much surprised to find that the students all room
in couples ; and as there was but one vacancy at present, I have Hob-
son's choice both as to room and roommate. In the latter respect,

I believe I am fortunate. His name is A . He is in the third

year ; his experience probably will be worth something ; and his
manners seem to be gentlemanly and accommodating. Ours is a back
room, high, small, and quiet. I understand that this arrangement,
with regard to apartments, is merely temporary. In a few weeks,
I expect to go in with one of my own class, probably G. . . .
(18th.) Attended the Convention. The bishop's address was inter-
esting, and disclosed a wonderful amount of episcopal labors. No
less than nineteen hundred and forty persons have received confir-
mation from this prelate in the course of his last visitation.
To-morrow I shall call on Dr. Turner and the professors of the
institution. I doubt not that I shall hke both the mode of life and
the fashion of study. I am gratified with the prospect of renewing
academical pursuits, and hope the transition from the study of human
to that of divine law will be the period from which I may date my
years of usefulness."

This letter was immediately followed by another, under date of
the 19th, 20th, and 21st of October. He speaks of repeated attacks
of "excessive bleeding at the nose," for which he was obhged to
call in medical aid. This complaint gave him a great deal of
trouble, from time to time, in after years, and may have been indic-
ative of the disease that finally caused his death. Having delivered
his letter of introduction to Professor Turner, he expresses himself
in terms of great respect and esteem, and says, " I am much inter-
ested in the manner of recitation and instruction. The exercises
open with prayer ; the students then translate passages by turns,
and expound and explain, with such comments, doctrinal, critical,
and practical, as they can collect. These are corrected and com-
pleted by the professor."

His next letter is under date of October 23, in which, in addition
to his accustomed allusions to domestic matters, he says, " This
morning I shifted my location to one of the most eligible rooms in
our boarding house. I anticipate much enjoyment from the society



.'i2 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CROS^VELL. [1826.

of my class and roommate, Mr. G , an amiable youngs gentleman,

from one of the most respectable families in Maryland, and who has
been a disciple of Mr. Justice Blackstone about the same length of
time with myself. As Falstaft' says, ' Would you desire better sym-
pathy ? ' . . . Professor Moore has not been well enough to
resume the recitations in Hebrew since I have been here, but is
expected to commence again to-morrow. I have reason to hope it
will thrive vigorously under my cultivation, if there be any truth in
Butler's adage, that

" Hebrew roots are always found

To flourish best on barren ground ; "

which I take the trouble to repeat myself, for the express purpose
of depriving the squire of that malicious pleasure. Remember, and
pray for yours always, W. Croswell."

His letters follow each other almost daily ; but they are chiefly
occupied with private and family concerns. From one, however,
of the 30th of October, a playful passage may be cited : " We are
yet in the very rudiments of the Hebrew, and our advances are
perfectly snail-like and imperceptible. If Professor 3Ioore was
not one of the most mild and unassuming men of learning in the
world, he could never tolerate the stammering and blundering of
such full-grown novitiates in the Hebrew horn book. But he is
Clement by nature, as well as by name. It is related of Hutchins,
that he once indulged his disposition for pleasantry by playfully
translating a passage of Scripture, ' I love Clement C. Moore
{clemency more) than sacrifice.' "

During his father's absence from home, while attending the
General Convention in Philadelphia, he addressed his letters to
other members of the family. To his mother, under date of No-
vember 6, he says, " Bishop Hobart held a sort of convocation of
all the members of the seminary, at his house, last Tluirsday even-
ing. He treated us with great aftability and kindness, and I returned
much gratified with the visit. His late charge to the convention,
entitled ' The High Churchman vindicated,' was this day published
by the Swords ; and I have already wrapped up and directed a copy
to the home department."

It is pleasant to record this unaffected tribute to Bishop Hobart,
and especially in connection with a publication which probably con-
tributed, more than any thing else, to settle and confirm this young
candidate for the sacred ministry in those sound views of church
policy which he carried with him to his grave.

His next letters are addressed to his brothers, Sherman and
Frederick, and are enlivened with his usual pleasantry : " My
locks have just been shorn by that prince of haircutters, S ;



1826.] THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 33

but I cannot perceive that my strength is a jot abated. If you wish

to visit New York, wait till your hair is long, and let S do the

business. He has made his fortune by it, and ranks it among the
higher sciences. He seats you, on a seat like a music stool, before
a large mirror, and, standing unmoved himself, he twirls you round,
till every quarter of the cranium comes under his comb and scissors.
During the operation, he discourses like an oracle on phrenology,
and tlie manner in which the hair is to be adjusted to compensate
for any disproportion of the features. As my visage is long, he
advises to wear it flat on the forehead, to aid the defect of breadth !
and yet I have not fallen away in flesh since I left home. If en-
gaged, he turns your attention to the paintings with which the room
is adorned, and talks as scholarly and technically about the art
as any connoisseur. ' That,' for instance, ' is either a Rubens or
Correggio ; critics are not agreed. If it is a Rubens, it was done
when he tinted highly, and imitated Correggio, as was the case when
he studied in Italy,' &c. He was pleased to compliment me on
my taste for the fine arts. I might have told him, I was no great
judge myself, but that I had a brother who went about judging."

In a later letter, he gives a graphic description of the new sem-
inary house, which was then in progress of building. To those now
acquainted with its condition, and the full-built streets around it, the
change in about twenty-five years will seem marvellous : " We found
the edifice in a beautifully-sheltered and secluded spot, within a
stone's throw of the North River. It is built of irregular stone,
and shows through the trees like a genuine antique ; turrets, but-
tresses, battlements, heavy Gothic casements, and all that sort of
thing, conspiring to give it the air of ' cloistered solitude.' We shall
probably take possession of it early in the spring."

This anticipation, so far as he was concerned, was never realized.
In his last letters from the seminary, he discloses the fact of his
having frequent ill turns, speaks despondingly of his general health,
and expresses some doubts as to the expediency of remaining at
the seminary. To this his father replies, under date of November
23, 1826, " With regard to your continuance at the seminary, I
wish to leave it entirely to your unbiased judgment and inclination.
If an important advantage is to be gained by it ; if you can acquire
there knowledge which is essential, and which cannot be acquired
elsewhere in the same time ; and if, every thing considered, you
think it best, I wish you by all means to stay. You need not, in
this case, regard any sacrifice which I may make in a pecuniary point
of view ; for you may rest assured that it will be made most cheer-
fiiUy. My desire is, that you should fit yourself for that usefulness
which your talents encourage you to strive for ; and in whatever
way this can best be promoted, I leave you freely to decide. Wher-
ever you are, and under whatever circumstances you pursue your
5



34 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CROSWELL. [1827.

studies, be careful to cherish tliat spirit of piety and devotion
without which learning and talents will avail nothing ; and look
forward to your profession as a scene of arduous labor, not to be
rewarded in this ^vorld except by the answer of a good conscience,
and that peace of God which passeth understanding, and which the
world can neither give nor take away."

Finding no permanent improvement of his health, and being
threatened with a fever, he was advised by his physician to return
home, and relinquish his studies, at least until after the ensuing
Christmas vacation. This advice was reluctantly followed, but evi-
dently not too soon for his benefit. He was much debilitated, and
required the peculiar care which he could not expect in a large
boarding house, though his roommate was exceedingly kind and
attentive. He soon recovered his strength, and, on the festival of
Christmas, was able to attend the church in which he was nurtured,
and had the privilege of receiving the holy communion, for the first
time, at the hands of his father.

At this period, another change, not of his own seeking, aw^aited
him. The Churchmen of Connecticut were desirous of establishing,
at the seat of the new college in Hartford, a weekly journal, as the
exponent of the principles and views of the Church ; and our young
candidate for holy orders was selected, and earnestly solicited, by
the bishop, who was then president of the college, as well as the
professors and other resident clergymen, to leave the seminary, and,
while still pursuing his theological studies, to assume, jointly with
Professor Doane, the editorial management of this paper. This
offer was doubtless designed to hold out many advantages ; but his
father, who knew experimentally the vexations and troubles of an
editorial life, fearing it might overtask the powers both of his body
and his mind, very naturally objected to the plan. These objections,
however, were overruled ; and early in the ensuing year, he accept-
ed the offer, and removed to Hartford.



1827.



His correspondence, at this period, relates chiefly to personal
matters, to his preparations for commencing the new paper, and to
his pleasant relations with the associate editor. He writes with
great vivacity, and indulges occasionally in his native vein of pleas-
antry ; but he is never for a moment forgetful of the obligations
of his Christian profession. Under date of 3Iarch 3, he writes,
" I have, a second time, received the holy sacrament of the body