ed son, she read with him, and
for him, certain of the masters whom to know well is to possess the
foundations of true culture. It is a pretty scene and suggestive--the
lad and his mother, reading together "till the wee small hours"
Plutarch, Grote's History of Greece, Bullfinch's Mythology, Dante and
the plays of William Shakespeare. Fortunately his mother was not his
only helper. Near at hand was Theodore Parker who was said to possess
the best private library in Boston, and whose passion for aiding young
men was well known. He befriended King as he befriended others, and
early discovered in the widow's son superior talents. In those days very
young men used to preach. Before he had reached his majority, King was
often sent to fill engagements under direction and at the suggestion of
Parker. The high esteem of the elder for the younger man is attested by
the following letter to an important church not far from Boston.

"I cannot come to preach for you as I would like, but with your kind
permission I will send Thomas Starr King. This young man is not a
regularly ordained preacher, but he has the grace of God in his heart,
and the gift of tongues. He is a rare sweet spirit and I know that after
you have met with him you will thank me for sending him to you."

This young dry-goods clerk, schoolmaster, and bookkeeper, for he
followed all of these occupations during the years in which he was
growing out of youth into manhood, was especially interested in
metaphysics and theology. In these, and kindred studies he was greatly
impressed and inspired by the writings of Victor Cousin, whose major
gift was his ability to awaken other minds. "The most brilliant
meteor that flashed across the sky of the nineteenth century," said
Sainte-Beuve.

When Thomas Starr King was eighteen years old, William Ellery Channing
died. Of that death which occurred amid the lovely scenery of Vermont
upon a rare Autumnal evening, Theodore Parker wrote, The sun went toward
the horizon: the slanting beams fell into the chamber. Channing turned
his face toward that sinking orb and he and the sun went away together.
Each, as the other, left "the smile of his departure' spread on all
around: the sun on the clouds, he on the heart."

Channing's "smile on the heart," his pure philosophy, his sweet
Christian spirit so influenced King that his best sermons read not
unlike the large, calm utterances of Channing when he spoke on the
loftiest of themes. To