se, precocious, possessed of a bright,
alert mind, of great industry, of quick sympathies, and of an
instinctive desire to be helpful to others. Her preparation for
college had been meager, and both she and her father were doubtful
of her ability to pass the required examinations. The doubts were
not without foundation. The examiners, on inspecting her work,
were inclined to decide that she ought to do more preparatory work
before they could accept her. Meantime I had had not a little
conversation with her and her father, and had been impressed with
her high intelligence. At my request the examiners decided to
allow her to enter on a trial of six weeks. I was confident she
would demonstrate her capacity to go on with her class. I need
hardly add that it was soon apparent to her instructors that my
confidence was fully justified. She speedily gained and constantly
held an excellent position as a scholar."

President Angell is of course using the term "scholar" in its
undergraduate connotation for, as Professor Palmer has been careful
to state, "In no field of scholarship was she eminent." Despite
her eagerness for knowledge, her bent was for people rather than
for books; for what we call the active and objective life, rather
than for the life of thought. Wellesley has had her scholar
presidents, but Miss Freeman was not one of them. This friendly,
human temper showed itself early in her college days. To quote
again from President Angell: "One of her most striking characteristics
in college was her warm and demonstrative sympathy with her circle
of friends.... Without assuming or striving for leadership, she
could not but be to a certain degree a leader among these, some
of whom have since attained positions only less conspicuous for
usefulness than her own.... No girl of her time on withdrawing
from college would have been more missed than she."

It is for this eagerness in friendship, this sympathetic and
helpful interest in the lives of others that Mrs. Palmer is especially
remembered at Wellesley. Her own college days made her quick
to understand the struggles and ambitions of other girls who were
hampered by inadequate preparation, or by poverty. Her husband
tells us that, "When a girl had once been spoken to, however
briefly, her face and name were fixed on a memory where each
incident of her subsequent career found its place beside the
original record." And he gives the following incident as to