which they were always to be addressed or spoken to, under another
penalty; and most of them held "clubicular" offices and
professorships,--Dr. Readel being Professor of Crambography, and
somebody else--Gwin perhaps--Professor of Impromptology. The name given
to Mr. Pierpont was Hiero Heptaglott, under an idea that he was a
prodigious linguist,--another Sir William Jones, at least, if not
another Learned Blacksmith; and the President himself went so far as to
say so in the "Portico," where he pretended to give an account of the
Delphians. Nothing could well be further from the truth, however; for,
instead of being a great Hebrew scholar, and learned in the Chaldee,
Coptic, and other Eastern languages, he knew very little of Hebrew, and
absolutely nothing of the rest. With "a little Latin and less Greek," he
was a pretty fair Latin and Greek scholar in the judgment of those who
are satisfied with what we are doing in our colleges; and he was
sufficiently acquainted with French to enjoy Chateaubriand, St. Pierre,
Rousseau, and Lamartine, and to write the language with correctness,
though not idiomatically; but he was never able to make himself
understood in conversation, beyond a few phrases, uttered with a
deplorable accent,--not being able to carry the flavor in his
mouth,--and, though free and sprightly enough in talking English, having
no idea of what passes for freedom and sprightliness with the French. He
knew nothing of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, or Dutch, nor
indeed of any other modern language.

And now let me say how he came to be an extemporaneous speaker, and
sometimes not only logical and convincing, but truly eloquent. On my
return from abroad, in 1826, I passed through Boston, on my way to
Portland, for a visit to my family, and was taken possession of by him,
and went to Hollis Street Church, where I heard my friend, for the
second time, in the pulpit. He was exceedingly impressive, and the