CHAPTER IV

WEST POINT.--LAST TWO YEARS

Appointed assistant professor of mathematics--Leading part in Dialectic Society--Efforts at speaking--Reflections on studies and authors--Long walks--Forbidden sweets-- Horsemanship--Skating over thin ice--Saves companion from freezing--Letters to father and sisters--Susan goes to Missouri--Again head, third year--Patriotic indignation at British aggression--Advises sending Oliver to college--Letters to Hannah and Oliver--Avows abolition principles--Founds "Talisman"--His own anonymous critic--His intimate friends-- Graduates first in every branch--Parents attend graduation exercises 48