Excerpt from Select Discourses John Smith probably received the rudiments of his education at the Grammar School of Oundle, which had then been in existence considerably above half a century. But the paternal pursuits of agriculture do not seem to have possessed attractions for him. Whether the spark of genius had already begun to manifest itself, or the charms of literature to captivate him, or the desire for usefulness in the Church, which afterwards became so strong, to inflame him, we know not. Ou the sth of April, 1636, he became a student of the University of Cambridge, being admitted as a sizar of Emmanuel College, a society which even at that period enjoyed the high character for the learning and good order of its members which it has since maintained. There he pursued his studies with zeal and assiduity, endearing himself to those around him by his unassuming piety, and making rapid progress in the various branches of literature and science then most cultivated. Dr Which cote, at that time Fellow of the College, and afterwards Provost of King's College, with that kindness of disposition, and ready patronage, that always distinguished him, par ticularly aided Smith in his studies, not only by valuable direction, but by furnishing the means which the small funds of the student could not supply. The timely assistance thus afforded was not only fully appreciated at the time, but gratefully remembered through life. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.