Concise, his influence was felt in the schools as much as in the
pulpit. A piece of silver remains, a much prized heir-loom in the
family, given to him by the municipality of Orbe in acknowledgment
of his services in the schools.

The rules of the school at Bienne were rather strict, but the life
led by the boys was hardy and invigorating, and they played as
heartily as they worked. Remembering his own school-life, Agassiz
often asked himself whether it was difference of climate or of
method, which makes the public school life in the United States so
much more trying to the health of children than the one under which
he was brought up. The boys and girls in our public schools are
said to be overworked with a session of five hours, and an
additional hour or two of study at home. At the College of Bienne
there were nine hours of study, and the boys were healthy and
happy. Perhaps the secret might be found in the frequent
interruption, two or three hours of study alternating with an
interval for play or rest. Agassiz always retained a pleasant
impression of the school and its teachers. Mr. Rickly, the
director, he regarded with an affectionate respect, which ripened
into friendship in maturer years.

The vacations were, of course, hailed with delight, and as Motier
was but twenty miles distant from Bienne, Agassiz and his younger
brother Auguste, who joined him at school a year later, were in the
habit of making the journey on foot. The lives of these brothers
were so closely interwoven in their youth that for many years the
story of one includes the story of the other. They had everything
in common, and with their little savings they used to buy books,
chosen by Louis, the foundation, as it proved, of his future