(4) 1836. He grew up among us, a gentle, modest, thoughtful boy, — fail' in feature, graceful in form, — an obedient and affectionate son, — a diligent and successful scholar, — upright, pure and manly in his whole deportment. At the tender age. of twelve years he became a subject, as is believed, of the renewing work of the Holy Spirit, and from that time consecrated himself to the service of Christ. Soon after this radical change of character and of purpose, he made a public profession of Christianity, by uniting with the Howe Street Church, then under the pastoral care of the Rev. Wm. DeLoss Love. At the age of sixteen he entered Yale College, and graduated writh honor in the class of 1856. After spending a year in teaching an Academy in Kil- lingly, he was appointed clerk in the Probate office, at the same time entering the Yale Law School. In due course he was admitted to the New Haven Bar, and commenced the practice of his profession in this city. He had been serving as Grand Juror, and giving brilliant promise of a successful career as a lawyer, when the outbreak of the present rebellion summoned him, as he believed, to sterner duties. Those who were not well acquainted with Col. Peck, might have thought him better fitted for the quiet walks of study, or of civil life, or for the requirements of gentle society, than for the rough and perilous scenes of war; yet those who knew him better, were fully aware that, unassuming and retiring as he was, he had a certain reserved force, and unpretending moral courage, that showed the manliness of his spirit, and his ability to meet any danger in the way of duty. No man loved fighting for its own sake less than Col. Peck; and no man could be more ready to fight in a righteous cause. It was not love of adventure, it was not thirst for military glory, it was not as the indirect road to civil honors, that he entered the army. His character, his personal declarations, and the record of his military life, give us the assurance that he took this step from a high sense of duty to his country in the hour of her need. He fully realized
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