Autobiography of Seventy Years, Vol. 1-2Hoar, George Frisbie
History
Autobiography of Seventy Years, Vol. 1-2
Hoar, George Frisbie
United States -- History -- 1865-1921; United States -- Politics and government -- 1865-1900
A like policy prevailed in those days in the choice of instructors
in the Law School. Judge Story, the senior professor, died
just before I graduated from the College. His fame as a jurist
was known throughout Europe. He was undoubtedly the most
learned judge in the United States. Chief Justice Marshall
and Chief Justice Shaw of Massachusetts doubtless excelled
him in intellectual vigor. Chancellor Kent rivalled him as
a writer upon law. But he had no other rival among judges
or commentators in this country,--few anywhere. He was unquestionably,
at the time of his death, the most famous teacher of law in
the civilized world. His associate professor, Greenleaf,
was an admirable lawyer, who, before he went to Harvard, had
had a great practice in Maine, and made some good arguments
in the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Story was
succeeded by Chief Justice Joel Parker of New Hampshire, a
very eminent jurist, who was saturated with the old learning
of special pleading and real property. He would have been
a fit associate for Coke or Saunders, and would have held
his own anywhere with either.
There was nothing in the teaching of Latin or Greek to inspire
the student with any love of Greek or Latin literature. The
professor never pointed out its beauties or illustrated the
text in any way. The students, in succession, were called
upon to construe a few lines, reading one or two Greek words
and then giving their English equivalents. The time of the
good scholar was taken up in hearing the recitation of the
poor scholar and so very largely wasted. I had four or five
persons in my class who became afterward eminent classical
scholars. I do not believe that when we graduated there were
more than four men in the class who could write a decent Latin
sentence without the laborious use of grammar and dictionary.
I doubt whether there was more than one, certainly there were
not more than three, who could do the same thing in Greek.
I do not suppose there was a man in the class who could have
spoken either language with ease.
Yet, somehow, the graduates of Harvard got a good intellectual
training from the University. The rough country boy, if he
had it in him, came out at his graduation a gentleman in behavior
and in character. He was able to take hold of life with great
vigor. The average age of graduation I suppose was twenty.
Not more than three years were spent in studying a profession.
In some few cases, the graduate got a little money by teaching
for a year. But the graduates of Harvard College and Harvard
Law School were apt to take quite rapidly the high places
of the profession. That was true then much more than it is
now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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