JAMES BRADLEY THAYER. 681 



Although he published no treatise upon Constitutional Law, he 

 achieved, by his essays, by his collection of Cases, and by his teaching, 

 a reputation in that subject hardly second to his rank in Evidence. To 

 the few who knew of it, President McKinley's wish to make Professor 

 Thayer a member of the present Philippines Commission seemed a 

 natural and most fitting recognition of his eminence as a constitutional 

 lawyer, and if he had deemed it wise to accept the position offered to 

 him, no one can doubt that the appointment would have commanded 

 universal approval. 



It is greatly to be deplored that he was not permitted to give to 

 the world the additional contributions to legal literature, which the 

 vigor of his powers and his known purposes led us to expect from 

 him. That he did not realize these purposes earlier was due to his very 

 virtues. His wide range of interests, his constant service in helping 

 other writers in their work, and above all his passion for perfection in 

 his own work, explain why the message he might have given remains 

 incomplete. The pathetic interest of high hopes unfulfilled attaches to a 

 memorandum found among his papers, and written last September. 



" Sept. 15 

 For next year. 

 Have a single plan to put through. Without that the small everyday 

 matters eat up all the time. They easily may, for they can be done either 

 well enough or perfectly. 



That plan must be the 2nd volume of Evidence. 

 For the year following, a small Vol. on Const. Law. 

 For the time following that, the works, writings and life of Marshall — 



and then an End." 



The relations of the law professors are probably closer than those of 

 any other department of the University. No one who has not known, 

 as his colleagues have known, the charm of his daily presence and 

 conversation, and the delightful quality of his vacation letters, can 

 appreciate the deep and abiding sense of the irreparable loss they have 

 suffered in the death of Professor Thayer. 



In our great grief we find our chief comfort in the thought of his 

 simple and beautiful life, greatly blessed in his home and family, rich 

 in choice friendships, crowned with the distinction that comes only to 

 the possessor of great natural gifts nobly used, full of happiness to 

 himself, and giving in abundant measure happiness and inspiration 



to others. 



James Barr Ames. 



