ALEXANDER JOHNSTON. 319 



same generous spirit that had characterized his own undergraduate 

 life. In the professorial chair he still continued to believe in play as 

 well as work and was an earnest and intelligent advocate of college 

 sports. The students soon learned to trust him, and found in him not 

 only a ready and generous sympathizer in all their affairs, but also an 

 intelligent and judicious counsellor. He was thoroughly and consist- 

 ently democratic in his ideas of college government, advocating on 

 all occasions those old-fashioned ideas of personal freedom and per- 

 sonal responsibility, which he wished to see realized not only in the 

 policy of the college, but also in the policy of the nation. To this 

 end, his voice was always raised in behalf of what he deemed enlight- 

 ened progress : the enlargement and development of the college cur- 

 riculum, the removal of unnecessary restrictions, and the realization of 

 the widest range of privilege consistent with the necessities of college 

 discipline. To the consideration of practical affairs he brought to bear 

 a clear and well trained intelligence, quick to realize the exigencies of 

 any particular case and fertile in expedients to meet them. 



The most attractive side of Professor Johnston's personality was 

 reserved for those who were privileged to be his companions and 

 friends. He was a brilliant conversationalist, possessed of a never 

 failing fountain of wit and humor and an inexhaustible fund' of anec- 

 dote, in the relation of which he displayed a unique power. It was 

 a rare privilege to spend an hour with him when he was at his best. 

 The recollection of many such comes back to memory as these lines 

 are being penned, and causes a feeling of poignant regret that they 

 shall recur no more, except in retrospect. None but those who en- 

 joyed his friendship know what a genial soul the world has lost, and 

 only they who knew the man as the central figure in ihe circle of his 

 own home can appreciate the loss of the stricken family who mourn 

 his untimely death. 



The following is an approximately complete list of Professor 

 Johnston's writings : — 



1. History of American Politics, published in 1877 by Henry Holt & Co. 



2. Political Articles in Lalor's Encyclopaedia of Political Science. 

 Published in Chicago, 1881. 



3. Genesis of a New England State. In " Johns Hopkins Historical 

 Studies." 1883. 



4. Political Articles in the Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

 1880. 



5. Representative Orations. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1884. 



6. School History of the United States. Henry Holt & Co. 1885. 



