XXIV 



should naturally suppose, from his taste and settled habits of study ; 

 and his proficiency was in proportion to the excellence of his habits 

 and his disciplined powers of mind. His ardent curiosity and love 

 of knowledge, his keen, philosophical observation, his clear per- 

 ception, sound, discriminating judgment, and close, penetrating 

 attention, with his strong and exact memory, all improved by con- 

 stant exercise, and aided by a judicious observance of order and 

 method, will go far to account for his acquirements at this period, 

 as well as for the vast accession afterwards made to his learning 

 and intellectual ability. Together with his unremitting industry, 

 he possessed the mighty power of concentrating his whole atten- 

 tion upon the object before him, and pursuing it with intense ap- 

 plication. This he acquired the habit of doing, like his illustrious 

 friend Bowditch, in the midst of his family, without being disturb- 

 ed by conversation carried on around him, or even diverted by 

 music, which he so loved ; yet cheerfully submitting to necessary 

 interruptions, and instantly returning again to his laborious mental 

 work. 



All his spare time, after fulfilling his duties to Mr. King and to 

 society, was devoted to the various juridical and philological stud- 

 ies which he pursued in so systematic and thorough a manner. 

 Taylor's Elements of the Civil Law he completely mastered, mak- 

 ing it a point to read entirely through the various recondite Greek 

 quotations with which the work abounds, — an entertainment, we 

 venture to say, never before indulged in by any American lawyer. 

 In connection with this, he read parts of Livy relating to the Ro- 

 man law and constitution, investigating any matters of difference 

 between these authors. He, of course, kept up his intimacy with 

 the classic writers of Greece and Rome, and read various learned 

 works connected with them, among the most considerable of which 



