28 ENVIRONMENT AND EDUCATION -II 



the best apparatus then possessed by any American uni- 

 versity, were voted a bore. Almost as bad was the his- 

 torical instruction given by Professor James Hadley. It 

 consisted simply in hearing the student repeat from mem- 

 ory the dates from ' ' Piitz 's Ancient History. ' ' How a man 

 so gifted as Hadley could have allowed any part of his 

 work to be so worthless, it is hard to understand. And, 

 worse remained behind. He had charge of the class in 

 Thucydides; but with every gift for making it a means 

 of great good to us, he taught it in the perfunctory way of 

 that period; calling on each student to construe a few 

 lines, asking a few grammatical questions, and then, with 

 hardly ever a note or comment, allowing him to sit down. 

 Two or three times during a term something would occur 

 to draw Hadley out, and then it delighted us all to hear 

 him. I recall, to this hour, with the utmost pleasure, some 

 of his remarks which threw bright light into the general 

 subject; but alas! they were few and far between. 



The same thing must be said of Professor Thatcher's 

 instruction in Tacitus. It was always the same mechan- 

 ical sort of thing, with, occasionally, a few remarks which 

 really aroused interest. 



In the senior year the influence of President Woolsey 

 and Professor Porter was strong for good. Though the 

 "Yale system" fettered them somewhat, their personality 

 often broke through it. Yet it amazes me to remember 

 that during a considerable portion of our senior year no 

 less a man than Woolsey gave instruction in history by 

 hearing men recite the words of a text-book; and that 

 text-book the Kev. John Lord's little, popular treatise 

 on the "Modern History of Europe!" Far better was 

 Woolsey 's instruction in Guizot. That was stimulating. 

 It not only gave some knowledge of history, but suggested 

 thought upon it. In this he was at his best. He had not 

 at that time begun his new career as a professor of Inter- 

 national Law, and that subject was treated by a kindly 

 old governor of the State, in a brief course of instruction, 

 which was, on the whole, rather inadequate. Professor 



