THE THEORIST

that he was seldom the subject of the hostile criticism judges so often incur from the unsuccessful lawyer and litigant. His amiability, patience and genuineness won for him sentiments, not only of respect, but of affection, from the litigants and lawyers with whom he came in contact, and he probably has not an enemy among the reputable lawyers who have practiced before him. Yet he is capable of vigorous out bursts of righteous wrath, and more than once his flashing eye and clenched fist have attested his abhorence of the fraud and its perpetrators, disclosed by the evidence in the case on trial. His frame of mind and the nature of the forces which impel him are disclosed by the character of his work and by his conversa tion. When his attention was called to the use of his name for the Presidency of Yale University, when that office was vacant, he said to a friend, "I think a man could do

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more in such a place for the cause of right eousness than in any other I know of." And when speaking about the Philippines, he said to a company of friends, " I have some hesitation in saying what I am about to say, for I know there are some real missionaries in this company, and I may mistake the emotion, but I sincerely believe I have the missionary spirit. I know I want to do those people good." Judge Taft's sense of justice is keen and his conscience is of the traditional New England type. He has the soundness of an abundant common sense and the amen ities of a rich fund of humor. These qual ities, united with physical strength, phenom enal capacity for labor, a good memory, tenacity of wiH, and that indefinable some thing called character, have made him equal to the great tasks to which he has been called and qualify him for any service the future may have in store for him. CINCINNATI, OHIO, June 1908.

THE THEORIST BY HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE To split the hairs down lengthwise Was work that he adored; So over musty volumes He pored and pored and pored. But when he sought in court rooms To find fame as reward, Alas! both judge and jury Were bored and bored and bored. CAMBRIDGE, MASS., June, 1908.