New-York tribune., 1909-05-16
BY Richard j. Walsh.

This week the mantle falls It descends from
the shoulders Of the prophet Of forty years Charles
William Eliot, upon those Of Abbott Lawrence
Lowell
No doubt it will hang gracefully upon its new
wearer as It has hung upon the old. For essential
l.. in ideals. there difference between Dr.
Eliot and his successor than between the names OF
the ancient prophets. Elijah and Elisha. whom they
have been said to typify. Both may be called by
that name which nobody thus far has been able
successfully defne-Brahmn.
This means that Professor Lowell is. like Dr
Eliot. of the type which has prevailed among the
ruling spirits OF Harvard college and university
the type Of the Enots. Perces, Lowels. Nortons.
Frothinghams. Five successive generations OF
Loells have sat gravely about the council table OF
Harvard fellows OF the college or members OF
the corporation. The new president. therefore en-
bodies the very Of the institution. the pro-
gressive conservatism which has made the New
England idea dominant in the world OF scholars
Lawrence Lowell hardly looks the part You
would take him less for filler OF shelves ana al
attendant upon the academic forum than for
keen banker with the ribbon Of the ticker for the
thread of his ideas He is a short, slight, almost
insignificant man. Of those who sit sidewise on
chair knees close together. heels raised from the
floor. Not dapper. but neat; bright eye springy
step. quick movements and sharp speech In con-
versation his words tumble over one another IN 'he
very rush Of thought seeking expression
Fffty-two years. most Of them spent in wrestling
with theories of government, have left him un-
never stilted and often tinged with homely phrase
which he never learned in the courts OF kings AT
q recent dinner of the Harvard Club in Boston he
said Of President Eliots administration: The
proof Of the pudding is not in the elements ot
which il is composed but in its digesubility-
Il IS this manner OF speech which has made Fro
fessor LowelTs famous course. Gov. One" one OF
the largest and liked in the Harvard curricu-
lum. that without its being a snap Its
reputation spread the prep schools. and large
of he
AN IDEAL EXECUTIVE.
When Mr.. Lowell was graduated from college. at
the age Of twenty, q ''disquisition' was assigned
70 hira-a way they have at Harvard of rewarding
those who get highest honors in anything He
didn't deliver ''dsouisition"; he never has. His
style OF lecturng is more as fonows-he is tell
ing OF the property qualification for voting: "A
man in Rhode Island. gentlemen, able 10 vote
because he had a mule which worth enough
10 pass him the property qualification Finally
the mule died, and the lost his vote. Now.
which really had that vote-the man or the mule?
II is very hard to shut up your notebook and go
away and forget all about lecture made up OF
such paragraphs Professor Lowell upon the plat
form further makes himself clear by liberal use OF
the pointer He is known a charter member
Of the Harvard Pointer Brigade. and, Just as he Is
seldom seen upon the street without his green
bag, so he is seldom seen upon the platform with
out his long stick. travelling rapidly across the
continents and high pictured upon the WALL
while Ihe holoer uaNe4s as EaPiu4s o"ou' w
with his short, quick steps and short quick
phrases
But II is less lecturer than as an executive
that he qualities as occupant Of the little brick
presidents house in the yard The presidency has
been characterized as the place Of moderator
Of debate" Lawrence Lowell is ideally this. Be-
hind the deliberative table he is by no means in
significant AS much OF him shows above the
board as does Of most He sits erect his
papers spread before him in mysterious order
which enables him 10 turn at TO any refer
ence he wants. He listens keenly, courteously: he
never interrupts or pounces unduy upon the
words Of the previous speaker, but he has that
priceless faculty. characteristic of the successful
baseball rooter the third base line. Of getting
his word in so neatly and pat that he is never
shut of
He presides easily. The member who has a
habit OF getting his argumentatve light hidden
under q rhetorical bushel looks eagerly 20 Mr..
Lowell When the atmosphere becomes sur