The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-10

came UP for discussion. Gentlemen"
declared n member OF tho uclega ton,
point mo TO q man OF soundor general
education In the state of Tennessee
! and l VIII vote for HIM"
Six other Prcsidcnts-Jackson. Van
Buren,. Taylor tillmor,. Cleveland and
| Alcktnley--never obtained the coveted
"shcepskin." One of them, William
Mckinley. was freshman at Ale
gheny College at thu age of seven
teen. but sickness interrupted his
study and by the time he recovered
! the civil War was on, and Instead OF
| returning to Meadville. he enlisted as
private in the Twenty third Ohio
| Regiment. with w. S. Rosecrans as his
| colonel. When he returned home, his
| opportunity TO obtain n college educa-
| ton had passed: his poverty compelled
| him TO enter a law office and work his
way to the bar.
The Most UnscholarIy American Prcsi-
dent.
Zachary Taylor IS reputed popularity
| TO be the most unscholarly man who
ever went 10 the White House, nut An
drew Jackson was close second. The
! former always showed n profound dis
| taste for earning in any form, and
! the latter had poor opinion of scholar.
| ship as az working asset. Both learned
] to read and write In boyhood, but any
mental training in either instance must
have been OF tho most mcagre kind
Nature had her own designs In their
| makeup, and it Is clear that she new
4r meant either OF them for a scholar
| In the case OF Jackson. however. his
native ability bore him steadily to the
front. 1t made him wise man in
spite of himself.
Van Burcn, Fillmore and Cleveland
were the Now York Presidents who de-
l nm Of ,h.1
~ calibre. although neither uf them
| was ever matriculated at an institu-
! ton of higher learning. In the cases
| of Fillmore and Cleveland. early pow
erty was the bar against college ca
| reer. In the Fillmore household the
| library consisted of two volumes, the
| Bible and the hymn book. Cleveland
Il minister's son, had the advantage OF
scholarly early training. but as lad
| OF seventeen lie went out to fight the
| hattle OF life alone. He never cea sed
| 10 regret that he had not been col
! lege man. He admitted that tho acade.
mic environment had a peculiar fas.
cination for him. 1t was for that rea-
son that he settled down at Prince ton
at the close of his political career. Tha
! Van Burens were we'll to DO. but
neither Martin nor his sturdy Dutch
father saw much merit in the college
system, and the hoy went directly from
the public school to law office at the
age of fourteen, and there read dill
gently for seven years.
Among the seventeen Presidents who
form the college group ut least three
are conspicuous for their scholarship
--Thonas Jefferson, James Madison and
John Quincy Adams. Were this list OF
distinctivcly scholarly Chief Executive.
TO he extended, the elder Adams. James
Buchanan and James y. Garfield might
he included.
The Most BriIIiunt Presidential Scholar
1t is admitted universally thai
Thomas Jefferson was the most bril-
liant scholar who ever reached the
presidential chair. AS the eldest sor
of rich Virginia planter. 1t was de.
cided that he was to go to collegs, and
IT was his fathers dying Injunction
that Thomas be made n scholar" TIC
that end he went as q small hoy to
tho school kept by the rector OF the
parish. Rev, James Maury. who loaded
him with enough Crack and Latin. JEFF
fcrson declared to enter oxford oil
Cambridge instead OF the little provin-
cial College of William and Mary.
10 the williamsburg college he went
however. at thn age OF seventeen. Will
what he admits TO have been ian In
satiable thirst for knowledge" h''oI
four years he averaged fifteen hours a
day al his sNlf-imposed task OF alb
sorbins all that the faculty. OF William
and Mary could teach HIM and his out.