The Washington herald., 1914-11-23
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Keen Perception of a College
Tutor.
Written EIpre-sly for The Herald.l
by DIR. r. J. EDWARDS.

by DIR. r. J. EDWARDS.
Prof William C. Sumner. who for more
| than thirty years was member OF the
: faculty OF Yale. part of the time as tutor.
! but after 1872 until his death as prof s.
| sor. gained national reputation, even in
ternational, by reason Of the viEor and
the aCuteness Of some OF his political
, writings. He was one OF the early advO-
Gates Of practical free trade.
But TO the students OF Yale. as well as
TO the young graduates, Prof. Sumner
was much more than a powerful reasoner.
a vigorous and aggressive writer. and a
most instructive lecturer in the class
room: he was very popular. and that was
due. in part. TO his hatred of sham. his
defiance of certain cOnventiOnalities. his
repugnance 10 pIatitudes. and an almost
unique way he had OF taking the stu
dents who were In his classroom indi
vidually under his personal guidance. For
mediOcrity he had little patience. but for
originality he had great admiration, and
he was very tolerant OF il when IL was
revealed even In what seemed to be a
daring manner by any student.
That was nOtiCcably the case with Ed
ward o. Wolcott in his freshman year.
which was. in fact. the only year Of his
attendance at Yale. Wolcott was one OF
those who was brought into the class
room under Sumner. who was then
tutor. 1t was speedily observed by other
members OF the class that Tutor Sumner
directed especial attention to WOIcott.
sometimes saving in a sharp. emphatic
manner things which ordinarily would
have hurt the feelings of a young stu
dent. Nothing that Sumner ever said
seemed to annoy WOlCOtt Instead, he
answered back politely enough, but with
something OF defiance in his retOrt. At
last 1t began TO be suspected that Sum
ncr purposely singled out WOlcott for
this treatment in the hope that he would
tempt the young student to make some
sharp reply. When a sharp reply was
made. Sumner seemed TO be content and
went on with his classroom reading.
WOlcott quit college at the end OF his
freshman year. and a little later began
n career in the far West, which at last
fixed the public eye upon him because OF
his unusual ability as an orator and his
brilliant service rs a United States Sena-
tor from Colorado. 1t was career which
Prof. Sumner watched constantly with
the greatest interest and with some sense
of qualification. for it justified his own
judgment OF what was possible for this
young student to achieve
"WOlcott. I became satisfied, when no
was a freshman at Yale" said Prof. (
Sumner. had exactly the temperament .
supplemented by the impetuous intellec- /
ldl iO"tlS NlllNH NOuli tlldblt lllIA ~ |
become a popular leader. Besides. I dis /
covered that he had profound contempt .
for the smooth conventionalities which
are 4 characteristic of mediocre men, and. /
in addition. he was always faithful to his .
own hobbies.
Now in a considerable career as an in .
struCtor I have had confirmed my own
Judgment that the man who will sue
,eed is the man who isn't afraid OF his
hobbies, and one OF the lessons I have
tried to inculcate has been the wisdom
IF being loyal to your hobbies. WOlCott
lad hobbies and he was faithful to them.
md that constituted one OF the reasons
'or his success"
Copyright. 1914. by E. ]. Edwards. All rights re-
scTTed-l /
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will tell Of The
Uha