The New York herald., 1920-11-21
Library at Cambridge.


very simple. But did have a good,
sound. wholesome training and education In
schools of a high character which then
sprang up all over the State under the in
spiration Of Horace Mann" He goes on to
say that Salem as he knew it when he left
to go to Harvard in 1S4S still remains prac-
tically unmarried and undisturbed' by the
great fire in 1912. They were not much
given to outdoor sports but their father
taught them every game of cards he knew,
thinking it a safeguard against any possible
temptation to gambling later on; and the
son thinks it was a good idea, just good
as his fathers other idea of establishing
habit of regular work among the children
while they were all at home together. Mr..
Choate says of his days in Harvard from
1S4S to 1852 that they were the happiest OF
his life, "as they were of most Of the boys"
In 1855 the young member of the Massa-
chusetts Bar came to New York with a letter
of confident introduction from Rufus Choate
to William NJ. Evarts. even then in the front
rank of his profession at 81 years of age,
He welcomed the young man and after some
months made a place for him in his office.
Meantime Joseph Choate was finding the
difference between New York and New Eng
land ways, studying the code and learning
something about practice New York was
then simply the island of Manhattan, with
a population of 5000 only. There was
congestion and no rush anywhere"
MY father said to me When l left home.
L suppose that you will want some money
and kindly offered to furnish with what
l needed; and measuring the probable cost
by the standard that l had known in Salem
and Cambridge, and not realizing that New
York even then was a more expensive place
said to him 1 thought $40 n month would
be ample, which duly received. l found IT
- .-I.
for more, so / found a boarding place in
which my classmate. Addison Brown was
already established. at the corner of Bleecker
street and Thompson street, which had pre-
viously been the residence of General Scott
1 took a room on the fourth floor, for
which / had to pay So week. for board and
room. . The walk morning and evening
from Bleecker to Wall street gave me just
comfortable amount of exercise" He re-
ceived $500 year 40 clerk in the office and
after a year came an increase of $500 for the
next year; and he got $500 in fees. He con-
tinued to increase his value to the firm. and
on July 4. 1861, he married Miss Caroline ID.
Sterling, whose family lived in Cleveland,
Ohio. Saws Mr. Choate: Il celebrated that
anniversary OF our national independence by
sacrificing my own independence for life.'
All these photographed memoranda
of the young Choate are of fundamental
life and his own work and indicate in some
degree the admirable concentration and
unsparng labor which he bestowed upon
each case as IL came along. And how they
did come alongi In his maturity he
one Of the most overworked men in the
world. but he took it all smiling, and as
quite 10 be expected in a lawyers life. He
was able to recover from fatigue always
best I'm his own home; especially after he
built his home in Stockbridge he found his
greatest comfort there. and he was always
busy about the household chores. at that:
equally active in mind and body, he did not
his habit when he said he always
looked at the light side.
Throughout the large series OF letters,
many of them written TO members OF his
family, which with some of his addresses
make up most Of this large book. the reader
can trace Mr.. Choate's daily life through
the many years during which his fame
grew and spread throughout the country;
though II was not until John Bigeows
death that he was generally accepted as
New York's leading citizen" The flashes
of wit and arrows Of satire which were
characteristic of his speeches were the
more effective because they rippled out
simply as a running brook, integral parts
OF his thoughts Mr. Martin remarks Of
this:
"Mr Choate went through life laughing
at a foolish world. His cases were serious
to him in SO much as they involved re-
sponsibility. II he accepted trust he was
faithful 10 e. TIe toiled enormously when
labor was necessary. When he made fun
Il was in the interest Of his own case and
his own client; but cases of law. though
serious very seldom seemed 10 be solemn
10 him He was fairly solemn
about the income tax case but he seemed
to consider that that involved principles
that went 10 the root Of social we'll being"