Palmer, Georgett. 1842 1933 Palmer Palmer sculptors of his time, hoped that he might design the state of New York, was placed in the national a relief for the empty triangle in the gable of Capitol in 1874. "In matter of interpretation, of the House wing of the Capitol. Taking as his charm, and of artistic integrity, nothing finer had theme the landing of the Pilgrims, he composed been done up to this time by an American sculp- an elaborate small-scale model for a large com- tor," wrote Lorado Taft (post, p. 140). It was position which he hoped would match and per- Palmer's last important work, but it shows no haps excel Crawford's "Past and Future of the decline in his powers. The folds of the academic Republic," sculptured over the Senate wing. Ut- gown are skilfully disposed, and the hands beau- terly untrained though he was in such work his tifully modeled. A replica, shown at the Centen- efforts were encouraged by influential citizens, nial of 1876, won a medal of the first class. Also and he believed that the commission was to be among his works are "Pleasures of Memory," his. It was perhaps fortunate that his design was "Emigrant Children," "Sleeping Peri," and "Am- rejected. The government paid him for his model bush Chief." He continued to create fine por- but did not award the commission. trait busts, and in his Albany studio Jonathan Palmer was an individualist and firmly be- Scott Hartley and Launt Dhompson laid the lieved that beauty in art could be captured in his foundations of their careers. native state of New York as well as in Italy. Despite his lack of early schooling, Palmer was His Albany studio, sixteen feet by eight feet, by no means an uneducated man. He learned with its north light was said to be one of the best much by systematic reading, as well as through in the country. From that a series intercourse with persons of culture who were of portrait busts in which Palmer/s genius found attracted to him by his goodness and charm. In triumphant expression, probably beyond any- 1873 Union College conferred upon him the hon- thing that might have been attained in his pedi- orary degree of .M. He is rightly accounted a ment group. A bust of Alexander Hamilton was pioneer, because in such works as the "White of necessity studied from various sources- Captive," he was the first to endow American Ceracchi, Trumbull, /Robertson, Sharp- sculpture with that greatly needed liberating less-but most of the series were made from life. gift, lyric charm. He died in Albany, where, in Among his notable sitters were Washington Ir- the Albany Historical and Art Society, there is ving, Moses Taylor, Erastus Corning, Governor a collection of his models in plaster. A son, Morgan, Dr. James H. Armsby, and Henry Bur- Walter Launt Palmer [q.v.], born in Albany in den. By a sympathetic searching of American 1854, gained recognition as a painter of winter traits revealed with the skill of a hand disciplined landscapes. from his childhood, the sculptor imparted a new [Lorado Taft, The Hist. of Am. Sculpture (1904 and vitality to portraiture in this field. Tuckerman later editions) C. R. Post. A Hist. of European and devotes an eloquent paragraph to "marvels of Am/ Sculpture (1921), vol. II; C. E. Fairman, Art and Artists of the Capitol (1927) : H. T. Tuckerman, Book plastic skill" such as the portrait of Mrs. Mc- of the Artists (1867) W. J. Clark, Great Am. Sculp- Cormick: Taft states that "it is difficult to con- tures (1878) J. J. Jarves, The Art Idea (1864) Art ceive a finer bust" than that of Henry Burden. Jour. (London), Oct. I, 1871; Albany Evening Jour. and N. Y. Times, Mar. 10, 1904.] A.A. In 1862, moved by the sacrifices of the Civil War, Palmer created his "Peace in Bondage," a PALMER, GEORGE HERBERT (Mar. 19, three-quarters' length winged female figure in 1842-May 7, 1933), philosopher, teacher, man marble, the nude torso, the head, the wings and of letters, was born in Boston, Mass. His father, the fragment of drapery being carved with a Julius Auboyneau Palmer, a merchant of modest charm rare at that time. Three years later came means, came of an English family which settled the majestic seated "Angel of the Sepulchre," an at Little Compton, R. I., in 1636. His mother, Albany Cemetery monument-a draped male fig- Lucy Manning Peabody, was descended from ure definitely prefiguring the noble quality to be John Peabody, who became a freeman of Box- attained/in such work a generation later by Saint- ford, Mass., in 1674; his farm became George Gaudens, who, like Palmer, had begun his career Herbert Palmer's summer home. The boy, named in art as a cameo-cutter. It was not until 1873 for the English poet, was physically feeble, hard- that Palmer went abroad. At the mature age of ly expected to live through infancy. To a long fifty-four, well prepared by his own experience struggle with ill health, which affected all his as a creative artist, he visited European cities student years, he attributed his longevity, since and enjoyed their treasures of art. For a few it compelled him to learn and observe the regimen months he took a studio in Paris, there to work under which alone he could maintain his working on his studies for his bronze statue of Chancellor power. Robert R. Livingston. This statue, ordered by In spite of frequently interrupted schooling, he 180 Palmer Palmer ced in the national entered Phillips Andover Academy at twelve, depth and vigor in his thought to which this esti- interpretation, of spending two years there, and after an interval mate does less than justice. While he prized true nothing finer had of travel and of experiment in the wholesale dry judgment above novelty, there was an element of n American sculp- goods trade, entered Harvard in 1860, graduat- genuine creation both in his masterly interpre- p. 140). It was ing in regular course in 1864. He offered a com- tations of the history of thought, and in his sys- but it shows no mencement part on Mill's Utilitarianism-Mill tematic expositions of ethical theory. The clarity Is of the academic having captured his early enthusiasm as none of for which he incessantly labored, his luminous d the hands beau- the regular teachers in the Harvard of his day and fluent prose, gave both hearer and reader an wn at the Centen- had been able to do. Graduate study in philos- illusion of ease and simplicity which concealed first class. Also ophy was not available in America at that time, not alone the effort, but also the force of the res of Memory," except in schools of theology. Palmer accord- thinker. In Harvard he was the first to break Peri," and 'Am. ingly, after a year of teaching at the Salem High away from textbook and recitation in philosophy create fine por- School, entered Andover Theological Seminary and to work out his own system of ideas in lec- studio Jonathan in 1865. In 1867, he left Andover to go abroad, tures. hompson laid the spent in Germany fragments of two years, visited He belonged by inheritance to the Puritan tra- France and Italy, and returned to Andover to dition, and by training to the line of idealism, but oling, Palmer was receive the degree of B.D. in 1870. Later, dur- he was a keen critic of Puritanism, its "extreme man. He learned ing a series of summers (in 1878 and following individualism and lack of a community sense," well as through years), he pursued studies in Hegel under the and he was equally dissatisfied with Hegel, on culture who were personal guidance of Edward Caird, whom he the ground that Hegel had a defective sense of SS and charm. In sought out in Glasgow. the meaning of moral contrasts, and submerged upon him the hon- Though as a young man Palmer was painfully the individual in the institution. The Puritan in ghtly accounted a shy and hesitant both in speech and in writing, him corrected the defects of Hegel and the col- there was in him a personal force which made lectivist in him corrected the Puritan. The ethics KS as the "White endow American its impression on observant men. In 1870 Presi- of self-realization, characteristic of the English needed liberating dent Charles William Eliot [q.v.], then in the idealism of his day, he could not accept unless it Albany, where, in second year of his administration, offered him a were understood that the self in question is not Society, there is tutorship in Greek. Entering thus upon his serv- the solitary or "abstract self," but the "conjunct plaster. A son, ice of forty-three years in Harvard, Palmer at self," the self as related to and tied in with orn in Albany in once showed his power as a teacher by inaugurat- others, through personal and institutional ties. painter of winter ing a series of voluntary readings in the Odyssey, Without these institutions, individual life is thin, out of which came his remarkable English ver- unsatisfactory, ineffective. "Ally your labor with sion, The Odyssey of Homer, published in 1884. an institution" was his precept and his example. Sculpture (1904 and of European and In 1872 an opening appeared in philosophy, as But within the institution, individual conscience Fairman, Art and instructor and assistant to Prof. Francis Bowen must remain alert, correcting the institution and Tuckerman. Book Great Am. Sculp- [q.v.]; after one year in this post Palmer was keeping it from the rigidity of death. The most Idea (1864) Art made assistant professor of philosophy; he be- perfect pre-arranged casuistry he considered in- any Evening Jour. came full professor in 1883. Though at first he adequate to personal moral experience, which is A.A. offered introductory courses, and indeed con- infinite and changing; hence he took the Protes- BERT (Mar. 19, tinued throughout his career to teach the intro- tant rather than the Catholic view of authority, er, teacher, man ductory history of philosophy to fascinated and aligned himself with Kant rather than with [ass. His father. groups of students, his interest turned decisively Hegel in his view of duty. Duty, he was accus- rchant of modest toward the theory of ethics : in 1889, "Philos- tomed to say, "is the call of the whole to the ily which settled ophy 4" became the staple course in that subject, part," and duty has its one absolute law, a rule 36. His mother, and with it his name as a teacher was peculiarly which is so final as to admit no deviation and yet descended from associated until his retirement in 1913. From so transparent in its texture as to admit every freeman of Box- 1889, he held the Alford Professorship of "natu- pulse of moral individuality it is simply "the law became George ral religion, moral philosophy and civil polity." that there shall be law," that conduct shall never The boy, named Becoming professor emeritus in 1913, Palmer re- be capricious. ally feeble, hard- linquished this chair to Josiah Royce [q.v.] but The content of his course on ethics was never ancy. To a long he served the University as overseer until 1919, completely published. Parts of it have appeared affected all his and continued to reside within the Harvard Yard in The Field of Ethics (1901), The Nature of longevity, since until his death at the advanced age of ninety-one. Goodness (1903), The Problem of Freedom Palmer was inclined to disown for himself erve the regimen (1911), Altruism; Its Nature and Varieties tain his working originality in philosophical thought; he consid- (1919). These works preserve much of the lucid- ered himself a critic and expositor rather than a ity and compactness of Palmer's lectures. His ed schooling, he creator of new concepts. There was however a most memorable and effective works, however, 181 Palmer Palmer were those in which his philosophic thought gave range, and his person impressive; bushy brows itself to the interpretation of personality and art. over deep-set eyes lent a suggestion of concen- In his own estimate, three of his books are likely trated will, which seemed perpetually on duty. to live a half century: The Odyssey (1884 and His simplicity of living, aided by a shrewd prac- following), The English Works of George Her- tical sense, made it possible for him to accumu- bert (3 vols., 1905), The Life of Alice Freeman late largely and to give generously. He gave to Palmer (1908). These he calls his "books of af- Wellesley College a remarkable collection of first fection and gratitude" in them his powers of editions of English classics; and in 1930 he add- characterization reach their height. With them ed to this gift 900 letters of Robert and Elizabeth d should be associated a series of contributions to Browning. To Harvard he gave a library of the I letters: The Antigone of Sophocles (1899) Inti- philosophical classics and a collection of editions mations of Immortality in the Sonnets of Shak- and papers of George Herbert. Where he felt an spere (1912) ; introduction to T. C. Williams' obligation of honor or gratitude he interpreted it translation, The Georgics and Eclogues of Virgil in a large way, as in his monumental edition of k (1915) ; Formative Types in English Poetry Herbert's writings. Externally his life was de- (1918). corous, dominated by a passion for order, but Palmer's greatness as a teacher was due in no although order versus oddity meant for him fre- small degree to the artist in him, which compelled quently a lack of interest in novelties of discus- him to orderliness of thought and presentation, sion, inwardly he inhabited a wide place; his and made shoddy, unclear expression repugnant touch with the classics lent steadiness to his out- to him. His speech abounded in expressions SO look, his judgment was rapid, contemporary, per- perfect that "they continued to glow in the dark tinent, wise. hi of the mind." But it was due as well to a dis- Palmer was twice married first, June I5, 1871, he cerning and persistent interest in persons. This to Ellen. Margaret Wellman of Brookline, a Swe- interest was not indiscriminate: the friendship denborgian, somewhat his senior, a woman of he offered was never genial, easy, intimate, pro- marked social and intellectual gifts. The eight fuse, but, with warm and enduring affection, held years of their marriage, until her death in 1879, ic its own dignity and reserve. Few have been SO did much to facilitate his intercourse with his lu gifted in the capacity for reaching objective esti- students : to her he dedicated his Odyssey. Some mates of personal ability. It was a part of his eight years after her death, Dec. 23, 1887, he rigorous self-discipline to maintain an element married Alice Freeman, then president of Wel- be of realism in these judgments, and in view of his lesley [see Alice Freeman Palmer]. Both mar- of belief that the imperfect has its own peculiar riages were childless. He was widely honored glories (The Glory of the Imperfect, 1891) he as a scholar, receiving numerous honorary doc- had no disposition to ignore the defects and para- torates. In addition to the writings previously doxes of the character with which he dealt. As a mentioned he published The New Education result, he was widely sought as a counselor in (1885), Self-cultivation in English (1897), A the placing of men, and left an indelible impress Study of Self-Sacrifice (1902), The Teacher: on the personnel of his department at Harvard, Essays and Addresses by George Herbert Palmer which included James, Royce, Münsterberg, and and Alice Freeman Palmer (1908), Ethical and Santayana. This department was in no small Moral Instruction in Schools (1909), The Ideal measure of Palmer's building. Though he was Teacher (1910), A Herbert Bibliography (pri- not a lover of debate, he appreciated diversities vately printed, 1911), Trades and Professions of judgment, both in the composition of the de- (1914), The Lord's Prayer (1920). It was fit- partment and in the minds of his own students. ting that the last of his published works should fo: Toward himself his judgment was equally ob- be a notable achievement in self-portrayal, The the jective and rigorous that he knew and respected Autobiography of a Philosopher (1930), which his limitations is in no small degree a secret of remains the chief original source for his life. his success. He had early discovered the prin- Ba [In addition to The Autobiog. of a Philosopher, pub- ciple that limitation is a necessary element in lished also as the "Introduction" to G. P. Adams and achievement-a principle allied in his mind with W. P. Montague, Contemporary Am. Philosophy (1930), sid vol. I, see S. E. Morison, The Development of Harvard the doctrine of the Incarnation-and he studied University Since the Inauguration of President Eliot each defect as a possible source of power. De- (1930), ch. i, "Philosophy, 1870-1929," by George Her- CO: ficient in physical energy, he husbanded it and bert Palmer and Ralph Barton Perry Benjamin Rand. ter "Philosophical Instruction in Harvard University from: spent it with the maximum of effect. He was 1636 to 1906," no. III, Harvard Graduates' Magazine. hil short in stature, quiet in manner and movement, Mar. 1929; Josiah Royce, "In Honor of Professor an Palmer," Ibid., June I9II R. C. Cabot, "George Her.. but his voice was firm, capable of wide dramatic bert Palmer," Boston Transcript, Jan. 25, 1913; min- 182 DAB 7 er Palmer Palmer pressive; bushy brows ute on the Faculty Records of Harvard College, meet- to gain the nomination for Congress in order to suggestion of concen- ing of Oct. 3, 1933 W. E. Hocking, "Professor Palmer, Teacher. Harvard Crimson, May IO, 1933 Boston help save the country from "crazy socialists, perpetually on duty. Transcript, May 8, 1933 N. Y. Times, May 8, 1933.] populists, and silverites" (Fifty Years, post, p. ded by a shrewd prac- W.E.H. 357). Refusing to engage in the usual conven- le for him to accumu- PALMER, HENRY WILBUR (July IO, tion methods, he failed to get the nomination. enerously. He gave to 1839-Feb. I5, 1913), congressman and lawyer, In 1900, under a new primary system, he was kable collection of first was born in Clifford, Susquehanna County, Pa., nominated and elected, and he was reelected in S: and in 1930 he add- the eldest son of Gideon W. and Elizabeth (Bur- 1902 and in 1904. In 1909 he again entered Con- Robert and Elizabeth dick) Palmer, both of New England ancestry. gress for a term. During his incumbency he gave a library of the His father was a teacher, farmer, and a member spoke against trusts but did not join conspicu- collection of editions of the constitutional convention of 1872-73. The ously in the Rooseveltian attacks. As a trial law bert. Where he felt an boy received his education in the Wyoming $emi- yer he had few superiors. He had a gift for gen- titude he interpreted it nary at Kingston, Pa., the Fort Edward Col- uine eloquence, which was, however, often marred monumental edition of legiate Institute at Fort Edward, N. Y., and the by bitter invective and harsh personalities. Many nally his life was de- law school at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He was ad- of his political doggerels, pungent with acrid assion for order, but mitted to the bar at Peekskill in I860 but shortly partisanship and personalities, are still repeated ity meant for him fre- afterward left that place to enter the office of in the locality. Of commanding presence, im- novelties of discus- Garrick M. Harding at Wilkes-Barre Pa., where perturbable, and somewhat cold, he was at once ed a wide place; his he was admitted to the bar in August 1861. A a thorough individualist, a Puritan reformer, and steadiness to his out- few days later, on Sept. 12, he was married to a devoted follower of the Republican party as id, contemporary, per- Ellen M. Webster of Plattsburg, who bore the guardian of the established order. A week him eight children, and who became noted for before he died, he finished his autobiography, d first, June I5, 1871, her social welfare work among the boys of the Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics (1913), n of Brookline, a Swe- coal region. He served under his father as a which is in many ways a candid and often blunt senior, a woman of deputy paymaster in the Union army in 1862 memoir. ctual gifts. The eight and 1863, but he did not see actual military serv- [Autobiography, ante; G. B. Kulp, Families of the ntil her death in 1879, ice. Returning to Wilkes-Barre, he entered a Wyoming Valley, vol. I (1885) Wilkes-Barre Record, Feb. 16, 1913.] intercourse with his lucrative law practice and became interested in J.P.B. ed his Odyssey. Some politics. In 1872 he stood/ for an uncontested PALMER, HORATIO RICHMOND (Apr. h, Dec. 23, 1887, he seat in the constitutional convention, where he 26, 1834-Nov. I5, 1907), composer, director of en president of Wel- became prominent in the debates as a champion music, author, was born in Sherburne, Y., and Palmer]. Both mar- of woman's suffrage, prohibition, and the right died in Yonkers. He was the son of Anson B. was widely honored of railroads to own and operate coal mines, al- Palmer and Abbey Maria Knapp. His mother nerous honorary doc- though he declared himself opposed to the ex- died before he was three years old and he was writings previously tension of corporate power. thrown upon his own resources at an early age. The New Education In 1878 in the Republican state convention, he At seven he was singing alto in the church choir English (1897), A nominated his townsman, Henry M. Hoyt [q.v.], which his father was educated at Rush- 902), The Teacher: for governor. He/stumped the state for Hoyt ford (N. Y.) Academy, where after his gradua- eorge Herbert Palmer and was appointed attorney-general when Hoyt tion he taught for two years, and then became the (1908), Ethical and was elected. Both Hoyt and Palmer became un- director of music there. In 1855 he was married is (1909), The Ideal popular with the party leaders before the term at Rushford to Lucia A. Chapman, a native of t Bibliography (pri- was over. Palmer conducted his office with in- Dryden, N. Y., and a daughter of Rockwell M. des and Professions dependence, bringing suits for taxes against large and Susan Chapman. His wife was an artist, in (1920). It was fit- corporations and against the common carriers 1900 a prize winner at the Paris Exposition. She blished works should for granting/reb to shippers. He antagonized spent three years in travel and study in Europe, n self-portrayal, The the legislature by declaring unconstitutional a putting the results of her observations into two opher (1930), which law granting members an increase in salary. In books, Grecian Days (1896) and Oriental Days ource for his life. 1883 he resumed the practice of law at Wilkes- (1897). of a Philosopher, pub- Barre and became counsel for a number of large While in Rushford Palmer directed the choir 1" to G. P. Adams and coal and railroad companies. He amassed a con- and organized a cornet band. His first singing Am. Philosophy (1930), siderable fortune and became a capitalist in his school in a neighboring town was so successful development of Harvard tion of President Eliot own right; his ardor against the extension of that requests came to him from many places to -1929, by George Her- corporate power was noticeably lessened thereaf- teach singing classes. He then removed to Chi- Perry Benjamin Rand, arvard University from ter. In 1889 he was selected by the state Pro- cago where he became choir master in the Sec- I Graduates' Magazine, hibition convention to conduct the campaign for ond Baptist Church and also published a month- 1 Honor of Professor Cabot, "George Her an amendment to the state constitution prohibit- ly magazine, Concordia. He soon began to write pt, Jan. 25, 1913; min- ing intoxicating liquors. In 1898 he endeavored music bocks for his classes and for the conven- IS} Palmer Palmer the creation of any great actors, his companies 1870, her betrothed entered Yale Divinity School, were always well chosen, often by the addition she discovered that a college education meant of favorites from his rival's houses. In 1882 he more to her than marriage, and six months later made a real contribution to the life of the theatre the engagement was dissolved, with respect and by the foundation of the Actor's Fund of Amer- good feeling on both sides. ica, a charitable corporation of which he was the She would have a college degree, she said, if second president. Palmer's second wife was the it took her fifty years to get it. That magnetic divorced wife of Sheridan Shook. She had two persuasiveness which was to prove so effective children who took Palmer's name and she and in her maturer years won its first victory in this Palmer had one daughter, Phyllis. After he had youthful struggle to convince her parents that retired from New York theatre management, he her ambition was practical and unselfish. In 1872, managed road tours for Richard Mansfield for at seventeen, she took the entrance examinations some years. He died of a stroke of apoplexy in for the University of Michigan and failed. Her his sixty-seventh year. personality had made its impression on President [M. J. Moses, The Am. Dramatist (1911) Percy Angell, however, and at his request the examiners MacKaye Epoch (2 vols., 1927) J. R. Towse, Sixty allowed her to enter on trial, and she remained. Years of the Theatre (1916), pp. 140-45; Arthur Horn- blow A Hist. of the Theatre in America (1919), vol. There followed seven years of unflagging indus- Who's Who in America, 1903-05 N. Y. Dram. try and indomitable courage, despite ill health Mirror, Mar. 18, 1905; N. Y. Times, Mar. 8, 1905.] from overwork. In 1875, she interrupted her junior year to assist the family fortunes by be- PALMER, ALICE ELVIRA FREEMAN coming the head of the high school of Ottawa, (Feb. 2I, 1855-Dec. 6, 1902), educator, was the Ill., for twenty weeks. In 1876, she received the eldest child of James Warren Freeman and Eliza- degree of B.A. from Michigan and taught in a beth Josephine (Higley) Freeman. She was girls' seminary at Lake Geneva, Wis. In 1877 born in the village of Colesville, N. Y., not far came the first invitation to Wellesley. Henry from Binghamton, in the valley of the Susque- Fowle Durant [q.o.], the founder, had heard of hanna. Her mother, a farmer's daughter and her through President Angell, and offered her village beauty, had had some experience in teach- an instructorship in mathematics, which she de- ing and was a woman of intelligence and sym- clined. From 1877 to 1879 she taught in the high pathy. From her came the child's large, appeal- school of Saginaw, Mich. In 1878, came Wel- ing eyes, dark hair, lively interest in things of lesley's second call-to teach Greek. Her sister the mind, marked executive and administrative Stella was ill, however, the family needed her ; gifts. When Alice was in her seventh year, this and again she declined. In 1879, Stella died, and competent mother, herself hardly more than a with characteristic persistence Durant sent her girl, assumed the support of the four young chil- a third invitation. At twenty-four, she became dren in order that her farmer husband might the head of Wellesley's department of history fulfil his desire to be a physician by taking the in her first year Durant is said to have remarked two years' training at the Albany Medical School. to a trustee; "You see that little dark-eyed girl Through her father, Alice inherited a Scottish She will be the next president of Wellesley" strain and the romantic courage of the pioneer (Life, post, p. 97). Shortly after his death, in that quickened all her life's adventure; her fa- 1881, the president, Ada L. Howard [q.v.], re- ther's father had walked from Connecticut to signed, and Alice Freeman at twenty-six was become one of the earliest settlers of Central appointed vice-president of the college and acting New York, her father's mother was the daughter president. In 1882 she became president, and her of James Knox, of Washington's Life Guard. administrative powers and gifts for organization The child taught herself to read at three years found here their perfect field. of age, and attended the village school at four. During the six years of her administration the In 1864, the family moved to the nearby village Academic Council, the inner circle of heads of of Windsor, a more convenient center for Dr. departments, was established; standing commit- Freeman. Here, in 1865, Alice entered Windsor tees of the faculty were formed; entrance exami- Academy, a preparatory and finishing school for nations were made more severe; courses of study boys and girls, where at fourteen she became en- were standardized and simplified the gymnasium gaged to a young teacher who was earning the was refitted under the supervision of Dr. D. A. wherewithal to continue his own education. It Sargent of Harvard; the personnel of the faculty was a decorous and dignified engagement, but was strengthened; connections were made with the experience, awakening her womanhood, re- a number of first-rate preparatory schools in dif- vealed her to her clear-sighted self. When, in ferent parts of the country. It was the day of I73 Palmer Palmer beginnings, but no dry list of details can ade- tive to her, but at the end of three years, when quately describe the quickening impulse of her the women students were well established in the ardent and devoted personality. Never bookish, university, she resigned from an office too im- never a scholar, she had a bent for people and a portant to be executed chiefly in absentia. Mean- genius for solving the concrete problems, and while, in 1893 and 1894, she was active in pro- Wellesley at this time needed just what she moting the changes through which Radcliffe could give. The institution was changed from a College was formally attached to Harvard Uni- glorified boarding-school to a genuine college in versity. The International Institute for Girls in her day, and the impetus gained from her con- Spain, Bradford Academy, the Women's Edu- tagious and eminently practical idealism has cation Association, each had a share in her busy never been lost. In matters of general education, life. She had joined the Presbyterian Church she also began to play her part. On Nov. 2I, at fourteen, and later was prominent on the 1881, in Boston, she was one of the small group American Board of Commissioners for Foreign -seventeen women from eight different colleges Missions and in the Woman's Home Missionary -called in conference to consider organizing the Association. women college graduates of the United States In December 1902, while on a European holi- into an association for the promotion of the edu- day with her husband, she died in Paris, of heart cational interests of women. On Jan. 14, 1882, failure, three days after an operation for in- she made the original motion which led to the tussusception of the intestine. Thirteen years organization of the Association of Collegiate later her husband published a little book of her Alumnae (forerunner of the American Asso- verse entitled A Marriage Cycle (1915). To ciation of University Women). She served two those who knew her as the woman of committees terms as president, 1885-86 and 1889-90. She and affairs, the administrator and practical ex- was chairman of the important committee on Fel- ecutive, occupied on the plane of the obvious, lowships, 1889-95, and general secretary with these simple, reticent poems, so genuinely and power to direct and supervise the Association's unaffectedly lyrical, reveal an unsuspected depth policy in 1901-02. In 1884, she was one of three of nature and delicacy of spiritual reserve. No American delegates at the International Confer- estimate of her temperament and achievement is ence on Education in London. just which does not take into consideration this On Dec. 23, 1887, she married Prof. George slender volume. Herbert Palmer [q.v.] of the department of phi- Although Alice Freeman Palmer was no schol- losophy at Harvard. The record of this uncloud- ar, her academic recognition was early and con- ed marriage is given in her husband's story of tinuous. She received the degree of Ph.D. from her life (post), a book which takes high rank the University of Michigan in 1882, and honor- among literary biographies. Although she now ary doctorates from Columbia (1887) and Union resigned her presidency, her connection with (1895). She is commemorated in the Univer- Wellesley did not cease. In 1888 she was elected sity of Chicago by the chimes in Mitchell Tower, a trustee, and held this office till her death. In dedicated in 1908; fellowships in the gift of Wel- 1889, Governor Ames appointed her a member lesley and the American Association of Uni- of the Massachusetts board of education, and this versity Women bear her name, as does an insti- position also was hers till she died. In 1891, she tute for colored boys and girls in Sedalia, N. was one of five members of the board of man- In 1920 she was elected to the Hall of Fame at agers for the Massachusetts exhibit at the New York University among the educators; and World's Columbian Exposition. From 1892 to in May 1921 the commemorative tablet was un- 1895 she was dean of women at the University veiled there by her husband. Her ashes, with of Chicago. those of her husband, lie in the Wellesley Chapel, To secure her acceptance of this appointment, beneath the bas relief by Daniel Chester French, President William Rainey Harper [q.v.] re- dedicated to her memory in 1909. leased her from any obligation to teach, and fixed [The essential source is George Herbert Palmer, The the period of her yearly residence at twelve weeks, Life of Alice Freeman Palmer (1908), supplemented by The Teacher, Essays and Addresses on Education by to be distributed through the academic terms at George Herbert Palmer and Alice Freeman Palmer her convenience. She was to select her own sub- (1908) and A. F. Palmer, A Marriage Cycle (1915) dean, who would act in her absence. The duties Florence Converse, The Story of Wellesley (1915) F. M. Kingsley, The Life of Henry Fowle Durant (1924). of the office included supervision of the housing See also Outlook, Dec. 13, 27, 1902, Jan. 16, 1904, July 28, 1915, Jan. I2, 1916; Rev. of Revs. (N. Y.). Feb. and food of the women students, their conduct, 1903; Wellesley Mag., Feb. 1903 Wellesley College and the choice of their studies. Her belief in News, June 1909 Wellesley Alumnae Quart., July coeducation made this position especially attrac- 1921; University Record (Univ. of Chicago). July 1908; Univ. of Chicago Mag., July 1910 Sixty-sixth I74 HOLLIS FULL CATALOG - List of Records Page 1 of 4 Your Account I Start Over Help Comments Full Catalog I Journals Reserves E-Resources HOLLIS CATALOG Previous Searches | Results List Display Options Harvard University Search Expanded Search | Command Search Harvard Libraries RESULTS LIST: FULL CATALOG Results for Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933.; sorted by : Year, then Author yes Click "Confirm Selections" first! Select All I Deselect All Save/Mail Create Subset Add to List View List Last Browse Modify Search Previous Palmer, George Henry, 1871- Authors, All Current Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Next Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. To change sort order, click underlined column heading. Records 1 - 50 of 68 Confirm Selections June to is Next Page # Author Title Year Format 1 Homer. The Odyssey of Homer / 1949 BK 2 Palmer, Alice An academic courtship; letters of Alice Freeman and George 1940 BK Freeman, 1855- Herbert Palmer, 1886-1887; 1902. 3 Barrett, Contemporary idealism in America; 1932 BK Clifford, 1894- 4 Palmer, George The Lord's prayer, 1932 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 5 Palmer, George Papers of George Herbert Palmer, 1931-1932 (inclusive). 1931 MX Herbert, 1842- 1933. 6 Palmer, George The autobiography of a philosopher, 1930 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 7 Homer. The Odyssey of Homer, 1929 BK 8 Sophocles. The Antigone of Sophocles 1927 BK 9 Palmer, George Self-cultivation in English / 1925 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 10 Wilm, Emil Immanuel Kant, 1724-1924, 1925 BK Carl, 1877- 1932, ed. .../E59HXFUKG247189D6XVXQKIDKXH3XCKM8T5XD8BNJPT2KE332H-09423?func=find-acc&acc_seque12/31/2002 HOLLIS FULL CATALOG - List of Records Page 2 of 4 11 Palmer, George The life of Alice Freeman Palmer, 1924 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 12 Wellesley A catalogue of early and rare editions of English poetry, 1923 BK College. Library. 13 Wellesley A catalogue of early and rare editions of English poetry collected 1923 BK College. Library. and presented to Wellesley Colleg 14 Homer. The Odyssey of Homer / 1921 BK 15 Homer. The Odyssey of Homer 1921 BK 16 Palmer, George The Lord's prayer. 1920 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 17 Palmer, George Altruism; its nature and varieties; the Ely lectures for 1917-18, 1919 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 18 Palmer, George Formative types in English poetry : the Earl lectures of 1917 / 1918 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 19 Herbert, The English poems of George Herbert / 1916 BK George, 1593- 1633. 20 Palmer, George Josiah Royce. 1916 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 21 Palmer, George The Psalms & canticles at mattins and evensong / 1916 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 22 Herbert, The English works of George Herbert, newly arranged and 1915 BK George, 1593- annotated and considered in relation to 1633. 23 Palmer, George Notes on a collection of English poetry : intended for Wellesley 1915 BK Herbert, 1842- College : with instructions fo 1933. 24 Palmer, George Trades and professions, 1914 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 25 Homer. The Odyssey of Homer / 1912 BK 26 Palmer, George A Herbert bibliography being a catalogue of a collection of books 1911 BK Herbert, 1842- relating to George Herbert 1933. 27 Palmer, George The problem of freedom / 1911 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 28 Palmer, George The ideal teacher 1910 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. ..E59HXFUKG247189D6XVXQKIDKXH3XCKM8T5XD8BNJPT2KE332H-09423?func=find-acc&acc_sequ 12/31/2002 HOLLIS FULL CATALOG - List of Records Page 3 of 4 29 Palmer, George Ethical and moral instruction in schools 1909 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 30 Homer. The Odyssey of Homer, 1908 BK 31 Palmer, George The life of Alice Freeman Palmer / 1908 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 32 Palmer, George The teacher essays and addresses on education / 1908 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 33 Palmer, George The teacher: essays and addresses on education, 1908 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 34 Herbert, The English works of George Herbert ; 1907 BK George, 1593- 1633. 35 Palmer, George William Henry Willcox : a sketch 1906 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 36 Herbert, The English works of George Herbert, newly arranged and 1905 BK George, 1593- annotated and considered in relation to 1633. 37 Herbert, The English works of George Herbert, 1905 BK George, 1593- 1633. 38 Palmer, George Twenty-five portraits of Alice Freeman Palmer. 1904 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 39 Palmer, George The nature of goodness, 1903 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 40 Palmer, George A service in memory of Alice Freeman Palmer : held by her friends 1903 BK Herbert, 1842- and associates in Appleton ch 1933. 41 Catholic Church. A selection of offices, grails and alleluyas for Sundays and 1902 MU festivals from the Sarum Gradale 42 Palmer, George The field of ethics, being the William Belden Noble lectures for 1902 BK Herbert, 1842- 1899. 1933. 43 Palmer, George A study of self-sacrifice. Oration delivered in Sanders Theatre, 1902 BK Herbert, 1842- before the Harvard Chapter of 1933. 44 Palmer, George The field of ethics being the William Belden Noble lectures for 1901 BK Herbert, 1842- 1899 / 1933. 45 Sophocles. The Antigone of Sophocles; 1899 BK .../E59HXFUKG247189D6XVXQKIDKXH3XCKM8T5XD8BNJPT2KE332H-09423?func=find-acc&acc_sequ 12/31/2002 HOLLIS FULL CATALOG - List of Records Page 4 of 4 46 Palmer, George Self-cultivation in English / 1897 BK Herbert, 1842- 1933. 47 Homer. The Odyssey of Homer, books I.-XII. The text, and an English 1895 BK version in rhythmic prose 48 James, The will to believe : manuscript, [1895 or 1896] 1895 BK William, 1842- 1910. 49 Homer. The Odyssey of Homer, 1891 BK 50 Homer. The Odyssey of Homer, 1891 BK Confirm Selections - Next Page I Click "Confirm Selections" first! Select All | Deselect All Save/Mail Create Subset Add to List View List Last Browse Modify Search SEARCH: FULL CATALOG Browse an Alphabetical List: Browse for: Author (last name first) Browse Clear Keywords from: Search for: Keywords anywhere Search Clear Copyright in 2002 President and Fellows of Harvard College E59HXFUKG247189D6XVXQKIDKXH3XCKM8T5XD8BNJPT2KE332H-09423?func=find-acc&acc_sequ 12/31/2002 HOLLIS FULL CATALOG - Full View of Record Page 1 of 1 Your Account Start Over Help Comments Full Catalog Journals Reserves E-Resources HOLLIS CATALOG Previous Searches I Results List Display Options Harvard University Search I Expanded Search I Command Search Harvard Libraries Full View of Record : FULL CATALOG Save/Mail Add to List View List Last Browse Choose format: Full view I Short view I MARC Record 20 out of 68 4 Previous Record Next Record Author : Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Title : Josiah Royce. Published : [Boston, 1916.] All Locations : Availability Location : Houghton i TP 2250.30 Holdings Availability Description : pp. (6). Port. Notes : The Harvard graduates' magazine, 1916, vol. 25, pp. 165-170. Subject : Royce, Josiah, 1855-1916. HOLLIS Number : 006428099 Previous Record Next Record SEARCH: FULL CATALOG Browse an Alphabetical List: Browse for: Author (last name first) Browse Clear Keywords from Search for: Keywords anywhere Search Clear Copyright CO 2002 President and Fellows of Harvard College E59HXFUKG247189D6XVXQKIDKXH3XCKM8T5XD8BNJPT2KE332H-09744?func=full-set-set&set_nun12/31/2002 FirstSearch: WorldCat Detailed Record Page 1 of 2 OC LC FirstSearch COLGATE UNIV WorldCat Detailed Record Click on a checkbox to mark a record to be e-mailed or printed in Marked Records. Staff View My Account Options Comments Home Databases Searching Results Exit Hide tips List of Records Detailed Record Marked Records Saved Records Go to page IIII WorldCat results for: au: palmer and au: WorldCat george and au: herbert. Record 21 of 858. Subjects Libraries E-mail Print Export Help 21 Mark: Prev Next Detailed Add/View Record Comments An academic courtship; letters of Alice Freeman and George Herbert Palmer, 1886-1887; Alice Freeman Palmer; George Herbert Palmer 1940 English Book xxviii, [1], 259 p. 22 cm. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard university press, GET THIS ITEM Availability: Check the catalogs in your library. Libraries worldwide that own item: 197 SINCE Connect to the catalog at Colgate University Libraries External Resources: MY Loan Cite This Item FIND RELATED More Like This: Search for versions with same title and author | Advanced options Find Items About: Palmer, Alice Freeman, (max: 50); Palmer, George Herbert, (max: 33) Title: An academic courtship; letters of Alice Freeman and George Herbert Palmer, 1886-1887; Author(s): Palmer, Alice Freeman, 1855-1902. Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Publication: Cambridge, Mass., Harvard university press, Year: 1940 Description: xxviii, [1], 259 p. 22 cm. Language: English Standard No: LCCN: 40-27818 Class Descriptors: LC: LD7212.7.1882; Dewey: 923.773 Responsibility: with an introduction by Caroline Hazard. http://0-firstsearch.oclc.org.library.colgate.edu/WebZ/FSFETCH?fetchtype=fullrecord:sessi.. 8/2/2007 FirstSearch: WorldCat Detailed Record Page 1 of 2 OC LC FirstSearch COLGATE UNIV WorldCat Detailed Record Click on a checkbox to mark a record to be e-mailed or printed in Marked Records. Staff View My Account Options Comments Home Databases Searching Results Exit Hide tips List of Records Detailed Record Marked Records Saved Records Go to page ? WorldCat results for: au: palmer and au: WorldCat george and au: herbert. Record 8 of 858. Subjects Libraries E-mail Print Export Help 8 Mark: Prev Next Detailed Add/View Record Comments The field of ethics, being the William Belden Noble lectures for 1899. George Herbert Palmer 1901 English Book 213 p. 20 cm. Boston and New York, Houghton, Mifflin and CO., GET THIS ITEM Availability: Check the catalogs in your library. Libraries worldwide that own item: 312 THI Connect to the catalog at Colgate University Libraries External Resources: MY Loan Cite This Item FIND RELATED More Like This: Search for versions with same title and author | Advanced options Find Items About: Palmer, George Herbert, (max: 33) Title: The field of ethics, being the William Belden Noble lectures for 1899. Author(s): Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Publication: Boston and New York, Houghton, Mifflin and CO., Year: 1901 Description: 213 p. 20 cm. Language: English Standard No: LCCN: 01-26255 SUBJECT(S) Descriptor: Ethics. Class Descriptors: LC: BJ37; Dewey: 171 http://O-firstsearch.oclc.org.library.colgate.edu/WebZ/FSFETCH?fetchtype=fullrecord:sessi... 8/2/2007 FirstSearch: WorldCat Detailed Record Page 1 of 2 OC LC FirstSearch COLGATE UNIV WorldCat Detailed Record Click on a checkbox to mark a record to be e-mailed or printed in Marked Records. Staff View My Account Options Comments Home Databases Searching Results Exit Hide tips List of Records Detailed Record Marked Records Saved Records Go to page ⑉ WorldCat results for: au: palmer and au: WorldCat george and au: herbert. Record 5 of 858. Subjects Libraries E-mail Print Export Help 5 Mark: Prev Next Detailed Add/View Record Comments The nature of goodness, George Herbert Palmer 1903 English Book xii, 247 p. 20 cm. Boston, New York, Houghton, Mifflin and company, GET THIS ITEM Availability: Check the catalogs in your library. Libraries worldwide that own item: 331 TITLE Connect to the catalog at Colgate University Libraries External Resources: MY Loan Cite This Item FIND RELATED More Like This: Search for versions with same title and author Advanced options Find Items About: Palmer, George Herbert, (max: 33) Title: The nature of goodness, Author(s): Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Publication: Boston, New York, Houghton, Mifflin and company, Year: 1903 Description: xii, 247 p. 20 cm. Language: English Contents: The double aspect of goodness Misconceptions of goodness.-Self- consciousness.--Self-direction.--Self-development.--Self-sacrifice.--Nature and spirit.-- three stages of goodness. Standard No: LCCN: 03-28856 SUBJECT(S) Descriptor: Good and evil. http://0-firstsearch.oclc.org.library.colgate.edu/WebZ/FSFETCH?fetchtype=fullrecord:sessi... 8/2/2007 FirstSearch: WorldCat Detailed Record Page 1 of 2 OC LC FirstSearch COLGATE UNIV WorldCat Detailed Record Click on a checkbox to mark a record to be e-mailed or printed in Marked Records. Staff View My Account Options Comments Home Databases Searching Results Exit Hide tips List of Records Detailed Record Marked Records Saved Records Go to page #00000 WorldCat results for: au: palmer and au: WorldCat george and au: herbert. Record 14 of 858. Subjects Libraries E-mail Print Export Help 14 Mark: Prev Next Detailed Add/View Record Comments The teacher, essays and addresses on education, George Herbert Palmer; Alice Freeman Palmer 1908 English Book viii, 395, [1] p. 21cm. Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, GET THIS ITEM Availability: Check the catalogs in your library. Libraries worldwide that own item: 248 Connect to the catalog at Colgate University Libraries External Resources: MY Loan Cite This Item FIND RELATED More Like This: Search for versions with same title and author | Advanced options Find Items About: Palmer, George Herbert, (max: 33); Palmer, Alice Freeman, (max: 50) Title: The teacher, essays and addresses on education, Author(s): Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Palmer, Alice Freeman, 1855-1902. Publication: Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, Year: 1908 Description: viii, 395, [1] p. 21cm. Language: English Contents: I. By G.H.Palmer. Problems of school and college: The ideal teacher. Ethical instruction in schools. Moral instruction in schools. Self cultivation in English. Doubts about university extension. Specialization. The glory of the imperfect. II. By G.H.Palmer. Harvard papers: The new education. Erroneous limitations of the elective system. Necessary limitations of the elective system. College expenses. A http://O-firstsearch.oclc.org.library.colgate.edu/WebZ/FSFETCH?fetchtype=fullrecord:sessi.. 8/2/2007 BIB[AND(george herbert palmer[1,1016,2,3,4,6,3,3,5,100]AMC[1,5080,4,2])] (9-1) Page 1 of 1 Records 9 through 9 of 20 returned. Author: Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Title: Lectures on the historical development of ethics, chiefly in England. Delivered in 1885-1886 at Harvard College, by G. H. Palmer. Reported by M. C. Ayres [1885-1886] Description: 3 V. Typescript (part near-print) with holograph corrections and revisions. Found In: Science and Philosophy Collection. Notes: Bookplate: George Herbert Palmer. Professor of Philosophy, Harvard, 1873-1913. Gift of Mrs. A. H. Karasian, 1970. Other authors: Ayres, Milan Church, 1850-1893. Location: MiU \Sci.\&\Philos. Control No. : MIURBAB5304-A Tagged display | Previous Record | Next Record | Brief Record Display | New Search This display was generated by the CNIDR Web-Z39.50 gateway, version 1.08, with Library of Congress Modifications. http://www.loc.gov/cgi-bin/zgate?present+270622+Default+9+1+F+1.2.840.10003.5.10+9+.. 8/5/2007 BIB[AND(george herbert palmer[1,1016,2,3,4,6,3,3,5,100]AMC[1,5080,4,2])](8-1) Page 1 of 1 Records 8 through 8 of 20 returned. Author: Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Title: Lecture notes, 1898-1899. Description: 1 V. Book Number: Ms. Coll. 545 Notes: Professor of philosophy at Harvard from 1872 to 1913. Lectures notes from the introductory philosophy course at Harvard ("Phil. 1(a)") taken by an unidentified student between September 1898 and February 1899. Five logical tables and hour exam and mid-year exam questions are mounted on pages with essay exam books bound in following the exam questions. Palmer taught the long opening section on logic and the concluding one on ethics; in between are briefer notes on lectures by William James on nature, George Santayana on aesthetics, Charles Carrolton Everett on theology, and Edward Cummings on sociology, with other contributions possibly by Robert MacDougall and George Harris. Purchased from Robert H. Rubin Books, 2004. Subjects: Logic. Philosophy, American -- 19th century. Other authors: Harvard College (1780- ) Location: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania, 3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104-6206. Ms. Coll. 545 Control No. : PAUR04-B63 Tagged display | Previous Record | Next Record | Brief Record Display | New Search This display was generated by the CNIDR Web-Z39.50 gateway, version 1.08, with Library of Congress Modifications. http://www.loc.gov/cgi-bin/zgate?present+270622+Default+8+1+F+1.2.840.10003.5.10+8+... 8/5/2007 BIB[AND (george herbertpalmer[1,1016,2,3,4,6,3,3,5,100]JAMC[1,5080,4,2])](11-1) Page 1 of 1 Records 11 through 11 of 20 returned. Author: Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Title: Papers of George Herbert Palmer, 1931-1932 (inclusive). Notes: Palmer (Harvard, A.B., 1864), taught philosophy and served as Overseer at Harvard. Consists of letters to W.S. Archibald and list of students in Palmer's course. Related publications and reference material also available in repository. Gifts of W. Seymour Archibald, Jr. , 1970. Access may be restricted. Details at the repository. Unpublished shelflist available in repository. George Herbert Palmer Papers, Harvard University Archives. Subjects: Palmer, George Herbert, 1842-1933. Archibald, W.S. Harvard University. Dept. of Philosophy -- Students. Harvard University - - Philosophy. Harvard University -- Overseer. Harvard University -- Faculty member. Location: Harvard University Archives, Pusey Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138. MH-Ar HUG1673.xx Control No. : MHVV86-A442 Tagged display | Previous Record | Next Record | Brief Record Display | New Search This display was generated by the CNIDR Web-Z39.50 gateway, version 1.08, with Library of Congress Modifications. http://www.loc.gov/cgi-bin/zgate?present+270622+Default+11+1+F+1.2.840.10003.5.10+1.. 8/5/2007 Alice Freeman Palmer Page 1 of 4 Alice Freeman Palmer The Evolution of a New Woman Ruth Bordin Publication Information Frontispiece photo of Alice Freeman Palmer courtesy of Wellesley College Archives. For the Wednesday lunchers, who each in her way was a New Woman Preface The research for this biography of Alice Freeman Palmer began thirty-five years ago as I put together an exhibit for the Bentley Historical Library honoring the 1957 centennial of the inauguration of the teaching of history at the University of Michigan. Two women who trained in the pioneer history seminar of Charles Kendall Adams caught my attention, Alice Freeman and Lucy Salmon. I was startled to find women pursuing graduate training in history at that early date. I was also caught by the fact that both became distinguished educators with long careers. My interest in Palmer was rekindled thirty years later in the spring of 1987 by a symposium on "Changes in the Lives of Educated Women," 11 sponsored by the Center for the Continuing Education for Women at the University of Michigan. At the symposium I particularized the wider picture of women and higher education in a brief paper on women's experience at the University of Michigan from 1870 to 1987. Palmer's wider influence on women's higher education attracted my attention once more. Alice Freeman Palmer's career was distinguished and certainly not forgotten by scholars. She was a pioneer alumna of the first great American university to admit women; president of Wellesley College and a key figure on its board of trustees during two of its most crucial decades; the first dean at the University of Chicago: and leader, arbiter, and http://www.press.umich.edu/bookhome/bordin/front.html 12/31/2002 Alice Freeman Palmer Page 2 of 4 spokeswoman for women's place in higher education during much of her adult life. But her name was hardly a household word. Although she attracted her share of media attention during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. only specialists in the higher education of women or loyal Wellesley chauvinists and college history buffs are likely to remember her today. Nonetheless the story of Alice Freeman Palmer's life. lived during a time when women rapidly invaded the professions, especially education, when the financial independence of middle-class single females was gaining increasing acceptance. when to marry almost inevitably meant the end of a professional career, illustrates graphically the many attempts to solve the problems that have concerned independent women down to the present day. I have tried to convey in chapter headings the uncertain progress of this evolving New Woman's life and her ambivalent quest for independence. Alice Freeman as president of Wellesley experienced fulfillment. In contemplating marriage she faced a dilemma, temporarily resolved with the challenge of her position at Chicago, and she eventually found a kind of resolution by accepting a dual life and a dual role. a grand compromise that encompassed both fulfillment and sacrifice. Her problems a hundred years ago were not so different from those of many late-twentieth-century women. Although she died fifteen years before I was born, I found it almost too easy to identify with Alice Freeman Palmer. Many of the issues she faced and the compromises she accepted were close to the dilemmas that had plagued my own life of seventy- five years. As I shared her story with other academic women they too found resemblances to their own victories and perplexities. A long look at a much earlier prototype may not assist in solving those problems. but there is a certain reassurance in the knowledge that the problems have been tackled before and workable compromises achieved even in a less liberated age. Because of the contributions she made and the way she lived her life, Alice Freeman Palmer is important to historians of women. historians of education. and historians of professionalism. Nonetheless. she has not been the subject of a full- length biography since her husband's eulogistic memoir in 1908. 1 Despite a wealth of sources. her life course has not been investigated exhaustively. Caroline Hazard edited a delightful exchange of courtship letters between Freeman and the man who became her husband 2 Sketches of her appear in studies dealing with women's higher education in the nineteenth century. 3 Wellesley College's history has been done at twenty-year intervals during this century, and Alice Freeman is never forgotten. 4 The most extensive treatment of her work at Wellesley is in Patricia Palmieri's doctoral dissertation. 5 Her Chicago career has been largely ignored. 6 But all of this does not add up to adequate treatment of a significant nineteenth-century educator. Despite their profusion. sources posed some problems. Although Palmer left behind a rich cache of personal documents, this cache is restricted in scope and time. The only surviving diary is little more than a record book, useful but far from full or intimate. She wrote no autobiography. The vast bulk of her surviving correspondence is with George Herbert Palmer, the Harvard philosopher who became her husband in 1887. Therefore it covers only the period from the onset of their relationship in 1886 until her death. Her young adult years are adequately documented in her correspondence with Lucy Andrews. her college friend and confidant. but this correspondence ended when Lucy joined the Wellesley staff in 1884. Also a large. but insubstantial, file of letters to Eben Horsford relating to Wellesley College business has recently been deposited in the Wellesley Archives. Her presidency and her later influence on Wellesley through its board of trustees were of course recorded in the official minutes. but the dynamics of academic politics must be filled in from other sources, largely from her correspondence with George Palmer. The published record left by Alice Freeman Palmer is negligible. Much of her influence in higher education was exerted in one-on-one encounters with other public figures and in the public speeches at which she excelled. Unfortunately her speeches were seldom. if ever, written, for she had that nineteenth-century gift of translating preparation and thought into an inspired spontaneity. She published very little in her lifetime. After her death. some of her writings were assembled by her husband to provide her with an oeuvre. 7 Lack of published work by Palmer poses particular problems in getting at her ideas. In some ways her intimate life is more accessible than the intellectual framework that sustained her professional work. But of course one reason she did not publish was that a reasoned intellectual framework or ideology was not the way she got things done. She was a pragmatist and an improviser. Where personal correspondence is available it is a very rich source. After Alice Freeman met George Palmer they saw each other very infrequently until a few months before their marriage. but they wrote confiding. detailed, comprehensive http://www.press.umich.edu/bookhome/bordin/front.htm 12/31/2002 Alice Freeman Palmer Page 3 of 4 letters. sometimes more than once a day. Throughout their marriage they were frequently separated, and they wrote voluminously, often. and substantively to each other about their work. Thus in some ways Alice Palmer's tenure at the University of Chicago is the best-documented portion of her career. When she was absent from Chicago in Cambridge, she corresponded confidentially and fully with her Chicago colleagues William Rainey Harper. Marion Talbot, Laurence Laughlin, and Robert Herrick. Many of these letters have survived in the University of Chicago Archives and at Wellesley. and it is largely from these private sources. not used extensively before, that this biography has been constructed. Much of the time I have felt uniquely privileged to participate on the highest level of intimacy in the living of Alice Freeman Palmer's life. I have been in her bedroom and at her table. More importantly, I have been privy to her frustrations with Pauline Durant, Wellesley's always vigilant and often difficult founding mother; I have followed step- by-step her decision to risk her career for marriage; I have watched her futile fight to convince her husband that a joint academic career at the University of Chicago would provide the most fulfilling path for their partnership. When the private sources are good. they are very good indeed. Using these sources I have recreated Alice Freeman Palmer's story. It is the story of a late-nineteenth-century professional woman who died too young to experience the changes the twentieth century brought. but whose life shows some of the problems and some of the solutions typical of both periods. She was born before the Civil War but in her lifelong struggle, often successful, to achieve independence from male control. she exemplifies the New Woman who had evolved by the century's end. Many friends. colleagues. and archivists have contributed to this project. I owe a special debt to Wilma Slaight, Wellesley's archivist. for her help and support at every stage of this manuscript. I have also been substantially and cheerfully helped by archivists and librarians at the Bentley Historical Library. the Broome County Library. Bryn Mawr College. the University of Chicago. Carleton College. the Houghton Library, the Harvard University Archives, and the Schlesinger Library of Women's History. Two descendants of the Freeman and Palmer families, Stella Freeman Novy and Helen Palmer Avery. have also added several footnotes to the story. A number of generous men and women. Barbara Sicherman. Christine Weideman, Kenneth Scheffel, Wilma Slaight, Edward Bordin, Marjorie Barritt. and Jean Campbell. as well as my editor and two anonymous readers, have read all or part of the manuscript and assisted in shaping it in useful ways. Kathryn Kearns helped with sources for the Freeman family history. Diane Hatfield. Katharyn Pandora. Margaret Van Blaricom, and Carol Pintek have performed logistical services with skill. intelligence. and compassion. And Edward Bordin for over fifty years has been my understanding partner in resolving my own dilemma. Preface Notes I George Herbert Palmer, The Life of Alice Freeman Palmer (Cambridge. Mass.: Riverside Press, 1908). 2 Caroline Hazard. ed.. An \cademic Courtship: Letters of Alice Freeman Palmer and George Herbert Palmer (Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1940). 3 See especially Barbara Solomon. In the Company of Educated Women: A History of Women and Higher Education in America (New Haven: Yale University Press. 1985): and Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women's Colleges from Their Nineteenth Century Beginnings to the 1930's (New York: Alfred Knopf. 1984). 4 The most recent of these is Jean Glasscock. ed.. Wellesley College 1875-1975. A Century of Women (Wellesley, Mass.: Wellesley College Press. 1975). 5 Patricia Palmieri, "In Adamless Eden: A Social Portrait of the Academic Community at Wellesley College. 1875- 1920" (Ph.D. Diss.. Harvard University, 1981). 6 Rosalind Rosenberg. Beyond Separate Spheres: Intellectual Roots of Modern Feminism (New Haven: Yale University Press. 1982). barely mentions her. Lynn D. Gordon, Gender and Higher Education in the Progressive Era (New Haven: Yale University Press. 1990) concentrates on Marion Talbot's career. George Palmer minimizes and distorts the Chicago http://www.press.umich.edu/bookhome/bordin/front.html 12/31/2002 BOOK REVIEWS 79 BOOK REVIEWS ALTRUISM. ITS NATURE AND VARIETIES. The Ely Lectures for 1917-18. GEORGE HERBERT PALMER. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1919. Pp. X, 138. $1.25. This little book is Professor Palmer at his best. One is justified in saying that it is Professor Palmer; for it is in reality not a book, but a wise man teaching, a great teacher reflecting, a subtle thinker set- ting forth his ideas. It is in its form, not so much instruction as con- sultation. The teacher is sitting at his desk with a group of young men about him, and reporting to them in the most intimate fashion his experience of life. "I have been moving about lately through the country," he begins; When a plate of apples is passed and I pick out the best one," he goes on; "A stranger hands me a five dollar bill; " 'A man I knew broke his leg' - how elementary and unsophisticated such teachings appear ! One might even suspect that they were mere autobiography. The fact is, however, that the pro- foundest antinomies of conduct are approached through these trivial incidents, and that, in purporting to narrate the experience of the teacher, they in reality illustrate the most serious problems of ethics. The great guns of philosophical discussion are disguised by this in- genious camouflage of simplicity. It is not egotism which is using the personal pronoun, but dialectical skill. If education means the "e-ducing" or drawing out of a student's mind, few finer instances of the higher education could be cited than this ingenious familiarity with which Professor Palmer gently persuades consent. "When he putteth forth his sheep," it was said of the greatest of Teachers, "He goeth before, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." This little book of eight lectures deals in this casual manner with the fundamental problem which confronts both individuals and na- tions today - the issue between egoism and altruism, individualism and socialism, the person and the community, the integrity of one's own character and the obligations of the life in common. This con- flict of types, which has become the central theme of contemporary politics, as it has always been the chief perplexity of personal conduct, is summarily disposed of by Professor Palmer through his doctrine of the "Conjunct Self the essentially social nature of the indi- vidual, the unreality of the separate self, and the consequent merger of altruism with egoism. The successive stages through which this conjunctive principle develops are traced in successive chapters, 80 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW whose titles have the genuine Palmeresque touch of paradox and surprise. The teacher with dainty discrimination tries various words in succession to fit his theme, as a man of fashion might stand at the counter and select a necktie. One word is too vivid; another too dull; another does not match his thought. At last he settles on names which seem at first unsuggestive; but as he dresses his subject in them, they seem made for his discourse. "Manners," Gifts," Mutuality," Love," 'Justice" - such are the successive steps by which Egoism identifies itself with Altruism. "Manners" are simply the give and take of social life, the voluntary conformity to a conventional code; "Gifts" are the more substantial tribute of the person to the common life; "Mutuality" is the definite recognition of the " duality of giving;" "Love" is the flowering of mutuality into identity. "Perfect love knows no giving. What is there to give ? All thine is mine, all mine is thine." Yet even Love is "selec- tive mutuality," and beyond it lies that "public love which I have ventured to call Justice." "Justice knows no persons; or rather it knows everyone as a person and insures each his share in the common good." Justice is the impartial love of our fellow-men." "In this external and superpersonal love, altruism attains its fullest and steadiest expression. But SO does egoism too." "The conjunct self finds in this judicial love its large opportunity." "Socialism which does not promote individuality, individuality which does not tend toward a completer social consciousness, are alike delusive. Each must find its justification in the service it is able to render to its pretended foe." Thus, with firm tread and gracious ease, Professor Palmer mounts the stairway of his argument. Each step is solid in itself, and each in turn prepares for the next. There is a sense of inevitability in the procedure. One could not step aside without intellectual disaster. The scholar takes the teacher's hand, and the way up becomes plain. Yet even more instructive than the ascent is the conversation on the way. Starting from a lifetime of acute observation and profound experience, the veteran teacher talks, as he mounts, of the limitations and insufficiency of each step. "One must not count 'Manners' too highly. It is as if I devoted a section to brushing the hair." There are defects in "Gifts." "It may be the part of wisdom to help only the strong, and let the weak sink." Even "Love" is "ever unstable." "Unrelated, it slips down into the lower forms of altruism." Cogent as are the formal arguments of the book, these passing reflections on the conduct of life may not improbably remain in the memory of many readers, as similar reflections remain in the BOOK REVIEWS 81 minds of many hearers of Professor Palmer's oral discourses, as the most convincing evidence of his sanity, discrimination, and poise. There remains a further aspect of this little volume which is of more immediate significance. It is its relation to the movement of contemporary thought. The mind of the present time has been al- most completely diverted from the ethics of personality to the ethics of social relationships. The Community, the State, the Labor Union, the Syndicate, the Revolution, have become the units of value. Pro- fessor Palmer, on the other hand, has represented to a whole genera- tion of students the classical school of ethics, the analysis of motives, the classification of virtues and vices, the springs of action, the per- sonal ideals. In the hall of Philosophy at Harvard University, Pro- fessor Palmer has delivered his famous lectures on the ground floor, while above him were collections illustrating social ethics, or the application of duty to the amelioration of modern life. There seemed to be here a division of fields. The student, having examined with Professor Palmer the nature of goodness, might mount to the second floor and study goodness at work. This apparent separation of be- ing from doing, of character from service, is, however, quietly bridged by the doctrine of the "conjunct self." There is no sepa- rate self. One man is no man. Goodness is not achieved until it is socialized. Professor Palmer does not invade the foreign domain of social ethics, as though he marched upstairs in Emerson Hall and appropriated a larger lecture room; he simply indicates the obvious truth that to reach the second story one must enter on the ground floor. His teaching is at once a summary of moral philosophy and an introduction to social ethics. The classical method of analysis underlies the modern movement of reform. Perfect social service is practicable only through perfect moral freedom. FRANCIS G. PEABODY. HARVARD UNIVERSITY. PANTHEISM AND THE VALUE OF LIFE, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIAN PHILOSOPHY. W. S. URQUHART, M.A., D.PHIL. The Epworth Press, London. 1919. Pp. viii, 732. 12s. 6d. This volume embodies a thesis approved by the University of Aber- deen for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and appears to be in its entirety the developed form of a minor thesis adversely critical of Hindu pantheism, to which has been added the study of pantheism in the West, as represented by the Stoics, Spinoza, Hegel, and Scho- penhauer; against which are urged the same objections as the author 554 THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY omits the Cardiff Giant. Here I can add a mite to "Minnie and Susan" from Samuel Hopkins Adams's biography of A. Woollcott. The Town Crier did accuse me of fabricating the hoax which cost Woollcott a thousand dollars when he generously tried to locate two indigent ladies who never existed. After the Adams biography appeared, I received a letter purporting to be from Heaven, in which Minnie informed me that Alex was with the sisters in the Great Beyond, but that he was still so cross that she begged me to make a full confession for the sake of Heaven's peace. The letter was postmarked Schenectady. Evidently the American imagina- tion is still at work. HAROLD W. THOMPSON. Cornell University. Harvard Yard in the Golden Age. By Rollo Walter Brown. (New York: Current Books, Inc., A. A. Wyn, Publisher. 1948. Pp. 208. $2.50.) In this book, Mr. Brown has given us sketches of twelve former Harvard professors whose influence tended to concenter, roughly, around the turn of the century. Although the author has written an introductory chapter of background material and a concluding chapter that politely mentions other men whom he was unable to treat fully, his book, nevertheless, remains primarily a collection of distinct portraits. These sketches are not intended to be scholarly studies: one will learn nothing, for example, about the relation of Charles Eliot Norton to American Humanism; rather they are anecdotal, nos- talgic and, occasionally, faintly sentimental portraits. The senti- mentality, however, is moderate, urbane, and inoffensive. In a work of this kind there is always present the danger of a generalized attitude toward the subjects, in regarding them as members of a group rather than as individuals. This results in a uniformity of treatment and frequently, therefore, in a sameness of the impression conveyed to the reader. In an account of uni- versity professors, we expect to hear of early genius, of personal eccentricities, and, finally, of the lovable or valuable qualities be- neath the eccentric exterior that endeared the man to his students or made him valuable to his university. BOOK REVIEWS 555 Although Mr. Brown generally has avoided this danger, his por- trait of Santayana, the only man of the group whom he appears to dislike, is obscured by polite murmurings. Mr. Santayana, he tells us, "made observations that Americans could well afford to cher- ish." One of these observations, "pause in living to enjoy life," sounds vaguely like an ad for a carbonated beverage; and another, exhorting us to "lift up our hearts to things that are pure goods in themselves," is characteristic of the diaphanous piety which abounds in Santayana, and which Santayana deplored in anyone else. And when, apparently to mitigate the severity of his strictures, Mr. Brown praises Santayana's poetry, it seems to me that his words have no meaning, except to convey good will. Santayana's poetry, from the stilted Petrarchanism of the first sonnets to the incredibly abject sentimentalizing of The Knight's Return, is the last thing Mr. Santayana should be praised for. In short, the portrait suffers from the "mellowness" that the jacket blurb extols. One other portrait, that of Dean Briggs, is also disappointing. This should have been Mr. Brown's best sketch, because he had al- ready written his highly competent biography of the Dean. How- ever, the sketch consists mainly of an account of the awkward per- sonal relations that arose while Mr. Brown was writing the modest Dean's biography. Many of the other sketches, however, are excellent. The most vigorous one, that of Professor George Lyman Kittredge, cannot, I think, fail to delight. Many of the anecdotes are new, and the old ones are enjoyably recounted. Professor Kittredge emerges in three dimensions and wholly alive. The sketch of Professor George Herbert Palmer is handled with perhaps the most sympathy and understanding. Here, as in the Kittredge portrait, Mr. Brown writes with an ease, a sureness, and a warmth that give life and color to his subject. The style is at times felicitous, and despite a few clichés, the writing is generally careful and well-constructed. On the whole, Mr. Brown's book is a pleasant and nostalgic account of some of the most fascinating men that American academic life has yet pro- duced. J.H. ADAMSON. Harvard University. higher life. In the new order of things these ennobling aims have not disappeared. They are deeply inwrought in the nature of the sub- ject. The first view of it normally awakens them; and colleges offering an extended programme usually pro- vided for their nourishment by an in- troductory course. But they have now become the subordinate and no longer the principal aim. For with the great subdivision of the field of philosophy already described, and with the opportunities enjoyed by the 1873 modern student of pursuing the sub- ject through several successive years, the scientific aim has come to the PHILOSOPHY IN THE COLLEGES front, Philosophy is now studied G. Palmer The Independent with the same aim as biology or Of late years there has come about astronomy. The aim of knowledge 1892 a great change in the method and aim itself, pyschology, ethics, the theory of college instruction in philosophy. of knowledge, of nature, of society, Sift Under the old arrangement no elab- are explored with the dispassionate orate aim could be followed. The minuteness, often with the observa- time was too short, and the resources tional and even laboratory methods, at the command of the student were which are the accredited modes of too limited. Yet it would be an error approach to the other sciences. The to say that no aim was present. Phil- old dogmatism has accordingly dis- osophy was at that time conceived appeared. The pupil has become a not as a body of knowledge, but as a fellow-investigator, and has acquired certain mode of life. The common the independence and dignity which man lives his life blindly; the philoso- investigation brings. Taught the pher lives it consciously, criticisedly, command of his own powers, he must intelligently. The old training sought necessarily be taught to trust those to bring about a temper of the latter powers. In the long run this usually sort. Toward this end it did not leads to caution, manliness, reverence, work precisely. Limited as it was in the calm and prepared mind. In the time and resources, it never under- short run it is apt enough to induce took to investigate single problems destructive bumptiousness. But evils with methodic nicety. But in rude which time will cure must not be and often dogmatic fashion it did at- taken too seriously. About a quarter tempt to bring home the conviction of each Harvard class graduate with- that the actual world is a rational out any philosophy whatever. Prob- world, and not a mere series of un- ably one-half have had only a single meaning or casual happenings. The course; but, on the other hand, large reason within man was taught to re- numbers of graduates- this year sixty- spond to a reason without. The seven-are pursuing advanced philo- world was displayed as Will and as sophical studies. Many of these in- Idea. Each individual was encour- tend to devote their lives to the sub- aged to acquire the habit of perform- ject. I asked twenty or thirty of them ing his tasks with consideration, in- why they had turned to philosophy. terest, and a sense of responsibility. Nearly half answered that they hoped To many a young man the course in for light on a religious perplexity. philosophy was the beginning of a Others had met some difficulty in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. mathematics, physics, literary criti- cism, or the care of the poor, which, when followed up, became a philo- sophical problem. A few had instinc- tively the philosophic habit of mind, and had followed it as naturally as the boy turns to marbles. But, in general, Aristotle's observation was verified, that philosophy begins in wonder and aims at the solution of a difficulty. In this brief sketch of the philosophical activity of our col- leges, I have necessarily drawn most of my illustrations from Harvard, be- cause that is the college with which I happen to be best acquainted. But were the case of Harvard peculiar, it would not be worth citing. It is not peculiar, but only illustrative. All over the land there is going on a great philosophic, I had almost said a great religious, revival. More pa- tiently men are asking searching ques- tions about themselves and the world they live in than ever they asked them before. A company of experts are growing up determined to push inquiries in this field as seriously as the last generation pushed them in physical science. Philosophy bids fair to become not merely an individ- ual way of life, but an organized body of knowledge, to which successive generations may add. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. JSTOR: Journal of Philosophy: Vol. 32, No. 16, p. 442 Page 2 of 3 442 THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY tice it does both to the empirical facts of man's "spiritual" life and to the philosopher's legitimate desire for systematic unity of interpretation. I hope the present volume may help to promote in this country the more careful study of this important modern thinker. T. M. G. George Herbert Palmer, 1842-1933, Memorial Addresses. Cam- bridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1935. 80 pp. $1.25. Many of the fifteen thousand students who passed through the classes of Professor Palmer will find their memories keenly touched by the honest realism of the moving tributes in this memorial volume, consisting of addresses by Professors Bakewell and Hocking, and of the Faculty Minute on the long life and great services of an "instine- tive idealist" and a perpetually inspiring teacher. Palmer's impact on American life was deliberately provincial, and yet was trans- mitted to the entire nation, although his name, as Professor Bake- well grants, "will not, even for a brief season, find a place in the histories of philosophy." An individualist to the core, he chose to work through individuals, and virtually through a single institu- tion, Harvard University. It is much easier to sum up the slender sheaf of his written philosophy, as does Professor Bakewell, than to capture on paper something of the personal quality of the man, as Professor Hocking endeavors to do. The fame of great teachers rests in the intimate memories of a cloud of witnesses, who seldom succeed in passing it on intact. One wonders whether anyone who never heard Professor Palmer at a final chapel service of a senior class can realize fully the power of the man, so frail in body, so mighty in presence and wisdom. H. A. L. Science and the Human Temperament. ERWIN SCHRODINGER. Translated by James Murphy and W. H. Johnston. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 1935. xxiv + 192 pp. $2.50. This book is not an exposition of the new physics. It is a collec- tion of untechnical but acute comments, suited to the reader who already has perused such expositions. The philosophical reader will be more pleased with it than with Max Planck and Einstein, in Where http://0-www.jstor.org.library.colgate.edu/view/0022362x/di972090/97p1377h/0?currentRe... 8/3/2007 may Education mst. ebb jahetity 11.3 8.9 3/03 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER I 842-1933 1900. No prope Rug, Memorial Addresses 1890. 1890 LONDON for OXFORD 48 HUMPHREY UNIVERSITY MILFORD : PRESS VEIRI TAS m 1812-4 , as 18. 1872 1893. Palmer Visual Prychical , t HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS MCMXXXV o COPYRIGHT, 1935 BY THE PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE PREFACE ON DECEMBER seventh, 1933, in the after- noon, a meeting in memory of Professor George Herbert Palmer was held in Room D of Emerson Hall under the auspices of the Department of Philosophy of Harvard University. For forty years (1872-1913) Professor Palmer had been connected with this Department as one of its creators. Emerson Hall itself, built to house the 376154 activities in philosophy, psychology, and social ethics, was largely due to his imagi- nation and energy At this meeting Professor Ralph Bar- ton Perry, chairman of the Division of Philosophy and Psychology, presided. Addresses were given by Professor Charles M. Bakewell of Yale University and Pro- fessor William Ernest Hocking of Harvard University. These addresses are here re- printed, together with the Faculty Minute PRINTED AT THE HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS on the Life and Services of Professor CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U.S.A. Palmer. C WHEN Professor Palmer entered college philosophy was at its lowest ebb. The subject itself was distrusted even by its teachers, who were uniformly ministers. Free inquiry into ultimate problems would encourage free thinking and rationalism, which were regarded as the arch-enemies of religion. And so, in the few courses offered, the student was personally con- ducted on his perilous journey, with guide-books in his hand to serve as texts which were safe - and dull. If some slight attention was paid to the history of philosophy it was for the most part an un- critical study of those philosophers of other lands who were least disturbing to the faith. In short, philosophy was the handmaid of theology, and its chief con- cern was to explain, and try to make in- telligible, the accredited beliefs. But Palmer had been from early youth interested in problems of philosophy, and 4 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 5 after graduating from Harvard went to received an appointment in philosophy, Andover Seminary in search of further he introduced two striking innovations. light. He seems, however, in both in- In dealing with great philosophers of the stitutions to have gained more from his past he took his students directly to their independent browsing than from the for- own works instead of to carefully pre- primary mal courses in philosophy - from read- pared textbook accounts of them, and he not ings in F. D. Maurice and in Coleridge gave an independent constructive course secondary and other poets, and in John Stuart Mill, of his own, the first of the kind, I think, to whose essays On Liberty and Utilitarian- be given in any American college - the ism, which had recently appeared, he read one that was later to become famous as with avidity, and of whom, for a short Philosophy 4. season, he became an ardent champion. By the time Palmer had reached middle He dipped into Kant, and came away age the whole situation of philosophy at from his first reading of that author Harvard had been completely trans- "more bewildered than enlightened," but formed. (Other colleges followed the lead convinced of the necessity of going to of Harvard slowly, and at a great dis- Germany in order to acquire a better tance.) Philosophy was no longer a understanding of German idealism. The means of edification and an adjunct of opportunity offering, he went abroad for theology, but simply the disinterested I two years of study, which was sadly inter- pursuit of truth. The dead hand of rupted by long periods of illness. But the orthodoxy no longer crushed the spirit of intimate acquain tance with two genuine free inquiry. A group of men had been and independent thinkers at the Univer- brought together, brilliant scholars, crea- sity of Tubingen, Professors Herzog and tive thinkers, no two of whom saw eye to Sigwart, made a lasting impression upon eye in their philosophies, and each pur- him, and when he returned to Harvard, sued his own course free and untram- and after teaching Greek for a short while melled. They criticized one another freely 6 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 7 and openly, and remained the best of conflicting views on important matters friends, frequently cooperating in the are brought face to face, each view being giving of courses. Their diversity of views presented and defended by a very real proved mutually stimulating to them, person who strongly believes in it. They and the animated discussions which re- are exciting dramas exhibiting the con- sulted brought to the young men who flict of ideas in a mind seeking self-mas- were fortunate enough to come under tery. They might be called leaves from their instruction a genuine intellectual the life of reason itself. Being a student awakening. Philosophy had become a at Harvard in the early nineties meant thrilling adventure. being privileged to hear Socratic dia- I think that Palmer can best be under- logues on a grand scale, the different parts stood when viewed as a member of this being taken by truly great men who rep- great department, and so, before consider- resented important and conflicting views ing his philosophy, I propose to place him which they firmly believed in, and fought in this setting by describing the situation for with skill and persuasiveness, each in as I knew it in my own student days at turn taking the role of protagonist. Like Harvard. The new birth of philosophy in the Socratic dialogues they were generally America that dates from the establish- inconclusive. For philosophy in truth ment of this department presents an in- teaches nothing; it does but offer alert teresting parallel to that which resulted and fertile minds the opportunity to get from the teaching of Socrates in the latter possession of themselves. The barren part of the fifth century B.C. The secret souls, as Socrates said, it can only send to of Socrates' hold on his followers, and of Protagoras or some other inspired Sophist the stimulating influence which he exerted to be pumped full of sham wisdom. on the eager young men who heard him, is This Socratic impression was strength- plainly revealed in the more graphic of ened by the fact that no member of the Plato's dialogues. There, different and Department sought, or cared to have, dis- 8 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 9 ciples, and by the further fact that the character of its owner. The room was graduate students in philosophy were few spacious and gave the impression of re- in number and that we generally met in finement and culture and ease, and the the homes of the professors; this made the small work-desk tucked away in a far discussions more friendly and intimate corner suggested that the writing of an and personal, and also brought him who article or a book was just an episode in conducted the seminary nearer, made him the enterprise of full and joyous living. a friend and a human being, and just an- Münsterberg's room was somewhat over- other, though much wiser, searcher after furnished and rather oriental in appear- truth. The seminaries were generally ance, as befitted the man who had come given in the early evening, but the dis- as the apostle to the Gentiles, to interpret cussions were continued in the rooms of to America the culture of Germany, and one of our number well on into the night. to transplant her ideals of scholarship. When we met, a class of five or six, Palmer's library, also, was a fitting expres- in Professor Royce's small library, the sion of the man, with its air of peace and shelves overcrowded, with books spilling repose. Not abook was out of place, not a over on the floor, the latest German books scrap of paper in evidence, - there was and periodicals piled high on the front of nothing on the desk but a paper-knife and his desk and a mass of loose manuscript an inkwell; all was neatness and order, scattered over the rest of it, the seminary like the mind of the man who lived in it. seemed to be just an interlude in the mak- No doubt it was the wisdom of Presi- ing of a book. Professor James's library, dent Eliot that made possible this great where we met only on rare and special transformation in the teaching of philoso- occasions, for he had moved his semi- phy, and in the conception of its role in nary to the newly constructed psychologi- education, but the hand that guided the cal laboratory, - gave a very different development of the Department in the impression that was indicative of the critical years, and that did most in shap- GEORGE HERBERT PALMER II IO GEORGE HERBERT PALMER ing its early policies and determining its mental psychology could not long hold spirit, was that of Professor Palmer, and the interest of SO rich and virile a per- this fact alone is no slight ground for hold- sonality, and when Münsterberg came to ing him in grateful remembrance. relieve him of this responsibility, he gladly The men who constituted this distin- shook the dust of the laboratory from off guished group were all men of genius, his feet and set sail on a fresh voyage each with strong convictions, each with a of discovery, this time in the sphere of distinct and striking personality. At the philosophy. time of which I am now speaking, Pro- What he sought was to understand life fessor James had but recently published "in its concrete fulness." He had a horror his large Psychology, and it bored him to of formalism, of closed systems, of any- have to teach the subject any longer. He thing fixed and final in the way of belief. had poured what he knew into that work, If he found people agreeing with him he and he could not bear to repeat himself. seemed almost to take it as proof that he So he turned to the laboratory, which had must be wrong. "Ever not quite" must been equipped through the generosity of be said of his own beliefs as of all others; Mrs. Whitman and set up in the bare the doors of every one must be kept open bleak rooms over the old "Coop" near for correction by future experience. He the corner of Harvard Square. But he did lent a ready ear to all comers, especially to not seem to know just what to do with the those whom the learned world regarded as laboratory when he had it. To a student not quite respectable; they too might who asked him to set a problem for him he have something to tell him of the meaning replied, somewhat impatiently, "Just col- of life. He had early come to the conclu- lect the facts, get plenty of facts, and sion that there was little of value in Ger- something may come of it" - not very man idealism, nothing in Hegel, yet fear- helpful advice. The petty problems which ing that there might be something there were then being investigated in experi- after all that had escaped him, he would 12 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 13 occasionally drop in on Royce's meta- fraught with universal significance. The physical seminary. I can hear him now empirical method itself unless supported murmuring, as we were leaving one eve- by a fixed framework of belief could yield ning, when the discussion had been on no knowledge, but left one floundering in Hegel's Logic, with a touch almost of sad- the "stream of consciousness." Had you ness in his voice: "Nothing but intellec- by chance stopped Royce on the street- tual sawdust!" corner to ask him some simple question Royce presented in every way the you would have been likely to find your- sharpest contrast to James. He was a man self rooted to the spot for an hour or more, of massive learning. There seemed to be enchanted by his words, as you watched no field of knowledge he had not explored. your little problem grow to cosmic pro- It might almost have been said of him portions. He great facility in running that he took all knowledge for his prov- up and down the dialectical ladder, to ince, and was big enough for the vast borrow Plato's phrase, - a ladder which undertaking. Philosophy for him was needed no outside support, for the whole vision in the light of the whole. This aim was self-supporting, He was once asked was not furthered by multiplying ex- to write an article for a magazine, but re- periences, but by interpreting those that plied that he could not do so, for he was came in the ordinary routine of life, by "doing his thinking in book lengths." piecing them together like the fragments Then there was Münsterberg, who of a picture-puzzle un til the pattern of the counted that month lost that did not see whole was revealed. He too was interested some manuscript from his pen in printer's in the details of experience, and criticized ink; who could pass lightly from discours- former idealists for not showing sufficient ing on "eternal values" to some trivial respect for stubborn facts; but he found laboratory experiment without abating a the details interesting only because each jot his enthusiasm. He has never, I think, one, however seemingly trivial, was received adequate recognition, partly be- 14 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 15 cause war-time emotions were allowed to becloud judgment, and partly because of looking down with cynical amusement on his untimely death. But I have often the moral earnestness of his colleagues. But he always had a little coterie of ad- wondered whether, if he had lived, we mirers burning incense at his feet. might not have had at least one group of Palmer greatly admired his brilliant psychologists who kept their hold on the humanly interesting aspects of mental colleagues, and took a personal pride in life, and did not feel it necessary to lose their achievements. They all possessed gifts that were denied to him. But instead their soul - to give up the ghost, in order to save their reputation as scientists. of envying them, or trying to imitate their virtues, he made his limitations a source of Santayana represented the younger strength, turned to the more modest field unprecedented generation, and was the first of the long line of youthful rebels of criticism, and achieved mastery there, for whom the philosophies of the past, SO that he became an indispensable mem- unless one went clear back to the Greeks, ber of this group of great men. Pursued had little to teach except what to avoid. by ill health throughout his youth, he It irked him to teach - at least he succeeded, by study, discipline, and self- gave that impression - especially if the denial, in building up a body such that in ripe old age he found himself in the en- subject were historical. His criticisms of joyment of perfect health. He wrote with other philosophers were mostly external; it was the faults and errors he dwelt difficulty, but by patient and persistent upon, with evident relish and with dia- effort made himself a writer of purest bolical cleverness. It was not the kind of prose, simple, precise and dignified, a colorless medium, as he wished it to be, criticism, however, that invited the stu- for the expression of his thought. His dent to return to the works of the phi- losophers themselves. Santayana lived great success as a teacher was mainly due to his possession in an unusual degree of apart, a superb egoist, cold and superior, the power of imagination; his ability to 16 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 17 place himself at the point of view of the times, abhorring luxury, self-indulgence philosopher he was interpreting, and bring and all other forms of waste; yet he was out his virtues, what he found of lasting always generous in giving both of his time value in his philosophy, using the faults and of his means. After all, the needs of the and errors as a means of bringing into re- body were few, and easily met, and there lief the excellences; and his equal ability were SO many better things to do with to place himself at the point of view of the one's money; there were others to help, student. When one of his students would there were rare first editions to buy, and a ask a question or raise a difficulty, instead competence to be provided against old of answering directly he would first re- age. He took a keen interest in every- state the difficulty, amplify it, show how thing connected with Harvard, and was much could be said for it, and what a real always planning some improvement in its difficulty it was. Sometimes the student administration or instruction. hardly recognized his modest question in We used to call these men, with affec- its new clothing, but he was pleased to tion, the Three Musketeers - Royce, the find how important it was; he gained con- all-knowing Athos; Münsterberg, the en- fidence in himself, and felt that he was in thusiastic Porthos; Palmer, the subtle the game. and diplomatic Aramis, al ways with some Palmer led a serene and simple life, one important plan in the making. James filled with quiet joy and contentment. He was the dashing, adventuresome D'Arta- loved poetry, and had a fine sensitiveness gnan, while Santayana, who never quite for poetic values. Some of my pleasantest belonged, was the remote and elegant memories of Harvard days are of evenings Duke of Buckingham.) spent in his home when, after a simple but If I have confined myself to a considera- adequate meal, we would retire to his li- tion of the men who were at Harvard in my brary and he would read by the hour from day, it is only because I must limit myself his favorite poets. He was frugal at all to what I know from personal experience. As WE today recall George Herbert Palmer, in the building which he did SO much to create, we are reminded that a university is not merely an association of teachers and students. It is "a commu- nity of memory and of hope." Intoitenter the living spirits of its heroes throughout a long history. Their faith and purpose continue to animate its forward move- ment. Professor Palmer is one of these heroes. He stands out among the men whom we gratefully remember with an altogether individual impression. Harvard had no one even nearly like him. How vividly we recall his physical presence, that slight figure, inconspicuous, moving across the Yard with steady intent as if to avoid no- too tice, and possibly to avoid noticing, his So gaze seemingly occupied with distance. There were those deep-set eyes, the for- midable eyebrows and moustache, the 48 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 49 touch of gravity, almost of severity, in his terest habitually envisaged the university features. And we recall the undiminish- as that total working organism which its ing surprise of that swift smile of recogni- name implies. Learning itself had for him tion, a smile that was radiant, warm, the same intrinsic oneness; and he could instantly attentive, - one is tempted to without violence transfer his own activity call it a hearty smile, transforming the from one department to another. His outer man. early transition from Greek to Philoso- It would be natural for us who inherit phy involved no abandonment of his in- the fruit of his labor to speak here of the terest in Greek literature; he could at the life-work to which he gave such unswerv- same time, quite simply, carry on a ing and single devotion. It is hard for us curatorship in the department of Fine to realize the contrast between the Har- Arts. And when later there appeared vard which helped to make him, and the temporary vacancies in the staff in Eng- Harvard which he SO powerfully helped to lish or in Theology, it appeared natural make. When he entered college in the that he should be called on, and should fall of 1860, Harvard had fewer than a accept connections with those depart- thousand students and but thirty teachers; ments. it had not greatly enlarged when, in 1872, He was equally clear, however, about he began his work as assistant in Greek. the value of scholarly specialization. We Throughout his life he bore one auspicious think of that early Harvard, devoted trait derived from that neat and limited chiefly to undergraduate and professional Harvard of the seventies. When thirty studies, - a Harvard in which organized men carried the burden of university in- athletics were unknown, and the Ph.D. struction, each one necessarily kept in degree had not been devised, - we think mind the entire university, not alone his of it as one in which philosophy and theol- own department. Today, we are born ogy were not fully distinct. Palmer him- partial and are likely to remain so: his in- self, always profoundly concerned with 50 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 5I the religious aspects of philosophical varied garden through a deliberately non- thought, had found his first opportunities committal and restricted portal. The self for postgraduate study in Andover Theo- which he offered to casual observation logical Seminary; throughout his life he gave little promise of largeness; he was found it natural to take part in the reli- accustomed rather to insist on his limita- gious exercises of the university in Apple- tions; he defined himself as critic rather ton Chapel, occasionally as preacher, al- than creator, a characteristic which he ways as worshipper. It was, indeed, only illustrated by the fact that during his life in the theological schools that higher he had altered successfully five houses, studies in philosophy, prior to the found- but had never planned one from the ing of Johns Hopkins University, could be ground up. But there was in him a true pursued. Yet he was one of the most ac- vein of creative power and a magnitude tive influences in completing the differen- which was not long in revealing itself. It tiation. Philosophy as an autonomous is this which I desire to indicate, beginning division of instruction in the university is first with his thought as found in the sub- largely the work of his thought and labor. stance of his teaching. On the details of his professional career Among the first impressions of Palmer's it is not my purpose to dwell today. I teaching, a student was certain to include wish rather to speak of certain of his per- the mastery of form. Loyalty to form was sonal traits as known to a student and a for him inseparable from the substance he friend through many years. I shall speak had to convey. Clarity was not a matter especially of three surprises of his per- of choice: it was the primary virtue of the sonality, surprises found in his thought, in teacher, his token of good faith with his his friendships, and in his touch on poetry. hearers. It was, if you like, the element of These three are, in truth, parts of one sur- unselfishness in expression: if one were prise, like that of entering an ample and thinking or writing for oneself, clarity GEORGE HERBERT PALMER died May 7, 1933, having passed by seven weeks his ninety-first birthday. He had long been the oldest in years and in academic senior- ity on the list of Harvard officers of in- struction. He retired from active instruc- tion in 1913, twenty years ago, but he remained a familiar figure, continuing his residence in the Harvard Yard, and feel- ing a strong and hospitable interest in the ever-changing University at his door. He maintained close relations with the De- partment of Philosophy and Psychology, both as a representative of its legendary and heroic past and as a present counsellor and benefactor. After his retirement he served as Overseer for six years, and many successive Senior Classes chose him as leader of their final chapel service on Class Day. Palmer was born March 19, 1842, at Boston, in a family of eight children. He 70 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 71 was physically feeble as a child, hardly ex- B.D. in 1867, he never actually entered pected to live through infancy. Owing to the ministry. He frequently and natu- this congenital weakness, his schooling rally served as preacher at Harvard was frequently interrupted. In spite of and elsewhere, but shrank from appeal- this, after two years at Phillips Academy, ing to the human will except through Andover, and an interval in the wholesale the intellect, feeling his rôle to be that of dry goods trade, he entered Harvard in the critic and teacher. He spent frag- 1860 at the age of 18, and graduated in ments of the next two years in Germany, 1864. Though he speaks with gratitude of where he continued his philosophical three of his teachers, - Torrey in His- studies. It was at this time also that he tory, Gurney in Latin and Sophocles in laid the foundation for an intimate per- Greek, - he entertained no high opinion sonal relation with Edward Caird which of the Harvard of his day, except as it clarified his understanding of Kant and offered ample leisure for the student's pri- Hegel. In 1870 he received an appoint- vate election. He read widely in poetry, ment from President Eliot, then in the history and philosophy, and enjoyed second year of his administration, as tutor what he called the "luxury of loyalty" to in Greek under Professor Goodwin at John Stuart Mill, whose essays on "Lib- Harvard. erty" and "Utilitarianism" were just Here he at once showed his originality then appearing. as a teacher. He devised a series of read- After an experimental year in high ings in Greek, open to any who cared to school teaching in Salem, Palmer had de- come, in which he would read and trans- cided upon his future course, which led late an entire book of the Odyssey at a between philosophy and letters. For the sitting. The plan was an immediate suc- purpose of advanced philosophical study cess, and out of it came Palmer's remark- he entered Andover Theological Seminary able version of the Odyssey, first pub- in 1865. Though he received the degree of lished in 1884. In 1872, Ellis Peterson, 72 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 73 then assistant professor of philosophy, tures on the history of philosophy, which resigned, and Palmer was asked to become he gave intermittently as an introductory an instructor in that Department under course. It was his practice to begin with Francis Bowen. After one year as instruc- biographical sketches of the philosophers tor he was made Assistant Professor of whose works were being studied. These Philosophy. He became full Professor in characterizations were masterly in their 1883 and Alford Professor of Natural Re- presentation both of the man and of his ligion, Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity thought. became a matter of conscience in 1889. In 1872-73 he was Curator of the for Palmer to place himself in a mental Gray Collection of Engravings, and he attitude from which the thought of a states in his Autobiography that he was philosopher seemed plausible; he would at different times connected with five remind his students, when they were departments of the University - Philos- disposed to reject a view out of hand, ophy, Greek, Divinity, Fine Arts and "Remember that his belief was convinc- English. He heartily favored the elective ing to him; until it seems at least plau- system, took an active part in the debate sible to you, you have not understood it." which preceded its adoption, and had an- Throughout his career Palmer sought to ticipated it by offering elective courses improve himself in the art of teaching, and himself as early as 1873. In 1881 he began he became a master of those qualities of offering instruction in ethics, historical clarity, balance and cumulative force and systematic, a field with which his which he emphasized in his famous text on name was thereafter peculiarly associated. "Self-Cultivation in English." In dealing In 1884, this instruction took shape as with his graduate students who expected "Philosophy 4," which has remained the to become college teachers, he insisted on staple course on ethical theory offered by the duty of being good teachers. the Department. He was deeply concerned with the lives He was equally successful in the lec- and careers of his students. Prevented by 74 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 75 defective vision from recognizing them were likely to live half a century: The Eng- easily except at close range, he was led to lish Works of George Herbert, the transla- emphasize such qualities as appeared in tion of Homer's Odyssey, the Life of Alice conversation and writing. These personal Freeman Palmer. These he called his interests were never indiscriminate or books "of affection and gratitude"; in democratic; his search was for quality these his powers of characterization reach of mind and character. The friendship he their height. Twelve other volumes came offered was never genial, easy or profuse, from his pen. Although his writing was but, while warm, observant and enduring, done against a strong inner resistance, in held its own dignity and reserve. Few it all there hardly be found a slovenly have been SO gifted in the capacity of or obscure paragraph, and his literary reaching objective estimates of personal power was great enough to create the illu- ability, including his own. It was a part of sion of case. But with all his attention to his rigorous self-discipline to maintain an literature, whether to its creation or its element of realism in his judgments, and criticism, philosophical insight was his in view of his own belief that the imperfect governing motive. His art was the servant has its peculiar glory, he was never in- of his convictions. clined to ignore the defects and paradoxes Of Palmer's contributions to theoreti- of the character with which he dealt. It cal philosophy, perhaps his most charac- was in part owing to this relentless objec- teristic idea was his distinction between tivity that he was SO widely sought as a two aspects of human selfhood, the self counsellor in the placing of men. Toward taken separately and the self taken in its himself he was equally rigorous; indeed it social connections, the "abstract self" is in no small degree a secret of his success and the "conjunct self." It is only the that he knew and respected his own limi- latter which is entirely real: "a person is tations. an individual being plus his relations, and In his own estimate three of his books those relations are what constitute him to 76 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 77 be what he is.' " It is largely through what lege. Both marriages had the quality of we call "institutions" that this conjunct friendship as well as of domestic attach- self finds its relations to others; to this ex- ment. Both marriages were childless, a tent, Palmer felt a point of sympathy with circumstance which seems to have deep- Hegel. His own personal life he felt to be ened the comradeship of husband and inseparable from his membership in the wife. institution, Harvard University. Of the Externally his life was one of quiet de- two sorts of professor which Dean Shaler corum, definitely circumscribed in its in- distinguishes, those absorbed in private terests. Few have known SO well how to study and those who assumed responsi- make limitations an advantage; few have bility for university affairs, Palmer be- SO deliberately made this idea the leading longed to the second group. For the same principle of the art of life. Even his ill reason he felt the institution of religion to health receives credit for having given him be significant. Though his church was the his length of days, through having com- Harvard Chapel, he was loyal in its sup- pelled him at an early age to master the port and punctilious in attendance. technique of living. Professor Palmer was married twice The form of his living was dominated by first to Ellen Margaret Wellman of Brook- a passion for order, which in its larger as- line, a woman of great personal as well as pects was of a piece with his sensibility to intellectual gifts. The eight years of their beauty, and in its minor aspects showed marriage, until her death in 1879, did itself in a sometimes meticulous love of much to render the socially immature and neatness. He could not endure the accu- inexpressive teacher capable of easy and mulation of notes and papers - he an- effective intercourse with students. To swered and destroyed letters as they were her he dedicated his Odyssey. Some eight received. His will seemed always on duty, years after her death he married Alice checking excess and even discouraging ex- Freeman, then President of Wellesley Col- ploration. He was not unwilling to ven- 78 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 79 ture into untried waters: he took part with expression. His attachment to Harvard James and Royce in "psychical research was carried to the point of provincialism. in the early days of the American Society. Yet it was an incomplete Harvard to But in the main, current "movements" of which he gave his devotion. In his own thought excited in him only a passing in- systematic and husbanded life, there was terest. His feeling for the history of little play and no exercise of the gayer sort thought, and his sense of proportion, gave - the daily walk, the tree-felling in the steadiness to his course and frequently homestead forest at Boxford, were about kept him out of touch with the nervous the sum of it. He had nointerest in "ath- tackings of contemporary discussion. letics," and took a certain grim satisfac- He was not a lover of debate, in the tion in setting his Phil. 4 lecture at an form of conversational sparring, nor yet of afternoon hour when members of the learned controversy. He took no part in athletic teams could not attend. His con- the American Philosophical Association. ception of the scholar was defined by his But he appreciated divergence of judg- own love of the quiet and studious life. ment, both in the constitution of the Har- His careful practical sense and simplic- vard Department - it was his ideal that ity of living made it possible for him to it should never become a "school" - and collect largely and to give generously. He in the minds of his own students. gave to Wellesley College a remarkable Palmer is to be classified as an idealist collection of first editions of the English and as a man of religious purpose. But classics, and in 1930 he added to this gift these terms would be misleading if they nine hundred original letters of Robert failed to suggest the shrewd and practical and Elizabeth Browning. To the Harvard sense he brought to affairs, his often un- Library he gave a collection of rare edi- cannily accurate foresight, and his tem- tions of the philosophical classics. peramental intolerance toward whatever Fifteen thousand Harvard students was sentimental in behavior or fulsome in have passed through his classes, receiving HTR 13, # (1920) 79-81. BOOK REVIEWS 153 work yet unassembled, provocatively announced to appear in the volumes Dusk to Dusk (forthcoming) and Acts of the Starfish, Runners, and Blackstone and Appleseed (in preparation). It is to be hoped that at least another volume will eventually appear. The reviewer has seen enough of his uncollected poems in periodicals and manuscript to testify that they demonstrate Wheelwright's steady and notable growth during his tragically terminated recent years. KENNETH PORTER. Vassar College. An Academic Courtship: Letters of Alice Freeman Palmer and George Herbert Palmer, 1886-1887. With an Introduction by Caroline Hazard. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1940. Pp. xxix, 259 $3.00.) There is a strange thing about printed love-letters. Readers who were never intended to see them feel a certain impropriety in being admitted to some of the intimacies revealed. More strangely still, they find themselves, if they are both readers and critics, inhibited from repeating or discussing the nearest inti- macies. The very fact of print should absolve them from any such restraint, but in reality it does not. They can hardly help feeling that it is one thing to expose some expressions to any and every eye, and it is another thing to talk about them. Does the reader begin to identify himself with the recipient, for whose eye only they were written, and to adopt as his own a later sense of privacy? Be that as it may, Professor Palmer himself set the example of "telling all"-or telling much-in the widely read biography of his wife, The Life of Alice Freeman Palmer (1908), and later in revealing their relation still more frankly by publishing Mrs. Palmer's poems, A Marriage Cycle (1915). Her sister therefore has good precedent for feeling that these letters, of the period beginning shortly before their writers became engaged and end- ing shortly before their marriage, should no longer be held as a private possession. 154 THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY In a letter near the end of this collection, Professor Palmer wrote to Miss Freeman: When Robert Browning married Elizabeth Barrett all the world saw the fitness and consequent wealth of the new life, and was glad. To one another we each bring a life no less suitable and supplemental. It will be felt SO. The pride we feel will be felt by the world as approval. I have too much confidence in the generosity of people, and in their ability to see what is fitting, to believe that we should be thought censurable. Certainly they were not SO thought, and many pages of the let- ters now printed are of a beauty and fineness which transcend the directly personal and suggest something of the universal in a relationship of devotion between men and women at once high-minded and true-hearted. There are of course such pretty speeches as Professor Palmer's confession when he was trying to write about the group system,-"my head is SO full of you that I can think of no group larger than two." It is at minor points that a reader's pencil can hardly be kept from marginal notes of exclamation-as, for example, at the allusions to what Professor Palmer called "guilty escapades" at Boxford, and to the secret trysts of the President of Wellesley and the Harvard Professor of Philosophy in a ground-floor room of the Hotel Vendome or at the top of an office building in State Street. Such items, inno- cent both of implication and of humor, were to be sure not lack- ing in the Browning letters, but however the world saw the fit- ness of that earlier marriage, I do not remember anything re- sembling a corresponding applause at the inclusiveness of the published Browning correspondence. It would be quite unfair, however, to press such a parallel too far. There are letters, especially from Professor Palmer, in this book which add lively colors to the picture of Harvard in his earlier time. He did not mince his words about Lowell's oration at the 250th Anniversary. "Lowell's address of course," he wrote, "went against all I count holy and naturally appeared to me foolish in information and reprehensible in aim It is melan- choly to hear one who was once a young radical become a Jere- miah." A few days later he made this opinion known to Lowell himself, who admitted that "he didn't know what to say and had BOOK REVIEWS 155 to say something." Norton laid it all to Lowell's long absence from the country, saying, surprisingly enough for such a friend of Lowell's, "that he had not even knowledge enough to be aware of his own ignorance." There is, besides, a capital story of President Eliot's playing the "hound of heaven" in the field of education to a young clerk he happened to encounter in a Boston store. Other glimpses of Harvard and Cambridge add their value to the book, which beyond its immediate locus will probably appeal most to such an eclectic reader as this brief notice may have disclosed. M. A. DEWOLFE HOWE. Boston. I Speak for Myself: An Editor in His World. By Edwin Francis Edgett. With a Prefatory Note by William Lyon Phelps. The Macmillan Company. 1940. Pp. xiv, 385. $3.00.) In 1891 William Lyon Phelps taught a year at Harvard. Fifty years later he is called upon to recall an "A" he gave to a student in English composition and to write a preface to that student's autobiography. Edwin Francis Edgett, who had hugged that "A" for half a century as almost the only memory he cherished of Harvard, moved in a single season from his undergraduate studies to an editorship on the Boston Transcript. In the intervening years, first as dramatic editor and then as book editor, he had doubtless more to do with shaping the taste of Boston than had all of Wil- liam Lyon Phelps's successors at Harvard. One would suppose there might have been some communion between Harvard scholarship and the literary department of the Transcript under the occupancy of a Harvard graduate. The op- portunity was there for such a fertile association as might con- ceivably have had a mellowing influence upon the culture of the city. But there was none. Edgett went into his cubbyhole on Newspaper Row and shut the door after him. He never returned to a Harvard reunion or commencement. His only association G.B. Dorr's Harvard Years( 1870-1874): His Teachers F.E. Anderson, B.A. Chicago 1969, A.M. Harvard 1872 Tutor (1870-72), Asst. Prof. of Greek (1873-78) F. Bowen. Alford Professorship of Natural Religion, Philosophy, and Civil Polity (1853-89) Ferdinand Bocher. A.M. Professor of Modern Languages (1870-1902) Francis James Child. Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory. (1851-1876) C.F. Dunbar. Professor of Political Economy. His appointment marked a new stage in the teaching of that subject independent of the traditional moral philosophy (as taught by Bowen). Dean of College Faculty (1871-1900) Dean of Faculty of A & S (1876-1882) Arthur Irving Fiske. A.M. 1869. Honors in Greek, Latin, and Ancient History. Tutor. H.W. Fay George Anthony Hill. A.B. 1865, A.M. 1870. Tutor (1865-71). Asst. Prof. Physics (1871-1876) Henry Howland. A.B. Honors in Greek, Latin, and Ancient History (1969). D. Phil. U. of Heidelberg (1872). LL.B. Harvard (1878). Tutor (1872-1874). Instructor of History and Political Economy (1872-1874). C.L. Jackson. Asst. Prof. of Chemistry. Abroad 1873-75 for research in Germany. Later Erving Professorship of Chemistry (1894-1912) Authored chemistry chapter in S.E. Morison's Development. George Herbert Palmer. Later Alford Professorship (1889-1913) formerly held by F. Bowen. Successor is Josiah Royce (1914-1916). Authored lead chapter with R.B. Perry of Morison's Development. Andrew Preston Peabody. Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, and Preacher to the University (1860-1881). Acting President of the University (1862). William Henry Pettee. A.B. 1861. Instructor in Mining (1869-1871), Asst. Prof. (1871-1875) E.P. Seaver. A.B. 1864, A.M., LL.B. 1870. Asst. Prof. of Mathematics (1869-1874) Clement Law Smith. A.B. Haverford, 1860. A.B. Harvard, 1862. Tutor of Latin (1870-1873), Asst. Prof. (1873-1883), and continued until appointment as Pope Professor 1901-1904. John Throwbridge. S.B. 1865, S.D. Physics, 1873, Asst. Prof. (1870-188) and later Rumford Professorship and Lectureship on the Application of Science to the Useful Arts (1888-1910) Charles J. White. A.B. 1859. was appointed a member of the Mathematics department by presidential fiat "though his mathematical knowledge never went beyond the point which a man specially interested in classics needed to reach in order to get a Harvard A.B." (Morison, Development) Asst. Prof. Mathematics. (1872) Roger Wolcott. A.B. 1870. LL.B. 1874. Tutor in French and History (1870-1871). Later Governor of Massachusetts. Sources: The Historical Register of Harvard University 1836-1936. C. 1937. www.math.harvard.edu/history/officers/officers.txt See also Harvard University Yearly Returns; Annual Scales; General Scales; Yearly Returns: Examinations and Aggregates; and Absences and Tardiness at Recitations and Lectures-all for 1870-1874. This is not a complete list since faculty did not always sign their grade reports to the administration. September 9, 2007