with such difference only as the different qualities of his mind would naturally produce. The multiplication of text-books on the lesser branches of the law — many of them pre pared by the professors themselves — had done away with the careful copying of the instructor's lectures which at Litchfield and Northampton had occupied much of the stu dents' time. A list of books for a course of study was prepared, and the students had an opportunity of airing their learning occasion ally at the Moot Courts which were held by the professors. Within a few years after Judge Story's death the school numbered among its instruc tors Hon. William Kent of New York, George Ticknor Curtis, Franklin Dexter, Luther S. Cushing, the author of the famous Manual, and Edward G. Loring. Henry Wheaton accepted the position of Lecturer on In ternational Law, but died before entering upon the performance of his duties. Later, Richard Henry Dana delivered courses of lectures. But Kent, Curtis, Dexter, Cushing, Loring, and Dana were lecturers for short periods only; and during the twenty years following the death of Greenleaf, the fame of the school rested upon the" ability and zeal of Judge Parker, Theophilus Parsons, and Emory Washburn. At the time of his appointment as Royall Professor of Law, Joel Parker, though but fifty-two years of age, had been for nearly fifteen years a member of the Superior Court of New Hampshire and for nearly ten years its Chief Justice. He will doubtless long be considered the Chief Justice of that State, for he was one of the ablest of American judges. Stored with the practical experience of a long professional and judicial life, patient, assiduous, and accurate, keen in argument and clear in exposition, he devoted for twenty years all his powers to the performance of his duties at the school. Theophilus Parsons became Dane Profes sor of Law in 1848, and held that position until the year 1870. He was a son of the eminent judge whose name he bore, — the
Chief Justice of Massachusetts, — and in herited from his father a deep love for the law, and a power of impressive statement rarely equalled. At the date of Parsons's ap pointment as professor, he was fifty-three years of age, and had acquired considerable reputation, both as a practitioner in admi ralty and as a literary man. His fame, how ever, rests upon his work at Cambridge. The ability of fixing and holding the atten tion of students, which he possessed in an unusual degree, gave him a high reputation as a lecturer, and the treatises prepared by him in his professorial work soon spread his name far and wide. His " Law of Con tracts," which appeared in 1853, is said to have had a larger sale, during the lifetime of the author, than any legal text-book ever published in any country. Like Story's and Kent's Commentaries, it was often quoted in England, and for more than twenty years it was the leading book of reference on the subject in America. A Kentucky law-stu dent, finding it constantly relied upon by the courts of his State, inquired whether there was any statute making it an authority. At comparatively short intervals between 1856 and 1869, Professor Parsons also pub lished works on " Mercantile Law," " Mari time Law," "Bills and Notes," "Partnership," "Marine Insurance," and " Shipping and Admiralty." His reputation as a legal textwriter became so extended that his publishers sold over one hundred and fifty thousand copies of his " Law of Business Men," — a treatise on commercial law for laymen. It is believed to have netted the author, in roy alties, fully $40,000. In 1855 Emory Washburn, a lawyer of rare integrity and industry, who had attained prominence not only in his profession, but also as judge, legislator, and Governor of Massachusetts, was appointed lecturer at the Harvard Law School, and in the following year became University Professor of Law, — a position which he filled for twenty years. The name of the professorship was changed, in 1862, to Bussey Professor, a considerable
