A
EULO GY
ON THE LATE
CHANCELLOR JOSEPH GIBSON HOYT
OF
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY.
BY
PROF. S. WATERHOUSE.
Delivered at the Hall of the University, St. Louis, Jan. 20, 1863.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT  & CO.
1863.








A
EULOGY
ON THE LATE
CHAN'CELLOR JOSEPH GIBSON HOYT
OF
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY.
BY
PROF. S. WATERHOUSE.
Delivered  at the Hall of the University, St. Louis, Jan. 20, 186.,
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT  &  CO.
1863.








EXTRACT FROlM THE MINUTES OF THE FACULTY.
Washington University, Nov. 26, 1862.
Resolved, That PROF. S. WATERHOUSE be requested to prepare
a eulogy on the late CHANCELLOR HOYT, to be delivered at tLhe
earliest day convenient to himself.








EULOGY.
Tob itw rap ovtj' a'Aro; Bevra6 rOTs
1oAAci2 Se t/toiwv ebxets; birav'aa'o.
JOSEPH GIBSON HOYT was born in Dunbarton, New
Hampshire, January 19th, 1815. He was the son of
Joshua F. and Olive R. Hoyt. His father was a
plain farmer, who, by prudent husbandry, had acquired a competency. Of limited education, ingenuous nature, good talents, and sound judgment, he
thought more of an honest life and material success
than of liberal culture. That his children should
lead lives of simple virtue and humble prosperity
satisfied his highest aspirations. From his low estimate of the value of education, the result of his own
want of culture, he was unwilling to send his son to
college. He did not deem education a profitable investment. But at last the father's pride was gratified
by the son's success, and help came when the youth
had proved his ability to succeed without it.
But the mother was a woman of brilliant powers
and marked traits of character. She was distinguished for facility of composition and a quaint originality of expression. Gifted, aspiring, energetic, and
pious, she was nobly ambitious that her children
(5)




should be conspicuous for learning and public usefulness. She taught them to hate meanness and vice,
to love purity and frankness, and to aspire to honorable and virtuous distinction. She impressed her
own qualities upon the plastic and susceptible nature
of her most gifted son, and exercised a decisive influence in the formation of his character.
The subject of this memoir was the second of
nine children. In childhood, the charms of personal
beauty rendered his artless manners still more attractive. His complexion was fair, his features finely
chiseled, curling locks fell in golden masses around
his brow, and his deep-blue eye had a sweet and
tender beauty that is still remembered.
In his earliest years, Joseph Gibson was noted for
quickness of apprehension.  Nothing pleased him
more than the printed page. He would gaze with
astonished delight upon the mysterious characters,
and try to decipher their hidden meaning. He
seemed to regard a book as something sacred, and
nothing more quickly stirred his youthful indignation
than the mutilation of one of his idols. After he had
learned to read, such was his unremitting devotion to
his studies that his father was often obliged to hide
his books away from him. His ability gave him an
easy pre-eminence in scholarship. In the district
school which he attended, no boy equaled his readiness in mastering his lessons, or his fearlessness in
venturing upon dangerous enterprises.  His intrepidity amounted to temerity. But his perilous adventures were never prompted by a spirit of wild and
vicious daring. His nature was rich and exuberant,




7
full of buoyant and elastic life. His enthusiasm,
bravery, and kindness toward all made him a natural
leader. His little mates loved to acknowledge his
supremacy. In school, he was obedient and studious;
out of doors, he was full of all kinds of innocent frolic
and daring. The first scholar was also the best
wrestler. Throughout life he retained his early fondness for active sports. The dignified chancellor, like
the Roman senator, thought it not beneath his position to participate in the pastimes of youth. Though
impulsive and capable of anger, he was full of exuberant and irrepressible good nature. Even in his sports,
he was careful not to wound the feelings of his playmates. He often walked to church with poor boys
to avoid any appearance of superiority. He used to
commit to memory long passages of Scripture for the
Sabbath school, but was unwilling to recite all he
had learned for fear of mortifying the feelings of his
young classmates.
In early youth, his opportunities for obtaining an
education were limited. Till he was sixteen, he was
able to attend the public school only three months
out of the year; the rest of the time he worked on his
father's farm. In his seventeenth year, he attended
the academy at Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and
taught school the following winter in Concord, New
Hampshire. This was the commencement of his remarkable career as a teacher. In his eighteenth
year, he bade a final adieu to the farm, and entered
the Teachers' Seminary, Andover, Massachusetts, to
study mathematics. The succeeding winter he was
engaged, at the suggestion of Samuel R. Hall, the




8
Principal of the Teachers' Seminary, to teach school
at West Newbury.
The circumstances which attended this selection
were highly creditable to Mr. Hoyt. The school was
large and difficult to manage. The pupils took a
vicious pride in resisting the authority of the instructor. They had ejected several teachers from the
school-house with rude violence. But Mr. Hoyt soon
taught the insurgents a lesson of loyal obedience to
the constituted authorities. Under his discipline the
school was eminently successful.
At this period of his life, the Rev. J. Q. A. Egell,
impressed with his display of talents, urged him to go
to college. Persuaded by his friendly arguments,
Mr. Hoyt returned to the academy at Hopkinton,
and went through the preparatory course. He afterward reviewed his academic studies at Andover.
The officers of the Normal School, and of the Hopkinton and Andover Academies, soon detected Mr.
Hoyt's varied and extraordinary capacities for instruction, and employed him as an assistant teacher.
During his preparatory pupilage he was both student
and instructor in these three institutions. At Andover, during the temporary absence of Professor Barton —who was employed by the Government in the
survey of the Northeastern Boundary-the youthful
student took charge of three classes in mathematics.
For four months Mr. Hoyt discharged the duties of
professor, and at the same time kept up his own
studies. In the twofold and thrice sustained relation
of pupil and teacher, neither the arduous duties of
instruction prevented him from attaining the fore



most rank in his class, nor did the familiarity with
which scholars are wont to regard a fellow-student
defeat his prosperity as teacher.
Before going to college, Mr. Hoyt taught school five
winters, exclusive of his academic tuition. In all of
these schools he exhibited those higher qualities of the
successful teacher for which he was so distinguished
in later life.
In 1836 he entered Yale College without conditions. Notwithstanding the difficulties which had beset his academic course, his preparation was thorough.
He was distinguished at Yale for superior scholarship,
forensic ability, originality of thought and expression,
the strength of his friendships, and his magnetic power
over his associates. During his collegiate course he
took prizes for excellence in mathematical studies and
in English composition. He was graduated with high
honors. His part at Commencement was an oration.
He was sixth scholar in a class of one hundred. Of
his high scholarship, Jeremiah Day, who was President of Yale while Mr. Hoyt was a member of that
institution, bears the following honorable testimony:
"Mr. Hoyt," writes the venerable ex-president, "was
a distinguished scholar, being appointed an orator
for the Commencement day when he was graduated.
I do not recollect for what department of literature
and science he was particularly partial, for he made
himself master of all. He was earnestly devoted to
thorough investigation."
While in college, he was chosen one of the editors
of the Yale Literary Magazine, and was elected, by an
almost unanimous vote, President of the Brothers in




10
Unity. His articles in the magazine, and his decisions as president of the society, bore marks of unusual ability and sound judgment.
His classmates describe Mr. Hoyt as being very
fond, in his college days, of social pleasures, keen in
good-natured raillery and repartee, and overflowing
with a wit whose comic and original combinations set
the college table in a roar.
In the spring of 1840, Mr. Hoyt took charge of an
academy at Plymouth, New Hampshire.  His acceptance of this trust placed him at the head of a school
of two hundred scholars. But he was fully equal to
the responsibilities of his position. His popularity in
the management of this large institution was based
upon true success.
In 1841 Mr. Itoyt was appointed Professor of
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Phillips'
Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. He remained in
this institution eighteen years. It was the scene of
his life-labors. From its classic halls a generation of
students went forth into the world, disciplined by his
generous culture.
Phillips' Exeter Academy is one of the very best
preparatory institutions in the land, and much of its
excellence is due to the improvements which Professor Hoyt introduced.
April 13th, 1842, Mr. HIoyt married Margarette T.
Chamberlain, of Exeter. The issue of this marriage
was a family of six children, five of whom —three
sons and two daughters-survive their father.
In 1845 Mr. Hoyt revised Colton's Greek Reader,
and added a new vocabulary of his own preparation.
This lexicon is a work of superior excellence. It was




11
composed with a careful and scholarly attention to
etymologies, the primary and secondary meanings of
words, and the order of their derivation.
In 1851 Mr. Hoyt was a member of the Convention
for the revision of the State Constitution, and took
an important part in the deliberations of that body.
In 1858 he barely escaped a Congressional nomination. Had he remained in New Hampshire, he would
undoubtedly have been honored with the highest
civic trusts in the gift of the State.
In December, 1858, he accepted the appointment of
Chancellor and Professor of the Greek Language and
Literature in Washington University, St. Louis. He
entered upon the duties of his new position the following February, and was formally inaugurated October
4th, 1859.
In July, 1859, he received from Dartmouth College
the degree of Doctor of Laws.
In the fall of 1860 Chancellor Hoyt's health began
to fail, and alarming symptoms of consumption began
to develop themselves. Impelled by anxiety to regain his health, he tested the virtues of various medicines and systems of treatment, breathed the pure
and bracing airs of Minnesota, and tried the dry and
equable climate at the head waters of the Missouri.
But all his efforts were ineffectual. With many illusions of improvement and recovery, he gradually
sank, and, after a protracted illness of constant and
increasing suffering, expired at his residence in St.
Louis, November 26-th, 1862.
In physical characteristics, Chancellor Hoyt was of
medium height and manly figure. His complexion
was light, and his face, during all the years of man



12
hood, wore the scholar's livery of thoughtful paleness.
But though pallid, he was very strong. Few men
possessed. equal power of muscle. His head was
large and well rounded, his brow high and ample,
and his features sharply defined, and indicative of
keen perceptions and of great force and marked individuality of character. He was fortunate in the accidents of physical constitution. His strong and
well-balanced mind was united with a sanguine and
sensitive temperament. In his happy organization
were found the conditions most favorable to intellectual greatness. His countenance was frank and
open, and expressions of honesty were written in
plain and legible characters all over his manly features. Shortly after he came to St. Louis, and while
he was yet a stranger in our midst, he found himself
one day at the post-office without any change to pay
his postage. A less direct and original man would
have waited till another occasion. But Chancellor
Hoyt, as soon as he discovered his poverty, walked to
a neighboring stand, took off his hat, and asked the
newsboy if he looked like an honest man. "Yes,
sir," was the quick and emphatic reply. "Then
lend me a quarter." The honest face was a sufficient
guarantee of payment; the boy trusted him, and was
not the victim of misplaced confidence.
The presence of Chancellor Hoyt was kindly and
prepossessing. The attraction of his genial bearing
extended far beyond the circle of his immediate
friends, and drew to himself, with magnetic gravitation, large numbers of strangers.
As a citizen of Exeter, Mr. Hoyt was foremost in




13
every enterprise of public moment. Every measure
for the improvement of the town, for the advancement of education, for the promotion of public interests, received his efficient support. The beautiful
school-houses, the public institutions, and improved
appearance of that quiet village are largely due to
his personal efforts. Mr. Hoyt's services in behalf
of popular education were unremitting and signally
beneficial. With his own hand he drafted the plan
of a model school-house, and elaborated all the parts
with such niceness of detail as to determine, with
philosophical care, the angle of seat and desk best
adapted to ease and health.
His plan was widely adopted in the southeastern
portion of the State, and proved a blessing to many
youth. A thorough ventilation prevented the headaches and weariness caused by the respiration of
poisoned air, while the arrangement of seats and the
adaptation of rooms greatly facilitated the labors of
teachers. But Mr. Hoyt was not alone in his endeavors to introduce school-houses of improved architecture. The merit of this success is equally to be
attributed to the practical suggestions and able cooperation of Judge French.
Of Mr. Hoyt's practical skill in drafting, the schoolhouses at the East are not the only monuments. The
design of erecting an observatory, and adding to the
University buildings a new front on Washington
Avenue, originated with Mr. Hoyt; and he even
sketched the details of construction. The building
which he projected not only contained all the accommodations of the present structure, but was adorned




14
with a very beautiful and imposing faGade. But the
funds of the University did not justify the adoption
of the plan which good taste had conceived.
Mr. Hoyt strove to add to tasteful architecture the
charms of fine scenery, that the influences of beauty
might elevate the minds of the pupils, and that the
memories of manhood might linger in delighted association around the scene of early instruction. Professor Hoyt's efforts raised the standard of scholarship
throughout the public schools of the State. He was
many years superintendent of the common schools of
Exeter. During his tenure of this trust, he never
allowed his kindliness of nature to interfere with his
sense of duty. He never retained an incompetent
teacher through infirmity of will or indisposition to
give offense. He introduced into the public schools
of Exeter an improved classification, better systems of
teaching, more efficient instructors, and roused pupils
and teachers to new activity by his own fervid enthusiasm. Ile reduced all the different schools to three
classes-the primary, grammar, and high school-and
prescribed the course of study which is now pursued
in the several grades.
His school reports were written with a brilliancy
and wisdom seldom equalled in that kind of literature. One of these, in particular, was so full of wit,
originality, and sound suggestion, that the entire report was, in some instances, copied by the press, and
extracts found their way into nearly every paper in
the land.
The High School building —one of the chief ornaments of Exeter-is another enduring proof of Pro



15
fessor Hoyt's interest in popular education. The
erection of this beautiful and well-planned structure
was due to his personal efforts.
The usefulness of town libraries did not escape the
observation of a mind keenly alive to every means of
social improvement. Professor Hoyt was active in
the establishment of a public library at Exeter, and
helped by material aid to fill its alcoves with sound
literature, and to afford to every inhabitant of the
village ampler opportunities of cultivated enjoyment.
Remote generations of Exeter youth will bless the
memory of him who placed within their reach the
advantages of sound culture.
In watching the practical effects of the existing
system of education, Mr. Hoyt soon observed that
teachers, remote from each other and from the incitements of honorable competition, and often invited to
negligence by a lax and incompetent supervision, are
apt to lose their interest in their professional duties,
and fall into habits of mere routine. Thinking that
frequent conventions of teachers would counteract
this downward tendency, Mr. Hoyt was among the
first to recommend the adoption of teachers' institutes.
The success of the plan realized his expectations.
The institutes tended to test competency, to exact
higher qualifications, to revive enthusiasm, to impart
new systems of instruction and better solutions of
difficulties, and to subject teachers to more intelligent
and rigorous surveillance.  The influence of this
normal instruction and comparison of methods was
measurably felt in all the public schools of the Commonwealth.




16
During Mr. Hoyt's residence at Exeter, he strenuously advocated the erection of a town hall. In this,
and every other generous rivalry of public spirit,
Hon. Amos Tuck and Judge H. F. French were his
competitors. The combined efforts of this friendly
triumvirate were successful, and now a beautiful and
spacious edifice, adapted to the political and social
wants of the community, adorns the village.
He introduced into the Exeter Lyceum, of which
he was one of the ablest members, a device to test
native talent and develop powers of extemporaneous
speech. After the meeting of the Lyceum, a committee was appointed to select the subject of debate for
that evening. The disputants were chosen by lot,
and were subject to a fine if they did not speak five
minutes on the question before the Society.  To
guard against all possible collusion, the members of
the committee were not allowed to participate in the
discussion. This arrangement, affording no opportunity for preparation, and throwing the debaters
upon their own resources, was not only productive of
personal improvement, but of infinite entertainment.
Professor Hoyt's public spirit was again manifest in
his efforts to beautify Exeter. He loved trees. He
felt almost a personal affection for them. He remarked of himself, that "his knowledge of trees was
second only to his acquaintance with Greek and
mathematics."  The best varieties of fruit and shade
trees ornamented his grounds; and in the summer
season he was wont to cultivate them with daily
labor, and with scientific care to protect their growth
from the inroads of insects. One of his ablest essays




17
is on this favorite subject. Fifteen years ago he
urged the citizens of Exeter to adorn the town with
trees, and now the villagers walk streets embowered
in emerald beauty and cool with sylvan shade. His
mortal remains now  repose in dreamless slumber
under the tree which years ago his own hand planted.
Exeter owes a debt of lasting gratitude to the scholarly citizen whose public spirit and liberal enterprise
have contributed so much to its improvement.
One of the first traits that attracts attention in an
analysis of Chancellor Hoyt's character is his physical and moral courage. His nature abounded in a
plentiful lack of cowardice. An incapacity of fear
and great presence of mind in danger carried him
safe through many scenes of peril.
When Mr. Hoyt was at Dunbarton, a party of
scholars went out one day on a bathing excursion,
and one of. the number, while engaged in the sport of
diving, became entangled in some sunken brushwood,
and was in danger of drowning. The other scholars
were frightened and irresolute, but Mr. Hoyt, thoughtless of personal exposure, instantly swam to the rescue, and, plunging, extricated the drowning youth
from his entanglement, and tried to swim ashore with
him; but the helpless and unconscious burden weighed
him down beneath the waters. Still he did not relax
his hold, but sinking with his friend dragged him
along the bottom of the pond. Twice he was obliged
to come to the surface to take breath, and twice he
returned to the rescue. At last, almost exhausted
by his exertions, he brought his schoolmate safe to
2




18
land, and enjoyed the satisfaction of having saved his
life.
When Mr. Hoyt was in college, he was grossly insulted by a student of large and athletic frame. The
bully was disposed to take unfair advantage of his
physical superiority; but he suddenly found himself
"Laid low,
With his back to the field and his feet to the foe,"
and learned, by personal chastisement, the danger of
insulting a brave man. From this time Mr. Hoyt
was the acknowledged champion of his class, and no
one ever afterward ventured to test his powers of
self-defense.
Once when Mr. Hoyt was traveling on the Boston
and Albany road, his journey was interrupted at
Springfield by the reparation of the bridge which
spans the Connecticut at that point. Mr. Hoyt, impatient to take the train which stood in readiness on
the opposite bank, did not wait for the slow ferry, but
attempted, though encumbered with a heavy carpetsack, to cross over the remnants of the bridge. His
pathway was long and dangerous. Sometimes only
narrow and unfastened timbers, or a single, unsteady
plank, lay between him and the broad waters of the
Connecticut. It was a feat calculated to test the
strongest nerves. Hundreds of spectators watched
his progress with anxious interest. But his steadiness and self-possession carried him safe across.
Mr. Hoyt's moral bravery was fearless of persons
or consequences.  In his loyalty to truth he was
unmoved by popular prejudices or the fashionable




19
opinions of the hour. The wreck of worlds could not
shake him from his convictions. His independence
almost exceeded the limits of prudence. In the performance of duty he was utterly careless of human
opposition. He had no reverence for mere statioft.
Politicians without statesmanship, aristocrats without worth, savans without learning, patriots without
loyalty, were objects of his unqualified contempt.
The penniless child of want, enriched with wealth of
heart and head, stood far higher in his esteem than a
profligate and senseless millionaire. His erect manhood could never prosper by the thrift that follows
fawning. In his eyes adversity did not dishonor virtue, nor success dignify vice. With him popularity
was no test of truth, nor were the idols of the hour
the objects of his worship. Independent, fearless,
and true to his own nature, neither the solicitations
of interest nor the pressure of local opinions could
ever induce him to desert the convictions of enlightened reason.
I have never known an instance of more invincible
will. The powers of sickness could not conquer his
energy of mind. His intellect seemed clear to the
last moment of life. He attended to his professional
duties when he was too weak to ascend the steps of
the University without assistance. He revised his
essays for the press when prostrate upon the fatal
couch and unable even to sit up in bed. His hold
upon life was strong. The near prospect of death at
times moved him to tears. But it was no mere attachment to sensuous life that occasioned his regrets.
In many conversations he expressed a strong desire




20
to live, not for the pleasures of sense or the conscious
joy of existence, but because he thought he could be
of service to his family and to society. He deplored
the sad fate which arrested the course of life in mid
career, and frustrated all his purposes of public usefulness. His determination to live for the sake of
doing good was the secret of his wonderful tenacity
of life. In a human and physiological sense, his unconquerable will repulsed death and added months -to
his term of life.
Akin to this spirit of moral intrepidity were his
qualities of brave and tireless energy. Defeats did
not discourage him. If obstacles obstructed his pathway they only strengthened his resolution to surmount them. He was determined to conquer success.
A nature thus assured of ultimate triumph is already
half victorious.
His father's unwillingness to defray the expenses
of his education threw him upon his own resources.
At Andover he earned, by manual toil, the means of
continuing his studies. In order to appreciate fully
the degree of perseverance which this fact discloses,
it is necessary to remember that he not only maintained his position in the front rank of his class, but
was also at the same time an assistant teacher in the
Academy. He was thus performing, with an unusual measure of success, the threefold duties of student, instructor, and manual laborer.
At Yale he was again dependent, to a great extent,
upon his own efforts for the means of prosecuting his
studies.  Moved by pecuniary considerations, he resorted to the novel economy of abridging his college




21
course. The Faculty granted him permission to omit
the intermediate year and enter the Junior Class, on
the condition that he passed a satisfactory examination in the studies of the Sophomore year. A mastery of the studies pursued at Yale demands the best
talents and industry of the students. But the brilliant young Freshman assumed a double task, and
performed the labors of the twofold course with eminent success. The difficulties of the undertaking
were increased by the fact that the Sophomore course
presupposed a knowledge of Freshman studies, which
he had not yet been over. Yet he fully maintained
his standing in his own class, and prosecuted successfully the studies of the Sophomore year till his eyes,
impaired by excessive application, defeated his hopes
in the moment of victory. In the gloom of a darkened chamber he had ample opportunity to regret the
overtasking of his physical powers. His inflamed
eyes were nature's protest against his studious imprudence. Had it not been for this unfortunate failure
of eyesight, he would certainly have accomplished his
purpose.
His professional career at Exeter furnishes many
illustrations of his persistency of character. Phillips'
Academy, at the time Mr. Hoyt became connected
with it, lacked rigid classification. He proposed to
reduce all the classes to four. But it was thought
impolitic to disturb, with any untried innovations, a
system that had, with fair success, withstood the test
of experience. It was alleged that students of different capacities and various attainments could not
be advantageously subjected to so rigorous a classifi



22
cation. But the great success which crowned the
final adoption of Professor Hoyt's plan showed its
wisdom. Perhaps no one measure in the history of
the institution conduced more to the elevation and
excellence of the Academy.
Prior to Mr. Hoyt's connection with Phillips' Academy, the students were required to study in the
building. The fatal objections to this system did not
long escape Mr. Hoyt's sagacity. The students were
too mature to be treated like little boys. Subject to
all the interruptions and distractions of a class-room
in which recitations were conducted, the pupils necessarily lost much time. Study under the eye of a
teacher, Mr. Hoyt asserted, was unfavorable to personal independence and undirected research; yet it
was an essential duty of educators to cultivate habits
of self-control and original investigation. It was the
policy of the institution to dismiss from its halls all
those students in whom a generous confidence could
not be reposed. The Academy was instituted for the
benefit of high-minded youth earnestly engaged in the
work of self-culture. This temple, sacred to polite
learning, should bear upon its front, in a literature of
gold, the inspired command of the Sibyl, "Procul,
profani." Its shrines should not be polluted by undevout and impure devotees; merit and capacity
should be the tests of admission; honorable deportment and successful scholarship the conditions of
membership. Good order and manly conduct should
not be so much the result of coercive authority as of
moral principle and a high-toned sense of propriety.
These considerations ultimately prevailed, and the
change was highly beneficial to the Academy.




23
When Mr. Hoyt first went to Exeter, he observed
that the high price of board in that village was a
serious injury to the Academy. Education in those
halls was too costly a luxury for students of moderate
means. The consequence was that the members of
the Academy were mostly from two widely divergent
conditions in life. The sons of the wealthy were sent
for the sake of nominal distinction, while indigent
students came to secure the cheap culture which the
charity foundations furnished; but the middle class,
possessing a mere competency, and independently
paying their own way, could not afford this expensive education. To remedy this defect, Professor
Hoyt strongly urged the erection of a commons hall.
This plan did not originate with him, but its successful execution was greatly facilitated by his earnest exertions. A building, named Abbot Hall, was erected,
with accommodations for fifty students. The new
arrangement reduced the price of board one-half, and
at once brought into the Academy a new class of students. Prior to this, the influence of the rich members, who are not generally the most studious and
exemplary pupils, withheld the Academy from its
highest excellence. But the honorable and aspiring
youth who now entered its halls set an example of
manly bearing and earnest study, which controlled
the public sentiment of the school, stimulated wealthy
idlers to greater industry, shamed the vicious into
better habits, and contributed largely to the fame and
usefulness of the institution.
But most of these reforms were strenuously opposed.
Year after year the measures which have since proved




24
so beneficial were voted down. Yet Professor Hoyt
renewed his efforts till ultimate success rewarded his
perseverance. Only an energy ignorant of defeat,
and persistent under the discouragements of repeated
failure, could have achieved these victories. I do not
wish to convey the impression that Mr. Hoyt originated all of these reforms, or that he was the sole cause
of their introduction. He had able coadjutors in Dr.
Soule, Hon. Amos Tuck, Dr. Peabody, and other
members of the Faculty and Board of Trust. But
the representations which have reached me since Mr.
Hoyt's death —upon which my own statements are
based —leave no doubt that he was the most active,
untiring, and efficient advocate of those measures
which have raised Phillips' Exeter Academy almost
to the level of our colleges.
Chancellor Hoyt was roaster of all the higher arts
and noble secrets of discipline. The remark which
he made of Dr. Abbot is eminently true of himselfno one better understood the nature of young men.
With native skill he swept the lyre of the human
heart and held its chords in easy mastery. He sympathized deeply with his students. His own experience was too fresh in his mind for him to forget the
trials and temptations, the labors and joys of student
life. He made no pretensions to learning he did not
possess. If he made a mistake, he frankly confessed
it. Such intellectual candor always commands the
admiration of ingenuous youth. No motives of personal partiality ever led him from strict justice in his
treatment of students. Neither wealth nor social
position ever shielded an offender from  deserved




25
punishment. He was animated by a strong and
unaffected desire to benefit and befriend students.
Their personal welfare was always the object of his
friendly solicitude. His keen wit enlivened the sobriety of the class-room, and his happy faculty of illustration elucidated every obscurity. His fresh and
varied scholarship, instinct with learned enthusiasm
and vital with practical applications, inspired his students with a new and deeper devotion to learning,
and a generous emulation of his example. His rich
and rigorous instruction reared, firm and enduring,
the architecture of an elegant and ample scholarship.
Thus he controlled students by the influence of a
manly character, and by the fine magnetism  of a
noble and gifted nature. Under his tuition, pupils
became too manly for mean pranks, or forgot their
disposition to mischief in their devotion to study.
He stimulated scholars to studious toil by no system
of rewards and punishments, but impressed upon
them the priceless value of culture and the duty of
self-development. His students, though subjected to
strict discipline, were almost unconscious of control,
and their sense of personal independence was not
offended by a rude exercise of authority. Yet Mr.
Hoyt, with all his native kindliness, was capable of
strong indignation. In his intercourse with youth,
he always appealed to their nobler instincts, and reposed trust in their sense of honor. Grief, speedy
and poignant, overtook any betrayal of that confidence. Frank himself, he hated deceit in others.
Whenever any unmanly act provoked his censure, he
was wont to give the offender what he quaintly called




26
"a specimen of extemporaneous eloquence," and it
was a kind of rhetoric strikingly calculated to touch
the feelings and linger in the memory of the hearer.
The student was very apt to be content with one
specimen of this oratory.
Chancellor Hoyt greatly admired Dr. Arnold, and
unostentatiously emulated his career. His profession
led him to reflect deeply upon the problems of education, and his own system of instruction indicated his
solution. Like the great teacher of Rugby, he thought
any system of education radically defective which did
not make true manliness the prime object of culture.
He believed that vice became more dangerous by cultivation, that scholarship should only grace manly
virtues, that nobility of character should be the primary condition of admission to literary institutions,
that only pure worshipers were entitled to enter the
temple of learning. In intellectual discipline, he considered it of far higher importance to teach the mind
habits of accurate thought than to crowd the memory
with facts. Beyond any teacher I have ever known
-with perhaps a single exception-he had the faculty
to kindle enthusiasm in students, to reconcile them,
by the attractions of his instruction, to the toils of
scholarship, to develop powers of reasoning, to quicken
the present sense of duty by truths twenty centuries
old, and to show that the thoughts of the dead past
are yet instinct with life and wisdom, and applicable
still to the conditions of human society.
Chancellor Hoyt had great powers of acquisition.
He was capable of close and protracted application.
His mind possessed an intuitive quickness of appre



27
hension. A distinguished judge mentions his fondness for law cases, and the professional acumen with
which he at once comprehended difficult technical
points. Mr. Hoyt possessed those high natural qualities and adaptations of mind which especially fitted
him to succeed in the walks of law or statesmanship.
His investigations were rapid and exhaustive. At
the time he thought of going to Cuba to try the virtues of a tropic climate, he learned the Spanish language in one month, so that he read it with the same
facility that he did Latin. With the true instinct of
genius, he always perceived the essential points of a
subject, and marshaled his facts about them.
His learning became a part of his intellectual being,
and circulated in the currents of mental life. All his
knowledge was ready for instant use. His various
scholarship was kept organized and disciplined for
immediate action. He perceived the subtile relationship of apparently unconnected truths, and summoned
remote facts to the common defense of right or overthrow of wrong.
Chancellor Hoyt's scholarship was rich and accurate. His special devotion to Greek arose from the
accidents of his position at Exeter; the natural sci-'ences were his favorite studies. He was a natural
mathematician. His inborn aptitude for mathematical studies showed itself everywhere. At school and
in college, his intuitive perception of mathematical
truths and relations gave him an easy eminence in
the science of calculation. Ile once told me that he
never tried a problem that he did not solve, but immediately added, with a humor that never deserted




28
him, that he was careful not to try the hardest ones.
An extravagant statement was quickly reduced to the
dimensions of truth by the merciless logic of figures.
He tried everything by the stern test of numbers. If
you should meet him upon the street on a cold winter's day, and ask him how many shingles it would
take to cover a roof of irregular shape and varying
angles, he would forget external cold in the ardor of
calculation. Nor would he keep you long in shivering expectation of an answer. Proficients in figures,
with the advantage of pencil and paper, often found
themselves perplexed by problems which he solved
by quick processes of mental arithmetic. Teachers,
lawyers, and judges sought the aid of his mathematical ability. On one occasion Professor Hoyt recommended to the citizens of Exeter the erection of a
large and expensive school-house. A public meeting
was called, and the plan was violently opposed. The
opponents of the measure dwelt upon the magnitude
of the sum to be raised, and the heavy burden the
assessment would impose upon the poor tax-payers.
At last, when the project seemed certain to fail, Professor Hoyt rose, and quietly stated the valuation of
the town, the amount of taxable property, the number of ratable polls, and the cost of the proposed building; then, going to the board, he "ciphered out," in
the presence of the voters, the exact sum which each
poll would have to pay. And when it was shown, by
mathematical demonstration, that the humblest citizen
would have to contribute only twenty-five cents, in
order to enjoy the privilege of educating his children
in a more healthful and elegant school-house, the
measure was carried almost by acclamation.




29
His memory of figures was truly wonderful. He
rarely dealt in round numbers, because it was equally
easy to cite the precise figures. When he was a member of the Convention, he often surprised that body by
the extent and accuracy of his statistical information.
In college, Mr. Hoyt aspired to the highest mathematical honors of his class. There was but one student
who could endanger his supremacy; and the growing
reputation of his rival must have touched his sensitive ambition. But his bosom was not the residence
of mean jealousies; and, instead of cherishing secret
feelings of envy, Mr. Hoyt went to the room of his
competitor, and asked to see his solutions. Struck
with the proofs of superior mathematical genius and
with the scientific precision and simplicity of his demonstrations, the ingenuous Freshman, with a nobility
of soul that mingles love with our admiration, at once
acknowledged the pre-eminence of his rival. His defeated hopes found solace in generous and appreciative
recognition of excellence. This pleasant incident, so
honorable to both parties, strengthened a slight and
casual acquaintance into a warm and life-long attachment. To this magnanimity and friendship Washington University owes one of its brightest ornaments.
Chancellor Hoyt was a growing and progressive
man.  His interest in life expired only with his
breath. His aggressive and acquisitive studies were
constantly adding new fields to his intellectual estate,
and opening broader views over the landscapes of
knowledge. His mind never lost its early elasticity
and power of acquisition. He kept up with the progress of positive science and of speculative philosophy.




30
His power of strong and wholesome assimilation incorporated every nutritive fact into the very structure of
his mind, and strengthened every faculty into vigorous and healthful activity. He was never afflicted
with symptoms of ossification-no cabinet of fossils
could claim him. He was a thoroughly live man,
vital in every part, warm with glowing interest in
every enterprise for the improvement of mankind,
and quickened with active sympathy for every form
of human misery.
The most conspicuous intellectual trait of Chancellor Hoyt was sound sense. An exclusive devotion to
learning is apt to unfit men for business and practical
judgment; but the Chancellor did not lose the homely
virtue of common sense in the retired pursuits of polite
study. What first arrests attention in his writings is
not the sinewy vigor of his style, but the solid wisdom of his thoughts; and, in his social intercourse,
he appeared to be less a scholar than a sagacious and
thoughtful man of the world. His ideas on general
subjects were liberal and catholic.  He never narrowed his mind to mere selfish or partial views. Conservative of whatever has the sanctions of time, he
yet belonged, by constitution and temperament, to the
progressive school of thinkers. Impelled by his impatience of present evils, he zealously advocated every
judicious reform.
Chancellor Hoyt was a man of brilliant wit. This
power, dangerous in the hands of those who love the
flash and the stroke, careless of the wounds they inflict, was only used by him to grace the gentle offices
of friendship or promote the ends of truth. No mere




31
wanton love of display ever led him to pain the sensibilities of his friends. From. their bosoms, his wit
"Ne'er bore a heart-stain away on its blade;"
but it fell keen and trenchant upon all the enemies of
virtue. The wit which shed a genial glow over all
the innocent pursuits of life, hurled its scathing lightnings full on the head of all dishonor and injustice.
His wit usually contained an argument. In the old
Swampscot House at Exeter, the drinking saloon occupied the most prominent and accessible room on the
ground-floor. After this building was burned, a new
hotel was erected on the same site, in which the barroom was placed in the basement. Mr. Hoyt said the
change was a wise one, but that the bar-room should
have been sunk fifty feet lower, on the architectural
principle that the porch, and the edifice into which it
leads, should be as near together as possible. Of the
wit which produced explosive laughter, the sobriety
of this occasion will not permit me to give illustrations.
Chancellor Hoyt excelled in powers of ready argument and lucid statement. His mind was as clear as
a diamond; and it had,
"With the flash of the gem, its solidity too."
His skill in maintaining a theory was remarkable.
Sometimes, in social sport and mere wantonness of
logic, he would defend some wretched fallacy; but,
under his treatment, the outcast became respectable,
and assumed the garb of reason. In public discus



32
sion, his strength of argument, facility of expression,
original wit, and ready improvement of passing incidents, rendered him a powerful and popular speaker.
It is no friendly exaggeration of his forensic abilities
to say that he never made a speech that was not a
signal success. I have often heard him on festal and
serious occasions, but never without fresh admiration
of his "incisive logic," his clear and comprehensive
views, his novel combinations of familiar facts, and
his creative energy of thought and diction. At Yale,
he was among the foremost debaters in college. It is
a custom at Yale for each Society to elect an orator,
to present its claims before the Freshmen. Mr. Hoyt
was chosen to speak in behalf of the Brothers in Unity.
The point, felicity, and fervor of his address made an
impression on the minds of his fellow-students, which
the lapse of twenty Lethean years has not effaced. In
extemporaneous debate, he had a remarkable faculty
of exciting interest in his subject, and of breathing a
warm and generous life into the inanimate learning of
bygone ages. He could command at will the resources
of ridicule and sarcasm, of argument and impassioned
declamation.
The main characteristics of Chancellor Hoyt's style
are clearness and energy. The current of thought is
full, clear, and rapid. Vigor was the happy necessity
of his intellectual organization. His mind found natural utterance in no other form of expression. His
writings are full of the trophies of intellectual conquest. They are crowded, too, with quick and affectionate recognitions of the beautiful in nature and the
poetic in art.




33
Chancellor Hoyt never wore a mask nor trod the
tragic buskin. He said common things in a simple
way. His style was adapted to his subject, and rose
with the grandeur of the theme. Sometimes, however, his hate of pedantry and love of point led him
to borrow, from the speech of daily life, homely illustrations, and expressions more remarkable for vigor
than elegance. But good taste was not often sacrificed to energy.  Mr. Hoyt wrote on a great variety
of subjects. Politics, education, music, agriculture,
criticism, tile-draining, potatoes, and insects are some
of the topics that engaged his fruitful pen. He was
a frequent contributor to the pages of the North American Review. During the last ten years of his residence at the East he delivered public lectures. Notwithstanding the confinement of his professional duties,
he sometimes lectured twenty-five times in the course
of a single winter. Normal Schools and Teachers'
Institutes often engaged the service of his vigorous
pen.
Mr. Hoyt was fond of showing his productions to
his friends, for the sake of their criticism; and a good
suggestion, though it emanated from the humblest
source, was always adopted. He discussed whatever
subject he touched with strong sense, and enriched it
with a wealth gathered in the mines of learning. He
was a mineralogist in the placers of knowledge. Ile
knew where the auriferous deposits lay. His scholarship grew rich by prosperous mining and original
speculation.  Some classic allusion, some apposite
quotation, some unexpected application of philosophy
3




34
showed that a man of culture and sense was treating
the theme.
Chancellor Hoyt was a man of poetic sensibilities.
In his writings, we occasionally meet passages fragrant
with the bloom, and flowerage of poetry. His illustrations are often ornate with images of rich and original beauty. His imagination wandered amid loveliness of its own creation. His word-pictures sometimes
have a Titian depth of coloring. lie had an aesthetic
taste. His eye lingered with delight upon the gentle
beauty of the flower, the pomp of sunset glory, the
wild grandeur of mountain scenery. The voices of
nature, unheard by common ears, spoke to him with
Naiad eloquence. He loved the sweet harmonies of
music. He had listened with a sense of exquisite
satisfaction to the matin orisons of birds; the sweet
undertones in which enamored winds whisper to the
trees; "the quiet evening tune of the waterfall, not
heard by day; and the voices, now hushed, which
once sang around the ample, ever-blazing hearthstone."; What a sweet and tender appreciation of
nature breathes through the following passage:"Shakspeare has said there are'tongues in trees.'
To the truth of this assertion of the great poet we
yield our willing testimony, for we have often heard
them speak ourselves. Their tongues are the expanding bud of spring and the sere and yellow leaf of
autumn. Their teachings are for all. Their sound
has gone into all the earth. The lone pine, which
kindly overshadowed our youthful pastimes, was wont
at the sunset hour to whisper to us, as with a spirit's
voice, and tell us strange tales, which we shall not




35
soon forget. In the far-reaching aisles of our sunless
forests, too, we have often listened to the deep and
varied tones, till we have ceased to wonder that the
sacred oaks of Dodona were living, speaking oracles
to the simple-minded, nature-loving Greeks. But nature speaks not merely in the tree. She has a thousand voices. She may be heard in the harsh tones of
the live thunder, and in the nameless yet delicious
harmonies of a summer's evening; in the sepulchral
moanings of the night-wind that wails around our
window, and in the morning melody of merry birds;
in the tireless tossings of the dark-blue ocean, and in
the cheerful murmurings of the loquacious brook; in
the lowing herds on the hill-side, and in the song
which comes, like angel music, from some happy
heart."
Mr. Hoyt's mind was richly stored with the treasures of poetry. Indeed he sometimes wrote poetry
himself. The following lines, from verses which Mr.
Hoyt wrote on the death of a young lady, breathe
the hopes of an immortal faith, and stir meditations
within us which console our present grief.
"This life is but a vapor wreath,
Illumed with morning's golden light;
A silver stream, whose cooling flow
The bending reed and flower laves;
A fragile harp, whose tuneful strings
Are gently swept by zephyr's breath;
So frail a thing is human life;
How slight a boon for God to give,
If, with the dying spirit's frame,
Thought and affection cease to live.




36
"But no! the harp, new-tuned above,
Shall bend in music with the throng
Whose lofty anthems ever rise
Amid a glorious world of song.
0! think not that the life is lost,
Which wanders from your sight afar;
The star, though hid behind the cloud,
Is still a bright and shining star."
Mr. Hoyt had made the great master of English
tragedy  the subject of profound  study.   Though
reared on a farm, with few early opportunities of
elegant culture, yet when in college he seemed to
know Shakspeare by heart. Every incident of daily
life, whether of a grave or festive character, brought
an apt quotation to his lips. It was the custom of
the presidents elect of the Brothers in Unity to deliver to the Society an elaborate address. But Mr.
Hoyt, instead of following the precedent, simply said,
" Brothers, you have taken me by surprise. I have
no speech ready. I can only tell you that'I am no oratorBut, as you know me all, a plain, blunt man,
That love my friend; and that they know full well
That gave me public leave to speak'I will do the best I can to serve you." The members
showed their appreciation of the pertinent and happy
quotation by expressions of hearty applause.
The influence of his poetic studies is visible in
Chancellor Hoyt's writings.  No  man  can  touch
Shakspeare without improvement.  By this antean
contact of mind the faculties are strengthened. What
the Chancellor said of the study of the classics is
equally true of the study of Shakspeare. "We can



37
not wander through Sabean groves of bloom without
catching the perfume in our dress; we cannot'sit
down to a symposium with the gods and rise from the
banquet wholly mortal."' Communion with Shakspeare's master mind imparted to Mr. Hoyt's style a
grace and Saxon purity of expression. He caught
from this ennobling intimacy elegance and dignity of
intellectual bearing.
But logic was the imperial faculty of his mind; and
the sovereign, jealous of rivals, often suppressed the
rising imagination. The ascendency of the reasoning
powers was unfavorable to the development of creative
fancy.
There was in Chancellor Hoyt a rare combination
of abstruse science and poetic imagination. These
qualities, so opposite and so seldom united, gave richness and varied charms to his intellectual character.
His mental pathway did not wind, with intentional
deviations, among flowery meads, till the traveler,
fatigued with beauty, became weary of the way. But
the road led with logical directness to its destination;
and the flowerets by the wayside delighted, while
they did not delay, the journey. His thought was
never crushed with Tarpeian accumulations of ornament; the glitter of spear and buckler only made his
sturdy logic more formidable.
It was fortunate for the University that Chancellor
Hoyt was endowed with such various gifts. It is seldom that a scholar is distinguished in more than one
department of study. His talent for mathematics
was his highest gift; but yet he was one of the best
practical teachers of Greek I have ever known.




38
There are doubtless men in the country more learned
in Hellenic lore, but I have never met a scholar who
united in a higher degree rich Greek learning with
remarkable capacity for instruction. This combination of science and literature is of the highest value
to the head of a university. His various scholarship
enabled the Chancellor to determine for himself the
proportionate importance which each department
ought to assume in a symmetrical system of study.
Nor was the Chancellor obliged to rely upon the
fidelity and supposed competency of his brother officers; his own knowledge was adequate to decide upon
their qualifications and the measure of their success.
His native judgment, strengthened by long experience in practical instruction, and his wide range of
study peculiarly fitted him to co-ordinate departments
into their due relations, and to mature a system of
university education adapted to the conditions of
Western life; and his high administrative abilities enabled him to carry into successful execution the plans
which his sagacity had originated.
Chancellor Hoyt devoted much time and reflection
to affairs of public moment. The Federalist was one
of his favorite books. Few statesmen in the land
were more deeply read in the works of Hamilton,
Madison, and Jefferson. He was intimately conversant with the history and philosophy of our government. His political views were broad and sagacious.
Already some of his political prophecies have become
history. Many years ago he predicted the present
rebellion as the inevitable result of aristocratic institutions. He brought the light of a clear intelligence




39
to the elucidation of every public question. His large
historic reading furnished him with precedents and
principles for present guidance. Though a man of
intense feelings, he generally subjected his ardor to
the restraints of judgment. His feelings were the
executive of his reason. He advocated strongly because he saw clearly and felt deeply. He was an
ardent partisan-but only in the higher import of the
term.
Some men are conservative from mere facility of
disposition, or indifference to the public welfare; but
Mr. Hoyt was radical from the warmth of his temperament and his vital interest'in every question.
affecting the national well-being. He saw that systems of policy could be carried into execution only
through the instrumentality of parties, and that
unity and energy of action are essential to political
success. Guided by this philosophy, he took sides
with all the ardor of his nature. He was, however,
superior to party attachments. No political subserviency ever led him to sacrifice his personal independence to love of party; and no false consistency, which
under changing conditions exacts unchanging devotion, ever restrained his'political freedom. I believe
he would have instantly renounced his connection
with any party that proved faithless to its principles.
In the Constitutional Convention, Mr. Hoyt soon
asserted his native prominence. He spoke on questions of constitutional reform with a practical ability,
a breadth of view, and a qlear perception of the remote consequences of untried measures, that proved
his natural fitness for public pursuits. The Professor,




40
untrained to political warfare, met in equal battle
champions disciplined by a lifetime of political experience.  He had  encounters with  ex-Governor
Steele and Franklin Pierce, but his friends were partial enough to think that his gallantry in debate did
not suffer vanquishment in these forensic tournaments.
After the annexation of Texas, Professor Hoyt
spoke often and wrote largely on political subjects.
But his political discussions were mainly limited to
the moral bearings of public measures. The rank and
rapid growth of political profligacy and of irreverence
for constitutional obligations, awakened in him a profound solicitude fort the welfare of our country. He
delivered indignant philippics against corruption in
high places, and strove, by the most vigorous exertion
of tongue and pen, to arrest the course of public immorality. Editors, committees, politicians, and leaders
of conventions were constantly availing themselves
of his able pen to draft resolutions and addresses, to
frame political measures, and to define the policy of
his party. Many a weighty paper upon grave political topics which was supposed to emanate from other
sources, really originated in the thoughtful brain of
the Exeter Professor. The influence of his articles
upon the yeomanry of New Hampshire was marked
and salutary. A statesman, eminent in the public
service, assures me that the writings and speeches of
Professor Hoyt did much to revolutionize the politics
of the State, and that for vigor, cogency of logic, and
purity of patriotism, they take equal rank with the
productions of our best political writers.
Chancellor Hoyt was an ardent patriot. Every




41
chord of his being was attuned to the "music of the
Union." His loyalty was based upon the broadest
principles of civil ethics. His patriotism, enlightened
by historic examples and by profound reflection upon
the working of political institutions, was of the heroic
stamp. Sam Adams had not a sterner sense of political duty. His devotion to the Union rested upon a
clear perception of the sanctity of the oath of allegianlce, of the incomparable excellence of our polity,
and of the supreme necessity of one government to
the prosperity of the country.  He thought that
under existing conditions a conquest of peace could
alone furnish a permanent cure of present disorders.
He regarded any hope of public welfare in a dissevered
Union as fatally illusive, and considered the temporary cessation of hostilities which would spring from
a dismemberment of our Republic as only the prelude
to a still bloodier drama. He believed that the integrity and supremacy of the Union were essential
conditions of enduring peace. In his political creed
patriotism was akin to piety, and the civil duties we
owe the beneficent Union which has blessed us with
constitutional liberty and untold material wealth,
were only second in sanctity to our religious obligations.
Mr. Hoyt's career in St. Louis is well known to
this community. His appointment as Chancellor of
Washington University, the fears expressed by those
ignorant of his powers that he might not prove adequate to the responsible duties of his position, the
profound impression produced by his inaugural, the
ease and skill with which he reorganized the Univer



42
sity, his salutary influence upon the young men under
his charge, the ability of his public lectures, the attractions of character with which he magnetized
strangers into friends, his brave resistance to the
forces of disease, his surrender of life, at first reluctant, as if the work of life were not done, at last resigned in Christian submission to the divine will,these are the pleasing and tearful incidents of his
brief Western history. It was fortunate for the fame
of Mr. Hoyt that he was the first Chancellor of Washington University. He was placed at the head of the
institution during its formative period, and under
conditions favorable to the exercise of his great organizing and executive powers. The institution which
he found an academy he left a university. Probably
no man will ever again in its history effect so wide
a change. An enterprise, everywhere arduous, was
here made peculiarly difficult by the habits of Western
life. The young men of the West are impatient of
the restraints of studious life, and anxious to enter
upon the active employments of business. Western
youth do not generally believe that the study of the
classics, or of the higher mathematics, is conducive to
their success in life. But happiness and usefulness
are the grand ends of life, and what more contributes
to human enjoyment and utility than the cultivated
tastes and resources of literature and science? How
many of the battles of armies and logicians might
have been avoided, if the combatants had understood
the secret force and nice distinctions of words! The
study of language is the investigation of the latent
import and structural relations of words-of the phi



43
losophy of speech; while the study of mathematics is
a scientific examination of the laws and numerical
conditions under which the operations of nature are
conducted. He is a bold man who will venture to
assert that a knowledge of the natural scienceswhich explain the phenomena of universe —and of
language-which determines the offices of words and
the laws of human thought-is unimportant to the
well-being of society. The thoughts of retired scholars
have again and again revolutionized the commerce of
the world, and created arts and trades which have
blessed mankind with prosperity and increase of happiness. The commercial and industrial world is not
sufficiently sensible of its obligations to learning.
The power of careful investigation and of disciplined
thought which habits of study cultivate, is capable of
transfer and of application to whatever profession the
scholar adopts.
These simple truths, which I have interrupted my
line of thought to suggest, are generally ignored by
Western students. They forget that they reject the
highest elements of practical success and refined enjoyment. But, at all events, this eagerness of scholars
to leave the halls of learning for the duties of active
life, was one of the most formidable obstacles the
Chancellor had to encounter in his efforts to establish
the University.
Another embarrassment was the immaturity of the
students. A university cannot be made of mere lads.
The studies of a university course require for their
mastery the maturity of an adult understanding. This
difficulty arose partly from the reluctance of young




44
men to spend their time in literary pursuits, and
partly from the location of the University in the city.
The students of country colleges are generally older
than those of city colleges. The unwillingness of
parents to subject themselves to the expense, or their
sons to the temptations, of city life, is a sufficient explanation of this fact. But whatever the cause, the
unwelcome fact was not the less a stubborn difficulty,
which the success of the University required the Chancellor to overcome. Is it overstepping the modesty of
truth to say that he succeeded? By speech and pen,
and the influence of his own example, he did much to
correct the false views of education which the youth
of St. Louis entertained. He reorganized the institution, and infused his own system and scholarship
into every department. The obstacles which he surmounted were sufficient to deter men of less dauntless
purpose from the undertaking. But he succeeded in
organizing an institution which he fondly hoped would
be the permanent seat of sound scholarship, polite
learning, and Christian culture.  The gratitude of
this community is due to Chancellor Hoyt for his
important services in behalf of Western education.
From the cradle to the grave, Mr. Hoyt enjoyed a
degree of popularity and affection which only the most
happily constituted natures can ever secure.
When in college, some of the members of his division used to go to him, with a regularity that amounted
to a habit, to get him to translate their difficult passages and solve their hard problems. Their expectation of help was never disappointed. He aided them
with a cheerful readiness which never paused to think




45
that this generous assistance, which consumed many
valuable hours of study and placed inferior minds
upon a comparative equality, might injure his rank
in the estimation. of the Faculty. The moral heroism
which saved the life of a student at the imminent risk
of his own, the physical courage which taught the
college bully a painful lesson of civility, and the kindness which was willing, at any sacrifice of time, to
interrupt the most exigent engagements in order to
help duller or less industrious students, enthroned
him high in the affections of his classmates.
In the society of which he was a member, the political discussions were often violent and stormy. In
the parliament of the Brothers in Unity, the debates
were at times scarcely less exciting and angry than
those which shook the halls of Congress and agitated
the nation. Mr. Hoyt mingled in these discussions,
which occasionally became fiercely sectional, with a
display of forensic ability and a fearlessness in the
utterance of his sentiments, that commanded the respect of both parties.  On one occasion, the debate
terminated in a personal encounter between a Northern and a Southern student. Mr. Hoyt was chosen
by the Southron to bear to his antagonist the olivebranch of reconciliation. This friendly office of mediator was peculiarly grateful to his feelings. Pages of
general delineation would not show so plainly as this
agreeable incident, the estimation in which his candor
and good nature were held by his classmates.
In the relation of instructor, strong feelings of personal friendship always subsisted between him and
the students under his charge. I have never known a




46
teacher who, without courting popularity, was equally
able to secure the personal affections of his scholars.
An utter hate of shams; a desire to be taken for just
what he was; the entire absence from his nature of
anything like deceit; his large powers and attainments; his faithful and learned instruction; the wise
and kindly advice which always convinced his students that their teacher was their friend, are qualities
that never failed to endear him to his classes.
And in his general intercourse with the world, a
marked degree of public favor always attended him.
His lectures were universally popular.  The press
treated him with a courtesy prompted by respect for
his character. If criticisms were aimed at his political views, the edge was blunted by expressions of
personal regard. His powers of genial and brilliant
conversation made him the delight of the social circle.
Through all the letters which Mr. Hoyt received from
his friends, there breathes a common sentiment of
strong and sincere affection.
It requires no careful analysis of Chancellor Hoyt's
character to determine the elements of his popularity.
The qualities which insured it are at once apparent.
His genial nature, his singular simplicity and transparency of character, his cordiality unalloyed with
hypocrisy, and his native strength, in which there
was no element of pretension, secured for him general
esteem and friendship.
Chancellor Hoyt hated pretense with the intensity
of Carlyle. From the very depths of his soul lie detested every form of deceit and insincerity. His own
nature, pure beyond suspicion, was




47
"Too conscious of right for endurance of wrong."
His indignation kindled over even the fictions of
hypocrisy, and burned with generous heat at the
reality.
A clear head and a good heart are always valid
titles to our respect and affection. It was upon these
traits of character that Chancellor Hoyt's popularity
rested.
Chancellor Hoyt loved the "luxury of doing good."
He was the warm friend of indigent merit. His heart
was always touched at the sight of penniless and unfriended genius. Girard once said he pitied a poor
woman fifteen dollars.  Mr. Hoyt's friendship was of
the same practical character. Many a noble youth,
oppressed with the burden of poverty, was enabled by
his generosity to continue his studies. Among the
graduates of Exeter, there are many who are largely
indebted to Professor Hoyt for their opportunities of
culture. In his last sickness, he often sent the luxuries intended for himself to the tables of the destitute,
and gave material aid to loyal men whom the ravages
of civil war had despoiled of their property. Limited
means did not deprive him of the virtue of generosity.
Benevolence is not to be estimated by the magnitude
of the gift. Few men were more liberal, in proportion
to their resources, than Mr. Hoyt. He loved to set
smiles where fortune had placed frowns —to erase
from care-worn brows the "crooked autograph" of
misery, and inscribe instead the smiling signatures,of happiness.
One of the grandest elements in Chancellor Hoyt's




48
character was a large-hearted humanity. The circumstances of his early life were humble. He worked
on the farm till he was eighteen. He was a laboring
man all his years. He knew the feelings and wants
of the toiling masses. He believed in the dignity
of labor. He sympathized with working men. He
thought the residence of virtue was in the hearts of
the yeomanry, and in their hands the destinies of the
country. Labor, the general necessity of the race, he
regarded as the prime, Heaven-ordained condition of
intellectual growth, social progress, and public virtue.
Hence he looked with utter abhorrence upon all institutions which tend to breed a contempt for labor, and
to establish an aristocracy of idle wealth and political
corruption. That famous line, in which Terence expressed his sympathy with the whole brotherhood of
man, was with Chancellor Hoyt a living sentiment,
inwrought into the very texture of his being, and pervading, with its fine humanity, the conduct of his
daily life. He rested his principles upon the foundations of eternal right, well knowing that the agitations
of transient passion and prosperous crime could not
shake them. His philosophy conteniplated not the
aggrandizement of guilty patricians, but the welfare of
the race; and not alone the issues of the present hour,
but the interests of future generations.
The religious views of Chancellor Hoyt were broad
and tolerant, and based upon a careful study of the
Scriptures. He had read the New Testament several
times in the original, and amended translations which
he deemed incorrect. He knew by heart all those
passages.which theologians quote in support of par



49
ticular creeds. His faith was not circumscribed by
the narrow bounds of a sectarian ritual. He always
considered honest and enlightened convictions, however different from his own, entitled to respect.  He
thought that diversity of belief was the natural result
of education, temperament, and organization. While,
therefore, he was inflexible in his own views of religious duty, he was tolerant of all honest difference of
opinion. He believed that the Divine Mind accepted
the homage of every devout heart under whatever
peculiarities of form that worship was offered. His
liberal theology did not permit him to think that all
without the pale of his own denomination were guilty
of fatal error.  He thought that organic differences
necessarily led to various conceptions of moral obligations and to diverse systems of worship. The qualities of the Divine character which he loved to dwell
upon were justice, love, and mercy. When Mr. Hoyt
was in college, an incident occurred which seriously
modified his spiritual views. In a written discussion,
assigned by the Faculty, it fell to his lot to maintain
the affirmative of the question, "Is the soul material?"
The careful preparation which he made for this debate strongly drew his attention to the corporeal
modifications of the spirit. He observed the influence
which food, climate, and physiological peculiarities
exert over man's spiritual nature, and was led to attribute too great a dependence of spiritual phenomena
upon material conditions. Mr. Hoyt was never, at
any period of life, a materialist. The gross doctrines
which regard the soul as a mere condition of matter
were repugnant to his philosophy. He conceived of
4




50
the human spirit as essentially distinct from matter,
and endowed with a life which the death of the body
could not destroy. But a belief in the immortality of
the soul is incompatible with the cheerless theories of
materialism.  Mr. Hoyt's mistake consisted solely in
ascribing to man's physical constitution an excessive
influence over his spiritual nature. But, at worst,
his error was only an exaggeration of physical and
psychological truths which we all admit.  The
calmer judgment of mature years.corrected the errors
of early days, and gave a truer conception of man's
spiritual life. I do not think that Mr. Hoyt's nature
was richly endowed with the feeling of reverence.
But he who considers a want of veneration inconsistent with a firm belief in the existence of a creative
intelligence, has never thought soundly on the phenomena of mind. Reverence springs from the feelings, but belief in the existence of a Supreme Being
is the deduction of the reason. The one is emotional,
the other intellectual, and there is no logical and constant relation between them. To Mr. Hoyt's love of
wit and controversy, to his hate of affectation and
hypocrisy, to that candor which freely spoke the
thoughts most men would conceal, is doubtless to be
ascribed much that bore the semblance of irreverence.
In the presence of these great, overshadowing traits,
even large veneration would appear small. Beside
the Alps, common mountains lose their grandeur.' I
have no doubt that Mr. Hoyt's excessive desire to
avoid every appearance and suspicion of cant led him
to do injustice to his religious feelings. Besides, we
ought not to estimate a man's spiritual character by




51
unconsidered expressions uttered in moments of gayety
and social dispute, but by the sober judgments formed
by mature reflection.
Mr. Hoyt's mental constitution and professional
studies led him to prefer the exact sciences. His
mind, by nature and habit, sought to demonstrate
every truth. As a scholar, he relied more upon logic
than upon faith. Speculations, unsusceptible of proof,
were distasteful to his mathematical intellect. And
if, in the years of health, and even in the earlier
periods of his illness, he carried this spirit of philosophic inquiry into matters of religion, it ought to excite no surprise. Is it strange that a man should use the
strongest powers God has given him? Is it wonderful
that a nature essentially mathematical should seek to
prove its priceless hopes?  No scientific doubts ever
shook Chancellor Hoyt's faith in a Divine Being. He
only sought to establish his belief by positive evidence.
His clear intelligence recognized the logical necessity
of a prime cause. Years ago he wrote, " I never entertained an unbelieving doubt of the divine authority
and transforming efficacy of the Christian religion."
As he drew near the dark veil which curtains from
mortal view the mysteries of eternal liBe, he was led,
by solemn meditations upon religious subjects, to repose with a more unquestioning trust upon the consolations of faith. In a late interview, while he already
stood upon the threshold of eternity and was about
to pass into the inner courts of the temple of life, he
expressed, with impressive earnestness, his firm belief
in the great truths of our religion. While he discoursed upon these sacred themes, his eye kindled, his




52
pale cheek flushed, and his voice rose from feeble
whispers to almost its wonted fullness. It seemed as
though his face was lighted up with the radiance of
immortal hopes. His words, uttered in full view of
the solemn realities of another life amid which he
was soon to stand, appeared like the dying eloquence
of a Christian Socrates. He closed a long conversation upon man's spiritual nature and destiny with
these words: "I die a believer in the Christian religion. The three cardinal points of my faith are a
belief in a living God-in distinction from an abstract
law-in the immortality of the human soul, and in
man's personal accountability to his Maker. I have
tried to lead a pure life, and to serve God by benefiting man.'He that loveth not his brother whom he
hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not
seen?'
"I do not agree with that ancient definition of
eternal life which restricted the intelligence of the
soul to a mere consciousness of its experiences in this
world, nor do I adopt the Platonic conception of a
spirit emanating from the Deity and absorbed again
at death into the Divine nature; but I do believe in
an active, individual, progressive life after death.
God's existence and man's immortality are the twin
pillars of our faith-these are the great central facts
from which all the other truths of our Christianity
are derived. Religion is a many-voiced psalm  of
thanksgiving-the anthem of a pious life in adoration
of our Heavenly Father."
A few days before his death, and at his request, the
holy sacrament was administered to him in the pres



53
ence of his family. He died in communion with the
Trinitarian Congregational Church, of which he had
been a member for thirty years.
The students of the University will learn with sad
satisfaction the affectionate interest the dying Chancellor took in their welfare. His classes never ceased
to be the objects of his tender solicitude. He spoke
with evident gratification of the kindly relations which
had always existed between him and the students,
and dwelt with pleasure upon the cordiality with
which the members of the institution had cooperated with him in his efforts for their advancement. He was anxious to the last to ascertain the
standing and relative progress of the students. In
his last hours he summoned some of the students to
his bedside, invoked the blessing of Heaven upon
them, and bade them a solemn farewell. His desire
still to preside over the destinies of the University
was one of the strongest causes of his attachment to
life. With hopeful augury he predicted for Washington University a career of illustrious usefulness.
Even in the unquiet slumbers which brought occasional relief from suffering, his mind revisited the
classic scenes, and again solved for the perplexed
student the problems of language.
In the illusive health of dreams he rejoiced in the
recovery which enabled him to return to pleasant
duties, and again provide for the well-being of the
University. In one of these restless reveries he imagined himself at the University engaged in the conduct
of his recitation, and remarked to his class, "Well,
students, I am ready." These words may well ex



54
press a higher thought-the serene resignation which
succeeded his early unwillingness to leave the great
enterprises of life unfinished.
The students of the University may borrow from
the Chancellor's character valuable lessons for their
own direction. Emulating his noble manhood and
Christian culture, they will remember that talent
without nurture is insufficient, that the hunger of
genius must be fed by the strengthening nutriment of
labor, and that scholarly excellence is secondary to
manly virtue.
Chancellor Hoyt manifested great discretion and
delicate tact in his official intercourse with associate
teachers. He often said that the Faculty of an institution should be a unit, acting in harmony for the
accomplishment of a common result; and he secured
this result by a wise management which compelled
approval, and by a sympathetic co-operation which
made his colleagues his personal friends. His sagacity and his enthusiasm inspired them with one
spirit and a common aim. No teacher ever applied
to him for counsel or redress in vain. No instructor
ever complained to him of any violation of discipline
without the offender having immediate occasion to
regret the, commission of the offense. Nothing provoked him to sterner rebuke than the presumption of
a student to disregard the authority of a subordinate
teacher. This hearty support of fellow-officers, together with his straightforward dealing and genial
intercourse, always bound them to him with feelings
of grateful attachment. But the Chancellor thought
the obligation of gratitude rested upon himself. He




55
often expressed his sense of great obligation to the
Professors of the University for their friendly and
efficient co-operation.
He was also deeply mindful of his indebtedness to
the Board of Directors, and recalled with frequent
acknowledgments their many proofs of personal kindness, their munificent liberality to the University,
and their hearty support of his measures and policy.
In his latest hours, when the pallor of death was
already on his brow, Chancellor Hoyt spoke with
heartfelt emotion of the kindness of his St. Louis
friends. In feeble and broken whispers, he regretted
his inability to express for himself his deep sense of
obligation. IIe proved himself worthy of favors by
his grateful appreciation of them.
During his residence in this city, his independent
manhood and frankness of character secured him many
friends; and through all the months of his protracted
illness, these admirers, whom the nobility of his nature had won, omitted no act of delicate and kindly
attention. Though his family ministered to his wants
with untiring solicitude, and though his wife, with a
devotion that forgot fatigue and courted self-sacrifice
in the service of affection, strove to anticipate every
wish and to assuage every p ang, yet his friends, unwilling to be deprived of this opportunity of showing
their sense of his worth, were unremitting in tributes
of generous civility. While still able to seek recreation in the open air, carriages were placed at his disposal. When no longer strong enough to leave his
room, rich flowers, from friendly hands, shed their
fragrance in the sick-chamber. Rare and costly medi



56
cines were brought from foreign lands to alleviate his
sufferings. Delicacies from many a home gratified
every mood of appetite. Graceful tokens of remembrance were sent to him from scenes of festivity, to
show that even in hours of gayety he was not forgotten. And finally, this community honored his literary
productions with a generous patronage. I have no
doubt that these gentle offices, unsought but grateful, smoothed the painful pathway he was treading.
Friendship soothed, with its tender services, the anguish of his sick-bed; and sympathy encouraged him,
by tokens of affectionate regard, to believe that there
were those who were not insensible of his worth nor
indifferent to his fate.
For all these delicate courtesies, for all these ministries of kindness, I tender to the friends of Chancellor
Hoyt his dying acknowledgments of gratitude.
Only those who have known the privilege and
pleasure of Chancellor Hoyt's intimacy can fully appreciate his character or deplore his loss. My pen
falters in the narrative of our personal relations.
With eyes dim with emotion, I look back through
the pleasant vistas of our friendship. Long years
ago, as a student of Phillips' Exeter Academy, I became acquainted with Mr. Hoyt. I remember, as
though it were yesterday, his first salutation. The
words of that kind greeting linger, like music, in the
memory of the heart.  Stimulated by his friendly
encouragements, I gained new hopes of victory in the
battle of life, and fresh determination to redress the
wrongs of fortune. The friendship which began between the humble pupil and the warm-hearted teacher
has never known a moment's interruption. It would




57
require an eloquent gratitude to recount all his kindnesses. His personal interest, his wise advice, his
latchless hospitality, his quick sympathy and cheerful
encouragement in moments when life looked sunless,
are titles to my grateful regard, which Lethe shall
not make me forget. Mr. Hoyt was by no means exempt from the imperfections of our frail humanity; he
undoubtedly had his faults; but we gladly forget his
few defects in the memory of his many excellences.
We mourn a public loss. Chancellor Hoyt fell in
the pride of his powers. Had his life been prolonged
to the bourn of divine allotment, I feel sure he would
have left behind him still greater and more enduring
monuments of public usefulness. He was ambitious
to leave a memory which good men might cherish,
and a fame illustrious for public service. In his last
days, Chancellor Hoyt dwelt, with eloquent regrets,
upon the incompletion of his plans and labors. He
spoke of his schemes for the advancement of the University, of the literary enterprises he had projected,
and of the lively interest he felt in the educational
prosperity of St. Louis and the West.  The unreserved consecration of his great powers to the cause
of education, and his success in his brief administration of Washington University, justified expectations
of wide and eminent usefulness. But that career of
honorable service is ended. That Christian manhood,
that common sense enriched with liberal discipline,
that noble independence of the accidents of fortune,
that proud irreverence for titled folly, that lofty scorn
for every shape of meanness, that instant sympathy
with human suffering, that native affinity with exalted natures, that ardent and steadfast friendship is




58
now but a recollection and an influence.  The noble
example is left, the loved exemplar is gone. The
charms which rendered his society so delightful but
deepen the sorrows of our bereavement. Bereft of his
genial presence, we feel oppressed with a sense of solitude.  Death has painfully revealed to us the magnitude of our loss. The gloom of the cypress has succeeded the sunlight of friendship. We stand, chill
and desolate, in the shadow of a great grief.
Who could witness, without emotion, the moral
grandeur of the death-scene? The soul, weaned from
the love of life by the discipline of suffering, and
quickened by disease to almost spiritual intelligence,
seemed already radiant with light from beyond the
grave. The well-ordered household, the affections
living in death and surviving its tortures, the impressive exhortations to religious life, the tearful farewell to the members of his family, the soul conscious
in dissolution of its immortality and sustained by an
unfaltering trust, repeated the solemn triumph of
Addison's death, and again showed the sublime fortitude of the dying Christian.
We shall cherish the sacred flame of his remembrance with vestal piety, and seek guidance from the
fragrant grave of buried friendship.
"Thus his memory, like some holy light,
Kept alive in our hearts, will improve them,
For worth shall look fairer, and truth more bright,
When we think how he lived but to love them.
And as fresher flowers the sod perfume,
Where buried saints are lying,
So our hearts shall borrow'a sweet'ning bloom
From the image he left there in dying."




59
NOTE.
AT a meeting of the Faculty of Washington University, on the morning of Chancellor Hoyt's decease,
the following resolutions were adopted:Resolved, That in the removal of the late Chancellor Hoyt, by
death, we deeply mourn the loss of a wise counselor, a generous
colleague, and a peerless teacher.
Resolved, That we share the profound sorrow of his bereaved
family, and tender to them our heartfelt condolence at their irreparable loss, commending them to the care of Him who has promised His special favor to the fatherless and the widow.
The students of the University also met, and unanimously
Resolved, That the death of Chancellor Hoyt has deprived us
of an able instructor, a kind guardian, and a genial friend.
Resolved, That, in this hour of severe and solemn affliction, we
tender to the mourning family the solace of our sympathy, and
that we deplore, with a grief akin to their own, the death of our
beloved Chancellor.
And on a subsequent occasion, the Board of Directors testified their sense of the loss the University had
sustained in the death of its Chancellor, by the adoption of the following preamble and resolutions:WHEREAS, It has pleased Almighty God to remove from our
midst the late Chancellor of Washington University, Joseph G.
Hoyt, while in the prime of life and the ripe and vigorous exercise
of his rare powers; and
WHEREAS, It is fitting that the records of this institution bear
testimony as well to the eminent merits of the departed-its first
Chancellor-as to their earnest appreciation by those to whom its
welfare is committed; be it therefore
Resolved, 1st. That the Directors of Washington University
deeply deplore the loss which this institution and the cause of edu



60
cation has sustained in the death of Chancellor Hoyt. Gifted with
a mind of unusual vigor and clearness, enriched by ripe scholarship
and varied culture, he united to these a temper so genial, so fearless, and so just, and a judgment so mature as to combine, in rare
measure, the talent of felicitous instruction with that of successful
administration.  To his unwearied and cordial devotion to its
interests, and his quick and clear perception of its needs, is largely
due the success which the University has thus far attained; and
whatever measure of usefulness may in the future attend its career,
the Directors deeply feel that upon all that future will be impressed
the- stamp of his character and his labor.
2d. That to his bereaved family the Directors tender the heartfelt tribute of their sympathy under their heavy affliction.
3d. That in perpetual memory of Chancellor Hoyt, and of the
signal ability with which he discharged its duties, the Professorial
chair in the University heretofore filled by him be henceforward
styled the Hoyt Professorship of Greek Literature.
4th. That these resolutions be entered upon the records of the
corporation, and that a copy be sent to the family of the late
Chancellor.
On the morning of the funeral, the Students and
Directors of the University, wearing badges of mourning, escorted the body to the First Trinitarian Congregational Church, where the funeral services were
performed by the Reverend Doctors Post and Eliot.
A plaintive melody, sung by the University Choir,
added, with its solemn and touching strains, to the
impressiveness of the occasion. The procession then
moved to the river, where the students bade adieu to
the form of their beloved Chancellor.
The body was carried to Exeter, New Hampshire,
and there, after piety had performed the final obsequies and friendship offered its last homage, it was
laid in a retired and beautiful spot, which years ago
Mr. Hoyt selected as his long resting-place.