University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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constitutional law, above referred to. He explains, for example, the nation as an organism, whose growth is determined by its surroundings and inheritance. Such evolution is not conceived of as blind, but is the result of conscious adaptation of means and powers to the attainment of more or less clearly per- ceived ends. In general he is inclined to be rather optimistic. As a teacher Professor Moses is exceptionally successful in arousing enthusiasm for his subject. He always succeeds in getting the students to study on account of the interest he inspires in his work. Many of the graduates still continue their studies in the line of History and Political Science with an avidity due largely to the stimulus they received in that direction in his class-room. It would not do for us to close this brief account of Professor Moses without some reference to the clearness and beauty of his literary style. This happy faculty for lucid expression, due, in part, no doubt, to his extensive use of other languages, is one of the most marked characteristics of the man. And this, together with the aptness of his illustrations, is what has given him such an enviable reputation as a lecturer. In calling Professor Moses, in 1875, the University of California had the advantage of obtaining as soon as any other University in this country the services of a man trained in the latest methods of historical investigation. In view of the location of our University it is fitting that his researches should have lain so largely as they do in the subject of Spanish American History. A University Professor should play tw r o parts. In the one role he should be a force contributing to the general progress of science. In the other, by just so much as he profits and stimulates his pupils, he will be the center from which new currents start. These two roles are closely united. No man can be great as a teacher who is not greater as a scholar and thinker. Only the man who is himself ceaselessly investigating, thinking, progressing can inspire others.

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of this school were still in their prime. Among them were Roscher, Knies, Hildebrand. Held and Nasse. These historians and economists drew students from all over the world. Among the contemporary students of our Professor were many who have since won eminent distinction, both in this country and in the different countries of Europe. The foundations for his subsequent work were certainly laid under the most auspicious circumstances. The names of Treitschki and Knies on his Doctor ' s diploma, obtained in Heidelberg in 1873, testify to his connection with these notable scholars. To describe Professor Moses ' work since that time is, in a way, to trace the manner in which he has moulded and developed the ideas that he received from these men. We have space for but the briefest outline. While Professor Moses ' work has been in many different departments of History and Political Economy, perhaps the two fields in which he has obtained widest recognition are Comparative Constitutional History and Spanish American History. It was on these two subjects that he lectured at the Chatauqua Summer School last season. The latter of these subjects, to which his attention was, doubtless, drawn by his early removal to California, has been the occasion of several trips to Europe, especially to Spain, and to Mexico, and is the one at present chiefly occupying his attention. On that subject he is regarded as one of the authorities. The scientific character of his work in this line makes things look very different from the fairy tales of Prescott or the undigested accumula- tions of Hubert Bancroft. As a writer and teacher he is very careful to maintain a strict scientific attitude. He never allows himself, nor any of his students, to be influenced by a personal subjective view or to confuse for a moment what ought to be or what he might like to find, with what is. A single quotation from his book on Politics well illustrates this. He says: But we must be careful to draw the line between what the state is, or, under given circumstances, must be, and what the state should be, and should do. In Political Economy his method is a combination of that of the English School with that of the German Historical School. He naturally acquired under such teachers as Roscher and Knies a preference for the inductive method, but he has not followed the lead of his teachers in this direction so far as they were inclined to go. In view of the great results accomplished by the English School he has not been inclined to discard altogether their more abstract methods. His thought is, therefore, to carry the a-priori method as far as it can be safely carried, guarding carefully the conclusions obtained by this method by refer- ence to the peculiar circumstances of each country and each age. His philosophy of History, if he were to formulate one, would probably be that of continual evolution. This is very well illustrated by his work on

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On the western shore of the golden state The blue bay laughs to the sky, And over its waters that lie at rest The white-winged ships go by. There in the haven that ' ' ' s free from storm They prepare for the voyage that must be; Then out thro 1 the beautiful Golden Gate They sail to the Western Sea. Above the sparkling smiling bay There is nestled amid the hills, A place, where the happy days of youth Are guarded from cares and ills. There, in our Alma Mater fair, They prepare for the life that must be, Then thro ' ' the last day ' s golden gate They pass to the world ' s wide sea.