University of Louisville - Thoroughbred Yearbook (Louisville, KY)

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4 Qnd earthly power doth then. show likest God's When mercy seasons justice” oT Merchant of Senice:, ry, we J

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aH, 26 The Colonel CREDIMUS A little sense—just now and then— Is relished by the worst of men. The U. of L. will one day be the peer of any of her great sister universities. The sons and daughters of our Alma Mater, whom she has prepared for the battle of Life, will win for her what laurels they can. Prodesse quam conspici is the motto of the servants of Love, and the secret of human happiness. The converse of this proposition serves the slaves of Ambition, and explains the lamentable fate of many an historic hero. The purpose of a university is to mold thinkers, not to fashion cultured masks. Honors obtained by puffed averages, and games won with loaded dice or marked cards, are on a par. A is the most popular letter at the U. of L., but B, with its beautiful curves, is far superior to the angular A, and stands out much more prominently on the report. While the world is growing better, there is still ample room for improvement. In leaving the via media, it is difficult to realize in which direction one is going, since both above and below there is gross indulgence in the popular vices. The former relation between parent and child has been reversed. It ought to read, viz.: Parents should be seen, not heard. Self-sacrifice is much oftener heard than seen. When woman becomes the equal of man, she will lose her superiority as woman. In future ages Politeness will be known as the lost art of the Twentieth Century. The modern eulogistic epitaphs engraven on handsome monuments testify to the contrary of Mark Antony's oft-repeated couplet: The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.”

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28 The Colonel HISTORY AND RECORD OF THE LAW DEPARTMENT HE Law Department of the University of Louisville was organized in the fall of 1846, and has held its sessions continuously since that time. It began with a corps of three professors—Henry Pirtle, Garnett Duncan, and Preston 8. Lough- borough. The building on the southeast corner of Ninth and Chestnut was erected with the intention of being used as a suitable building for the Law Department and for an Academic Department, which it was then expected would be established; but no Academic Department was established until 1908. It had been thought that the Louisville Male High School might be a branch of the University, but such an arrange- ment was found to be in conflict with the Constitution and laws of this State. The sessions origin- ally were five months in length, closing in February, and so continued for some forty years; after- ward they were lengthened to seven months’ sessions. In 1881 the Faculty was reduced to a single member, William Chenault, who conducted the school until 1884, when the Faculty was filled up to the old number of three, and so continued until 1908. In 1908 three new chairs were added to the Faculty, so that there are now six professors in charge of the institution. Its professors since its foundation have been as follows: Henry Pirtle, Henry J. Stites, Emmet Field, Garnett Duncan, William F. Bullock, W. O. Harris, Preston 8. Loughborough, Bland Ballard, Charles B. Seymour, Ephraim M. Ewing, Thomas E. Bramlette, George DuRelle, James Pryor, James 8. Pirtle, Perey N. Booth, James Speed, Horatio W. Bruce, Leon P. Lewis, John Preston, William Chenault, Arthur B. Bensinger, Horatio F. Simrall, Henry C. Pindell, Alex G. Barret. Peter B. Muir, Rozel Weissinger, Of those who were professors prior fo 1886, Judge P. B. Muir and James 8. Pirtle alone survive. Probably the oldest alumnus now living is Colonel R. T. Durrett, one of the best-known citizens of Louisville. Judge Miller, at present a judge of the Court of Appeals, is a graduate of the school. Richard Oglesby, a member of the Class of 1849, became a Governor of Illinois. Many prominent members of the Louisville bar have been graduates of the school, among whom I mention: Rozel Weissinger, George M. Davie, and James P. Helm. A considerable number of its alumni have filled judicial positions; numbers of them have been members of Congress. Among the prosecuting attorneys we will mention Colonel Phil Lee and the famous prosecutor, now living, A. Floyd Byrd. The building at Ninth and Chestnut was found too large for the use of the Law School; it was occupied for many years by the Louisville Male High School, the Law School being removed to rented quarters in Court Place; about 1905, however, the Law Department took possession of the old building, and continued to hold sessions there until 1908, when it removed to its present quarters on the University grounds on Broadway between First and Second streets. Judge Henry Pirtle did much during his long course of service as a professor to shape the policy of the school and to form the minds of his students. Although it is now nearly forty years since he ceased to be a professor in the institution, his influence is still felt. He was a man of varied learn- ing, and the contact with him was a stimulus to young men in the direction of the love of learning and fondness for accuracy. It has so happened that five of the professors in the list have each served for more than twenty years, averaging a service of twenty-four years among them. Inevitably the views of these five men have much to do with the development of the school. While their colleagues were men very highly experienced, none of these colleagues served for a longer term than eight years. As might be ex- pected, their modes of teaching are not so well known among the members of the bar of this State as the method of teaching of the five who served for the longest periods. James Speed, who was at one time Attorney General of the United States, is the only instance of a professor who, having retired from the service, afterward returned to a professorship. He served from 1856 to 1858, and also, after the reorganization of the school, from 1873 to 1879.