The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 14, July 1910 - April, 1911 Page: 177
348 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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George Pierce Garrison 177
ful of duties as of rights. He was clear in exposition, interested in
students and their lives, ever animated by a noble purpose; there-
fore one is not surprised that both the negligent and the diligent
thought well of him. He insisted that education must reach every
human capacity, must fit for life, but not for life in a narrowly
utilitarian sense.
It is obvious to those who have read his books that Professor
Garrison possessed an excellent command of the English language.
As a speaker he was effective, possessing a good voice and a pleas-
ing presence. In making impromptu addresses he was often par-
ticularly happy as is evidenced by his admirable and partly unpre-
meditated reply (fortunately taken down at the time and printed
in Volume IX of the University of Texas Record) to the felicita-
tions showered upon him at the dinner given in his honor at the
Driskill Hotel in 1909. His written style is careful and logical,
abounds in passages of real literary merit, and is garnished here
and there with quiet humor. He had a most extensive knowledge
of the English Bible, an accomplishment all too rare in this gen-
eration, and could quote accurately many verses and several entire
chapters. He was well read in English literature and was not
unacquainted with the literature of antiquity. Through life he
retained a fondness for good poetry, and in his youth he wrote a
few verses himself. One of his lesser accomplishments was an
ability to sing negro songs after the old plantation fashion, and by
doing so he sometimes surprised people who knew him only in his
professorial capacity.
Southern by birth and sympathy and warmly appreciative of all
that was good in the civilization of the old South, Professor Gar-
rison was always singularly dispassionate in his view of all ques-
tions relating to the Civil War. He did much to defend the South
from accusations based on defective historical knowledge, but he
regarded the war as a necessary step in the welding of the United
States. He knew that the progress of civilization had altered and
would continue to alter the relations originally existing between
the states and the federal government. For the Constitution and
the Judiciary he had an intelligent appreciation, but he did not
regard either as incapable of improvement. While not unmindful
of the benefits to be derived from a proper organization of govern-
mental machinery, he maintained that the liberty and welfare of
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 14, July 1910 - April, 1911, periodical, 1911; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101054/m1/199/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.