PROFESSOR WENDELL'S RESIGNATION

We have so long regarded Professor Wendell as one of Harvard's unchanging institutions that it is hard to believe that he will not be with us next year. In his long career of thirty-six years from instructor to professor he has been the scarce of almost more instruction and inspiration than any other one man. His resignation is all the more unfortunate coming after the loss of three of Harvard's most prominent scholars--Professors Royce, Parker and Muensterberg.

This year Professor Wendell had dropped many of his courses preparatory to the step he has now taken. For that reason his loss is the less sudden. It is none the less unfortunate. Those of us who have encountered the personality of this broad and keen man realize what future generations of Harvard men are missing in his departure. Those who have not been fortunate to study under him still know the sympathy and the humanity of his interpretation of literature. Under his guidance students have learned to regard the masterpieces of literature with as much interest and intimacy as it they were contemporary fiction--the highest meed of praise. By means of his charmingly written books he has awakened a real love of literature in wider fields than the University. Perhaps his greatest contribution is his personal influence on the literary tastes of the present generation.

It is to be hoped that Professor Wendell's new honors--the professorship emeritus and his membership in the Academy--may give him as much pleasure as he has given the University.