Ohio History Journal

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112 Ohio Arch

112      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

The years in which Professor Randall taught were previous

to the introduction of the Case system in the Colleges of Law.

In a degree he anticipated this method of teaching. He had

familiarized himself with a large number of the important de-

cisions of the courts in cases where commercial paper was the

cause of the litigation. In addition he had the happy faculty

of developing by hypothesis a well constructed controversy. His

students from these hypotheses and cited cases were led to the

derivation of the principles on which the decisions of the courts

rested. This method was in striking contrast with the a priori

method long in vogue among teachers of the law. The test of

time has demonstrated the wisdom of his method. It may not be

too much to say that in a measure he was the forerunner of the

present method now universally in use.

Others have written upon the personal qualities of Professor

Randall but it may not be superfluous to add here that his high

ideals as to what the legal profession should represent, supported

by his own unimpeachable character, aided greatly in determining

the character of the College of Law. The spirit of industry

and of moral earnestness in the Faculty permeated the student

body and has led to a quality in the College that in turn has

reacted upon the graduates and produced a body of lawyers de-

voted to the best ideals and practices of the profession. The

character of the lawyer is quite as important to the state as his

learning, or his ability to try a case. From this point of view the

College of Law has won its place. The Faculty has been largely

responsible for this result and is entitled to high praise for the

inspiration aroused in students by virtue of what they were. Not

the least worthy of mention in this particular was Emilius Oviatt

Randall.

 

 

RANDALL, THE JOURNALIST.

BY JAMES W. FAULKNER, L. H. D.

There was something of the Bohemian in the composition of

Emilius O. Randall, a tendency to escape from the conventional

and to appear in the natural. This trait, observed by many of

his friends, had its origin in something akin to a congenital