We read with him Terence and Plautus, the Medea of Seneca,
Horace, and probably some Latin prose, which I have forgotten.
He was a very learned Latin scholar. I do not know whether
he cared anything about poetry or eloquence or the philosophy
of the Roman authors or no. Certainly he did nothing to indicate
to us that he had any such interest or to stimulate any such
interest in his pupils. He was strict to harshness in dealing
with his class. The only evidence of enthusiasm I ever witnessed
in Dr. Beck was this: He brought into the classroom one day
an old fat German with very dirty hands and a dirty shirt.
He had a low forehead and a large head with coarse curling
hair which looked as if it had not seen a comb or brush for
a quarter of a century. We looked with amazement at this
figure. He went out before the recitation was over. But
Dr. Beck said to us: "This is Dr. ----, gentlemen. He is
a most admiwable scholar." (This was the Doctor's pronunciation
of the r.) "He has wead Cicewo through every year for nearly
fifty years for the sake of settling some important questions.
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