Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 14/Mr. Scott's Extensive Library
MR. SCOTT'S EXTENSIVE LIBRARY AS A GUAGE OF HIS BROAD SCHOLARSHIP AND LITERARY ACTIVITY
By Charles H. Chapman[1]
H. W. Scott's intellectual interests were extremely varied. His wide reading and habit of deep thought were shown most, of course, in his editorials, which touched on every theme and were always illuminative; but his conversation also betrayed an almost exhaustless knowledge of books, and constant meditation upon their contents. Throughout the course of his long life he was a persistent reader and collector of books. Like most men of mark, he began to form his library in early life, at a time when every volume represented more or less sacrifice.[2] It is from the books which are thus purchased by a young man more perhaps than from the acquisitions of later years, that his genuine literary predispositions may be ascertained. When he has attained to fortune and wide acquaintance with public characters, a man buys books because they are making a noise in the world, or because the author has a great scientific reputation or for a thousand other reasons but in his struggling youth he buys them only because he wishes to read them. Some of Mr. Scott's earliest acquisitions were histories and volumes of the classics.
His preference for these branches of literature never diminished. The catalogue of his library shows that he came into possession sooner or later of almost every important historical work that has ever been written, not the narrow technical essays certainly, but the productions of wide international interest. He read Greek with the ordinary collegiate skill and Latin with much facility so that the great classical historians will be found among his books in the original. But in his college days the modern languages were less studied than they are now, and being a man of his time, he was less versed in them than in the ancient tongues. Hence he collected the modern histories for the most part in translations. He was one of the comparatively small number of present day public men who liked to read Gibbon. This most profound of the historians Mr. Scott knew familiarly and quoted liberally. Gibbon's account of the early church particularly struck his fancy, since, as everybody understands, the great Editor inclined to take the same views of theology as the philosophical historian did.
His familiarity with the classics was revealed by everything he wrote. He could quote long passages from Vergil in the original and had dozens of lines from Catullus at his tongue's end. Not long before he passed away, Mr. Scott began to renew his acquaintance with Ovid whom he had read at college but somewhat neglected since. It was interesting to see the skill with which he rendered the Metamorphoses into English and the ease with which he construed lines that have puzzled the commentators. He may not always have been correct but he never failed to have an opinion and a well grounded one at that. Mr. Scott's extraordinarily vigorous English style was founded oh his Latin reading. He wrote with all the precision of the classical authors and often with more than their incisiveness. His Latin taught him to shun that diffusive wordiness which is the bane of so much common writing and gave him the model for those condensed and forceful sentences which never failed to go straight to the mark, and pierce it when they struck. We may thank Mr. Scott's classical tastes for a great deal of the power over Oregon politics which he wielded up to the day of his death. Naturally, mere study of the classics would not have accomplished anything if his mind had not been of a caliber to benefit by them, but in his case the instrument was admirably adapted to its use and needed nothing but sharpening. This the Greek and Latin authors gave it as nothing else could have done.
With the classics Mr. Scott cherished a great fondness for ancient history, not only that of Greece and Rome but particularly of the older nations. He followed assiduously everything that was written about Egypt and the works of the great modern Egyptologists will be found among his books. Like many superior readers, he was keenly interested in the progress of Assyriology. The decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions filled him with wonder and he eagerly followed every new discovery in that cryptic field. Closely allied to this was his fondness for Biblical studies. Very little has ever been brought to light by the Higher Criticism which Mr. Scott did not master. Naturally of an investigative turn of mind, he found endless delight in those marvelous interpretations of the Old Testament tales which criticism has provided. The miraculous in itself made but a slight appeal to him but the scientific explanation of a reported miracle gave him unqualified pleasure. Among his books will be found the best critical works of his time both upon the Old Testament and the New. The Life of Paul was one of the subjects which interested him deeply. In one of his best editorials he explained elaborately the use which Paul made of the Roman principle of adoption in propagating early Christianity. Referring to the famous text, "If children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ," he showed how the apostle bent the concept of the Roman law to his purpose and made his religion acceptable to the rulers of the world by assimilating it to their legal preconceptions. The purport of the editorial was that Paul had most skilfully applied his own theory that a good propagandist ought to be all things to all men.
Mr. Scott's editorials betray everywhere his wide reading in the publicists. The abstract theory of law and speculations on the basis of government occupied his mind a great deal. Burke was his favorite author in this field but he read many others. Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France" was one of the many books which he seemed to have by heart and its doctrines pervaded all he wrote. Next to Burke, Mr. Scott probably revered the political authority of Alexander 
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HARVEY W. SCOTT
AT HIS EDITORIAL DESK ABOUT THE YEAR 1898, IN THE OREGONIAN BUILDING AT THIS DESK HE WROTE HIS "SOUND MONEY" EDITORIALS IN THE "FREE SILVER" PERIOD
Most of the great books on free thought will be found in his library. Milton's prose works, Richard Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding and books of that caliber he had read attentively and made their contents part of his mental possessions. Voltaire was not among his particular favorites. He inclined to Carlyle's judgment of the great French freethinker, that he was somewhat shallow and more disposed to tear down than build up. But upon the whole his views coincided with those of the British liberals in theology and the skeptics of all ages found him a sympathetic reader of their books. Naturally with tastes like these Mr. Scott could not escape the fascination of metaphysics. Among his books the famous philosophers all find a place. As has been intimated already, his personal views were inclined to those of Locke and the "common sense" school in general but his sympathies, included all sorts of speculation. He understood Berkeley's theory and liked to trace its history through its many devious forms until it finally appeared transformed into Christian Science. He was familiar with William James's Psychology and thoroughly understood its religious and political consequences, but Pragmatism appeared a little too late to win his interest. His health began to fail at about the time when James introduced Bergson to American readers.
From what has been said it will appear that Mr. Scott was fond of "solid reading." This is true but not exclusively. A person who did not understand the breadth of his sympathies and the catholicity of his taste would be surprised to see the number of novels in his library. The "best sellers" of his later years are missing but most of the fiction that has stood the test of time is on his shelves. His favorite was Thackeray. Very likely there was no novelist that he cared for so much as he did for Burke or Shakespeare, but he had read the best of them, as he had the best of everything. He knew the Biblical stories better than any others. Mr. Scott's knowledge of the Bible was exhibited at every turn. He could hardly write a column without half a dozen allusions to the sacred text. The Bible and Shakespeare always lay on his desk and he used both of them constantly. Much of the vigor of his English style was due to his memory of Scriptural expressions. Perhaps he owed more to that source than he did to the classics. He was always pleased to have Biblical subjects touched upon in The Oregonian and frequently discussed them himself. When he did so his knowledge made what he said final.
His memory of poetry was astonishing. He could quote page after page of Paradise Lost. Burns's songs were at his tongue's end. He knew the finest passages in Faust and loved Tennyson. The English and classical poets were equally familiar to him, but it was Shakespeare that he read most and quoted constantly. He was never at a loss for a line from the great dramatist to illustrate a point or clinch a witticism. His library contains all the celebrated editions of Shakespeare down to the Furness set with its voluminous notes and readings. Mr. Scott found a mild pleasure in the vagaries of the Baconians, as they style themselves, but their arguments never made any impression upon his mind. He always maintained that Shakespeare "wrote his own plays" and never conceded that any other hypothesis was tenable. He was as conscious as anybody could be that there was a great mystery surrounding the production of poetry so marvellous by a man with opportunities in life so slender but that consideration never weakened his faith in the Bard of Avon.
In the course of his life Mr. Scott collected one of the largest private libraries in the Western United States. It was the result of wide and varied culture, catholic tastes and rare opportunities to discover and acquire what was best. From his youth he was an omnivorous reader and his memory was equal to his hunger for books. He seldom forgot a passage. Whatever he had seen in print he could quote, often years afterward. He always knew precisely what books contained the information he needed at any moment and usually they were in his own collection. To one who understands and loves books Mr. Scott's library gives a better account of his life and thought than any biographer could write.
HARVEY W. SCOTT
By Dean Collins
Across the doorway to the dim unknown
Fate's hand the somber curtains draws at last,
Where, from the teeming world of men, alone
And unafraid, a mighty Soul has passed;
One who, by his indomitable will,
Into the ranks where deeds are. done, had pressed;
Upreared himsef among his fellows till
He moved a power in the growing West.
Lament, O Oregon; Death takes from thee
His priceless toll, and grimly passes on;
But one whose hand wrought in thy destiny
Is, in the shadow of that passage, gone.
A master spirit housed m mortal clay—
Lo, with his death, a giant passed away!
Dallas, Oregon.
Notes
[edit]- ↑ Dr. Chapman, himself a noted writer and scholar, is especially qualified to appreciate the mind and work of Mr. Scott, both by his own attainments and his intimate acquaintance with the late editor. Many years the two men were in contact, especially during the period of 1904-10, when Dr. Chapman was assistant to Mr. Scott as editorial writer. Dr. Chapman's writings entitle him to recognition among the ablest of the editor's assistants such as Alfred Holman, Lucius A. Bigelow, Frank A. Carle, Ernest Bross and Mrs. Catharine A. Coburn. (L. M. S.)
- ↑ This library is preserved as Mr. Scott left it.