facts and might well be compared to a few grains of wheat in the midst
of infinite chaff.

Judge Hoar did not lecture before the lyceum, which seemed strange, for
he was not only a man of vigorous intellect, but had, as Lowell said,

"More wit and gumption and shrewd Yankee sense
Than there are mosses on an old stone-fence,"

and he could have made any subject interesting in which he was
interested himself.

The Hoar family for some time past had been almost kings in Concord, as
frequently happens where there is an uncommonly strong man, either a
lawyer or a manufacturer, in a town of two or three thousand
inhabitants. They were a hardy New England race, lawyers by an inherited
tendency, and had now made their mark in public affairs for three
generations. They can count among their immediate relatives more
senators and representatives to Congress than any other American family.
It was said in 1775 that while Samuel Adams represented the force and
virtue of New England life, John Adams was the best product of its
cultivated side; and it would seem as if old Samuel Hoar, the founder of
his line, were a mean between the two. Fortunate is such a father if he
has a son who inherits his talents and virtues as well as his property;
and fortunate is the son whose father knows from his own experience what
is best to do for him.

The Judge was always an interesting figure in the Concord streets, and
also a pleasant person to meet, for there was never the least pretention
about him. He usually had the air of a man with an object before him,