He went to college, studied hard, because he was ambitious, and graduated with honor.

Law he chose as a profession; and, in order to secure the highest advantages, entered the office of a distinguished attorney in the city of New York, and gave to its study the best efforts of a clear, acute and logical mind.

Self-reliant, proud, and in the habit of reaching his ends by the nearest ways, he took his place at the bar with a promise of success rarely exceeded.

From his widowed mother, who died before he reached his majority, Hartley Emerson inherited a moderate fortune with which to begin the world.

Few young men started forward on their life-journey with so small a number of vices, or with so spotless a moral character.