To Abbott Lawrence Lowell
Colonial Club
Cambridge, Massachusetts. December 3, 1910
Dear Mr Lowell,
Thank you very much for the information about comparative marking, which I am sending to my assistants in Phil. B. It seems to me quite natural, however, that the marks in this course should be much higher than in a group which contains several courses taken almost exclusively by Freshmen. It is also to be noted that Phil. B. contains a decidedly select body of students, comes at 1.30 (an hour avoided by the self-indulgent) and is one in which ability and intelligence, even without very much work, suffice to produce good results, so that B is more commonly attained than it might be by the same men in other courses, when these men are clever.
Yours sincerely G Santayana
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Two, 1910-1920. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001.
Location of manuscript: Harvard Archives, Harvard University, Cambridge MA