Hohfeld

published in a volume entitled Fundamental Le-
gal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reason-
ing (1919, rev. ed., 1923), setting forth the ideas
on legal analysis which later became known as
the "Hohfeld system/' In these articles he point-
ed out the confusion in legal reasoning that had
resulted from the use of legal terms connoting
indefinite or multiple concepts and urged the ne-
cessity of a more precise and accurate terminol-
ogy as a basis for legal analysis. He then set
forth in the form of a table a system of eight
terms arranged according to their connotations,
each term expressing a fundamental legal con-
cept. The table follows:

Correlatives right privilege power immunity
duty no-right liability disability

Opposites right privilege power immunity
no-right duty disability liability

For some time the significance of Hohfeld's
ideas seemed not to be understood and it was
not until his Yale colleagues, Professors Walter
Wheeler Cook and Arthur L. Corbin, had es-
poused his cause that the "system" began to take
root After Hohfeld's death his views became the
subject of much discussion and controversy
among law teachers and scholars and the influ-
ence of the "system" gradually widened. Many
teachers, writers, and a growing circle of judges
now acknowledge the utility of the Hohfeldian
concepts in legal thinking and expression. The
American Law Institute has adopted the Hohf eld-
terminology in substance for use in the restate-
ment of the law, and John R. Commons has
adapted it to the field of economics. Before
Hohfeld, others had urged more precision in the
use of the terms right, duty, and power, but
Hohfeld was the first to point out the necessity
of other terms in an adequate system of analysis,
and the first to provide a complete set of satis-
factory terms arranged and described in such a
way as to show their fundamental relation to
each other.

In his teaching Hohfeld did not lecture. His
method was to lead the student from point to
point by well-conceived questions and hypothet-
ical cases. At the beginning of the class hour
he would briefly restate the problem under dis-
cussion at the last recitation, and from that point
proceed with the development of the subject
slowly, meticulously, irresistibly. Day after day,
almost monotonously, the treatment would con-
tinue in this fashion. Frequently, many days
would be spent in discussion of a single hypo-
thetical case. His thoroughness and incisive
logic swept all opposition before them. He re-
spected neither persons nor principles in select-
ing the target of his intellectual thrusts. Indeed

Hoisington
his complete lack of reverence for accepted legal
dogma sometimes formed the basis for critical
comment among students. He sometimes mani-
fested irritation at indifference or inattention on
the part of students but displayed an unusual de-
gree of patience with those who showed interest
and seriousness of purpose. He was considerate
and courteous to students who sought his advice
and seemed never to tire of discussing difficult
legal problems with them.
Hohfeld was of medium height, with a rather
swarthy complexion, large, penetrating, brown
eyes, and an abundance of black hair. His only
recreation was walking. He was a lover of good
music and highly appreciative of art. He never
married. In February 1918 he had a heart lesion
from which endocarditis developed. In July fol-
lowing he was taken to the home of his sister in
Alameda, Cal., where after lingering for three
months, he passed away at the age of thirty-nine,
[Sources include: Yale Law Jour., Dec. 1918, June
1919; Cal. Law Rev., Nov. 1918; Stanford Illustrated
Rev., Nov. 1918; San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 16,
1901, Oct. 22, 1918; Argonaut (San Francisco), May
27, 1901; Das Silberne Buck der Familie Sack, vol. II
(Wiesbaden, 1926); information as to certain facts
from Hohfeld's brother, Edward Hohfeld, Jr. For crit-
icisms of the Hohfeld system see Albert Kocourek,
Jurat Relations (1927), Appendix; for an adaptation
of the system in the economic field see John R. Com-
mons, Legal Foundations of Capitalism (1924).]
G.W.G.
HOISINGTON, HENRY RICHARD (Aug.
23, i8oi-May 16, 1858), Congregational clergy-
man, missionary, author, was born at Vergermes,
Vt, the son of Job and Sarah Hoisington. A
printer by trade, practising in Utica, N. Y., and
New York City, he became eager for an educa-
tion and fitted himself at Bloomfield Academy
(N. J.) for Williams College, from which he
graduated in 1828. He then went to Auburn
Theological Seminary, graduating in 1831, was
ordained in the Congregational ministry, and
settled in Aurora, N. Y. On Sept. 21, 1831, he
married Nancy Lyman. In response to a call
for missionaries to Ceylon by the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,
he offered himself for the work and sailed in
1833, reaching Jaffna, Ceylon, Oct 28. His first
appointment was Manepy (1834). On July 31,
1834, he was one of two missionaries of the
American Board to reach the holy city of Ma-
dura, on the mainland of India, and to open a
mission there. In 1835, back in Ceylon, he was
appointed instructor in the English language in
Batticotta Seminary. In 1836 he became prin-
cipal and proceeded to develop the institution,
believing that "the Seminary need no longer be
a school of infants^ graduating mere children"
(Missionary Herald, August 1837), He con-