Mr. Gerard began his legal studies in the law office of the distinguished advocate George Griffen, then in the zenith of his fame. He read law with avidity, and soon mastered the con tents of the elementary text books on this subject.

As an essential part of preliminary legal training, Mr. Gerard early saw that it was necessary to acquire the art of speaking with facility and perspicuity. Accordingly, he and a few associates of his early professional life, Hiram Ketchum, Thomas Fessenden, Ogden Hoffman, Hugh Maxwell, and other young lawyers, formed a debating society, called the Forum. Their place of meeting was in one of the largest rooms of the City Hotel, on Broadway, near Cedar Street. Few survive to remember the efforts of Mr. Gerard, Mr. Hoffman, and others at these weekly discussions. There was a constellation of bril liant young men in the Society, and the very best people in the city went to hear their debates.

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