hes
3
YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY
all the penal statutes ever made, or all
the gibbets ever erected. We have in
this country no nobility of rank or
blood; we are only beginning to have
a Class bound by obligations of inher-
ited wealth or social position. For the
most part, our nobility is the proper
nobility of learning, and if college
graduates have had greater opportuni-
ties than others, and if in every commu-
nity they are looked to as leaders, as
they are, these very opportunities, this
very position of command imposes its
obligation which we cannot shirk—
Noblesse oblige. The obligation was
never greater than it is at the present
moment. All around us efforts are
constantly making to stir the unthink-
ing into disastrous conflicts. Journals
of wide circulation publish the basest
of cartoons, with the sole object of
bringing about a war. It is to the
credit of the American people that
under the trying circumstances, we
have thus far kept our head. It is: for
us to see that we do not lose it here-
after. It is for us to see, as far as lies
in our power, that a thoughtless and
hasty conflict shall never be waged by
this nation, and that the world may
know that the Republic is for peace.
“Noblesse oblige! It is for us to set
an example of patience and forbearance
to our fellow-citizens. It is not the
hasty temper, but the long enduring
heart, that triumphs in the end. There
is another lesson that we learn at
college that ought to serve us now.
We are living in a time of great social
changes. It is happening to us as it
has happened to popular governments
in the past. As the strength and
wealth of the government has increased,
the notion has become more and more
widespread that the government should
take care of the citizens, instead of the
citizens taking care of the government.
In one way or another, on one pretext
or another, men are seeking a support
from the government, and we actually
hear the doctrine seriously advocated
that the government is under an obli-
gation to take care forever of those who
served it in war, whether their service
was good or bad. We, on the other
hand, have learned that every good citi-
zen owes a debt to his country which,
to the extent of his liability, he is bound —
to repay. The question is not what we
can get from, but what can we give
to, our country The true sentiment
was never better expressed than in
those lines of Euripides addressed by
Iphigenia to her mother, which Mr,
Lowell quoted in his noble oration at
Cambridge, ‘Thou borest me for all the
Greeks, not for thyself: alone.’ That
sentiment rings in our ears, and it is
for us to see that the sentiment becomes
the common property of all Americans,
not of college men alone. We have
assumed the responsibility of educated
men, the responsibility of out Republi-
can aristocracy, and that responsibility
we must faithfully fulfil.”
-_ MR. FARRAND’S SPEECH.
The quartet then sang “Old Nassau,”
and Mr. Wilson Farrand, Princeton ’86,
was called upon to respond for Prince-
ton. He said:
“T find myself decidedly embarrassed
to-night, for this is my first experience
at a Yale dinner. However, I feel
more at home than I did at first, for it
seems to be not very different from our
Princeton dinners. I have long wished
to attend a Yale gathering. At last
that wish is gratified, and now there is
only one ambition left—to dine with
the Bryn Mawr alumni. :
“Vale and Princeton stand to-day as
the leading types of sound conservatism
in American higher education. This is
an age of educational progress, but
what is sometimes reported as progress
is proved by the test of time to be
merely gyration or flying off at a tan-
gent. One of the most discouraging
things in the educational world to-day
is the readiness of educators to seize
new ideas, without waiting to prove
them sound and true. This is less true
in higher than in elementary education,
but it is beyond question that the so-
called progress of some of our higher
institutions has been more rapid than
wise, and it is altogether probable that
some steps have been taken that will
have to be retraced. Yale and Prince-
ton are not standing still. They are
advancing, and advancing steadily, but
they refuse to let go those things which
have been proved good, until they are
assured that they can replace them with
better.
“Two things in particular they have
retained which in many institutions
have been sacrificed. In the first place,
laugh at them;
they have held fast to the college ideal.
The aim of the college is to turn out
men, while the aim of the university is
to turn out scholars. Yale is a univer-
sity by virtue of her group of profes-
sional schools, and of her graduate
school. Princeton will never do much
in the line of professional education,
but for years she has been building up
a graduate school, in which is done
advanced work of a high grade. She
has advanced so far in the direction of
her goal that she now feels justified in
assuming the title of university, but
while Yale and Princeton are universi-
ties, they have never sacrificed the col-
lege ideal. They have done much, and
will do more, in the turning out of
scholars, but their chief glory and their
pride will always be, as it is now, in
their college work, and in their turning
out of men rather than of scholars.
“Tn the second place, Yale and Prince-
ton have retained that intangible some-
thing that binds their sons to them with
a love and a devotion unknown else-
where. Among all the colleges of the
land, these two stand out pre-eminent
for the enthusiastic devotion and sup-
port of their students and alumni. This
is due not to excellence of scholarship,
not to athletic achievement, although
these have their part, but it is due to
the fact that we gained there some of
the most precious and helpful things
in our lives. This is why I find myself
to-night joining in your enthusiasm. I
am not ashamed, therefore, to sing
your songs, and to cheer your cheers;
and to do so indicates no disloyalty to
my own Alma Mater. I join with you
in your enthusiasm because I know that
the tie which binds you to Yale is the
same that binds me to Nassau Hall. I
am glad and proud to-night to bring
to you, the sons of Yale, greetings, |
heartfelt and sincere, from your friends
and neighbors, the sons of Princeton.”
Rev. William R. Richards, D.D.,
72 spoke next, on “Yale in the days of
Noah” [Porter]. Dr. Richards said in
part:
“There was one bright redeeming
feature, as I learned from the Voice, in
the college life of our country, or rather.
two features. Oberlin and Harvard are
set on high, side by side. Oberlin and
Harvard, as’ showing what a college
ought to be! And yet some people are
never satisfied. I am told that President
Eliot has remarked that he had learned
to stand almost everything, but he did
not think he could stand much longer
being praised by the Voice.
“But to return to Yale.
singular phenomenon how many things
are said against her, and from how -
many quarters. She seems in no dan-
ger of falling under the woe pro-
nounced on good people “when all
men speak well of them.” The posi-
tion reminds one of the splendid isola-
tion that some of our English friends
like to speak of as characterizing their
own country. And it occurs to me that
we cannot do better, under these cir-
cumstances, than adopt as our own
what has become an established prin-
ciple of British statesmanship, and that
is to maintain their navy at such a
degree of efficiency that they could
defeat any two of their strongest rivals
combined. The time seems most op-
portune for adopting such a policy
when Cornell, both by her fine rowing
on the water and by her dignified bear-
ing on shore, has proved herself so
worthy a competitor. - 2
A CHRISTIAN COLLEGE. |
“But let me say a word more about
these many charges against us and our
doings. Our natural indignation at the
malice and falsehood of many of them
must not blind us to any faults in our-
selves that have provoked any of them.
No outside attack can harm Yale much,
but any unworthiness in her own sons
can. Any drunkenness or vice of
blackguardism or in athletics anything
like professionalism. We could afford
to laugh at such attacks as appear in a
sensational newspaper, but wherever
these things really appear in our col-
lege community we cannot afford to
they are what hurt.
One of the speakers at the New York
dinner said the other night—and I was
pleased to see how cordially his senti-
ment was endorsed by those who heard
it—‘Yale must be a college of Chris-
tian gentlemen.’ And we want to do
what we can to strengthen all the influ-
ences which will work to that end.
““After us the deluge,’ my toast put
it. And there seems reason to fear that
the phrase is not far from the truth.
Every thoughtful man knows that it is
a time of crisis and peril; that emer-
It is rather a .
gencies may be at hand which will sub-
ject the existing order of society all
over the civlized world to the most
extreme tests, and all lovers of truth
and right, all scholars, all gentlemen,
all Christians will be called on to do all
that is in them to ward off disaster.
Whenever that deluge comes, Yale men
expect to be there, of course.
will be in it. And please God we
hope, not only to keep our own ark
afloat, but also to pull in many another
poor fellow out of the wet.”
MR. HEALD’S RESPONSE.
Mr. John O. Heald, 773, spoke for
“Yale in New Jersey.” He said:
Mr. President and Gentlemen: When I
look at the rosy cheeks and the erect and
proud form of our President, it seems
as if I might point to him as embodying
all that might be said of Yale in New
Jersey and crumble into my chair amid
the deafening applause from this sea
of upturned faces; but then everybody
can’t be Mike Schultze, and the rest
of us will have to be content with our
humble lots. P
“Tt is said that every tone has its
responsive chord in the furnishings of
a room, and that if one is fortunate
enough to strike the right tone, the
dainty earthen jug on the shelf over the
door will respond. I think I may prop-
erly take this beautiful illustration as ap-
plicable to our blooming President. For
years he has striven in the arena of
politics and education, so to speak, to
catch the eye of the vox populi, with
majorities, alas! rolled up against him;
but now, thanks to the discerning eyes
of Yale in New Jersey, he has at last
struck the jug, and is entitled to snatch
it from the shelf and call it his own
indefinitely. Long may Mike and the
jug reign supreme over us in our play-
ful gambols around this board!
I wonder if Dr. Kennedy, who, I
understand, is responsible for my senti-
ment this evening, had this particular
crowd in mind when he picked out the
one which has been given me. Let me
read you what I assume to be the con-
text of this sentiment:
When an Essex Deacon dropped in to call
And a homesick feeling seized them all.
In Essex County there’s many a roof
Well known to him of the cloven hoof.
But he happened to be in a pleasant mood,
aS ies drinking with ‘‘roughs’’ at a Boston
ax)
I couldn’t tell all they did in rhymes,
But the Essex people had terrible times.
While wondering to myself just ex-
actly what degree of sarcasm or pos-
sible truth the Doctor intended from
his philosophical position to give to
my toast, it occurred to me that the
best way was to ask the assistance of
the Yale men of our Association. I
therefore sent out the following re-
quest to a large number of graduates
throughout the state.
182 Park Avenue.
“Sir: You are probably aware
through the Metropolitan press that I
have been unanimously selected to
respond to the toast “Yale in New Jer-
sey” at the annual Yale dinner. Wish-
ing to be able to give valuable infor-
’ mation to my audience, I am sending
out one thousand circulars in order to
find out what if anything Yale has done
for anybody in New Jersey. Will you
please immediately send me on the
enclosed postal card a complete history
of your life since graduation, stating in
detail what Yale has done for you?
“Yours very truly, etc.”
“Brom the mass of responses, let me
read you the following as indicating
in fact the tone of self-satisfaction that
exists or is alleged to exist in all Yale
men in New Jersey.
48 Wall Street.
“My dear Mr. O’Heald:
“What in thunder are you driving at?
Is this a gag or do you really want me
to tell you briefly what Yale has done
for me in New Jersey? In case you are
in earnest I send you, under separate
cover, bound volumes of the proceed-
ings of the East Orange Town Im-
provement Society, my speeches in the
first Cleveland campaign and fifty or
more little talks I have had at one
time or another in relation to the trol-
leys. You can read any or all of them
at the dinner if you wish. You will see
from these, and from looking at me,
that I have grown, at least I think I
have, since Yale undertook to do any-
thing for me in New Jersey. I expect
to have something to say at the dinner
myself, and think in a day or two you
They
can pick enough from my works to
interest the audience for a half hour or
so, until I get a chance at it.
“Yours very truly, :
Hamilton Wallace.”
“Before proceeding, let me digress a
moment. It has been suggested by a
very prominent organization that I call
your attention to the efforts now being
made to save our Alma Mater—Prince-
ton having been given up as hopeless
from certain alleged crying evils. Dur-
ing a, recent parade. of the .W.- G.
T. U. through the streets of one of our
neighboring towns, a company of
elderly matrons marched along bearing
a banner with the inscription“ We bend
the knee, not the elbow.” A wander-
ing son of toil, slightly under the influ-
ence of liquor, read it as it pasesd and
exclaimed, ‘Well, they evidently in-
dulge in that disgusting habit of drink-
ing from the bung hole.’
“A word to the wise is sufficient on
this subject, it seems to me, and I for
one feel perfect confidence that Yale
University, students and Faculty and
Corporation, are perfectly able to take
care of any internal questions, whether
relating to morals or otherwise, which
may arise. I have been told that a
very brief history of this Association
would be of interest on this our fifteenth 3
anniversary. I accordingly have pre-
pared a list of the meetings and where
they were held, the presidents and
speakers. |
YALE IN NEW JERSEY.
“And now, gentlemen, after this some-
what comprehensive treatment of the
subject of my toast, let me say in clos-
ing that Yale in New Jersey is just like
Yale anywhere else. Wherever we find
Yale men, we find the right side of
every qustion in morals and even of
politics; this side of the Mississippi,
at least.
“Permit me, as an old Glee Club man,
to call attention to the work of that
organization in helping the formation
of alumni associations all over the coun-
try. In their concerts they are doing
good service to Yale in arousing Col-
lege enthusiasm. If the Club goes to
a place which has no association, one
is apt to be formed soon after. Our
own Association was formed in this
way, as a result of a Glee Club concert,
and ours is the fifth in order of age in
the country.”
After the regular toasts had been dis-
posed of, an informal meeting devoted
to song and good-fellowship was held
for an hour or two.
THE GUESTS.
The names of guests and members
are appended:
Camillus G. Kidder, Harvard ’72;
Francis J. Swayze, Harvard ’79; Wil-
son Farrand, Princeton ’86; Gardner
Colby, Brown ’87; J. Ames Chamber-
lain: E. S. Simons, Princeton ’82; N.
H. Swayne, ’93; Rev. W. R. Richards,
D.D., ’75. |
’*62—Frederic Adams.
’63—Hamilton Wallis.
’72-Geo. Richards, W. B. Wheeler.
’72-_John O. Heald.
*74—T). A. Kennedy.
‘7 Wm. R. Howe, Wm. S. Righter,
En}. Eee
’76—Geo. E. Coney, Chas. Benner,
Jas. B. Dill, John A. Wells.
‘v7 Thos. A. Hine, R, M- Colgate.
78 A H. Sherman, A. D. Chandler.
79 P.G.—F. W. Baldwin.
°21__Fred’k Seymour, N. F. Thomp-
son.
*8>--Chas. B.. Storrs. |
’2,-C. E. Eaton, C. A. Mead.
’8e__F. Schultze, Jr., R. S. Storrs, W.
' D, Evans.
296 C. W. Goodrich, N. M. Good-
lett, S. M. Colgate.
87 Wm. L. Phelps, Geo. E. Hill,
Paul Spencer, Edw. Staehlin, S73.
Cobb, Louis Burgess (87 S.).
’88—Geo. M. Gill.
’o1—J. P. Lloyd, Jr., E. Dean Ryder,
Malcolm MacLear.
’91 D.—Chas. H. Dickerson.
92 S.—J. Gardner Meeker, Hi -3.
Atha.
’°93—A. H. hep
’*94—A. S. Taylor.
eet ank S. Butterworth H. W.
Harris. ES
’97—R. S. Kilbourne, R. D. Mills,
F. R. Lehibach, N. W. Wallis.
’98-R. G. D. Douglass, G. G. Schret-
ber, F. W. Sheehan, J. C. McLauchlan,
H. E. Butler, G. W. Simmons.
1900—Edgar P. Ward.
