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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1898)
Vou. Vike: 38 NEW HAVEN, CONN., THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 1898. Prick Tren Cents. THE TEN EYCK WINNER. Extracts From Mr. Graves’s Oration— His Strength Discovered Late. The TenEyck winner of Ninety- Nine is George Dana Graves of Man- chester, New Hampshire. It was not until just before the speaking that the knowledge of Mr. Graves’ strength in the competition became _ generally known. In the old days of unre- generate Yale, there used to be a good deal of quiet hazarding of coin of the realm on the issue of this contest. If things were now as they were then, the men of speculative disposition would have ~uietly but literally expressed their faith in Graves just before the competi- tion began. The quality of the address is indicated elsewhere and also by the quotation given below. As already recorded, Mr. Graves is from Manchester, New Hampshire, and was prepared at the Colby Academy, New London. He has been actively interested in debate and won _ the Wyllys Betts prize for English composi- tion in Sophomore year. Mr. Graves is one of the many men who have done outside work to aid in meeting the ex- penses of the College course. His re- putation in the Class is excellent. A TYenEyck prize is given to each man whose essay is accepted for the Junior Exhibition. The prize in each case amounts to eight or ten dollars. The winner of the exhibition, who is called the TenEyck man of his Class. receives a prize approximating sixty dollars. The Henry James TenEyck fund, from which these prizes are drawn, was established in 1888, by the Kingsley Trust Association, in memory of Mr. TenEyck of the Class of Seventy- Nine. Before that the winners of the contest, which was called the Junior Exhibition, was given a prize of thirty dollars. The following is the substance of Mr. Graves’ oration: Popular American Feeling Against England, The outgrowth of Jeffersonian trust in the people is a system of statesmen abnormally sensitive to public sounds. These acute nerves catch the prevailing tones in the public currents and speedily translate them into political action. A popular sentiment is accordingly fraught with great significance. That England is the object of such a feeling | is proved by a steady flow of discussion forced at times into whirlpools of agi- tation. The nature, extent and signifi- cance of this feeling, however, must be sought in the web of events and condi- tions whch establish Anglo-American relations. The conditions in which are embedded the interknitting fibres of the race are blood and language. As a common blood has eternally turned our in- stincts into one channel, so a common language has determined forever the banks which direct their flow. A per- fection of intercourse means a common level of all great basal ideals. This kinship furnishes other special bonds of sympathy. America and Eng- land are collaborators in all great human activities. Although they work together in church and in literature; upon social, economic, scientific prob- Jems no bond is stronger than the com- merical tie. History shows the primary reasons for American dislike to England. The pre-Revolutionary wrongs were not forgotten before the new outrages of 1812 crystalized the national disposi- tion. The events of the Civil War clustering about the Trent and Ala- - ternational bama form the nucleus of all causes of American dislike. The sympathy of the common people and the grand ac- tion of Queen Victoria, but form a con- trast to the hostile government. There is a strong opposing minority who believe in the present friendships of England and that she is doing more than all other nations to spread the highest ideas of civilization. This animosity has great significance. In peace it checks commercial and in- dustral growth, hinders the extension of principles governing international relations and the establishment of an in- court of arbitration. By war it would depose both nations from the commercial leadership of the world, destroy their great mutual trade, remove support from millions of laborers, create a great war debt and degrade both nations to mediocrity. GEORGE DANA GRAVES. Russia would take advantage of this war to advance her claims in China, India and the Balkan-peninsula; she would become the leading nation of the world, replacing democracy by autoc- racy, and English ideas of civilization with the civil and religious barbarity of the middle ages. The expansion of a half-century would bring her into con- flict with America, which would then be forced to fight to a doubtful issue de- prived of her sole natural ally. Mr. Graves closed as follows: How supremely desirable, then, is the moral unity of the English race! “Oh, two such silver currents when they join, : Do glorify the banks that bound them in. How can we verify this sentiment of our greatest man? not bv education alone. It is not enough to emphasize the identity of the race in _ source, character and destiny; it is not enough to prove the race industrially and com- mercially inseparable; let teacher and preacher be both wise and earnest; all agencies of international friendship as active as may be, and war is still a possibility. Our herculean effort to restrain press and politician must be aided from without. England must furnish the basis for this work. Let her know the whole truth: she has forfeited the friendship of the American people by acts of state, by acts of state must she regain it. A large class may re- spond to the friendship of a large class as in the past, but our people will respond only to the friendship of the British government. Let her seize the opportunities of the future, conscious that America’s wise and strong men will. support the work she begins. In the solution of this problem we discover the solution of all political problems: let us bend to it earnestly. Let us educate the people; let candor mark all our relations; let our patriotism be broad; let our statesmanship be lofty, then shall our deeds hasten our Anglo- Saxon dream—a “Parliament. of Man, the Federation of the World.” (HE TEN BYCK SPEAKERS, Strong Papers Badly Mangled in Delivery. ee The TenEyck prize speaking in Battell Chapel, on the afternoon of April 1, which was won by George Dana Graves, as is elsewhere announced fulfilled, in the subject matter which was offeréd by most of ‘the speakers, the high opinions put upon the work of. this year’s competition. Several of the speakers had papers of very unusual merit. A decision for any one of three would have been considered quite justi- fiable. The Exhibition also justified every- thing that has been said in criticism of the lack of training in platform service in the regular curriculum of Yale. With one or two exceptions, the form of the speakers was lamentably awk- ward. It is unfortunate to have to say this, but it is true. It was particularly painful to see some compositions of peculiar merit so horribly handled in delivery. Some attempts to gesture were pathetic. Criticism was heard that it was unwise to pick out the con- testants for this oratorical contest purely on their literary merit. The attendance was very meager. One wondered less at some of the shortcomings in the form of the speakers when he considered the vast expanse of empty pews. A mere hand- ful of people, mostly bunched under the rear gallery, were listening to these addresses. It showed that practically no interest was taken in the speech- making itself by the students or the college community of New Haven. The members of the Faculty them- selves were more conspicuous by their absence than by their presence. The question was raised in any thoughtful man’s mind whether it is a very fair method of decision for this important prize, to leave it to a chance handful of the general Faculty who happen to take enough interest in the proceeding to be present and who may include those who are not particularly used to judgment of this sort of thing. Expression of opinion on this point has not been based on_ the awarding of the prize in recent years, but suggested by the nature of the case. as rather an irregular and a haphazard affair. About ten years ago, rhe Chapel was filled for these exercises and the Fa- culty attended in very large numbers. The speakers felt the inspiration of the general interest in their efforts by the college community. It was something more than speculation as to who might win a coveted college honor and thus become couspicuous in his class. The conditions were then much as they are in other colleges in respect to oratorical contests. The management of the contest was not particularly good in allowing such a considerable disturbance at the be- sinning of every piece; as people came and went. The first minute or so of each man’s adress was hardly distin- euishable at the end of the hall. THE SEVERAL SPEAKERS. John Pease. Norton of Los Angeles, Cal. spoke first. -His subject was “Victor’ Hugo.” The piece was well written and was straightforward in ex- pression, but semed to lack perspective. Its force was not gathered effectively at any particular point. This may have been due to the method of delivery, which was not all that could be de- sired. Horace Jewell Fenton of Williman- delivery. tic, Conn., followed with an address on the: “Abolitionist Orators.”. His gen- — eral stage presence was fairly good, but his gestures were entirely forced. | The “adress .on:.*- Victor Hugo, By Isham Henderson, was a compact, well- knit, well constructed oration, clear and to the point. Mr. Henderson was al- most the only speaker of the after- noon who showed anything like grace and naturalness in his gestures. For the best oratorical work, Mr. Hender- son’s voice would need a great deal of training. om at ey bess _ In .spéaking -of the . “Abolitionist Orators,” Mr. Robbins Battell Ander- son of Duluth, Minn., suffered con- siderably from a lack of confidence. This was illustrated by his resort to the prompter on several occasions, and it added to the difficulties of indistinct The impression which Mr. Anderson’s speech left was not up to the character of his composition or to the standard of ability which he had shown in other lines, which has been of an excellent order. “A Trans-Siberian Railroad’ was an unusual subject for such an exhibition as the TenEFyck. It was handled ina very simple and straightforward way by Mr. Alfred Bates Hall of Chester. The paper was informing and left an excellent idea of the strategic and in- dustrial importance of this vast enter- prise. The criticism on a subject of that sort is that it calls for views. of in- ternational affairs which one can hardly frame for himself in his undergraduate days. Mr. Hall spoke clearly and was closely followed. . Mr. Howard Chandler Robbins ot Springfield, Mass, was another speaker who chose the ‘“Abolitionist Orators.” His composition was, from a literary standpoint, a very able thing and it was also well adapted for an effective ora- tion. In voice and inflection, Mr. Robbins made it effective. In his gestures, he showed the same disad- vantage from which nearly all of his fellows suffered, of insufficient train- ing,—not especially for this contest, of course, but through their college course. Mr. Robbins’ peroration made a strong and beautiful close for a piece. of very unusual merit. George Dana Graves of Manchester, N. H., was the next to the last speaker. His subject “Popular American Feel- ing Against England,” gave an oppor- tunity for some original reflections on current events and the nature of Ameri- can people, as well as an opportunity for some lucid statements of interesting historical episodes. Mr. Graves took advantage of this opportunity in an un- usually able way. He showed a strong, sturdy grasp of current feeling and a very wholesome attitude toward sophis- tries and narrowness, coupled with a thorough appreciation of how such sentiments took root. The address was practical and had many a very well _ turned passage which made it particu- larly effective for delivery, without aim- ing towards the galleries. Mr. Graves voice was fairly good. His gestures were very bad. That he won the prize in the face of such bad form shows the peculiar merit of his piece. _ These two pieces of Mr. Robbins and Mr. Graves had been followed by an enthusiastic applause and increasing 1n- terest in the competition. The closing piece of the afternoon only added to this interest and made the outlook more dubious. Henry Robinson Shipman of Hart- ford, Conn., was the last speaker. On the subject of “The Jusuit Missionaries in Canada.” he delivered the most fin- ished oration of the afternoon. It was also a piece which showed fine feeling and strong feeling. His stage presence was better than that of any speaker of the afternoon. In some respects, the gestures might have been improved, but hey were more natural than any . 9 others excepting Mr. Henderson s. His personal carriage was easy afl graceful.
