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YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY
STIRRING UP DEBATE.
A University Meeting Addressed by
Faculty Members.
A meeting was held in Osborn Hall
last Friday evening, under the auspices
of the Yale Union. Its purpose was
a general opening of the subject of de-
bate—a presentation of the main facts
in the problem to the University.
About 200 men were present, and the
speakers were enthusiastically received.
J. K. Clark, ’99, presided and opened
the meeting with a few remarks on the
debating work in College and its needs.
He said that the purpose of this meet-
ing was first to arouse a general inter-
est in debating throughout the Univer-
sity, and secondly, to impress upon the
College the need of a more universal
competition for the coming intercol-
legiate debates. The first of these de-
bates will be that with Princeton on
December 2d, in New Haven, for which
the preliminary trials will be held in
about three weeks. The second of the
debates will be held in Cambridge on
May 5th against the Harvard team.
Mr. Clark announced that the first meet-
ing of the Union would occur next
Friday evening in Union Hall, and that
the subject for debate would be, “Re-
solved, That the faculty rule on digests
is for the best interests of Yale scholar-
ship.”
He also explained that the financial
burden of defraying the expenses of
intercollegiate debating had proved. too
great to be borne by the Union under
the present system, whereby the yearly
dues and the admission fees for the
annual debate in New Haven are the
only sources of revenue, and it had
been decided to open subscription
books, so that all who are interested
in debating, whether they are able to
take an active part in the work or not,
may contribute to its support.
The first speaker introduced was Pro-
fessor W. L. Phelps, who spoke in
substance as follows:
“In the first place there are several
pectliar obstacles to debating here at
Yale which have not as yet been en-
tirely overcome. The. greatest of these
liés in the fact that the debater does
not gain as great prestige in under-
graduate circles as does the man who
devotes his interests to athletics. As
a rule, virtue for the debater is its own
reward, which perhaps is an unfortu-
nate thing for debating. Another dif-
ficulty is that men of to-day are slow
to appreciate the importance of this
art, and are inclined to reserve its use
and culture to those whose vocations
more fully require it. But debating
does not imply ability to speak merely,
for its value lies exactly as much in
ability to think quickly and definitely.
It is the ‘stand and deliver’ knowledge
that counts nowadays. And it is this
very practice in speaking that enables
one to say what he has to say clearly
and succinctly. However debating may
be regarded by the undergraduate
body, the alumni are keen to feel the
results of a victory or a defeat. A
triumph in debate means more to the
outside world than a triumph onthe
gridiron, and it is difficult to estimate
the enthusiasm with which our alumni
have greeted the news of our recent
victories. One of the most forcible
arguments against those who last year
assailed the English course at Yale
was the double triumph in our intercol-
legiate debates. After the Princeton
contest Professor Wilson was reported
to have said that, however Yale men
were instructed in their English depart-
ment, they had certainly learned to
speak the language. There are two
strong reasons why a man should de-
vote some of his interests at least to
debating—first to help himself, and
second to help his University.”
Professor A. M. Wheeler then took
the platform and said in part:
“One of the greatest reproaches to
Yale and to her student body is the
lack of interest in debating. I have
given a great deal of time to the con~
sideration of the causes for such an
apathy, and am of the conviction that
they are more external than internal.
That is to say, our government has
ceased to be a government of speaking
and persuasion, and has become one
where wire-pulling and machines are
generally of greater influence. In Eng-
land the speeches delivered in the
House of Commons are published in
the newspapers and read throughout
the country, but in Amercia the people
at large pay little attention to such
' matters and the art of public speaking
has unquestionably declined. All the
more forcibly, then, comes tthe call for
college men to enter the field where
such an art is cultivated. Oratory may
be defined as the art of persuasive
speaking, in private as well as in public.
How to acquire this art is a problem
not solved by a set of rules, but diffi-
dence, with which almost every aspir-
ant is afflicted, can, with very few excep-
tions, be overcome by the will power.
Neither great talent nor extraordinary
knowledge is absolutely necessary to
success. In fact, success has often been
attained without these. Nature is chary
of her gifts and still more chary of het
graces? What better field than is yours
here at Yale—the critical yet sympa-
thetic audience, the sharp yet friendly
rivalry, and instructors willing and
anxious to help? These are all effective
factors in a thorough development.”
Mr. Clark explained that Professor
Hadley, who was to have been the
next speaker, was unable to be present
and introduced Professor Bernadotte
Perrin as the last speaker of the even-
ing.
“Youth and life are characteristics
of the great college body,’ said Pro.
fessor Perrin. “These are the elements
that enrich the soil upon which college
institutions flourish, and when we hear
of a decreased interest in debating at
Yale we are brought face to face with
an anomaly—a good soil, and yet death
and decay in this most important
branch. The soil simply needs to be
stirred, and the institution will thrive
again. This was the object of to-night’s
meeting. What we want is to get more
men to take an active part, for it is
useless for us to expect success in the
Union unless we have a greater num-
ber interested in the discussions. We
have been lucky enough of late to have
happened upon stars of the first magni-
’ tude who have ably represented us in
intercollegiate debate, but what we
want is a whole firmament of stars,
from which those of the first magnitude
may be picked almost at random. In
regard to the importance in which
debating is held at Yale, if the rewards
are not accorded by the undergraduate
body, at least the alumni appreciate to
the fullest extent earliest effort in this
direction, and are never slow in show-~__
ing their approbation.”
The meeting was adjourned by Mr.
Clark with a few appropriate words of
thanks to the speakers of the evening.
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Chamber Concerts.
Circulars were sent out last week by
the Committee in charge of the Univer-
sity Chamber Concerts announcing
their plans for the twelfth season,
1898-99.
The concerts this season will be four
in number, the first three of which will
be given in North Sheffield Hall, and
the last in College Street Hall. These
concerts are given by the Kneisels,
alternating with the Adamowski Quar-
tet, also of Boston, and begin as usual
at 8 o'clock.
The dates are: Tuesday evenings,
November 1 and December 20 by the
Adamowski Quartet; November 29
and February 28, 1890, by the Kneisels.
These concerts are open to all members
and friends of the University.
Tickets may be obtained at the Bur-
sar’s Office in Phelps Hall, and at
Steinert’s music store, 777 Chapel street.
The price of course tickets is two dol-
lars and a half; of single tickets one
dollar.
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Alumni Hall at Cornell,
Plans for a new alumni hall and
student club house at Cornell Univer-
sity, which it is proposed to build on
the Cornell Campus by means of con-
tributions of the alumni of the Univer-
sity, were examined in the College of
. Architecture in New York City on Sept.
13th, by Robert D. Andrews of Bos-
ton; Walter Cope of Philadelphia, and
Chas. A. Rich of New York. The plans
which were under examination, which
were offered in competition by grad-
uates of the College of Architecture at
Cornell throughout the United States
and some foreign countries, are to be
considered as suggestions for the final
plans for the new building. The build-
ing will cost about $150,000. A prize
of $500 has been offered for the best
original idea in the way of plans.
Greek Prize Awarded.
The Hugh Chamberlain Greek Prize,
for the best entrance examination in
Greek, has been awarded to William
Stickney Creevey, of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
who was prepared privately; with
honorable mention of Frederic Burn-
ham, of Chicago, Ill., who was prepared
at the Harvard School, Chicago, and
also of George Eugene Davis, of
Hartford, Conn., and William Brian
Hooker, of Farmington, Conn., both of
whom were prepared at the Hartford
Public High School. : .
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Special Lecturers,
The special lecturers for the Yale
Divinity School during the coming
year are Professor George A. Smith,
Ds LL.D.,; ot Glaseow, who: will
deliver the Lyman Beecher Lectures;
Rev. Henry Van Dyke, D.D., who will
lecture on Wordsworth and Browning
and Their Message to the Nineteenth
Century; Rev. E. M. Bliss, D.D., who
will conduct a course of instruction on
the history and prosecution of foreign
missions; and Professor Karl Budde,
of the University of Strassburg, whose
lectures will comprise the Fourth Series
of American Lectures on the History
of Religions. The dates and titles of
the latter’s lectures are as follows:
Friday, Oct. 14. The origin of the
Yahweh-Religion.
Saturday, Oct. 15. Yahweh and His
Rivals.
Monday, Oct. 17. Priests, Prophets,
and Kings, as Champions of Yahweh.
Friday, Oct. 21. Foreign Powers and
the Written Prophecy of the Northern
Kingdom.
Saturday, Oct. 22, The Similar Con-
flict in the Southern Kingdom.
Monday, Oct. 24. Judah’s Collapse
and the Bases of its Re-establishment.
Each lecture will be given in Room
A 1, Osborn Hall, beginning at 8 Pp. m.
There is no charge for admission.
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A meeting of the Intercollegiate Ten-
nis Association was held here on Friday
evening, October 7, and the election of
officers resulted as follows: President,
Davis of Harvard; Vice-President,
Little of Princeton; Secretary, Allen
of Yale. Ware of Harvard was elected
as the delegate to the National Conven-
tion.
ELDER SWA
ON |
INSURANCE.
The famous revivalist of Connecticut, of fifty
years ago, conceived of the new fad of
life insurance as a heinous sin, against
which he thundered from the pulpit or
convention platform. It was to him a
sign of a lack of faith, and one of the
“snares of a perverse generation.” In
one of his sermons he represented John
the Baptist as answering the question as
to where he was going, by replying that
he had rested on the Jewish religious
faith for all these years and yet had been
sorely troubled, and he was now going
to Jerusalem to get his life insured.
Elder Swan pictured the horrible effect
on the new religion if any such illustra-
tion of a lack of faith had been allowed:
This incident is interesting as indicating, even
by a false conception of it, the ethical
side of insurance. As Mr. Woodward
says in his history of “Insurance in
Connecticut,” in quoting this incident :
“Prejudice yielded to enlightened dis-
cussion, and the act condemned by the
good Elder as a sin is now rated one of
the duties.’’ There is no question that
most men reckon life insurance as a
duty, and there is also no doubt that it
may be made a very pleasant and attrac-
tive duty. If you doubt this you may
inquire of the
PHOENIX MUTUAL LIFE
INSURANCE COMPANY
OF HARTFORD, CONN.
g JONATHAN B. BUNCE, President. |
JOHN M. HOLCOMBE, Vice-Pres. |
- CHARLES H. LAWRENCE, Sec’y.
POYNETTE
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‘No, boys; I have not been burning
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for my address. I have not spent hun-
dreds for books of reference. I could
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“IT simply send to Romeike for
Press Clippings.
*‘Day by day he sent me editorials and
original articles collected from thou-
sands of newspapers and _ periodicals
which are read in his offices, and I only
had to arrange the material.”
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Press Cutting bBureati
will send you all newspaper clippings
which may appear about you, your
friends, or any subject on which you
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A large force in my New York office
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Clippings found for subscribers are
pasted on slips giving name and date of
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Write for circulars and terms.
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189 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK.
Branches: London. Parle Berlin. Sidney.
Remington
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New Haven Branch, 14 Center st.
