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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1899)
372 es Alea AU IME WERE KLY necessity whatever. The navy has talked with its guns.” This short and to the point speech meant more applause and of a thun- derous nature. President to President-Elect. “T want to say one word for myself, and then I am going to call on Judge Howland,” said President Dwight. “It is just thirteen years ago on the first of July, 1 was called upon as I have called upon Mr. Hadley, to say a word to the alumni. There was a good deal of discussion those days, represented by the words, Old Yale and Young Yale. There was a certain conflict, or sup- posed conflict, between Old Yale and Young Yale, and when I arose before the assembly, I said to them—and it seemed to meet their approval, and therefore I permit myself to allude to it at this time—that I, in the outward man, was Old Yale, but in the inward man was Young Yale, and that in the whole man I was Yale. I stand here to-day not by choice of mine, but because of the movement of time, as the repre- sentative of the old century, and my friend, Mr. Hadley, stands here as the representative of the new century. | wish to take him by the hand and say to him: I am old Yale; he is young Yale; wecare both Yale, all the way through.” Henry E. Howland, “Now, gentlemen,’ continued the President, “whom can we wish to hear at the closing of this meeting but that man who got out of me all that he is, Henry E. Howland.” To which, after much demonstration, Judge Howland thus answered: “Mr. President, I congratulate myself that this is the last time you will use me to sweep out this room. When I ob- serve the manner in which you hustled through these last four speakers, it re- minded me of the clergyman, who met a brother clergyman, and said: ‘We have just had the greatest revival that our church has ever experienced.’ ‘1 rejoice to hear it. How many did you add to the fold.’ ‘We didn’t add any, but we got rid of three. ay “T felt like the man who consulted his doctor and said that he suffered from indigestion, and his doctor attributed it to attending so many dinners, and said: ‘I understand you are often called upon to speak and the nervous apprehension upsets your digestion.’ ‘No,’ was the reply, ‘my apprehension 1s on account of the other speakers. I never say a thing.’ “It is not always fair to get me up, me with no learning and no big degree, and who never did pass an examination JUDGE HENRY E. HOWLAND, YALE ’54, either, and expect me to be the stop- cock and the bottle-holder of this large congregation. I am a disciple still. [ came here to-day as a representative of the oldest Class out of College beside the President’s. The Class of Fifty- Four, if its members will allow me to speak for them here, was a remarkable Class. Althotfgh the President got a little temporary experience with the Class of Fifty-Three, his first regular occupation was with the Class of Fifty- Four, and he fleshed his maiden sword In us to that degree that we are what you see we are, and we are his proudest boast. I cannot help thinking of the old times and of the new. The leisure with which our forefathers worked out their great problems of science has given place in these days to a kind of hurry which imparts itself to all the phases of life, from a baby incubator to the electric chair. By means of the trolley and the telegraph and the stenographer and girl typewriter, we move so quickly that, before we get started, we leave our brilliant future behind us. The Indian meal menu of our ancestors was better for low living and high thinking than this elaborate banquet which you have had spread out here in front of you. The codfish of Massachusetts, which the cultured people of Boston have wanted impressed on the capitol on Beacon Hill, was a fine intellectual stimulant, so that when a young man asked advice what he should eat as a stimulant to his intellect, the reply was if I were in your place, I would eat a small-sized whale.’ A FEW STORIES. “Tt is a curious fact that this institu- tion, which was founded to promote the interests of religion and has sent out, as the gentleman here has said, missionaries and pioneers into all parts of the world, finds that the number of those who pursue this sacred calling is steadily decreasing. The material in- terests of this country draw into their service the great majority of young men who go out, and we all pay greater honor to all those who stick by the old line. I cannot but believe that the in- fluence of Yale throughout the world is going to be still founded on the self- sacrificing devotion of those gentlemen who espouse the sacred cause of the Church. To be sure it is very easy sometimes to say things about them or about the result of their work which I do not think are justified. For in- stance, this question was put to a Sun- day school scholar: ‘Why dosen’t the Lord strike every one down dead who tells a lie the same as he did Ananias and Sapphira.’ The small boy answered: ‘Because there would not be anyone left.’ “Why was it the priest and the Levite passed by on the other side?’ ‘Because the man had already been robbed.’ But for all these things, the influences that reach out from this in- stitution hit us somewhere, like the man who attended church and was observed to be very attentive to the sermon. Some one said to him: ‘You seemed to be very much impressed.’ ‘I was; it’s a mighty poor sermon that dosen’t hit me somewhere.’ “But to go back to the famous Class of Fifty-Four. It is a typical class. We have had our usual experience with the other graduates of this University. The younger classes that come back think that they are the people, but you ought to gather as we did last night, eight strong, and mix and mingle ex- periences with prospects for the future. We have learned that the most useful possession of lawyers and judges: is the ability to commit judicious breaches of trust. Some of us—I do not speak for myself,—but some of us have been that chivalric that we have taken the burden from the shoulders of weak woman and taken upon ourself the burden of age and paying property. Some of us have been able to stand up and say: ‘At last we have been able to look the world in the face as honest men. We owe no man anything; the last claim against us is outlawed.’ And then some of us follow that occupation which a tramp described, when he was asked if he _couldn’t turn his hand to anything: ‘I am a bloated capitalist temporarily out of capital.’ But we all of us are loyal to the Yale flag and Yale University, and we thave probably had our prayer an- swered, which was that of the locomo- tive engineer, when he said: O, Lord, the locomotive is here, the rails are straight and smooth, steam is up, water in the boiler, and all we ask of Thee, ‘G -Lord, ‘is sand? “IT am very proud to have served under President Dwight, not during the whole thirteen years of his Presidency, but the last seven. I welcome the son of the distinguished father who came onto the stage two years after we graduated, and before whom I see the interests of this institution expanding until it will own the whole northern part of the city of New Haven, including Hillhouse avenue, and we shall have a city of Oxfords and Cambridges here. With him to start out the new century and with him to advance well into the twentieth or thirtieth year, it is safe, and will maintain, as it now holds, its place, high up, second only to the one which my esteemed friend (Dr. Minot of Harvard) represents, in American civilization, in advancing it, in promot- ing it and in blessing the lives of count- less graduates yet unborn.” The meeting was concluded with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne.” The song was requested by Pres. Dwight and was taken up by everyone. th i din i ae Corporation Elections, During the alumni dinner, President Dwight announced the following elec- _ tions to the Corporation: Clerical members— Rev. wWewman Smyth to succeed Rev. George Leon Walker, retired; Rev. Newell M. Cal- houn to succeed Rev. Joseph Wilkes Backus, retired. For the term of six years—Mr. Henry F. Dimock, Yale ’63, to suc- ceed Hon. F. J. Kingsbury, Yale, ’46. The vote was: Dimock 2,034; scatter- ing 300. For the four years term—Mr. Alfred L. Ripley, ’78. Mr. Ripley’s only com- petitors were Hon. Wilson S. Bissell, 69, and Mr. Frederick S. Parker, 73. The vote stood: Ripley 1710; Bissell 438; Parker 115; scattering 153. HONORARY DEGREES. With Full Text of the Addresses in Presenting the Candidates, At the Commencement exercises in Battell Chapel Wednesday morning, honorary degrees were conferred by Yale as follows: D.D. Rev. D. Stuart Dodge (Yale Coll. 1857), New York City. Rev. Professor George Adam Smith, Glasgow, Scotland. LL.D. Hon. Frederic Adams (Yale Coll. 1862), Newark, N. J. Hon. John W. Griggs, Attorney Gen- eral of the United States. Hon. Frederick J. Kingsbury (Yale Coll. 1846), Waterbury, Conn. 3 Emory McClintock, New York City. Professor Charles S$. Minot, M.D., Boston. Wirklicher Geheimrath Franz von Rottenburg, Curator of the University of Bonn, Germany. | M.A. Robert S. Brookings, St. Louis, Mo. Admiral Francis M. Bunce, U. S. N. (retired), Hartford, Conn. John R. Mott, New York City. Captain William C. Wise, U. S. N., Norfolk, Va. Also the following members of the College: Rev. John H. Thomas, Class of 1868, Oxford, O. Herman Livingston, Class of 1879, Catskill, N. Y. William A. Otis, Class of 1886, Colo- rado Springs, Col. big GO John K. Mackenzie, Class of 1889, Chicago. | Some of the distinguished guests, in addition to those receiving Honorary Degrees, who were on the platform, on Commencement Day, June 28, were: Rev. Prof. Edward D. Morris, ’49. Judge Francis M. Finch, ’40. Rev. Dr. Hopkins, son of Pres. Mark Hopkins. Prof. Whitney, of Beloit College. Prof. John H. Hewitt, ’59. | Rev. Dr. Philip Moxom, Springfield, Mass. The candidates were presented to the President, by Professor Bernadotte Perrin, who acted in this capacity in the absence of Prof. George P. Fisher, who is in Europe. The presentation ad- dresses in full were as follows: _-PRESENTING CAPTAIN WISE. “T have the honor to present to you for the degree of Master of Arts Cap- tain William Clinton Wise of the 1.8: Navy. Captain Wise, a Virginian by birth and a graduate of the Naval Acad- emy, has been in the service since 1860. His record during all this period is highly creditable. He is deemed one of the most thorough masters of seaman- ship. He had been in command of more than one naval ship before he took command of the Yale in the recent war. The achievements of this vessel under his charge subtracted nothing from the lustre of its name. Its Captain distin- guished himself by the boldness and ability with which he performed the scouting duty to which the Yale was assigned.” PRESENTING MR. BROOKINGS. “I have the honor to present to you for the degree of Master of Arts Mr. Robert Somers Brookings, of St. Louis. Having attained marked success in busi- ness pursuits, Mr. Brookings directed his attention during several years to studies which in early youth he was debarred from pursuing. Not content with literary acquisitions for himself, he engaged zealously in promoting education and culture in the city where he resides. When he was chosen Presi- dent of the Board of Directors. of Wash- ington University in St. Louis, he brought to this office the sagacity acquired from his experience in busi- ness. At the same time, he incited his fellow-citizens to the exercise of liber- ality to the Institution by the example of his own munificent gifts. To Mr. Brookings the remarkable increase of the resources of the University, and its bright hopes for the future, are largely to be ascribed.” PRESENTING MR. MOTT. “T have the honor to present to you for the degree of Master of Arts Mr. John Mott. Mr. Mott has been a leader in undertakings organized on an extensive scale, for the promotion of practical Christianity among the stu- dents of American and foreign colleges. A graduate of Cornell, he resigned the prospect of academic distinction in con- nection with philosophical studies, in which he excelled, that he might con- secrate himself to this work... The movement of students in the literary institutions of the United States and Canada, of which he is the principal director, includes in it hundreds of as- sociations and many thousands of mem- bers. While engaged in establishing the World’s Student Christian Federa- tion, Mr. Mott has five times visited the Universities of Europe. Of this wide- spread Federation, stretching over many lands, he is the General Secre- tary. He is likewise the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Stu- dent Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions,—a movement which. extends practically to all the institutions of higher learning in North America. The publications of Mr. Mott have been an effective auxiliary in furthering his aims. He has diligently studied, at home and abroad, the religious prob- lems of special importance to students. His ideal of the Christian life, as it is presented in his numerous writings and public addresses, is void of all sectarian elements, and is pervaded by a spirit of Christian manliness.” PRESENTING ADMIRAL BUNCE. “T have the honor to present to vou for the degree of Master of Arts Ad- miral Francis Marvin Bunce, of the United States Navy. The career of Ad- miral Bunce has been marked by honor and success. A graduate of Annapolis, in 1857, he served under Farragut on the Brooklyn, and in 1862 was com- missioned as Lieutenant. In 1863 he had charge of the naval howitzers in the combined military and naval expedi- tion which captured a part of Morris Island, later in the same year he par- ticipated in the various attacks in the harbor of Charleston. In other en- gagements—among them, in the capture of Fort Fisher—he served with distinc- tion. He was given in succession the command of several vessels of war, one of which, the Monitor Monadnock, he carried around Cape Horn to San Fran- cisco. For this unprecedented mari- time achievement he was thanked by the Navy Department. In 1898 he was advanced from the rank of Commodore to that of Admiral. During the recent war with Spain his duties have been important. He was placed in charge ol
