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
