[35]"The Dartmouth" having been revived in 1867, is now issued as a Weekly Magazine.
[35]"The Dartmouth" having been revived in 1867, is now issued as a Weekly Magazine.
In tracing the progress of the college during President Lord's administration, we cannot more fitly conclude, than by adopting the language of Mr. William H. Duncan, who in a valuable tribute to his worth and his memory, says:
"It was the proud boast of Augustus, that he found Rome of brick and left it of marble. Might not President Lord, at the time of his resignation, have said without a shadow of boasting, I found the college, what its great counsel called it in that most touching and pathetic close of his great argument in the College Case before the Supreme Court at Washington: I found it truly 'a small college'; it was in an humble condition; its classes were small; its finances embarrassed; its buildings in a dilapidated and ruinous condition. I left it one of the leading institutions of the land!"
Fuller details on these points will be gathered from subsequent chapters.
CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT LORD.
The period of President Tyler's resignation was a most critical one in the history of the college.
Its eminent founder passed away in the midst of the Revolutionary struggle, leaving the frail bark, in which were centered fond and long-cherished hopes, tossing upon uncertain and dangerous waters. A fearful storm was raging when his immediate successor put off the robes of office, and a little later went "to give account of his stewardship." Thirteen years had scarcely been sufficient fully to restore to a healthy condition the discipline of the college, which had been materially weakened by the lack of harmony between the second president and his associates in office.
Material aid was needed also to provide better accommodations for the students.
In common with other colleges, Dartmouth needed most of all, in those trying times, a president "rooted and grounded" in the truth.
The multiplication of colleges rendered it especially desirable, at this period, that this college should have a man at its head well fitted and furnished for his work. In the little more than half a century of its existence, the number of New England colleges, founded upon the same religious faith, had increased from three to eight, rendering the best leadership necessary to meet the competition.
A more judicious selection could not have been made for the sixth president of the college.
Rev. Nathan Lord, the son of John and Mehitable (Perkins) Lord, was born at Berwick, Maine, November 28, 1792, and belonged to a highly respectable family. At the earlyage of sixteen, he graduated at Bowdoin College, in the class of 1809. Very rarely has a student at college the opportunity to sit under the instruction of two such men as Joseph McKeen and Jesse Appleton, each of whom filled the president's chair two years, while young Lord was a student.
After valuable experience as a teacher in the Exeter Academy, he pursued a theological course at the Andover Seminary, graduating in 1815. He had been twelve years pastor of the Congregational Church at Amherst when called to the presidency of Dartmouth, having been for some time a Trustee. In the intellectual strength and literary attainments of its people, this had been for a long period one of the leading towns in southern New Hampshire. Being the county seat, it was visited periodically by gentlemen eminent in the law, with whom professional men resident in the place would most naturally have frequent intercourse. At a period when the whole community was profoundly agitated, by the most earnest and important theological controversy in the history of New England, we can readily understand that the youthful preacher would have abundant opportunity to measure swords with skilled warriors, in the field of religious debate. That he wielded his weapons, in the discussions of that period, with a force indicating that he was a man of no ordinary mould, is a matter of history. When he entered upon his great work at Dartmouth, those who, as its guardians, had called him to it, cherished confident hope of his success. Seldom has there been so full a realization of such hope in the history of American colleges.
President Lord brought to the accomplishment of his task a fine physique; a countenance serene, yet impressive; a voice rare both for its richness and its power; a pleasing, almost magnetic, dignity of mien; a mind most capacious and discriminating by nature, richly stored by severe application, and thoroughly disciplined by varied professional labor; and a heart always tender, yet always true to the profoundest convictions of duty. A deep, rich, and thorough religious experience well fitted the graceful and earnest man to be a graceful and earnest Christian teacher. The question of fitness for the position as an executive was soon settled beyondthe possibility of a doubt. It required but a brief acquaintance with President Lord to teach any one, that he fully believed in the most literal acceptation of the doctrine, that "the powers that be are ordained of God."
A recognition of this fundamental law guided and governed him daily and hourly through all his public life. When early in his administration, he discovered marked symptoms of a spirit of insubordination in the college, he gave all concerned to understand most fully, that it would be his duty to maintain the supremacy of the law. There was never any deviation from this loyalty to duty in administering the discipline of the college. No undue regard for his own dignity, or comfort, or safety, deterred him from visiting, at any hour of day or night, the scene of disorder. When he had been more than forty years an officer of the college he reaffirmed his adherence to this principle, in a most emphatic manner, when those to whom he did not deem himself responsible sought to point out to him the path of duty.
As a teacher it was President Lord's province, chiefly to unfold the various relations and obligations of man to his Maker. In the performance of this duty he gave remarkable prominence to the Divine Revelation. Jealous for the honor of his great Master and Teacher, he was very suspicious, possibly too suspicious, of any intermixture of "man's wisdom." This habit may have induced occasionally, measurable disparagement of worthy and eminent men. But the genial manner and chastened tone invariably extracted the point from the severest word, and left upon the pupil's mind a profound conviction that his teacher had been "taught of God." It may well be doubted whether, of the large numbers who graduated during President Lord's administration, any who were brought in close contact with him, and listened with a "willing mind" to his instructions, failed to receive measurably, yet consciously, the impress of their honored teacher.
The following extracts from the official records of the Trustees, are deemed worthy of insertion in this connection in order to a full understanding of the circumstances attending President Lord's resignation.
"Annual Meeting, July 1863. Mr. Tuck offered the following,to wit: 'The undersigned has had his attention called to the accompanying resolutions passed by the Merrimack County Conference of Congregational Churches, held on the 23d and 24th of June last; and he submits the same to the Trustees, with a motion that a Committee be appointed to report what action thereon ought to be taken.
"'1. "Resolved. That the people of New Hampshire have the strongest desire for the prosperity of Dartmouth College, and that they rejoice in the wide influence this noble institution has exerted in the cause of education and religion.
"'2. "Resolved. That we cherish a sincere regard for its venerable president; for the rare qualifications he possesses for the high office he has so long and ably filled; but that we deeply regret that its welfare is greatly imperiled by the existence of a popular prejudice against it, arising from the publication and use of some of his peculiar views touching public affairs, tending to embarrass our government in its present fearful struggle, and to encourage and strengthen the resistance of its enemies in arms.
"'3. "Resolved. That in our opinion it is the duty of the Trustees of the College to seriously inquire whether its interests do not demand a change in the presidency; and to act according to their judgment in the premises."'
"Whereupon, Messrs. Tuck, Bouton, and Eastman were appointed a Committee, to report on the subject aforesaid."
"The Committee to whom was referred the resolutions of the Merrimack County Conference, respecting Dartmouth College, made the following Report:
"'The Committee have taken into most respectful consideration the action of the Conference and the sentiment pervading the churches of which the resolutions of the Conference are the expression. We do not forget, but thankfully avow the debt of gratitude which has rested on the college, throughout its history, to the churches of New England, and to the pious teachings and generous patronage of those included within their embrace. We are fully aware of the obligations of science and literature, in all past time, to the clerical profession; that the countenance and support of the clergy and the churches have ever been the chief reliance of this college, andthat we can hope for little prosperity or usefulness to the institution in future, without meriting the confidence bestowed upon it in the past. We deplore the present condition of the college in respect to the sentiments entertained towards it, as expressed in said resolutions, and we proffer our readiness to do any act which our intimate knowledge of its affairs and circumstances enable us to judge practicable and beneficial. Neither the Trustees nor the Faculty coincide with the president of the college in the views which he has published, touching slavery and the war; and it has been their hope that the college would not be adjudged a partisan institution, by reason of such publications. It has been our purpose that no act of ours should contribute to such an impression upon the public mind, inviting the public as we do, to contribute to its support, and to partake of its privileges.
"'It would be impracticable if it were wise to embody in this report all the reasons which induce us to propose no action by which the removal of the president from the head of the institution should be undertaken by the Trustees; and we bespeak with confidence the favorable judgment that we act discreetly, from the members of the Conference who have expressed in their resolutions their generous appreciation of the eminent ability and qualifications of the president for the position which he occupies.
"'Yet the Committee do not fail to see that the present crisis in the country is no ordinary conflict between opposing parties, but is a struggle between the government on one side, and its enemies on the other, and that in it are involved vital issues, not only respecting science and learning, virtue and religion, but also respecting all the social and civil blessings growing out of free institutions.
"'The Committee recommend that the resolutions of the Merrimack County Conference, this report and the accompanying resolutions, be published in pamphlet forms, and that the Treasurer be directed to cause the same to be circulated among the members of said Conference, and other persons, according to his discretion.
Amos Tuck.N. Bouton."
"'RESOLUTIONS.
"'The Trustees of Dartmouth College, impressed with the magnitude of the crisis now existing in public affairs, and with the vital consequences which the issue of current events will bring to the nation and the world; and, considering that it is the duty of literary institutions and the men who control them to stand in no doubtful position when the Government of the country struggles for existence; inscribe upon their records, and promulgate the following Resolutions:
"'First. We recognize and acknowledge with grateful pride, the heroic sacrifices and valiant deeds of many of the sons of Dartmouth, in their endeavors to defend and sustain the Government against the present wicked and remorseless rebellion; and we announce to the living now on the battlefields, to the sick and the maimed in the hospitals and among their friends, and to the relatives of such of them as have fallen in defense of their country, that Dartmouth College rejoices to do them honor, and will inscribe their names and their brave deeds upon her enduring records.
"'Second. We commend the cause of our beloved country to all the Alumni of this Institution; and we invoke from them, and pledge our own most efficient and cordial support, and that of Dartmouth College, to the Government, which is the only power by which the rebellion can be subdued. We hail with joy and with grateful acknowledgments to the God of our fathers, the cheering hope that the dark cloud which has heretofore obscured the vision and depressed the hearts of patriots and statesmen, in all attempts to scan the future, may in time disappear entirely from our horizon; and that American slavery, with all its sin and shame, and the alienations, jealousies, and hostilities between the people of different sections, of which it has been the fruitful source, may find its merited doom in the consequence of the war which it has evoked.
"'Third. The Trustees bespeak for the College in the future the same cordial support and patronage of the Clergy and Churches of New England, as well as other friends of sound learning, which they have given to it in time past, remindingthem of the obligations which the cause of education, science, and religion seem to lay upon them, to stand by this venerable Institution, in evil report and in good report, in view of its past history and great service to the Church and the State, entertaining an abiding faith that it will triumph over all obstacles, and go down to posterity with its powers of usefulness unimpaired.'
"It was moved by Dr. Barstow that the foregoing Report and Resolutions be accepted and adopted.
"On the question of adopting the report, two voted in the negative and five in the affirmative. On the adoption of the preamble and second resolution, two voted in the negative and five in the affirmative, for the first and third resolutions the vote was unanimous, so the report and resolutions were adopted.
"The president asked leave to withdraw for a short time, and Dr. Barstow was requested to take the chair.
"The President on resuming the chair read to the Trustees the following paper, to wit:
"'Dartmouth College, July 24, 1863."'To the Trustees of Dartmouth College:"'In making this communication to the Hon. and Rev. Board of Trustees I take the liberty respectfully to protest against their right to impose any religious, ethical, or political test upon any member of their own body or any member of the College Faculty, beyond what is recognized by the Charter of the institution, or express statutes or stipulations conformed to that instrument, however urged or suggested, directly or indirectly, by individuals or public bodies assuming to be as visitors of the college, or advisers of the Trustees."'The action of the Trustees, on certain resolutions of the Merrimack County Conference of Churches, virtually imposes such a test, inasmuch as it implicitly represents and censures me as having become injurious to the college, not on account of any official malfeasance or delinquency, for, on the contrary, its commendations of my personal and official character and conduct during my long term of service, far exceed my merits; but, for my opinions and publications on questions of Biblicalethics and interpretations, which are supposed by the Trustees to bear unfavorably upon one branch of the policy pursued by the present administration of the government of the country."'For my opinions and expressions of opinion on such subject, I hold myself responsible only to God, and the constitutional tribunals of my country; inasmuch as they are not touched by the Charter of the college, or any express statutes or stipulations. And, while my unswerving loyalty to the government of my fathers, proved and tested by more than seventy years of devotion to its true and fundamental principles, cannot be permanently discredited by excited passions of the hour, I do not feel obliged when its exercise is called in question, to surrender my moral and constitutional right and Christian liberty, in this respect, nor to submit to any censure, nor consent to any conditions such as are implied in the aforesaid action of the Board; which action is made more impressive upon me, in view of the private communications of some of its members."'But not choosing to place myself in any unkind relations to a body having the responsible guardianship of the college, a body from which I have received so many tokens of confidence and regard, and believing it to be inconsistent with Christian charity and propriety to carry on my administration, while holding and expressing opinions injurious, as they imagine, to the interests of the college, and offensive to that party in the country which they [the majority] professedly represent, I hereby resign my office as president."'I also resign my office as Trustee. In taking leave of the college with which I have been connected, as Trustee or President, more than forty years, very happily to myself, and, as the Trustees have often given me to understand, not without benefit to the college, I beg leave to assure them that I shall ever entertain a grateful sense of the favorable consideration shown to me by themselves and their predecessors in office; and that I shall never cease to desire the peace and prosperity of the college, and that it may be kept true to the principles of its foundation.I am very respectfully,"'Your ob't serv't,"'N. Lord.'"
"'Dartmouth College, July 24, 1863.
"'To the Trustees of Dartmouth College:
"'In making this communication to the Hon. and Rev. Board of Trustees I take the liberty respectfully to protest against their right to impose any religious, ethical, or political test upon any member of their own body or any member of the College Faculty, beyond what is recognized by the Charter of the institution, or express statutes or stipulations conformed to that instrument, however urged or suggested, directly or indirectly, by individuals or public bodies assuming to be as visitors of the college, or advisers of the Trustees.
"'The action of the Trustees, on certain resolutions of the Merrimack County Conference of Churches, virtually imposes such a test, inasmuch as it implicitly represents and censures me as having become injurious to the college, not on account of any official malfeasance or delinquency, for, on the contrary, its commendations of my personal and official character and conduct during my long term of service, far exceed my merits; but, for my opinions and publications on questions of Biblicalethics and interpretations, which are supposed by the Trustees to bear unfavorably upon one branch of the policy pursued by the present administration of the government of the country.
"'For my opinions and expressions of opinion on such subject, I hold myself responsible only to God, and the constitutional tribunals of my country; inasmuch as they are not touched by the Charter of the college, or any express statutes or stipulations. And, while my unswerving loyalty to the government of my fathers, proved and tested by more than seventy years of devotion to its true and fundamental principles, cannot be permanently discredited by excited passions of the hour, I do not feel obliged when its exercise is called in question, to surrender my moral and constitutional right and Christian liberty, in this respect, nor to submit to any censure, nor consent to any conditions such as are implied in the aforesaid action of the Board; which action is made more impressive upon me, in view of the private communications of some of its members.
"'But not choosing to place myself in any unkind relations to a body having the responsible guardianship of the college, a body from which I have received so many tokens of confidence and regard, and believing it to be inconsistent with Christian charity and propriety to carry on my administration, while holding and expressing opinions injurious, as they imagine, to the interests of the college, and offensive to that party in the country which they [the majority] professedly represent, I hereby resign my office as president.
"'I also resign my office as Trustee. In taking leave of the college with which I have been connected, as Trustee or President, more than forty years, very happily to myself, and, as the Trustees have often given me to understand, not without benefit to the college, I beg leave to assure them that I shall ever entertain a grateful sense of the favorable consideration shown to me by themselves and their predecessors in office; and that I shall never cease to desire the peace and prosperity of the college, and that it may be kept true to the principles of its foundation.
I am very respectfully,"'Your ob't serv't,
"'N. Lord.'"
"'Adjourned Meeting, September 21, 1863. Resolved, 'that in accepting the resignation of President Lord, we place on record a grateful sense of his services during the long period of his administration; and his kind and courteous treatment of the Board in all their intercourse.'"
Dr. Lord continued to reside at Hanover, cordially co-operating with his successor in office, till his death, September 9, 1870. His wife, Mrs. Elisabeth King (Leland) Lord, died a few months previous to her husband.
ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT SMITH.
Rev. Asa D. Smith, D.D., of New York city, of the class of 1830, was elected the seventh president of the college. His thorough understanding of the field upon which he was to enter is indicated by the following extracts from his inaugural address:
"There are four chief organic forces, by which, under the providence of God, humanity has its normal development. These, generalizing broadly, are the family, the school, the State, and the Church. Wherever you find, even in its lowest measure, a true civilization, these exist; and as it rises they rise, sustaining to it the relation both of cause and effect. Concerning, as they do, one and the same complex nature, they have, in different degrees and combinations, the same underlying elements of power. In the family, we have, in its rudimental form, both teaching and government. It is a patriarchate—a little commonwealth; and to its head—a priest as well as a patriarch—that Scripture should ever be relevant, 'the church that is in thy house.' In the school, the simplest offshoot, perhaps, from a congeries of families, we have, or ought to have, the parental element; we have magistracy also, and a certain statehood; we have, or should have, worship. The state, properly apprehended, is not only governmental but didactic—it is a teaching power; and though not, at this age of the world, theocratic, it should be, in a large view, religious. In the church, having specially and predominantly the last-named characteristic,—being of divine appointment, and as ministering to our imperative needs, the foster-mother of devotion,—we have, also, as essential to its purpose, both rule and instruction. And in the influence they wield, these great moulding agencies are perpetually interpenetrating and modifying each other.
"It is of the second of these, the school, that we are now called to speak. The service we essay is connected with an educational institution, using the term in the specific sense; a fact, it may be said at the outset, which of itself dignifies the occasion. Not to insist on those affinities and mutual influences just adverted to, and of which there will be further occasion to speak, there is a view of education, a large and comprehensive one, which gives to it the very grandest elevation. It is the end, next to that which the good old Catechism makes chief, and subordinate to that, of all the divine provisions and arrangements. God is the great Educator of the universe. More glorious in his didactic offices is He than even in creation; nay, creation was for these. Earth is our training place—time is our curriculum; eternity will but furnish to the true pupil the higher forms of his limitless advancement. We have our lessons in all providence, in all beings and things, God teaching us in and through all. No mean vocation, then, is that of the earthly educator; no unimportant theme that now in hand. Yet even of the school in the more technical sense of the term, we cannot speak at large, except as in touching on any one department we more or less affect every other. Our thought may be fitly limited to that class of institutions which these ancient halls of learning and these inauguration solemnities naturally bring before us. The college is my subject, considered in its proper functions and characteristics.
"I use the term college in the American sense. This, not for the poor purpose of ministering to national vanity, but because we must needs take things as they are; and for the further reason that there is much to commend in the shape the institution here assumes. It has hardly its prototype either in the Fatherland or on the Continent. It has but a partial resemblance either to the German Gymnasia or to the English preparatory schools, as of Eton and Rugby. As preliminary to professional study, it is in some respects far in advance of these. It differs materially, at once from the German and English University, and from the college as embraced in the latter. University education in Europe was once somewhat rigidly divided into two portions; the one designed toform the mind for whatever sphere of life; the other, theBrodstudium, as the Germans significantly term it, a course of training for some particular profession. Long ago, however, this division became mainly obsolete. 'On the continent,' said an eminent English scholar, some years since, 'the preparatory education has been dropped; among ourselves, the professional.' He speaks, of course, comparatively. So far as England is concerned, the same testimony is borne by a well-informed recent observer. This ancient and wise division is by us still maintained; with this peculiarity, that the 'preparatory' education, so-called,—by which is meant the highest form of it,—is the sole work of the colleges. Professional culture is remitted to other and often separate schools. The undergraduate course is for general training; it lays the foundation for whatever superstructure. It has no particular reference to any one pursuit; but, like the first part of the old University course, aims to fit the whole man for a man's work in any specific line either of study or of action.
"In this conception of the college, there are, it is believed, important advantages. It is better for preparatory education; it is better for professional. It felicitously discriminates. It keeps things in their place. It defines and duly magnifies each of the two great departments of the educational process. It is likelier to dig deep, and build on broad and solid rock; it tends to symmetry and finish in the superincumbent fabric.
"The college should be marked by a completeness. Rejecting the fragmentary and the unfinished, the well constituted mind ever craves this. Modern thought, especially, is passing from an excessive nominalism to a more realistic habit; by many a broad induction, from mere details to a rounded whole: And nowhere more persistently than in relation to institutions. The college should be complete as to its objective scheme. There may be onesidedness here. There may be, for example, an excessive or ill-directed pressing of utilities, as in the speculations of Mr. Herbert Spencer; or there may be an undue exaltation of what he calls 'the decorative element.' The theoretic maybe too exclusively pursued; or there may be a practicalness which hastoo little of theory, like a cone required to stand firm on its apex. There should be completeness, also, as touching the subjective aim. It should embrace, in a word, the whole man, and that not in his Edenic aspects alone, but as a fallen being. You may not overlook even the physical; the casket not merely, holding all the mental and moral treasures—the frame-work rather, to which by subtile ties the invisible machinery is linked, and which upholds it as it works. The world has yet to learn fully how dependent is the inner upon the outer man, and how greatly the highest achievements of scholarship are facilitated by proper hygienic conditions. As you pass to the intellectual, it matters little what classification you adopt, whether with the author of the 'Novum Organum,' in his 'Advancement of Learning,' you resolve all the powers into those of memory, imagination, and reason, or whether the minuter divisions of a more recent philosophy are preferred; only be sure that not a single faculty is overlooked or disparaged. Be it presentative, conservative, reproductive, representative, elaborative, regulative, or whatever the fine Hamiltonian analysis may suggest, give it its proper place and its proper scope.
"The college should be distinctly and eminently Christian. Not in the narrow, sectarian sense—that be far from us—but in the broadest evangelical view. Our course of thought culminates here; and here does all else that has been affirmed find its proper centre and unity. Christianity is the great unity. In it, as was intimated at the outset, are all the chief elements of organic influence. It is itself the very acme of completeness, and it tends to all symmetry and finish. It is at once conservative and progressive, balancing perfectly the impelling and restraining forces; by a felicitous adjustment of the centripetal and centrifugal, ensuring to human nature its proper orbit. It is the golden girdle wherewith every institution like this should bind her garments of strength and beauty about her.
"Were it needful to argue this point, we might put it on the most absolute grounds. All things are Christ's; all dominions, dignities, potences; it is especially meet that we say, to-day, all institutions. It is the grossest wrong practicallyto hold otherwise. It is loss, too, and nowhere more palpably than in the educational sphere. It is no cant saying to affirm, and that in a more than merely spiritual sense, that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.' At his throne the lines of all science terminate; above all, the science that has man for its subject. Of all history, for example, rightly read, how is He the burden and the glory! Otherwise taken, it is a more than Cretan labyrinth. The Christian spirit, besides, raising the soul to the loftiest planes of thought, giving it the highest communions, bringing before it the grandest objects, and securing to all its machinery the most harmonious action, is eminently conducive to intellectual achievement. We have already said something like this as touching moral culture; but that, be it ever remembered, takes its proper form and direction only as it is vitally linked with Christianity. What God has joined together let not man put asunder. Let the studies which we call moral, have all a Christian baptism; and, with all our getting, let us not stop short of the cardinal points of our most holy faith. Let the Will be still investigated, not as a brute force, or in a merely intellectual light, but in those high spiritual aspects in which our great New England metaphysician delighted to present it. Let Butler, with his curious trestle-work of analogy, bridge, to the forming mind, the chasm between natural and revealed religion. Let the Christian Evidences be fully unfolded. We can hardly dispense with them in an age, when by means of 'Westminster Reviews,' and other subtle organs of infidelity, the old mode of assault being abandoned, a sapping and mining process is continually going forward. Let Ethical Science,—embracing in its wide sweep the Economy of Private Life, the Philosophy of Government, and Law, which 'hath its seat in the bosom of God,'—be all bathed in the light of Calvary. That light is its life. 'Let us with caution indulge the supposition,' said the Father of our country, 'that morality can be maintained without religion.' Let the Bible be included among our text-books as the sun is included in the solar system; and let all the rest revolve in planetary subjection about it. Let it be studied, not in a professional, much less in a partisan way; but with the conviction that it is indispensableto the broadest culture; that without theology we have but a straitened anthropology; that we see not nature aright, but as we look up through it to Nature's God. Be ours, in its largest significance, the sentiment so devoutly uttered by the old Hebrew bard: 'In Thy light shall we see light.' And let the discipline of college, so intimately connected with its prosperity, be fashioned on the model of the Gospel. Let it copy, in its way and measure, the wondrous harmonies of the redemptive scheme, in which 'mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.' So shall it bless our halls with some faint reflection of the Divine fatherhood, and give to our society some happy resemblance to a Christian family."
A prominent feature of President Smith's administration was a greater utilization of the libraries, and the opening of a reading-room. The librarian says:
"The late Professor Alphæus Crosby contributed considerably to the increase of the classical books, and Hon. Nathan Crosby has recently furnished the means for commencing a collection of the works of Dartmouth alumni. It is intended to gather all books and pamphlets which have been written by graduates. The collection will also include matter relating to them and to the work of the college.
"In reviewing the history of the library their number is so great that it is impossible to mention even a small part of the benefactors; their best record is in the well filled shelves and the large amount of reading done in connection with the studies of the college course.
"One of the departments of the library consists of the books given by the late General Sylvanus Thayer, founder of the school of engineering, numbering 2,000 volumes.
"Early in its history the members of the Chandler Scientific Department founded the 'Philotechnic Society,' the library of which, together with some books belonging to the department, contains 1,700 volumes.
"The three society libraries continued under separate management until 1874, although the societies, as far as literary work is concerned, had for some time given way to the secret societies, and the interest in them was so slight that only withgreat difficulty could a quorum be obtained for ordinary business. During that year an arrangement was made by which the three society libraries were placed under the same management as the library of the college, the latter receiving the society taxes which were slightly reduced, assuming all expenses including the support of the reading-room, and providing for the increase of the library by books to be annually selected by the Senior class. Under this arrangement the different libraries have been brought together and considered as departments of one, the hours for drawing and consulting books have been increased from three hours per week in the society libraries and six in the college, to twenty-one hours per week, and in many respects the facilities for use have been greatly increased. Since 1870, the yearly additions for all the libraries have averaged 700 volumes, and they at present contain exclusive of pamphlets about 45,000 volumes, besides nearly 5,000 books which are either duplicates or worthless. These figures are independent of the Astronomical library located at the Observatory, the library of the 'Society of Inquiry,' and of the libraries of the Medical and Agricultural departments, which will probably be connected with the main library. The library as it is now constituted is well adapted to the work of the college, and is especially so in some of the departments of instruction, in connection with which a large amount of reading is done. There are in use at present three printed catalogues: one of the college library, printed in 1868; one of the 'Social Friends' library, dated 1859; and one of the 'United Fraternity' library, issued in 1861. These are supplemented by a card catalogue arranged under title, author, and subject."
The "Centennial" celebration of the founding of the college, at the Commencement of 1869, was a season of rare interest and profit to the very large number of alumni and friends of the college assembled from nearly every quarter of the globe.
The following is the substance of the address of Chief Justice Chase, who presided on the occasion, as given by Mr. William H. Duncan:
"He began by alluding to the fact that the college receivedits charter from 'our right trusty and well beloved John Wentworth, Governor of the Province of New Hampshire,' and said that the venerable name was 'borne, to-day, by an honored citizen of Illinois,[36]who, like his ancestor, towered head and shoulders above his fellow men. He also happily referred to the descendants of the other founders of the college. 'When the college was organized the third George was heir to the British throne. Under the great Empress Catherine, Russia was prosecuting that career of aggrandizement then begun which is even now menacing British empire in the East. Under the fifteenth Louis, in France, that wonderful literary movement was in progress, which prepared a sympathetic enthusiasm for liberty in America, at length overthrowing, for a time, monarchy in France. China and Japan were wholly outside the modern community of nations. A hundred years have passed, and what a new order has arisen! Great Britain has lost an empire, has gained other empires in Asia and Australia, and extends her dominion around the globe. France, so great in arts and arms, has seen an empire rise and fall and another empire arise, in which a wise and skillful ruler is seeking to reconcile personal supremacy with democratic ideas. Russia, our old friend, seems to withdraw, for the present, at least, her eager gaze from Constantinople and seeks to establish herself on the Pacific Ocean and in Central Asia. China sends one of our own citizens, Mr. Burlingame, on an embassy throughout the world to establish peaceful, commercial, and industrial relations with all the civilized nations. Japan, too, awakes to the necessity of a more liberal policy, and looks toward a partnership in modern civilization. Who, seeing this, and reflecting on the manifold agencies at work in the old world and the prodigious movements in the new, which I cannot even glance at, can help exclaiming, in the language of the first telegraphic message which was sent to America, 'What hath God wrought?' How great a part has this college, antedating the Republic, played in all the enterprises of America! It has been well said of it that three quarters of the globe know the graduates of Dartmouth. Every State in the Union, certainly, is familiarwith their names and their works, and the influence which they exert is the influence of this college. What an insignificant beginning was that which has been described, to-day;—what splendid progress! How great the present, and who can predict the future? Ninety-eight classes of young men have already gone forth from this institution. Who can measure the religious, the moral, the intellectual, the political influence, which they have exerted? Great names like Webster and Choate rise at once to memory, but I refer more particularly to the mighty influence exerted by the vast numbers, unrecognized upon the theatre of national reputation, which the college has sent into all the spheres of activity and duty. When I think of the vast momentum for good which has originated here, and is now in unchecked progress, and must extend beyond all the limits of conception, I cannot help feeling that it is a great and precious privilege to be in some way identified as a member of this college. It does not diminish my satisfaction that other graduates of other American colleges can say the same thing. It rather increases the satisfaction. Glad and thankful that my name is in the list of those who have been educated here, and have endeavored to do something for their country and their kind, I rejoice that, under our beneficent institutions, legions of Americans have the same or greater cause for gladness.'
[36]Hon. John Wentworth, LL. D.
[36]Hon. John Wentworth, LL. D.
"After some remarks to the graduating class, the Chief Justice said: 'And let me add, my brethren of the alumni, a practical word to you. We celebrate to-day the founding of our college. We come hither to testify our veneration and our affection for our benign Alma Mater. We can hardly think she is a hundred years old, she looks so fresh and so fair. We are sure that many, many blessed days are before her, but a mother's days are made happy and delightful by the love and faithfulness of her children. Much has been done for this institution, recently, much which makes our hearts glad. The names of the benefactors of the institution, mentioned here to-day, dwell freshly in the hearts of every graduate, and will live forever; but let us remember, that while much has been done, much also remains to be done. I do not appeal to you for charity. I wish that every graduate mayfeel that the college is, in a most true and noble sense, his mother, and to remind you of your filial obligations.'"
Addresses having been made by Hon. Ira Perley, LL. D., Hon. Daniel Clark, and Richard B. Kimball, Esq., Mr. Duncan says:
"Judge Chase called upon Judge Barrett, Vice President of the Association of the Alumni, to read a poem, which had been furnished for the occasion by George Kent, Esq., of the Class of 1814. He had read but a few stanzas when the rumbling of distant thunder was heard. Then came a few scattering drops of water pattering upon the roof of the tent, but soon the winds blew, and the rain descended and fell upon the roof, as if the very windows of heaven had been opened. There followed such a scene as no tongue, nor pen, nor pencil can describe,—it baffles all description. Judge Barrett, with the true pluck of an Ethan Allen, stood by his colors, and the more the wind blew and the storm raged, the louder he read his poetry. But he was obliged at length to cease, and with his slouched hat and dripping garments left the stage.
"But he was not alone in his misery. The manly and stately form of the Chief Justice, the president of the college, reverend doctors of divinity, were all in the same condition—they all stood drenched and dripping, like fountains, in the rain. Even General Sherman had to succumb, once in his life, and seek the protection of an umbrella. Some huddled under umbrellas, some held benches over their heads, and some crept beneath the platform.
"The storm passed over, and Judge Barrett came forward and finished reading the poem.
"Hon. James W. Patterson, of the Class of 1848, was then called upon, and spoke with force and eloquence, receiving the greatest compliment that could be paid him,—the undivided attention of the audience."
Addresses were also made by Dr. Jabez B. Upham, Samuel H. Taylor, LL. D., Rev. Samuel C. Bartlett, D.D., and others.
We quote some of the closing passages of the "Historical Address" by President Brown, of Hamilton College.
"There is not much time to speak of the general policy of the college through these hundred years of its life, but I maysay in brief, that it has been sound and earnest, conservative and aggressive at the same time. As the motto on its seal,—vox clamantis in deserto,—indicated and expressed the religious purpose of its founders, so this purpose has never been lost sight of. Through lustrum after lustrum, and generation after generation, while classes have succeeded classes, while one corps of instructors have passed away and others have taken their places, this high purpose of presenting and enforcing the vital and essential truths of the Christian religion, has never been forgotten or neglected. The power of Christianity in modifying, inspiring, and directing the energies of modern civilization,—its art, its literature, its commerce, its laws, its government, has been profoundly felt. Nor has it for a moment been forgotten that education, to be truly and in the largest degree beneficent, must also be religious,—must affect that which is deepest in man,—must lead him, if it can, to the contemplation of truths most personal, central, and essential, must open to him some of those depths where the soul swings almost helplessly in the midst of experiences and powers unfathomable and infinite,—where the intellect falters and hesitates and finds no solution of its perplexities till it yields to faith. Within later years there have been those who have advocated the doctrine that education should be entirely secular,—that the college should have nothing to do with religious counsels or advice. Now while I do not think that this would be easy, as our colleges are organized, without leaving or even inciting the mind to dangerous skepticism, nor possible but by omitting the most powerful means of moral and intellectual discipline, nor without depriving the soul of that food which it specially craves, and destitute of which it will grow lean, hungry, and unsatisfied,—as a matter of history, no such theory of education has found favorable response among the guardians of Dartmouth. At the same time while the general religious character of the college has been well ascertained and widely recognized, while the great truths of our common Christianity have been fully and frankly and earnestly brought to the notice of intelligent and inquiring minds, it has not been with a narrow, illiberal, and proselyting spirit, not so as rudely to violate traditionary beliefs, not so as to wound andrepel any sincere and truth loving mind. And this is the consistent and sound position for the college to hold.
"With respect to its curriculum of studies the position of the college has been equally wise. She has endeavored to make her course as broad, generous, and thorough as possible; equal to the best in the land; so that her students could feel that no privilege has been denied them which any means at her disposal could provide. She has endeavored wisely to apportion the elements of instruction and discipline. She has provided as liberally as possible, by libraries, apparatus, laboratories, and cabinets for increase in positive knowledge. She has equally insisted on those exact studies which compel subtleness and precision of thought, which habituate the mind to long trains of controlled reasoning, which discipline alike the attention and the will, the conservative and the elaborative powers. She has given full honor to the masterpieces of human language and human thought, through which, while we come to a more complete knowledge of peoples and nations, of poetry and eloquence, we feel more profoundly the life of history, and comprehend the changes of custom and thought, while the finer and more subtle powers of fancy and imagination stir within the sensitive mind, and gradually by constant and imperceptible inspiration lift the soul to regions of larger beauty and freedom.
"So may she ever hold on her way, undeluded by specious promises of easier methods, inuring her students to toil as the price of success; not rigid and motionless, but plastic and adapting herself to the necessities of different minds; yet never confounding things that differ, nor vainly hoping on a narrow basis of culture to rear the superstructure of the broadest attainment and character, but ever determined to make her instructions the most truly liberal and noble.
"With no purpose of personal advantage, but with the deepest filial love and gratitude have we assembled this day. Of all professions and callings, from many States, from public business and from engrossing private pursuits,—you, my young friend who have just come, with hesitation and ingenuous fear, to add your name if you may, to the honored rolls of the college, and you Sir,[37]whose memory runs back to thebeginning of the century, the oldest or nearly the oldest living alumnus of the college, the contemporary of Chapman and Harvey, and Fletcher, and Parris, and Weston, and Webster,—you who came from beyond the 'Father of Waters,' and you who have retreated for a moment from the shore of the dark Atlantic—you Sir,[38]our brother by hearty and affectionate adoption, who led our armies in that memorable march from the mountain to the sea, which shall be remembered as long as the march of the Ten Thousand, and repeated in story and song as long as history and romance shall be written, and you, Sir, who hold the even scales of justice in that august tribunal, from which Marshall proclaimed the law which insured to us our ancient name and rights and privileges, unchanged, untarnished, unharmed,—all of us, my brothers, with one purpose have come up to lay our trophies at the feet of our common mother, to deck her with fresh garlands, to rejoice in her prosperity, and to promise her our perpetual homage and love. Let no word of ours ever give her pain or sorrow. Loyal to our heart of hearts, may we minister so far as we can, to her wants, may we be jealous of her honor, and solicitous for her prosperity. May no ruthless hand ever hereafter be lifted against her. May no unholy jealousies rend the fair fabric of her seamless garment. May no narrow or unworthy spirit mar the harmony of her wise counsels. May she stand to the end as she ever has stood, for the Church and State, a glory and a defense. And above all and in order to all, may the spirit of God in full measure rest upon her; 'the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.'"