Colorado College - Nugget Yearbook (Colorado Springs, CO)

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PROFESSOR GEORGE NATHANIEL MARDEN A little more than twenty -seven years ago there came to this college campus a man of forty-five years of age, slight in figure, delicate in health, but of unusual strength of character. He was born in New Hampshire, and not only reflected the qualities which so often have characterized men who lived among the rocky hills of that state, but possessed that high sense of duty and spiritual courage which brought our forefathers to New England. The best things in Puritanism appeared in him and brought him to the New West to render a service to this college the worth of which can hardly be over-estimated. He came to Colorado to become professor of history in the new col- lege which had been founded only seven years, and entered with pleasure upon his work. No one ever loved the quiet of his own home more than he, and the new profession to which he hoped to give his life was full of constant joy and the promise of usefulness. After a little more than two short vears of service, financial disaster overwhelmed this institution. Its future existence was in peril, and then with the same spirit that has ever sent the noblest heroes to their tasks, he left his home and of his own initiative undertook one of the most soul- trying tasks that ever comes to a man with fineness and sensitiveness of heart and mind. For months and vears, in cold and storm, this man, delicate in health, of refined tastes, went from place to place securing the funds necessary for keeping alive this college. No one can ever write the story of that work in all its details. Only one who bears day and night the financial burden of the modern i merican college can possibly under- stand the courage, weariness and the pain of such a mission. Without flinching, without one word of complaint, with the spirit of the true mis- sionary, he went his way and saved Colorado College for its larger oppor- tunity. It was this effort of his that provided for the current expenses of the college during these years of stress. There are many things in his character which made the achievements of his life possible. Above all else was that personal integrity which marked all that he said and everything which he undertook. The only question for him was, Is it right ? Self-seeking and personal advantage were never motives for any action. No one could ever question his at- titude towards righteousness. He held himself to what he b elieved was right and he expected the same of everyone who dealt with him. There were no compromises in his nature. Closely allied to his integrity of character was his sense of duty. He decided what was given him to do and then he did it with all his might, simply because it was his duty. No argument, no word of others affected him in the least when this sense of personal obligation came to him. He went East on his weary pilgrimages because he believed it was the right thing for him to do. Other men would have found excuses in the fact of physical limitations; the enormous difficulties of the undertaking; the seeming impossibilities of the whole situation, or because it was not their 22 The Pike ' s Peak Nugget ««« 1910

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work any more than it was that of others; but no excuses availed with him. The imperative of his own soul, I must, was enough for him. That was his reason for action. There was one thing which affected all else in his character and that was piety- He was profoundly a religious man. He believed in God. He prayed because he could not live without prayer. Every day from his first coming his petition for Colorado College never failed. He had no criticisms for its administration, but night and morning found him lifting his soul in devout prayer that wisdom might be given to those who guided its affairs. He believed with all his heart that it was God ' s work. As friends, teachers and students of Colorado College all are grateful for the life and work of George Nathaniel Marden. 24 The Pike ' s Peak Nugget ««c 1910