Eastern Michigan University - Aurora Yearbook (Ypsilanti, MI)

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lililnrua A. Barbour if II 4 AM asked by the management of the A AURORA to write a Word corfcerning 355 . ' Professor Barbour, to whom this volume is dedicated. The task is at once an j easy and a pleasant one. I have only to use, with some elaboration and cir- cumstance, the familiar platform formula: A Professor Barbour needs no introduc- Q Q51 tion to this audience. i For who in the large audience which the AURORA addresses does not know lx ii our well beloved Professor of English, i and who does not associate him at once 55 and intimately, not only with this insti- i tution, but also, and especially, with his distinctive work here? Indeed, Pro- fessor Barbour is most easily imagined in the midst of his books, and with the glow of literary exposition upon him. For his temperament and gifts are distinctly literary. In this world of mislits he is one of those blessed souls who seems born to his work. And when one comes to think of it, what personal satis- faction, and what economy of effort this fact implies. For to have by nature a gift of effective utterance, to make immediately and surely the literary judgment that the world will finally ratify, is no mean economy. What a saving it is to be rid of the distraction of the temporary and the local, to have no need to waste energy in correcting a perverse judgment or a native admiration for the meretricious. A man of romantic grain may become a very great teacher of English. but what discipline he has to undergo before he comes to possess the sure taste, the serene spirit, and the large culture which will fit him to become a safe guide to those who would, through literature, look into the very soul of the race. All of which is only a long way of saying that Professor Barbour was born to his trade, brought up to it, and has since practiced it with eminent success. But it often, perhaps usually, happens that the life Work of a man has little in common with the prevailing dis- ciplinary studies of his early life. And here again Pro- fessor Barbour was fortunate. For, whatever may he thought of the old literary or classical course of our col- leges as a preparation for affairs, most men will acknowledge that this course, as imitated by our fathers from English models, is an excellent preparation for the analysis and appreciation of style, and, if supplemented in later years by wide reading and large sympathies, for a sound study of belles-lettre literature. When Professor Barbour passed through college, the modern side of education, which has since had such wonderful expansion, was practically

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unknown. So he got the best education of his day and made the most of it, and this happened to be the best pos- sible course for him. For my own part, I have always been in the habit of attributing no small part of his success as an expositor of classic English to his interest in the Greek of his college course. Thus gifted and thus fitted for his work there is no wonder that Professor Barbour has had unusual acceptance in his chosen field. Indeed, few men in the state have ever won a more wide and generous recognition in this field. As the high priest of a noble profession, worshipping at an ancient and enduring altar, it has been his joy to see mul- titudes of young people bow with him at the shrine of immortal beauty. Personally, too, he has made hosts of ardent friends and admirers among the young people of the state, who feel that life has become something nobler and richer for his teaching. But the study of artistic literature has not absorbed all his energies. He has great interest in educational, philos- ophical, and moral questionsg has a keen sense of justice, and is ever ready to place his talent at the service of the ever-losing and ever-Winning cause of righteousness. Hence, as an occasional speaker throughout the state, on commencement occasions, at inspiration institutes, and the like, I M Fis a most attractive and welcome figure. His use- fulness this direction seems to be limited only by his strength and the time at his disposal. Biographically, I am not aware of anything especially signincant in the life of Professor Barbour. He was born, brought up, and educated in Michigan, a fact which. how- ever fortunate for Michigan, ought hardly to be imputed to him for righteousness. He is a lover of sport, and an expert in athletics, but has hitherto modestly managed to keep out of the championship classg and as he seems to make no point of his athletic prowess, I will not. And this reminds me that Professor Barbour is a very manly man, averse to laudation, and sure to be restless under analysis and exploitation. He must, however, permit me to add that I am only giving feeble voice to the feeling of a great multitude of people, who will heartily join me in wishing him still many years of happy and useful work among us. EDWIN A. STRONG.