Columbia University - Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 26 text:

WW I Qi, , WX 1 ,- ....,...,., e ' , - ' -.T RDS T' Philo Through the Ages BY JACQUES MARTIN BARZUN know that 1' fk ' the friendships established in the Club were perpetuated in a valuable correspondence, largely upon lit- ,Q',291',g?3' erary questions: and we may safely assume from the mere presence of so imposing a group of scholars in the Club that the meetings, particularly in the later years, provided frequent occasion for dis- cussion of the topics of uppermost interest to them. With the close of the century, however, the if bl' if Club began to sink into an aristocratic de- cadence, an offence to the memory of its greatest member, and of course an absolute check upon essentially literary activities, from any point of view what- soever. ' This sentence from Professor Harrison Ross Steeves' delightful monograph on Learned Societies does not refer, as might be rashly supposed, to the Philo- lexian Society of Columbia College. Its purpose is only remotely analogici and rather introductory, ornamental, or illustrative of the subtle art of quota- tion. Philolexian, as the mere sound of its name implies, was founded in 1802. It is therefore one of the three oldest college literary societies in America: that is to say the third oldest, being antedated by seven years by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina, on the one hand, and the Philologian and Philotechnian of Williams College, on the other, both groups of twins having been born in 1795. However, as Shaw says, in a hundred years we shall all be of the same age: and, this being true of the past as well as of the future: and further, a rapid mental calculation assuring us that Philolexian is now exactly 125 years old: there is, therefore, more than circumstantial evidence to suppose that Philolexian is of the same age as the oldest literary society in America. This important historical point having been settled with some finality, it might be well to consider as briefly as possible the intellectual background, history, and development-if any has taken place-of this organization, whose continued existence through a century and a quarter is one of its strongest claims to fame: for it argues a flexibility of constitution and a liberality of l31l l'??5'i fEii' '?EEii'l 'lIll 'K '2 '1I lllillllll ls dll Q llllwtnll 2isilzlillllllinnu.ll 33 all , 41 , ,.. M :::-7. , -1 . 'll , 1- .I 2 QA -EQ if, cvil af f fr cf . is - 1 ii ll? S- H SZ' N' 14 i .. -, lj Mira, -- l l, ,uIi-- SJ-lllm x fi :gg-' S, i- 2, 4 1 , 1' 1

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FOREWORD HE year 1926-27 seems to have been one of anniversaries. lt has marked President Butler's twenty-fifth year as head of the Univer- sity: Spectator's fiftieth year of serviceg and PhiloleXian's one hun- dred and twenty-fifth birthday. The opening of John Jay was, therefore, a very auspiciously timed event. Our appreciation of and respect for President Butler's great work we have expressed in the opening pages of this volume. Now we turn to Columbia's oldest undergraduate organization and her second oldest publication. The traditions of the college are many and go back for genera- tions and generations, but few have survived to our own day. Even we have witnessed the passing of more of them. Still, comparatively few students really know and appreciate just how great and splendid a background the college has. Most of them appreciate its age, and, in a hazy way, its past. Many efforts have been made to place the facts before them in the various campus periodicals: by means of the Columbiana Museum: and in the feature section of each COLUMBIAN. The traditions are necessarily intimately connected with the story of its Student Activities. They are reflected in the actions and writings of the men who have gone before us. To get a good picture of the good old times we have but to read the old secretary's books of Philolexian or the old copies of Spectator Better yet, we can spend a spare hour or two browsing about in the Columbiana room in the Library. We present in the following accounts a concentrated glance at the Columbia of the past, through the medium of the histories of two of the oldest organizations on the Campus. We hope they will serve to give Columbia men a clearer picture of their traditions. At the same time, COLUMBIAN extends its congratulations and best wishes to Philolexian and to Spectator on the occasion of their birthdays. The Editor. l 30 l

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purpose the lack of which in its various contemporaries may safely be assumed to be the sufficient reason for their extinction. The first salient fact relative to Philolexian is that it superseded a society of the same type but with a membership limited exclusively to Juniors. The open door policy which Philo instituted then, and has since maintained, is probably an unpremeditated cause of the flexibilityinoted above. lndeed,.v1tal- ity was concomitant with adaptability, since Philo was instrumental inlthe organization of its only serious rival, Peithologian, in 1806: and has survived not only all other attempts at secession and dem- olition, but also its own moral and financial de- , l,,ii,,1,. Lpnn pressions. ln these respects it 1S somewhat like the British Empire: but analogies are tedious as well as explosive. T t .gang Among those competitive efforts, the Barnard Literary Association fl878j and the Debating Union Cl893j were the most powerful: but in the specific purposes for which they were founded .,-' L lay the specific weaknesses on which they finally foundered. All college societies until very recent times were organized with either or both of two objects in view: improvement in composition by means of reading and criticism of papers, and in oratory by means of speeches and debates. The societies were encouraged by the authorities as promoting those arts necessary to a gentleman's education, and they were paternally restricted by these same authorities, as requiring super- vision to check those rowdy habits which were then thought-at least by the undergraduate--equally a part of a gentleman's upbringing. The trustees embodied this precaution in their own inimitable way in a resolution dated July 9, 1821 : Resolved, That for the accommodations of the Philolexian and Peitho- logian societies, a suitable building be erected: and that the Committee of Repairs report to this Board a plan and estimate with the site thereof. ,H i ztfe 'M w 9' s l H 2 f' P ,ff we isa . , ':- ,az .lvfswzzzawlfff-1.,s - - 5 - 'Li H. V? Wfaaeyfwwg 1 , 1 1, 5'f lf: ,gp 1 si Q . ,, N 2 Q , zywffvgf I 'J' D' 4 1 'W 1 X er, W 2 af J sa, ff f f 1 4-is ' T 141 L xfifir N x 12, X ,,-7-1,63 ,A 5 . 'iw ii-:ZA Q 3 in 1 W 4 Resolved, further, That these societies hold the rooms in the same build- ing so long as, in the judgment of the trustees, they shall advance the improvement of the students and the general interests of the college, and on the following conditions X X Dk Cl-lere JSR., are enumerated the eligibility rulesj bf if it ssl. being expected from the societies that they will enjoin on their members a behavior and deport- ment suitable to their character as students of the college and as members of the societies. l N AN Qxhaawvipguivpmg The building mentioned in the first paragraph ag' WHS HQVQF, llf 1S 11'1lf2I'6Sf1I1g to I'1Of2, 91'2Ct6d. 'fill' - - 4.5, if 't i,M-.::LN wa W' 1, ' .-JQTWQ- B i ' ,,, K mrzzf 1 ' i' I.: V. ,.,x1 Y' There followed an intermittent ping pong controversy between the student leaders and the I 1 Trustees or their representatives concerning a locus conszsfendz, which pursued its haphazard course through the vicissitudes of both the college and the society: which did not terminate until the past year, when,-after having met. like con- spirators, in every conceivable place, from beer cellars to loft buildings and l32l