Columbia University - Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

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chapel crypts,-a room on the fourth floor of John Jay was given to the society in fee-simple and in perpetuity. Owing to restrictions of every sort on student activity, including athletics, Philolexian constituted for many years,-until the removal of the. college to Madison Avenue and Forty-ninth Street in 1857,-the sole center of under- graduate social life. Together with literary discussions, oratorical fireworks, and forensic sword-play, the meetings of the society provided the friendship- starved students with necessary gregarious opportu- nities, permitting them also to engage in what a con- E'lmHU 'l mllmll'Mn'l ml -L temporary alumnus coyly termed other than merely iz vu v.-rx-xnxx .xxxu :mmm ..,.. 5 intellectual pursuits. .fm'un'?I Just fifty years ago, three rather important rol.n.mu:-rnu-u- 'S li events took place that influenced Philolexian. In- lg ..., ternally it suffered its most severe slump, owing to the immixion of fraternity politics in its economy. ' E525 Simultaneous with the Philo neap tide, the forma- In .A ll' ffl' 'ff'-Eg tion of the Barnard Literary Society served to con- M- - -'A- - E centrate talent and resuscitate moribund interest in - , :1 iii' L --i - Philo itself, of which Barnard was a seceding 1: M -.. gl ,---- -A----' --- offshoot. Finally, that momentous year also saw fiilmiWUtlIHH1'llimm'4ys1i.z'1qmiqlqlgiigqqitfgl the decline of P2lIl'1OlOgl3I1, in spite of Nicholas Murray Butler's Herculean efforts to pulmotor a last spark of vitality into its varicose veins. Fourteen years before, a Peithologian commencement orator had boasted of the superior brilliancy of the younger organization in a piece of verse of which the key stanza runs as follows: Philolexia's eyes now tremble with spite Por her poor sun is dimmed by our star's dazzling light. She has found out at last, though it shines from afar Peithologia's orb was always a fixed star. And a glistening tear down her pallid cheek slips For her sun is suffering a solar eclipse. Aside from unorthodox astrophysics the verse reveals the interesting spirit of rivalry existing between the two societies, a spirit that Barnard was to help to promote, but which has now,-perhaps unfortunately,-ceased to exist. The next low water-mark in Philo's life occurred in l893g the reason for this listless- , ness has never been investigated. lt seems to have just come about, and it might just as easily have done away with the society altogether had it not been for the unselfish action of the then E 1 newly formed Hamilton Literary Association which offered to join forces with Philo, and I whose generous offer was gratefully accepted. Since then, the society has had a fairly even tenor of existence, marked by a greater and greater degree of informality in organization and function, as well as by the development of a strong interest in dramatics which has lasted until the present: the Hrst Philo Play having been given November 17th, 1910, and the sixteenth annual production having graced the boards not more than six monthskago. . E331

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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

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It is interesting, once the main historical pegs have been made secure, to glance at the various occupations which have engaged Philo's collective and individual attention. From the beginning, writing and speaking have been the two poles between which oscillation has been continual as well as erratic. It was the custom in early days to invite outsidetftspeakers, and this recreation, together with the oflicers' inaugural addresses, seems to have provided the high spots of entertainment. The last recorded inaugural dates from 1830. The quality of the oratory is indubitableg Cicero, Burke, or Webster could have hardly done better-without surpassing themselvesg but the quality of the 'thought is, to us, less apparent, perhaps because more rarefied and subtle. Not infrequently poems and essays were read, extempore speeches made, and debates staged. The latter became, as time went on, one of the most im- portant activities of the society and these, aided by the prize competitions which acted as incentives, helped to revive the interest in formal oratory. In the course of its perigrinations, Philolexian managed to accumulate a -library of about fifteen hundred or two thousand books. Each member was required, during his active membership, to contribute from 31.25 to 34.00 in books. At some time, not specified, this library was given to the Columbia library and merged by categories into the' great' mass of Volumes. Now and again one experiences the pleasant surprise of finding the old Philo Ex Libris in a dusty volume requested for a purely utilitarian purpose. But not content with beingthe quaint repository of old names, old books and old customs, Philo is also the first organization at Columbia to have pub- lished a periodical. The first, The Philolexian, can hardly be called a period- ical since it appeared for the first and last time on February 26, l8l3. It consisted of a single handwritten copy of a paper to be read before the So- ciety. It is Johnsonese in style, elevated in tone, and moral in purpose. It seeks, of course, to remedy the defects of the Society with a View to insuring its prosperity now and in future. The idea-germ of a periodical, found here, was taken up in December of the same year, when The Philolexian Observer was first issued. Twelve papers of homilies, criticisms, letters, admonition and reproof constitute its volume. All writers are anonymous, their style is uni- form, their subjects fascinating. Procrastination, Cuentlemanly Behavior, Dancing, and one avowedly humorous attempt called Ghost of the Philo- lexian, are among the most valuable contributions. as af bs- Many curious propositions have been debated in Philo during l25 years, and yet not strictly speaking by Philo, but by the U. S. Senate or the State Legislature, into which the society solemnly resolved itself. Books and medals were awarded at first to exceptional speakers, but, in 1884, Henry N. Mills and Robert M. Bull, two alumni, donated S250 annually for five years to be expended in prizes for the first and second best orations delivered. This dona- tion is especially interesting in view of one of the donors' antecedents. Vyfhile in the society Mr. Mills was one of its outstanding speakers. The record states that 'ihe delivered an oration regularly, a most apt and precise phrase, since it appears that it was always the same oration, Spartacus As the minutes once put it, Mr. Mills then delivered 'Spartacus' in his best style. l The Society's Hrst debate was held when it was twelve years old. Its subject is indeed great enough for such a youngster to discuss: Would it be expedient to extend the benefits of a liberal education to the female sex? For the sake of our Philolexian ancestors' memory, the benefit of the doubt should pc-gtgranted them as to their final decision on that question: no record of it is e . E341