Dickinson College - Microcosm Yearbook (Carlisle, PA)

Page 19 text:

fl' 0iLl l lI:0KlIsQNlS1 ,MIM FROM PRESIDENT NISBET TO PRESIDENT REED IIE town eloek sountlerl the hour of mitlnight that markefl the passing ot' the year 15104 anal the eoming ofl5lU5. In Vhapel IIall a murmur like a sigh ot' relieil ancl the rust- ling of a gentle movement eame from Dr. Xisbet's pie- ture. The old man turnetl his heatl aml gazeel about the room at eaeh ofhis eompanions. At his eompelling glanee, eaeh lookecl up brightening, and gratefully moveil from the still' position he hail been obligeml so long to keep. My llonoureal Sits, began Dr. Nisbet, I have long been eurious to know how my little aeamlemy has been getting along, so on this New Year's live, one humlreil years atter my mleath, I have been granteml permission to eome here for an hour anal learn from you what you will tell. Yon, Durbin, are nearest my timeL IIow were things when you were presimlt-nt? But won't you tell us first of your own presi4leney? urgeil the genial Durbin. Speeeh! speeeh! Dr. Nisbet! Dr. Nisbet Z ehorusecl all in the room. So with a Hush ot' pleasure lighting for a moment his melaneholy thee, the noble Seot, atljustecl his wig antl sairl: My Iixeellent Sueeessors: 'l'here wasn't mueh to tell about the beginning. NVhen the trustees eleeteml me in ITS4, they gave me only one assistant, anrl he was hezul ot' the Grammar Sehool at that. When I linally eame over in VT85, though, they aelcleml Dr. Ilavitlson. Ile anil I useml to take turns preaehing in the Pres- byterian l'hureh. NVQ: 4li4ln't have many stuilents either, and at iirst we graeluateml 'em whenever they were reatly. I flo take a partlonable pride, though, in our stamlartl ot' seholarship, in the elassies. Why, the.1'ommeneement Salutatory was always in Latin, anrl now, I'll wager, some gramluates are fortunate it' they ean reatl their own iliplomas. Only last year my poor oltl ashes flown in the cemetery here were flisturberl hy a lot ot' saerilegious Ifreslnnen erowtling arouml my tombstone to reaml the inseription, and I heartl two ot' them talking something about stutlents in eol- lege who clitln't know a wortl of Latin. Is that true ? I4Ie turnecl appealingly to the younger men. Do they aetually aclmit, to eol- lege men who know no Latin ? 'I'he seamlalizeml looks of most of his eompanions showerl proper horror at sueh a suggestion g but

Page 18 text:

r . r f Q 1 , , .1-,,-. 'ip:'.:,4, '.u. 'N' JY., '. . -HJ 4 ' nd' 21--f--S. , 'rf 15. 'A x . N. gwyxfnt ,g..-, nf 1 NEW DENNY HALL

Page 20 text:

McCauley said, Yes, and graduate them, too, without teaching them any Latin. Dr. N isbet seemed overwhelmed by despair for a moment, then his thoughts taking another channel, he went on: The literary societies were founded in '86 and 'fl and the libraries begun soon after. Then in '98 we bought the campus and began to build upon this ve1'y site. There was, in one of' our earliest classes, a young fellow named Taney, who later became Chief' Justice ofthe nation. XVe had no reason to be ashamed of' our alumni cve11 in the very first days. In 1803 our fine new building on this spot was burned before it had been all finished, and I was so discouraged that I died the next year. Now tell me what has happened since. Well,,' replied Durbin, so far as having to begin with noth- ing, I had about as hard a time as you. Your successors struggled against the difficulty of' the NVar of' 1812 and against others in great discouragement, until in 1816 the college was closed for five years, and after it was opened again, barely lived along till 1833, when the whole matter was transferred to our Methodist Church, and we had to reorganize everything. Caldwell, here, and Emory were such a help to me. In 1835 we bought South College, and next year East was built. I was sorry I couldn't stay longer than '-15. You followed me, Emory. Yourturn now. But,', said the gentle scholar, I was president only three years. They we1'e prosperous years, though. 1Ve had many students, McCauley being one of' our graduates, and we increased the number ofthe faculty. lVe began to allow students to study modern languages instead of' so much Latin and Greek. And, with a bright smile at Dr. Peck, my successor is here to speak for himself, too. Dr. Peck's deep voice responded: I was here four years, and of' many things, the one to which I look back with most grati- tude is the final safe graduation of' a scapegrace named Conway. Qnly this fall I have heard remarks about a Conway Hall. 1' wonder if' he has anything to do with it. Then, too, while I was president, the trustees adopted the plan of' raising an endowment fund by selling scholarships, but the credit of' that belongs to J olm- son, here, who was English professor then, and who later became presidentf' And a most trying task, too, admitted Dr. Jolmson, his grave expression becoming more grave at the recollection. It was in 1860 that I accepted the office, and here so near Mason and Dixon's Line, with boys f'rom Northern and Southern firmi- lies, it was hard. Of' course, we suffered f'rom small numbers, but we kept on with college work. In '63, at Commencement time, Lee's army was approaching the town, and we had our Commence- ment exercises before daylight. After the war, better times came, and more students. We began to let students elect Science in the Junior and Senior years, and in '67 the Scientific Society was foundedf' It's too bad Daishell isn't here to tell about his four years,