Hobart College - Echo of the Seneca Yearbook (Geneva, NY)

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he afi he - uremeni to the Coll.-,- terra.-,. should lm ulili I In- building lau-r.il ■.t'.ils in provide tor ilu- .H-Vi.ium.nl ilu n ol special- - •Still, if the achievements of i 1,1 Hobart vt ren in to be vhroni- ck-d by the historian ol the •• shell. her victories u; on the ball fieKI are tangible. ami ilo not partake of the character of .itmosphor- ic palaces. Her triumphs over Cornell ami Syracuse are memora- hle. and the trip down to the i. urnainent of the latter University speaks olunies for her pluck. It'the absent nines were not alarm- ed at Hobart’s fame, she at all events was on the round, ready for a toe wherever found. hen the cry was first raised, •• Mire a hall!” Hobart began to look around, ami decided that the old Medical College afforded the necessary facilities lor public gatherings, where the students might gesticulate wildly and shout aloud to admiring auditors, lienee the improvements at present visible in that stately and consecrated pile; hence tin- artistic frescoing on the walls of that assembly chamber with those finely adapted acoustic properties ; hence those curtains, paintings and exhibitions of scenic art : hence that vast outlay of available funds. Hut. alas ! all in vain ! Those velvet caipels could not inullle the spectre-tread of avenging' victims. ’I’he mangled corpses nt the dissecting table arose for other post mor- tem attentions. Into that ghostlike abode they stalked at noon ; tiny stalked at midnight, and with accents pathetic and ceaseless round, their thrilling cry was II ire a hall !” 1 lie reading room has become a reality, and apartments elegantly tilted up through the munificence of the President, have been pre- sented to the students, with but few and equitable restrictions in their use. The Faculty has been augmented this term by the arrival of the new and long expected Chaplain, in the person of the Rev. Walter Ayrault, D. D. To himself and family, on behalf ol the students we extend a hearty welcome. A word, before closing, with reference to the position of t-Iobart in the Educational world and her relations with the Church. Hobart's position as a College, though peculiar, is honorably so. While her standard of admission is high, she does not require the education ol applicants to be completed, as do many of our large Uni- versities which arc obliged to take this course to preserve a reputa- tion secured in the past. On the contrary, she takes in the man to educate him, by bona fide professors, through the instrumentality ol the recitation, and not to gloss him over with the smattering' of tutes and the loud theories of itinerant lecturers. Furthermore, Hobart is distinctively' a classical institution. Site stands by those

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4 of tin Seneca. lumber, anti the skillful manner in which they projected the black diamonds gave evidence of their proficiency in geometrical studies. The Harvard students created a little temporary diversion by means of the premature explosion of some nitro-glycerine, which made considerable stir, and illustrated the practical utility of the genus glazier. The undergraduates of Dartmouth in a mild way mobbed a bookstore, and at Hamilton the pole ” was elevated by assisting the President’s carriage to a secure position on the Chapel. These little circumstances are very refreshing to those who begin to despair of the interest manifested in intellectual pursuits. The ennui, at Hobart this fall has been appreciably relieved at times by “ waking up the town. There was a lire alarm and great excite- ment at two o’clock A. M , all caused by the ringing of the College hell. Some ascribed the difficulty to an undue proximity of ye re- doubtable Fresh. At any rate one of them paid twelve dollars for supposed complicity in producing the aforesaid gentle tintinnabu- lations. No cards ! Taken all in all. the Class of'79 has given evidence of unusual precocity, and the wonderful development on the part of the Fresh culminated in their appearance at Chapel one morning with the forbidden cane. Although a small class—only twenty-six — they looked formidable, especially when seen through the goggles of the Sophs. The honor of the College, however, was heroically vindicated by '78 in the : ush which took place after Chapel. There were then fifty-two canes where there had been hut twenty-six, and on the ground where stood the noole men of '79 but six remained, and they are here yet. Two Sophomores water-logged by the Fresh, and one man with a fractured skull are the only other casualties worthy of mention. There is no interest in boating at Hobart whatever. Which ar- ' gues that the quality of her muscle could gain distinction at the Inter-Collegiate regatta; which argues that site has a fine boat house ; which argues that within one hundred yards of her doors lies one of tire finest sheets of water for aquatic sports to he found in all America. Were she obliged, like Amherst, to carry her oars three or four miles, or like Williams, to scull on the bed ol a dry stream, or like Hamilton, to feather on the toe and heel paths, be- yond question her energy in surmounting obstacles would place “a six” with poised oars at the start, to respond to the signal gun at Saratoga. Speaking on this subject, reminds us to suggest that the lumber remaining from the erection of the boat house, at present a disllg-

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Echo of t ic Seneca. ■6 ■old “ lores ” whose wisdom grows richer with the accumulating centuries. She has not yet discarded the study of those writers whose philosophies have furnished the light of ages, and their lan- guage, grandeur to every tongue. For this, all thanks ! Among the graduates of an institution whose age embraces fifty years, are many starred names. Men who once sat upon those battered benches have become jurists, eminent in their state and country. Men who once trod those halls of learning have won prominence at the bar. distinction as legislators, obtained recog- nition on the floor of the nation's senate, and inspired wisdom in her councils. Hobart's past is at least secure ; let the Church as- sure her future triumph—the triumph of an institution that has given culture to her priesthood, learning to her conclaves, eloquence to her pulpit! If endowments are needed, let them he forthcoming from thi t Church whose reputation is for boundless wealth, whose boast is a most highly educated and disciplined clergy, and whose perpetuity is dependent upon the early inculcation of doctrine by the professor and the priest! The fact stands undisputed and in- disputable. that while Unita nanism is nurtured by Harvard, Con- gregationalism strengthened by Yale: while the Presbyterians lav- ish gifts on Amherst and Hamilton, and the Baptists on Brown and Rochester—the Protestant Episcopal Church persistently withholds support from her colleges, hoards her wealth, and sends her sons to seats of instruction whose principles are those of neutrality to God. We do not believe fixed law s will be abrogated for the benefit of any ysstem of ecclesiasticism. and it needs no prophet to foretell the future of that Church, which, in a land where education is universal and free as air, neglects the sources of her refinement, her enlighten- ment and her popular power. We do not put this forth as a “ hark from the tombs a doleful sound.” Far from it. The institution prospers, the mills still grind, and though cars may come and years may go. Old Hobakt lives forever.”