Indiana State University - Sycamore Yearbook (Terre Haute, IN)

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THE NORMAL ADVANCE 31 so long after all these had taken their depart- ure. But J ulia Ward Howe has not only lived ' in our day, but she has been in touch with and interested in the problems of our day. Julia Ward was born in New York in 1819, and was a member of a household that had position, wealth, and culture. She was married to Dr. Samuel G. Howe, who had taken part in the Greek revolution in 1824 in which Lord Byron lost his life. He had at a later date aided the Polish and had come to America where he be- came a prison reformer, and abolitionist and brought fame to himself and the Institute for the Blind at South Boston. When Charles Dickens came to this country in the early forties, he Visited this institute and found Dr. Howe just at that time interested in the re- markable case of Laura Bridgman. Julia Ward Howe became interested in the same things her famous husband was interested in, and aided him in his work. She was philan- thopist, prison reformer, abolitionist, equal suEragist, co-educationist, and with it all a splendid type of the womanly woman. Her philanthropy showed itself in many forms of charity. Her sympathy with the cause of ab- olition made her an out-spoken advocate and an aid to Dr. Howe in certain abolition publi- cations. Their zeal for the cause took them to Washington at the beginning of the Civil War, and it was on this Visit that the incident arose which inspired her ttBattle Hymn 0f the Re- public? She and Dr. Howe had gone with some friends to the Virginia side to review the troops of the army of the Potomac. Instead of the review they saw some detachments of U nion soldiers march away to a real engagement. In the confusion that followed they were delayed in their return to Washington, and t0 beguile the time they began to sing ccJohn Brownls Body? upon hearing which the soldiers who surrounded them took up the strain. The next morning Mrs. Howe arose before dawn and wrote the five stanzas which line after line had shaped themselves to the ttJohn Brownll music. The poem was first published in the Atlantic Monthly, under the title by which it is still known. . Julia Ward Howe was an equal suii'ragist, but her broad outlook on the problems of life kept her from making the error of pitting sex against sex in rivalry. She knew that the needs of men and women are common, and that they must work together to obtain them. So all her work showedy fine poise, and every cause she espoused she was able to help. She was the Deborah of her day and led in causes where men would not go alone. She represents the type of womanhood that brings strength not alone to womants cause, but to humanity. She wrote much, and many of her poems have large merit, but her fame lived and will live in her ctBattle Hymn of the Republicf, the stirring lyric of Civil War days. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling not the Vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; is 9k 9k $ $ :15 9'6 3k 9k 3k 3X4 He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat: Oh! be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubi- lant, my feet! Our God is marching on. This is the music men and women sang in the days of conflict, and it helped them to sus- tain their courage. With it should be recalled VVhitmaIfs song of a broken hearted people when their leader fell: 0 Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is i done, The ship has weatherld every rock, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

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.30 THE NORMAL ADVANCE Chapel Talks FRANCIS M. STALKER I. WILLIAM JAMES. The recent death of Professor William J ames removed from the educational world a com- manding hgure. For more than a quarter of a century Professor J ames has charmed and en- lightened the public as a teacher, a psychologist and a philosopher. He has seldom, if ever, been surpassed in his felicity of expression on what are commonly regarded as technical and abstract subjects. He was at the same time an earnest student7 a profound scholar and a great teacher. He possessed in a marked degree three qualities that are essential to the successful stu- dent, scholar, and teacher-aopenemindedness, sincerity and sympathy. He sought after the truth and was interested in every phase of human experience. He ap- proached every problem and investigated all phenomena with a mind open to conviction. He sneered at no belief and scoffed at no theories, but accorded to every man and every movement the privilege of free thought, and the opportunity to demonstrate the truth of any claims that were made. His open-mindedness was probably best shown in his work with the Society for Psychical Research in its attempt to communicate With spirits of the other world. And while in his frank way he admitted that after years of research no progress had been made, he was still willing to study and to weigh any phenomena looking toward the solution of this problem, and to lend his aid seriously to experimentation toward this end. Doubtless it was this spirit of open-mindedness that made men and women everywhere believe in him and anticipate with delight any new word from him. Sineerity, as was perfectly natural, accom- panied his spirit of open-mindedness and was always present in his search for the truth. He was thorough and scientific in his investiga- tions. He had no pet theories to defend, and so he went where truth as he was given to see the truth led him. Men and women believed always in his fairness and his words had weight with them. His students and those who worked with him say he was sympathetic and kind-admirable qualities for a teacher and well calculated to inspire confidence, and to stimulate the largest endeavor. Possibly these qualities in the man and teach- er enabled Professor J ames to do for his stu- dents everywhere that greatest thing that any teaoher can do for his studentseteach them to think. This may be considered the great work that he did in the world, and this has been the great work of every great teacher in all time. His position in the history of education is se- cure. As student, teacher, psychologist, philo- sopher, lecturer, and writer he excelled, and his infiuence is likely to endure. II. J ULIA WARD HOWE. A woman who has been a force in our na- tional life for over a half century has just passed away in her ninety-second year. It seems almost incredible that one who did her work in the middle of the nineteenth century with Emerson, Lowell, Whittier, Hohnes7 Phil- lips, Sumner, Hawthorne, Stone, and the rest of that splendid group of men and women who wrought for righteousness, should have lingered

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32 But 0 heart! heart! heart! 0 the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. And then the spirit of the people had its complete and perfect expression after the war was over in LowelPs matchless Commemora- tion Ode: THE NORMAL ADVANCE 0 Beautiful! my Country! ours once more! Smoothing thy gold of war-dishevelled hair O,er such sweet brows as never other wore, And letting thy set lips, ' Freed from wrath,s pale eclipse, The rosy edges of their smile lay bare, What words divine 0f lover 0r 0f poet Could tell our love and make thee know it, Among the Nations bright beyond compare? W'INTEB. In rigorous hours, when down the iron lane The redbreast looks in vain For hips and haws, L0, shining flowers upon my WindOW-pane The silver pencil 0f the Winter draws. When all the snowy hill And the bare woods are still; When snipes are silent in the frozen bogs, And all the garden garth is Whelmed in mire, L0, by the hearth, the laughter of the logs, More fair than roses, 10, the flower of fire. I have trod the upward and downward slope; I have endured and done in days befOre; I have longed for all, and bid farewell to hope And I have lived and loved, and closed the door. -Robeq t Louis Stewenson.