St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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-:-fi l Q - Q 1 'ii v L ,MN tering care of the State now. Antiquity throws a charm over everything. It hallows even a ruin. .Nobility of birth is not less powerful to charm. This institution was born amid the thunders of the guns of '76, and the men who breathed into her the breath of life were the companions of the heroes of that golden era. It remains for their descendants to demonstrate whether the wisdom of the fathers shall be ignored by the sons. The list of the Alumni is before us. Key, the poet, orator, lawyer, philanthropist and scholar. John Hanson Thomas, whose voice awoke echoes in the mountain region that will live as long as the Alleghenies lift their proud summits to the skies, Hughes, the model diplo- matist. Herbert, the soul of honor, a man of great mental gifts and the highest culture. Robert H. Goldsborough, the truest type of the gentleman, and one of the most eloquent debaters in the ablest Legislature of the world- More recently still-Grason, the first Governor elected by the people, a man of granite mind and glowing wit. John Henry Alexander, the most learned man of the age. Thomas S. Alexander, among the foremost in the foremost rank of lawyers. Among the living I recognize one, who deserves to be mentioned for the love he has borne his Alma Mater, the strong sympathy he has shown her, and that, too, when the moss that grew upon her walls seemed to mark her for a ruin, and no footsteps echoed in her halls-the Hon. Alexander Randall- There is a moral heroism in his devotion to St. John's that touches the sublime-a tenderness in hispatient labor to secure for her a future worthy of her birth, that touches the beautiful. No one of us so blends the Philomathean and the Philokalian in himself, so far as the dear old College is concerned, as the Nestor of the brotherhood. It would be a gross wrong to my own feeling, and yours, if I were to pass on without some allusion to the most distinguished of our brothers, Reverdy Johnson, who today stands at the head of the bar of the Union, and who, in the green old age, is illustrating the grandeur of intellect, and the triumphs of genius, without any perceptible loss of the vigor of younger days. You can conceive my pride and pleasure, when, in the proud capital of England, I heard Sir Henry Holland, Sir William Ferguson, the two great surgeons of Europe, declare, that, in the estimation of the first of her living statesmen, Mr. Johnson was regarded as the prince of lawyers and statesmen, Key inscribed St. John's on the national banner 3 and Reverdy Johnson gave to Oxford and Cambridge, a living example of what the Severn of the New World could do to shed lustre on the Severn of the Old World. These are the jewels set in the diadem of the State by St- John's. Well did the ablest of her sons, my honored uncle, say, that it was the darkest day of the Commonwealth, when this bright light our fathers kin- dled on the shores of the Chesapeake, was extinguished in the blindness of patirsan rage, and in gross violation of the plighted faith of the State. You perceive, young gentlemen, that the question is not whether there should be a great State College, but whether, hav- ing one, we should give her the generous support she needs. That is a suicidal policy, which so many of our citizens pursue. Princeton, Yale, Harvard are chosen as the training spots of our sons, while our means are lavishly poured into their treasury. And yet, St. John's is the equal of either. Show me in the annals of the past a brighter list of alumni than she exhibits. Welling, the late most accomplished head of St. John's, and now at the head of an institution he so elevates by the power of his great mind, said at an alumni meeting that no college could be more admirably fitted for its Work. , There is a surprising popular delusion existing on this subject. It is high time it was dispelled. St. John's is crippled by the weakness of her resources, which is the result in part of this strange want of confidence, which, has, to justify it, not even the shadow of the I 93

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esprit du corps pervades them. They familiarize the mind to the forum and tend to develop the habit of thorough investigation and logical precision. They superinduce the spirit of caution which is wise to select its facts and careful to subject them when selected to the' touchstone of history. They cultivate independence of thought, and, taking the mind out of the rut, throw it more or less on innate resources. If proper care be taken in the prepa- ration that ought always to precede discussion, and proper time be given for a full survey of the whole field, the result will be the highest practical, personal improvement. I will not pause longer in the review of the pre-eminent importance of just such socie- ties as those which you have formed, nor need I say more than this, that the names unfurled on your banners are most appropriate and most eloquently expressive of the thoughts that underlie them. Love of learning and love of the beautiful--two things that are not always joined together and yet ought never to be divorced in a world where everything is full of instruction, at once suggestive and exhaustive, and thus full of beauty-beauty that is mirrored on earth and sea and sky-beauty of form as endless as the things of which those forms- are the clothing-beauty of hues, that are as diversified as the hues of 'the rainbow or the autumn foliage. I think I find a topic not wholly foreign to the societies you represent in some thoughts which I would suggest touching our Alma Mater, wherein you have the blending of the useful and the beautiful as they are nowhere else so exquisitely blended- She is a star in the blazing firmament as yet scarcely known by name to multitudes of our citizens. The con- sciousness, that a State, which is so justly renowned in the sisterhood of States, as this great commonwealth of Maryland, is dead to the pre-eminent importance of an institution ofilearning of the highest grade, born of the State, and fostered and sustained by the State, may well stir within you feelings of an indignant patriotism, and prompt you to see if you cannot acquire the tuneful tongue to rebuke and impeach the moral treason of the age- You feel the wrong which this supineness has inflicted, and with access to the gushing fountains of knowledge, and under the moulding hand of the most able and competent instructors, you find yourselves but a handful, whereas these halls should be crowded to overflowing. There is an appeal to the stern logic of facts to which no State should be dead- To suffer her y0u11g men tO go Out from her in quest of an education she cruelly withholds from them, is the basest treason. Treasure it in your hearts, and when you go forth, as yearly some of you do, be bold to rebuke the shamelessness of the deed. As long-as that noblest feature of our present form of government, the creation of the sages of '76 is preserved-the sovereignty of the State within the soverignty of the Union-stars beautifully blended in a milky way of freedom-we repeat, as long as State lines are not blotted out, and State identity is recognized, so long does it behoove the State to see to it, that her sons are trained on her own soil and in strict familiarity with her physical organ- ism. Young men are, in more than a hgure, the pillars of the State- The State is and ought to be the mother of her sons. When the William and Mary school was merged in the Col- lege of St. J'ohn's, and the State stepped forward and aided by her annuity, the efforts of private citizens who raised a fund that was truly wonderful at that early day, she gave an example of the intense interest she felt in the cause of education. As long as the faith of the State was kept, the College continued to send forth sons, of whom any State might be proud. The College failed-not because ofcmy defect in her organization or administra-- tion, but solely because she was left without the funds that were pledged to her on the faith and honor of the State- The fact that she was the foster child of the State, at a time when we were rocked in the cradle of independencef, consecrates the claim she has to the fos- Q2

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semblance of a reason. Our College possesses a vast advantage in its location, the power of association, and in its being born of the State. It is in the Capital of the Commonwealth, on the shores of the most beautiful of rivers, and within view of the grandest of bays- It is withinxreach of the great forum, where, now, as of old, there is a constant exhibition of the highest displays of legal eloquence and logic-the Appellate Court of Maryland. It touches the Naval Academy where the General Government is discharging the duty it owes to those who are to be the future guardians of our commerce, and the defenders of our national honor on the seas. It is near the Capital of the Union. It is full of historic memories. It was here that Washington returned to the shades of private life, after having carved out a nation's independence. It was here that the memorable burning of the tea in the Chesapeake took place, which ante-dated the world-renowned heroism that was displayed in the harbor of Boston. Such is the spot our fathers chose for the site of St. Iohn's. We will not discuss the uses which the State might and ought to make of such a legacy bequeathed to her by such sires. The academies, fied from our public schools, might become in turn the feeders of the College, while the higher culture of the College might be made to How back, from the fountain head to the remoter members. We stand in need just now of a broader and profounder statesmanship-which, know- ing the value of the diamonds that are still deep hidden in the mines, is resolved to dig them out, and polish them for future use-a statesmanship, which regards young men, when properly trained and educated, as the bulwarks of freedom. Imbue your minds, and fire your hearts with thoughts like these. Here the Philomathean and Philokalian meet and mingle. This is emphatically the cause of the people. It is their interest to have education made cheaper, and brought within easy reach of all- You must soon mingle with them, and it becomes you to prepare yourselves to be the custodians of that, which underlies their power, and can alone fit them to meet the destiny that awaits them. To make St. Iohn's a power in this land, two things are requisite-gifts b ythe people, if only one dollar a year, and the patronage of the people-private gifts and private patronage-funds for build- ing, and the endowment of professorships. Weneed the poor man's sympathy and aid, as well as the more abundant largesses of the rich. Drops make up the ocean- Dollars make up the mint. The grand idea, which our fathers inaugurated, can only be made a reality by concert of action, and individual effort. The people must endow while the State is lavish of her wealth. What have the people done? Nothing, no, absolutely nothing. Princeton, Yale, Harvard have received their thousands. St. J'ohn's, nothing. This is marvellously strange. Who doubts that a grand hall should be erected at once? What name so appropriate, to use the language of Judge Tuck, as the People's Hall- We plead for our Alma Mater, not because she is our Alma Mater, but because she is native to the soil, beautiful for situation, and worthy of the patronage of the people. It has become very fashionable in our time to measure the value ofa thing by distance. Educated abroad sounds grandly on human ears. The parchment of Princeton, Yale or Harvard is thought to possess a peculiar charm- Is this philosophically true? Does dis- tance lend enchantment to this view? Will the glitter of a foreign college outweigh the less unostentatious attraction of home associations, provided the mental and moral training is equal. It is a marvel to me that, with all her disadvantages, St. John's has kept her place gy the side.-of the foremost colleges .of the land. But the fact is so. Home influence and ome associations against foreign habits, tastes and customs. 'This is the question. I say to the people of Maryland, attend the commencement exercises, and see for yourselves. It requires a good deal of 'philosophy to witness, without indignation, the' complacency with 94