St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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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

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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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A 'fs -s Mfrs-Qw. ' -- f.-.nb .If I L , , M- .A ,X .. I I: II...l - ,I -'I Illis-. in-KI: -n': s- 'f fix- A-.i.:...-J -'f. - -.-1 w- --I - .-.j, - - -- - .- 1 1.2 .-H . - - Q. w ' . . . . .' . I-vp. V - . . , - . - - .3J.f--F ,..- ,..sz:.f s....fF'f.i-5-.e.?'.iafiSf. ,-W-..L-.....,... .,..a..-Ex .,.'.s...,....,,..g.-.w V ,pi . .. , V ' ' ' ' - Q - -- ' - --....--.. ...al-,.,L...-1 . - V j , -. . 1- - fry' -- -.Q - .1 '-12'fy:'. ' - 1-:',2,iL,g4 -- ' F . 4...,.. T ,, .. .. .' - --L35---rf---'-4--f', -' -7 . . . n -Q. A . . , which so many of our citizens are wont to discuss the comparative merits of the different colleges of the land. What is of home manufacture is despised as worthless. What is foreign is necessarily good. And yet our Alumni are our passport to favor, and we feel that we need no other. Too much stress cannot be laid on this point. Without patron- age and a liberal outlay of means no college can Hourish. If the most infiuential and liberal of our citizens express their preference for an education acquired from without to that which may be acquired within the State, the College must languish. These gentlemen do more than refuse us their aid- They exert a most malign influence against us. For they dishonor St. Iohn's by withholding the confidence to which she is entitled, and by example, which is far more potent than words, they work against her. Let the State multiply her scholarships, and thus bring the highest grade of education to the poorest. Let this be done, and all is well. It is the misfortune of our race, that we are always prone to under- rate individual effort. ine power of the ocean is in the waves. The power of the waves is in the separate drops. It is the unceasing putting forth of small exertions that moves the world- The mountains are leveled, a spadeful at a time. Let each one fulfill his mission, and what would be left undone? A dollar a head would give us thousands. :All we want is a fair, open field of competition. I flatter myself that the time is not far distant when those who now send their sons to other States will feel the awakening of State pride and give to this venerable seat of learning the high sanction of their example, and the more substantial benefit of their patronage- But the Alumni must lead the way. They must assert her claim. They must make known to others what they know by experience, viz: that St. ,Iohn's is deserving of a place among the foremost colleges of the land. St. J'ohn's asks to be identified with People of the State. Your Governor is at the head of the Board of Trustees. Your Judges of the Court of Appeals, and thepresiding officers of the Senate and House of Delegates are members of it. Young gentlemen, your societies are giving demonstration that the tuneful tongue is not yet lost to Maryland, and in the subtlety of debate, with the power of word-painting to illustrate the ,line of the argument, and logic in beautiful combination. Learning bubbles time and again, won plaudits from an admiring audience. I would counsel you to bear in mind that your Alma Mater will need your persuasive tongue, and highest enthusiasm. Amid those other dreams of ambition, which are Hitting before you in the halls you so dignify and ennoble, be this the most cherished, the sweetest, the brightest, and the best, viz: that you are to consecrate your highest powers to the cause of education, and seek to keep this one particular star in the ascendant. I might have chosen a topic more popular, perhaps, and seemingly more appropriate if I had followed in the path that bore the giant footprints of Welling, or the orator of last year, the gifted and scholarly I-Iagner- But they were not as generous as Boaz to the glean- ers of his ripened fields. For they plucked every iiower that bloomed, and left only a barren waste behind them. My heart was full. I thought, and still think, that the theme was well chosen, the Philomathian and Philokalian in beautiful combination. Learning bubbles up at the fountain head, and the beautiful meets us in all surroundings. Young gentlemen, the idea has gone abroad that this is only an Annapolis school, and the result is that a tide of bitter prejudice has set in against her in some sections of the State. Citizens of Annapolis, I turn to you in this juncture. You must prove to your fellow-citizens that you desire not a petty local school, but a great State College. And surely 'Annapolis, the Athens of the New World, ever distinguished for the love of the beautiful, will spring to the work before her, and meet her just responsibility. One of the most dis- 95