University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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lohnson that a Illilll will please more upon the whole by 1zqg'a!z'r'cqualities than by positive- that an acquiescent and complacent spirit that never antag- onizes anybody is the one more likely to win than the opposite. Now it has certainly been the fortune of Mr. Barbour to win friendship, esteem and favor in all the w'-lks he has chosen to tread. True, he has never aspired to party notoriety or party prestige, and so his capacity to. please in that field has never been tested. But this is certain, that he could never be reckoned among Dr. johnson's f7fL'l75l'llg' men. For a person more positive and out- spoken cannot be foIInd. He judges for himself, and when occasion requires does llOt hesitate to express his judgments in plain Anglo-Saxon. May we not prefer MIQ B2l1'bOlI1',S example to Dr. johnson's postulate? G. 'S I UNIVERSl'l'Y LIBRARY.

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for, and it seems to be a preference of Nature that children should be that sollzvtkizzg. But there is a spring in the heart that cannot be dried, and it will live on, even though this preference cannot be consulted. A country- a great cause--a scheme of benevolence or charity or education is adopted, and, such as it is, becomes the child of the otherwise childless. Mr. Barbour has not been an exception to this example. For many years past he has been a sagacious and untiring laborer for reform in our penal institutions, our asylums, our poor-houses, and wherever else there were publici abuses to be corrected in the interests of humanity. This service was not alluring to sor- did natures, nor to the easy-going or pleasure loving. It would not pay, and could inspire only the very opposite of gayety. It was often invidious and most connnonly out of the genial sunlight of broad publicity. But the value of it has been incommensurable, and the merciful effect may continue indef- initely. The cause of education has also felt a paternal care from the same quar- ter. But on this topic it were needless to enlarge now. The deep and abid- ing interest of Mr. Barbour in the glory of the University is known to all, and it is also well known that he is not disposed to spare his own private fortune in the race of his benevolence. A great number in the state with much ampler possessions are not moved to spare fz1zyfhz'1zg'in this way. But the fact is of record that he has lately pledged upon easy terms a property valued at from EIi20,000 to 5525.000 to establish an nrt 'Q'Hff4'lj' at the University. Before quitting this reference to his varied endeavors to make society better and happier, it is only a debt to justice to recall a notable service for Detroit. In the face of much contumely and the imputation of iniwortliy motives, and against hostile schemes and other serious odds, he accomplished the acquiremfznt by the city of her splendid Island Park. I-lad he faltered in the least, or had he chosen to use his situation to feather his own nest, Belle Isle would have been lost forever. Already it is a priceless gem set in the silver waters of the strait. At what price would the present inhabitants of Detroit consent to a surrender of this enchanting ground? How will it be when another century has given its anticipated population and its prom- ised lustre to the lovely city ? The space allotted to this sketch has most likely been consumed, and yet the writer would wish to append a few words in conclusion. And this parting shot may be aimed at a leading phase of character. It was an utterance of Dr.

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PROFESSOR HENRY S. CARHART