University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Yackety Yack Yearbook (Chapel Hill, NC)

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M? THE IQll YACKETY YACK Vol. XI He was called to the University of North Carolina m the fall of 1886 as Professor of Greek, and speedily made his influence felt for all that was high and best in the University. He taught Greek with a love for the art, the litera- ture, and the heroic days of Greece that attracted his students and made it a liberal education to be brought in contact with him. They gathered around him in his office, filled with books and papers and pictures of Greece and Greek art. There they read together the Greek Testament or some late copy of a newspaper from Athens. But deeper and more lasting than all other lessons was the quiet, ennobling influence of the teacher himself. How great was the charm of his kindly courtesy, his unselfishness, and his deep and varied learning, many of his students, now scattered throughout the State and the South, can testify. Truly, he belongs to that great Choir Invisible. The presence of a good diffused. And in diffusion ever more intense. In 1893, President C;e eland appointed him Minister to Greece, Rou- mania, and Servia. He was granted leave of absence by the trustees and re- mained abroad for four years. During most of this time his duties kept him at Athens. It has been the general testimony that this country has never had a more efficient or acceptable representative there. His acquaintance with the Modern Greek tongue enabled him to mix with the people, and his gentle courtesy won him many friends. His intimate knowledge of their literature and of all that was glorious in their past brought him in touch with the scholars and great men of Greece, and lasting friendships were formed with the king and members of the royal family. For years after his return to his quiet home in Chapel Hill the king and some of his sons continued to correspond with him and to send him affectionate reminders of their former acquaintance. He was largely instrumental in the restoration of the Olympic Games, the first of the modern games being celebrated during his official stay in Athens. The Acropolis, the leading newspaper of Athens, contained the following reference to him on his return to this country: The Athenian people have heard with sorrow of the proposed departure of the American Minister, Mr. Alexander. Greece is, indeed, losing a highly valued friend, and Athens especially will miss one of her most sympathetic personalities. A scholar in the widest significance of the word, but not, for all that, the less of a diplomat, although the diplomatic activity of the American Legation at Athens is limited; deeply learned in Greek language and literature, he has loved Greece not with the soulless interest of the archaeologist, but with the warm love of a man interested in the prosperity of Greece of

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Vol. XI UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA Eben Alexander nE was my friend, so true and loyal, so thoughtful and unselfish, so near in all that makes friendship sweet and precious, that it tears afresh the wound made by his loss to tell for others the story of that life. The months which have flown have scarcely dulled the pain. The fireside by which we sat so often is cold, the chair is empty, and the light gone out, and yet ' The waiting hand xvill clasp mij own once more Across the silence in the same old Wav. He was born of gentle and cultured parents. His father was Judge Eben- ezer Alexander, of the Second Circuit Court of Tennessee — a man just, kind, and thoughtful — and his mother was Margaret McClung, admired by all who knew her and beloved for her gentle manners. The qualities of these two parents were finely mixed in their son, and the gracious influence of his mother, though he lost her early, affected his whole life. The fondness for books, which he showed as a boy, led to his thorough preparation for college and to his entering Yale at eighteen years of age. The honors won there showed not only his ability as a scholar, but his popularity among his fellow students, and some of the closest friendships of his life were formed there. His loyalty to his alma mater was deep and lasting, and he kept up an unfailing interest in her every success. The last journey of his life was taken to the old campus and elms of Yale. From her he had received the training and inspiration for his life work, and his love for her was strong and abiding. Graduating in 1873, he returned to his home in Knoxville to teach ancient languages in the University of Tennessee, and at the age of twenty-six was elected professor, becoming chairman of the Faculty a few years later. His rapid rise and the confidence placed in him testify to his marked ability, and the love and respect which his old pupils there bear for him give evidence to the fine qualities of inspiring teacher and courteous gentleman so noteworthy in his after car eer at our own University.

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Vol. XI UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA 7 to-day. He has let no opportunity pass of showing this interest practically. The success of the Olympic Games, through the coming of the American athletes, who gave such life to that athletic meeting and insured its success, was due to Dr. Alexander. A genuine representative of a democratic people, he has maintained a charming simplicity of manner without petty diplomatic affectation and his house has been open with the utmost hospi- tality to every Greek who sought an interview with the American Minister, and to all his compatriots, who have carried away the same good impression of their diplomatic repre- sentative. It is a pity that we are losing such a friend. In 1897, he took up again the quiet hfe of scholar and teacher at the University. His knowledge and love of books had led him to give much time to the care and development of the library, and as Supervisor he did much to direct its growth and make it the strong and useful library which it is to-day. When President Alderman resigned in 1900, he was urged by many to consent to undertake the duties of the presidency, but could not be moved by any of our arguments or pleas. He finally consented, however, to become Dean of the University, and by his wise counsel, encouragement, and unswerv- ing loyalty he did much to uphold the hands of the one upon whom the task of government had fallen. In March, 1910, after two years or more of failing health, the end came, painlessly and without sadness of farewell. And here amid the oaks of the campus, where we both had labored through the sunshine and sorrow, the bright and the dark days of more than twenty years, and in the peaceful village which we both had loved, find no place Tvhich does not breathe Some gracious memory of mv friend. F. P. Venable.