Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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surrender his chair to a younger and more efficient man. It is hard to leave this beautiful Valie ' . this salubrious and dehghttul climate, these interesting and ex- cellent Scotch-Irish people, this facult ' of scholarly gentlemen, this delicious work in Philosoph % and, above all, these splendid young men, the elite ot the land, ' ever again in this world will he find such a congenial en ironment. He makes this sac-o- rifice and turns his back on all these privileges because he is convinced that his work here is ended, and that some other man, more skilled, should rake his place and guide these imperial young minds to the throne oi truth. His work in the world, however, ma ' not ' et be over. He has no desire to fold his hands in ease, but hopes to find in the use ot his pen for the press, and of his voice in the pulpit and on the platform, that there is still for him a field of active usefulness. To Mr. Andrew Carnegie, the munificent philanthropist, who makes his hon- orable retirement possible, he gives his sincere thanks. To the people of the town and county, whom he has learned to love, he would express his appreciation ot their patience with his failings and of their repeated kindnesses. To the President and I-acultv, he would sa ' — Ever bear in mind that vou are photographing impressions upon the sensitive minds sitting at our teet. To our boys, our beloved boys, our noble boys, worthy sons of worthy sires, he would give a father ' s blessing, and for them would offer a father ' s prayer for their clear vision of truth, their high concep- tion ot dut -, their full realization of usefulness. The gladiators, in view of the probable issue of their combat, cried to the spec- tators, Nos morituii salutamus. The retiring professor, a septuagenarian, as he surve s the future and considers its probabilities with calm, penitent, trusting confidence in the Savior of sinners, voices his Vale to ' ou young men, Ego victurus saliiio; I, who am about to live, salute ' ou. Farewell, old Coila ' s hills and dales. Her heathy moors and winding vales; Farewell, itia ' friends; farewell, my foes; My peace with these, m - love with those. The bursting tears m heart declare. Farewell, the bonnie banks of A r. ]. S. A. QUARLES. n

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men. Now there are seventeen- professors,- and fifteen assistants. The enrollment ot iSSfi has grown from one hundred and twenty-two to four hundred and seventeen. Modesty forbids him to say that all this improvement has occurred during the in- cumbency of the present professor of Philosophy! Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. Imagine the ' ashington and Lee with eight academic professors and a single man tor the Law, with only a score more than a hundred students, and some of these in the preparatory department; with Professor Hogue ' s house, the Tucker Memorial, the Gymnasium, the Power House, the Reid Building, the Carnegie Library, the University Inn, and the Lees Dormitory all gone; with no athletic field; with fenced front yards and rear gardens to all the professors ' houses, which were or- namented with dingy stables of wood; with trees half grown; with no granolithic walk; and with no paint on the walls or on the columns of any of the buildings — and you will have the university pictured as it was in 1886. The department of Philosophy, during this period, has always occupied its present quarters. Its equipment is the same as then, except that radiators have supplanted the old stove, and it has been munificently furnished with cast-off desks t rom the Law School and a few old tables bought by the professor from William Harvey, our lamented janitor. The average number of philosophic students during the first three years of this period was seventeen; during the last three it has been fifty-four. During the coming vacation, the trustees will fit up this room with neat desks and chairs and blackboards of slate; and they will soon establish a psychological lab- oratory, for which a request was made in President Wilson ' s day. As indicating the growth of the university in a more scientific differentiation of its several departments of instruction, it is interesting to know that English Liter- ature was assigned to the philosophic chair until 1890; Rhetoric until 1899; Econ- omics, from 1887 to 1898, and that Politics was here taught during the year 1887-1888. The professor of Philosoph} ' since 1899 has had nothing to do but teach Psychology, Logic, Natural Theology, Comparative Religions, Apologetics, Ethics, History of Philosophy, Epistemology, and Ontology. It seems unaccountable that he should be willing to give up such a sinecure. But you must bear in mind that, in addition to his duties in the lecture room, he has walked or wheeled all over Rockbridge County and down the valley to Winchester, has time and again walked twenty miles and conducted divine service on a Sunday, and has preached, during these twenty }ears, ele ' en hundred and sixt -two times, in one hundred and sixty-seven churches, scattered over twelve states and the District of Columbia, besides conducting many funerals and delivering one hundred and sixty addresses in divers places and on various subjects. It is none the less a tact that he is going to retire at the end of this year and 16

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Dear Old College Days IKE music of some half-forgotten song Heard in a happy, happy long ago, ' Whose melody has lingered liquid, low — Whose sweetness with the long years grows more strong Like some rare painting ' s glorious gleaming glow. On which the long years ' lights and shadows throng, To which the tints and tones of age belong — Where Time ' s weird witchery bids beauty blow And bloom in mellow richness every year ; Like fragrant flavor of age-ripened wine. In cobwebbed cask stored in some cellar ' s hold — So do the years with happy memories twine Our college days, and when we ' re growing old In Memory ' s heart of hearts they grow more dear.