Wellesley College - Legenda Yearbook (Wellesley, MA)

Page 27 text:

Grant to us, in our luunilitv, the abiding faith that this our son is not dead, but is alive again ; that he hath not been taken away from us, but has gone his way before to the Celestial City, where we, too, may soon enter in to be led bv him to thy feet, if we through our sincere repentance and by thy saving grace may at last win pardon and remission of our sins. We beseech thee, also, O Lord, that it mav not be counted as a sin in us if we, in all humilit3 ' and lowliness of heart, do now in our affliction cherish the faith that this, our dearlv beloved son, has fulfilled the mission given to him bv his Father in Heaven, by teaching to us, his earthly parents, through his death, the worthlessness and vanity of all that this world can give or take away, and, that mission ended, he, innocent and pure, has gone before us to lead us in the way of salvation. We pray thee also, O Lord, that through thy holv blessing we maj ' , each day that we live in this world, cherish alwavs the sweet and precious memorv of this our beloved and only son ; and grant of thv most merciful kindness that our love for him and his love for us, so true and so tender that it never knew any change or shadow of turning, may become a holy and blessed means of leading us from sin, and all the temptations and sorrows Jind vanities of this evil world, to the only life which is eternal and that fadeth not away. O Christ, teach us to say, the Lord gave, and the Lord taketh awav ; blessed be the name ot the Lord. And, oh, Lord Jesus, because thou hast also said, out of the great tenderness of thy divine love, ' Sutler the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God, ' we do, therefore, beseech thee that through thy abiding mercy we may receive the Kingdom of Heaven as little children, and may one day stand at thy feet with this our departed child, all our sins forgiven through our sincere repentance, by the mystery of thy redeeming blood and pardoning grace; there with him, and with our little daughter, who went before, to worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, forever and forever. A few months after the child ' s death, Mr. Durant, who, fame and fortune and the highest legal honors at his command, had quitted the bar, and entered, this layman of seraphic speech, into the preaching of the gospel, said to his wife : — Wouldn ' t vou like to consecrate these Welleslev grounds, this place that was to have been Harr ' s home, to some special work for God. ' On such high foundation stands Welleslev College. From such a costly loss arose our gain. We know the story of the deciding, the planning, the building, the ojsening, the or- ganizing, — of all the splendid energies poured into the work by brilliant brain, and fervent heart, and unconquerable will. At last the dream of youth came true. At last the baffled poet wrought his great life poem, but out of materials richer than words. Once a year we are hushed in chapel to hear again the inspiring historv and receive the solemn message of 23

Page 26 text:

Dearest Holker : I have but one word to write to you, and that is immortality. It is all I have learned tor a year, and yet the time has been well spent. Henceforward there is nothing to fear in life. It came at the right time. Sick with labor and sorrow, in the cold winter night I stood by the great river, and from the wind among the treetops, and the bright stars, and the ceaseless voice of the waters, I heard the one word that gives life and strength, and from that time there is no need of sorrow or of weariness. But with all his delicate instincts and noble aspirations, Mr. Durant had never yielded his will to God. He now sought escape from sorrow in the rapid rereading of the VVaverley novels, replying to his wife ' s entreaties, You must take yoiu- medicine in your way, and I must take mine in mine. Tlie father and mother, thus bereaved, lavished their love all the more abundantly upon their boy, an exquisite child of rare intellectual promise. Generous-hearted, atVectionate, and fearless, inheriting the beauty and high spirit of his parents, this cherished son, The hyacinthine boy, for whom Morn well might break and April bloom, — The gracious boy, who did adorn The world whereinto he was born, delighted his father ' s pride and stimulated his father ' s ambition, giving impetus to every toil and significance to all the future. He was his mother ' s close companion and daily joy. Before her his childish heart lay as an open volume, white of leaf. A friend wrote: One incident which occurred only a few days before he was taken ill, I recall at this moment. Willie, of whom he was very fond, said, ' Harry, I ' ll tell you something if you wont tell any- body. ' ' I ' ll tell my mamma, ' answered the dear child ; ' I always tell my mamma everything I know. ' In his ninth year Harry suddenly sickened and died, and through that illness and that death the father ' s life was consecrated to God. This was the mother ' s consolation, — a joy even deeper than her unutterable sorrow. Ever sacred to Wellesley College must be the prayer written at this time by Mr. Durant for their use together, antl daily repeated by them for many years : — O Eternal and Holy Jesus, because we humbly lielieve that out of th ' great and tendei mercy toward us thy servants, thou hast not been willing to spare to us the life of our beloved boy, but hast taken him as a little lamb gently up in thine arms to bear him to sweet and sacred pastures in thine own Emmanuel ' s land, therefore we do beseech thee to make this great sorrow to be to us a means of salvation, a fountain of immortal hopes and consolations.

Page 28 text:

that founder who is no longer in our sight. But the beloved founder who is yet with us hides herself so modestly from recognition and from praise, that of her we know far less than we would. Yet we cannot be altogether unaware of the ceaseless benevolence of that most fruitful life. Trained in childhood by her mother ' s precept and example to enrich the gift of money by the gift of service, the little hands accustomed to sewing for the poor, the little voice to reading for the blind, Mrs. Durant in womanhood has borne rich ]iar est of good seed. When a girl in Europe, surrounded by gayeties, she made opportunity for visit- ing prisons and other refuges of sin and miserv. And so, after their home was left unto them desolate, while the husband held great audiences enthralled bv his impassioned preaching, the wife as binding up broken hearts in Dedham Asylum, in Bridgewater Workhouse, in Boston Jail. For seven years Mrs. Durant served on the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Prison Commission. For twenty-five years she has been — and always by unanimous elec- tion — the President of the Board of Managers of the Boston Young Women ' s Christian Association. To this latter institution, as to Moimt Holyoke, she has given generouslv of her substance. Her specific gifts to Wellesley it is impossible to completely enumerate. She has for- gotten, and no one else ever knew. So long as Mr. Durant was living, hu.sband and wife were one and inseparable in service and donation. But since his death, while it has been ob- vious that she spends herself unsparingly in college cares, adding manv of his functions to her own, a continuous flow of benefits, almost unperceived, has come to Wellesley from her open hand. Freeman Cottage has arisen, furnished and adorned; Waban Cottage has been enlarged, the Eliot established ; ice houses have been built, and homes for the college work- men. Valuable tracts of land have been piuxhased. Town water has been brought into the outlying halls and buildings, the gymnasium has been equipped, the chapel, kitchen, and laundry supplied with ventilating apparatus. The Botanical department, the Zoological museum, the art collections have received varied and valuable contributions. The beautiful Jarvis collection of laces, embroideries, and stuff ' s has been placed in the Farnswortli School of Art. Precious engravings have slipped themselves into the Shakespeare cabinet. A fine bronze placque in honor of Prof. Horsford has been hung in the lihrarv. Cut flowers and plants from Mrs. Durant ' s conservatory have continually found their way to studio and bot- any class, to student frolic and academic festival. But these and such as these, representing although they do thousands upon thousands of dollars, are the least of Mrs. Durant ' s gifts to the College. She gives us an abiding example of magnanimous character, of Christian consecration. We know her for a shining spirit. 24