Westminster College - Argo Yearbook (New Wilmington, PA)

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THEARGO . . ' . -'Ve 3 Appreciation of Robert Gracey Ferguson for Westminster College T- BY W. CH.xkLEs XVALLACE, D. D. 'B C? ln Memoriam of Robert Gracey Ferguson, for Westminster A C H College, l am distinguished, in these obsequies. to speak. ln one sense, tc indeed, it is a superfluous thing to speak of Our Grand Old Man! He does not need the eulogy of any man! His fame is not enhanced, his memory is not lifted to any new place of distinction by any man's rv Q9 word of praise! lt is not necessary, here, to recount his achievements, it for they are in the memory not only of every one of his own one thous- P and foster children of the college, but of every lover of high and gifted D L men who likes lo see achievements which proceed from character, to see those things done which are not done with the selfish purpose of self- 9- aggrandizement, but in order to serve an institution, and prove worthy , ofa religion! For - Crm xtnricrl :mi or uniulalcd lmxl 1 O Hack In ils nmiixioii call llle llufliiig llrenlllf Can llmmfs 'twirl' prurolzc flu' silent tlusl, s ? 4 Ur Fliillvry soaflit' lbs tlllll mid mr nf llunflvf And yet, in memorial one may pause a moment or two beside the hier of a Great Man, and, taught by Thomas Carlyle. in l'leroes and Hero-Worship , reflect upon the divine relation which in all times unites 4 9 a Great Man to other meng and thus, as it were, not exhaust my sub- ject, but so much as break ground upon it, 5, ,s We cannot look, however imperfectly upon a great man, without gaining something by him. l-le is the living light-fountain, which it is 9 good and pleasant to be near. The light which enlightens. which has enlightened the darkness of the world: and this not as a kindled lamp only, but rather as a natural luminary shining by the gift of heaven: a 1 Q flowing light-fountain, as l say, of native, original insight, of manhood P and heroic nobleness,-in whose radiance all souls feel that it is well Gt with them! On any terms whatsoever you will not grudge to wander in such neighborhood for awhile . lt was worth while, wrote Henry Russell Miller in The Old Grad ,I 7' Goes Back, it was worth while to spend four years under Ferguson:- 7 gracious, mellow, lovable, he sweetened, inspired and illumined all he E touched! Led by Doctor Ferguson they gave largely, did that faithful band of the old faculty: they. it seemed to the old grad, must have Gxed F the character of WESTMINSTER,-a simple, unaffected democracy, ' Gb sincerity, a high idealism! They made bricks without straw, but they x 6 made very good bricks indeed. Many noble lives, some notable gf, careers, have been fashioned out of the bricks they made! A A - 1 185Z-1927 if . ' 1 1 . Twenty-six

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' . ' ' . THEARGO te' -1 1 1 I 'J S' 4 l fl il endowment, buildings and equipment. ln ISN, there was a teaching stall of seven: in l9Z7, the faculty numbers 33. Soon after coming to Westminster. Dr. Wallace re-organized the faculty, and at present the school's academic standing is exmllecl by few eastern colleges. Westminster has been given Group A rating by the American Association of Colleges and Universities-an association into which but twelve Pennsylvania institutions have been ad- mitted. In addition, Westminster is one of eight Pennsylvania colleges with membership in the American Association ol' University Women. During the three-quarters of a century in which Westminster has existed, the men of the school have been called to three wars: the Civil, Spanish-American, and World wars. The period between lS6l and lSo5 found the student body so depleted of its men that the college almost disbanded. There were seventyeight alumni in government service during the World war, and ninety-six undergraduates. exclusive of the Student Army Training Corps organization. Of these numbers nine died while in service or were killed in action. Too often a school is known alone by its athletic record. This tendency is lamentable. but seemingly unavoidable. Wherefore, to pretend to be in the least comprehensive, the his- tory of a school mllSl contain some reference to athletics. Perhaps Westminster's most notable athletic victories have been, in football, in addition to 'l'ri-Stale Conference games, defeats of Carnegie 'l'eclt and of Washington and jelferson. Carnegie 'liech has been defeated three times, and Washington and jefferson once. ln basketball, there have been victories especially over Princeton, Teclt. Pitt and Haver- ford. ln l9llo Westminster defeated Pitt with the appalling score of lilo-I3. 'lihat is the glory, perhaps, that was Westminsters. ln recent years, defeats have been more numerous than victories, but with a re-organization of the coaching stall' in IOZ6, a new era in athletics is expected. ln its seventy-tive years ol' existence, Westminster has proceeded from a period of high hats and buslles, through the crinoline skirts and turtle-neck sweaters of the Ull's, to the voluminous trousers and the brevity in feminine modes of 10.27. Only New Wilmington and the Amish Dutch have remained unchanged. tv:-,. K f,f Q X 'I ff 1 41 'Aw 'J' W1 Y 4 uv ,ff 24-,qi .ff 1.' , 1 , .- 555 ' ,- , , 'gg f 4 2' ,' ! af M, l ,,, 1... 114 44 if Y' If ,lu xx i? A 144 f' f' 7 ' Mali' 'Z' I 31 X fsfffy N w iv 1 -1 0 v D r- 1 A . D . 4 i rt L . . lf' I1 Q, A 'ff 1' , 5 , 7421 - lg! Auf l ffl .3 iff v ' W7-' 5 '2,,,,, NWI ' f ' 'aw vig: , lg t -xaylfl ,iffy ? ':'f,..,1g, . :W-,Y. 1 ?lf3 'iiflfl -Htl. ' 'et -ivy' W M- Jfoll at -f' gm' wr: ,M'5,'1'1y, ou t. flat!! if: ,fir-, 'fi ':4'e!g:- tae' f L 1 . Uri I 4.21 - ff!! :,wlf'nf -' ' ,,li,l .,...j'l'El c : 'f' - f , -yfi-1--f cw' 1: ,', J l 1-'oil r vit a 'H f 364- 'L' J ffl 'f 1 . t7 , '- , 1 1 H f it .1- 3:41 ,'4 ' f K - -ef A XZ! i , k ' 9 .Aj-5.55 . ff - 5, ,Aj 43.45 Q -I ' ff ,-fr ,,...--f ff ' 1, 41- H ., -' -f 4 f as :e gf 'C ,: FN 1 f 1 Aff sy' 14, V A Y , , A, A.: ,E - QA f,,? ',, '2i '6,,: ff 'L Z ii-P7 aff: . I 'As i 1 iii' Ifrff--gr' Kgh 'T-ff' ' Q' . - - t 1-:eff . ,, f fr' -X ,fx N ty irvfis- Q,.?s.:Q..-fQ , ffullrs afnlc C0115-qeafbr Ute fire y'!85B. YS fran A Sturlanf Slcefcfrrlnic fltxfnyean 1.852-1927 3 'X'l. A Twenty-tive

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For all of them, and those of us who follow in their train, Trus- tees, Faculty, students, as interpreter, for a moment I would scatter the flowers of appreciation of The Grand Old Man l And inasmuch as institutions are but the lengthened shadows of the great men who have made them , I shall just limn for you Westminster as is by an analysis of the character of Robert Gracey Eerguson. This analysis is my scattering upon his bier the flowers of appreciation. And as the vase from which the scattering is made, I am indebted to john Ruskin for the suggestion of a great passage in Ulfrondes Agrestesn, which puts it thus: l believe tba first tes! of u truly great man is his humility, By humility I do not mean doubt of his own power or hesitation in speaking his opinions, but a right understanding of the relation between what he can do and say and the rest of the world's doings and sayings. All great men not only know their business but usually know that they know it, and are not only right in their main opinions but they usually know that they are right in them: only, they do not think much of llJcmsclvf's on that account. Then comes Ruskin's phrase of rare insight: They have a curious undersense of powerlessness, feeling that the greatness is not in them, but thru them: that they could not do or be anything else than God made them: and they see something divim' and God-made in awry other man they twat! This insight of john Ruskin authorizes me to declare it here that the greatest contribution made by Dr, Ferguson's character to West- minster College and to the world through his influence upon the foster children of the institution was for Robert Gracvy Ferguson Io be! When it comes to analysis here, What a piece of work is man! In fugitive sketching in my scattering, I would make four casts: l, Being what he was, Dr. Ferguson sanctihed college life by breathing everywhere the presence of God as seeking lives to express Him in the fashioning of the commonwealth: for I am remembering those heroic days in which Elijah sought confirmation of his commission to his time, when, lighting upon a certain place , he stood in the mouth of the cave. And, behold, Jehovah passed by. and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks be- fore jehovah: but Jehovah was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake: but jehovah was not in the earth- quake: and after the earthquake a fire: but jehovah was not in the ure: and after the hre a still small -voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Everywhere, whether in the councils of Faculty meeting, or in the class-room, or about the campus, by the still small Jw G? 1852-1927 3 C7 'X Y . Q. ' ' ' . THEARGO I Q ' it . X, 1 4 rt . 1 u U A In nty-st-von