THE FIRST YEARS OF CORNELL -1868-1870 343 



thing ; then came a revulsion. I asked myself, What will 

 this great audience think of us ! &quot; How will our enemies, 

 some of whom I see scattered about the audience, exult 

 over this faltering at the outset ! A feeling of shame came 

 over me ; but just at that moment I saw two or three strong 

 men from different parts of the State, among them my old 

 friend Mr. Sedgwick of Syracuse, in the audience, and Mr. 

 Sage and Mr. McGraw among the trustees, evidently 

 affected by my allusion to the obloquy and injustice which 

 Mr. Cornell had met thus far. This roused me. But 

 I could no longer read ; I laid my manuscript aside and 

 gave the ending in words which occurred to me as I 

 stood then and there. They were faltering and inade 

 quate; but I felt that the vast majority in that audience, 

 representing all parts of our commonwealth, were with 

 us, and I asked nothing more. 



In the afternoon came exercises at the university 

 grounds. The chime of nine bells which Miss Jenny 

 McGraw had presented to us had been temporarily hung 

 in a wooden tower placed very near the spot where now 

 stands the porch of the library ; and, before the bells were 

 rung for the first time, a presentation address was deliv 

 ered by Mr. Francis Miles Finch, since justice of the Court 

 of Appeals of the State and dean of the University Law 

 School; and this was followed by addresses from the su 

 perintendent of public instruction, and from our non-resi 

 dent professors Agassiz and George William Curtis. 



Having again been taken out of bed and wrapped up 

 carefully, I was carried up the hill to hear them. All the 

 speeches were fine ; but, just at the close, Curtis burst into 

 a peroration which, in my weak physical condition, utterly 

 unmanned me. He compared the new university to a 

 newly launched ship &quot; all its sails set, its rigging full and 

 complete from stem to stern, its crew embarked, its pas 

 sengers on board; and,&quot; he added, &quot;even while I speak 

 to you, even while this autumn sun sets in the west, the 

 ship begins to glide over the waves, it goes forth rejoicing, 

 every stitch of canvas spread, all its colors flying, its 



