FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF CORNELL -1870 -1872 385 



with the bubbles floating on the surface of sundry litera- 

 turesbubbles soon to break, some of them with ill odor. 



I would as soon think of endowing restaurants to enable 

 young men to appreciate caviar, or old Gorgonzola, or 

 game of a peculiarly i i high ' ' character, as of establishing 

 courses dealing with Villon, Baudelaire, Swinburne, and 

 the like; and when I hear of second-rate critics sum- 

 moned across the ocean to present to universities which 

 have heard Emerson, Longfellow, Henry Reed, Lowell, 

 Whipple, and Curtis the coagulated nastiness of Ver- 

 laine, Mallarme, and their compeers, I expect next to 

 hear of courses introducing young men to the beauties of 

 absinthe, Turkish cigarettes, and stimulants unspeak- 

 able. Doubtless these things are all due to the " oscilla- 

 tory law of human progress," which professors of "horse 

 sense " like my friend Joe Sheldon will gradually do 

 away with. 



As time went on, buildings of various sorts rose around 

 the university grounds, and, almost without exception, as 

 gifts from men attracted by the plan of the institution. At 

 the annual commencement in 1869 was laid the corner- 

 stone of an edifice devoted especially to lecture-rooms and 

 museums of natural science. It was a noble gift by Mr. 

 John McGraw; and amid the cares and discouragements 

 of that period it gave us new heart, and strengthened 

 the institution especially on the scientific side. In order 

 to do honor to this occasion, it was decided to invite lead- 

 ing men from all parts of the State, and, above all, to 

 request the governor, Mr. Fenton, to lay the corner-stone. 

 But it was soon evident that his excellency's old fear of 

 offending the sectarian schools still controlled him. He 

 made excuse, and we then called on the Freemasons to 

 take charge of the ceremony. They came in full re- 

 galia, bringing their own orators; and, on the appointed 

 day, a great body of spectators was grouped about 

 the foundations of the new building on the beautiful 

 knoll in front of the upper quadrangle. It was an ideal 

 afternoon in June, and the panorama before and around 



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