i'EBKUAKY 28, 19(12.] 



SCIENCE. 



323 



the time, the place and the circumstances, 

 were favorable to an endowment which 

 seemed to be extraordinarily large, for the 

 munificence of Rockefeller, Stanford and 

 Carnegie could not be foreseen. 



The founder made no effort to unfold a 

 plan. He simply used one word,— Univer- 

 sity,— and he left it to his successors to 

 declare its meaning- in the light of the past, 

 in the hope of the future. There is no in- 

 dication that he was interested in one 

 branch of knowledge more than in another. 

 He had no educational ' fad. ' There is no 

 evidence that he had read the writings of 

 Cardinal Newman or of Mark Pattison, 

 and none that the great parliamentary re- 

 ports had come under his eye. He was a 

 large minded man, who knew that the suc- 

 cess of the foundation would depend upon 

 the wisdom of those to whom its develop- 

 ment was entrusted ; and the Trustees were 

 large minded men who knew that their ef- 

 forts must be guided by the learning, the 

 experience, and the devotion of the Fac- 

 ulty. There was a natural desire, in this 

 locality, that the principal positions should 

 be filled by men with whom the community 

 was acquainted, but the Trustees were not 

 governed by an aspiration so provincial. 

 They sought the best men that could be 

 found, without regard to the places where 

 they were born, or the colleges where they 

 had been educated. So, on Washington's 

 birthday, in 1876, after words of benedic- 

 tion from the President of Harvard Uni- 

 versity, our early counsellor and our con- 

 stant friend, the plans of this University 

 were publicly announced in the President's 

 inaugural speech. 



As I cast my thoughts backward, mem- 

 ories of the good and great who have been 

 members of our society rise vividly before 

 us,— benefactors who have aided us by gen- 

 erous gifts, in emergencies and in prosper- 

 ity; faithful guardians of the trust; illus- 

 trious teachers ; and brilliant scholars who 



have proceeded to posts of usefulness and 

 honor, now and then in Japan, in India, in 

 Canada, but most of them in our own land, 

 from Harvard to the Golden Gate. 



I must not linger, but lead you on to 

 broader themes. May I venture to assume 

 that we are an assembly of idealists. As 

 such I speak; as such you listen. We are 

 also practical men. As such, we apply our- 

 selves to useful purposes, and to our ac- 

 tions we apply the test of common sense. 

 Are our aims high enough? are they too 

 high? are our methods justified by experi- 

 ence? are they approved by the judgment 

 of our peers? can we see any results from 

 the labors of five and twenty years? can 

 we justify a vigorous appeal for enlarge- 

 ment? These and kindx'ed questions press 

 themselves for consideration on this me- 

 morial day. But in trying to answer them, 

 let us never lose sight of the ideal, — let us 

 care infinitely more for the future than we 

 do for the past. Let us compare our work 

 with what is done elsewhere and with what 

 might be done in Baltimore. In place of 

 pride and satisfaction, or of regret that our 

 plans have been impeded, let us rejoice 

 that the prospects are so encouraging, that 

 the opportunities of yesterday will be sur- 

 passed to-morrow. 



If it be true that ' the uses of Adver- 

 sity ' are sweet, — Adversity that ' wears 

 yet a precious jewel in his head,' let us 

 look forward to leaving our restricted site 

 for a permanent home where our academic 

 life will be 'exempt from public haunt,' 

 where we shall ' find tongues in trees, 

 books in the running brooks, sefmons in 

 stones, and good in every thing.' In faith 

 and hope and gratitude, I have a vision of 

 Homewood, where one person and another 

 will build the structures of which we stand 

 in so much need,— where scholarship will 

 have its quiet retreat, where experimental 

 science ^^dll be removed from the jar of the 

 city street, where health and vigor will be 



