SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 262. 



body ignores. To stand up for it and do it, 

 especially daring the eai-ly struggling years 

 of a college, demands a courage that few 

 possess. That Dr. Orton did this, even 

 under the most trying conditions, I set 

 down as, on the whole, the most notable 

 characteristic of his career as president. 

 For I am thoroughly convinced that if he 

 had chosen to do otherwise, if the doors 

 had been opened wide, at both ends of the 

 curriculum, the institution would have long 

 since sunk into a deserved oblivion. 



Few college presidents have so continu- 

 ously received the loyal support and sym- 

 pathy of their colleagues in the faculty as 

 did Dr. Orton. A college faculty is not 

 likely to shine as an example of meek 

 and amiable submissiveness, and this is 

 particularly true of one composed, as this 

 was, and many are to-day, of specialists. 

 Twenty-five years ago, and earlier, it 

 was usually believed that a college pro- 

 fessor might fill any chair that happened 

 to be vacant, and indeed more or less 

 regular interchange of duties was often 

 regarded as highly desirable. The passing 

 of the era is to be attributed in a large 

 measure to the example and influence of 

 institutions of which this is a type. The 

 specialist, however, is tolerably certain to 

 hold that his own particular department is 

 of far greater importance than any other, 

 and he may be relied upon to desire and 

 demand a large share of available resources 

 to aid in its development. Upon the presi- 

 dent falls the by no means agreeable task 

 of apportionment and restraint, and this 

 duty was discharged by Dr. Orton with 

 rare discrimination, fairness and tact. No 

 mere administrator, however skilled in that 

 capacity, could have done as well. His 

 scholarship was thorough and yet broad 

 enough to enable him to know what was 

 being well or indifferently done in every 

 department, and is there not a freemasonry 

 among scholars which makes mutual recog- 



nition easy even when there is no common 

 language ? I am reluctant to refer to my 

 own personal experience on an occasion 

 which is completely filled with one person- 

 ality ; but I can never forget the many 

 instances in which I received from him 

 encouragement in the way of sympathetic 

 acknowledgment and often praise, for work 

 which was doubtless trivial and unimpor- 

 tant, but the recognized success of which 

 served to keep alive the fires of ambition, 

 enthusiasm and interest. 



Of Dr. Orton's relations to the students, 

 whose numbers multiplied many times dur- 

 ing his presidential period, it is hardly nec- 

 essary to speak. Too often the president of 

 a college is unfortunate in that he rarely 

 comes in close relations with students ex- 

 cept to administer reproof or define re- 

 straint. The discipline of this college in 

 its early years was nearly as great a de- 

 parture from accepted traditions as were its 

 methods of instruction. A large degree of 

 freedom was allowed without the asking, 

 but the line separating liberty from license 

 was sharply defined. It was intended to 

 cultivate a spirit of manly self-reliance to- 

 gether with a full knowledge of the respon- 

 sibilities of citizenship, and the administra- 

 tion of the few simple regulations was 

 always so just and fair that no ground for 

 complaint could be found. In this as in 

 all his relations with others Dr. Orton 

 believed in the efficacy of reason and in the 

 doctrine that it is generally more important 

 to convince a young man that he has done 

 wrong than to punish him for so doing. He 

 was slow to condemn and reluctant to pun- 

 ish, but I have known few men more in- 

 flexible and unflinchiug when a vital prin- 

 ciple was contested. He won the confidence 

 of all with whom he came in contact, and 

 young and old valued his judgment, and ad- 

 vice. As a teacher he was most inspiring. 

 His literary and linguistic powers were un- 

 usual, and he easily made any topic attrac- 



