The Portland daily press., 1868-08-20
Miscellany.
A Model After Dinner speech.

.
Whoever Of late has attended Commence
ment at Colby University has found Prof
William Matthews magma pars of that an
niversary. He is the prince of good fellows,
and always has something to say that it is a
delight ever after to remember. He was on
hand as usual at the last Commencement,
and as will be seen by the following extract
from the Waterville Mail, fully sustained his
reputation at the annual dinner: ,..
"The President the ncalled UP Prof. William
Matthews, ct .Chicaao-to whom, unknown
to most OF the company, the College had
voted its honorary LII. D., and whom he in
troduced as native of Watervie, gradll-
ate OF Waterville College,, Professor in
western college, Doctor of Laws, and Sec |
rotary of Waterville Perch Association" |
From SO many honors we cannot withhold
somewhat detailed notes OF his remarks
1t has been said that time mellows ideas as |
it mellows wine. Things in themselves in |
dinerent acquire a certain tenderness in re- |
collection, and the the scenes of our youth,
though remarkable neither tor elegance nor
1eeilng, rise up 10 our memory dignited and
at the same time endeared The hum of |
little tune to whlch in childhood we listened
the course OF brook which in our boyish
Gays we OF en- traced-the ruins OF an old
building which we once knew entire: these
memories sweep over the mind with an en-
chanting power OF tenderness and melan- |
choiy, at whose bidding the pleasures, the |
"cafklng cares" and anxieties OF the present |
moment, fade and disappear. l know not |
whether 1t is from this cause, or because OF |
tne redt happiness l enjoyed i'm college, that |
sucn mood or pleasing IecollectiOns fills my /
mmd whenever behold the brick walls OF |
my dina Mdter. Though came from tn at |
part OF the country where the material is
supposed wholly to overlap the spiritual-t
where the talk is not OF Homer and Horace. |
but OF beeves and gram, pine boards and |
corner iots-Irom city which is supposed to /
De the Elysium Of money-lenders and the
Iartarus OF borrowers-whefe brokers. on he
ing asked, = How do you do?'' reply, aabout |
Two per cent. month, sr,"1Where even
cergymen SO far absorb the general conta-
glon OF specu alton as to announce to their
congregations that their texts NAV be found
IN st PauPs Epistle to tn, Corinthinians.
Section 4. Range ID, East of the 3D. Princi-
pal MeridaD"-where doctors, when asked |
now their prescriptions shall be taken reply
aostractedly, ION the usual termsv-that is,
OF land sales-"a, quarter down, balance in |
one, two, and three years"-yet [ wish to
testify that, after long exposure to such hebe-
tating influences as these. the sons of old |
Wateivihe do not forget the Ainaa Mater
whose tdcted ubertds nursed their intel
leetual infancy. And though MANY lustrums
may nave elapsed since they hung at the
aberd of their intellectual mother-and
though the tlger-like struggles of lille NAV
nave RET dered them too much tof the earth.
earthy," even selfish and sordid, yet can they
with the ecstasy of Catullus on dropping into
the bosom OF his beloved Sirmio,
Guam te benter, quamque letus ipyisot /
yM me ilse c edens Thyrlnan atqre Bythinos = l
Lquisse campos e. videre tie in tuto. : - |
The notes of the old college bell which
once dragged the undergraduate, like Cacus,s
oxen. backward, with much Struggling and |
reluctance to the cave OF the mathematical
professor, hung with emblatical black. have
in after times sweetness that belongs, to NIL
other bell, whether made of brass or of flesh
and blood. Their linked sweetness long
drawn Out" awakens a responsive chord in
MS own bosom, and delightful memories.
winch had lain CONCEALED and encrusted over
WIN Inc nee OF worldly cares, are suddenly
cumulated in Baron Munchausen's French
horn. 1t may be because, seen through mem
DRY gas, things assume a prismatic, hue,
Dut never look on a body of underpraduates
Wtnout mentally exclaiming in the words of
VirSii TO the farmers: Oh, fortunatos. MIN
a1na, 81 saa bona raorinU True, there is more
pleasure IN conugatmg wife than in coniu-
~ |
Congress than in declining nm,n-snbst,N
tive; in circiing the squares of some won
drous city like Paris or Rome than in sonar
ing the circle; in scanning the beautie, of
Nature and Art, than in scanning bexane.
ters Infinitely pleasanter is it to ring the
Delie OF town at her and your wedding,
than 10 near the bell rung that summons you
morning. But on the other hand. / think
stern experience has taught most of us that
~ iar more agreeable to dig for Gree k roots
IMAM TO dig Tor gold, either at Pixies Peak or
III the marts OF commerce; to square anv I
geometricai inquire than to square your week
oiiis, 10 solve an equation than to solve
we prooiem OF how to make one $ receipts
n ~ enese Tunes OF high prices, equate with his
expenses; to let represent an unknown
quantity, than. when dunned Inv crad;+"r
W hnu oery known quantity in v",,r
Pocke'' 10 hunt for the fallacy in the svIior-
isn gwen ID hately's appendix. viz: q He
tnat Is most hungry eats most; he that eats
ieast is most hungry; ergo, he that eats least
e eaS nost-then 10 quiet the barking stom-
hatb - VI eaorantes stomachos, as Horace
tha hroo.t n'ne small children and one at
jug preasI, or more or less than the good old
primer Tells us were vouchsa,ed nv Proy;donna
to the. pious John Rogers IL Is oan,.:aIi
more difficult task, in these DAYS of st,
competition, to translate, as all OF MS had -
40, tne Soid or greenbacks into our pockets
then it was, when a student to translate
Horace or Eschyius into good Presidents
Ensiish-and especially is this true now.
W mnen the students has plenty of helps; when,
In curt words of Curtis, 80 7T7
By coarS the hard roads oflearning travels he,
And viii t,p a as the case may be: s'7
Escanss eli 'ne 1ath OF the Old Hebrew nation
A4'0"Pe' all ag mics by smooth Translation
l 10 not wonder, therefore. that James tbo
First OF England declared that were he ,ot
king he would like to be fellow OF co neo
Inc Undergraduate signs for the day when he
snail escape from the lion discipline of the
hnds that his better days are like Hebrew
verosIthey have ne present tense. He finds
t .tst the world is only bigger school. where
en nt ,ees are heavier, the lessons harder, and
grim eA perence wieIds the ferule. Perhaps
ne ieoe,s as at college and tries to lock out
ed Widow the Se' tutor Ss estimate ,si door
palms and aching knucEles attest a tbat tihgln
vlndlcated his authority. It has 'h has ne nas
hat