Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-06-27
CUMBERLAND UNIVERSITY ,lIlIl

I Neftner wine nor WomeG-Ihe
Toasis and Responses.
The first grand session Of The Alumni
and Cumberland University since the war
was celebrated by splendid banquet al
Lebanon on the evening of the Gath inst.
There were about one hundred present
| representing the literary, theological and
law departments, and it was most emphaii.
cally "feast Of re, son and 6ow of SOUL -
The suggestive toas,s and the eloquent re.
sponses which we publish below will
demonstrate that wine is not always the
mother of wit, and that men all talk ele-
quently about women, even in their abb
sence. We did not object to the absence Of
the wine, but we think our Pegasus would
have tapped his wings in higher realm of
poetry if he could have caught inspiration
from the genial looks and soft voices of
fair women. We haveever had weakness
on the subject of women. II we had been
placed in the Garden of Eden before the Gre
alton of Eve, we verify believe we could
have been candidate for Dry Tortugas, if
fair little woman had beckoned us to that
isle. We hope next year the ''sWeetener of
all our joys" will be permitted to join us
in our literary festivities. 'at'3.
| DIR. r L G White, the chairman of the
committee Of arrangements, deserves the
thanks Of the Alumni for his efficient |
services in The preparation of the banquet.
Though the ladies were not permitted to
be present, we know from the magnificent
dinner which graced the banquet board,
that they we're apower "behind the throne
greater than the throne"
We give below the toasts and responses
on this occasion.
1t will be seen that Nashville was well
represented on this occasion, FIVE of the
respondents being citizens of this city, viz:
Gen. Bate, Col. Frank Williams, Rev.
w E Ward, D. D., John Shirley Ward
and r L Caruthers, Jr.
THE FIRST TOAST.
Our Alma Mater: not too young to be
mature, nor to old to be vigorous, and illus
trious always
I'm freta dunn Auvii current. dunn montibus
Lustrabunt convexa. polus dunn sidera pascet,
Semper honos., nomenquc tuum. Landscape
{ manebunt"I -. /
President B. W. Mcdonald responded
as follows: .-..s.
Mr.. President l should like to re-
spond to that toast if could find where or
what your Alma Mater il. hear one of
your members say as he passes by the old
ruins on the hill yonder, 'there lies our
Alma Mater"
As we pass along West street hear au-
other say, "there stands our Alma Mater"
/ read in some college books that the |
library makes The college. / hear it as
serted by others that the endowment is the | [
college. Mr.. President, it is my conviction
that the college has Its existence in living /
human hearts Your Alma Mater has I
one of its chief towers Of strength here on
my left, in the green old age of glorious
life, still active for that board Of trustees Of
which he was the frat President.
Another, sir, ais on my right in one \
perpetual secretary" Others are ranged
b. my side in the seats appointed for our
faculty. Others are around me in this no. :
Bile band of Alumni. The ak hundred
Alumni of this institution bear their I
Alma Mater with them in those hearts
that never forget to toll for her interest
Sir, it has been said that Julius Cesar,
when be invaded England, formed there q |
band of natives, who never surrendered to ]
his sword. They logged upon his rear,
they hung upon his TANKS, they annoyed ]
him by day and by night, but never to the
last of his invasion did they submit 10 his
rule.
; They called themselves "CumberIands."
They eocumbered the country, spite of
Cesar. s.. .-E. ...|.H
I find in these Alumni of Cumberland
University the true Cumberlands yet )
unconquered forever-war, fame, losses,
wide ruin, the fallen hopes of our people, 7
everything that could come 10 the shape
of disaster, only inspired their zeal more
and more for the institution. Sir, it is in
their hearts that the noble life of the insti- /
tuition is TO be found.
And now, while yon turn fondly to the
past, with me, your Alma Mater fills the
whole horizon Of the future. In this fu-
ture the true cornerstone of its glory will
rest in these throbbing hearts.
On then, on to the glorious work yet
be done, and may l, so far as hard toll and
4,
Henry, of Nevarre, did to his soldiers: !
Do not, in all the fercest of the conflicts
that come, lose sight for one moment of
this plume which mods above my head.
You shall always find it on the pathway to
victory.
~ SECOND TOAST. .-s 80
The Alumni of the Classical Department 3
of Cumberland University their Alma
Mater rejoices to know that the sons which 1
she has sent forth into the world have re-
tanned enough of the scholarship which
she has impaired to them, to at least make
their marks"
Rev. DR.. W E Ward responded to this
toast:
Mr. President:-After twenty-five years
of toll in the bivouac of real life, we
come together to sac what our Alma Ma.
ter has done l rejoice to be here. This
bsnquet---the first we have ever held, is
a milestone where we may rest and
count over labors and rehearse our pleas
ures and then start out for the next quar-
ter of a century. belong to the class of q
1851 AID am the only one of that cIass 2
present. Tbs noble Bonds and Freeland b
are no more! There is but one class older o
than mine represented here. The first b
graduates were in 1913. There have been
1856 graduates since that time in the coll F
iegiate department. Neurology claims a p
portion of them. Thirty-eight of that v
number repose beneath the greeB sod. ii
When twenty-five years ago, a lad fresh Fl
from my fathers roof in Alabama, l came p
unknown into this town of great hearts A
and goodly cedars, little did | suppose | n
should stand here on such an occasion as n
this. As / look over these tables and be C
hold my brethren in letters assembled from .
all parts, feel proud Of the noble mother g
who nurtured Us 80 well. l feel proud of il
the achievements Of her sons. Eighty.six a
of them have entered the various pursuits il
of life, and | do not know single one who
has come to dishonor. Forty-seven of 8
them, or about one-fourth of the whole, 8
have entered the holy ministry. Thirteen 4
of them are successful teachers. They O
stand in the van of knowledge and eivili- v
zation with lighted torches from the ma e
ternal altar they have gone forth. Dom v
nell in the mountains of Tennes ee, KEEL
ley in Lebanon, Bell in Mississippi, Buch-
anan in Arkansas, Gill in Kentucky,
Beeson, Decherd, Collins and others in
Texas, Cunningham in California. They :
have kindled in those far States the fires
of learning, and the blazes of these, shoot
ing up TO heaven, are seen by all eyes in
the great South and West.
Mr.. President, What is the want of this
age? Not railroads; not vast fields Of !