The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-07-05
The Champion Alumni Dinner speech,
fTrom the New York Worlds Report of the Alum
III Dinner ut Harvard Universally &c

vi Dinner ut Harvard University e
SPEECH OF Mr.. JOSEPH a. CHoATE.
| The last address Of the evening, thai
| throughout was received with peals of laugh
ter and applause, was delivered by MIR. DO
seph II. Choate, of New York. He said:
II our worthy Alma Mater looked forth
this morning, ss I have no doubt she did
UPON our passing column, she must have
| congratulated herself upon the fact that all
| the bows were here eveu the old boy him
self was here. I refer, sir, to no person;
mean nothing personal none OF those gray
headed men who immediately surround your
table; but speak of that venerable and reve
rend company Of ancient graduates who pre-
coded the class of 1885, and therefore upon
their own merits are allowed to eat aud dflnR
freely ia honor of Alma Mater. To US, chill
drep of later growth. who are mindful Of
the almighty dollar, it lends new charm TO
life. a new ambition. For, before, the only
real prize for seniority among Harvard gra
duates was the position of the oldestsurvl.
wing graduate; and as playing for that was
extremely game of chance, there were very
few who had the temerity to aim at it. Now,
to recollect that forty-three years Of faithful
service, paying always for our dinners as We
60. will enable us to spend the evening OF
our days in free and sumptuous feeding at
these tables, is indeed an incentive to the
highest happiness. / take it for granted
that it was for age of service that that CON-
pliment Was paid them. for, judging from
SYMPTOMS I have observed to-day, II 1t was
upon the idea that these gentlemen have
ou,lved their appetites, that was mistake
which has told with frishtful effect upon
the general dinner. To graduates. distant
10 time or place, returning upon these les
live days. one Of the most delightful things
that we observe is the universal emulation
of youth that marks the whole concern
how each man, each class, is struggling TO
be little younger than they really are.
The art of keeping perpeIually young Is
indeed q secret worth discovering. Lord
Bacon understood it, and concentrated the
whole thing in little story that he told in
one of his famous apothegms on Sir Thorn -
More. "Sir Thomas More" he said,
- married, and at the first bad daughters
only; and his wife did ever pray
tor q boy. At last she had boy, which, af-
ter it reached mans years, proved simple.
Sir Thomas said to bis wife: Thou prayed
so long for boy that he will be boy as
long as he lives.'" I could not help observ.
ing here to-day how this struggle for youth
marked the advancing column. How risky
the aged graduate appeared, how 5oyish the
men Of middle age, and how perfectly child.
ish the last Of the COLUMN. We, VINO are
getting to Haanong the older graduates, re-
ter with longing to the past. For one, l
shall al ways, whatever fate may come upon
the College, remain Of the honest conviction
shat the presidency of Jared Sparks was the
best time Of the College. In those days the
rs th Hnll od
on very different principles than those which
are now maintained. Tbestsndard was estao-
iished upon the orthodox theory that the Ca
pability of every class is to be measured oy
the strength of the weakest links to the
chain, and the curriculum was adopted 10
The understanding of the ,stnpidest. That
worthy president whose precepts and ex,
ample have been so much neglected in recent
days, made q practical application IN DIS
treatment of the student, of which DIR.
Quincy had once loosely pronoufced when
De said that bis maxim vas, ,"'Be 10 their
faults little blind, be to their virtues very
blind, but clap. the paddock on the mind y
The kew to that paddock was. lost In Quincy g
time Sparks Eeyer looked for It, and
when I hear of the miseries Of the under
graduates of the present day almost regret
that Eliot found it and set to insert it in the
rusty wards Of the lock. l don't mean to
saw that we were kept away from the foun.
tains Of diearniDg; far from it. We learned
fe y things, aud tried to learn them well
bus then, too. there were hidden mysteries
in those days as 10 these more recent re.
member Professor ,Peirce, whose venerable
form now rejoice to see In freshness anone
MS He and his functions were the ne Plus
ultra, Il believe; that o modern upstar'
among philosophers, Herbert Spencer, ha:
claimed to be the first originator ano
teacher of the upkuowable. PROBES
sor PIERCE was ahead Of him by many
years. He had three different forms or
mathematical problem by which ne used u
lost, our. progress-tbe first and simp!es
we're those that only the frat eight In tn
class could understand; the second 'Wer
those which nobody but the professor him
self could master; and the third were thos
which neither he nor anybody else could an
derstand. Noys, Ian truly bnfrlfed;l IN TAI
ing up one IT these annual catalogues TO Sc
1.-THE tests THAI are applied to the moder
mind. Z verify believe, that any slmp'
mindeds graduate OF more tran twenl
wear ! standiug. would find " more alneu
70 pess any one OF the junior exsnlnat'os
J that we have laid down .aan It wonlc ee q
,1aIeamei ts'pass thfough the eye Of % peeH
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