Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-01

| school of A soldier. He read much-he thought
more. always shared the labors and dangers OF
his command, sympathized with them in their
distresses and wrongs, and during the war OF
Independence and after, was always their ao.
Vocate with Congress and the people apart
from his public history. he has left an extensive
correspondence, which has been 1altniuuy pre-
served by Sparks, which contains mass OF
knowledge which every American yontn snoIhs i1.hr
study, and even members OF Congress MAsns
consult with profit
Steel, steam, electricity and nitro glyeerlne
have revolutionized the navies OF tne woIttus
have banished from the high seas tne ma e,.S
| line-of-battle ship the handsome frgate anu
speedy sloop andin their stead have suDsssu@tsu @
monitors and steecladF, real monsters, OF ,s, sns
most uncouth patterns. so that were Ne.svn .St
and Collingwood, John Paul Jones ana oteMaas
recalled to earth they would hnd tnemssivS5 WI
strangers on their own decks The woria orig WI MI
go ahead, and have abundant 1altn Inas sno
| in these modern inventions and, should the oc-
casion arise they too. will prove equa,l " 81 90
they have ever done in the past. Inereaore, ,,'1,
let me conclude with what m1gnt nave Oesun
and finished with:
'The Army and Navy forever. ,,na,
Three cheers for the red. white and Dlue.
sour Schools and Colleges" was the next
toast to which Haryard's President, OnAiies
w. Eliot, responded in part, as follows'
OUR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.
That brief phrase-the schools and colleges
of the United States-is formal and 1amliiar
one; but what imaginations can grasp the IN
fnitude, affections, powers and wills which It
really comprises? Not the liveliest and most
far-reaching In all that multitude every little
heart bounds and every eye shines at the name
of Washington. They ALL of whatever race,
have learned that he was the brave and stead
fast soldier, the wise statesman and the patrl-
otic ruler who made their country free, strong
xya1l lrr1f1r h fcrIIr
feature, and If asked to name their counLrys
hero every voice would answer Washington;
They see him ultimately victorious In war and
successful in peace, but only through mucn
adversely and over many obstacles.
Next picture to yourselves the 700 students
in colleges and universities-selected youth OF
keen intelligence, wide reading ana On nlgn "a. amDl-
ton. They are able to compare washington
with the greatest men of other times and coun-
tries and TO appreciate the unique quality OF
his renown. They recognize in him simple,
stainless and robust character, which served
with dazzling success the precious cause OF
human progress through liberty, and so stands
like the sunlit peak of. the Matterhorn, un-
matched in all the world
1t is through the schools and colleges and the
national literature that the heroes of any peo-
pie win lasting renown; and it is through these
same agencies that a nation is moulded into
the likeness of its heroes. What an influence
is Washington, and will be. One mind and
will transfused by sympathetic instruction into
millions; one character standard for millions;
what greatness is and what the pathway to un-
dying fame.
Hon. James Russell Lowell had "Our Litera-
ture," which he treated in these words:
OUR LITERATURE.
/ am to speak for literature, and of our own
as forming now a recognized part of it
think this commemoration In which it is
peculiarly fitting that literature should take
part Tor we are celebrating to-day our true
birthday as a nation, the day when our con-
sciousness of wider interests and larger possi-
bilities began. All that went before was birth
throes. The day also recalls us to a sense of
something TO which we are too Indifferent. l
mean that historic continuity which, as a
factor in molding national individuality, is not
only powerful in itself bu. cumulative in its
operation.
Without the stimulance of national con-
sciousness no literature could have come into
being. under the conditions in which we then
were, that was not parasitic and dependent.
Without the continuity which slowly incorpor-
ates that consciousness in the general life and
thought, no literature could have acquired
strength to detach itself and begin life of its
own.
The literature of people should be the rec
ord of its Joys and sorrows, its aspirations and
its shortcomings, its wisdom and its folly.
We cannot say our own as yet sufices us, but l
believe that he who stands hundred years
hence where am standing now, conscious that
he speaks to the most powerful and prosperous
community ever devised and developed by
man. will speak of our literature with the as
surance of one who beholds what we hope for,
become reality and possession forever.
Thus II toasts we're spoken to. and the hour
was late when the most notable banquet of
these times had ended.