New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-07-02
EX-PRESIDENT WOOLSEY.

EA-HhECIDENI HOOLcH%s
The death of Theodore Dwight Woolsey
closes career Of great usefulness, happiness
and honor Though eighteen years have elapsed
since he resigned the presidency of Yale Col
lege, and though of late the disabilities OF eX-
tremo age had removed him from the active
sphere in which after his resignation he de-
lighted to prolong his service, he had never be-
come mere tradition. His identification with
the university remained unbroken in the
thoughts of thousands of alumni, and still eXer-
cised an influence upon Undergraduate life.
The vitality Of this bond is an extraordinary
testimonial to the character of the man ana
to the appreciation of the college.
Dr. Woolsey was student at Yale Tor four
wears, a tutor for two, a professor for fifteen
and the president for twenty-five, and he re-
NAMED member Of the corporation until 1854,
50 that for almost sixty years of his life he was
a part Of the institution, and for moro than half
a century one Of its governing forces. More
over he had so impressed himself upon the
college as a member Of the faculty that the
presidency was the logical sequence of the pro
fessorship and, in consequence, he entered
upon the administration Of lis affairs with an
even larger measure of practical authority than
the theory and practice OF It's government neceS-
sarily confer. He assumed in 1916 the execu-
p control of a college which, though veneer
nile and famous, was still restricted and in
many respects provincial; he retired in 1871
from the presidency Of a university which was
prepared for any degree Of expansion and de-
velopment. The growth Of Yale during the
last eighteen years has been great and varied
hut it has proceeded naturally and symmetrical
" along the lines which DR.. WoolSey laid down,
whereas his work was largely an original crea-
ton.
But still more valuable than the material
acquis lions which the college made and the
new fields which it occupied during his admin
istration was the spirit with which he endued
it. In breadth and elegance Of scholarship, in
purity Of taste, in cleaTness of thought and pre-
cision Of style, it is certain that no president OF
an American college has surpassed him, and 1t
IS unlikely that eny one would dispute his claim
to pre-eminence in the combination of these
gifts and requirements with practical sagacity
and power to govern. 1t often happens, and
pe1haps more often in academic circles than
elsewhere, that great ability and usefulness
within special lines are not incompatible with
eccentricites Of habit temperament and cor
viction, which, though they may be pardonable
and even endearing, cannot fail to be represent
cd in the final estimate Of the individual VINO
is subject to them. There was an innate dis
tinction Of aspect and manner in President
Woolsey which heightened his influence over
the world in which he moved, and he was seen
and felt to be so sane, so balanced and so dis
eliminating that it was impossible for the most
forvjd or the most frivolous member Of tho
college community to make him the object even
Of an unexpressed or half-conscious dlspar-
agement His requirements, moreover, were
not merely mental furniture. They had been
absorbed, and learning in his case had deep
encd into culture.
Dr.. Woolsey's life was not confined within
academic boundaries. His Treatise on interna-
tional law is not merely a textbook which
colleges have found to be a convenient com
pendium it also served to make him familiar
character TO the thoughts of men who are busy
with practical problems of universal signii-
canoe. Twice in the latter part Of his life he
was a Presidential ElcctOr, and in both cam
pajgus was able to render services Of conSpic-
uous value TO his party and the country. His
| long career If usefulness and distinction has
ended TRANQUILITY among the scenes most dear to
| him. and no one could wish to bring him back :;
| but it will he cause Of regret to thousands
that his death came at such time that it is
impossible for the university to pay filter
tribute to her most devoted son or the State
80 its most distinguished citizen.