Morning journal and courier., 1889-05-08
FIFTY.sEvENrH ANNUAL.

The public eXerclses III cOuueoSAoA "AsAA the ffty-seventh annual convention of the 1. Alpha Delta Phi fraternity filled the Hyperion last evening with a large and fashionable au- dience. A magnificent scene was that pre- sented from the stage when at o'clock Cappa's Seventh regiment band commenced the overture-"College Airs" The gay colors of the ladies' dresses contrasted pleasantly with the sombre hue of their escorts dress
 suits President Dwight and party occupied the lower box on the left, while the other l boxes were filled principally by young ladies I in full dress. The great audience listened intently to an excellent rendition by the band of selection from Ssahls ''Said Pasha," and Cappa's march ''Gay Students" At the cen ter of the stage resting on an easel was an elegant piece, made by Dickerman ot this
 city, in the form of the society pin. Potted
 plants liberally adorned the stage upon
 which were seated MT. H. A. Smith, 'S9, Rev.
 Dr. Everett Hale, the president of the fra-
 ternity; Rev. Prof. George T. Ladd, who
 opened the exercises with an eloquent pray
 CT, and the speaker of the evening, Rev. Dr.
 Leonard Woolsey Bacon, President Merrill
 Edward Gates of Rutgers college and William
 Wallace Crapo. Selections by the orchestra
 were interspersed throughout the programme.
 
 among many other things: The suspicious
 occasion which calls us together gives me a
 great privilege. am to introduce to you
 the gentlemen who have come to us to night
 to present to you the great truths end broad
 principles of Alpha Delta Phi. Let us not forget that this nation is built upon great principles, on lofty ideas. Once and again
 the American nation has made war for an idea, and I know it has been said of the great empires of the earth that they would never go to war for an idea. Fora eign writers tell us that we owe our position to our physical advantages, our virgin soil
 The United States owes it's existence to-day to the very ideas upon which our association is based. The Alpha Delta Phi society came together before the first American confeder- acy was formed; it struck the key note and the nation had to follow the cue. One of these head principles is to take every man
 at his own, to say to him, here, take your
 part in the commonwealth. The great idea
 that every man is child of God and not g
 child of the devil, is principle of the or-
 ganization. The superior education
 of women came in with the American constitution. The liberal
 education of the people is essential to uni
 versal suffrage. It is education that gives you your great advantages. The physical treasures were all here one hundred years ago but it was not by @ race of men brought up under feudal ideas to recognize class
 here and class there, that these great trea-
 sures were disclosed. It is the law of open
 promotion interwoven with popular educa-
 tion that has done it. The great idea that
 every man is equal, is fellow worker with
 every other, is the underlying principle. In
 the first draft of treaty with Great Britain
 no mention was made of cotton. Cotton was
 an unimportant industry. But it was left
 for student of Yale to make it one of the chief sources of Amer ican revenue. Eli Whitney, before he had been graduated six months from Yale revolutionized the industry. (Mueh ap- plause.) I do not think that these physical things have any power in themselves, but we do believe that their powers are the results of the great moral truths, the great intellectual principles which this fraternity, among oth- CTS, exists to maintain. The speaker was
 warmly applauded.
 Potential Values in Alpha Delta Phi'
 was the subject ot an eloquent address by
 President Gates of Rutgers. He said in part:
 After all, my friends, it is in the undergrad-
 nate life that we are interested. We turn to
 these young men from whom all things
 noble are possible. To influence young men,
 to work among young men, is to work far
 down the ages. We have been slow in put
 ting into our system of education that which
 is necessary to pure government.
 North and south have come closer together
 during the last week when we have recalled
 to mind the life deeds of the great Vir- ginian.
 To the young men of our colleges we look with sublime confidence for the future of our country. The presence of these men of the twentieth century lend dignity to the occasion. It is in the high halls of friend ship that young men see the noble ideals. College fraternities are protest against the isolating tendencies of college life, which Emerson speaks of. To lay hold on friend ship when at it's best, is one of the most inn portant signs of 8 gathering, such ss this, and has in it the best tendencies. In the
 power of disinterested friendship, which is
 so common to young men, is one of the
 chiefest sources of good.
 From such occasions as this we should
 take away stronger conviction of the power
 of principles. As Aristotle has said, ideas
 are the life of the soul. Quickness to con-
 sent to them is the mark of man who is
 fully alive. The only true victories, Napo-
 leon said, are those won over ignorance. To
 call you again to make useful the noble ideals of your college course is what we are here
 for tonight. We call on you to play in so- ciety the part of lighthouse, radiating ideas. In using the moral and intellectual forces by giving you gain. This is not true of the physical and mechanical forces. It seems to me, as look back over history, as I see how the progress of the age is toward united action, it seems to me that the spirit of the age is to bring light, one supreme being directing and guiding all.
 After 8 charming piece. "The Chillian Dance," had been rendered the Rev. Dr. Leonard Woolsey Bacon was introduced. He spoke upon Pending Experiments in College Social Life" Said he: Immense as the change has been in English colleges, they have never been exalted above the boarding house. It is in the college and not the university where those beautiful friend- ahina haua which the beauties of English history. Turn to the growth of our American system. The early American college was college in the true ! sense of the word. The boarding house was kept up but still the name of college sur- | vived. The transition which marked the Yale within the remembrance of some now here. In America the college, with sore bangs of travail, has given birth to the uni- versity and died in the act. The common substitute iu American universities for the college feeling of English colleges is an at taehment for classes. It is really beautiful to see to what vigor and stature this best two hundred classmates, it is out of the question to expect the mutual rela- tion to rise higher than mere ac- quaintance. As Yale man I wish that one of the new buildings could be leased to some persons, who could set up cOl1eR0 HS true COIIeS0 buOulu Dc 4ue
 real, actual experiment in academic social life is represented in this sodality. In think ing these great things of Alpha Delta Phi, ] am thinking of a probable and not very res mote future. believe that these sodalitiee are to form the American colleges of the fu. ture. The important question, of what shall the future American colleges be, seems yet unsolved, but the practical solution of this question is surely in your hands, especially with my younger brethren.
 The fant&sie, "The mill in the black for est," next rendered by the orchestra, was g beautiful piece and received such generous applause that it had to be repeated.
 Hon. William Wallace Crapo was the last speaker. am asked to speak upon the re- \ lation of the college to the social order ot | the country, said he. The problem which presents itself to the thoughtful and patri. otic citizen is how to prevent these social ! disorders and advance the community. While the diligent and prudent men have ' achieved competency and comfort, there are
 some who sit in penury and are sorely stune ' by the pomp and power of wealth and lux \ ury. When the gates of the new world were ' ua5< <o al of he old iko fraa