The Portland daily press., 1893-09-26
THE LATE PRESIDENT MARK HOPKINS

THE LATE PRESIDENT MARK HOPKINS.
of arms he appreciated the value of the
gentler arts Of civilization and left the
bulk of his large estate to endow a free
school at Williamstown. The funds
were allowed to accumulate until 1885,
when q free school was founded, and in.
1898 the institution was incorporated as
a college. The first commencement Of
the college was held Sept. 2, 1895, when
four students were graduated.
In the years that have followed, 1896.
men have been graduated from VIII.
liams college, many of whom have re-
hected honor upon their alma mater, and
one of whom, James A. Garfield, att
tanned the highest Office in the land:
Among the many living graduates who
have achieved national fame may be
mentioned David Dudley Field, United
States Justice Stephen J. Field and ex-
Senator J. j. ingalls,.
Next to Ephraim Williams, Williams
college probably owes most to DR.. Mark
Hopkins, who for 56 years filled the po-
sition of president Of that institution
and left an indelible impress on it's his
tory and policy. AS an ardent admirer
recently said: He built himself into the
mental fabric of two generations of men.
They hold him in gentle, loving and
grateful remembrance. President Hop
kins resigned his position in 1872, but he
continued to give his services as lee
turer on metaphysics to the college for
the next Is years, until his death.
At the semicentennial of the college in
1843 Mark Hopkins said: "When another
half century is past and the call shall go
forth for the centennial gathering, we
shall not hear it, Long before that time
the most of US will have done what we
have to do for the veal or the woe Of
man. The impression which we choose
to make in the yielding material of time
will before that have been made and
have become set in the eternal adamant
of the past. y Let us then throw
ourselves upon the tide of this great
nloyement--the advancing tide of Chris
tian progress-which we trust is to rise
and swell and flow over the earth" He
did more than any other to fulfill his
own prediction of ''a high career Of use
fitness for the half century to come" at
Williams college, and we may feel as
sured that many tributes Of affectionate
remembrance will be paid to his MEM
cry at the approaching celebration.
One feature of Williams which gives
it firm held on the affections Of the
people is tie comparative ease with
which impeclnious students may work
their way through the college. In cases
of extreme need deserving undergradu-
ates may receive scholarships of from
500 to $3.50 a year, and this assistance
is not conditional on superior scholar
ship. The college employs a number of
students as monitors, library attendants,
ETC., at salaries ranging from $15 to $3.50
year. The organist makes $3.50, and
members of the chapel choir are paid
$50 each. Waiting on the table is a
favorite employment and is compensated
by free board. Some students establish
agencies for Troy 1aundries, athletic
goods, ETC., and there is a tradition of
one enterprising youth who constituted
himself a railway ticket agent for a
week before vacation and cleared a
handsome sum. Tutoring is fairly well
paid, and prize winning is sometimes
very profitable. The valedictorian in
1880 carried off $500, and sophomore
took more than $3.50.
These earnings and economies may
seem very petty to people of liberal
means, but it should be remembered
that the cost of course at Williams is
very low. The college authorities them
selves estimate the necessary expenses
at from $500 to $500 year. Certainly
the minimum need not be higher than
$500. Undoubtedly many hardships and
some humiliation await the youth who
seeks to work his way through college,
but the goal for which he strives is a
noble one, and the sacrifices necessary
% attain ii may have a beneficial effect.
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