Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-06-26
THE ALUMNI ADDRESS AND
POEM
AT THE COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT.


OF II.
The subject of Prof Halls address be-
re the alumni Tuesday was "The
,ientifc Spirit and the Future" The
eaker introduced his remarks by COM
bring the forces Of nature, so rapidly
ling brought into mans use, to the
Pepers of Ephesus of Christian legend
history. The conditions of the pres
were compared with those of cen
nv ago around the founding of Middle
Try college. Prof. Hall spoke in part
follows:
As we ring electric bells, talk with
lends miles away, flash messages around
e world, ride in electric cars to and
ON our daily work, see the roll and lis
to the whirr of electric machinery,
nd our papers and walk the streets in
light of electric lamps, who shall not
that the day is at hand, nay. is al
hdy here, when some New Jerusa-
lem, if not that of st. John, can be en-
7ed by all.
"A giant has reposed in sleep since the
& il of the temple was rent in twain,
der the soothing hand which nature
5 held out to guard him. The stir and
m amongst natures forces produced
VI those strange human creatures
lich this geologic age has brought
rth-different from all that have gone
fore them-as they speed to cover and
nquer the earth, is arOusing him. Yet
EN- now the chains are upon him. This
INT Electricity is doomed to become a
We. He may struggle and spring and
lsh out human lives, still he IS to he
We. His career from now forth shall
that of an Obedient force at all times
swering the call of duty.
What has brought about this wonderful
bvement? What causes the awakening
these mighty giants of nature? Truly
cannot be said that they have renewed
" lost or weared strength; the forces
nature never grow weary nor faint;
" are ready and willing to respond to
! our demands if we only know how to
nmand. They are the ever-present
nii inhabiting the air, the waters and
rock-rbbed earth. In them there is
change. They are no more ready to
pond now than they were years ago.
are they raised up, made wise and
long by their presence and service.
e reason for this condition comes in
spirit of investigation, in the desile
know which is universally present
tn modern civilization.
The exercise of this spirit and its prop
cultivation are moving man towards
st complete control of the forces of
ture about him. The ability to see
ngs, the power to discern between the
and the ideal. to separate facts and
cies, impressions and experiences,
es a most remarkable power. Man
~ no more faculties than he ever had.
keeuer perceptions, no more enlarged
gments. He is simply training him
to see things as they are and to COM
bend them as they exist and act; he
i coming to understand the origin of
I, ngs through those slow and steady
,cesses by which they were origin
d and to direct the forces of nature TO
4. in his service. In this advance tow
S supremacy man is applying the
entitic method. Science is knowledge.
e scientific method of acquiring know
ge, in the parlance of the street, is the
thod that gets there
II his profound change has been
Dught about through the application
s human powers to the calculation of
problems of human environment.
alone in colleges. in laboratories,
schools, but in every home, in every
he and every workshop have these
Ners been applied and this spirit of
estigation developed.
+ looking back through the years we
erve how science. that Is. the broad
and most comprehensive culture. has
)stituted the conception of law for
t of supernatural Intervention. We
not need to 20 TO history to learn that
civilized man is controlled by super
ion. Ignorant man blindly imagines
can call some force to his aid through
mite appeal. He will surrender ms
vers when he finds that fare is against
and for his enemy. Science, on the
er hand. makes a man brave and
lent, enduring and victorious. He
o has that culture holds giants in
ns and can command them.
note how the spirit of the theologian
s.. become subdued. As knowledge
eads men trace the ancestry of these
nts. Questions are grounded these
eacres. answering which they are
ced to be precise in detiniton-nay,
are forced to formulate definitions
things real and unreal that had never
I n defined before. That is healthful
-lltNludl Du-lltSc LOT lutll. L ltN
proved under it. The result is
rld-wide movement to separate SUI
stltiOn from the verities of being. to
ch man to enjoy the pleasures of liv-
as well as to endure its pains. The
nmon things of life have charm
ich is associated with their useful
rather than their marvellous mech
= SIN, too sacred to he touched and too
inc for man to breathe upon.
he spirit of research has changed the
of advancement from the arithmeti-
to the geometrical. Hundreds of
RS elapsed before man laid down his
ne hammer for tool of metal. Now
y decades mark the time between his
ling upon some one of the forces of
ure and its complete subiugation and
troll. As we turn to the future the
on is very bright. TO what attain
pts man may reach through proper
rcise of his powers let no one attempt
say. His warfare will be along the
his of peace. With every waterfall har-