The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1913-07-03

cial, intellectual welfare Il ~ net
merely school gymnasium. though
Il is glorIousiy that, but II Is an A.
sembly Hall
Now all this leads me to say a
few things about membership la the
community A good many have help
ed 70 erect this structure, who are
no. memb, rs OF this nm mnnity. The
Alumni from out of town have done
nobiy, so have others. not Alumni
But they all, like us who arc here,
are, or ought 10 be members OF some
compuniiy. What is membership
Let me enlarge upon the mctapht
II is an interesting fact that In
almost every language the word
member Is used constantly IN a
flgnratiye sense. Of course mem
ber" like the word "body' applies
literally TO the physical animal or
ganism. Member" is always. when
literally used. a term for vital,
functional part of the physical body
The hand, the eye,the heart are mem
bers. If the word is used Ia any
other sense ii Is used as a meta
phor. The same is true OF the
word BODY Now, We use both
words constantly, without stopping
TO think OF the literal sense which
Is the basis OF the figurative. We
talk about body polite, de
Lucrative body, Legislative body
a corporate body, the body OF
an army and the idea is of a
group of men or women. who are
bound together In something oil the
organized whole of the human phys
lcal body.
There is a student body at the
Sel linary. This community is body
of men, women and children.
And we use member" in the same
way. We speak of member OF
the legislature, a member OF con
gress. member OF Parliament, a
member Of society, a member OF a
club. member Of class, a mem
ber of family, member OF the
community. and n member OF a
school And the underlying idea Is
always of a body In which there
are vital and functional parts, ike
the human body; a group Of per
sons who are closely united in inti-
mate relationships to each other
and to the whole body.
You students of Burr and Burton
Seminary have been this past year
each a member Of the student body
What kind Of member We're your
You. members of the graduating
class. what kind of members In the
body were you? You are soon to
take your part as members OF some
other body-perhaps body OF col
lege students, perhaps family, GER
tainly village or city communi-
ty. What kind Of member are
you going to be?
And you residents of Manchester,
,...,,,.a,o,,. ra.idaniu and GUNNER res
1ents-all of us-what sort OF mem
bers are We? AS the hand, the
eye, the ear, the heart are mem
bers of the body, are you the mana
or the heart of the commnnity?Are|
you the eye or the ear OF the body
of students?
OF course there are other mem
bers in body that are not as use
full as the hand and heart. There
are members in our physical body
which are a great nuisance, as some
Of you know to your sorrow.
There are membrs which seem to
have no use at all, unless II be as
sort of disciplinary irritant for the
tenant of the body. They are for
ever disturbing the peace and har-
mony of te body. Tey are al
ways getting up some kind OF dis
Lurbance. And, as last resort, We
tur., to a surgeon and operative IN
reference. and remove the Offend
ing member from the body. We
40 that too In the body OF com
Every now and then our
courts operate on the body, remove
lie offending member and preserve
him, lot In alcohol but I'M a peniten-
tlary or a jail
And there are offending, irritatlnI
members both In the physical body
and In lie body Of society, whose
lsefulness is very questionable. They
are always stirring up trouble. They
are very aggragating, and yet %
aggravatIon doesn't amount to an
acute attack Of appendicitis, nor
does II warrant a sentence TO the
and the body endures
AZ patiently as It can.
This Gymnasium Assembly Han
&c to be member not only OF the
school but OF the town. IL VIII
serve as an individual serves. y
was made possible because the mem
bers Of this community, both per
manent and summer, recognized
heir membership. They realized
that a mem,,e. must be vital fune-
lionai p.fs uf The body. with du'y
10 serve ~ the otler members
and the body as a whole. And TINS
seems 10 me the great significance
Of the building today
Now. let the Imagination play over
this metaphor Of member and BODY
A moment. You members OF the
graduating class. who must face the
responsibilities Of membership J
we residnts OF Manche