Newark post., 1914-12-16
DR.. Mitchell Talks On The
Soul OF The Community

SeHlDly IOOIu VI tHC hASA OShoOi,
Middletown, DR.. Samuel Chiles
Mitchell, president of Delawre Col
lege, made an address to large
audience, despite the rainy weather.
The meeting was public one,
and held under the auspices of the
New Century Club whose president,
Miss Eliza Green made charming
ly fitting introduction to the very
fine discourse which followed. Mis-
takenly believing the speaker to be
a Virginian she vivaciously told the
story of the father who chided his
son for asking everybody where
they were from, since if they were
Virginians they would tell you and
if they were not, it mattered not
whence they came.
The doctor being a Mississippian
was forced to deny the delightful
impeachment, but added that he
had taken root in the Old Domin-
ion being a graduate Of the Univer-
sity Of Virginia, and hoped that
now he might have the pleasing
honor of being styled a Delawar-
can.
He paid a number of warm
compliments to Middletown, its
people and the youth it is sending
to the College-the largest proper
ton of any town in the State.
DR.. Mitchell s subject was "The
Soul Of the Community He lik-
ened the roads, streets, buildings,
telephone, etc, to the body, and
the churches, schools, newspapers,
banks, etc, to it's senses through
which that soul found an express
sion.
Tested by his dictum that COM
munity is known by its good roads,
Middletown and vicinity he declar-
ed were models. "Good roads ben
eft the community Intellectually
and morally for they are the high
ways of ideas as well as vehicles. :"
Another community sense is it's
schools-a yet higher test. AS il
lustrating the far-reaching bene-
fits which followed even the hum
blest planting Of the seed of know
ledge, he told the story Of the
founding at Hampton, Va, away
back in 1636-only sixteen years
after the landing of the Pilgrims
of what later became a notable in
stitution of learning, known as the
Simms- Eaton School, Its trivial
fund Of 200 acres Of land and eight
milch cows given by Simms, and a
little more land and a few more
kline bestowed thereafter by Eaton
Virginia acres were plentiful in
those days, literally "dirt cheap,
and cows were not dear) now
amounts to $4,000 and has more
over survived all the vicissitudes of
bitter civil war raging around it.
As further showing how one
great teacher soul can mould the
thought of posterity and affect the
destiny Of a nation, he described
how George Wythe, one Of Virgin
ia s signers, at one time taught in
his school Thomas Jefferson, John
Marshall, James Monroe and Henry
Clay, "The biggest college In Amer
lea, every one of whom delighted
to trace the inspiration Of his life
to that particular teacher. Wythe
hammered into Marshall's s head his
pet idea that it is right to set aside
a law when it is contrary to the
Constitution, and later as Chancel-
lor Of Virginia in 1888, in Cato VS..
Commonwealth, announced the
norm Of that great doctrine in con-
stitutional law which Marshall
afterwards as Chief Justice en-
bodied in the epochal decision Of
Marbury VS.. Madison.
The speaker also discussed
Churches and Libraries as useful
expressions of the Community soul
whose missions were lofty and
blessed, telling how the chance
glance into cyclopedia turned the
young book binder, Michael Fara-
day into one of the world s greatest
scientists whose discoveries and in
ventions in electro-magnetism have
revolutionized science and manu-.
factures.
The Doctor also spoke of how
reading in his youth a broken set
Of Knights Half Hours with Best
Authors - had permanently in
f1uenced his STYLE and work