Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-06-28

Of passive goodness to vitalize his
achievements in the years Of his activ-
ity.
What a benediction of help Is found
in the helplessness Of the aged man whose
only remaining strength Ia strength OF
character! To younger and sturdier men
he has cheerfully transferred the burdens
he once willingly carried but he retains
the glory of the manhood established
when the fires of passionate youth threat
ened his humiliation and secured when
the storms of middle life were buffeting
hard against him. There is no more
beautiful figure in all the world than an
elderly man growing old beautifully-his
every added year ripening, mellowing.
and sweetening a spirit chastened, re-
fined. and glorfed by mistaken adherence
to those ideals which made his passive
character the basis for achieving activ-
ity in the day of his full orbed RESPONSE
bility and which yields him love and re-
spect in the eventde when only passive
goodness remains.
A MAN WHOSE LOSS MADE WORLD
POORER.
Last year the United States lost a man
whose loss made the world poorer He
had lived for eighty-seven years and was
vital force in scholarship. in politics.
in religion and in education. He began
his useful career as a professor Of mod
ern languages. Then for six years he
was the able editor of the Providence
Journal. In 1866 he returned to the edit
cational field where for more than four
decades to come he was to be the ac-
knowledged leader of State university
activities on the American continent.
The first five years of that illustrious
service he rendered as president Of the
University of Vermont and there are
those here to-day who will bear glad
testimony to the aroma of his con-
tinuing influence in their lives. From
the green hills Of Vermont he answered
the call Of the West and through thirty
eight years as president he worked with
out sparing himself in the development
of an institution Of higher learning which
crowned his efforts with the universal
admission that he had builded one OF
the greatest State universities on earth.
Indeed so sincere was his purpose. SO I'M
selfish his toll. so permanent his founda-
ton. so enduring his superstructure that
the University Of Michigan will forever
be the university Of James Burrill Angel.
So wise was President Angel in his
dealings with men, so general the re-
spect for the rectitude Of his motives, SO
stable his passive character, that two
presidents Of the United States commits
stoned him to settle international Ques-
lions of extreme delicacy. AS minister
to China in the early eighties and to
Turkey in the late nineties. his unaffected
honesty. his rare discretion and his in
finite tact stamped him as an accomplish
ed master of diplomacy. Political SER
vice, though, had no charms for him. He
had dedicated his life to the great cause
Of education and he never relinquished
his university presidency to enter upon
permanent diplomatic service.
The childlike simplicity Of Doctor An
CELL. his bland equanimity. his quaint
personality. his quiet dignity, his keen
mind and his easy Representatives,
sanctioned by the firmness Of his pass
i've goodness gave him the reverence Of
all who knew him either intimately or
remotely. At the Inauguration Of Pres
ident James of the University of Illinois
in 1915, when the academic procession
was forming on the campus President
Angel, utterly regardless Of himself, was
moving about with characteristic genial
ity, to greet old friends. Some one re-
marked that the old gentleman had his
cap on askew. The points that should
have been above his forehead and the
back of his head were over his ears and,
horror Of horrors. the golden tassel which
should have hung to the left was droop-
ing over his eyes. A punctilious man
| started forward with the evident inten-
ton of Strengthening the cap. but some
one who valued realities more than ar
tificialities halted the would-be rectifier
of insignificant crookedness by saying
Let him alone man. Don't you know
who that Is? That's President Angel.
| He can wear his cap in any position and
most people will see the man and ig-
more the cap"
Three years ago ! was on the univer-
sity grounds at Ann Arbor. The students
| pouring in and out of the buildings were
| speaking with subdued voices and were
moving with restrained footsteps. The
almost funeral stiffness was oppressive
and I inquired the reason for it. A
young college man enlightened by say.
ing. You know Doctor Angel lives right
over there and he's very sick. No bells
are ringing and all yells, songs and loud
| talking are avoided SO we may not dis
turb him." That was Ave years after his
retirement from active service. Not one
student then in the university had been
under his direction. Very few Of them
knew him by sight. The strength of the
passive character which had made him
great in the days Of his honorable &C.
tivity remained to accentuate the person.
al worth of venerable man and guar.
antee generation from those to whom
his good deeds were only redoent tradi'
tions.
president BUCKHAM'S DEATHLESs
INFLUENCE.
On this sacred hilltop in the home be
queathed by President Angel, there liv
ed and toiled through thirty nine resplen
dent years another president of the Uni
versity Of Vermont. Every building OF
our campus save three was secured BY
his efforts and was erected under his di
rection. The architecture, the physica
equipment. the grounds and their sur
roundings constitute his visible monu
ment. But more imperishable than struc
lures of brick and stone, more lastinl
than books and apparatus. moro endur
ing than settings and adornments is tn,
abiding influence of the man who brough
them into being. He died in office. Tn
last ten years of his life granted hin
no relaxation, yet those years recorde,
some Of his most important achievement
and they were surprisingly effective be
cause Of an unimpeachable reputation
reared high upon fxed principles o
, passive goodness.
This man was a prominent figure. Il
educational gatherings and as met hin
In such associations during his late
years j noticed everywhere an inclina
ton among vigorous educational leader
In middle life to defer to his opinions
He said very little but what he said com
, manded respect and his very presenc
was an inspiration to honest endeavoI