Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-06-10
HARDING MAN OF
"QUIET COURAGE"
IS DECLARATION
CONTINUED from Page one.)

eral familiarity with the contribu-
tons of Princeton to the establish
ment, the Notifications and the
sturdy unfolding of our national
institutions, must surely be par
doned a full measure Of pride in
being chosen to receive the dis
tinction you today are comforting
upon me. Standing here, before
the background of those noble ira =
! ditions and imminent accomplish
ments In which beats the heart and
lives the soul of the university, one
cannot but feel that to have de-
served this one ought to have
served well indeed. If there be
misgiVings as to the merit of serv-
ice in the past, surely this distinc-
ton must inspire its recipient to
redoubled effort to prove worthy of
it
For me, the real picture Of
Princeton Of those revolutionary
days is the one that conjures itself
around the figure of old John
Witherspoon, stout, divine, scholar,
teacher, author, preacher, president
OF Princeton, rebel by nature, patri-
OF by choice, member Of the CONT
mental congress, counsellor to the
fathers of state. signer of the de-
claration and unrelenting fighter in
the cause Of independence. Under
such leadership, small wonder that
Princeton played great and gal
liant part, procuring young men who
were equally resourceful and I'M
compromising in field or forum; or
that the advanced place which they
claimed for Princeton in patriotic
service has been retained through
all the generations since"
THE name of Princeton uni
Versity is, / we'll know rich in as
sociations and fine traditions to all
its sons. Yet ! may confess that
| have always liked to think of it
also by its earlier title of College
of New Jersey, first OF that long
list Of the state colleges and uni
versities which have given so much
special character and quality to
collegiate institutions in this
country. If one may think Of
New Jersey as central battle
ground of revolution, the Belgium
" Jul OIL ub6lt III lIut
so also may one picture the Prince
ton of that time as the Louvaln
among the rising universities OF
the colonial epoch. s"'
Wise men have always been
wont to illumine the uncertain
paths of the future with the bea-
cons of experience shining from
out the past. So it is good that
men who have been called to the
responsibilities of large affairs
| should come now and then to these
academic precincts to refresh their
| spirits, to take on for a little time
the hues of your atmosphere, the
cast of your thought, the inquiring
quality of your mind and the calm
elaboration Of your judgments.
'In the rich and fruitful intel
lectual soil OF our universities we
may trace the termination of ideas,
systems, institutions. which have
been greatly responsible for the
advancement Of humankind; and
to our universities we must turn
in hope and trust that they will
give to the future men of the dis
cipline, the unselfishness, the
straight vision and clear under.
standing, needful in coping with
the complex problems which that
! future surely holds for them. =
II remember reading somewhere
in the letters of a distinguished
British public man who was In
touch with American sentiment
during the revolution. a delight.
fully naive complaint that the in
surgency might have been SUPPRESS
ed readily enough by rigorous
measures, but for the malevolent
influence OF the ardent young
wings, who made up almost the
entire student bodies of the coll
leges. ."
THE colleges of that early time
were already headquarters and
dispensaries of patriotic enthus-
iasm and they have remained such.
They have sent out their sons by
the thousands, to perform the most
responsible and arduous service in
all the wars of the republic; and
uniformly it has been marked by
a seal which carried inspiration
to the whole community. Yet
more important, perhaps, has been
their part in the direction of civic
interests and activities; in the con-
structive tasks of the state in
building the commerce and indus
try, developing the culture and
framing the public institutions OF
our country. So, on such an oo-
casion as this. 1 can think OF no
more appropriate message to be
addressed to the Princeton COM
munity than an expression of the
earnest hope that it may live up
to its opportunities and obligations
in the future as periodically as it
has done in the past"