Daily Kennebec journal., 1922-06-21

10 george lana boar0man. Time ana
other elements have partially de-
stroyed these trees, and following a
suggestion made by DR.. Herbert C..
Libby earlier in the spring it was de-
cided to replant the willows at this
commencement with appropriate exer-
cises. The following program was
carried out with Norman L. Bassett.
81, presiding:
Singing of the Hymn for the 18th An
niversary of the College,-Written
by Samuel Francis Smith. D; D.. Au-
of Modern Languages. 1S34-4l, and
Trustee Of the College. 1S40-60.
(Tune: Hamburg i
Blest be the men. the ancient men.
Who once these sacred pathways
troa.
Nobly fulfilled their course, and then
Retired to rest with fame and God.
High priests c1 knowledge. brave and
They lived, tine distant years to
Born for the times a faithful few.
Their zeal achieved sublime success.
The Jlans they formed, the ends they
sought.
Have Il the wrecks of time defined:
They works their hands with wisdom
wrought
A holy infience, still abide.
Fair seat Of learning! onward still
Grandv pursue thy high career.
While thousands shall their course
fulfill,
Proud that their youth was nurtured
here.
Scripture Reading-William Smith
knowlton, B. A., of the class of 1854.
rsalm /; jeremiah II. IS; l
Chroniclrs Il. 2SaS4: Matthew Z. IS
20; Revelations % -.
tThc Bible used is that once owned
by William Matthews. LID. Of the
class of 1885, and after his death
presented to the colleeeO
prayer-Rev. George Boardman Ilsley,
d. D.. of the c'ass 1868
Sinsing Of a Hymn, The words have
Litt.D.. of the class of 1875.
(Tuie: Missionary ChanO
Here where the willows aisled green
A hundred bounteous years hath seen
Within this hallowed soil today
In faith and love new growths we
lay.
In love we ,plant-these verdant ways
Hay" known our feet in other days,
~
Wide highways of the Living God.
We plant in faith--O Guardian Power
That leadeth from the seed the
flower.
All life is thine and life to be
In clod, or man, or growing tree.
Then. fold them. Father 10 thine earth,
These tender buds of mystic birth;
Restore Sn sunshine. dew, and rain
The marvel of the grove again.
Give freshness for the old decay:
Give beatty, bloom. and strength
AWAY
Thy wondrous immortality.
Address-Professo Julian Daniel Tay-
lor, LID. of the class of 1868.
Reading-"Who Plants "a Tree Lucy
Larcom) )-Nettic MAY Runnals. MA.
Of the class of 1908, Dean Of the
Women's Division.
The Planting of INC WilIoWs-Presi-
dent Arthur J. E0bSrts. LID. of the
class of 1890 assisted by students
of the ,Cnior class.
Singing of DoXOlogy.
! "om all that dwell below the skies,
Let the Creators praise arise;
Let the Redeemer's praice be sung
Through every land, by every tongue.
Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord
Eternal truth attends Thy word
Thy praise shall sound from shore to
shore.
Till suns shall rise and set no more.
Isaac Watts. t71s.
Rt tnediction-Rev Howard Rogers
Mitchell, B.A., of the class of 1872.
Mr. Bassctt gave a brief history of
the willows telling that the first trees
were PLANTED in 1853" by two boys who
went down the path toward the river
carrying - mfuls of willow sticks that
they stuck in the ground as they went
along. Twenty years later more trees
were planted and for many years they
stood against the winds. Mr.. Bassett
then introduced DR.. Julian Daniel
TAYLOR, of the class OF 1868 who has
been in the continuous service of the
college since his graduation, who was
born under the very shadow of the
college and to whpr, perhaps the COL
leGe means more than to any living
man.
DR.. Taylor came forward while the
audience rose in tribute to the great
teacher. Not sound could be heard
as Dr.. Taylor began an address that
told of the meaning that these old
willows signified to the scholar and
the poet These were the words OF
the man who has been serving Colby
for 81 years.
The Boardman Willows
Academic Shades: Was it a poet
who coined that phrase. or was it
philosepher?-or perhaps. one of that
other class. one too much a poet to be
n uhilOSODlCr TO be a pOet At least
he found expression for a truth that
we all recognize. that the haunts Of
the scholar have something in them
that make a special appeal to our sem
timent if not to our reverence.
And what is there in Academic
Shades that it should mean so much?
We cannot define it. 1t is that that
brings us here today. under these old
willows. We know they are only
trees. fibre and bark and sap and
leaves. What else is there in their
presence? Sentiment? Yes, and it is
sentiment that rules the world: and
woe would be to the world if it did
not. OF old they believed or said they
believed, that there w2re living be-
ings, spirits. dwelling in groves and
fountains and forests, nymphs and
Dryads and Muses.. Probably they no
more believed in the existence of such
things than we do. 1t was their way
of expressing their faith in the unseen
and the mysterious unknown. Or, If
it was a real belief, and if the Iliad
and the Aenead and the idyls of