Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-04-03
AN ELOQUENT TRIBUTE

A very interesting feature of the
last number of The Christian Regis
ter is that part devoted to reports of
the addresses at the memorable
meeting of the Unitarian Club of
Boston when DR.. Charles w. Eliot
was entertained in honor of his nine
tieth birthday. The addresses were
by DR.. Minot Simons of All Souls
Church, New York; Hon. Leslie c..
| Cornish, Chief Justice Of the Su-
preme Court Of Maine: DR.. Charles
w. Eliot and DR.. George A. Gordon
of tho new Old South Church, Bos-
ton.
The occasion called for the best
and received it. The Chief Justice,
always felicitous in his remarks, was
especially so in his response. 1.-The
Unitarian Laymen." Briefly allud-
ing to the brilliant list he concluded:
| I am talking about pure and SIM
pie Unitarians. And for the past fif-
| teen years. since he left the presi-
dency of Harvard, the distinguished
guest of the afternoon has run on his
own power without any official as
sistance. He is today our most dis
tinguished Unitarian layman.
Now there are many reasons for
this. Let me mention four.
In the first place, he has sane and
wholesome and splendid philosophy
of life. And what is it? He has given
IL to us in his own words: Nobody
! has any right to find life uninterest-
ing or unrewarding who sees within
the sphere of his own activity a
wrong which he can help to remedy
or within himself an evil which he
con- hope to overcome"
In the second place, he has always
stood for the dignity Of labor, every
where and among all people, and he
has expressed his views in upright
and downright language. to the en-
/ ployers and to the employees,-the
dignity of labor.
In q private school down South,
presided over by a friend of mine, is
this simple motto: ~"The law Of life
! Is labor and the joy of life is ac-
complishment." And that has been
the text of President Eliot
In the third place, we respect and
| admire him because of his passion
| for the fundamentals, the intrinsic
| values; not fame nor riches as such,
| but the worth OF man. When he
came to select a life and write a
| biography, he did not take some dis
tinguished statesman or poet or ar
tist, but he took John Gilley, "Maine
Farmer and Fisherman" And at the
close Of this sweet and simple biog-
raphy, clothed in that chaste Ian
guage OF which he is supreme mas
ter. we find this paragraph:
This is the life of one Of the for
gotten millions. 1t contains no ma
! terial for distinction, fame, or long
remembrance, but 1t does contain the
material and present the scene for
u normal human development.
through mingled joy and sorrow.
labor and rest, adversely and sue
cess, and through the tender loves of
childhood. maturity and age. We
cannot but believe 1t is just for
countless simple lives like this that
God made and upholds the EARTH"
| And. Mr.. President, would move
at the proper time that the Five
Foot Shelf be extended,{ notwith-
standing the modesty of Doctor Eliot.
to i've feet and one-half inch, so as
TO include the biography of John
Gilly. ,(Applause.1
| And fourth and last. we laymen adj
mire Doctor Eliot because he typifies
in himself the things which he has
been talking for. He measures up to