Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-06-18

cloth frock coat, black doeskin trous-
ers and a narrow black ribbon tie, or
perhaps oftener, q connection Of the
kind known as the butterfly. "A
dinosaur marching on the campus
would have attracted less unfavorable
comment than q student in cap and
gown.
There was a college band Of tuneful
blow-hards who styled themselves the
Pandeans. The two rival societies
were really important and well organ
lied annexes Of literary culture. Com
petition for new membership was
sometimes as strenuous as later be-
tween the Greek letter fraternities;
you can imagine Peucinian fishermen
pulling one way for pledge, and
freshman was almost pulled apart. In
the time Of 1925 the division appears
to have been mainly political. Haw-
thorne records that these two socie-
ties typified with singular accuracy of
feature the respectable conservative,
and the progressive or democratic par
ties So there may be interest in re-
calling that while the Wing Peucinian
had Longfellow and Senators Brad
bury and Fitch and Governor Crosby
and Judge Appleton and Sergeant S.
Prentiss, thel Democratic Athenaean
possessed Hawthorne and President
Pierce and Senator's Fessenden, John
r. Hale and James Bell, not to forget
the Rev. George Trask, who. If he
could, would have become afterwards
the Volstead of tobacco prohibition
a reasonably fair distribution Of en-
bryo greatness as between the two
organizations.
These were the only recognized So
cieties in the college until Phi Beta
Kappa's Alpha of Maine was organ
ICED on Washington's birthday in 1925:
so that class was the first from which
members were chosen in regular
course on graduation. 1t was our
dear, loyal friend, De Alva Stanwood
Alexander, sadly missed by many of
us here today, who called my atten-
ton, not long before his recent death,
to the unusual standing Of 1925 in this
respect. Sixteen of the 80 were Phi
Beta Kappa. Among the wearers Of
the fiat key were Longfellow and Haw-
thorne. On Commencement day Long
fellow had a part: Hawthorne none.
1T has been said that the perfect
rendering of an Ode of Horace's at
the examination which opened Long
fellows way to his appointment by
Bowdoin, his years in Europe and his
subsequent career, was but a fluke,
inasmuch as that ode happened to be
the very one with which he was al
ready most familiar. I know not on
what authority this statement rests,
but, If 1t is true. think most Of us
are ready to admit the luck Of the
circumstance and to assign its happy
consequences to the entire English
speaking race. 1t has been the fash
ion at times to disparage his poetic
quality, and to assume the fading. IL
not the fall of his literary reputation.
Once, for instance, about 1910. when
Henry B. Stanton was addressing an
anti-slavery meeting in England,
Thomas Campbell, the author of Ger
trude Of Wyoming insisted on taking
the stage and expressing his con-
temptuous opinion Of the author Of
"A Psalm Of Life and Voices Of the
Night; but it TRANSFERRED forthwith
that this violent British prepayment Of
superiority was both Jealous and
drunk. There is, Of course, no alien
envy or native alcohol in the Ameri-
can criticism of the sort that sees in
Longfellow little more than a down
fallen rocket. Such is merely the
verdict of impatiently conceived stand
ards Of permanence that refuse to be
measured against the test Of time and
the undiminished affection of millions.
He still holds the distinction, here and
abroad, of being not only the best
known and best loved American poet,
but also one Of the most popular ly-
rists that the English speaking peo-
pies have produced. More than any
other American Of his period, he is to
be credited with the promotion and
dissemination OF culture. as distin-
guished from classical learning. i.
IF the respectable shades OF those
who smoked the pipe Of hope 100 years
ago beneath the Thorndike Oak could
return this day to receive our homage,
If they could come, silent and UNI
seen for us but visible and vocal for
each other. after noting with surprise
the growth of the sapling and the no.
BILE ACKNOWLEDGMENT Of its architec-
tural surroundings, / imagine their
first impulse would be to scrutinize
you of 1925 about to go forth from
the gates, and especially to scan Curl
ously the current Issues Of the Bow
dom publications; and to them, as to
every alumnus loyal to the traditions,
II would be extremely refreshing to
read in the Orient the quick eyed and
unterrified commentaries written by
the present graduating class and their
college mates in criticism of some OF
the outlander literati who have made
the recent sessions Of the Institute a
memorable event in our history; and
likewise in the Quill the sketches and
romantic conceptions in which so
much Of the Longfellow and Haw-
thorne influence fingers. And they
would discern corpuscles still red,
plasma still flowing freely through
channels unhardened, minds Of the
same texture as theirs. working in the
same way perhaps specifically.
trife more sophisticated, possibly a
little more inclined to consider the
nightingale a much overrated bird, but
minds indistinguishable from their
own in quantity, quality and the white
ardor of the Bowdoin spirit. Surely
If they came thus and beheld. they
would say. why! these fellows are
Ourselves!
The exercises concluded with the
reading of the alumni prize poem.
The following extract of the alumni