The history of Colby College, Part 59

Author: Colby College
Publication date: 1963
Publisher: Waterville, Colby College Press
Number of Pages: 716

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to examine the records of the society and prescribe such regulations and so far con- trol and restrain the society as in their opinion the interests of the College may require." Despite the lack of support from the Erosophians, the Literary Fra- ternity won a decisive victory. Why the faculty retreated from their position we do not know, but retreat they did. In the fall of 1836 each of the two societies was permitted to accept as many freshmen as cared to join, and for many years thereafter, in the record of each society, for the first meeting in the autumn, appears the statement: "Invitation to become a member of the society was issued to each member of the freshman class."

Just as the Philathean and Boardman societies had created libraries, so did both the Literary Fraternity and Erosophian. Their important contribution to library facilities at Colby will be discussed in a later chapter on the library. Here it is appropriate to note the two societies' contrasting periods of independence and of cooperation in respect to their libraries.

For some twenty years the Literary Fraternity insisted that "no person may supply another person who is not a member with any book belonging to the fra- ternity library, on penalty of a fine of twenty-five cents for each offense." The Erosophian Adelphi had as a regulation governing its reading room: "The room shall be open for the use of members only, daily except Sunday, from breakfast time till study hours, from dinner time till afternoon study hours, and from supper time till evening study hours." In 1849 the two societies voted to merge their reading rooms, but not their libraries, and Room No. 1, North College, was set aside as the Waterville College Reading Room.

Each society gave much attention to the furnishing and upkeep of its meeting room. In the years before 1850 there was plenty of room in the three college buildings, and the authorities allowed each group to have sole occupancy of a sep- arate room. In 1832, the Literary Fraternity voted to purchase "oil and the neces- sary oil vessels." Thirteen years later they decided to purchase lamps and use the new "burning fluid." They decided to "buy settees and furnish green blinds for the windows on the river side, paper the walls and whitewash the ceiling." On another occasion they voted to put shades in the north windows, install a fire- place and hearth, and "set up a box for anonymous contributions."

The Erosophians were equally zealous. As soon as they were assigned a meeting room in 1835, they voted to buy a stove. In 1836 "Mr. Thomas was elected lamp-lighter." The record of September 14, 1836, tells us: "Some re- marks being made respecting the purchase of an oil can, Brother Everett said he had several jugs and would present one to the society." When, upon their urgent request, the Erosophians obtained the use of No. 20 South College for their library, they voted to call it the Athenaeum of the Erosophian Adelphi, and they levied a tax of two dollars on each member to furnish it properly.

In 1838 the Erosophians, dissatisfied with their meeting room, though proud of their Athenaeum, passed the following vote:

Whereas the Erosophian Adelphi has suffered much inconvenience and real injury for the want of a suitable room for its meetings, and whereas in this respect we are not equally favored with the Literary Fraternity, be it resolved that we will, if possible, obtain the room adjoining the Athenaeum, now occupied by Mr. Caldwell, to be connected with the Athenaeum as our meeting place.

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A petition to the faculty resulted in consent to connect Room 18 with Room 20, as the society had requested, and the Erosophians promptly voted to tax each member one dollar to provide furnishings. They named the room Erosophian Hall. Fearing that the College authorities might later change their minds, the society voted, "to procure from the Faculty or Trustees a writing by virtue of which we can hold the room as our lawful property." Placed in Erosophian Hall was the motto "Meus noster ager est."

In 1845 the Erosophians thoroughly renovated their hall, making it re- splendent with paint and paper and new furniture. On the evening of June 4 they held open house for students, faculty, and townspeople, after which they voted to thank their Building Committee for the excellent job, the ladies of the town who made the carpet, and Edward Mathews for a bookcase.

Spurred by the Erosophian success, the Literary Fraternity decided to make repairs on their own room. A committee reported that it would cost fifteen cents a yard to stucco the ceiling. They voted to do it, and also to plaster and stucco the walls. Not to be outdone by the Erosophians' carpet, they voted to buy one at Pray's Waterville store. A committee was instructed "to purchase lamps of the same kind or better than those of the other society." The carpet from Pray prov- ing unsatisfactory, two members were commissioned to go to Boston to get a better one. Determined to improve upon the Erosophians' stove, they decided to install two stoves at a cost of fifteen dollars each. They even procured a chandelier with cut glass shades. Finally they voted "to purchase the best solar lamps for six dollars, to construct a bench for the president, to paint the woodwork as near as possible to the color of the other society's room, and to put in a new door with a new lock."

Into the meeting of both societies was introduced early what came to be called "the anonymous," a semi-humorous contribution satirizing members of the society. It gradually came to be so abused that its satire extended to outright slander, and its scope took in members of the faculty as well as students. It was undoubtedly these anonymous papers that led later to the annual publication of a scurrilous sheet by each sophomore class, to be distributed at the Freshman Reading exhibi- tion. At first called False Orders, this publication developed into the War Cry of the early twentieth century. Despite sporadic attempts to control the anonymous contribution in both Erosophian Adelphi and Literary Fraternity, members were obliged finally to admit that it could not permanently be restrained and that it had to go. Before the Civil War it had disappeared from the weekly meetings.

As was common to such societies in all the colleges, the feature of each meet- ing was the discussion or debate. Two or three members were assigned to each side of a given question. After their opening discussion, any member could speak. Then the question was put to a vote of the house. Instead of dealing with trivial or even with local matters, as has often been alleged, the debates in those early so- cieties were of national and even international concern. Nor were they, as has been equally alleged, the kind of undebatable question such as whether Washington was a greater man than Lincoln, or whether the pen is mightier than the sword.

In fact, the topics for debate in both societies provide us with a striking glimpse of vital issues of the time. Let us note some of the debated questions.

Would it be good policy for the New England states to be formed into a separate republic?

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HISTORY OF COLBY COLLEGE

Are the Southern States justified in holding slaves? (1825) Decision was in the affirmative.

Was the United States justified in prosecuting the War of 1812?

Could the author of the Waverley novels have better employed his abili- ties?

Is dueling justifiable?

Has the Federalist or the Republican party rendered better service to the country?

Should immigration from foreign countries be encouraged?

Ought Universalists to be admitted as witnesses in courts of law?

Is the condition of free people of color in the United States preferable to that of those held in bondage? (1830) Decided affirmative, 7 to 5.

Was it good policy for the United States to commit the decision on the Northeast Boundary to the King of the Netherlands?

Ought Congress to interfere in the emancipation of the Southern slaves? (1831) Decided affirmative.

Is the Mexican War justifiable? (1847)

Are the principles of the. present Democratic party consistent with those of Thomas Jefferson? (1850)

Are citizens of the United States bound to obey the Fugitive Slave Law? (1851)

Will the liquor law passed by the late Maine legislature be beneficial to the cause of temperance? (1851)

Is it in the interests of the State of Maine to establish an agricultural school? (1853)

Ought Mormonism to be suppressed by the government? (1857)

Has Congress power to prohibit slavery in the territories? (1859)

Would two independent governments formed from the United States be more favorable to the interests of the people than one government? (October, 1862)

Is the amendment to the Constitution to abolish slavery throughout the United States an infringement upon the rights guaranteed to the slave- holding states? (September, 1864. Decided in the affirmative by a vote of 9 to 8.)

Like the Boardman Society, both the Literary Fraternity and the Erosophian Adelphi held an anniversary observance. At first the Literary Fraternity selected two of its undergraduate members to serve as orator and poet, then extended the practice to include one or more of its honorary members, who were usually leading citizens of Waterville. After the organizing of the Erosophian Adelphi in 1835, the two societies tried to outstrip each other in the prominence of their orator and poet.

When competition with the Erosophians made it impossible for both to have use of the Baptist church on the same evening, instead of choosing different dates,

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the two societies at first agreed that neither would use the church, but would hold their anniversaries in rooms at the College. In 1837 the Literary Fraternity voted to hold its anniversary "in the Declamation Room, that a band of musicians be invited to play, and that a committee be appointed to provide refreshments."

Both societies aimed high in their annual selection of orators and poets. At one time or another each invited Henry W. Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James T. Fields, James Russell Lowell, and other prom- inent authors to read an original poem for the anniversary, but all of those noted men respectfully declined. Likewise invitations for orator were unsuccessfully extended to Daniel Webster, Rufus Choate, Edward Everett, and Horace Mann.

In the ten years during which the two societies held separate anniversary exer- cises before their agreement to hold joint celebrations, beginning in 1844, the Erosophian Adelphi was strikingly more successful than was the Literary Fra- ternity in securing prominent speakers. In 1838 the Erosophians secured the Rev. Mr. Curtis as orator and Rev. M. A. DeWolf Howe as poet. They came near to losing Curtis, but were saved by the energetic action of their most persistent mem- ber, Benjamin F. Butler, who was then a senior in college. Only a few weeks before Commencement, Curtis reneged on his agreement to deliver the oration. Butler succeeded in pacifying the Massachusetts statesman, who came to Water- ville and delivered the oration as advertised.

It was in 1841 that the Erosophians obtained the most prominent orator ever to speak before either society or at any of their joint observances. At the invi- tation of Erosophian Adelphi, Ralph Waldo Emerson came to Waterville.1 Inter- estingly enough the society's first choice was not Emerson, but a leading Waterville citizen, Wyman B. S. Moor, who a few years later would be representing Maine in the United States Senate. When Moor did not accept, Emerson was the second choice. The Erosophian minutes for April 7, 1841, state: "Listened to the reading of a letter from Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson, indicating that he would accept the invitation to deliver an oration before us at our next anniversary. Voted to invite the Literary Fraternity to walk in procession with us at our annual celebration."

On August 11, 1841, Emerson delivered in Waterville, for the first time, his oration, "The Method of Nature." Two weeks earlier the Concord sage had written to Carlyle in England: "I am writing an oration to deliver to the boys in one of our little country colleges. You will say I do not deserve the aid of any muse. Oh, but if you knew how natural it is for me to run to these places! Besides, I am always lured on by the hope of saying something that will stick by the good boys."

Edwin Percy Whipple, in his Recollections of Eminent Men, tells of his conversation with Emerson about that visit to Waterville.

On one occasion I remember saying to Emerson that of all his college addresses I thought "The Method of Nature," delivered before the So- ciety of the Adelphi, in Waterville College, Maine, was the best. He then gave me an amusing account of that lecture. A considerable portion of the journey from Boston to Waterville had to be made by stage. The vehicle arrived late in the evening, with the passenger travel-sore and weary. Almost all the inhabitants of Waterville had gone to bed. There seemed to be some doubt as to the house where Emerson was supposed to spend the night. "The stage driver," said Emerson, "stopped at one door and rapped loudly. A window was opened and something in a nightgown asked what he wanted. The driver replied that he had a man who was to deliver the oration tomorrow, but the nightgown disappeared

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with the chilling remark that he was not to stay at that house. Then we went to another, and still another, rapped, saw similar nightgowns and heard similar voices at similar raised windows, and it was only after repeated disturbances of the peace that the right house was hit, where I found a hospitable reception. The next day I delivered my oration, which was heard with cold, silent, unresponsive attention. The address was really written in the heat and happiness of what I thought a real in- spiration, but all the warmth was extinguished in that lake of iced water."2

Emerson may have been more to blame than he was willing to admit for the cold reception. The oration was couched in such abstract terms, with so few con- crete references, that it would have been tough meat for an audience far more sophisticated than those Waterville students and citizens. Dr. Holmes wrote, "There are many expressions in this address that must have sounded strangely and vaguely to his audience." Even Carlyle did not wholly approve: "I desiderate some concretion of these beautiful abstracts. It seems to me they will never be right otherwise." The earliest contemporary account of that oration is con- tained in the Zion's Advocate story of the Waterville College Commencement in 1841.

The oration, like all the productions of the author, was a perfect original - a genuine literary curiosity. The subject propounded for discussion was "The Method of Nature," which, in the mystic language of the school to which he belongs was defined to be ecstasy. What is meant by this, it might puzzle anyone to ascertain, who has not an uncommon share of the divine-human within him, and as I lay no claim to this dis- tinction, I shall not attempt to develop its meaning. To say that there was not much thought, much poetry, and much shadowing forth of truth in a dim symbolical manner would be doing injustice to the per- formance, but why one should prefer to stop with the shades of truth, rather than seize at once upon truth itself, I cannot imagine.3

Who wrote that criticism of Emerson's oration? It came from the pen of the editor of Zion's Advocate, Joseph Ricker, who had come to that editorship directly following his graduation from Waterville College in 1839. He had per- sonally attended the 1841 Commencement and had heard Emerson speak from the pulpit of the Baptist Church. It should not be concluded that the 27 year old Ricker was either brash or ignorant when he criticized the 37 year old Emerson. Perhaps the editor's language was a bit caustic, but much of Emerson's lecture had indeed been strange and vague.

Another person who heard the oration was John B. Foster, then a sophomore in the College, who years later told Arthur Roberts that, at the time he had little comprehension of what Emerson was talking about, but that he did remember two things: the orator's nose and the fact that every time he turned over a page of his manuscript he seemed to begin to treat an entirely new subject.

Emerson came again to the College for a similar occasion in 1863. By that time the two societies were observing their anniversaries jointly, one selecting the orator, the other the poet. It was again the Erosophian Adelphi who secured Emerson, whose fame had increased considerably since 1841. This time his sub- ject was "The Man of Letters." It was much more specific and concrete than had been "The Method of Nature," and it showed greater maturity both in thought

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and expression. But it seems that, not even in the midst of the Civil War, was a Waterville audience ready for the deep thinking of the great man from Concord.

In 1863 Emerson spoke in Waterville on the same month and day as in 1841 - August 11. The chosen poet on the same program was Samuel Francis Smith, author of "America," who had been pastor of the Baptist Church and Professor of Modern Languages at the College from 1834 to 1841. The local newspaper, the Waterville Mail, made a comparison between the oration and the poem that was hardly complimentary to Emerson.

Mr. Emerson's epigrammatic style of writing is no more peculiar than his oratory; and though he is a forceful speaker, one is not surprised to find his delivery far from smooth and graceful. He stands before you, a figure of sharp angles, with a marked face and head, indicative of character. Possessed by great thoughts that struggle for utterance, his sentences are jerked forth abruptly. He fires no blank cartridges; he sends up no blazing rockets; but his solid shot, though of tough and well compacted metal, are hurled forth straight to the mark, and you feel that all that is not founded in eternal truth must crumble before the powerful fire.

Dr. Smith's poem had one great merit - brevity; and it might be said, by no means disparagingly, that it was not too good for the occasion. The versification was smooth and easy, the sentiment pure and elevated, and it enforced a good lesson-labor and wait. The punning allusions to General Benjamin Butler were received with especial favor. While far from being a great poem, this much can be said: Dr. Smith did what Emerson failed to do; he stilled the audience.+

Although, after 1840, each society usually attended the other's anniversary in a body, nothing came of repeated attempts for a joint celebration until 1844. Then the Literary Fraternity voted to concur with Erosophian Adelphi in a joint celebration provided "we can have Mr. Bronson for orator." The Erosophians agreed. When the date arrived, the order of march caused such dispute as nearly to wreck the enterprise. The previous agreement to have "the two societies march promiscuously by classes" was invalidated, and after a long wrangle it was decided that "the society having the marshal shall march in front." It had already been decided that the Literary Fraternity should name the orator, and Erosophian Adelphi the poet. Choice of marshal was decided by lot and was won by the Erosophians. In 1845 the two societies voted to make permanent the practice of holding a joint anniversary. In that year Erosophian chose the orator, and LF had the poet and marshal. That plan of alternation continued for the subsequent thirty years of the anniversaries. In 1848, the Erosophian secretary informed the the orator, Rev. J. J. Caruthers of Portland, that the orator and poet usually spoke from the pulpit unless they preferred the platform.5

Sometimes the anniversary itself nearly came to grief because of difficulty in securing the guest speakers. In 1854 the Erosophians voted that if Mr. Stone should refuse the invitation to be orator, the society would insist upon the selection of Mr. Baker, although they admitted it was LF's turn to choose. The Erosophians notified LF that, if the orator was not to be either Mr. Stone or Mr. Baker, there would be no joint celebration. On the whole, however, the joint anniversaries passed off very well, the common reading room was a success, and the occasional tiffs between the two societies created no permanent grudges.

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As early as 1838, both societies had contributed toward music for Commence- ment. That music was furnished by no orchestral trio, but by a brass band. In 1852 the societies became solely responsible for the Commencement band, and sought to pay a major part of the expense by selling tickets to a band concert to be given on the evening following the graduation exercises. Here are the Erosophians votes concerning that event.

June 2, 1852 -- Voted to employ Bond's Band of Boston for Com- mencement, at a cost of $200. Appointed a committee to confer with one from the Literary Fraternity concerning this band. Voted that the committee, together with one from the Literary Fraternity, arrange all matters in relation to the concert.

June 14 --- Voted that, for the coming concert by Bond's Band, a single ticket be given to each member of the two societies, and that arrange- ments be made to sell the tickets to pay expenses of the band, the net proceeds to be divided one-half to each society.

As late as 1867, when three Greek letter fraternities had already been estab- lished at Colby, the two older societies were still so strong that in that year the Erosophians voted "to concur with the Literary Fraternity in dividing all com- mencement expenses between the two societies in proportion to membership, and to invite non-members of the societies to assist in paying the expenses of Com- mencement."

When the end came to both societies in the 1870's, it was Erosophian Adelphi that first became inactive. Its records show no formal dissolution, but its last recorded meeting was held on November 16, 1875. Concerning the Literary Fra- ternity, however, the record is complete. The society began hopefully the college year of 1878-79 by inviting all freshmen to become members. On September 17, 1878, decision was reached "to hold a public meeting three weeks from tonight." On the very next day, September 18, the Literary Fraternity passed its final, funeral vote:

Whereas the meetings of the Literary Fraternity have not been well sus- tained for a number of years, and a large number of its members mani- fest little interest in its welfare, Resolved, that the property of the Liter- ary Fraternity, including the library, be given into the hands of the Col- lege, and that the Literary Fraternity is hereby dissolved sine die.

Who were some men of later prominence who led the activities of the two societies through the half century of their existence? Besides Benjamin F. Butler, who was their spark plug in 1836-38, the Erosophian presidents included Charles E. Hamlin, 1847, later Colby's noted Professor of Natural History; William S. Heath, 1855, a Civil War casualty for whom the Waterville post of the G.A.R. was named; Josiah Drummond, 1846, famous Maine attorney; Leonard Swett, 1846, friend of Abraham Lincoln and player of a prominent part in the Republican convention at Baltimore in 1864; Harris Plaisted, 1853, Governor of Maine; Edward W. Hall, 1862, Colby's distinguished librarian; William Penn Whitehouse, 1863, Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court; and Julian D. Taylor, 1868, Colby's beloved Professor of Latin.

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The Literary Fraternity boasted such names as two prominent citizens of Waterville, Isaac Redington, 1827, and Moses Appleton, 1830. It included also Harrington Putnam, 1870, New York judge; Moses Ricker, 1869, for whom Ricker Classical Institute at Houlton was named; Nathaniel Butler, Jr., 1873, who became one of Colby's best known presidents; Leslie C. Cornish, 1875, Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court; and Charles F. Johnson, 1878, United States Senator from Maine.

During those critical years in Colby history, from 1824 to 1878, the Literary Fraternity and the Erosophian Adelphi were academic assets rather than social liabilities. More than any other influence, they mitigated the dreary routine of memorite classroom recitation. Their discussions were on serious subjects of national significance, and their libraries and reading rooms provided the students with books and periodicals not found on the sermon-filled shelves of the college library. During that half-century Colby was more truly an institution of higher education because of the existence of its two student societies.

CHAPTER XLII

Fraternities and Sororities

T HE secret Greek letter fraternity got its start in America with the forma- tion of Phi Beta Kappa in 1776, but that society long since abandoned its secret and its social features to become strictly an honorary scholastic society, taking into membership only the highest ranking students in colleges and universities where the society had chartered chapters. The beginning of the social fraternities on college campuses therefore dates from 1821, with the organization of Chi Delta Theta, followed in 1824 by Chi Phi and in 1825 by Kappa Alpha. Tenth in order of its foundation among American college fraternities was Delta Kappa Epsilon, founded at Yale in 1844. Only a year later that fraternity organized the first fraternity chapter at Colby.

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The history of Colby College, Part 59

Author: Colby College Publication date: 1963 Publisher: Waterville, Colby College Press Number of Pages: 716

Author: Colby College
Publication date: 1963
Publisher: Waterville, Colby College Press
Number of Pages: 716