Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/473

 SOME IMPORTANT EVENTS 417 Mr. Hale followed this statement with a noble eulogy of President Harper. Professor E. H. Lewis delivered a Convocation Ode. He began thus: But yester-eve here closed the prairie flower Whose trivial beauty is forgot today. The plain has blossomed into hall and tower, And viewless dreams are visible in gray. The granite chapter of romance is told, And these enchantments by the morning kissed Reveal the theme of all the future tones And music manifold. Last touch of magic, see the tender mist Of delicate ivy stealing up the stones. The tribute of Mr. Lewis to President Harper stirred all hearts. It closed as follows: Hebraic-minded in Teutonic frame, Great toiler, builder great, and greater friend, Creative hope, aspiring like a flame, Wielder of power to power's most noble end, Live, live in us, brave spirit, teaching still The broader vision and the braver act. And in that valley of the staff and rod, Teach us the hero's will, Who smiles from lips by human anguish racked, And dies firm trusting in a human God. In the quarterly statement on the condition of the University President Judson said of the anniversaries: This fifteenth anniversary of the founding of the University coinciding with the semi-centennial of the founding of the original University of Chicago, and in a way marking the end of an epoch in the life of the institution, it seems fitting to recognize. The circumstances of the year just closed, however, dictate the simplest possible recognition. It has been thought proper, there- fore, to have no unusual festivities, and to make the event in a way strictly a family affair. To that end the speakers have without exception been chosen from our own number. The Convocation Preacher of last Sunday and the Convocation Chaplain of today, Rev. Dr. Henry Clay Mabie, is an eminent graduate of the Old University. The Phi Beta Kappa address last evening was given by Professor Albion Woodbury Small, from the beginning the Head