Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/484

 426 A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO after all, is but an opportunity and a promise of great usefulness. It remains for the faculty, Trustees, and friends of the University to see that this opportunity is not lost, that this promise is fulfilled, and that this Library shall indeed in its intellectual influence as well as in its material form perpetuate the memory of William Rainey Harper in a manner worthy of his great learning and of the great work which he accomplished. With confidence that to this end we shall all strive, I now, Mr. President, on behalf of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago, present to you the keys of the William Rainey Harper Memorial Library. In accepting the keys President Judson said: I accept these keys as a symbol that this noble building now becomes a permanent part of the equipment of the University, and to the end that its beneficence may immediately be realized I hereby transfer the custody of the Harper Memorial Library to the Director of University Libraries, in the full assurance that by its use, to employ the words of the University motto, "Knowl- edge will increase, and life be ennobled and enriched." Director Burton receiving the keys said: Greatly rejoicing in the fulfilment by the completion of this noble building of hopes long cherished by the whole University, but sobered by a deep sense of the responsibility which is symbolized by these keys, I accept them at your hands; and speaking for myself and all my colleagues of the Library staff, I pledge you, sir, that this building shall be used and that the Libraries of the University shall be administered in the interest of the departments of research and instruction, and for the promotion of culture, knowledge, and scholarship. When all those who are present today in positions of responsibility shall have long ago laid down the insignia and duties of office, may this beautiful building still stand to commemorate the life of him whose name it bears and may it continue to be sacredly used for the promotion of those high purposes to which you, Mr. President, have by your words dedicated it today. Crescat scientia; vita excolatur. The dedication was attended by sixty delegates from sister institutions of learning, bringing greetings to the University and bearing tributes to the memory of President Harper. An elaborate printed souvenir of the occasion was issued and presented to the guests at the reception. It contained a sketch of President Harper's life, a full statement relating to the Library and brief accounts of the other buildings of the University, with a list of the larger con- tributors to the institution, and of the buildings that were felt to be urgently needed at that time, and of those that would be needed in the near future. This souvenir was very fully illustrated.