A DARTMOUTH REMINISCENCE OF 1855
THE DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE for March, 1913, contains an interesting review by the since deceased and lamented Professor Charles F. Richardson of the more notable graduates of Dartmouth, as well as those not alumni of the college, who have taken part in its commencement exercises. The omission from the latter class of the name of Wendell Phillips recalls to my mind some incidents connected with his addressing the "United Literary Societies" at the graduation of the class of 1855, of which I was a member. As is probably unknown to the present undergraduates,. and to the graduates of recent years, the immemorial custom had been, and continued for a considerable period after 1855, that one of the addresses on commencement day should be delivered by some one selected by the two literary societies, the "Social Friends" and the "United Fraternity" which included the. whole body of students. In 1855 I was made chairman of the joint committee appointed by those societies to select and invite the orator, as usual, and arrange for his attendance, etc. I conducted the correspondence requisite to the carrying out of that purpose, and recall that among those who were successively invited were Ralph Waldo Emerson, William H. Seward, Charles Sumner, Oliver Wendell Holmes and George S. Hillard, all of whom declined, Dr. Holmes, in referring to his press of engagements, wrote that he was in the predicament of the patient who, when his physician prescribed a quart dose of some liecoction, replied "Why, doctor, I don't hold but a pint", and Mr. Hillard assigned his professional duties as the reason for his declination, adding that the law was a jealous mistress who demanded the undivided devotion of her votaries. Then, almost in despair, it was decided to extend the invitation to Wendell Phillips. This was done and a prompt acceptance received, whereby our minds were much relieved, and, as we supposed, free from any further cause of anxiety in the matter; but students sometimes propose and faculties dispose. In fact, when it had become known who had been invited as "our orator", I was requested to put in an appearance at President Lord's house at a designated time, and, construing such request as a command, I acted accordingly. Professor Sanborn met me in the ante-room, informed me that the faculty was in session, and, as its spokesman, said they had learned that the "United Societies" had invited Wendell Phillips as their orator for commencement day. I said yes, and that the invitation had been accepted, to which he replied that President Lord's consent had not been obtained. I asked if it had ever been required, or obtained on previous like occasions, and he replied perhaps not, but that he had the right of veto, and would not consent to Mr. Phillips delivering the proposed address; that, instead, it had been arranged for Professor Brown to address the alumni at the time and place usually occupied by the orator of the "United Societies". Somewhat incensed and excited I said "Mr. Phillips has been invited, has accepted the invitation, and is going to speak." "But," he said, "we hold the key to the Church" (where Commencement exercises were then held). At this, overcome by my indignation, I arose from my chair and ex- claimed, "But you haven't the key to the common", as we then called the campus, "and we will have Mr. Phillips speak there at the same time that Professor Brown addresses the alumni, and see which will draw the larger audience". Thereupon he said he hoped there would be no trouble which could be avoided, and asked me to sit down and wait until he had conferred with the faculty. In the course of some ten minutes he returned and said that, under the circumstances, Professor Brown declined to address the alumni, as had been arranged, and we might proceed with our arrangements as to Mr. Phillips; and when I was once outside the door and contemplated what I had said while within, I was astonished at my temerity in meeting the situation as I did, and at the result of my visit; for, as was well known, President Lord was a strong believer in slavery, an adherent, and also correspondent, it was said, of John C. Calhoun, and attempted to prove from the Bible and instill into our minds, with Calvinistic zeal, that it was a divine institution; so it goes without saying that an anti-slavery man like Wendell Phillips was to him emphatically persona non grata. So far as I was personally concerned, his efforts at conversion were like pouring water on a duck's back, and I loved him, nevertheless, for his zealous, fatherly interest in our welfare, and also held him in a kind of reverential awe as President.
But our troubles were not yet over. While the outer bulwarks of opposition had given away, no cordial welcome by the faculty was to greet Mr. Phillips' entrance to the conservative precincts of the college. It had been the custom for members of the faculty to entertain as guests at their homes those who were invited to deliver commencement addresses, but no one who would have been classed as a radical, except, perhaps, Ralph Waldo Emerson, had ever before strayed, or been brought,. into the fold of a Dartmouth Commencement. Every room in the two then existing hotels of the village had been engaged, and I had received intimation that if I broached the subject of his entertainment to almost any member of the faculty I would be given the cold shoulder, so, as a last resort, I went to Professor Peaslee of the medical department, with whom I was best acquainted among the professors, and stated my dilemma. He came at once to my rescue, declaring that, while he differed as widely as any of the faculty from Mr. Phillips' views, he considered him one of the finest gentlemen of the land, and that it would be a reproach to Dartmouth College to ignore, or treat him with "scant courtesy, " and that if there were a room in his own house which had not already been allotted to invited guests Mr. Phillips should have it. He then sallied out with me in search of quarters. We first called on Mr. Blaisdell, Treasurer of the College, who expressed to us his sympathy, but, saying, as Professor Peaslee had done, in regard to not having a spare room in his house, he suggested that we try at Professor Young's. We did so at once, saw Mrs. Young, a woman of fine intelligence, and, when we had stated the situation, her reply was prompt, and in the exact words which I vividly recall: "Mr. Phillips shallhave the best room in my house," which brought relief to my burdened mind. I well remember driving, as was then necessary, to Lebanon in a buggy, getting Mr. Phillips and, in due course, leaving him to be inducted into Mrs. Young's "best room," and, during his two days' stay in Hanover, as the faculty extended him no courtesies, I was with him during all his waking hours. I recall that while I was showing him about the college buildings and grounds, a messenger brought me the coveted red ribbon and notified me of my election as a Phi Beta Kappa and to appear at once for initiation, but I couldn't leave Mr. Phillips alone, and, unless my memory is at fault, I was never initiated, though I have since attended a meeting of the chapter.
Park Benjamin, of New York City, was poet and Mr. Phillips was orator at the commencement exercises and when these had closed, and the procession to the alumni dinner was about to form, Mr. Phillips was left standing on the platform where the exercises had taken place, and I went up the steps and took him in charge, and walked in the procession to the hotel where the dinner was to be served, but as we were about to enter, in looking about for some one of prominence who I thought would be willing to relieve me of my charge and give him a seat with the distinguished guests present, among whom I recall Salmon P. Chase and "Long John" Wentworth, my eye fell upon James Willis Patterson, who had just entered upon his professorship, and was afterward U. S. Senator, with whom I had slight acquaintance, and asked him if he would be kind enough to thus step in the gap, to which he readily assented, and for which I have always felt grateful to him.
With an exaggerated feeling of responsibility for my charge I kept closer to him than a brother until the time came for him to leave when I drove him to Lebanon where he was to take the train. I do not accurately recall the sum of money furnished me by the "United Societies" with which to pay Mr. Phillips, but when we reached the platform of the station, and I was taking out my pocketbook, he said very promptly, "Please put that right back, Mr. Bond," and when I told him I was about to apologize for the smallness of the amount which I had to offer him for his kindness and trouble in coming to address us, and urged him to let me at least pay his actual expenses, he declined to do so, and remarked: "You are a young man and may not readily believe it when I tell you that I regard the spontaneous invitation of the students of Dartmouth College, whose conservatism as an institution I know so well, to come and address them as the highest compliment which I have ever received."
In after years it was my fortune to hear, meet and talk with Mr. Phillips on several occasions on neither of which did we fail to refer with interest to our intercourse and experiences at Hanover in 1855.
As to the subject, or full scope, of Mr. Phillips' address my recollection is not distinct, nor have I been able to find it among his published works, but its. general purport was a comparison of radicalism and conservatism, how they were complemental to each other, both being necessary to the accomplishment of the highest purposes; and certainly it contained nothing rabid, or offensive.
By Samuel R. Bond, Class Secretary, 1855
