THE HESPERIAN.
If there is a spot within her borders where loyalty to the The Mends of the university need harbor no fears for the
State should be supreme, that place is within these walls, liberal support of the institution in coming years. The cru
The recipients of the privileges here offered are asked to aal " has passed. It occurred in the seventies, when to
make no other return than that or good citU enship. Govern- c financial panic of the country was added the scourge of
rocnis are said to be entirely selfish and no expenditure jusli- J tne grasshopper, when every dollar for its support came from
Sable except it promises an ample and complete return to the I direct taxation from a people already heavily burdened,
Slate. Ilosrtitals for the insane and other unfortunates are I when less than half a hundred students answered to the
maintained to fulfil! the duty the State owes to itsunfor
tunalewards, Penitenlaries and reformatory institutions are supported
that violalois of the law may be punished, crime reduced,
criminals reclaimed, life and property protected and the state
rewarded in securing a. law abiding community. Schools and
universities are maintained upon a different theory. It is no
more the inherent duty of a stale to provide for the educa
tion of the children within its borders than to provide them
food and raiment. States support schools and universatics
and prober education to its people in the hope and belief
that for all expenditures it will be amply rewarded in the
belter citizenship of those who partake of its proffered ad
vantages. All those who receive these benefits are under es
pecial obligation to the stale . They owe to her more than
coniinwB "wralty. Upon them, whether they will it so or not,
resls the responsibility of justifying the slate in her outlay for
their behalf. The stale makes no demand thai every one
who may have sought knowledge at our free schools should be
a statesman, or attempt to be one, but that the strength and
vigor acquired at her mental gymnasiums should be employed
in her behalf, guarding her good name, protecting her inter
ests in limes of need her strength.
roll call and not more than one third of these were in the col
lege classes, when every student in attendance was costing
the state a thousand dollars a year for his schooling. I fat
such times and under snch circumstances the state never fal
tered we can certainly indulge in hope now, with general fi
nances beautiful, with the school prospering, attendance in
creasing, with at the next meeting of the legislature $100,000
cash on hand in the temporary fund available for the wants
of the university, and with the prospect that thereafter the
income from the endowment fund and lands will make the
school self sustaining. The outlook is certainly flattering for
the University of Nebraska.
At the conclusion of this address Prof. Edgrenread the
Charter Day poem, which will be found at the head of these
columns. It was most thoroughly enjoyed, and deserves a
permanent place in the literature of the University.
Dr. Merriam of the Medical College followed with an earnest
plea for the sustenance of that important department of the
University. At the conclusian of his remarks the Rev. A. F.
Sherrill, of Omaha, was called upon to speak in behalf of the
other colleges of the slate He began by saying that there
euld be no rivalry between the University and the denomi
national schools, and closed with a tribute to the work done
Imreadiagiuiei the charter the adoptiwou of which we arc by Prof. Aughey in the early daysol the University. This
celebrating this evening I discovered the cause fir a condi
tion of things that existed in this institution in the years gone
by. ScctiwH iS of the charter provides that "Provisions shall
I e made for the education of females apart from male stu
dents on separate apartments or buildings: Provided that per
sons of different sexes, of like proficiency of study, may attend
the regular college lectures together. This provision of the
statutes was religiously observed by the students. I recall
distinctly the gravity with which the females and the males
entered this room for chapel exercises. How the females oc
cupied the apartments on the left. No case is recorded of
a male having the Temerity to venture into the sacred pre
cincts set apart for the females, or vice versa.
The cause for this separation of sexes Toad always bees at
tributed to the natural modesty of the students of those days,
Brat the cause seeps to have been hidden deeper and lies in
the wisdom of the governor and his friends who originated
this charter. We axe under lasting obligations to the charter
makers far the proviso: without it the condition of the student I
would be very deplorable. It reads: "Provided that persoasj
fdificaeal sexes of the same proficiency of staidy may atlead 1
the regolar college ledaues together." By universal coaseat
all exercises coaaccted with the University outside of chapel
exercises are termed college lectures asd .all stadcals Cor the
purfiMes of the provision are of the same proficieacy of study.
If memory serves sac rightly the origin of the obsorwaiiosi of
this dav dales back to the jear 1S77. The programme for
the exercises was oI announced until the asseiablisg of the
students in rb Tf, when ihecbaaaeellor kindly renaarked thai
in 'view of the day besag the aaahersary of the day upon
which the law establishing the anniversary was approved we
should be granted a holiday. Extemporary flights of oiralory
were Indulged in by the orators of the different classes and
the school dismissed for the day. Charter Day has been in
great Mivar wiu nac sisjuciiia t tj xnrL-r, a
was the last regular speech of the evening, but before announc
ing the last exercise, the college song, the Chancellor occu
pied some minutes with closing words that were most fitting.
The song, ''Hesperus," composed by Prof. Sherman, was
given by Messrs. Eddy, Frankforter, Fulmer and Wheeler.
It is really a University song, and not specially designed for
Charter Dav-, though no better time could have been chosen
for giving it to the public The society halls and the art
room were ihrown open and the audience occupied them and
engaged in social converse, until eleven o'clock put an end to
the most successful observance af Charter Day ever held at
the University.
HEARD IX THE HALLS.
Supe!
Did 5'oa get a valentine?
Our Nondescript has been killed.
The laboratory roof is being slowly covered with slate.
Miss Amaa Keys oF Roca, spent a few days in town last
week.
Hiss Kate cothono has abandoned her University work for
the meamaioder of the year.
Htruanl IL Beecherof Kearney made his brother a short
vtstt dunag the last month.
Remaili of Dave Forsyth as he entered for a history exam
inatioa: "Ixwsk at me for the last time."
We are pleased to mention the return to I Jncoln o! Mits
Alma Benedict, who has been spending some months in Si.
fuouis.
If you wish to make some startling discoveries, just ask the
librarian why he goes to the laboratory so many times during
the day.
