Etc. [pp. 482-484]

482
ETC.
[MAY,
ETC.
THERE were many good reasons why the
Alumni residing on this coast should have
some tangible organization. The common wealth of letters is well represented here
through men who have been educated at in stitutions in the older States. There was no
College old enough or ripe enough to pre sent any thing more than a few promising
fledgelings. But an association which once
a year invited all the scattered Alumni on this
coast-all the foster -children who had been
recognized or found worthy to be nominally
owned by any college or institution for pro fessional training-to come together in the
spirit of a broad catholicity and with a gener ous fellowship, did such a felicitous thing
that the infelicity of neglecting to repeat the
invitation from year to year, as originally
planned, is all the more apparent. The
prandial part of the jubilee was never a great
success. The lemonade was not inspiriting,
and sometimes suggested that an angel might
have gone down into the pool and troubled
it. But there was grace at the feast, and wit
withal, and the toning up of many noble purposes. Two or three hundred men meeting
thus, could not separate without saying many
things worthy of a long remembrance, and
cementing many enduring friendships. It
would not be an impossible thing to bring
together one thousand men on some such occasion, who, differing on most questions as
widely as it is possible for men to differ,
would strike hands over a proposition to foster these younger educational institutions as
a loyal recognition of the common debt which
such men owe to the country of their adoption.
The annual meeting of the Alumni will,
probably, occur this year on the day set apart
by the University of California for Commencement. It ought to be made one of the most
notable days in the history of the State. If
a little of the conservatism which has hereto
fore excluded women from any participation
in these assemblies can be melted away, so
much the better. We should be quite will ing to trust the radicalism which votes long,
cut-and-dried speeches a bore; and so many
as might have a close relation to a bundle of
manuscripts stuffed into the coat-pocket, a
most intolerable nuisance. Let there be one
fresh day in each year in the calendar of ed ucated men on this coast. Let no stale wit
and no ponderous classical jokes be perpe trated. Within the last century a great many
excellent college presidents and professors
have lived, died, and been translated. It
will not be necessary to dig up their bones,
or to do any particular thing on that occa sion for the repose of their souls. These
saintly and glorified worthies were sufficient ly vexed in their day by the stupidity of their
pupils, to be exempt from further trials from
more mature dullards. If any of the pioneer
colleges did not live through the nursing season, pray let the briefest mention be substituted for any more formal funeral oration.
A cypress wreath, now and then, is well
enough; but a profusion of asphodels on jubilee days produces better scenic effects, and
suggests more felicitous associations. If what
is best in each of five hundred educated men
and women were challenged for three minutes on that particular day, there would be
such a jubilee as was never witnessed on this
coast. If these did not make the heavens
ring, a reserve battalion of five hundred contributors to the OVERLAND MONTHLY would
certainly win the day,
CALIFORNIA is still able to furnish many
fresh attractions for Eastern visitors. But
the advent of some thousands of these will
now hardly create a ripple, where formerly
there were enthusiastic demonstrations. The
novelty of what is a daily occurrence has
worn off. We are no more surprised to find