XXXVIII

HOLY CROSS COLLEGE

JUNE 25, 1919


To come from the press of public affairs, where the practical side of
life is at its flood, into these calm and classic surroundings, where
ideals are cherished for their own sake, is an intense relief and
satisfaction. Even in the full flow of Commencement exercises it is
apparent that here abide the truth and the servants of the truth. Here
appears the fulfillment of the past in the grand company of alumni,
recalling a history already so thick with laurels. Here is the hope of
the future, brighter yet in the young men to-day sent forth.

"The unarmed youth of heaven. But o'er their heads
Celestial armory, shield, helm and spear,
Hung bright, with diamond flaming and with gold."

In them the dead past lives. They represent the college. They are the
college. It is not in the campus with its imposing halls and temples,
nor in the silent lore of the vast library or the scientific instruments
of well-equipped laboratories, but in the men who are the incarnation of
all these, that your college lives. It is not enough that there be
knowledge, history and poetry, eloquence and art, science and
mathematics, philosophy and ethics, ideas and ideals. They must be
vitalized. They must be fashioned into life. To send forth men who live
all these is to be a college. This temple of learning must be translated