CHAPTER XII.

W

CHOSEN PRESIDENT.

HILE President Kenyon was in Europe, Professors Wm. A. Rogers, E. P. Larkin, Thomas R. Williams, A. R. Wightman, G. E. Tomlinson, and Allen alternated in having general direction of the college. After the death of President Kenyon in England, in 1867, Mr. Allen was chosen by the trustees to permanently fill the position. This he did not accept till after much careful consideration, not shrinking from the labors or censure that such a charge must bring, but from doubt of his ability to carry forward President Kenyon's plans for the growth of the work.

METHODS OF TEACHING.

Quoting from Rev. B. C. Davis: "His methods of imparting knowledge were unique. By a simple question he could explode a theory, however subtle in its construction and prized by its author, if anywhere it contained a false premise. Even a true theory was often given up in disgust when subjected to the trying questions with which he would test the thought of its propounder.

"In discussing a subject he did not endeavor to give us a completed file of ready-made ideas and statements, to be stored away upon the dusty shelves of memory, but he aimed, rather, to put a thread into our hands, which, if followed up by personal thought and original investigation, would lead into the labyrinth of science, and there enable us to discover and pluck its rarest and sweetest flowers. It was to develop the independent thought and personal manhood of the student that he strove, and he would spare no time and pains to accomplish this result.

He impressed upon us that education was not so much a storing of certain truths but a power to think and discover new truths for ourselves. He sought to develop all sides of the student, the physical, the moral, and the religious, as well as the intellectual. He strove to make it the postulate of human personality, that it should lead all men to become not only politically free, but educated and also religious; that the discovery of man to himself must lead to the highest development of himself."

ELOCUTION.

In 1852 special attention was directed to the study of reading and elocution by a Mr. Hamlin, from Boston, who went through the country forming classes in many of the academies. and colleges for training young men in public speaking. The power of the rostrum was then just beginning to make itself generally felt upon questions of political and other interests. A small class was organized at Alfred, Mr. Allen himself being the most interested pupil in it. So much pains was taken that year in training in this branch that at the next commencement a marked improvement was shown in the speakers. During the vacations, lessons were taken of Monroe, Russel, Porter, Murdock, Booth, and all of the principal teachers in this country. Young women were given the same opportunities as young men, and during the forty years that followed, elocution was one of the marked features of Alfred training.

In referring to this subject, President Allen, in his "Historic Sketch" of Alfred University, said: "Such was the feeble beginning of that elocutionary enterprise, which has gradually increased till it has attained its present imposing proportions. As, in springtime, first there is heard the caw of the solitary crow along the frosty, barren sky, then, as soft airs begin to blow, comes the mellow-voiced bluebird, followed by the cheerful sparrow, the happy robin, the gushing cat-bird, the soulful cuckoo, and the rollicking bobolink, till all shrubs, and trees, and vales, and hills, are vocal, even the deep blue heavens catch up the joyous strains and flood the earth with bird song, so these

elocutionary strains gathered volume, and variety, and richness, filling, at first, the little schoolrooms, then overflowing into the hilltop barns and out-of-the-way places, till now, in these later years, and especially as these anniversary occasions draw on, not only the chapel, but likewise each vale and wood and hill, are voiced, yea, flooded, with the great tidal wave of commencement eloquence."

During the spring terms, often as early as four o'clock, before life was astir in the valley, young men would go to Professor Larkin's hill (a quarter of a mile away) and practice their orations, to gain clearness and volume of voice, while Mr. Allen would listen and criticise them from our front porch.

Rev. B. C. Davis says: "Most of us have, perhaps, enjoyed him as a teacher best in his elocution classes. Here we were charmed by the majesty of his bearing, his commanding, powerful presence, yet so completely under the control of that wonderful art. Our impressions of him as an artist in elocution can never be forgotten. Then, when at length we were permitted to enjoy his work in metaphysics and literature, we felt that we had reached the acme of our college course. The president's classes were the anticipation of the undergraduate, the joy of the senior."

ORDINATION.

Mr. Allen was called to ordination by the first Alfred church, not so much with a view to the work of the ministry in the usual sense of the word as to the work of the theological department of the university of which he was then at the head. Of this time Rev. L. A. Platts writes: "He was ordained as a minister of the gospel at the general conference at Milton, Wisconsin, September 9, 1864, of which conference he was the president.

"Professor Allen stood upon a temporary platform built between the pulpit and the window; the latter being removed, he occupied a place very nearly in the open window, so that not only all in the house, which was filled to its utmost capacity, but

many who had gathered about the window on the outside, could both see and hear. The examination covered the whole ground of Christian doctrine and life. Professor Allen's answers were

both concise and comprehensive; and more than once when the form of the question did not furnish the base for the answer which he wished to give, he himself gave shape to the question by saying to the questioner, 'If that is what you mean, I answer, Yes,' or 'No,' as the case might be. After the examination, he preached a sermon, in which he elaborated more fully some of the doctrines hurriedly passed over in the examination. It was the first service of the kind I had ever witnessed, and made a lasting impression on my mind, as I was looking forward, at no distant day, to such an ordeal in my own experience."

SERMONS AND LECTURES.

All of his sermons and lectures for more than fifty years were most carefully prepared and studied, but were seldom written out. He usually spoke from a few notes, directly to the people, as he would teach a class. Not half of his baccalaureate sermons were ever printed, so only a small part of his work in that direction can be given in these pages. Here are some of his reasons for not allowing more of his works to be published: "Very little that is written will answer for all time. It is the duty of the scholar to revise the thoughts of the past, adapt them to the present, and accept such new ones as Providence and man have evolved. We make all past knowledge the basis, and not the limit, of research."

In 1857 he consented to fill the pulpit of a small church some five miles from our home. This he continued to do for three years, until a multitude of other duties caused him to resign. It was often said that he there made the word of God full of new meaning, even to opening the understanding of the children to its power. The congregations, being very small at first, gradually increased till the house was crowded. Many additions were made to the church, and a general growth in spiritual things was apparent.

His lectures, which were always well illustrated, embraced a broad field of subjects. Being a complete master of the subject in hand, those who listened could but be profoundly impressed with the depth and power of his utterances. If his theme was geology, specimens were brought from the nearest stream, hillside, or stone pile, and spread out before the audience, who were told of the wonders, before unknown to them, which were all about their own homes. In the same manner botany and other sciences were explained and made interesting. Samples from the cabinet were brought to illustrate his lectures on archæology and coins.

The chapel lectures took on the same type; they were always what would promote growth and was most needed. One of the students, Mr. D. E. Willard, says: "To me the day never seemed to start right if I did not attend chapel, and then if President Allen were not there the start seemed only half made. How many, many times have I watched, almost with bated breath, as he rose from his accustomed chair, to give his characteristic signal of dismissal, to see if he were not on the point of beginning to speak instead of at once dismissing us!"

Rev. L. C. Rogers says: "The Faculty of the University attended the chapel services in a body. Beginning with the president, who was first by name and first by office, the professors in turn led the services. Then came addresses; and who that heard the president's chapel talks can ever forget the impressions made by them? They were so alive with all the excellencies of a graceful oratory, sometimes so profound, so learned, sometimes so apt, sometimes so witty, and sometimes so cutting; but when such they left no sting in the bosom of the ingenuous student."

PRESIDENT ALLEN'S CHAPEL LECTURES.

Mrs. C. E. Groves writes:

"It was my privilege to know President Allen through a period of twenty-one consecutive terms, to meet him in all the relations of teacher and pupil, and president and teacher, to sit under his instruction during