We have received the following document, which will, we have no doubt,
meet a hearty response among members of the C. L. S. C. everywhere:
“The Counselors of the C. L. S. C., acting in this instance without the
knowledge of the Superintendent of Instruction, but in consultation
with President Miller and Secretary Martin, propose that, in honor of
JOHN H. VINCENT, the 23rd of February, the anniversary of his birth, be
designated ‘Founder’s Day,’ and as such be entered on the calendar of
the organization for future observance by the members, as one of their
Memorial Days. Signed by Counselors J. M. Gibson, William C. Wilkinson,
Lyman Abbott, Henry W. Warren, and approved by President Lewis Miller
and Secretary A. M. Martin.” With this came a letter stating that at
the banquet of the New England graduates of the C. L. S. C., held in
Boston on Saturday, February 23, it was announced that the Counselors had
decided unanimously to adopt the resolution. We believe we are not wrong
in saying that members of the C. L. S. C. everywhere will be heartily
pleased with this honor conferred on Dr. Vincent. Indeed, we predict that
there will be a universal lament because the Counselors did not adopt the
measure long enough before February 23rd to have made it possible for the
circles to have celebrated this year instead of being obliged to wait
until February 1885.
There are many reasons why this measure is peculiarly acceptable to the
members of the C. L. S. C. The majority of our readers feel that in this
course of reading they are personally indebted to Dr. Vincent for a plan
which has been of infinite service to them. They know, too, that he is
their friend, thoughtful of their interests, mindful of their trials and
hindrances. They will heartily rejoice in the new Memorial Day as that of
a personal friend and benefactor, and will celebrate it with the peculiar
delight and enthusiasm with which we love to honor our friends. There
are more powerful reasons for observing the day than this feeling of
love and gratitude. The days we do celebrate are in memory of men whose
written thoughts are leavening the world. We delight to honor them for
their thoughts. We honor Dr. Vincent for the strong thoughts which he has
wrought into acts. There are many minds capable of brilliant ideas, of
philanthropic plans; but there are few capable of carrying them out, of
making them active agencies in society. It is this ability to make a plan
a reality, to prove it, which is a distinguishing characteristic of Dr.
Vincent’s mind. He has that rare gift, first-class organizing ability.
A course of reading planned for those who wanted to read, but did not
know what to undertake, had been often tried, on a small scale, before
the C. L. S. C. was organized, but to extend such a course to the world
at large was a new idea, and to most minds one entirely impracticable.
The magnitude of such an undertaking would have staggered any man but
one of the broadest sympathies and largest organizing powers. As Dr.
Vincent had both of these qualities, he did not hesitate to undertake the
organization, especially since he had the prestige of Chautauqua, with
its wonderful history, behind him, and Lewis Miller, Esq., his friend and
co-laborer, to lend a helping hand in the great work. A purely unselfish
enterprise is always treated skeptically by the world at large. The flaws
in the C. L. S. C. have been persistently pointed out. Steady sustained
enthusiasm in the face of such difficulties is the quality of a hero, and
it has been with this unfailing faith and interest that Dr. Vincent has
met every doubt or complaint. Very much of the success of the C. L. S.
C. is due to this one characteristic in its founder. His warm sympathies
and broad humanity, joined to his mental ability and enthusiasm, make
him a typical nineteenth century hero; a man whom the world delights to
honor, and whom the readers of the C. L. S. C. will be glad to remember
by celebrating Founder’s Day.