MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR 1899-1900 FIRST MEETING DIRECTORS' ROOM, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, LOS ANGELES, CAL.— THURSDAY, JULY 13, 4:30 P. M. The Board of Directors was called to order by President-elect O. T. Corson. following directors were present: The O. T. Corson, Ohio; C. G. Pearse, Nebraska; Nicholas Murray Butler, New York; Newton C. Dougherty, Illinois; Aaron Gove, Colorado; J. M. Greenwood, Missouri; W. T. Harris, District of Columbia; Albert G. Lane, Illinois; E. Oram Lyte, Pennsylvania; F. Louis Soldan, Missouri; A. R. Taylor, Kansas; E. E. White, Ohio; Will S. Monroe, Massachusetts; A. S. Downing, New York; J. N. Deahl, West Virginia; F. C. Woodward, South Carolina; W. N. Sheats, Florida; McHenry Rhoads, Kentucky; H. C. Weber, Tennessee; W. M. Slaton, Georgia; J. H. Phillips, Alabama; R. B. Fulton, Mississippi; Alexander Hogg, Texas; J. R. Rightsell, Arkansas; J. A. Shawan, Ohio; J. W. Carr, Indiana; J. H. Collins, Illinois; D. W. Springer, Michigan; L. D. Harvey, Wisconsin; W. M. Beardshear, Iowa; F. B. Hubbard, Minnesota; W. T. Carrington, Missouri; J. H. Miller, Nebraska; Samuel D. Largent, Montana; L. C. Greenlee, Colorado; Mrs. Elizabeth R. Jackson, New Mexico; F. A. Cooley, Arizona; J. W. Daniels, Idaho; O. C. Whitney, Washington; E. D. Ressler, Oregon; John Swett, California; Irwin Shepard, Minnesota. The minutes of the last meeting were read by the Secretary, and on motion approved. The President announced that the first business of the meeting was the election of a member of the Board of Trustees to succeed A. G. Lane, of Illinois. Director Harris nominated A. G. Lane to succeed himself. Director Greenwood seconded the nomination. Director Carrington, of Missouri, moved that the Secretary be authorized to cast the ballot of the Board of Directors for Mr. Lane. The motion was seconded and carried. The ballot was so cast, and Director Lane was declared elected as trustee for the ensuing period of four years. Director E. E. White moved that Dr. W. T. Harris be elected to succeed himself as a member of the Executive Committee for the term of one year. Seconded and carried. The Secretary read the following extract from the minutes of the meeting of the Board of Directors held in Washington last year, and, on request of Director White, explained the purpose of the amendment suggested: EXTRACT FROM MINUTES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS, JULY 11, 1898 Director L. D. Harvey, at the request of the Wisconsin delegation of active members, offered the following resolution, which was ordered to lie over for one year under the rule: "Resolved, That the Board of Directors recommend to the general association that the constitution be amended as follows: 666 "Amend Art. III-Membership—by striking out sec. 3, and substituting therefor the following: Any associate member eligible for active membership may become an active member upon the payment of the annnal dues for the current year.' Director Butler moved that consideration of the amendment be indefinitely postponed. Seconded and carried. The President announced the Committee on Nominations of members of the Council as follows: F. Louis Soldan, of Missouri. N. C. Dougherty, of Illinois. The President announced the next order of business to be the selection of place of meeting for 1900. Director Greenwood moved that the speeches in presentation of the invitation from each city be limited to ten minutes. Seconded and carried. The roll of states was called by the Secretary. J. H. Hulsart, of New Jersey, presented an invitation from Ashbury Park. Director F. C. Woodward, of South Carolina, presented an invitation for the association to meet in Charleston. Director Fulton, of Mississippi, seconded the invitation. Directors Carr, of Indiana, and Phillips, of Alabama, also spoke in favor of Charleston. D. S. Anderson, of Tennessee, invited the association to meet in Chattanooga. E. W. Coy, of Ohio, presented an invitation from Cincinnati. D. W. Springer, of Michigan, invited the association to meet in Detroit in 1901. A. E. Winship, of Massachusetts, invited the association to meet in Boston. The Secretary reported that he had received communications from the city of Montreal inviting the association, and that a committee of delegates from that city was present in Los Angeles for the purpose of personally extending such invitation. As no one had appeared to present the invitation of Montreal, Director Lane moved that the matter be passed, and the letters of invitation, which had been received, referred to the Executive Committee with the invitations from other cities. Director Greenwood moved that an informal ballot be taken, each director expressing his first, second, and third choice. Seconded. Director Pearse moved to amend the above motion to read that each director vote for but one place, as his first choice. After some discussion, both motions were withdrawn, and Director Gove moved that the Board of Directors proceed to take an informal ballot for choice of meeting place, each director voting for one place, with the understanding that the matter would be referred to the Executive Committee for final decision. Seconded and carried. The chair decided that each member should cast his ballot as the roll of directors was called, and appointed Directors Greenwood and Phillips as tellers. The vote to express a choice for the next place of meeting was then cast. The Committee on Nomination of members of the National Council then made the following report: Te the Board of Directors of the National Educational Association: Your Committee on Nominations for membership of the National Council of Education submits the following: 1905. W. H. Bartholomew, to succeed himself; term to expire in 1905. F. A. Fitzpatrick, to succeed himself; term to expire in 1905. E. Oram Lyte, to succeed himself; term to expire in 1905. J. M. Greenwood, to succeed himself; term to expire in 1905. I. C. McNeill, to succeed Henry Sabin; term to expire in 1905. 1904. James H. Canfield, to succeed himself; term to expire in 1904. 1902. Arnold Tompkins, to succeed E. C. Hewett; term to expire in 1902. Charles M. Jordan, to succeed Charles A. McMurry; term to expire in 1902. 1901. R. B. Fulton, to succeed J. R. Preston; term to expire in 1901. 1900. James A. Foshay, to succeed C. C. Rounds; term to expire in 1900. F. LOUIS SOLDAN, Chairman. Upon motion, the report was adopted, and the nominees were declared elected to membership in the Council for the terms indicated. Dr. E. E. Brown, of California, by permission, spoke of the proposed millennial celebration of King Alfred in October, 1901, and asked that a committee be appointed to consider this matter. Director Harris moved that the communication presented by Dr. Brown be made a part of the minutes, and Professor Charles Mills Gayley be made the representative of this body in this matter. Seconded and carried. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, CAL., July 10, 1899. To the President and Members of the National Educational Association: GENTLEMEN: It is undoubtedly known to your honorable body that it is the intention of the various learned societies of the Anglo-Saxon race to celebrate the onethousandth anniversary of King Alfred's death, which will fall on October 26, 1901. It is expected that representatives of every side of Anglo-Saxon life, and from every clime in which there flourishes a branch of the race, will then gather at Winchester, the ancient seat of King Alfred's monarchy, to do this hero, saint, king, and teacher of our common race the honor that is his due; and so to make the international commemoration "a real festival of the industry, art, order, union, peace, and religion" that we all English, Canadian, American, Australian, Anglo-Indian, or Anglo-African — have inherited from the prudence and the valor of our common sire, King Alfred. I have been requested probably because it was my good fortune, while in England a year ago, to assist at the inception of this enterprise- to lay the matter before the National Educational Association. Since Professor Bright, of Johns Hopkins, in making this request, enters into certain explanations of the intention of the governing committee, I will ask you to listen to his letter, which is here inserted: MY DEAR PROFESSOR GAYLEY : MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, May 31, 1899. I have accepted the appointment of honorable secretary for America of the Alfred memorial celebration. Your name is already on the English list of patrons; I hope now to place it on the American committee. You know that it is hoped to have a meeting of the learned societies on the occasion, and we shall have to consider just what can be done in that way. The month of October will not be favorable to have regular meetings of the American societies, but it may be possible to have all the leading organizations send a delegate or two to be present. This delegate should be prepared to give a brief historic account of the society he may represent, Moreover, each society should deposit at Winchester, at that time, a complete set of its publications. After my visit to England this summer (I leave June 15) I shall have this matter formulated, I hope. But in the meantime I wish the matter to be presented before all the important learned societies that may meet this summer. My special request at this time, therefore, is that you lay the subject before the National Educational Association at its meeting, July 11-14, at Los Angeles. Commissioner Harris agrees with me that you are the proper person to do it. Inasmuch as there will not be time to receive a letter from you before my departure, I beg you to take the matter in hand; and if it is quite impossible for you to be present at the meeting, I hope you will secure the service of someone to read your appeal. My hope is that you will co-operate with me in representing the cause on the Pacific. We shall have to get the most prominent men on the committee, and we shall also have to get contributions of money from the richer ones. Please think over the entire subject, and let us discuss ways and means when I return in October. JAMES W. BRight, I acceded to Professor Bright's request, and had intended to present this matter in person, but unfortunately, at the last moment, I am confined to my bed and am compelled to inflict upon you a written statement of the case. My personal acquaintance with the movement for celebrating the millennary of King Alfred is as follows: On October 18, 1897, an address was delivered in Birmingham by Frederic Harrison, the well-known writer and positivist philosopher, calling attention to the approaching thousandth anniversary in 1901, and urging co-operation for its proper observance. Several of my Oxford friends, notably Mr. Louis Dyer and Professor Dicey, becoming interested in Mr. Harrison's suggestion, thought that I might be of service in supplying information concerning the learned societies of the United States whose interest should be enlisted; hence a correspondence with Mr. Harrison, and an interview with the mayor of Winchester, in whose town the anniversary is to be celebrated. I had also the honor of representing the universities of California and Michigan, as their delegate at the first preliminary meeting for the consideration of an Alfred memorial, which was held at the Mansion House in London, March, 1898. At this meeting it was determined to organize the proper committees, and to solicit the interest of the representative societies of the Anglo-Saxon race. The most notable Englishmen have been placed upon the list of patrons. Colonel Hay expressed his approval of the movement, and it is not improbable that some recognition of the anniversary will follow from America as a nationality. The purpose of the movers is the reverse of sensational. In a letter which I received from Mr. Harrison on February 12, 1898, he says: Like yourself, my own interest in this is very largely anti-jingo; and, without controversial question, it serves to direct the minds of Englishmen to the idea of a true patriotism, and to an enthusiasm for a great chief, whose memory can unite all English-speaking races and nations, and can arouse not a spark of soreness in men of any nation, race, or creed. It caught my fancy to hold up the memory of the greatest name of our common race-of almost the only English hero whose name is without offense to us all - English, American, Scotch, Irish-Catholic, Presbyterian-soldier or sailor. The opportunity of participation in this international celebration of the common achievements and ideals of the mighty race of which we are a scion should certainly appeal to our National Educational Association, meeting as it does this year at the far western gate of Anglo-Saxon civilization. And how proper it is that the largest, and probably the most influential, educational body of the Anglo-Saxon world should join in honoring the millennary of the greatest of Anglo-Saxons and the first of English teachers, will appear upon consideration of the life and character of King Alfred. You will certainly agree with me that no one can better state the merits of the king than he who is the prime mover in this celebration of his anniversary. I consequently borrow from Mr. Frederic Harrison's Birmingham address, adapting it, when I please, to the conditions of the present paper: I trust [says Mr. Harrison] that in the first year of the twentieth century the English-speaking world may unite in its tribute of homage to the hero-saint who was the true father (if any man can be so styled) of our common literature, "the model Englishman," as Freeman calls him, the herald of our civic and religious organization, Do we, English or American, even yet measure at its full height the supreme glory of this hero of the race? It is a commonplace with historians that our English Alfred was the only perfect man of action recorded in history; for Aurelius was occasionally too much of the philosopher; Saint Louis usually too much of the saint; Godfrey too much of the crusader; the great emperors were not saints at all; and of all more modern heroes we know too much to pretend that they were perfect. Of all the hyperboles of praise there is but one that we can safely justify with the strictest canons of historical research. Of all the names in history there is only our English Alfred whose record is without stain and without weakness—who is equally among the greatest of men in genius, in magnanimity, in valor, in moral purity, in intellectual force, in practical wisdom, and in beauty of soul. I have been studying of late the whole series of the authentic sources for his recorded career from infancy to death, and I have found no single trait that is not noble and suggestive, nor a single act or word that can be counted as a flaw. It is true that the field of Alfred's achievements was relatively small, and the whole scale of his career was modest, indeed, when compared with that of his imperial compeers. He inherited a kingdom which covered only a few English counties, and at one time his realm was reduced to a smaller area than that of some private landlords of modern times. But it is quality, not quantity, that weighs in the impartial scales of history. True human greatness needs no vast territories as its stage, nor do multitudes add to its power. That which tells in the end is the living seed of the creative mind, the heroic example, the sovereign gift of leadership, the undying inspiration of genius and faith. Turn to the Chronicle and to Asser's Life, with the help of Pauli, Freeman, and Green, and mark, learn, and inwardly digest those miracles of patience, valor, indomitable energy by which the great king res cued from the savage Norsemen the England of our forefathers. Watch him as he returns to the charge after every repulse, rallies his exhausted men, gathers up new armies, plans fresh methods of war, and at last wins for his people prosperity, honor, and peace. The annals of war have nothing grander than the long record of sagacious heroism by which Alfred saved England for the English. Then note the genius with which he saw that the Norsemen must be met on the sea, with which he organized a navy of ships built on a new design of his own. Alfred is not only the forerunner of Marlborough and Wellington, but he is also the forerunner of Blake and of Nelson. But the civil and literary achievements of Alfred's reign are even more brilliant than his feats in war, though he must always rank with the first warriors of the English name. The skill with which he organized a sort of regular militia to take the place of hasty levies from time to time, the wise and cautious form of his laws, the reform of the judicial service, the discipline of his own household, his zeal for art, his enthusiasm for building, his passion for poetry, his profound love of history; his dignity, his grace, his tenderness, his manly piety-all are alike great, spontaneous, and beautiful; all are in harmony; none are in excess. In a true sense he is the founder of a systematic army for purposes of defense. And he is the inventor, if not the actual founder, of a national navy — of that sea power which is the birthright of the Anglo-Saxon race, whether insular, colonial, or American. The mark of Alfred as king is the creative mind. He created in men's minds, from the Severn to the Humber, the sense of solidarity as a nation. By incorporating the conquered Danes as Christian allies, he virtually created the composite England of history. His whole conception of the ruler, as related in the Chronicle and in his own writings, has the stamp of insight, practical wisdom, devotion to duty. It is at once creative and conservative; prescient of a distant future, yet averse to all violent change. His legislation was deeply infused with a conservative, and even a biblical, spirit; but in the administration of justice he showed the most trenchant energy and a passionate zeal for reform. His relations to the church and to education were wholly without a cloud or a blot-alike free from the violence or the impolicy which too often discredited even the noblest sovereigns of his age. They present the normal relations between the temporal and the spiritual powers. How beautiful, how wise, how beneficent were the king's call to his side of Asser, the Briton, from Wales; of Grimbald, the Frank, from St. Omer; of John, from Westphalia; of Plegmund of Mercia, his archbishop of Canterbury! To Alfred religion, culture, intelligence had no local limits. He was essentially European, even cosmopolitan, in his genius. Freely to learn and freely to teach these were the twin ideals of his intellectual life. What nobler evidence of the teacher born to the profession! And shall we, teachers of King Alfred's race, today—descendants in a far-distant clime of those whom he lived to teach and for whom he built the island-home into a fortress of freedom and truth — shall we hesitate to join with our brethren overseas in honoring the great teacher of the common race? Freely he learned; freely he taught. He had known all that was foremost in the civilization of the century; he resolved to transplant it to England. His mission to the Christians of India, his frequent missions to Rome, his voyages of discovery to the North Cape and the Baltic under Ohthere and Wulfstan, were his message to the world that Britain was no longer an ultima Thule, but henceforth was to march in the van of progress. He was, says Freeman, "the spiritual and intellectual leader of his people." Yes, it is in his own writings that we come to lové Alfred best. No ruler of men has left us so pellucid a revelation of his own soul. Like the Meditations of Aurelius and the Psalms of David, he has given to men the outpourings of his aspirations and his sorrows. Here, indeed, we are in the presence of one who is a teacher as much as a king who recalls to us Augustine and à Kempis, or Bunyan and Jeremy Taylor. His Boethius served him as texts whereon he preached to his people profound sermons on the moral and spiritual life. Read his homily on Riches-" that it is better to give than to receive;" on the true Ruler—“ that power is never a good unless he be good that has it;" on the Uses of Adversity-" no wise man should desire a soft life." Few men ever had so hard a life; but amidst it all we have the king in his silent study pouring out poetic thoughts on noble themes, composing pastoral poetry, or casting into English old idyls from Greek epic or myth, ending with some magnificent Te Deum of his own composition. And with all this spiritual fervor, this literary genius, this passion for culture, how wonderful is the many-sided energy of the man-his skill and delight as a huntsman, his love of ballad, anecdote, and merry tale, his love of all noble art, his zeal as a great builder, his ingenuity in mechanical contrivance, his invention for measuring time, his planning a new type of battleship - his supreme foresight in refounding the desolated city of London! In the multiplicity of gifts, the hospitality of interest, the fertility of mind, the promptness of action, the never-wearied zeal, this king was surely a Yankee before the "Mayflower;" an American before Edison or the city of Chicago! Still no life better than that of King Alfred can teach us, the restless and driven American descendants of his race, that the rush of life is the ruin of it. For no man ever so perfectly fulfilled the rule, "Without haste, without rest." "I have desired," he wrote, to live worthily while I lived, and after my life to leave to the men that should be after me a remembrance in good works." And Alfred the "Truth-teller "- as an annalist calls him- never uttered words more true. Let me sum up all these qualities and deeds in the words of a brilliant historian- in words as true as they are eloquent. "Alfred," says Mr. Green, "was the noblest, as he was the most complete, embodiment of all that is great, all that is lovable, in the English temper. He combined, as no other man has ever combined, its practical energy, its patient and enduring force, its profound sense of duty, the reserve and self-control that steadies in it a wide outlook and a restless daring, its temperance and fairness, its frank geniality, its sensitiveness to affection, its poetic tenderness, its deep and passionate religion." On October 26, 1901, about two years hence, a thousand years will have passed since the death of the greatest ruler of the race. That will be no ordinary occasion, for it will be the thousandth anniversary of him to whom the race-British and American, monarchical and republican — - owes an incalculable debt of gratitude; one whom our best teachers describe as the noblest Anglo-Saxon in our history. Alfred's name is almost the only one in the long roll of the worthies of the race which awakens no bitter, no jealous thought, which combines the honor of all; Alfred represents at once the ancient monarchy, the modern state, the army, the navy, the law, the literature, the poetry, the art, the enterprise, the industry, the religion of our race. Men of all creeds and climes; parties, factions, provinces, nationalities; of every trade, profession, or class, may unite in celebrating the common hero of the race. For Alfred was a victorious warrior whose victories have left no curses behind them; a king whom no man ever charged with a harsh act; a scholar who never became a pedant; a saint who knew no superstition; a hero as bold as Launcelot, as spotless as Galahad. The commemoration of this glorious founder of our liberty, law, and learning-of a man so close to the very roots of the throne, so dear to the sympathies of the people, at home or abroad, monarchical or republican, bound up with all our traditions and institutions, the inspiration of our early literature and language |