A Glimpse of the country about Williamstown. performances of the class." Another reported that "the metaphysical oration by Mr. Garfield— strange to say for a subject so dry to the ladies—was rewarded by three bouquets." His interest in the college and his grateful affection for what it had been to him never flagged. On the day of his inauguration as President of the United States, Dr. Hopkins and some of the alumni went to the White House to offer their congratulations, the former making a felicitous and affecting address. In reply, after some general remarks, Garfield spoke in a more personal strain "For a quarter of a century," he said, "Dr. Hopkins has seemed to me a man apart from other men— standing on a mountain peak— embodying in himself much of the majesty of earth, and reflecting in his life something of the sunlight and glory of heaven."       Even more intimate and personal were his relations with another graduate, Gen. Armstrong, of the class of 1862, whose work at Hampton Roads the whole nation appreciates and applauds. Writing to his classmates in 1874, he says: "I have a remarkable machine for the elevation of our colored brethren. . . . Put in a raw plantation darky and he comes out a gentleman of the nineteenth century. Our problem is how to skip three centuries in the line of development and atone for the loss and injustice of the ages." In speaking of his work he was accustomed to say that whatever good teaching he had done was Mark Hopkins teaching through him.       It is difficult to speak in detail of the alumni. Some will inevitably be omitted, if the attempt is made, quite as worthy of notice as others who receive it. Among active editors we may mention Horace E. Scudder of The Atlantic, Henry M. Alden of Harper's Magazine, Hamilton Williamstown. -- page 176 -- Previous Page | Next Page | Town of Williamstown Page | Berkshire County Western MA History & Genealogy

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