"'Tis Sixty Years Since"

The speaker, a Harvard alumnus of the class of 1857, opens his address by invoking the spirit of Walter Scott’s “Waverley” and Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall,” using those literary milestones to frame a personal meditation on six decades of change. He recalls the moment he crossed Harvard’s threshold in 1853, describing it as the point where youthful dreams gave way to the responsibilities of adult life.

From that starting point he surveys the gulf between the optimism of his student years and the more sober realities of the early twentieth century, noting how unexpected twists have carried him from a New England upbringing to a speaking invitation at a Southern university. The address weaves together memories of old Southern families who once sent their sons north, the evolution of American education, and the enduring tension between idealism and experience, offering listeners a thoughtful glimpse into a life lived across two very different eras.