PROF. KUEHNEMANN HONORED

The annual dinner of the Deutscher Verein held in the Trophy Room of the Union last evening was in honor of Professor Eugen Kuehnemann. E. F. Hanfstaengl '09 presided and introduced the speakers.

Professor Walz, A.M. '95, paid a tribute to the devotion of Professor Kuehnemann to whatever he had undertaken in the University and expressed the wish that at his departure we could again say as we said two years ago: "Auf wiedersehen." Professor Muensterberg next spoke of the change that had occurred in German literature and of the new spirit that had arisen. In the period of the greatness of German literature and art, the country was cosmopolitan because national strength was lacking. This disappeared under the influence of the political unity effected in the middle of the last century. There is now a sentiment of international patriotism, under which Professor Kuehnemann first reached America.

President Lowell continued the discussion of cosmopolitanism. It is now several hundred years since it has ceased to exist. Perhaps what is best for the destiny of the modern world must be worked out by nationalities. No one has done more to bring this about than men like Professor Muensterberg. "The most broadening this in life is travelling, the next best is to have a flower from foreign lands come to see us."

In the Middle Ages, the universities were huge; but the men there spoke and wrote one language--Latin--and were bound together by the church. Today scholarship cannot be one in the same sense. The unity comes in another way. Every year more American students go to Germany, and, as a result, a revolution of thought is occurring. The arrival of German professors in this country brought something few could get until then, for only the wealthy could afford to pursue their studies abroad. Of these professors, Professor Kuehnemann is one of the most cherished. President Lowell closed with these words: "When he goes away loaded with our gratitude, we hope he will feel at little touch of regret that he is not with us still."

Professor Kuehnemann began by expressing his pleasure at being able to see a new epoch open in the history of Harvard, and at carrying away a pleasant impression of President Lowell. He then took up the question of cosmopolitanism and explained that the present conception is not that of the Stoics or of the Epicureans. It is a sentiment that has grown with the idea of nationalism and has absorbed it. A feeling of sympathy for the nations has arisen, and with it a desire to impart to them whatever it possesses of the best. All academic life alike, seeks truth.