Page 61 - YB1899

A wanderer upon the face of the earth, a youth, finally took up his abode in Westminster, and eight years ago enrolled as a student of W. M.e. John Walton Divers Melvin came fr0111nowhere and has been everywhere. He himself knows not from whence he came, nor indeed whether he was ever born or not. It is the prevalent belief that he, like Topsy, "just growed," and that he has been growing and increas- ~// ing in size and stature for twenty-one years-his cranium ~.;_~." Alo. especially has assumed abnormal proportions. ~:/jjt;':: \ ?;~ The degree of doctor of philosophy - r~"-- --Z:'lJ~','?;~;l" ~v' has been bestowed upon him by his class- , " .' '(;. V -.., ,,&:. mates, and this, too, without ever submit- /i {, .: "" ,~_ -s-: h ting a thesis. His intellectual look is I ' sufficient for the degree in itself. This '\ '0 intellectual look, by the way, is worthy of J .. r.\ I ... description, During the process his legs ' r;_J- are crossed, arms folded, head well set back on his shoulders, chin at an angle of thirty-seven degrees from a perpendicular firmly sustained in air by a four-inch collar, ears pricked, eyes partly closed, but glittering, something of a frown on his forehead, and a peculiarly knowing expression playing about the corners of his mouth, which, by the way, is square when open. This description is rather inadequate and does not do the doctor justice, but it will suffice in a measure for those who have never gazed on him. He entered upon his career of learning in Pocomoke . City, and graduated fr0111the high school of that city. He now graduates from 'V. M. C. Next year Hopkins he will enter, and after a six-years' course in that institution, will take a ten-years' course in Oxford University. The doctor has a bright future opening before him, and we are sure he will be sufficiently well prepared on leaving Oxford to take charge of a -- country school. History is his forte. At the end of the second term, he patted himself on the back, whis- pering in his ear, "Wally, you're all right and you got a good mark, but Prof. -- didn't give you all you deserved. Cheer up, old man, cheer up, for 'behind the cloud the sun is still shining.' " As a speaker, the doctor has no peer. He is in a class by himself, and in which he is the only aspirant, He reached this dizzy height only by a series of hard struggles, and great credit is due him for his wonderful achievement. But the way the doctor can "kick" is something awful. In debates on important literary questions he is greatly feared as an opponent, mainly because of his great arguments and because of his "kicking" quantities and qualities, He is an authority on all important subjects and his advice is often sought-:-in fact, he is the wonder of the age, His light is destined to shine very brightly, overshadow- 53