DINNER FOR PROFESSOR GREENE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

A farewell dinner was held at the University of Illinois on the evening of May 19 in honor of Professor Evarts B. Greene who, after nearly thirty years of service, has resigned his position as Professor of History to accept a call to Columbia University. Tables were spread in the spacious upper parlors of the Woman's Building on the campus and there were over 150 guests in attendance.

Professor Laurence M. Larson, head of the Department of History, acted as toastmaster and a varied program consisting partly of the more formal after dinner speeches and partly of special features intended for pure amusement was presented. President David Kinley traced the remarkable progress of the History Department of the University since 1894 when Doctor Greene came from Harvard as the sole member of that department, and with considerable feeling he commented upon his deep personal sense of loss at Doctor Greene's departure. Dr. K. C. Babcock, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences spoke of Professor Greene as the embodiment of the scientific, unprejudiced spirit of the historian, while Professor W. S. Robertson pointed out the varied contributions which Professor Greene had made to the State and to the University in the many offices which he had held.

A poem for the occasion was read by Professor Stuart P. Sherman and Professor A. H. Lybyer read a humorous paper describing "excavations in the year 1923" in the neighborhood of Urbana. Much amusement was furnished by a playlet which featured the unexpected visit of an embarrassingly large number of Professor Greene's friends in his New York apartment at Christmas time. At the conclusion of the dinner Professor Robertson who with Professor Lybyer constituted the committee for arranging the dinner presented Doctor Greene with a gold watch, the gift of the members of the History Department. Besides Doctor Greene, the guests of honor were his sister Mrs. Mary A. Griffin and his niece Miss Molly Griffin.

MRS. PAUL SELBY.

By JESSIE PALMER WEBER.

Mrs. Mary Jane Smith Selby has written for the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society a charming little chapter of historical reminiscences which she calls "A little Girl's recollections of Quincy in the 'Forties' with apologies for a somewhat lengthy sequel." It is published in this number of the Journal.

Mrs. Selby has not told in her article who she is and what her life has meant as a helpful intellectual and moral force in the two Illinois towns of which she has been a citizen. is a true type of her New England forbears.

She

She attended Mount Holyoke Seminary before it became Mount Holyoke College. She was an early teacher, painstaking and laborious and a firm disciplinarian. She was a housewife who was a model of thrift and efficiency.

Mr. Selby and his wife came to Springfield to reside in 1875. At that time the Bettie Stuart Institute was under the charge as principal of Mrs. Mary McKee Homes, one of the best teachers and most accomplished women of her period in Central Illinois. She was the founder of the school and for many years its principal. The most prominent men and the most careful friends of education of that day were glad to place their daughters under her tuition.

It was one of the features of the Bettie Stuart Institute each year to have a board of visitors invited to examine the classes. Mrs. Homes was very particular as to whom she asked to conduct these examinations. Patrons who were not considered competent were asked to serve on reception committees or serve in some other capacity, but it was no empty compli ment to be asked to serve as one of the visiting examiners.

These visitors were privileged to ask questions and to review any part of the work of the school year. Mrs. Selby was

nearly always invited to act in this capacity and she was conscientious in the discharge of her duties. A girl was lucky and proud to receive the commendation which Mrs. Selby generously gave to good work. I remember, too, the cool, level, glance of her bright dark eyes if a student was a shirker. She had a very high standard in her life and in her work as a teacher, but she was generous and broad-minded in her appreciation of the work of others. I remember after all these years how proud I was when Mrs. Selby before all the classes of the school commended my recitations.

On November 7, 1923, Mrs. Selby celebrated her ninetieth birthday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Arthur E. Prince. She was a delightful picture in her pretty gown of gray with all its dainty accessories from the beautiful little lace headdress on the careful coiffure of her white hair to the buckles on her satin slippers. Mrs. Selby received the compliments of her friends with graceful words of appreciation and made them all feel that the chief objects of human endeavor are served by a self-denying life of high endeavor according to one's opportunities, and are rewarded and illumined by a serene and beautiful old age.

"Loved wife, fond mother and true friend

Crowned with life's blessings to the journey's end."

Mary Jane Smith was the daughter of Porter and Mary Topliff Smith. She was born in Amherst, Mass., November 7, 1833. The family came to Quincy, Illinois in 1838. Mary Jane Smith went East to school. She attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now College) and graduated in 1853 after which for a little while she taught as a pupil-teacher in a school in Elizabeth, N. J. (1853-54).

She was married to Henry S. Hitchcock of Binghampton, N. Y., May 10, 1855. They lived in Binghampton until 1860 and then came to Quincy, Illinois. Mr. Hitchcock died in 1866 in Quincy. Mrs. Hitchcock was married to Paul Selby December 1, 1870. They came to Springfield to reside in 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Selby removed to Chicago in the early Nineties, and resided there until Mr. Selby's death in March, 1913. Mrs. Selby makes her home with her only daughter, Mrs. Arthur E. Prince of Springfield.

Mrs. Selby was the mother of six children. Two only grew to maturity. These are General Charles H. Hitchcock of Binghampton, N. Y., and Charlotte, wife of Dr. Arthur E. Prince of Springfield, already mentioned. She also has two stepdaughters, Mrs. C. Harmon Johnson of Clinton, Illinois, and Dr. Emily H. Selby of Chicago.