St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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Gbscureb Reality. DIFFICULTLY penetrable evil yet otershadows a vast magnitude of human import. Tenacious tendencies to progress have been creditable already in evolutions that are utilizing and pol- ishing a newer era. Concentration of inquiry has appropriately and loyally devoted itself to inviting sources of the unrevealed and rendered signal 'results of an exalted kind to contemporaneous and successsive bet- terment. Avenues novel and amazing in their unique fitness solicit patronage of the fields of avocation toward which they point. They possess a surprisingly flattering appearance, and it is not with ease that their indication of the status of a later day is interpreted, or, at least, the unusual degree of superiority along certain lines might suggest question as to its ominous benignity and recall the similarity of precedents to decline. But apparent prosperity does not as an unexcepted rule of nature con- clude in imprudence and indulgence sufficient in their recklessness to spoil the effect of the glory attained. Impulsive greed to devour the full fruit of achievement IIO in unsuspecting hours of degeneracy we may confide to be offset by reliable reaction and steadiness of purpose that refuse the seductions, so oft ill-proved, that lurk in the under lying secrets of waning prestige. Favorable comparison, however, apart from intrinsic merit, but poorly justifies exultation. Light differences and seeming improvement should not afford congratula- tion upon more than a beginning with nice prospects, but that need guarding well in order to the yielding prosecu- tion of their ends. Estimated of itself, nothing more convincingly discloses its dearth and inadequacy than the meagre conception upon which the affairs and aims of life are so delicately hinged. Upon a presumption of a destiny commensurate in important respects to the ultimate of properly cultivated and directed powers, the infancy of humanity's entrance into its own sphere is strikingly evident. The day of rernunerative investiga- tion in the realm of relevant truths has proceeded no further than its dawn, and searching rays but gradually dissipate the shades that obscure the pertinent factors in

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SL 3obn's. I. ll. Ill. LI, HAIL! St. jul1n'stutheel There, 'nenth its pill:ir'd :lmne .Xll hziill luvll College tiru n l Past is ri eentnry, Ilrerinieil in their stnrlent home, 'l'liysw:1rtl full oft hath lm Thy nzitrnl rluy. Suns of our sires. liecl nfthe ln'nx'e. lee front yon Stnte Ilunse txnll They plwlflell sitlc lay sifle lfr:tnee:in1l the l :ttherl:in4l csfnisuf King Willi:ini's :ill ln sp-irts :intl stnelies vieil. Ilerc, meeting hqtntt in h:nnI lu nhl Melmwell llftll XVursliipetl in hive :intl prifle 3I:n'eli'tl tlntli :i gallant li, l Wenflefl their XVIIY. .Xt thy :tltur tires. Uni' freetlmn tu save. IV. Y. VI. All hrtill tlmn LQl'Illlll nhl tree, .Xll lmil l nlrl Cwllege llelll St.jnl1n's, wliere'er we rtmm, linnlileni ut' lihertyl 'llllf'4llKt'l'fYl1lllCSfs'C'l.SYVCll Tn the lm rl Cullege htnne. Ut' thee we sing. tVer SlTX't'I'll'S shore. lftnnlly we tnrn. llere 'nt-:ith thy :tniple shmle Thy will we nmv whey, llcre frienrls of early years, tllt mn' hvretlntlieis stmyetl .twenilvletl in zirrziy Crnnrzules in lmpes :intl ft-:na .Xntl we in Iniyli-mtl plnyerl: llll thiQ eentenniqtl flny, lfaitlitnl in smiles :intl tears, Tu thee we'll elingg. :XS in il1tyLant'yure. Their lllCf'llSt' lnirn. YH. lmng nmy thy ennrts resonnil, lhy hulls with ytntllw ulnnnnl, As in :lays past. Thy fntnre plenty ernwn. llulltmf thy gtn'i'mysflrmvi1, llenven un thy fneinen l.I'UXYll Anil hless thee :it lust. WNIt'n0L,xs llmixi'i-ZR, 216. 109

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gf il ,wa-'I ,5 5556 1 ui personal or collective prosperity. XVithin, strongly en- deavoring to manifest itself, there inheres still the recti- fying truth conditioning upon its assertion a relief of obstruction in the path of general elevation. Reason aml fallacy prolong an incessant and severe contlict. Its more essential accomplislnnent evades the strewings of unappeased mankind than a thorough and searching digest ofhis own station in the universe, a well defined realization that will complete the partial view. The integrals of nature are all worthy in their sphere, are uniquely complementary in their respective functions, and the denial of any or the encroaclnnent of one upon the other invariably occasions abnormality. lint a peculiar conspicuousness of the ever-present physical, with its qualities all displayed, and extending upon no deeper 1'CtllllSll.C than mere possession, its entire capacity to allay the casual desire, suflices to attach an undue prominence that usurps the rightful precedence of more emluring parts. Of interest aml import, indeed, must the material be admitted, a real aml logical means to an end. Its chaiiels for the mixture of the undeveloped, a dwelling place and useful agency for service to higher powers render it splendidly appreciable. In an exponential garb, conveying through its profounder depths an enchanting intiniation of sublime source and content, the enlightened view with a fullness of joy surveys it. As a sequestered abode of a high, concealed inherence. when posing in the sweet fragrance of nature. its beauty tinged with the perfecting shade of a positive place among real entities, its merit to engage is exalted above its usually acknowledged own. Thus contem- plated, its intrinsic relents to an estimable ollice of medis ator through which. immediate infatuation suspended, the gleam ofsubstantial allurement is propagated to the attentive participant in its observation. Not in such a mood either of the materialistic or of man is then present the deceptive form so wide-prevalent aml serious in the damage it incurs. lint mutilated or embellished as the east- may lie, presumed to be possessed of farsreaching possibilities arising from blind aceeptation rather than belief, a mean aml destrnetible fraily intrndes with mons strous sagacity upon the controlling centre and deter- mining objects ofa destiny. A vision with an elegance ofsusceptability that would esteem the reality of a uni verse is dwarfed tu the puerile levity ofa miniature, that holding but a seantily magnilied surface, are subserved by a soul that contents in its ignoring depravity. Physi- cal ambition, physical attainment, physical enjoyment clouding the horizon amid the qniekeniug profferings of pure aml enduring truth, are constituting themselves the nucleus around which revolves the preponderence of human activity. If in the manifestations of animated nature there ex- ists a distinction real in its character, it must reside somewhere in the unseen. Visible differences assure of nothing beyond degree of contrast in the stages of vari-