University of the South - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Sewanee, TN)

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24 ®ite ( ap txnit (f oxvtx. The church was a temporary structure that had been patched and added to until in was a most conglomerate piece of architecture. It was churchly, however, and after the first moment I never again remembered that the benches were not painted, and that only the main aisle and the chancel had any carpets. The altar was ablaze with flowers, but no candles, and the light thrown on them from a corona of lamps was beautiful. The organ and the cornet were played by students, and the choir-master was also a student. I had thought the music sweet as it came, but once in the side door the volume of sound was remarkable. Everybody sang. I saw two, and sometimes three, students leaning over one hymnal, and found myself imitating a rain-crow most successfully. It was a lovely service. The responses sounding like a roar to one who had come from a whispering city church ; and I wondered, Have I ever prayed and praised before ? And the sermon ? Well, I felt turned upside down morally, and decided that I had not been converted, and was not half the good fellow I had thought myself. On Monday I went into a number of the class rooms, and was delighted with the course of study ; but this investigation had the same effect on me mentally that the sermon had had morally ; and I found out that I was not quite as learned as I had thought. On Thursday evening I was taken to the E. Q. B. Club. The lead, the discussion, the supper, were all good, but the stories that came after, the mossy jokes of Miss Angelica ' s description, were more jolly than words can say. Everything was very simple, but framed in the truest good fel- lowship, and the most whole-souled hospitality. On Friday some one remarked, You have been here a week. I looked up in astonishment. Only that? I said, slowly; if you had asked me I should have- answered, ' I have been here all my life. ' How extraordinary ! And you have not seen a newspaper, Miss Angelica went on. I made sure you would grumble about that. A paper! I repeated. A paper! Does the world wag still? Are they still murdering, and lynching, and embezzling, and lying, out in the fury-haunted world? I am sorry you reminded me of it. It was really remarkable how time had flown, how busy and interested I had been, and yet how I had accomplished nothing except contentment ; J

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©he ©ap anb ( oxxm. 23 equally well known as being able to point a snail, an orchid, or a partridge with perfect impartiality. Mathematics really did look venerable, for his long silver beard parted to right and left as he rode, but even he needed no propping, for he sat his horse like a boy of sixteen. It surprised me just at first to see how deeply interested these gentle- men were in the game, how their spirits rose and fell as one side or the other got ahead. But presently I became interested myself, and forgot to watch them, and when, after some close playing, my side won I was as wildly excited as any one. And at supper I discussed errors as hotly as possible. After supper Miss Angelica pinned a red ribbon on my coat, and told me that I was to belong to the Sigma Epsilon Literary Society. That, as it was an open night when the two societies would meet together we would go. I had a little faint turn remembering the model youth of my dreams, but I thought that perhaps the Sewanee student was not one of those dreadful things, and, thank God ! he was not. The young men spoke well, and all the literary celebrities of the University Magazine were pointed out to me. There was nothing stereotyped in either manner or speech, and mixed with much youthful dignity there was a good deal of fun and humor. Before the evening was done 1 was thoroughly interested. I could easily understand how it was that the professors were so fond of these young fel- lows. How it was that they played tennis with them, belonged to their fra- ternities, cheered their base-ball, and took a vital interest in their Magazine and athletics, at the same time requiring good work and putting up some of the hardest examinations I have ever seen. It is the proper feeling to exist between students and professors, but I had never seen it anywhere else. Miss Angelica took me to church the next day, and seated me on the end of a bench in the middle aisle. If you want to see, she said, step out in the aisle ; everybody does it. Soon the lower half of the building was filled with ladies and children, and some gentlemen. The upper half was filled with students. The pro- fessors and older gownsmen coming in a side door to seats on a platform known as the Synagogue. On a lower level was the Squab ' s Nest, where the young gownsmen sat. It was all very orderly, and presently the organ sounded, the last bell rang, and in the choir-room I heard the singing begin, led by a cornet. It was very sweet, and I felt myself thrill- ing in sympathy with the clear young voices.

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©he ( ap anb (frown 25 who had determined to do some hard reading. But the whole summer iSlipped by me in the same way, and the meeting of the Board of Trustees which I had planned to avoid, was on me before I knew it, and I would not have left for anything. A mild excitement began to pervade the place. Bishops seemed every- where, and clerical and lay-trustees were as thick as trouble. I contem- plated putting on a black coat and a white tie in order to be in the fashion. The opening services were really fine. The bishops and clergy in their vestments, the faculty in their gowns and hoods, the Chancellor and Vice- Chancellor in gorgeous robes of academic state. It seemed that I had not fully realized the University before, and when this imposing procession entered, preceded by the choir and ended by this blaze of colour, a feeling of wonder came over me that this thing was so hid in a corner. That night was the contest between the societies. I had forgotten all about the model boy, and when Tompkins, the star of my society, came forward, I was in almost as much of a tremour as Miss Jemima. I smile now as I sit here in a far-away city when I remember the type of thing over which I lost my head at Sewanee, and how thoroughly I became im- bued with the spirit of the place. I called Mrs. Z. ' s our house, and her quota of students our students, was desperately exercised over a lunch she gave the Trustees, and worked tooth and nail to assist the Hop Com- mittees. On the night of the contest I was extremely impatient with the judges who were to decide which society had won the honors. I called those elevated personages all sorts of slow things, and threatened many punishments if they did not at least divide the honours. And when at last they announced that the honours were divided, one society taking the Oratory cup, the other society the Essay cup, I made quite a spectacle of myself, and began immediately to congratulate red and blue badges with a wide and indiscriminate charity. All Commencement week we were in a whirl of excitement, culminating for the young people in the Commencement Hop. Everybody was there. The whole Board of Trustees, including Bishops, were looking on. All officials of all kinds, from the janitor looking in the window to the Vice- Chancellor shaking hands with all the mothers and sisters. For every fellow wanted the Vice-Chancellor to know his people. The only member of the community missing was old Bunny, the University mule, that trotted the mail wagon from place to place. I danced with the girls ' school and with charming young ladies from 3