Albright College - Speculum Yearbook (Reading, PA)

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SENIOR PCEM The 9fClerk's Soliloquy fa fragment? O vast and boundless, sightless, yawning depth lXfIysterious as the silvery stars that deck The tenuous ethereal realms of space! I stand as on the edge of some vast shore Of hoary oceanls grey and dismal waste, A mast sinks in his restless heaving breast, I can not follow I can only think. Gr child upon the brink of some abyss, Dismal, dark, and solemn cavernous, A stone I cast into his hollow throat And listen long and wait for some report To tell when it has reached the depth below, But all in vain I listen, stand and think. lylysterious is the spell that we call time, And shores of boundless space to apprehend, The wisdom that hath myriad systems planned, The Power that controls with mighty handy But soul of man immortal and divine By far surpassing form in native worth, Eternity shall be thy long abode, Infinity thy contemplation blest! The strange experience of thy natal hour The abnegation of all former self, To round the varied sphere of spirit life Be bound by cruel corporeal bands . And learn this strange and limited domain! Upon this dark void stepping cautiously The torch of knowledge only in my hand, Yet by its beams I scarcely see my wayg lldid sights and shapes of formless beings round The feeble llame scarce marks upon the ground What step is next to take, and so I grope In darkness almost feltg but Yet I know 'When limitations of this span are past Upon my dilate eyes shall burst the light- The Eos of a boundless endless day. +In the Wliddle Ages the student was called a clerk. 29

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Senior Class History Having entered upon the home stretch of his race after wisdom and understand- ing, the Senior looks back over past efforts and achievements with feelings of satis- faction, due to successful achievements, mingled with regrets for neglected oppor- tunities. During the last few weeks of his College Course, as never before, does he awaken to the realization that the four brightest years of his life have come to a closeg a golden period which has offered countless avenues for the development of his natural abilities. The history of the Class of IQII has been frought with victories won, battles lost, associations-both pleasant and otherwise. In the Fall of the year 1907, 22 strong, and happily ignorant of the gleams of verdure which our superiors imagined they continually perceived, scintillating from the Freshmanls eyes, IQII launched upon its career as a class. As proves the case with all Freshmen, this class soon ob- served that there were still a few small bits of knowledge, which Prep. and High School Professors had left to be taught. Being naturally of an observing and studious nature, they immediately commenced to learn. ln the course of a year when their Freshmanitis,' has worn off, there was revealed a class of talented, full-fledged stu- dents, possessed of great capabilities for the work to follow. Having long since passed that stage of innocent, harmless scraps and pranks, engaged in by lower class- men, we must let the accounting of such occurrences to them and pass on to more im- portant matters. Suflice it to say that in early years of our experience as lower class- men, when at times ardor waxed too warm, there was recourse to never-failing, cooling remedies-brick ice cream and the fish dam. Access being rendered easily in both cases by 1912. In Academic work the Seniors have always held a high position, displaying to faculty and students alike, a wisdom and intelligence well grounded, equal to all oc- casions, and in all respects measuring up to standards fixed by preceding classes. Realizing the great benefit to be derived from literary work, 1911 has endeavored to excel in all three societies. Honorably have her members performed all work assigned them along this line. Besides furnishing a member of the College Debating Team, on the Bulletin Staff during the past two years, IQII has aided very materially in raising and retaining the high standard of excellence displayed by our College pub- lication. Feeling the need, the class has seen fit to launch a new project, and as a result we have assumed the bulk of work in the publication of this-our first College Annual. ln Athletics, 1911 has played an important role. Through the Inter-Class Basket Ball series, she has for the last two years finished in 2d place. From her ranks, nine Varsity team positions have been ably filled, one basket and one base ball captain has led his team on to victory, and two base ball managers have successfully managed their seasons. As a whole the members of the class have always demon- strated their support of athletic activities by financial aid as well as by word of mouth. The spirit dominating the various class activities has been characterized by earnest, persistent endeavor towards bettering our own condition as well asradvancing the interests of our Alma lvlater. A quotation from an aluminus in speaking of the class will explain its constant attitude towards progress in all lines of College work. He says: The reason that IQII has been 'doing things' is that they are boosters and not knockersf' Possessed for four years with that indomitable courage which overcomes all resistance, IQII steps out into life with the firm conviction that she has fought a good light and gained that which goes toward making life a success. R. B. SAYLOR. 28

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Historical Sketch The history of Albright College and the surrounding region is fraught with a rich interest. The landmarks of this history are still visible. Go out to the old graveyard at Tulpehocken and read on the brown tombstones the romance of faith- ful lives, lived in the midst of perils known only to the pioneer. Stand by the grave of Jacob Albright, or Colonel John Conrad VVeiser, each but a few miles distant, and you cannot but get a glimpse of what immortal fame triumph over persecution and adherence to principle ever brings the fighter of such battles. It is of these two men that we wish especially to write. The one ranked second only to William Penn in the making of Pennsylvania, the other first in the rank of founders of our own Evangelical Church. John Conrad Weiser springs from the old German ancestry that fled from per- secution in the old world. He settled at Tulpehocken in 1729, with the intention of becoming a farmer. But his intimate knowledge of the Indian language and ways made him indispensable to the government. His services were demanded by Indian and white government alike, because they were Hvery honest, as the old record says. Weiser was officially recognized as the interpreter of Pennsylvania in 1732. Treaties between all tribes and nations were carried on by him. One record says: lt is not too much to say that the pacihc spirit of Penn was perpetuated by Weiser, and that the fair name of our commonwealth, touching our treatment of the Indians, is as much owing to the fine policy of the latter, as to the amiable mind of the formerf' To Jacob Albright is due the credit of keeping aglow the religious spirit that animated Weiser and his generation in their pursuit of liberty. Hardship, toil, and the lack of religious instruction in a generation or so caused a partial ignorance of the true way of God. Under the preaching of one of those mighty pioneers of lllethodism, Albright, in 1790, then a man of thirty, became powerfully convicted of need of the true light. When he found it, like the converts of old, set out to carry it to others. Branded as a heretic by the old churches, mobbed, his meetings broken up, still he persevered through twelve years of service. From 1796 to 1808, he fol- lowed the German settlements of Pennsylvania, hflaryland and Virginia. His ad- herents grew, for who could resist the mighty zeal and earnestness of the man? ln 1807 the first Evangelical conference was organized at Kleinfeltersville, and may the work inaugurated there never cease growing. Schuylkill Seminary, Albright College, and a number of institutions of like kind are a part of the fruit that has ripened from the labors of Albright. So the religious and educational life of eastern Pennsylvania has for its pioneer none other than Jacob Albrightg the establishment of the state borders and the preservation of the fair honor of Pennsylvania with the Indian so much abused elsewhere, is due to Col. Conrad Weiser. Both men belong to our neighborhood. In pride we claim them, in gladness we do them homage. llflay we, as their descendants, keep high the banners of civil and religious life that they carried! E. B. LOGAN. 30