Augustana College - Rockety I Yearbook (Rock Island, IL)

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:ane of the most heroic teuchcr-and yet, how unweuryingly, day after day, does he bring with him into the classroom the same unfailing gentleness! He is an historian, most admirably adapted for this difflcult nii'icc by virtue of a bmudness of vision, and a sympathetic appreciation of the manifold forces that move mankind, and that rarest of all gifts, an unprejudiced evaluation and judgment. There is no tincture nf fanaticism, no preclusion, no unupenness about his ideas and opinions; hut always there is a sweet and inviting modarnte- Hess, and an honest receptivity-charactcristics par excellence of a mind for whom the gmis 0f wisdom hear no grudge. Even that gentle suhduedncss of his voice and deliberate tempo of his utterance tcum grai'ilate loquituri betray this internal dispassionateness and temperateness of his thought. Or have you ever, in his classes, modestly divulged some darling theory'! a or opinion' to yourself, relevant-ur at least you thought it relevanttto sums matter under discussion-;md how graciously, and with what paternal ienicncy has he not cuuntcnanced each such maiden specuiatiou of yours, even though, as a matter of fact, ynur ambitious flightsu had 0ftrtime5 been must woefully awry! No! He is not a tyrant t0 thunder into extinction the first trembling beginnings of serious thought. Venerable Doctor! W'e blush to tause your gentle heart. any disappoint- ment or grief. But upon reflection. we must confess that the multitudinous names of the English kings have sunk with us into the twilight region of the semiicqnscious; even the stirring events of the French Revolution me less and less agitating our consciousness. Alas! Only a few isniateci landmarks are still barely fastened by slender and quivering tcndrils to the body of our mem- m-y. But aside from these bloodless and isolated items, which never could claim but an alien relationship with us, there is a something warm and breathing that has instilled itself intn the vital tissue of our- heart and mind-it is the ever- living iniiuence of your gentle personality. If we were to compute our success, as your students. propurtionateiy to the mere iqimnhlm of facts which we carry away with us in our memory, we should have to confess a rather equivocal success. But when we measure it according to the sweetening influence of your spirit, we can but rejoice in our heritage. liildmimfianc fr: landcmus, cf, 3i Immm suppedz'fct, siin-ilitudinc columns. KARL P. SILBERG.

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EWLJ-fg Er. 01. 1M. IHHEE Quicqzoid ea; en amai'iiims, qzeicquid mirati sumus, mimet manswumque est in am'mz's V your comings and goings upon the walks and ways euviwuing our Alum :l: Mater, have you not often encountered :1 gentle gray figure? The figure is nut an imposing one. nor one that by 21 majesty of stature 0r peremptoriuoss of gait makes you feel a shrivoliug sense of an approaching somebody, whose shoes you are not worthy to bear. Slowly he approaches with measured steps, not insistent steps, howeverimuny a time. indeed, have we seen u sudden 1min verse squall actually push him hack in his intended progress. so that it became necessary to retraverse the distance, which under more kindly conditions would have counted for so much advance. And how patiently, with what hopeful optimism did he resume his interrupted price. trusting ultimately, us it seemed, to some kindly Providence, for a final safe arrival at his desired destinationf the history room perchance. Or a like hnistemus wind would suddenly snatch his hat, whereupon he would at first look just the least bit dismayed at the sud- dcnness 0f the deprivation. but the next movement he had already resumed his centre, and would proceed with u sweet philosophical hopefuhicss to contem- plate a recovery of his loss. To see his features, you will have to be quite close upon him, for he travels with :1 gentle downward tilt of his hat. us if to prevent the many material im- pertinenciL-s of the objective world from impinging upon his nerves and suh- vcrting his mind from the internal and spiritual world, in Which it is fond to dwell. But once you are upon him and he jerks his head up to meet you, and then greets you the cheerfullest, most radiant visage, and then and there does he zlhanrlon hi5 pnudemus l'efiectinu and you hecome the 0110 thing in all the world of interest and concern to him. And those Of us who have enjoyed the guud fortune of being members in his classes, have known a teacher who does not give perfunctm-ily and with a sense of irksome condescension from his own vast knowledge. but one who by virtue of a natural disposition to sympathize, gives in a manner which makes you feel the glatlness of the giving. And through his own indefatigable interest in his subjects. he kindlcs in you zin interest far them also. We all appreciate how the unrelenting mutine uf teaching, with :1 its attendant ullloveiy fcatul'Bchnl- ions and indocilc students, etc, must laboriously tax the fortitude and forbear-

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ZFanmnrh M2 ham: Pnhwunrph tn giup Pxpmminn in 1112 Augustana zpirii. mag thiz unlump aprup in further the name nf DIII' Alma mum: