Clemson University - Taps Yearbook (Clemson, SC)

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THE CLEMSON COLLEGE CHRONICLE. 405 IV. Lift up each glass again, boys; Fill them to flowing o ' er, And drink to the health of the class, boys, The class we ' ll see no more. A. T. Our Country and Its People. Our hearts swell with pride when our country ' s name is called. We are proud of the principles upon which our government was founded. We boast of our liberty and of our progress, but we, too frequently neglect to consider how our present position was reached, and upon what our destiny depends. The secret of our past success, as a nation, is in the fact that, during the greater part of our country ' s his- tory, it has been filled with heaven-inspired men, men who sought nothing less than manly independence, or nothing more than justice. Men who faced duty without flinching, and who contended for their rights as long as there was a spark of hope left to encourage them. It is to men of this character that we owe all that we have to-day which entitles us to the distinction of being considered a people deserving of the blessings of heaven. This is the kind of men that fought for our independence, and built the foundation of our government, a solid foun- dation, upon which has since been erected all that we behold in the way of the superstructure. Men of a more world-wide reputation have lived and died and been forgotten, but grander souls never strug- gled toward the light, nor bowed before the ever-living God than those noble heroes who so gallantly fought for our liberty. They threw the gage of battle full and fair in Britain ' s haughty face. When defeat followed defeat, until the new nation was bankrupt, and they were

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404 THE CLEMSON COLLEGE CHRONICLE. which no man of you need be ashamed of. It is need- less to here enumerate the things which you have done, but there is one thing that might be especially com- mended — that is the projected scheme to erect a class memorial. You have sought to beautify the Campus by putting on it a fountain. This fountain to be a token of the fact that your memories cling around your Alma Mater. May it also be emblematical of the fact that the class of 1899 is a fountain of inexhaustible virtue pour- ing forth to the world its good deeds. Soon you will turn from us to take a part in the crowding interests and activities of life ' s duties. May your aspirations be high, and may your efforts be crowned with success. Your past record bespeaks for you the energy that is to accompany your lives in pro- ducing a force that must prove a leading factor in your generation and that will give you a life coupled with a glory that is imperishable. L. O. M. A TOAST. Here ' s to the graduating class ! Come, boys, drink deep this wine, To the health of each and every one In the class of ninety-nine. II. They ' ll not come back again, boys. Perhaps we ' ve seen the last Of each bright face and shining eye Of our noble Senior Class. III. Bid them a sad farewell, boys. Let tears be in your eves; Say to them that in life, boys, There ' s success to the man who tries.

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406 THE CLEMSON COLLEGE CHRONICLE. starving upon the field of battle; when a few cowards were flying from their colors, and men as brave as Roman tribunes were weeping tears of grim despair, they were still fanning the flickering flame of liberty with a death- less faith that the Omnipotent arm of God would uphold the banner of the free. Again and again the hungry Continentals, whose feet were bare, and whose garments were tattered, set their breasts against the bayonet, until, from the very ashes of defeat, dear liberty rose like a goddess in her beauty, a Titan in her strength. Our ancestors were inspired by the highest impulses of fierce patriotism to make slow, though painful steps toward the top of the eternal mountain, where the grea; light of God breaks, and where there is no more of dark- ness and of down-trodden rights by foreign foes. The true glory of a nation is in the living temple of a loyal, industrious and upright people. The character of our people will determine our coun- try ' s destiny. Then it becomes us to ask ourselves whether we are to-day viewing national questions with a world-wide horizon and with our country ' s interest at heart, or dwindling down to a people whose god is the dollar, whose country is the stock exchange, and who are striving to manage affairs on the basis of brute self- ishness, dreaming that the mighty arm of some unseen power will lift us to the top round of national glory, without any arduous struggles on our part. Nations, like individuals, have their youth, their lusty manhood, and their decay. Our nation has passed her period of youth. It is either in the full bloom of greatness, or it is decaying. We can advance only by developing the natural re- sources, and kindling loftier aspirations in the youth of