Clemson University - Taps Yearbook (Clemson, SC)

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THE CLEMSON COLLEGE CHRONICLE. 343 After graduation it was decided that he should go South and begin his profession of teaching. Royal ' s leave-taking was a sad one, but with all the courage at command, he turned from the past and resolutely faced the future. But all was not dark in his new, Southern home. Like all other young fellows similarly situated he found moments in which to build air castles of fame and wealth ; and later, made up his mind that there was no virtue in either, and that all his heart craved was to make one little woman happy. While our young friend was engaged in the peaceful pursuits of love and pedagogy, the nation was in the greatest excitement over state ' s rights and slavery. Speeches had been made in the Senate, and the justness of each side had been proclaimed from platforms north and south. The pedagogue studied the questions at issue and the motives of those who made the arguments, and decided where his allegiance should be placed. The excitement grew intense and every one expected the catastrophe that came January 9, 1861. With the outbreak of war the fortune of Royal Hudson underwent another and more serious change. He had lived several years in the south and had grown in sym- pathy with southern life and thought. He saw the great questions of politics as southerners saw them ; and his honest, chivalrous nature revolted at the treatment his neighbors were given by northern politicians. And was he not a southerner despite the fact of northern birth ? Nothing but kindness had been shown him and he had been made the recipient of an hospitality unknown in other sections. Royal Hudson found presented to him two paths. One preserved his relatives and friends, but at the expense of what he thought right and just. The other course meant