College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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Senior Class History IF wJtli giKid gi ' aic 1 I mild say thai loiir loiii - years ajiO we eiiteieil the lialls of our Colleac ami orgaiii ' .cil mirselvrs into a verdant aggrejiatioii hiter known as the ( ' hiss (}! ' (IT, and then reemd the aceonijdishments and aeliievunionts of that class from tliat iiiiiiortant event to tlie jiresent time, then the composition of this jjapcr wouhl indeed he an easy matter. But as the histoi ' y ot this class is not of the class eidlectively liut of each and every nienihei- of the class in his relation to it. and as the history of each of these gentlemen is locked secure against my designs, the llistoi ' ian feels himself almost ineapahic of performing his task. Or. if this weic a history of men who had ]iassed through lite victorious and great, the Historian wnuld willingly emhrace his duty. Kul it is not — it is the history td ' men who, I ' ai- from haxing passed through life. ha e just entered it. hen they entereil College they hegan the second period in theji- lives: the period of life-work. The student when he prepares his first lectiii-e has entered this period as much so as the hoy who performs his first task in the husiness in which he is engaged. The diiference between the two is that the hoy who goes straightway to business enters active life, while the college man enters a life devoted to education for activity — not education complete and infallible, but education which we choose to call the primer of success. Our class has passed through this stage; and its members now stand upon the threshold of life ready and eager to begin the long and bitter struggle. They are answering the national call, which is raised from every pursuit in life, — the call for young, live, educated Americans. Because this is a history of such characters is the reason wdiy it is so difficult to write. I am really unable to liegin. 1 hardly know whether first to consider those amorous youths of the class whose entrance into this city might lie likened to the entrance of a hive of bees into a garden of flowers, so speedily did they become enamoured with the alluring representatives of Yemis nearby; or, on the other hand, to give first honors to those whose admiration for Bacchus has on some few rare and lamentable occasions quite exceeded their discretion, .ludging. however, from the starts of some id ' my classmates at the mention of lovely Venus, and the starts of some at the mention of dear Bacchus, and the starts of some at the mention of both, 1 fear if 1 continue further along this liiU! I shall incur their displeasure. Theoretically, says the wag, we were born as a class in the fall of IIKK!, but in reality, many years before. Be that as it nuiy, the fact that the class was born is not to be disputed — 190;l being used as the date only for its appropriateness. Facts relating to the actual bii ' tb of the class, it must be confessed, are rather obscure, and the whole excnt has an atmosphere of doubt around it. However, the records show Ihal in liHi;? eighty-li e or ninety masses of ' ' green shapeless matter entered the halls of William and lary. Tluuigh the many attempts that were made at organization proved futile, it is to these i}henoniena, veritable crystals of ignorance, that we owe our existence as a class. And more remarkable, these were the immature substances, Dues, from which have evolved the finished and polished products, Seniors. 27

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Joiix Tylki!, A.-. I ' hilomathcan; Vice-President iif Pliilomatlioau ' O-l- ' Oo; t ' lianiijii)ii ' I ' ejiiiis l)oiil)li ' s ' O-l- ' Oo; ratlicmaties : roflal ■(M- ' O. ' i; William Barton ]{oj;c ' rs Sthnlarship (U- ' iJo; Parlianiuntarv Critic of Philoniathean ' ()(!- (iT ; llanager of Tennis Club Oti- ' OT : Diploma in Science ' 03- ' O4; Diploma in I ' liilosophy Oi- ' Oo; Diplnnia in IntluMnalics (i|- 0o. LrniKu Campbkll Lixdsley, JIanassas, Ya. Let other mouths speak my praises. ' 26

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()ii ilif niiii ' ii to Ciillr:. ' ! ' in ll ' dl the IViirhirriril mihI ;ilia lii ' il ' iHu-s were sucldcnlv ami cniriiilcli ' ly iiiriiiinoi ' |iliiisc(l iiilo llir iiici ' cilcss and Dvcrbearing ■■S()])li. On llic licads of the iinassumiiif; ' , ii;n(irant Frcslinirn he lu ' a|i( ' d iwonj c of an unnK ' nliiinalilc (■hai ' actiT and dcarcc. ' I ' licrc was no llusli of slianic on tlio clu ' i ' lv ol ' Ihc S()|)li()mon ' when r( ' |]roaclu ' d Foi ' his iinlallicrly atlitiidc toward the Firsliiiu ' ii, for to liini il uas a sacrt ' d and in iolalilr duty to krcp tlir ■ Dnes in clu ' ck. Of this ])criod in oui- liislory vr arc not too proud, tlioujih it was during it that we Ijcgaii to take our sliapc. As the innocent and liarndcss Freslinian was transfoi-nicil into tlic hitter and reM ' ngcful Sophonmre. o this same Soplioiuore was t ran forineil into the solemn and jiompmis .hinio; ' . As a .lunjoi ' he hnil as;ile. o to speak, his indietiveiiess, and ahhorred oi- pri ' Iendeil to ahhoi- the IK ' expression of tiie animal within him whieh had heen so woeful to tin ' iiitei ' ests of Freshmen. His amhition was to le a Senior: an d tlie one eai- hetween him and his goal he passed in practicing the mien whieh distinguished, so unniistakahly. the Senior from his college mates. One little aecnstonied to i-ollege life might well ask in gazing around a college campus, who those heings were, who, i;o ned in Mack and with square- topped caps on their heads, paced slowly and solemnly up and down the campus walks. To such a ])erson these ])ersonages might seem worthy (d ' well-nigh reverence. Hut to the mie who has accompanied thes|. Jasons throughout their whole conquest of the golden Heece, and to whom the ahove sight is familiar, there is little cause for wonder. This jierson linds no ditticulty in converting these potent, grave and revei ' end Seniors into frightened and ei-y insignificant Freslnnen. He can reuKunher when this Senior was far from being the finished speaker, when this one Inul not sung his first lyric, wlien this one had not planned his first campaign, and this one was not so versed in Cupid ' s lore. But because he can remember the Senior when he was in his primitive, aboriginal state, duchood, and can recognize the transformation that has taken place, we claim and receive his admiration. To him that certain refinement of the Senior, which characterizes his everv action, that polish of education, the result of the evolution which has occurred in four long-shoit years, is worthy of admiration, knowing, as he does, the stages that were pa.ssed thi(uigh in its attainment. . nd so the class graduates. At the gates of our now dear .Vlma Mater its fifteen nu mbers, a survival of the litte.st, glance gratefully, as wtdl they may, at the College halls, and then dei)art, each going his way. And real active life is entered upon. They are leaving one life known and mastered, and entering another unknown and unmastercil. I f they live the latter as they have lived the former, always with honesty to the one avowed purpose, feel safe as to their future. With Longfellow ' s admonition we let them we can depart : In tlie gieat l)ro;i(l field of l.altle. In tlie bivouac uf life, lie net like tlunili iliiven c-attle. I ' .e ;i hero in tlie strife. lilSTOIflAN. 28