Hampden Sydney College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Hampden Sydney, VA)

Page 26 text:

When I left the Seminary I presented him with a new Bible, and twelve years after I revisited the Hill, and drove from Farmville in Walker's hack. On the way he entertained me with the changes that had taken place, and then, as if to show that there was something that change had not touched, he said with manifest pride, ML Bridges, I have that Bible you gave me twelve years ago, and it is just as good as new. Nearly nineteen years have passed since that last visit, and in that time change has been at work. Improvements have been made, and the old building has been made more comfortable in every way, yet if I were to go back, I would be like the old women in the Lincoln County Poor House, a new building with electric lights and steam heat. Yet the old women are unhappy there, because there is no open hre into which they can spit when they smoke their pipes. I would miss the old chapel with its pine benches, carved by successive classes: its bare and stained wall: and even the mud would be missed. But, above all, I would miss those dear friends whose faces are coming to-night out of the dim past. I would miss the old associations, and I would especially miss that spirit that enabled us all to turn our faces to the rising sun. You young men of the present day may have fairer buildings, more professors, and a larger number of students, but I seriously doubt whether the output will equal that of those days of low living and high thinking. Rev. J. R. BRIDGES, D. D. The Queen of Love 0 Queen of Love, I worship thee: What more canst thou desire of me? A smile from thee makes darkness light, And changes into dawn the night. In all my dreams I see those eyes, Those eyes of brown, Utopian eyes, More lovely than the stars of night, And brighter than the day's sunlight. I love, oh, more than I can tell, Those eyes wherein the angels dwell: And as this love I can't conceal, To thee, O Queen of Love, I kneel, And offer thee this life of mine To brighten or to darken thine. J. M. CROCKETT. 20

Page 25 text:

Such a luxury as a quiet talk was never dreamed of, but on the contrary it was a case of I6 to l. It was a part of each man's duty to fall in love before leaving, but at that game the Seminite had the advantage, because he meant business, owing to the closeness of the time when he could set up his own household gods-while the College boy merely played the game as an amateur. At that time there was a Brazilian among the students who played the devoted to every pretty girl. After he had been to church with a certain young lady, Asa Dupuy, afterwards Judge in Roanoke, took him aside, and with perfect gravity said, Now, Rod, I am going to act toward you as I would expect you to act toward me, if I were in Brazil, I am going to advise you about the social customs of this land. When a young man goes twice to church with a young lady he is expected to propose to her, else her father or brothers will call him out. Rodrigues walked the floor and wrung his hands, and in a nervous way said, I cannot do it, I cannot do it, for she will kick at me. Of my own exploits in this particular line of action, the least said the better, for they have become portions and parcels of the dreadful past. I took the calico ticket, and gat me death frae twa sweet een, twa lovely een of bonnie blue. I have, however. risen from that death, and have for years been a very lively corpse. At first I thought that the light of my life had gone out, but I finally succeeded in striking another match. and have been happy ever since. It was my good fortune during my College and Seminary days to board with Professor Holladay. I am an old man now, but I can never forget his kindness and that of his charming wife, whose interest in her boys never fagged, and whose patience with their whims was beyond belief. I cannot close without a word or two about the servants of the 'iHill. There was old Polydore, a superannuated relic of past generations, whose greatest enjoyment was high-sounding words, and you could confer no greater favor upon him than to teach him some polysyllabic word, which he could afterwards use. When some pious soul endeavored to solace his declining years by reading the Scriptures, old Poly- dore always called for Genesis l4. Then there was John Deane, the College janitor, a faithful old man with a grave face. He was the butt of many a joke, yet he gravely bore it all, hoping that while he bore their light raillery, by the law of compensation he would be paid in heavy coin. In his watch he had unbounded confidence, though sometimes he had to strike it against the wall before it would run. I can see him now coming into the room early on a winter morning, a basket of chips on one arm, three sticks of wood on the other, and in his hands a bundle of rich pine in a blaze. With a dexterity acquired by long practice, he laid the wood and applied the flame, and before his footsteps had ceased to sound, the fire was burning furiously. Then there was Walker Crawley, whose stammering tongue by no means kept him silent. iI9

Page 27 text:

Dream Wreck My love and I went sailing High on the heavenly maine My Love to seek new isles of joy, And I, to lose or gain A hope, a dream so thrilling-sweet, It seemed akin to pain- That sometimes waked, and sometimes slept But always waked again. Earth was a map beneath us, And heaven stooped dear and nigh- Now is our kingdom come! my Love Exultedg Now we fly: Yon glory-cloud just gonef' she cried, May be, is God gone by. Or some bright earthly dream, I said, Come true, here in the sky. It was not mine: for gently She sighed, and shook her head, And ere my stammering tale was done, I knew my hope was dead- The brightest dream on earth, for me, In heaven had vanished. And o'er the misty mountains, And back along the seas, High o'er the pillared smoke that clomb From green clumps that were trees, Our wide wings brought us down and down To earth's uncertain ease. But of that wondrous journey Two things alone remain- For her, a glory-cloud gone by, For me, an endless pain. For Love's rich galleons wrecked that day High on the heavenly main- For hopes that once would wake and sleep. But ne'er will wake again. WiLi.1AM Hi1RxLi Wooos Zl