Haverford College - Record Yearbook (Haverford, PA)

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His sorrowing class passed appropriate resolutions and had them sent to his bereaved family, and the following beautiful sketch by Percy Nields appeared in The H.werfordian. The death of Edward M. Pope was an unexpected calamity to the college and to his relations. The transition from life and strength to death was so sudden that we are unable to realize the fact. The empty chair at class, the vain search for the calm face, and the voice heard no more, will force us to comprehend our loss. The signs of future usefulness were already apparent in a character of intellectual grasp, manliness and simplicity. His faculties were evenly balanced, and he understood with equal facility and accuracy the branches of languages, mathematics and science which he had studied. In no class will his loss be felt more than in the Greek, where his authority was supreme, and his elegant translations the pride of his fellows. He was by nature and inclination a student, and the sports in which he participated were always of secondary interest. His heart was pure and simple. He thought ill of no one because he saw some good in all. He never appeared to be what he was not. He made no pretense to learning which he did not possess. There is not a man in college who ever heard from his lips a word that was impure or untrue. His bearing, whether among his classmates or professors, was always of the same dignity and openness. He looked forward to the future with a calm hope. He did w hat many of us tr} ' to do : he lived out in his life the principles of a personal Christianity with a simplicity and at the same time a firmness that is rarelv seen. His class and those who really knew him will be made to realize that a strength has passed from them and from the institu- tion to which he belonged. 23

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Nevertheless, his loss was much regretted, as he had b en a very valuable member in many ways, and there was a label famine in the Laboratory for many years. Patterson grieved us deeply by falling from grace and entering the University, a loss from which the class and college cricket teams suffered severely. However, three new arrivals, Slocum, Cox and Leeds soon made up for these delinquencies. As is apt to be the case, our Junior year was rather destitute of incidents. In the sporting line we played a very exciting foot- ball game with ' 89. The two halves were played on separate days, and on the first we had the ball in their territory all the afternoon, and would probably have scored, had not two of our men been disqualified in a rather hasty manner. Sharp had not played any since his accident, but now he yielded to the entreaties of all his classmates, and it may be truly said that he saved the game by one or two splendid runs. ' 8y scored a touch-down but missed the goal, and just at the very end of the game Hilles shoved Sharp through the line and the latter secured a touch down. The time was too short, however, and the try-at-goal failed, and this most exciting game resulted in a tie. After this we settled down to work, and men who had formerly never been known to open a book, now studied industriously. Many of us took a lively interest in the literary societies, and we were certainly the life of them. In December of this year, two sad events took place, and, for a while, cast a gloom upon the college. One was the death of the revered and honored professor, of whom we had seen but little, yet enough to make him dear to all of us. The other sorrow, which came even nearer home, was the sudden death of our most gifted classmate, Edward Morrill Pope. An inflammation caused by a trifling bruise received while snow-balling, soon de- veloped into a most virulent fever, from which he never recovered.

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Junior day being the greatest occasion of this year, the nom- ination of the speakers soon claimed our attention. But the fact was soon developed that our class contained, over and above the usual number, a number of men who were both able and willing to speak. Hence, with our usual regard for the feelings of each individual, rather than make an arbitrary selection, we decided to have two nights and give everyone a chance to speak. Thirteen men presented themselves, and of these six spoke the first even- ing and seven the second. Quite a number of good-natured con- troversies took place before the affairs came off, on the questions of wearing gowns, and of sitting on the platform. The first pro- ject was given up, but the second was adhered to and proved a great success. The hall was well filled on both nights, and the labors of the decorating committee were much admired. The first night was perhaps the greatest success, as it was not marked by a single blemish, but the second was made memorable by Percy Nields ' oration on the Federal Convention. Thus we demon- strated to the world that the class of ' 88 contained twice the average amount of talent. Lewis, Battey, Cox and Nields all tried for the Alumni Prize, but none of them spoke as well as on Junior Day. However, the contest was very close between Percy and the winner, and many thought that the decision should have been the other vay. On the eighth of May we held our second class supper, the custom having meanwhile spread to the other classes. With the exception of certain foreign birds, it was a perfect success, — Cor- bit officiating as Toast Master, and calling upon the members to respond to prearranged toasts. In cricket this year we had hard luck. We defeated the Sophomores by five wickets and thirteen runs, mainly owing to Collins ' work with the bat and the ball, as in the use of the latter he had become remarkably expert, having taken seven wickets for five runs against the Young America 24