Lehigh University - Epitome Yearbook (Bethlehem, PA)

Page 23 text:

Have we iK.t llunkcil wiiliout niiy l);iso feeliiii s of anf cr ut tlie blindness of professors to the lucidness of our remarks and explanations ? Have we not been regular attendants at niorninn; ehaiiel, and the popular Sunday services of wliicli we are all sn fond? Have we ever by any clianee missed a lecture or a recitation? Does some one say } ' cs, we must have lieen at death ' s door. Have we not, in sickness and in health, fair weather and foul, climbed that dreary hill of knowledge with no reward in view, but the proud right to stand amid the Trustees and the Faculty, the music, Howers and grandeur of the drawing-room to receive the precious sheep-skin? With such a realizing sense of the value of the ])rize, does it seem strange that we forsook the wicked and profane ways of other sophomores, and worked for such high reward? But to my history. To review minutely the events of the past year would occupy too much space, so we give merely the unembellished facts. .Vs regards numbers, we increased during the year, although we lost Hammatt in the Fall and Lafon at Christmas; this lat- ter was a sad blow. No more will we hear the awe-inspiring strains of the cornet, or the lighter twanging of the banjo. No more will that tuneful vo ice swell out in the silent watches of the night; Joseph has forsaken the )iaths of learning for a cellu- loid factory. During the early Fall we ])roposed and carried to completion the first number of this Epitome, which, as so many similar publications fail to do, paid for itself. We also originated the annual foot-ball match between sophomores and freshmen, — which through freshman indolence has not come off this year. Our Lectures in January and February, given at the request of the class, by Prof Coppee, on the Works of William Shaks- pearc, must have been appreciated, judging from the audiences ; that they were a benefit, as well as a jjleasure, to ourselves, there can be no doubt. At the Athletic contests, both in Fall and Spring, we carried otr more th tn our share of the honors, notably in June, when we won six out of the twelve contests. We behaved very badly at the freshman burial of Logic. la

Page 22 text:

BlaU of c)ef euhfSi0it ' () the average College Aluimuis the remembrances of n sophomore year are the most pleasing and, at fhe same time the most painful. Pleasing, not to his conscience, but to his sense of enjoj ' ment of scrapes, jokes, ami a general good time. Painful, by reason of mingled recollections of opportunities neglected, time lost, and hopes destroyed. If we compare the four years of a man ' s college life, we find, that between the greenness of the freshmen, and the dignity of the junior, or the exaltation of the senior, the so|)homore comes at the time of change, the freshman worm being, as it were, metamorphosed into the nobler junior butterfly. During this time of change he lives in his own little world of joy and ease, thinking that Slumber is more sweet than toil, the shore Than labor in the deep raid ocean. But the Class of ' 78 fell not into such a snare. A more quiet, docile, exemplary, I will dare to add, religious sopho- more class, was never seen within the walls of any but a theo- logical school. 14

Page 24 text:

We tnarched before them — wluit check!- ' We slirank not from their pistols, their slung-shots or heavy canes. What unparalleled impudence! What could be more heinous! And to crown all, for these crimes we were, singly and collectively, called simply blackguards What a forgiving spirit! What condescension! As it is the province of the historian to narrate, to criticise, and, by stretching his prerogative, to advise, I may without presumption, advise following freshmen classes during their burials or their class doings ofany kind, to look upon sophomores as fellow- students, not as a band of ruffians ; they will then need no arms. At Commencement our well-beloved sister captured the Wilbur Scholarship, and the Brodhead Medal was given to H. F. J. Porter, for his Essay on the Lehigh Valley. With Commencement we finished sophomore year, and are now juniors. Our College course is half done. That vt have learned much from our work and from our experience with the world and its ways, is to be hoped. That we may learn more and fit ourselves more perfectly for our life-work is the hope of your Historian.