Princeton University - Nassau Herald Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

Page 14 text:

THE NASSAU HERALD. 9 down over parts of every young man's path, darkening his outlook and awakening the startling question, H Wliat am I good for? If, then, some of our friendships have been made late, if they have been formed only in time to be severed, let us concentrate into this one day, this day which we are to spend'together, this day of our Class, some of that sympathy and fellowship which should have brightened our whole course. Another source of regret which is present in the minds of many of us, I may almost say of all of us, is a sense of lost opportunities. This is an old, old story, but as we look back over four years which have been taken from our lease of life, and ask ourselves, 'f What has been accomplished in these years? we realize what is the value of oppor- tunities far more vividly than when our college course was a thing of the future. What one of us can say that from these four years have been reaped all the golden fruits with which they were laden? Even those who have used' time most conscienciously must despise the motives which have been their spur. Too often petty ambition, or the force of habit, has swallowed up all nobler incentives. How little have we known of the love of truth, for truth's own sake? How our minds have been warped by old pre- judices and preconceived ideas, which have effectually shut out fuller and higher truths. On the other hand, there are few Whose careers at college have been blanks, marked by no acquisitions made, by no honest efforts put forth. The aims which we proposed to ourselves when we came here were so diverse that no two can be judged by the same standard of success. There are many things which can be learned here, many things which are far more important and practically useful than scholarly attainments. It is, therefore, impossible for any one man to judge of the suc- cess or failure of his classmates. Each one stands or falls before the bar of his own conscience. There is one sad memory which I cannot pass over in silence, although to revive it is like tearing open a Wound

Page 13 text:

8 THE NASSAU IIERALD. false if I should hint that our love for one another and for the institution of which we are soolii to be graduates, is so strong as to blind us to all defects. I should be but a poor exponent of the sentiments which crowd into our hearts to- day, if I should connne your thoughts to thepast, with all its painful and pleasant memories. Iiet us acknowledge that We are glad that the preparatory steps in our lives have been taken. Let us admit that neither Old Nassau, our class- mates, nor ourselves, are what we might wish them. Let us realize that the future is vastly more important than the past. We shall thus be saved from maudlin sentimentalism, While We open our hearts to all manly emotions. And liow varied 'are these emotions which crowd upon us! what a strange mixture of pleasure and regret do they occasion. It is pleasant to remember long spring evenings spent beneath the elms of the campus, to tune our ears once more to the old college songs, to live over in memory, those bursts of wild enthusiasm with Which we have welcomed college victories. What can be a source of truer pleasure than the memory of our friendships? Yet, as we look over the past, many of us are filled with regret that We did not realize, until the time of departure and of parting was at hand, how much nobility, how large capacities for true friendship, existed in the breasts of our classmates. Many of us, in the early years of our course, formed acquaintances, pleasant acquaintances, but wanting the marks of friendship. It was not until near the end that We discovered the real sympathy, the com- munity of tastes and aims which binds us together. And this We have realized only in time to make it all the harder to say farewell. Four years is a short time in which to find all the good that there is in a friend. Yet, short as some of our friendships have been, how very pleasant have they proved? A college friendship is one of the closest ties which can bind men together. What can draw men into closer sympathy than to lay in common their plans for the future, in common to build their air-castles, in common to pass through those gray mists of despondency which settle

Page 15 text:

10 THE NASSA U HERALD. a freshly healed. It is the memory of a spring-time, two years ago, where three, who had been counted in our num- ber, who had lived among us,who had gained our affections, died, one of them in our very midst. Shall we ever, could we ever forget that fatal morning in June, when the news fell on us with a suddenness which made it appalling, that Montague Ely was dead? My classmates, it is right that we should remember those scenes, those experiences, which were the saddest that our class has passed through. The frightful stillness which reigned, the awful forebodin gs which were fully realized before that day had passed, are vividly impressed upon our memories. Let us not attempt to stifle such remembrances, for they may teach us a healthful lesson. They teach us that a class which has passed through such experiences is bound close together by that past in which all its members have a share. It might be possible for other classes. to forget their unity. It should be impos- sible for us. Common bereavements form a closer tie than common prosperity. Classmates, let us keep this thought present with us to-day, and in it may unpleasant memories be lost. But our thoughts should not dwell on the past alone. We shall miss the significance of the day unless we recognize its close connection with the future. There is no time when young men attract so much attention in society at large as when they are-to use the orthodox phrase-going forth. The papers are full of their doings, their friends sit by and watch in admiration and expectancy, and as for the young men themselves-why, they feel as if they were prize calves at a cattle-show, whose chief duty is to look equal to the occasion. Such, my classmates, is our situation to-day. We seem to be attracting much attention, and I, for my part, am not ready to say that attention could be better bestowed. But there is- one thing which we cannot forget without making a fatal mistake. The interest which we excite is not due to any past attainments or achievements of ours, but simply to the grand potentiality which centres in a