Princeton University - Nassau Herald Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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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

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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

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N TIIE NASSAU HERALD. 11 hundred young men just ready to begin work. Let us, therefore, turn to our friends and say: As you watch us to-day planting our ivy 5' as you listen to our Class History, as you see us passing through the fiery ordeal ofthe Presen- tation Oration, do-not suppose that these are meaningless ceremonies, do not, for a moment, believe that we are liv- ing altogether in the past. The night before the attack upon the Redan, a small bodyiof Scotch higlanders started the well- known air of H Annie Lowrief, and in a few moments every Scot in the army hadjoined in that song of his native land. The true grandeur of that moment lay not in the beauty of the air, nor in the memories of the Scottish hills which it awakened, but in the fact that the thought of old Scotland and of their ,homes gave those Highlanders courage and strength for the battle on the morrow. This college has been our home, to its walls many old associations cling. But to- day, as we revive these associations, as we linger once more in our familiar haunts, as we sing our parting ode, our thoughts are looking towards the future, and in these exer- cise we hope to find some of the strength and courage which may be needed so soon. Though the parting of friends may be hard, yet we would not linger longer. There is a call to us from without these academic halls, and we Would not be found sleeping when work is to be done. If you can find in our Class-Day some of the meaning which it conveys to us, you will not look upon our exercises with mere curiosity. And, my classmates, what word of encouragement can we say to one another before the last farewell? If our class associations have taught us anything, they must have taught us the old, old story of the brotherhood to man, that the success of one means the advancement of all 5 that the fail- ure of any is a drag upon the rest. Let us broaden and deepen those feelings of fellowship and comity which we have here learned to entertain towards our fellow'-collegians, until they grow into a large and true philanthropy. Who that goes from this place cannot echo that sentiment which