Princeton University - Nassau Herald Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

Page 17 text:

i 12 THE NASSAU IIERALD. the nineteenth century is growing more and more to under- stand- I have felt with my race, I am one with my kind 7 Let us then, in all that awaits us, be true to these facts, true to our manhood, true to ourselves, true to Old Nassau. I would not preach to you an abstract morality-a scheme theoretically perfect, but practically worthless. It is a plain fact of experience that life becomes happier, more satisfac- tory, more enjoyable, the more thoroughly we identify and bring ourselves into harrnony with the struggles, the suc- cesses, and the failures of the great mass of our kind. It is only then that we realize what is the true glory of humanity -the true nobleness of our own nature. With some such thoughts as these, let us spend the few hours which remain to us. And when the farewell shall have been spoken, when the class shall have ceased to exist as such, let us be strong in our hopes for the future, rather than sad over memories of the past.

Page 16 text:

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

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THE NASSAU IIERALD. 13 Sling: Qratinn. HOWARD BRYANT, MD. CLASSMATES :-For four years the tide of life has borne us on through our joyous college days at Nassau Hall. N ow the refiuent wave is reached, and the ideal life of the student is soon to be merged into that of the practical man of the world. Will you not, therefore, pardon your fellow- student of to-day if he ventures to confess to you some of thefthrobbings of the heart and the impulses of the mind that this occasion inspires? More than a generation ago Emerson wasplaughed at for his transcendentalism when he advised every young man to hitch his wagon to a star. But when, a few days since, he was taken to his burial, all men did homage to a life which had embodied his striking phrase. It means that life should not be spent in paltry works which serve our pot and bag alone, but in the path of the celestial circuits where we can harness evil agents, the powers of darkness, and force them to serve against their will the ends of wisdom, virtue, and love. To-morrow will offer to each of us a future, and with it come our successes or our defeats. Our occupations will each have their es- pecial moral characteristics, their peculiar temptations, and their peculiar influences. We are now upon the threshold of- life, and, gathering up our energies, let us resolve to follow the good, ashamed to lie, to live beyond our means, to court our false superiors, to 2