Princeton University - Nassau Herald Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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THE NASSAU HERALD. 15 have lived and died. Let us, therefore, content ourselves with life as we find it. Let us not neglect an honest oppor- tunity to gain worldly honors. Above all things, let us be true to our individual being. ,How many lives have been lost for want of the-unerring compass which -it supplies! How many a brilliant genius has drifted into shallows or been wrecked by hidden rocks, because of a refusal to be guided by the pole star of truth, which never misleads, for, be assured, our failures in life are nearly always the result of our own errors. Whether the result shall be victory or defeat depends upon our moral courage, our purity of soul, our heroism of heart, and last, but not least, 4' the rarity of Christian charityf' Classmates, we are now about to plant the ivy, which is emblematic of our existence as a Class. During four years of college life friendships have been formed that will know no breaking. What lessons of independence, patience, and self-reliance, gives to us the 'C Ivy green that 'creepeth over ruins old! The little ivy plant, as it mantels and canopies the picturesque towers of fallen castles, or trails over some lonely tomb, in a varied language, speaks of the spirit of the past, telling, perhaps, the story of a once great, but now forgotten people, or, solve for us the mys- teries of the shadowy unknown 5 or records how brave men, in ancient times, wreathed the ivy into garlands, and gave them as a national reward for heroic virtues upon the battle-Held. May it be no less expressive or historic when you, my classmates, after many years, near the close of the last fight in the battle of life, with eye undimmed and mental powers unabatedf' return again to Nassau Hall and claim, as your rewcwcl, a garland, wreathed by our Alma Maier, from the ivies we have planted upon many a yester- day, and the heart's'enduring fellowships of to-day.

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14 THE NASSAU HERALD. deceive our honest inferiors, or to yield to the applause and fascinations of might without right, power propped by in- justice, unsustained by honor. If our theater of life be in gorgeous palaces, whose stately columns, representing the wealth and art of the day, shall in an hour become a mass of worthless ruins, or in broad acres loaded with rich grain, which shall, by a single evolution of nature, be changed into a desolate waste, or whatever individual or national calamities shall come, may our principles be such that they will give to us in our adversity strength by which to re- build our fallen fortunes. But if we would overcome circumstances and wrest the prizes from unwilling fortune, we must labor with uncon- querable diligence. We, who are to be the future trades- men, artisans, merchants, lawyers, and divines, in order to be honest, temperate, and happy, must labor in our youth. All habits gather by unseen degrees, As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas. Early form habits marked by diligence,Iselfiabnegation, and moderation. Grreat is the man who never rests upon the mountain top while yet a peak remains unclimbed. But for what end are we toiling? What motives are lead- ing us on? To what goal are we bending our steps ? Is our ambition simply to gain an honorable position and the prizes of life, or are We struggling, with heroic efforts, for the performance of high and noble deeds, that we may aid and uplift suffering humanity, that we may be wise and just in whatever occupations we undertake, and thus leave an example and an influence that shall live after us of which our country may well be proud? . All may not become great. If we go back through the ages and recall the military chieftains and heroes, the master minds in art, science and literature, and the great political diplomatists, the creators of kingdoms and empires, we shall count them all but drops amidst the unceasing roll and rush of the unresting sea of the millions of human beings that

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16 THE NASSAU HERALD. Fllifresentatiuit Gratten. E. B. CRITCHLOW. Geniuthj' some one has said, 4' and the World are an- tagonithticf' Founded as this principle is on the universal, necessary, and intuitive ideas of the human mind, it can neither be affirmed nor denied Without intellectual suicide. Its explanation lies in the fact that, in geniuses, those quali- ties of mind and heart most calculated to Win our esteem are too often like Peck Pierson's moustache, beneath the surface, potential rather than actual. On the contrary, what seem to be virtues are oftentimes vices in disguise, and your true man of genius sails through the World under false colors. g It is my humble duty, ladies and gentlemen, to point out the devil-upment of character, to differentiate for you this promiscuous mass of genius before me, and to place each individual of this remarkable Class before the World in his own proper light. Lest my characterization should be faulty, after the manner of Billy Sutphen and some other drama- tists, Ihave prepared a few presents Wherewithal to make my meaning clear. , I proceed then, Without further delay, to fill up THE FAMILY CIRCLE. Will Mr. Pop Dunlap and Miss Dolly Doland please lock arms and Walk this Way? And Dad Wheeler and Mother