Princeton University - Nassau Herald Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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THE NASSAU HERALD. 11 Glass Elratiim. BY DUNCAN EDWARDS, N. Y. DEAR CLASSMATES : Amid the emotions of this time and place he who is your Class Orator cannot but feel his duty to be doubly sacred and ditlicult. Amidst the excitement of the day, amidst these joyous ceremonies of Commence- ment, he is to voice for you the rising pangs of sorrow at parting with the beloved scenes and associations of Princeton. Like the ivy upon its walls, our affections have been cling- ing very closely to Nassau Hall, and only now We begin to realize how tightly they have wrapped their tendrils about the time-stained buildings. The campus with its tall trees, as we have seen them in autumn dropping their withered leaves in heaps upon the familiar paths, as we have seen them in winter with their long, thin arms wrapped in white mufrs of snow, as we have seen t-hem in such summer morn- ings as the present, full-leaved, moist with dew, and bathed in sunshine, the campus, with its grand lines of buildings, grand no less in the beauty of the present than in historical perspective, the campus, which has witnessed our enthusi- asm, blazed with our tires, and resounded with our cheers, has become endeared to us as a personal friend. And as we have lately sat together' through the long June evenings on the steps of Old North, with our eyes upon the fair, green, familiar face of that campus, and our voices swell- ing together in the songs of Old Nassau, we have felt our hearts drawn closer to each other, the spirit of our class relationship, the fellowship of common feelings, common experience, common aspirations, has become almost tangible, 2 .

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THE NASSAU HERALD. But still his facewas calm and full of peace. Not far diverse from other lives was his C111 varied schools the course of training isj, Here pages blotted, blistered by our tears, There records of regrets and doubts andufears 5 What chronicles of triumph and defeat, Of struggle and temptation and retreat I Whether in light or darkness, where the soul 'Which boasts not some ambition and a goal ? Altho' men speak not, yet their actions tell What are the hopes' that in the bosom swell. Forsooth, tho' divers paths their sandals press, 'Tis long a chosen road to happiness. Not alway for the fount of childhood's health, Nor yet the stone that yields imagined wealth, Do mortals labor, but to find in life Some inward satisfaction-free from strife. I have oonversed with more than one of Alfred Since he died-I scarce can say he's dead- Who knew him well, aye, and loved him, too. Should I affirm to what his peace was due, I'd take the words that rural folks express, Who told me of his great unselfishnessf' With youthful spirits eager for the race, We boldly enter in and take our place 5 But not without a forethought of the way We go, but cannot see-much less portray. But still there comes in every life a time of rest, When patience and not valor is the testg When thought is uppermost, and hands are weak 5 When lips their wonted accents cease td speak. Not all of us shall bide at even-time, ' Grirt round by everlasting hills sublime, , Or musing in the twilight hours of life, Shall calm review each chapter in the strife, But when from toil the word shall come to cease May we have found that grace which bringeth lasting peace 7

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18 THE NASSAU HERALD. and the sense of parting has crept upon us like a feeling of pain. I. Even as the emigrant leaving his native land looks back from the deck of the ship upon the land of his birth, already beginning to grow dim in the distance, so we look back to-day upon our past, we recall the generous rivalries that have marked it, those kindly struggles where victor and vanquished could both share in the success. We recall the home life of Princeton which clusters about certain pleasant rooms, which are the holy of the holies of 'our college recollections. We recall the manly sympathy which has brightened our joys and lightened half the burden of our sorrows. And we cannot but wish that in the future we may find rivals as generous, victors as kindly, and sympathy as ready, as we have among our classmates of '85, It is quite true that our blessings brighten as they take their iight, and it may be that we exaggerate to-day the joys of the past four years. Exaggerate the honesty of our rivalries, the generosity of our impulses, our good will and the abounding pleasantness of our work here, and quite forget the -selfishness, the bitterness of the past, and the grinding, often apparently useless, toil. These latter have existed, for college life is but mortal life. College friendships are very precious to-day, but there have been times when we have cried out with Emerson, Friends, such as we desire, are dreams and fables. There have been times when we have tired of all this training for life, and have looked with quickened longing onto life itself And so to-day, although there is a feeling of sorrow at part- ing, the absorbing thought for us is the future, and it lies before us misty and vague, suggesting wondrous things to the imagination. A bow of promise is arched over it, at whose ends lie treasures of fame, of gold, of power. I can say truly, we feel like the little child, eager to rush out in the rain, over the Wet fields, through the swollen brooks, to find the fabled pot of gold that lies at the end of the rain- bow's path. Away with thoughtsiof doubt or hesitation.