Seattle University - Aegis Yearbook (Seattle, WA)

Page 32 text:

REV. A. J. COl'DEYRK, S. .1. REV. HENRY A. GAHRIKL, S. J. A FACULTY GROUP REV. F. .1. H1RKE. S. J. REV. S. M. FI LIPPI, S. .1.

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S E A T T I. E COLLEGE ANNUAL 29 perfect personification of a vigorous active manhood, now slumped along; a wreck on lifes sea of hope. Up to the canyon where the great lonesome fir extended its arms to him with a sigh of compassion, as only a real, true friend can sigh, he slowly, aimlessly made his way. Here he stopped and turned for one last look. t All was peaceful and still, as though the whole of nature was watching him with hated breath. The house still stood shadowy and silent against the snow. 1 he light still wavered mistily out from the window, but the light of his greatest desire had vanished into the gloomy shadows of disappointment. Then, pointing his arms to the wildly fantastic Aurora that blazed above him, he began in a cold hard voice, as though pronouncing a curse, “And so this is the North—the land of wealth. This is the land of strong men, and true. The land of realized dreams. Bah! It is the land of disappointment. My Idol, of Wealth I sought and built in my mind—it is shattered. And my Idol of Love, which to me was more than anything, everything else—it is shattered. I will go back to my France, my land of sunshine and laughter. It beckons and calls—I will answer. So you sneer and laugh—so. Begone! To me you are forever the “LAND OF SHA 1 I LRKD IDOLS.’ R. E. Cooni.an’, ’IS.

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S E A T T , E C O Jj L E G E A X X U A L .‘51 HJark ©main SOME one has said: “A man must be dead before the general public will appreciate his worth.” Now there is some logic in this assertion. The most noble and zealous states- men and defenders of the American republic were men whose administration and achievements were in their time the basis of the most severe criticism. Today their memory is engraved in golden letters in the hearts of our citizens. Hut the truth of the assertion is still more evident when applied to our leaders in the literary world. While Mr. Clemens’ ability as a humorist was recognized years ago, yet it is not till after his death that due recognition has been given him and that our admiration for him has multiplied. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born November 30, 1835, at Florida, Missouri; but his parents removed shortly afterwards to Hannibal, Missouri, a small town on the Mississippi, where most of the humorist’s boyhood was spent. His mother was one of the earliest, prettiest and brightest of many belles who have given Kentucky an enviable reputation as a nursery of fair women, and her vivacity and wit left no doubt in the minds of her friends concerning the source of her son’s genius. His father, an austere and singularly upright man, died bankrupt when the lad was twelve years old, and the boy had hereafter to make what scramble he could for an education. He got very little learning in school, but. like Franklin, in whom the impulse was native, he turned to the local printing office for some of the education from which he had been cut off. After working in the leading newspaper offices from the Pacific to the Atlantic, he tried his fortune at a new vocation. Piloting on the Mississippi offered a special fascination for Clemens. Of this period of his life he has left us a full account in the delightful series of papers, “Piloting On the Mississippi.” The growth of the railroads and the outbreak of the Civil War put an end to profitable piloting, and at twenty-four he was again in search of new fields of labor. He listened for a moment to the loudly calling sound of the drum, and he was actually in camp for three weeks on the Confederate side. Hut the organized force to which lie belonged was disbanded and he finally did not go “with his section,” either in sentiment or in fact. Mr. Clemens next tried his luck at mining, but he did not seem to possess much of a Midas touch. After his failure as a miner had become evident, even to himself, he accepted a position as local editor on the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. It was here that he first used his pseudonym “Mark Twain,” which, according to some authorities, he borrowed from the vernacular of the river, when the man “heaving the lead” called out “mark twain” instead of “mark two.” Several years afterwards he entered the lecture field. Of these days there is full record, all his readers know, in “Roughing It.” In 1867 Mr. Clemens made the excursion to Europe and the East which he has commemorated in “Innocents Abroad. Shortly after his return he married and located at Huffalo, where he bought an interest in one of the city’s newspapers. Later he moved to Hartford, where he spent the remainder of his life. Thousands have wondered what the special charm of Mark Twain is. Can it be that he was different from any other author that ever lived? His marvelous sense of humor followed him to every place and shone forth in print with a brilliancy never dreamed of before. His humor is as irrepressible as Lincoln’s and bubbles forth on every occasion. Let me make this