Southwestern University - Souwester Yearbook (Georgetown, TX)

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AN ADDRESS TO THE CLASS OF 1912 We hail you, Brothers, from the marts of trade. From shop and forum; farm and factory; From mine and mansion; pulpit, and from press; From plain and prairie; from beyond the sea; From hamlet, and from city; and from where Men fight alone their battles, with the soil, Or with the mountains, or, in foreign lands. With sin and sorrow, squalor and disease; From every corner of the busy world; From North we hail you; and from South and West And East we give you greeting; Hail, O, Hail! Strangers are we, perhaps; and yet we were Nursed by a common mother, and we knew The same dear places, daily walked and talked With the same masters, met the same defeats, Thought the same thoughts, and found the same ideals, Holding at last, enshrined in our hearts, The same fond mem ' ries. Of the tiny stream Limping along between its banks of stone, Tripping o ' er shallows where the minnows p ' ay, Gliding by banks of sloping meadow-land, Pausing in woodsy glades as if to hold The pictured image of the sturdy oak And elm and willow, hung with hoary moss. God-giv ' n restorative for tired minds, To linger on its banks, and while away An afternoon of pleasure unalloyed. More than a pleasure; inspiration, too: Here came Jess Stanford, and his brother, Frank, Metcalfe, and Jones, and all who went before, With Smith and others, who the murmur caught Of Nature ' s oratory, and the sweep Of God ' s own eloquence, to sound it forth In pleas impassioned, or in grave debate. Here Mosely walked and wooed the wayward Muse To flights of fancy; Walling heard the Voice Of that Divine Infinitude, whose name Is God; and uttered forth his heart in song. Here later Bowden came, to dream and sing, Philosopher, pure-minded, and the friend Of all the friendless, the interpreter Of Life and Nature, whose sweet, limpid verse, Clear as the viol and mellow as the lute, Bespoke a poet-soul unspoiled by time. The morning hour of prayer, when from the desk, The words of life were read, by one of those Who were our teachers, or by one who came From that wide world that lay beyond our ken; Dreamed of, and known in part, but full of power To charm our fancy. Travelers were they, And men of learning, ministers of God, Who told us mighty tales of mighty men, Giving their lives for Him in distant lands. Of women, too. One I remember well. A fellow-student she, who put aside Her gay young life to follow Christ into The land of morning Calm; but as the flowers Wither before the sun-blast, so she died. Their speech was full of wisdom and advice, Kindly, ennobling, pointing ever up To true success. Then, when the speaker ceased. Chapman, or Hendry, as the case might be, Led in the singing; or in other years Some other singer. Gloria was the tune, Or Faith of Our Fathers; and we stood and sang 13

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY ©fftcfra JAMES KlLGORE President A. J. WEEKS Secretary C. C. CODY Treasurer (ttirrnlibr Committee C. M. BISHOP Chairman C. C. CODY Secretary John. R. Allen A. A. Booty E. G. Gillet Jas. Kilgore R. G. Mood B. D. Orgain A. F. Bentley Otis Truelove MKest Sesae Conference Rev. Thomas Gregory Rev. J. T. King Rev. A. J. Weeks Rev. F. B. Buchanan Mr. W. H. Hagy Mr. B. D. Orgain Mr. J. E. Pritchett Rev. T. F. Sessions Mr. J. S. SMYTH Mr. M. D. Slator Rev. J. G. Miller Rev. A. S. Moore Mr. W. A. Palmer !5ortl)U)ei3t tZTerae Conference Rev. J. G. Putnam Rev. G. S. Hardy Mr. Walter Nelson Mr. Otis Truelove Rev. Simeon Shaw Mr. Geo. W. Barcus Mr. W. G. Swenson Rev. J. M. Peterson Rev. R. G. Mood Mr. N. P. Doak 12ortJ) terau Conference Rev. O. S. Thomas D. H. Aston Mr. J. J. Russell Mr. Sil Stark Rev. W. F. Bryan Mr. L. Blaylock Mr. H. C. King (german Conference REV. C. A. LEHMBERG Mr. C. H. Grote Rev. W. L. Nelms Rev. C. R. Wright Mr. A. F. Bentley Central QLettw Conference Rev. Horace Bishop Rev. E. Hightower Mr. F. F. Downs Mr. H. S. Wilson Rev. James Campbell Mr. M. B. Lockett Mr. T. L. McCullough Heias Conference Rev. Nathan Powell Rev. Ellis Smith Rev. Jas. Kilgore Rev. L. B. Elred Mr. R. M. Kelly Mr. Cone Johnson Mr. W. S. Gibbs Rev. I. F. Betts Mr. W. N. Weiss Mr. Robert a. John 12

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Sometimes with feeling; but, alas, too oft Our thoughts strayed off to other fields and themes. The dearest mem ' ries linger ' round the men Whose lives touched ours with compelling power To mould and fashion as the potter hath. Upon his wheel, to turn the shapeless clay. Until, beneath his skillful finger-tips, It grows a vessel, fitted for the wine Of sacrament; and subtle as the strains Which gods invoked to raise the walls of Troy. First, and the Nestor of them all, was one. The dean in title and in honor, who Bore reverently his years, who best was known As friend and counselor; of keenest wit, Yet kindly: may his latter years reflect The sunlight of his influence, as the West, At evening, catches up the beams of day, And flings them back, in glory doubled twice. Yet softened and subdued. The sunny smile That shone upon us in the Latin room. Was symbol of a nature, highly bred. Lofty in feeling, yet, withal, so veiled In modesty, that few did find it out. But those who did found that a vein of humor Lay beneath, sparkling and clear as crystal. Breaking forth to fling a spray of laughter O ' er our hearts and minds. Lord, crown his life With quiet evening ' mid his books and friends. The beating, pulsing fire of poesy Ran in the veins, and sparkled in the eye Of him who led us upward to the height Of dread Parnassus, there to introduce Us to the Masters, Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Burns, Byron, Shakespeare, Milton and Lanier. How did our hearts expand, to sit and hear His clear, deep voice, as from the hidden page Of his true memory, like the diamond drops From mountain spring.remembered things leaped forth Couplet, and stanza, epigram, and phrase, Culled from wide reading, yet so blent and fused That none would call them other than his own. Poet he was, yet nobler name was his, A manly, honest type of gentleman. So may the God of Peace be ever near To bless his home, and bring him to the Grail. Time fails me to recall those other names, Moore, Reedy, Allen, Barcus, and the rest. Count yourselves happy, Brothers, to have known Such men as these, and to have walked a while In their instruction. In the darker hours, When clouds shall gather, and the night seems long. Their mem ' ries shall rise, to shine like stars Along your pathway, and the words they spake Shall seem like music, comforting the weak, Or ringing as the trumpet to the strong. Thus as you fare forth to the fighting line, Do we who go before, with those behind Hail you as brothers, comrades, and as friends: Hail to you. Brothers, Hail and Hail and Hail! E. S. ALUMNUO ' 10 14