University of Maryland College Park - Terrapin / Reveille Yearbook (College Park, MD)

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The Maryland Agricultural College BY PRESIDENT R. W. SYLVESTER. It ' s past, shown in the REVEILLE of ' 97. Some of its hopes for the future in ' 98. HE necessities for such a college have been felt by thoughtful men for ages. Liebig in Germany, Boussingault in France, Juthre Tull in England, gave rise to a public sentiment which called for trained scientific minds to observe, tolerate and draw conclusions from that division of humau activity which devotes itself to the development of the purely animal and veg- etative functions of life. There are many popular misconceptions of things. The old scholasticism of mediaeval Europe would inculcate the thought that in the humanities are to be found all that is worthy of the e.xercise of man ' s intellectual powers. This imperfect understanding of the universe arose from the misconception that the Creator did not thread every created thing. That His handiwork is as sacred in the subtile principle of life which animates the flower and the mystic law which shapes the crystal, as it is the power which holds the planets to their orbits or which guides the course of national or individual life. Yes, we are beginning to realize that there are tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones and good in everything. Science so-called is prop- erly but the handwriting of God. Therefore, in all of its departments it is equally important. A man of small mental power emphasizes the line of his pe- culiar work into an importance superior to that of any other. The breadth of conception, which views all the sister sciences as organs of the complex or- ganism known as the universe, is not his. He has not yet wakened to the realization of the great law of the conservation of energy — indestructible as matter itself, disappearing and reappearing. Now as a beam of sunlight quickening a plant into growth as a kinetic influence and becoming poten-

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The Editors Apology, h a. (T NDEED we feel that a peculiar responsibility devolves upon us in regard to the duties of the publication of this second volume of the REVEILLE. We have never had any experience in such an undertaking, but we have used our feeble powers as well as we were able to do under the circumstances, and if we are able to add a single laurel to the former edition, we will feel as though we Iiave not toiled without reward. Before launching our modest little craft in the deep waters of public criticism, we wish to proffer our most earnest thanks to those who have given us a helpful advice, and to earnestly hope that our critics be lenient on us. We have not been, as Seniors heretofore, with scarcely any work during the latter half of their last year, but we have had the same amount of work the year throughout. With all our work we had very little time to devote to the Annual. But, knowing of the desire on the part of the students to have an Annual, we devoted, in order to comply with their wishes, every spare moment to its preparation, and now, in brotherly spirit of college fellowship, we present this volume, trusting that the facts given may prove interesting and the jokes furnish enjoyment. We are proud of the prosperity of our alma uiatcr chronicled in the annals of educational history, and we believe that her past success only gives promise of the possibilities of the future. We are, with cordial respect and every possible good wish for the highest personal happiness and success of our readers. The Editors. 9

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