University of Nebraska College of Law - Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

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. The maxmell Cilub The Brahmins have a legend which tells how one of the lesser deities created the material universe, and one of the ordinary an- gels peopled the earth. But when the subject of the creation of Youth was presented, all the millions of gods were required to work out that most wonderful and most dangerous gift-the youth -of man. The legend further declares that the creation of a grown-up man was of so little consequence, that any one of them might have performed the act with ease, but the creation of youth, with its beauty, its possibilities, and its fateful charm, required the united genius of the pantheon. 'When they had finally wrought out their labor, and beheld what a perilous thing they had made, they debated a thousand years whether they should be- stow this gift upon the human race. VVhen finally it was decided, .a deputation of angels was sent to earth to endow humanity with this precious boon. Their mission done, they gathered about them a group of the young men and maidens, and said: MNOW you have youth-what are you going to do with it? '7 The angels then re-ascended into the skies, the music of their voices floating back to earth and forever echoing from thought to nadir, from heart to Heaven-ttNow you have youth, what are you going to -do with it? Long ago, as this momentous query was echoing over the American desert, it brushed the minds of a group of sons of the 'uunexhausted west.'7 Great souls they were-portions of eter- nity made on no 'tworn-out planjl masters of their own and other's fates. lVhat are we going to do with our youth? Each looked into the otherls eyes and each saw a purpose as good as their combined achievement was great. WVe,ll form the Maxwell Club, its name shall be a tttower of strength,l' its purposes lVeb- sterian. Then on the eve of that H Golden Clasp which binds to- gether the volume of the week '7 we'll meet together to worship at the shrine of the Attic quartette.

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56 THE Drensr if death does not gather him in, will some day reach the supreme bench of the United States. His aggressive personality, his pro- foundity of thought, and his remarkable legal erudition will make him one of the brightest stars that has ever shown above the wool sack at Wfashington. Riiclyley was made for a hermit. He studies alone and of nightsf' He walks alone to and from recitations and sits alone in class. He resents familiarities and condemns frivolities. He will retire to the sand hills in the northern part of the state and formu- late a new system of religion. Risser is a tighter. He U scraps just for the fun of Hscrap- pingj' and Hchews the ragu from sheer contrariness. He likes unpopular causes and champions unpopular men and measures. He will become the leader of the prohibition party in Chicago. Smith is one of the best men in the class. He does not intend to waste his talents on the law. With an eye to the main chance he will go to Milwaukee and start a brewery. flute is the only student in the University who is familiar enough with the members of the faculty to go into their private oiiilces and give them pointers as to how the College of Law should be run. He will some day become private secretary to the president of the United States. Thompson expects to compile a cyclopedia. VVhile preparing his thesis he read and made extracts from thirty-seven thousand cases, and habitually employed two colored gentlemen to carry his notes from place to place. He has suflicient experience to tit him for the task he expects to make his life work. Wiztte aspires to the ofHoe of postmaster in Carson precinct of Grant county, Idaho. His extended political experience will materially assist him in securing this plum. Mr. White is well qualilied for the position he seeks. He has repeatedly walked into Lincoln from his Douglas county home, and he has served one term as sergeant-at-arms of the Maxwell Club. D. L. Wilson has a good deal of the philanthropist about him. He believes in doing good to mankind whenever and wherever he is given an opportunity, For that reason and because the occu- pation will be both lucrative and agreeable, he has decided to found and push to succcess a new Greek letter fraternity.

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58 THE Diensr Their work accomplished, the hlaxwell Club has now for many moons shed its beams of beneiicent influence upon all who come within the pales of the Law School. VVe may judge of its use- fulness in the past only by the magic effect it has had on some of the present members. Take Goodner, for instance, when he was first initiated he was so bashful he could scarce whisper his own name, now he can stand erect with both feet squarely on the floor, his left hand ensconsed in his pocket, the right poised in mid-air, and make the Hworse appear the better reason. And hear Manville's words of 'tlearned lengthf' or Wilson, 4' And 'tis remarkable that they Talk most who have the least to say. and Risser, whose resistless eloquence wields at will that M fierce- democracy 3 or Smith's Hwords, words, words , or Killen, graced with all the power of words, so known and so honored-by some, or Gates, who could 'cplead a bad cause down to worsen, and WVhite, when he speaks ' 'K The air, a chartered libertine, is still, And the mute Wonder lurketh in men's ears To steal his sweet and honeyed sentences. Miller would Undertake to prove by force Of argument, a man's no horsef' W31'H61'7S tongue drops mannag and Abbott, I say unto you let him have Hcontingent remaindersl' for his theme and his elo- quence will enthrone him with the arch-angels. And there is Greene, he can talk of every cause until he is hoarse and all he says is law, and Parker with that awful wisdom which inspects, discerns, compares, Weighs, separates, seizes the right and holds. it to the last. When Greenfield addresses us his arising seems a pillar of state. Deep on his front engraven deliberation sits and public care? There, too, are Flaherty and Coleman. VVell, 4' God made them and therefore let them pass for rnenf' ln view of these and many more examples as notorious, it would seem none would doubt the efliciency of the Maxwell Club. Yet there is many a coy excuse for not participating regularly in its delibe1'ations, and many a vain denial of the benefits gained by those who diligently attend its meetings. For in this miniature