THE BATTALION, College Station, Texas.
college is of great benefit in future work. It not only helps to
avoid disappointments and misfortune, but will aid in the en
joyments of the pleasures and successes of life as they in turn
come to us. It is sometimes said, there will be degrees in
heavt ,as enjoyments, but to each one the cup of happiness will
be fid ? and complete. It is a beautiful thought; and finds apar-
aliel on earth. There are degrees in education, but each one is
perm ted to enjoy do the fullest, that which he has. Not only
so, but the more acquired, the better should the trained mind
be able to meet new dif multies and grasp them with the con
scious strength of a master. 'Mr. Lincoln is frequently refer
red to as a typical American. A man who reached life’s high
est station without a college training. But Mr. Lincoln said,
that he never ceased to pay'tribut - to this early misfortune,
and as years go by, and the sciences multiply, training and
culture become more and more a necessity. It has been said
that Horace Greely was the only man that ever mastered the
English language without a knowledge of Latin. So it will be
in a few years, masters among men must have been trained
for the race in the severest strictures of college mental disci
pline. It is true that occassionally there will rise from the
dead level of mental mediocrity, the towering heights of gen
ius. “But in most cases what is termed bright ej^ed genius,
is the students evil-eyed genius—the real siren that sings
amid the rocks along the students pathway, to deceive him in
to false hopes.”
My fellow students, the greatest blessing provided by na
ture is the ability to work. Deprived of this power and no
legacy on earth ie capable of full enjoyment. And perhaps
the advantage which one student has over another is not so
much a question of native ability, as a difference in the power
to perform work. In a measure I believe the ability to do a
large amount of mental labor is a natural gift. But it is prin
cipally acquired, and comes as a result of careful training.
Let me admonish you to give it your timely attention—and it
will bring ripened fruit of priceless value with coming years.
On behalf of the first class I wish to extend to you our hearty
good feeling. In after time when we all return as visiting
alumni,’it will be pleasant to recall the incidents and pleas
ures of college life. The few years which now seem to separ
ate us so far will vanish with our increasing age, but the ties
of friendship will only grow stronger and brighter.
Especially to the second class I am commissioned to carry
an expression of the warmest friendship, from my fellow-class
mates. By virtue of diligence in studies, devotion to duty,
and a high standard of manly conduct, you become today
clothed with the responsibilities and duties of first class-men.
I wish to assure you that in the opinion of my class, you are
eminently capable to wear its honors* We feel that you will
transmit untarnished and unspotted to your successors, the
good name of the institution. Be honest, be courageous, be
honorable, in the future, as you have been in the past. And
be assured that my class-mates will ever hold as life’s garner
ed treasure the associations and friendships formed with you.
Mr. President and gentlemen^f the faculty, with peculiar
gratitude we re-call your services and our obligations. Our
relation has not been merely formal and official. We feel that
your council and support will not fail us when beyond the
reach of the class-room. Sometimes in your o fficial hand
there may have rested the cruel knife of the surgeon; but we
know it was tempered with kindly feeling and a fathers ten
derness. Our life is only a little gem of time between two
eternities, and you more than we have felt the necessity of our
proper training and guidance. You have taught us that the
sufficiency of our merit is to know that our merit is not suf
ficient. To strive for nobler aims and higer purposes as we
begin the active duties of life.
Fellow-classmates, gladly indeed would I pass this moment
by. Life’s opportunities lie inviting our talent, and like a
splendid day of May, the diamond dews of its rosy morn,
burst into blossoming hopes your heart and mine. We glance
down the vista of coming years, with eager desire to pierce
their concealing shadows. It is not expected that we shall es
cape the difficulties and disappointments that belong to an
active ambitious life. But in the darkest hour, merit will
rise superior to oppression—and draw luster from reproach.
Let us hold steadfast to the attachments we have formed here
the golden chain of friendship forged in college life, should
remain unbroken even through the trying hour of death. Our
personal relations are now indeed to be more or less separated;
but this morning they come back to me in the full richness of
life’s brightest and happiest hours. Let us remember the
good, treasure the virtuous, hallow the generous and forget
any unhappy hours that ever marred or tarnished a friend
ship, that like the vestal flame of liberty in a patriot’s heart,
should never go out. Finis.
Fat JVIen’s Club.
On last Friday evening the fat men of the corps met in Mr.
Cushing’s quarters for the purpose of organizing a fat men’s
club. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Cushing, who
stated its object in his humorous style. When the election
of officers was declared in order Mr. Bocock moved that the
heaviest member be president, the second heaviest man
vice president, and so on down the list. The motion car
ried and the meeting proceeded in a body to the scales at
the creamery to see who were to be their officers, The follow
ing is the result: I. L. Goldberg, president; Daniel Cushing,
vice president; J. H. Bocock, secretary; 4be Gross, sergeant-
at-arms.
Miscellany Department,
A. M. TODD and W. DAZEY - - - - - Euitors.
The Romance of Every Day Liife.
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
Each have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time, plays many parts.’’
Thus says he whom Milton speaks of as “Sweetest Sliake-
speare, Fancy’s Child,” and from his works we may well be
lieve that he kept that ever in his mind; for undoubtedly
the secret of his power lay in his wide observation and his
keen insight into human nature. Human nature may be
compared to a jewel handed down as an heirloom from father
to son through many generations. Although the jewel may
be many times reset, it still remains the same; and so, though
human nature may be in or with what condition of-mankind
we may be associated: we still see love, hatred, jealousy,
fear, good will and other characteristics of human nature
manifested in all their different degrees and phases, and the
pyramids and monuments of 5,000 years ago prove the same
thing. It is an old proverb that “Truth is stranger than fic
tion,” and our greatest writers recognize this truth and draw
their characters from persons they meet and converse within
every day life. Our best writers are those who simply hold
up to us the romance of reality and the poetry of every day