Newspaper Page Text
V"*? 'V.- '*ST7'- .Jr. .
VOL. III. RICHMOND, 1
Reminiscences
By l
There is something especially attractive in
youth, but among their many drawing qualities,
nothing appeals to me more than their unconsciousness
of danger, their generosity in invitation
and their utter blindness to what they do.
This was strikingly shown when the young
manager of this annual invited an old man to
"reminisce," without placing any limit upon
his pen.
Where these random thoughts will end, 1
Know not. I only know that the very name of
Hampden Sidney takes me back to the happiest
days of my youth, and that vanished
hands touch me on every side, and that the very
air seems alive with voices that have long been
still.
As I look back over a life that has already
reached the sere and yellow leaf stage,
three periods stand out distinct?the
war period, the college perid, and the
period when life with its burdens and
44/1U *
responsibilities confronted me. The O
war period, the college period, and the
citeinents, but it also had so much g
death, such a struggle for bare exist- To
ence, so many sad faces and broken
hearts, that even now I feel its gloom He'll
and shadow. While middle age has on
had its pleasures and compensations,
and a measureable degree of success, "Chri
it has also had its hard problems and
bitter disappointments. ^^he
To the college period 1 turn for its ^
unalloyed pleasures, its sweet com- ^re ^
panionships, and its years of profitable
study. As J. Addison Smith "And
would say, "1 have passed the merid- jjov
ian of life, and am going to the con- And h
fines of eternity," and as I look Gav
through the many years that have The L
passed since my college days, I can Throu
see that amid those unattractive sur
roundings and creature discomforts, I
received impressions that have counted for
much in my life.
In the fall of '71 I caught my first glimpse
of the old barnlike building. To a homesick
-"D V hoy there could have been nothing more unin
uP ^ viting?an oblong building of rough brick, with
<fcC,0l four halls, each independent of the other; bare
class-rooms; and dormitory rooms rough and
, Yj 1 cheerless in every way?all standing in the
I centre of a campus, almost destitute of trees,
N ' A ii- ? ^
on i AjmuNi: ui nct jr sun in nit; summer, ana a
<\b> 4H continent of mud in the winter.
From the opening of winter till late in the
spring, overshoes were a necessity, for there
were no pavements in the village, and he who
adventured forth by night minus a lantern, on
calico intent, was doomed to disaster as well
ggmn
wmm^vj^sow
NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA, NOVEMI
?, Hampden-Si
^ei). James R. Bridges, C
as disappointment. In those days hazing was an
unknown art, and the newcomer was persona
grata?the material out of which the famous
literary societies were recruited. So that the
old men put forth their best efforts to win him
over to their particular society.
Several of the new boys were invited to a
room where apples and cider were dispensed,
and where 1 first met Old Crews?who was
known as the "Widow's Crews," an old fellow
who had served in the Confederate army, and
had been wounded in the leg, and who bravely
fought his way through college and the seminary,
overcoming difficulties that would have
daunted men less in earnest, and who lived for
several years doing good work in the ministry.
Of course there were many jokes told on
THE BEST!
hi wains me Dest. ?le in the far-off ages
e claimed the firstling of the Hock, the finest u
wheat,
till He asks His own with gentlest pleading
lay their highest hopes and brightest talents al
feet.
not forget the feeblest service, humblest love;
ly asks that of our store we give to Him
The best we have.
st gives the best. He takes the hearts we offer
I fills them with His glorious beauty, joy, and p
II His service, as we're growing stronger,
calls to grand achievements still increase.
chest gifts for us on earth or in heaven above,
id in Christ. In .Jesus we receive
The best he had."
is our best too much? O friends, let us rememb
v once our Lord poured out His soul for us,
a the prime of His mysterious manhood
e up His precious life upon the cross!
ord of lords by whom the worlds were made,
gh bitter grief and tears gave us
The best he had."
him some illustrating his courage, and some his
scholarship, but none of which I shall tell, be
cause, however much I may have laughed at
him then, I can now see that it took courage
and labor to do what he did, and it -is my
prayer that when 1 report about my life's work,
1 TTlflV Y\ Q VP Qo nfAA/1 o aP ^a?a
m.m%m * V uo gv/UVl C* X CUUI U Ui tuuiagc^ UCVU"
tion and usefulness as old Crews had.
Perhaps for the sake of system, it will be
well to " reminisce'' first about the students,
then the faculty, and finally the social life, but
even this division, unless some check is put on,
will soon develop into a garrulous story of t';e
long ago.
I. THE STUDENT BODY.
Since leaving college, I have lived in two colI
<VF.^ TF&A/PF?F=.VTF&/A A/I
- ? ?. ?' " ' 'ii. wt-/ f / u/i vj
al Presbyter/an c
'-hern Presbyter/an
3ER I, 1911. NO. 44.
dney 1871-74
>. D. ?
lege towns, and 1 have roamed from Dan to
Ueersheba, but I have not only never found
such a set of young men as those who constituted
the student body in 1871, but I doubt
whether a finer set were ever gathered to
gether.
It is not a case of distance lending enchantment,
but they fully deserve this reputation.
1 cannot recall hearing an oath for two sessions,
and while there were one or two would
drink, they were^rare exceptions, and they
generally did so jmsfc^jet.
It was at tlii/ first met my lifelong
friend, (hi^etift^with whom I
ruuuieu lor nve^M-^, two iff^tplffege and three
in the seminary?a^t^n of brilliant intellect
and lovely character, ai?t? Woi/over a fellow of
infinite jest! ^
Frank Bedinger, whose love of
lengthy speech was proverbial, a habit
that I understand has stayed with
^ ^ him through life; Jim Tredway, now
a judge in Virginia, whose bearing
was always that of a gentleman;
His Reike, of rotund proportions, so round
that when he was thrown to the
ground in football, he was at times
unconscious of the fact, as his head
was always the same distance above
the ground; Peter Woods, now preacheace,
jng jn Baltimore, whose "rich tenor
voice" often disturbed our consump
tion of the midnight. oil - "Old Ool
Wilson" who was for so many years
the pastor of a large eountry church?
a man whose natural indolence stood
out in such striking contrast with the
brilliancy of his mind; Harry Thornton,
the youngest man in the class,
who bore off the first honour, and who
afterwards bravely met death in the
frozen wilds of Alaska; J. Addison
Smith, whose subsequent career in the
ministry has shown that none of us was the son
of a prophet; Pat Law, the present gifted editor
of the Presbyterian Standard. In the higher
classes there were Buck Bishop and Alex. Hall,
Billy Ward and Willie Mcllwaine. Yearn after
at a meeting of the Virginia Synod in Petersburg,
Mcllwaine gathered at his home all of
the old boys he could find, and gave us a Hampden
Sidney dinner.
There were scores of others, but time fails me
to speak of all. Each one has won his place in
life, and each one would to-day attribute his
success to the training of those old days. It
seems only yesterday when we sat around the
old belfry, and dreamed of the future. Then
we were young and hopeful, eyes bright and
cheeks rosy.