The Cliosophic Society Princeton University A Study Of Its History In Commemoration Of Its Sesquicentennial Anniversary Classic Reprint

Author : Alexander C. Crawford
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331373490
Total Pages : 108 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (734 download)

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Download or read book The History of the Class of '74 written by Alexander C. Crawford and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The History of the Class of '74: Of Princeton College Classmates: Uncalled for as it may seem, at this time, it becomes the duty of your historian to offer an apology; an apology, too, of a peculiarly earnest and deeply-meant nature. Not like that one over which Jakey Van Deventer, in the last year of our course, spent so many weary hours, burnt so much midnight oil, heaved so many hollow groans, and in the study of which he became 60 meagre looking. Nor an apology like Erne Smith's, in Soph year, when he feelingly alleged that lemon-peels were the cause of his seeming indisposition. Nor yet like that of "Mose," alias "H-i-1-l-o-w," who on the occasion of a long remembered festivity accounted for his sudden and permanent retirement from the company by the remark that warm water always did make him sick. On the present occasion I have naught to do with anything so trifling; my apology is directed to our class, and directly affects our class interests; it is that even in this most serious and weighty affair of history-writing I have been behind time. Important is this matter, and, according to our rhetoric, it will bear a far drawn simile. Bear with me then for a moment while, in justification, I explain my position. Thucydides, as you remember, wrote the war of the Athenians with the Pelopenesians: I began to write an account of our war with Profs, Tutors, Sophs, and Snobs, as we battled one with another. Thucydides began with the account of his in its incipiency, believing that it would be the greatest and best that had ever been waged; and so did I. And thereby hangs a tale, together with the marked difference between Thucydides and myself. I was, in Fresh year, too much impressed with the imaginative in writing; I began with too much incipiency, if you will pardon an outlandish term; I anticipated too many events, and depicted on immortal pages the deeds of my illustrious heroes as I thought they would be, rather than as they were. Besides, I don't think Thucydides improved much: (this antithesis you can fill out for yourselves.) He sadly lacked early training, and in consequence his writings bear no striking marks of progress in composition, as vie understand composition. His style is so ungraceful, his words so badly spelt, his chirography so awkwardly executed, his manuscript so closely, vide Bohn, folded up, and the whole thing bears such a faint resemblance to Desdemona, or a sunbeam, reclining on a bank of violets. I am convinced from all internal proofs, that it would have been of incalculable advantage to him to have been, for at least four years, under the tuition of some master rhetorician who had written books. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.