An Address Delivered Before the Alumni Association of Nassau-Hall (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from An Address Delivered Before the Alumni Association of Nassau-HallMr. President, and Gentlemen,Alumni of Nassau-Hall -We have come, my friends, to revisit together the scene of our early studies. Since last we parted here, time and distance have widely separated us: - the world and the worlds cares have engrossed us; - death with no sparing hand has been amongst us, - but we have at length returned, probably for the last time, to mingle our remembrances of the living and our regrets over the departed. At such an hour what can I say to you which your own hearts have not anticipated? We stand here - on this narrow strait which separates the long past from the brief futurity which awaits us - a feeble group, the wreck of so many argosies that spread their young and venturous sails on the wide ocean of life, freighted with light hearts, too early overclouded - and buoyant hopes too soon quenched beneath its waves. How often as the storms of life assailed them, would they gladly have turned for shelter to this quiet haven which they left so impatiently, as the prisoned eagle, who chafes his breast against the bars, which keep him from the green fields and the gay flowers of spring, would, as the clouds of winter gather round him, take refuge in the solitary nest which his young hopes deserted.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis 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.