The Plastic Age - Percy Marks (classic literature books txt) 📗
- Author: Percy Marks
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"We Aren'T So Much. Do You Remember, George, What Jimmie Henley Said To
Us When We Were Sophomores In english Thirty-Six? He Laid Us Out Cold,
Said That We Were As Standardized As Fords And That We Were Ashamed Of
Anything Intellectual. Well, He Was Right. Do You Remember How He Ended
By Saying That If We Were The Cream Of The Earth, He Felt Sorry For The
Skimmed Milk--Or Something Like That?"
"Sure, _I_ Remember," Winsor Replied, Running His Fingers Through His
Rusty Hair. "He Certainly Pulled A Heavy Line That Day. He Was Right,
Too."
"I'Ll Tell You What," Exclaimed Pudge Suddenly, So Suddenly That His
Crossed Legs Parted Company And His Foot Fell Heavily To The Floor.
"Let'S Put It Up To Henley In class To-Morrow. Let'S Ask Him Straight
Out If He Thinks College Is Worth While."
"He'Ll Hedge," Objected Lawrence. "All The Profs Do If You Ask Them
Anything Like That." Winsor Laughed. "You Don'T Know Jimmie Henley. He
Won'T Hedge. You'Ve Never Had A Class With Him, But Hugh And Pudge And
I Are All In english Fifty-Three, And We'Ll Put It Up To Him. He'Ll Tell
Us What He Thinks All Right, And I Hope To God That He Says It Is Worth
While. I'D Like To Have Somebody Convince Me That I'Ve Got Something Out
Of These Four Years Beside Lower Ideals. Hell, Sometimes I Think That
We'Re All Damn Fools. We Worship Athletics--No Offense, Hugh--Above
Everything Else; We Gamble And Drink And Talk Like Bums; And About Every
So Often Some Fellow Has To Go Home Because A Lovely Lady Has Left Him
With Bitter, Bitter Memories. I'M With Henley. If We'Re The Cream Of The
Earth--Well, Thank The Lord, We'Re Not."
"Who Is," Lawrence Asked Earnestly.
"God Knows."
Chapter 20 Pg 152
English 53 Had Only A Dozen Men In It; So Henley Conducted The Course In
A Very Informal Fashion. The Men Felt Free To Bring Up For Discussion
Any Topic That Interested Them.
Nobody Was Surprised, Therefore, When George Winsor Asked Henley To
Express His Opinion Of The Value Of A College Education. He Reminded
Henley Of What He Had Said Two Years Before, And Rapidly Gave A Resume
Of The Discussion That Resulted In The Question He Was Asking. "We'D
Like To Know, Too," He Concluded, Grinning Wickedly, "Just Whom You
Consider The Cream Of The Earth. You Remember You Said That If We Were
You Felt Sorry For The Skimmed Milk."
Henley Leaned Back In His Chair And Laughed. "Yes," He Said, "I Remember
Saying That. I Didn'T Think, Though, That You Would Remember It For Two
Chapter 20 Pg 153Years. You Seem To Remember Most Of What I Said. I Am Truly Astonished."
He Grinned Back At Winsor. "The Swine Seem To Have Eaten The Pearls."
The Class Laughed, But Winsor Was Not One To Refuse The Gambit. "They
Were Very Indigestible," He Said Quickly.
"Good!" Henley Exclaimed. "I Wanted Them To Give You A Belly-Ache, And I
Am Delighted That You Still Suffer."
"We Do," Pudge Jamieson Admitted, "But We'D Like To Have A Little Mercy
Shown To Us Now. We'Ve Spent Four Years Here, And While We'Ve Enjoyed
Them, We'Ve Just About Made Up Our Minds That They Have Been All In all
Wasted Years."
"No." Henley Was Decisive. His Playful Manner Entirely Disappeared. "No,
Not Wasted. You Have Enjoyed Them, You Say. Splendid Justification. You
Will Continue To Enjoy Them As The Years Grow Between You And Your
College Days. All Men Are Sentimental About College, And In That
Sentimentality There Is Continuous Pleasure."
"Your Doubt Delights Me. Your Feeling That You Haven'T Learned Anything
Delights Me, Too. It Proves That You Have Learned A Great Deal. It Is
Only The Ignoramus Who Thinks He Is Wise; The Wise Man Knows That He Is
An Ignoramus. That'S A Platitude, But It Is None The Less True. I Have
Cold Comfort For You: The More You Learn, The Less Confident You Will Be
Of Your Own Learning, The More Utterly Ignorant You Will Feel. I Have
Never Known So Much As, The Day I Graduated From High School. I Held My
Diploma And The Knowledge Of The Ages In My Hand. I Had Never Heard Of
Socrates, But I Would Have Challenged Him To A Debate Without The
Slightest Fear."
"Since Then I Have Grown More Humble, So Humble That There Are Times
When I Am Ashamed To Come Into The Class-Room. What Right Have I To
Teach Anybody Anything? I Mean That Quite Sincerely. Then I Remember
That, Ignorant As I Am, The Undergraduates Are More Ignorant. I Take
Heart And Mount The Rostrum Ready To Speak With The Authority Of A
Pundit."
He Realized That He Was Sliding Off On A Tangent And Paused To Find A
New Attack. Pudge Jamieson Helped Him.
"I Suppose That'S All True," He Said, "But It Doesn'T Explain Why
College Is Really Worth While. The Fact Remains That Most Of Us Don'T
Learn Anything, That We Are Coarsened By College, And That We--Well, We
Worship False Gods."
Henley Nodded In agreement. "It Would Be Hard To Deny Your Asts Consequences Criminal, And There
Is No Dependence Upon Any One Man Breathing, Who Pursues It With The
Chaleur Which I Have Done. How Can I Expect Another Man To Trust Me,
If I Cannot Trust Myself?
Therefore, Although March Has Dissolved The Tie,(129) I Beg That You
Will Lay Me Under Some Sort Of Restriction About It. I Do Not Speak
This From Having Now Suffered, For I Have Not, As I Told You Before,
Since March Last; That Is, By The Event. But I Have Been Susceptible
(Since?) Then More Than Once, And It Has Been My Good Fortune And
Chapter 20 Pg 154Not My Prudence Which Has Kept Me Above Water.
What I Propose Is, To Receive A Guinea, Or Two Guineas, And To Pay
Twenty, For Every Ten Which I Shall Lose In The Same Day, Above 50,
At Any Game Of Chance. I Reserve The 50 For An Unexpected Necessity
Of Playing In The Country, Or Elsewhere, With Women. All Things
Considered, It Is The Best Tie, And The Tax The Easiest Paid, And
Restrictive Enough, And Twenty Guineas You Will Take; And If You Tie
Me Up, I Beg My Forfeitures May Go To The Children, And Then Perhaps
I May Forfeit For Their Sake, You'Ll Say. I Really Think It Will Be
A Wise Measure For Me, And A Safe One; And Let This Tie Be For This
Year Only, And Then, If It Is Demonstrable That My Fortune Is
Impaired By Not Playing, The Tie Will Be Over, And Not Renewed The
Next. In The Mean Time, And Till I Shall Hear Your Sentiments Upon
This, I Must Avoid Going To Almack'S, And So I Will. . . .
I Dine To-Day At Harry St. John'S, And To-Morrow At Eden'S(130); And
On Monday All The St. Johns In The World, Old And Young, Dine Here.
Lord Northington(131) Brought Me Home Two Nights In His Coach, And
In One Of Them The Conversation Turned Upon You. He Said There Was
Nobody Had A Better Idea Of What A Gentleman Should Be Than
Carlisle; That You Was So Throughout. There Is A Singularity And
Frankness In Some People'S Manner Of Delivering Their Sentiments, By
Which They Receive Great Advantage. You Remember Sir R. Payne'S Way
Of Describing You, Which Was Still More Odd; He Said If Anybody
Looked Through The Keyhole At Any Time To See How You Behaved When
You Was Alone, That He Was Sure There Would Be No More Impropriety
In It Than If You Had A Hundred Eyes Upon You. I Don'T Like
Commending You Myself, But I Like To Hear Others Do So, And
Especially When They Speak About What They Think, And When What They
Think Has The Air Of Verite In It.
I Hope You Make My Compliments To Ekins, And That He Has By This
Time Read Atterbury Quite Through. I Do Not Propose The Bishop As A
Pattern For Anything But For Eloquence; And For Argument, On N'En
Trouve Pas, Chez Lui.
I Think That Storer, John St. John,(132) And I, Shall Set Out In
About Ten Days. My Coach, Cloak, And Muff Are Ready. Adieu Most
Affectionately. My Respects To Lady C(Arlisle) And My Love To The
Children, And Last Of All Do Not Despair Of Me About Hazard, For It
Being What I Love So Much, Is Precisely The Reason Why I Shall Be
More Upon Guard In Respect To It. I Do Not Mean By This To Limit,
But The Ense Recidendum; Every Other Parti Is Delusive And Childish.
(129) See Ante, Note 105.
(130) William Eden, Lord Auckland (1744-1814). He Was Educated At
Eton And Oxford; Called To The Bar In 1769. In 1778 Was One Of The
Peace Commissioners To America With Lord Carlisle, Accompanying Him
Later To Ireland As Secretary. Between 1785 And 1789 He Filled
Appointments As Ambassador Successively To France, Spain, And The
United Provinces. In 1789 He Was Created Baron Auckland In Ireland,
And In 1793 Raised To The English Peerage. He Married Eleanor,
Chapter 20 Pg 156Daughter Of Sir Gilbert Elliot And Sister Of The First Earl Of
Minto.
(131) Robert Henley, Second Earl
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