AS one gets up in life, it is
interesting to recall the names of those who sat on the same benches with us
at school, and trace their subsequent careers. We can look back on the scene
as if it had been yesterday. We can summon up one by one the well-remembered
faces of the class. We were all about the same age, and the same rank in
life. Who could foretell the future of these lads?. Who could say which of
them would pass away first? Who could declare which of them would succeed in
life, and which would fail? We might attempt such prophecies among
ourselves; but how widely different the actual results have proved from our
anticipations!As an ordinary specimen of what is happening in every
country school, I have set down the names of thirty boys who, about the year
1844, might have been found forming the senior division in Girvan Parish
School, then under the care of the Rev. Cathcart Kay, and have tried to
trace their careers as accurately as I could.
Of these thirty, then, sixteen, or a little over the half, have
now passed away from the earth. This of course is startling enough, and
makes a big gap in the line to begin with; but when we consider that it is
now about forty-eight years since we were assembled there, the wonder
perhaps is not that there are so many dead, but that there are so many still
alive.
The wandering propensity of the true Scotsman is well known, and our
class did their best to display it. Of the thirty, only three found their
life-work in Girvan, while fifteen scattered themselves over various parts
of Scotland and England, eight went to Australia and New Zealand, three to
America, and one to Africa. As to the occupations they chose, it is perhaps
not a little creditable to our Class that nine of them contributed their
services to the world in a literary way, of whom three were ministers, and
six schoolmasters. I find, too, that six went into the legal and banking
professions, nine became merchants, and three tradesmen; while this seaport
town turned out only one sailor, this patriotic town furnished only one
soldier, and this rich agricultural district produced only one solitary
farmer.
On making inquiry as to how many of them may be considered to have
prospered in the world—that is, bettered their position as compared with
that of their parents—I find that twenty of them diet so; while ten of them
(mostly through drink) did not. As to the interesting question of marriage,
I am ashamed to say that only nineteen of them succeeded in getting wed,
while the other eleven failed. As to Church connection, nineteen were
members of the Established Church, eight of the Free Church, two of the
United Presbyterian Church, and one Methodist. As to their political
opinions, I have not data to warrant a correct conclusion; but I know enough
to be sure that the two great principles of Order and Progress have both
been efficiently represented.
Altogether, the results are at once curious and instructive. It is
curious to find how that class of boys, who used to sit together at the same
desks in our country town, scattered themselves over the wide world. It is
instructive to notice how the crack scholars did not always succeed in the
race of life as they did in the race for medals; some of the most
conspicuous failures being among the prizemen. And it is surprising to see
how some of those who had the best chances of rising fell the lowest; while
others who had no worldly advantages at all pushed their way to respect and
usefulness. Our old Teacher appeared to have an antipathy against certain
who have since proved themselves worthy citizens in every way; while some of
those whom he looked to as the hope of the school have done much to disgrace
him. The only regret I have is, that none of us have hitherto risen to
eminence of any sort; for it is a benefit to a town to have turned out at
least one shining light, whom the young generation might look up to, and the
people generally take a pride in. But the work of the world after all is
carried on mainly by honesty and industry; and, when judged by that
standard, perhaps our Thirty have contributed their own share to the good of
mankind.
Although so scattered, our Class have still a centre of attraction in the
old School we attended, the old Teacher who taught us, and the old Town that
gave us birth. Shortly after our Teacher's death, we erected a handsome
Monument over his grave, and subscribed for a Gold Medal, named after him,
to be presented annually to the Dux of the whole school. These are, of
course, small things compared with what we might have done; but they show at
least that some of us have not been entirely unmindful of the benefits we
received in the days of our youth.