The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-07-28

He then dcscanted upon the STERN unyielaiar chsrac
ter of the Spartan nation, afterwards advertng to
that Of the Roman people, who were at length sub
in blood, In blood they fell. He then referred to the
battle Of the pass of Thermopyla and to the noble !
conduct of the three hundred Spartans-s We must
obeyn--contrasting with this the landing of the
Pilgrims, who unfettered by any ties Of obed-
ence to country, like the others. They both were
the embodiments OF two great principles-the Of
blind obedience to their countrys institutions; the
other of struggle for the freedom of conscience by
which laid the foundation of republic paving
the way for the great experiment in human govern
ment, wh,h had been SO triumphantly proven in this
great republic.
"The Anatomy Of Greatness was the title OF an
essay by W. Irving Clark, in which the youthful
tyro descanted upon theme that has been IA yorite
one with philosophers since the days of Solomon.
Vanity Of vanities," saith the preacher, "all is
vanity"
WI. Osborne recited the succeeding essay, which
was entitled Ambition, remarkng that it had been
often said that when all other passions have become
dead this still exists; He instanced Napoleon Bo-
naparte as an example Of excessive ambition, COM
pairing him with Washington, whose aim was TO
secure the liberties of his countrymen, leaving
example OF true greatness, by laying down his power
when this was accomplished. This young gentle
mans attempts were honored with several bouquets,
which were thrown ia one shower. Bouquets are all
very well in moderation but we must prote against
their abuse However, they were not SO lavishly be-
slowed on the present occasion as at the commence
Several good performances, as in the instance of the
Latin poem already alluded to, were not honOred with
any, showing that bouquets not always to be con-
sidered as reward OF merit, but often merely a
American Vanity" was the title of an ESSAY by
w. !. Tibbitts in which he characterized the Ameri
can nation as the vainest people upon the face Of the
EARTH giving specimen Of stump speech, the
burthen Of which was, this is great country, and
eulogies Of certain General Shocks, of Mississippi
intermxed with illusions to star spangled banners.
The speaker continued to descant in the same strain
upon the above theme, namely, the national vanity
and was particularly hard upon "YOung America"
whom he pitted against "Old Fogysm' His re.
marks were listened to in silence and appauded at the
bear to hear their faults told to them without being
offended with the party from whom they emanate
At this point there was an agreeable nterlude in tn
proceedings, caused by the comforting of testimoni
afterwards of granting the degrees Of B.A, and NJ.
A., as well as the honorary degrees granted by the
College The names Of the successful candidates will
he found below.
The ceremony Of comforting these marks Of honor
was preceded by short and neat speech from DR..
King explaining the nature of the testimonials which
were about to be conferred. First there were four
general testimonials, one for each class These were
Of each class who had the highest general standing
in all branches thus constituting him head of his
class. Of these there were four After the confer
ring Of these there would be awarded testimo
as, aWarueu ny Ine IroiessoIs OF the departments,
with the concurrence Of the President, to those ex
ceiling in each peculiar department. The Pres-
dent then proceeded to deliver general testimonials to
the four following young gentlemen and at the same
time addressed them in very fatherly manner,
pointing out to them that by their regular conduct
they had formed for themselves habits of diligence
which would be the means of overcoming all difficult
ties in their future career.
The following were the names Of the four success
full candidates.
John A. Kernochan, Oscar Smedberg,
Marvin r. Vincent Marshall Bdwell, Jr