The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1858-06-22

| CuuTdClcT VI tuc ,liNfslUIc, arc HOW pure
and spotess. Shall ours be the hand to
mar the unwritten pagesG Ours the crime
to bind the fetters Of the slaves 10 chain
the immortal mind and have the impress of
our deeds stamped upon the books Of the
recording Angel by the widows sigh, and
the orphans tear? No! Rather thou
sand tim6s that life be wasted on the Che.
ber's funeral pile, than criminal to meet
the stricken Heart at tie judgment bar Of
God. ce
Alpha Kappa Phi Already your response
is chronicled in eternity. Already you are
beginning TO grapple with the stern realities
of life, consecrated to lofty aims and no.
ble deeds; and though difficulties and dis
appointments encompass you on every hand,
though intellectual mountains present their
painless declivities as insurmountable barri.
ers to your farther progress. Yet with an
eye fixed on the poll star Of your hope, still
press onward and upward, chisel footbold
in the solid rock Of science, climbing high.
er and higher with steady perseverance,,
that neither time nor circumstances can stay
until, reaching the height of human attain
ment, you look down upon aspiring mill
ions, and upward to receive the plaudit,
"Well done thou good and faithful servantp
Remember that great destinies lie entombed
in each psssing hour, that each moment, as
it cycles into eternity, goes laden with bless
ings which we lack the knowledge 10 APP
propriate. Remember that the cry of an
guish, which went up from Gethsemape, is
still echoing through the chambers Of bro
ken Learts, that crime. famine and death
still mark their victims for eternity, and
know that it is ignorance which clanks the
bondmans chains, feeds tho fires of pas
sion, and cvaporates from the hearts of
childhood those finer sensibilitios which
were given TO he developed y the hand of
education. Recognising in mems omnia re
git, not simply the motto Of our associa-
| ton, but sentence embematcal of that
glorious day when instinct shall give place
to reason, brute force to moral power
| Receive it as the foundation on which to
erect that symmetrical structure, that in
after years may prove nucleus, around
which shall cluster the genius of the adj
vancing age. Receiving it thus, you will
give an impetus TO the aspirations Of the
human heart. and develop from the mind
in embryo, those right conceptions Of So
cial rSform which gave to arcent Greece,
Philosophers, and Statesmen from the very
dregs of Plebian mould. Already the day
Of ignorance IS drawing to close, and
those who century hence will pass from
the arena Of active life, will have their
journey TO the tomb Frightened by the sun
light that radiates from the millenial dawn.
Let us antci oate the fight of time for a
hundred years, and view the novel condi-
tion of people, that, eighty years ago
were born into the family of nations. We
stand in the future, we gaze upon a moral
Eden, and ask what magic power has
wrought this marvellous change. Here
men of scerce have explored the myste.
rios Of creation, opening new fields for en-
terprisc, and giving TO genius new motives
for determined action. The teudalism Of
wealth has lost its charm, and echoes the
last wall Of expiring despotism, where
clanked the fctiers Of the slave; and where
suffering millions bowed beneath the weight
of oppression, where ignorance and crime
were every day increasing the tide Of hui
man woes, is now seen the spirit offrecdom
standing erect over the grave Of despotism,
touching the hearts of the people with her
magic wand and pointing ambition to tho
loftiest heights Of literary greatness. The
fires Of genius first kindled 10y lutheran
eloquence on the hills Of Rome have been
transferred to the western shores of the
Atlantic, and that which was a Pickering
flame, has increased in brightness until its
radiant beams have penetrated the utmost
limits Of creation. The increase of cduca
ton has been in proportion to the decrease
of despotic power, and though its pathway
was lined by the gittering steel which
formed u bulwark round the tyrants throne,
yet onward and upward has been its course,
until, from moral heights, it coks down
upon Nation whose materality is the
hearts Of the people. And where blasphe-
my and obscenity were the lullaby that
soothcd the infants sleep, where crime
traced with polluted finger, incflaceable
records on the tablet of the heart, where
mind had become matter and man thing,
is now heard the voice of redeemed hu-
manitv, communing through the al gel
parted clouds with spirits of departed, and
iIt I'sIt VI WIN tuC
beauty of revealed religion. Slavery is
unknown. The soil, once mostcned 10y the
tears Of the bond, now echoes TO the tread
of their offspring who, freed from the
chains which cncompasscd their sires, gath
er inspiration from rolling spheres, and
their principles of freedom from the cease
less dasbings of unfettered waves.
Such is the result of institutions which
VIC are called upon to perpetuate. Life
was not given us simply to admire the
beautiful structures reared by other hands,
but that we might search for mysteries in
fields yet unexplored, and dig from the
heart of science those principles, which
have weighed the Planets in the scales Of
mathematical calculation. and made the
lightnings to advertise the potent power
which lies hidden within tho acquisitive
mind-given to us TO erect imperishable
monuments to truth, give an impetus to
the spirit Of philanthropy and develop
those principles of justice which, il buried
in the solid rock, would burst their granite
folds and speed onward to accomplish their
high mission.