The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-07-29
AN ADDRESS

AN ADDRESS
DELIVERED Br N. n. DANA, FRIDAY Ev-
. ENINo, JUNE 25rH. n
I Twigs from "a Old Tree.
Members Of M Graduatino Glass,
from IrpiAg leststute:
Ii behalf 81 those Of che Society
whom you leave bshind, w now ga
Lutte you. We have mot Won often.
elsewhere, but not'as now and here.
We have known Won long as friends
and leaders, but to say, farewell.
To you, Irving Institute largely
owes its existence. You were PIES
ent, some Of you, at III birth nour.
ished it in its infancy, trained it in
lite boyhood, and nov, just as 1t be.
gins to expand into manhood; will
leave 1t to tia.
We will take 1t, Seniors, gladly
and proudly will ~ aesume the re-
sponsibility, since at least you desire
to assume greater and moro impor-
tant ones. Yes, we'll take it, and
with tue knowledge gained by your
example, with you yourselves as
standard bearers and defenders of its
catiso abroad, with HopA an ito an.
Choir and Onward as its watch word.
We will try to keep it TAGGING I. and
when our SUPPLEMENTAL days are
over, and we shall have attained the
growth and gravity Of "Seniors," in
turn we will entrust it to our success
sors, and with our newly FURNISHED
intellectual armor and fresh supplies
of logic-shot, join you in the "Skir-
mish line" of life.
But, should you fall, Toward as
you would, before we are prepared 10
enter the conflict where /" fire and
smoke are thickest," we will at least
endeavor to bear away the wounded
and cover up the dead"
If at this juncture we teel our re.
lations to be peculiar and affecting,
yoms, we imagine, a. we behold you
putting on the "toga of manhood I"
are much more so. ss4 .s i,
We, asa company remain at this
camp of instruction to continue
our accustomed drill and discipline.
s You as lone Adventures 20 forth
to prove to the world by singlehand.
ed, vigorous, manly effort, the eff
cheney Of tho intellectual force you
have gained. The commissions that
you bear from the alma Mater pre-
suppose attainments Of no mean
value. and already do they inspire
you with higher, and nobler views of
personal consequence. Hitherto,
through the dim distance your imag.
nations have gazed upon q world Of
enchantmentl
Now, from this 'coigne of vantage
your eyes see a world that in grand
reality stands fully OUT
As you behold the continents
bound each to each other with nerves
of steel, on which glide human tho'ts
with lightning wings athwart the
ocean stream the vast extent of
forests, prairies and mountains trav-
ersed from shore to shore with
swiftness comparable to the race Of
the sun, as if the very parallels of
latitude had been spiked to the earth
to form a highway for the train Of
human progress; as with trembling
gaze you behold the aspiring Cheva-
lier about to extend his plnions to be
waited on the breazes Of the morn
ing to the uttcrmost parts of the Sea,
you cannot but realise that this is an
age of boundless possibilities.
On the contrary, as you look upon
q world deceived by ornament, with
false, but fattering charms, you are
admonished that tho dangers and
temptations to which you will be ex-
posed are also boundless.
For the tendency of the ago is to
ignore the lessons Of humility taught
by the "mighty dead" and alone to
exalt the conquest of science" and
the "march of Intellect as if q man
created little lower than the angels
were now for the first time crowned
with glory and honor las it reason
and philosophy, with oil the scat.
folding OF the past could look far.
Their into the infinite than the untlr-
Ing gaze Of Plato could pierce; as if
man were not still d reed, swayed to
and fro by the whitening blasts of
passion and only capable of an up.
right growth when steadied by the
hand Of God. 3
30 then as you, snter upon your life
work, while in the language Of Lu.
cifer you may be tempted to exclaim:
81 will ascend above the heights of
the Clouds / win be like the Most
High" You also feelin your hearts
to say-But alasl aEor my great.
ness is known by" my "misery."-
But why should We longer attempt
to rehearse your own thoughts to
you. Since indeed you arc already
restless from the long delay, and
your ardor is inflamcd by the pros
pect of future achievements. The
fields are ripening before You, 1t is
nearly harvest time, "wages are
high" and 'hands are scarce and
happy is the man who shall como to
the final settlement, not with wailing
to receive the wages Of sin, but with
rejoicing, bringing his sheavcs with
him. ~ ~ ia aEE
Do some OF you doubt where to
enter the field, bewildered by the
width of the world, the number and
kind Of pursuits. The prudent man
looketh well to his going. A mis-.
take made now might last forever.
Have you succeeded in your endeav-
ors here, you can with some degree
of accuracy gague your capacities,
and since you know that "of all
crafts" to be an honest man is the
master craft, we doubt not the issue
Of ynnr final decision. 4
Should you enter the alluring halls
of science to pursue by the wonder
ful NO ,un,sn If ano1yo;o @ho ,,1k;von %o