Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-08-01
BELoIT COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT.
n 49, by Drs Gniliver and Peabody Prize
hahon-Graduating Exerciscs-
senior COncert-EncouragIng
Prospects.

just as sure as 1ervld Summer re-
turns upon the earth, and the dog
star RACES, and those who can afford
such luxuries invest in shade trees
and icewater, i1st 50 surely como
the annual Commandments Of our
various educational institutions, with
their inevitable eloquent addresses"
"masterly orations," Sparkling es-
says" and enchanting music !" and
more surely than the grateful sum-
mer showers, which sometimes are
longed for in vain, come the perhaps |
not quite so welcome reports of
these always remarkable exercises. /
1t is certainly proof of the
DEEP INTEREST
of the people at large in education,
and in the numerous institutions
which endeavor to inparti it, that they
so kindly receive and so patiently |
read these accounts, year after year,
although all Commencoments are
nearly as much alike as the two
brothers who had to wear neckties of |
different lengths in order that their
friends might be able to distinguish
the one from the other However, |
this year as usual, the neckties ut least |
are of different patterns, and we may |
be pardoned for doing briefly for Be-
lott what others have so pleasantly !
done for those in which they are
more especially interested,
On Saturday, July 9Th, we felt as
sured that dame Nature was fully |
aware of the impending event, and
was putting forth her utmost exer-
tions to produce
TEMPERATURE
which should surpass even the hot
test traditional Commencement
weather, while the locusts, who were
Just closing their Septendecennidl Wis
| it. piped forth strains which seemed
to say, in the language of we'll
known Lancaster firm, "Come one,
come al, this-tree shall fly, &c, in
notes of defiance to the Vaas' Band
and Orchestra, which the papers an
nounced were to come up from Chica-
90 to furnish music for the gradua-
ting exercises and the Senior Con-
cert.
The first of the exercises Of Com
mencement week was as usual
THE BACCALAUREATE SERMON
by President Chaplin, whose discourse
was epitomized in the words, "Seek
We first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness" The address to the
Graduating Glass at its close was par.
ticularly interesting and impressive
In the evening large audi ence,
assembled in the First Congregation
al church, enjoyed
RARE TREAT
produced for them by the Missionary
Society,-an address by President
Gulliver Of Knox College. In Ian
guage no less attractive for its apt
ness and beauty than the thoughts it
expressed, the speaker painted the
wonderful spread Of Christianity
through the world in the first centu-
ry. and that other wonder-its rapid
disappearance before the Mohamme-
dan power; then he pictured its re
vival in the fifteenth century, and its
subsequent permanence, and ably ar.
gued that the difference in the two
cases was mainly owing to this fact
that in the early centuries there were
no colleges as conservators of truth
education was neglected, and super
stition and decay naturally resulted.
The conclusions which he drew from
this train of argument were such as
deeply impressed upon the minds of
his hearers the Importance Of sustain
ing our colleges, all of them, cheer
fully and earnestly,
Monday evening DR.. Peabody, the
eminent Professor of Mental Science
at Harvard College, and a worthy
representative Of the culture and
ability of
OLD HARVARD,
lectured before the Archaean Union
upon the somewhat abstruse subject,
"What is Right?" We all felt repaid
for the close mental application his
utterances has cost us, when he said
at the close of the lecture that the
high reputation OF Beloit Students at
the East had led him to choose such
q subject in preference to one Of a
more popular description.
Tuesday afternoon the church was
again thronged to hear the
PRIZE DECLARATIONS
Of the best speakers in the Freshman
Sophomore classes, who all did credit
/ 10 ha, onix Il 20 20 Of
Rhetoric. At the close of the exer-
cises tho committee of award announ-
ced the names Of the two successful
competitors, and at the same time
the various prizes Of the year were
awarded.
At the Alumni Meeting in the eve
ming, as Rev. II. G. Dickinson of '63
was unable to be present on account
of i'll health, his place as orator of
the evening was we'll filled by L. S.
Sweeney of '68, young lawyer of
Chicago, who, announcing "Nation>
al Apostasy" as his subject, very ably
and lucidly set forth the dangers to
which our Republican institutions
are exposed. The poem was by H.
E. Warner of '67, who lately won
much commentator by a poetical
contribution to Scribner'S Monthly.
| Wednesday was of course
i THE DAY OF DAYS,
and although the sun shono in full
orbed splendor and palm leaves were
at q premium, still the day proved
much more comfortable than some
former occasions had been. The
great church looked much as we
fancy Commencement halls always
look. The graceful festoons and ever
green notices, the stage occupied by
the much-enduring notables, the
body of the house filled with those
who have sternly resolved to hear
everything through, the galleries
thronged by the fair ones who enjoy
a little pleasure along With the BUSH
IL 4. L.