Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-05-22
COMMANDMENTS.

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
The most beautiful month of the year is
fifty dedicated to those interesting social
and literary reunions, which under the
name of commencement" are so indis-
solubly associated with the history OF Col
leges and which ever linger pleasantly in
the memory Of those who have witnessed
or participated in them. What lovely
and suggestive spectacle is presented on
one of these occasions. Is it not the very
flower of the highest civilization Bring
before the imagination the ovation ac-
corded to some victorious Roman conque-
Tor with long line Of captiyes following
in his train, and place as a companion piece
by such a scene, the picture of commence
ment day, the groups of sweet girls,
their cheeks flushed with modest pride and
pleasure, the throng of fond relatives and
admiring spectators, the music, the badges,
the medals, the speeches instinct with all
the delicate refnements of modern thought
and the charities of christian culture-and
say whether it ba not grandly true that
'.Peace hath her triumphs,
No less renowned than those of war;"
Here, no bugles call to slaughter. The
cypress is not wreathed with the laurel
All breathes Of purely intellectual achieve
ment without the slightest admixture of
brute force. If there be scene upon
which higher intelligence might look
down with pleasure. it is merely here
There is something peculiarly graceful and
interesting in the commencement exercises
of a Female Seminary. We mean no idle
compliment when we say that these young
ladies who have not yet reached woman
hood, but begin to wear the faintest SEM
blance Of it's chastened gravity, as a crown
upon girlish eagerness and abandon, do
manage to impart grace to ceremonies,
otherwise formal, that is singularly attrac-
tive and delightful. Boys are proverbially
clumsy and gawkish, but the young lady
attired for commencement" fills her part
in the pleasant little drama as veritable
mistress of the occasion.
1.-THE floating clouds their state
Shall lend to thee,
For thee, the willow bend"
Staunton takes marked interest in
these College gala-days. She is identified
with them. On these hills our Summaries
sit as witnesses Of the culture that pre-
walls. They challenge the passing stranger
and fix forever his impressions of the spot.
These institutions of learning preserve
Staunton affectionately in the memory of
all who have pursued the pleasant paths of
knowledge within their walls. Wherever
they go, their thoughts turn back fondly
towards the mountain sheltered valley
meath whose glorious sky they developed
the rudiments of mind and character
The friendships formed here will be at once
the most romantic and the most enduring
This is city OF Colleges, and commence
ments" here cluster like
"The sweet influences of the Pleiades'
To other localities such an occasion is a
single notable event. To Staunton ''com-
mencements'' are intensely local, they are
part of our history, they are connected
with the blood and bone and fibre of the
town. This city and her institutions of
knowledge are one. They are one and i'll
, separable. 1t is therefore with signal graf
ification that we all look forward to the
approaching annual festivities. We are
prepared to witness with partial eve the
fiutter onAthe stage, and note with SINGER.
est sympathy the beautiful concern of
mothers and fathers and sisters and friends.
VI oIa11 I, 4
ses and rejoice with those who receive pri-
yes and when all is over and this loveliest
pageant has dissolved
Like the baseless fabric of vison,'s
we shall retreat to our editorial den and
comfort ourselves with reports of crops
and the squabbles Of Congressman over
financial bills
And not alone in the colleges has the
Festival of the School Book come. In the
StauntOn Public Schools the affairs of edll-
cation have been set up and the worshippers
willing and unwilling, are gathered around
them. There is an eager wrestling for re-
wards and crown certificates, which per-
vades all classes Of scholars down to the
little toddler we meet every morning after
breakfast on her way to the First Primary.
The Priests and Priestesses who go in and
out in our Staunton temples have laid the
last Of their sacrifices upon the altar and
stand back to see il they are accepted
They have laid costly gifts-learning, un-
ceasing toll, patience, forbearance, ankle
ty, a spending of life-and life is valua-
BILE thing, for these young people, and now
they wait with folded hands to see what is
to become of it. They will have their re-
ward. We confidently expect and predict
great things from the Staunton Public