Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-02-27

IN the archives of any science was there |
recorded more illustrious name than that |
IF our own cOuttryman-ihe great Rush. !
His goodness and usefulness constitute a |
more lasting than brass-mOre
than polished marble.
We have vet another remarkable charac-
ter. more celebrated, if possible, than Rush. |
Drake, the great pioneer Of medicine in the
West. whom our Transatlantic brethren
are beginning to style the Apostle of Sci |
ence, IS more rapidly rising in the scale of
human Greatness than any other character
in the 10Th century.
The heroic deeds andself-sacrifces of the
martyrs of our sister city in her late vista
ton of death, form an epoch in our own
time worthy Of the highest consideration.
Where has thereever been a greater display
of charity, fortitude and incessant vigil
than was shown by the medical men of
Memphis and Shreveport? But death, no
lespecter of persons, seized some in their
labors and bore them from the field of toll.
OF their future we feel assured, adopting
the sentiments of the modern bard:
"Christ amt goin' to be too hard
On man that died for men,"
Gentlemen, the ''open sesame" TO your
success is the energy you display in the
prosecution of your studies. just here let
us extend our sympathy to the relatives
and friends of our late companion
whom fate wrested from us when
life was Just Offering its sweetest charms,
and the cold, ruthless winds of December
moaned the sad requiem round his lonely
grave. But angels, N their flight, stopped
to earth and bore his spirit alofl, and there
his soul, like breath, nestles in the bosom
of its God"
Mr.. Spillers closed with words Of cheer
and sound advice to his Undergraduates,
also paying graceful tribute to the ladies
present. At the conclusion of his address
he was loudly applauded, some one in the
audience sending forward a beautiful bou-
quet, which act was also greeted with APP
plause.
PROFESSOR ]. NJ. sAFFoRD
then delivered the address on the part of
the Fa ,ulty EHe said:
Gentlemen of the graduating class,
ladies and gentlemen: 1t often happens
that travellers, in looking for the first time,
upon the falls of Niagara feel certain de-
gree of disappointment. The plunge and
volume of water are not rs great, the gulf
is not as deep, the clouds of spray tower
not as high, the roar is not as deafening as
precOnceiyed notions would have them be.
The scale fancy had prepared will not ap-
ply, and they see not the magnificence, the
appalling sublimIty, and inconceiyable
power of the grand cataract. Yet the mag
nificence, sublimity and power are there
not the less. The fault is in themselves.
They have not the ability, their imagina-
| ton is not elastic enough TO grasp at first
sight, so vast display in all its proper
lions. The cataract and their mental Wis
ion are, as yet, incOmmensurate.
But our visitors return the second time,
and the third, and still again. They look
upon the falling river from both sides; from
the tower-fearfully located in the midst Of
the waters, on the very brink Of the
precipice; their eyes follow the majestic
flow as it pours into the deep and surging
gulf far below, and their hands instructive
" gasp the railing. They seek Othsr po-
sitions, stand at the foot of the falls, see
the amphitheatre of cataracts which appear
to descend from the heavens; are now lost
in dense clouds of spray, then behold the
bright sun and its brilliant rainbow SPAN
ing the ABYSS, hear the frightful roar, the
lashing aid kissing Of the waves, the
thunder of the liquid mountain as it sinks
into the terrible cauldron.
Amazed, perhaps terrified, they retreat,
and are now more than ready TO acknOwl-
edge.
THE GREATNESS AND sUBLIMITf
Of this American wonder. Experience has
dilated the pupils of their intellectual eyes,
and they can now appreciate the famous
cataract in all its parts.
/ Eliminates Tho Grrhinr#
have selected to guide me in parting word
to you this night, is: The trOrk goa hare
! TO dO-the earnest JCOF6 Ofiife upon which
you, IS true men, now enter. My theme IS
fertile and varied One--Eu too E,uch 50
| for half hour discourse. propose, Chiefly,
10 SpeakOf the spirit, which should ami
mate your thoughts and aims-of the NOR
al radiance which, like vital air, redOleEt
of sweet incense, should issue from your
deeds foT the good and joy OF the world.
Young persons, just starting in life, buoy
ant with hope, strong in undiscipined will
and in growing muscle, exulting in new
found liberty, but partially informed of the
eddieS and maelstTOms which lie in their
track, beginning the day dixie the sun in a
clear sky) with no knowledge Of coming
stormS-aFe too apt 10 look upon life as a
vision of beautv-a sort of Alhambra in the
midst of lovely and enchanted ground, to
the voluptuOus dramas Of which their vigoT
and address will secure admittance. Bat
life is something different from the airy
castles in their brains. 4 life, | mean
worthy OF men. and such as | have reason
| TO believe YOU have the ambition 10 lead
To know, then, how to live, how 10 meas
ure in its length and breadth the life and
work YOU are called upon to undertake,
| will require thought, painful study, and an
ear attentive to the voices of the expert
enced and Of the dead. This work, like
Niagara, cannot be appreciated at first view,
| Ii must be surveyed from many points,
some of them rocky, hard to gain, and,
when gained, hard TO stand upon.
To a sound intellect, good heart and a
| willing hand, life-work is the rearing Of a
solid. stately edilice-itS foundations TO be
everlasting, and its turrets TO reach the
| skies. 1t is the starting of a new force
creating vigorous and whispering vibrations
| which, repeating diapaSOns of good will and
joy, will expand, for all time, in eyer-in
creasing circles, stOpping-God only knows
| where.
If YOU be true men, and stand finn, the
aggregate of your stewardship may have
more of sublimity about it than has any
Niagara-as much more as the intellectual
transcends the physical.
Olives of great men all remind Us
| We can make our lives sublime,
| And, departing, leave behind us
| Footprints on the sands of time
You may think it too aspiring to have SC
high a goal. But it is not, and
GREATNESS Is WITHIN YOUR REACH,
and, if not, better aim too high than TOO
low. Ii YOU understand yourselves les
son to be learned, difficult though it be
there IS greatness You can attain to; you
can be great in virtue, love to your fellow
men and to God. You can be great il
YOUR profession, or in some special part
thereof, if tEoroughness-born OF zeal
concentration and industry be written on
your standard. You can be great in public
life, in the domestic circle, in the hOyel 0
the poor, at the bed of the dying. Is then
not ample room in this wide world 70
heroes? Are there not storms to be brayed
Difficulties, like mountains, To be sur
mounted? Woes to be alleviated? Who'll,
communities to be ministeTed to, in whose
hands are crowns Of honor and blessing
for the worthy?