New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-06-18
Annual commencement of the
Normal Department of How.
ard UOlvcraIty.

The annual commencement Of the Nor.
NAL department Of Howard University took
place in the chapel, on last Friday, at 100
o'clock.
This department was organized to meet a
great want, viz: thoroughly trained and
educated teachers. 1t will be that the good
time is coming certainly when many such in-
stitutions shall send forth classes so we'll
prepared as this. We need them. Honor
10 them.
The large and elegant chapel was densely
hacked with the friends and acquaintance of
the graduates. We seldom see so fair pro-
portion of our best and most respectable citi-
zens go to these exhibitions from the fact
that men, and women too, are tired of sopho-
moric defamation. Suffice to say, all were
happy and, think, instructed.
The stage was richly carpeted, and decked
with evergreens and hanging baskets. A
proiusiOn of flowers in bouquets and wreaths
were garlanded around the pictures of Sum-
ner, Howard, Revels and others, while the
busts of Douglass and Seward, on either side
evergreens, flowers and laurels. Over the
center of the arch was the class motto -
"Acorns before oaks" We remember some
of the members Of the class when indeed
they seemed acorns, but they are now oaks
that would require much to uproot, aud can
now defy all winds.
The exercises were opened with music by
Prof. CD GOldsburg. The best thing l can
say for him is, that we were glad when he
had finished. We were not lonesome in our
Joy, We think he was not satisfied with the
effort himself.
The first speech was delivered by Mr..
George W. Boyce 90 Experience the best
school-mas!er." lie said: Experience may
be compared to a school master. 1t had its
origin in the earliest times, 1t is called a
lamp to our feet, and guide to our path.
Universities prepare us for the world this
is the great stage for the performance of duty
and even in the performance Of that, the
question is Has he had much experience :
Actual trial is the test"
Mr.. BOyce should not speak so fast; he
clips the wings Of his words and thereby mars
his enunciation.
The second speakers, Mr.. David d. Gill
christ, of Ohio, did justice to his subject
Mind and its Culture" ''The body of man
soon decays, but the mind grows on. As
man digs deep in the earth for gold, so must
he 60 deep in the mine of his intellect to draw
up wisdom. Wisdom is gained by hard labor
none reach it without. He must labor"
This gentleman was very composed, and
could have done himself more credit had he
been little more careful.
Miss Mary F. Hobson, of Richmond, Va.
followed in a well-written essay. Her tasty
careful manner, elected much comment of q
favorable nature. She was much applaud
ed and deserved it, too. l have one fault tC
mark. She read a little too low for easy
listening. This can only be attributed to
the natural modesty of the lady. She made
some good points IN her essay. said she
"Selfculture differs from scholastic educa.
ton in that it tends more to the cultivation
Of the aesthetic in man. 1t has its founda-
ton in our own being. For the purpose OF
sclf-culture there is no field so broad as that
of literature; in it every ennobling desire OF
the mind can be satisfied. Man is midway
to nothing but the Deity and this selfcul-
ture is possible if made an end. The pro-
gress of the age calls for this cultivation. On
every hand we see the woful effects of par
tial development, and self-culture alone can
stay the tide of corruption in both public and
private life." Her subject" Self-culture y
was well handled.
Mr.. Samuel j. Hollensworth, Owego, n
Y, followed next. Subject: "The Tendon
cy of the Age" 'What is the tendency o.
the age? Is the world really growing worse
as some people say? 1t may be so in part
but it is not true of the whole. The politi
cal tendency is towards Republicanism
Most of the governments are still mOnarchi
al in form, but the masses of the people dc
not, as heretofore, believe in the divine right
Of kings; and to-day very few absolute mon
arches exist. They are in name. but theil
constitutions make them almost republican.
This Is true of most of the European govern
ments. AS republicansm increases SO dis
putes are settled by arbitration, and only
appeal to arms as a last resort. This is an
encouraging sign of the times. Since the age
tends TO republcanism, we might well in
quire if that is a safe direction. Some claim
that too much freedom endangers the State
with them liberty is license with others, on
the contrary, liberty is law. In this country
more than any other, public opinion is
stronger than law. Every popular movement
seems to thrive. There have been great
changes in the social as well as the political
world. One succeeds in stealing railroad,
and all the world says: What smart man
What a good financier! The morals of the
body polite are at low ebb. Our legisla-
tors should see to il that no evil befal the
Republic; that their hands be washed clean
of corruption and perjury. and familiarize
themselves with little of the homemade
honesty practiced by their fathers"
Next followed Mr.. George n. Matthews
Baltimore, Md. Subject: sour Future
The midnight of our oppression has given
away to brighter morning ON our pathway,
and the sun of our civil liberty is rising above
our political horizon. God has created us to
be and TO do. We have far nobler destiny
than that which We now enjoy, and in that
higher civilization Of which we see the dawn
ing, there will be glorious compensation fol
the past. Our advance must be gradual, and