Wilmington daily commercial., 1874-07-13
vaIedictory Address.

DELIVERED AT HAvERFoRD COLLEGE COMMENCE
srEST, JUNE 1874, BY JOHN O. BULLOCK, oF
WILMINGTON.
Parting is a sad sad task it is the knife
which sewers us from the happy past,
which cuts the golden links of Friendships but
the sense of good work done, of duty fulfill
ed mingates, in part, the pain. Life is made up
up goals, series OF striving to attain longed,
for object. To-day we reach one which influences
our future success; to-day We throw of the robe
of the student, the robe embroidered with the
happiest hours of life, the robe around which
cling those fond recollections of school-boy days
of collegian's course; throw it of TO put on that
Of toiler the worlds great field. All is chaos
before us, all We bring in our hands is the last
gift Of our Alma Mater; it is to be our philoso-
piers stone, our "open sesame" our work Is
just begun; what we have here attnned Is but
the alphabet from and with which our book of
life is to be composed it is but tue guide pos to
the mount of knowledge; the higher we climb
the broader is our horizon.
Those of you who are not yet weaned are
blessed with a most true mother; her shaded turf
her groves and walks invite you with love dear
er and strongerthan you can elsewhere find; her
children are not so many but that she can love
them all; breathe deeply her pure ennoblng
breath, cherish her instruction as the purest
gold.
You who take our vacant seats are welcome
you enter upon joyous year, at once the hap
piest and saddest of the college course but re-
joice not in it as the closing page
"Ihnk oft, ye Brethren,
Think OF the gladness Of your youthful prime:
II cometh not again-that golden me.'
From you, our friends as well as professors,
our parting is difficult it will not be until future
years that we can fully appreciate our relation
towards you, the difficulties of your individual
positions, the gratitude due you for your en-
during patience ; books have been our material
but II is YOU that have fitted them for our COM
prehension, and buoyed out the channels in
which our intellects should flow. The intellect
ls the grandest Of Gods creations the higher
and more comprehensive it is the more it sepa-
rates itself from the material and approaches the
Divine they then whose duty it is to nurture
the mind, work in a most glorious field. Ac-
| cept to-day the truest thanks that we now know
| how to give.
Classmates-wi us words are but the shadow
| Of the reality we are happy with our friends
around us, but under all turks a too sad realiza-
ton Of the occasion,
"And all that nlls the hearts 4 friends
| When first they feel with secret pain,
| Their lives thenceforth have separate ends
And never can be one again "
| ave have been friends together in sunshine
and in shade, we have had one mother, one OBJ
| ject, one life we have been nurtured together
| i'll the same nursery of learning the character
OF each has been the study Of each, the charac-
| ter displayed in recreation and toll, ia sorrow
| and iov. Here all things will remain the same
i
Autumn the leaves will fall, but in Spring new
ones bud forth. Far otherwise with US ; to-da,
we are one, tomorrow we are parted time
cruel time, will sever the ties that bind us, part
ed, we will drift hither and thither on hfei
great ocean storms will arise, some ma.
founder, others will weather them, sail on, oc
casonaly to meet, hail with good tidings, ant
pass on TO the haven of rest, reaching the shor,
"where tempests never beat nor billows roar.
The blessing Of good education has been lib
orally bestowed upon us but where more is giy
en- more is expected we are ushered forth witt
hands filled with good seed who will SOW then
in the richest soil, who will produce the fines
frlitY 'Iis well that We cannot foresee the dill
future the path is not all smooth: rocky bal
riers will obstruct our way, but with the staff 0
good faith, courageous heart, and good col
science, we shall finally reach the golden goa
But, comrades, the chain must be broken "
must stand apart, alone helpless, yet strong
our own battles to fight, our own character I
establish. The best wishes Of your classmates
the true love of your Alma Mater, the blessin
Of happy life be upon you all. Farewell.