The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-07-01
rsor the Dispatch.J

!. rn.e.s Editors.-We shall scarcely agree
.hnnt The origin of she above porase. 1ae
sn,h;act Il rather av, interesting one, however
and few words 10 reply, and am oone.
NV eyp,sna,ion, though feel pretty eertaln
The eencraiiy received one. may De aosuro, w
ron int;nna,e. aud uaay be unable to zee toe
:. noInt. - though think do, for the matter
nerissne between US seems very psain.
rhInk you mean by not seeing the poins
that will not aceede TO your expanat'on.
II is VERY easy ~ attribute stupidity 70 your
oppopent 10 an argument when 90 eaono, see
The issre % you do. tsuopose you use tniS AZ
the /" dro,fmeasGm dd hosssnesH," ana no
doubt II IL very effective WITH tDose Who pc
iievc sn EDITOR OF snccessioi neWspape'
as necesssris an oracle. And presume,
TOO rou have found It q telling and con.
yenient argument, for, II remember ar'gnt.
Il 90 not s,n,reauept'y used in reply 10 your
1,,rre,noudep,s who differ with you.
r,;obt. In retoft, say it Is useless to argue
with \ man who supposes this question can
he rptttea BIZ the " dOc,rine of evolution" IL
Ia we'll, perhaps, that You italscize the US
when you say that "tbe doctrine Of evoiu-
zion teaches Us that A. M.'s theory cannot be
cerreca.r / should 40 soon believe this
:. doctrine OF evolution established the de-
veloppent Of uan from the monkey as that
she origin of the use Of this word "com-
mepcemeptn could be settled by this same
doctrine of eyolut,oo.
You seem TO corcede that the " commence.
xneuts do no, correspond now to the time OF
the founaa,ion Of the colleges. Still. the
coa,mercements are the celebration OF the
anniversaries, upon the principle, perhaps,
OF lucus a non iucendo. You quote Lora
Campbell a. using the word commence.
mept.r Suppose he does. II he spoke OF II
n the anniversary Of literary institutions no
DOUBT you wouu be quick 10 ray 30. Ok.
ford and Cambridge confer degrees upon
voung men, who afterwards 60 to The inns
o, courts " to make themselves lawyers. / DO
not suppose oxford and Cambridge know
or care whether their students 90 to the
0ipps OF courts or ut once " commence"
the active duties Of life. Neither does . Ran
dolph.Mac know or care whether then
graduates 60 to q medical college or at once
1commepce' their lives as teachers, or mer'
chants, or farmers.
I did not mean to say that young men
always commence active life after the terml.
nation OF their scholastic life, but designed
to say they generally do SO, and that the pre-
sumption is that sucn is their purpose and
design. Some, no doubt, instead o. com'
meucing life or pnire to the Sims Of courts,
repose "sub tegennine patuIe flag" and take
Grip Van M'uh'e" sleep, ana never COIL
mence life.
We all know how prevalent is the belle
that after an education Is obtained, no mat
Ter where or when, that then the activ.
duties of life commence. The father says tC
his boy al have thus for supported you
and you have now completed your eauca
ton. You must begin to work for yourself
and commence life on your own behalf ano
for your own support"
No one, you say, was ever known TO speaS
of"Johu Jones's commencement" VINE hel
you have heard it or not, have often heard
the college boys q do not remember whether
John Jones, or John Smith, or Tom Brown
speak Of tour commencement which IS ap
proacbipg, or which occurred last year. Blu
/ have never seen a college boy who believed
that commandments were held now or Tor
merly Il think your point" seems 10 Oh
for7nerly) to celebrate the anniversary OF
birth OF the college, but thought the ceremo
MES were gotten up 10 their behulf, to gradu
ate them-trean them from their Alma ma
ter-and send them out into the world te
.sscuffie for themselves"
cannot see (perhsps my stupidity again
that you have adducsd any evidence thai
commencements of colleges" were ever an
niyersarles of those institutions. One would
think tradition might have handed down
something to that effect if your idea is cor
rect, and that at least you would have found
some support for your theory among the old
authors YOU seem TO have been rummlging
over. a. ii.
If there is in the foregoing one single ar
gument, or semblance of argument, that
calls for O reply from us we are unable to
perceive it. We leave the question with the
public. Our own opinion Is that GA. M"
article Is not worth the space it occupies, yet
our respect for its author leads us to mani
fest doubt as to the business of our judg-
ment SO far as to let him speak Tor himself.
Since be has the last word, be will no doubt
be satisfied.