Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-06-09

brought ABOUT by the constant
accretion of minute particles.
Correct habits of thought, and that
accurate scrutiny ot new ideas be-
fore their adoption which depends
upon the principle that "incredulity
is the condition of precise knOwl-
edge"
They were finally instructed that
the harvest of knowledge and men
tai attainment is far from being
yet reaped in full, that every recent
discovery points to boundless I'M
known beyond it, that to mention
no other, the great political problem
of the day awaits its solution by
the rising generation, which is the
restoration of our old system of gov
eminent if it may be, the construc-
ton of a new one on its ruins if not.
But one sentence embraces the
whole field Of human effort, the
discharge of duty to God, to our
selves and to our fellow men.
THURSDAY JUNE 7TH, THE EXER-
CISES OF THE GRADUATING CLASS,
AND CONFIRMING OF DIPLOMAS.
Franklin Hall was filed to over
flowing by 104 A. NJ. and the exer-
hofOro
Mr.. ID. d. ATCHIsON: "Ihe eUe
ofthe Reformation" We have long
known that history was Mr.. Atchi-
sons favorite study, and that, for a
student Of his age, he was peculiarly
well informed on historical subjects.
His address eYinced that he had not
only read much but reflected to good
purpose upon these subjects. His
delineatiOns of characters of the his
torical personages Of the sixteenth
century were forcible and graphic,
and his estimate of the causes, moral
and political, which led to that
great revolution of opinion Of which
he was treating were singularly just
and clear. Without any trick OF
rhetorical ornament the language in
which these ideas were expressed,
was appropriate and well chosen,
and it was delivered with that COM
bination of modesty and self-posses-
sion which is specially attractive in
a young speaker.
Mr.. w. Y. DAVIS: "POetry."
Mr.. Davis defined poetry as the
daeDpSt convictions of tho GnrI
brought to light in its happiest
mood; he proclaimed it as moving
man to the highest joy of which his
nature is capable except that which
pervades it when it receives the mes
sage of peace from Heaven. He re-
presented that all the fine arts are
subservient to poetry, that Terpan-
der found no use for the music
which he invented except to give
fire and force to its sweetest strains,
and that sculpture was then the most
wOrthily employed when it embOd-
led in the living marble the con-
ceptiOns of the poets arts.
In attempting a history of poetry
he placed the inspired songs of the
Hebrew scriptures as the oldest in
this perhaps further research would
have shown that he erred, and that
HindOO and Persian brnds had sung
before the harp of David was strungl;
then the Greek, Latin and. in mod
ern times, Dante, Shakespeare, Mil
ton, Goethe and Schiller.
At.the close he appealed to the
unwritten poetry that exists in ev
cry soul, the ideal of youth being
prophetic of the future, that of age
an elegiac musing on the past.
Mr.. J. ..B. FERGUSON: Pregress
and Reaction. Mr.. Ferguson is the
scion of a peculiarly intellectual
family, and this effort of his shows
him no degenerated offspring ofsuch
a.race. His subject may be said to
have been an account of the various
casualties, attendant upon the pro-
gress of enlightenment of the hui
man race, and he specially demon
strated the disasters resulting from
two great errors the one was the
bigOted adhesion to established
opinions which is always ready to
resent and resist all new ideas which
can not be made to square them
selves with the dOgmas established
in former ages; this error he pointed
out as the fruitful source of martyr
dOms to religion as well as to
science-the second error was the
unwise attempt to force to their
practical conclusions new ideas for
which the community was not duly
prepared, and which perhaps had
not yet been studied with sufficient
precision to be as yet reduced to
practice. All this was richly Illus
trated by historical illusions and
constituted on the whole a highly
creditable effort of mind.
Mr.. J. T. PLUNKETT: "Gre0t-
ness" Mr.. Plunkett has long been
recognized as the orator Of the Uni
versity. In this his last effort in
he was stimulated to I'M
wonted effort by the very vigorous
competition of his juniors, and we
can only give him his due praise by
saying that he surpassed himself,
and that implied that he far out
all his comprehensive was
victor in a field where his competi-
tors were heroes.
The great extent to which these |
notices have been carried makes IL
to give an analysis OF his |
admirable address, which was as
well delivered as it was composed; |
but we were glad to find that he
placed the heroes of self-sacrifice far
above those endeavored to sacrifice /
the human race to the elevation OF