The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-07-09
DueW eStCommencementS

DueW announcement
THE PRIDE OF THE UP.C0UN.
TRY IN ITS GLORY.
Most Interesting College Exercises.
The Students Acquit Themselves
Most Creditably. ..
Music, Art and Beauty..A Good
Time for Everybody.
Another year has rolled around and
brought with its close as usual, the Due
West Commandments. The Com
mencements at Due West always draw
from every portion of the county, the
largest and most select crowds that ever
assemble within our borders, and the oc-
casion is looked to by all with more or
less interest, and is regarded as the great
event of the year. No portion of the
county contemplates these occasions with
more pleasurethan does Abbeville village
. which never fails to send a full delega-
ton from every walk of life, to witness
this annual intellectual feast of letters
and music. This year, more than the us
nal number Of our citizens were to be
seen in the shaded grove of the campus
or on the floors of the spacious halls
whose walls were decorated with the
handsomest specimens of the art and the
handiwork Of teachers and pupils of the
Female College, and on whose rostrum
on Wednesday were the finest specimens
Of young manhood, who were followed
the next day by an array of beauty, Gull
ture and modest grace from the Female
College which could nowhere else be
seen. The hall, crowded with female
loneliness, and the grove, filled with
men, made a picture we'll worth
the seeing, and once seen is sure never to
be forgotten. AS the pious Musselman
seldom fails to make his visit to Mecca,
so the heart of the intelligent citizen of
Abbeville involuntarily directs him once
a year to join the grand procession in its
annual march to the Athens of the up
country, in whose temple the manly
youth no less than the gentle maiden
while testifying to the proficiency Of the
learned professor or the accomplished
teacher MAY give evidence Of his or her
own mental culture and natural endow-
ments.
AS evidence of the high appreciation
in which the Due West colleges are held
by the citizens Of Abbeville, we would
mention the fact that during the present
year we have had but three students at
any College from this town, and they
were at Erskine College, where they
have been for two years. Actions speak
louder than words in a matter Of this
sort. : Three of our best young men are
students there, and we have none others
at College away from our own graded
school. The great benefits derived by a
community from a good college are not
readily estimated. 10 form some idea of
the blessings conferred on Abbeville
county by these colleges it is only neces-
sary to be familiar with the surroundings
and then read the list Of names, to be
found in the catalogues or the graduating
programmes Of these colleges, some of
whom would in all probability never en-
ter the halls of a college if 1t were not for
these colleges, where tuition and board
can be s. cheaply procured,
Erskine College Commencement.
Lindsay Hall was crowded and over
flowing last Wednesday I'd inst, all sit
ting-room and standing-room and
squeezing-room was completely occupied.
The Commencement exercises of Ers-
kline College always attract the beauty
and intelligence Of Abbeville county,
and this year those exercises were unu-
sually interesting, and seemed to be
greatly enjoyed by all who attended.
The graduating orations were all good,
some Of them very good, and they were
delivered with much spirit and in good
oratorical style.
oRATIoNs.
An International Congress VS.. Stand
ing Armies.~. T. Johnson, Beaverton,
s. G.
Conflict between Correct and False
Principles.-J. I. Mccain, Idaville,
Tenn.
National Gratitude.-A. E. Miller, Due
West, s. G.
Public Opinion, the Potent Element of
Reform.-M. W. Pressly, Coddle Creek,
External Vigilance, the Price of Liber-
ty."-J. G. Sitton, Due West, s. G.
The Prospective South.-D. w. Wise
man, Cotton Plant, Miss.
Oppression, the Parent Of Liberty
w. B. Wylie, Yorkvilie, S. G.
The music ~discoursed by the Due West
Silver Cornet Band was very sweet, and
made US again wish we had such'a band
in Abbeville.
The B~accalaureate Address of Presi-
dent w. M. Grier we publish below. DR..
Grier, is a very happy speaker, always
says something good, and says it so easily
that his hearers think they could say the
same thing and say it as well. Just let
them try it. He is an orator without
pretence and a sayer of deep things in
simple language.
DR.. Grier's Baccalaureate Address.
After the delivery of the Anniversary
Grafton by Colonel James Fl. Rice, of
Ninety.Six, which we published in full
last week, MI. Grier said:
Last things are solemn things. The Ia. look
at the old home, the garden and orchard, the
hillside and meadow where every tree and flower
wakes q thousand pleasing memories, to feel that
we are looking on these for the last time invests
the scene with a sacred interest. and we carry
with us in all our wanderines and through every
change of fortune the deep impression Of that
last farewell. The last words Of q dying friend,
the very movement Of his features and the tones
of his voice are ns iuperishable as memory.
These survive wildly and distinctly when ev' ry-
thing else is fading from view and reason itself
is tottering. Something Of this sanctty and
solemnity gather about the present occasion to
YOU and to me: officially We speak our last words
to-day. All the circumstances OF the occasion,
therefore; your interest and my own sense OF
duty unite in the admonition that The words
spoken, should be words Of soberness and truth.
Your thoughts are doubtless much engaged
with reference to your future profession. If
YOU have not already decided upon it you are
no doubt seriously raising the question, what
shall I choose? What shall be my LIFE
work? This question you must answer for
yourself. So emphatically and distinctly is it a