Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-06-05

Ing the thoughts and real lessons
suggested by their subjects.
AT the close of the speaking, Mr..
JnO. ]. West, in an appropriate adj
dress, presented to Mr.. Blackburn,
Of the Stewart society, the badge or
the society, conferred on him as the
who had made the greatest
proficiency in speaking during the
pastsession; while Mr.. r. N. Rhodes,
with a few remarks, presented to
Mr.. Howerton the badge Of the
Washington Irving society, for a
like reason.
Diplomas of the societies were
also presented to Messrs. Mooney,
Price and Carthel, of the Washing |
ton Irving society, and Messrs.
Telle, Merritt, Rick and G. S. Hy
land of the Stewart society. This
ceremony was performed by the
Rev. J. N. Craig, who prefaced it
by a short but eloquent address.
The audience was then dismissed
by DIR. Waddel, highly delighted
with the exercises.
CREATIONS OF THE GRADUATES.
-Four young gentlemen were enti-
tied to a hearing as graduates on
Tuesday morning. These were
Mr.. James Eldon Carthel, OF
Trenton, Tenn. Subject-"The Cru
sades."
Mr.. VIM. NJ. Cox, Of Mississippi.
Subject-''Poetry, its Nature and
Mission"
Mr.. James Francis johnson, OF
GalIatin, Tenn. Subject-''Sympa-
thy"
Mr.. William ID. Mooney. OF Clarks-
vile. Subject-'Sham Sentiment"
Our limits render it impossible
for us to give a separate analysis OF
each of these efforts. Suffice 1t to
say chat all of them evinced thought
and study in their preparation. We
cannot, however, pass over the essay
Of Mr.. Cox without saying that it
manifested degree of aesthetic in
sight, critical acumen and philos-
ophic judgment such as must be
very rare in the graduates Of any
institution, and has never been
equalIed in this. His delivery was
chaste and graceful till his memory
failed him and he was compelled to
read from his manuscript. This was
excusable from a fact, unknown to
the audience but known to our
selves, that this composition was
: only begun at late period, his orig
inal intention having been to speak
on quite different subject.
Nor can We pass over Mr.. Moon
ey's stringent criticism of the false
sentiment of the age which leads
sentimental ladies TO pet and pam
per convicted murdercrs and rem
ders the minutest details of execu-
tons the chosen literature of gush-
ing readers.
On Tuesday night DR.. Wither-
spoon addressed the two literary
societies of the university. The doc
tors special faculty seems to be a
sort of aesthetic and symbolic dealing
with the objects and processes OF
nature. He made his text ON this
occasion the wonderful phenOmena
attendant upon the growth and
structure of cOralline islands by the
work of almost microscopic mol
luscs, and its moral application was
the stupendOus results which have
been attained in all ages OF the
world by steady perseverance in
efforts the single results OF which
are almost imperceptible, but which
in the course of time produce aggre-
gate effects that are the wonder OF
all nations. From among the many
Illustrations adduced we select the
remarks which he made regarding
the growth of the British cOnstitu-
ton. Ofthis remarkable institution
he cOntended that no one man and
no one generation can claim to be
the author; that its rudiments al
ready existed in the usages Of the
old German races while they were
half savages in the forests Of the
Elbe and Rhine, and that by the
successive struggles of Saxon against
Norman, OF the barons against the
crown and of the people against
both, il has slowly grown and per-
fected itself through period of over
ten centuries, till England is the
only European country in which
the liberties OF the people are safe
under a mOnarchical form of gov
eminent, and the person of the SOW
ereign secure while walking un-
guarded amid the throngs of her
devoted people. or course the
application of this was the COM
mendation to his hearers of a life OF
untiring effort in the cause of right
and justice, without discOuragement
from the apparent paucity of result.
COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES.
On Wednesday morning the COM
: mencement exercises proper were
taken up. They commenced with
the address to- the alumni by Mr..
John r. Allen, a graduate Of the
university. Mr.. Aliens speech was
political i'm character, but stood far
above the plane of party politics.
1t was basedLupOn warning letter
written about 1857 by the historian
Macaulay to an American gentle
man, intimating that no govern
ment purely democratic can be per-
manent. The writer cOntended that
our form of government was practi-
cable and safe so long as the bound
less wealth of our unclaimed land
continued, but the danger antici-
pated was to arrive at the time
when the public lands were ex-
hausted, when masses of men living