Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1881-06-24
CLOSING EXERCISES.
Mineral Point High School-A Grad
uatinq Class Of Ten Members.

Hall on thursday evening OF ldSG Week.
Each member of the class presented an
original essay or grafton. and in ad-
dition to these, several members gave
declarations and Rotations. The ex-
ercises were listened to by large and
attentive audience. The music was
furnished by the band. We give as
full an outline of the several essays
as our space will permit:
Samuel E. Goldsworthy wrote of
Ancient and Modern Wars" A de-
Scription Of the military tactics and
discipline OF the Persians. Greeks and
Romans, and comparison with modern
was followed by review of
some of the effects of war, especially
as seen in our own history. We quote
this expression in relation to the war
of secession: But though America,
by that long and terrible contest, has
shown to the world that her armies
are inYincible, and that she can, if nee
eSsary, wage such war as history has
not known; she has also shown by the
liberal manner in which she treated the
conquered rebels of the south that she
ID CdpdolC VI CAhtoleinS SuCH dCtS VI
as have been unprece-
denied in history"
africa and its Explorers" was the
subject chosen by Sena G.. Oates.
Egypt was at one time the light of the
world, but the rest Of Africa remained
an unknown region for centuries.
When Europe emerged from the night
of the Middle ages, the coasts became
known through the agency of Portu-
gueSe navigatorS. Then comes the
English explorers, who began to pene-
trate the interior-Parke, Clapperton.
and others. The writer
dwelt at some length on the search for
Livingston by Stanley,a and the influence
of these exploring expeditions in the
of civilization through
out the continent.
Eta E. Gray's theme was 1.-The Civil
and Social Rights of Woman" The
world to-day accords to woman place
much nearer that occupied by man
than it did few centuries ago: and at
every advance she has shown her ca
pacity for doing the duties of the sta
ton to which her efforts have enabled
her to attain. She overcomes greater
obstacles than man does when She dis
plays the same abilities, for the reason
that the customs of society provide in
ferior means for her training. John
G. Whittier is quoted as authority for
the opinion that politics will gain by
the participation of women in the eX-
ercise of the suffrage. The fact that
women do participate so far as to aid
in the election of certain class of pub
lie officers, and have themselves been
by law made eligible to those offices is
an argument in favor of their fitness
for the exercise of all the highest func-
tions of citizenship. Legislation now
on the statute books which discrimi-
mates against women, will disappear
when they come to the exercise of those
rights which by nature belong to them.
I'm the United States the government
processes to be based on the suffrage of
the people; let it be so, for at present
one-half the adult population is classed
with children, idiots and criminals"
Lydia III. Stephens wrote upon "The
cry displayed upon the battlefield to
that which actuates to deeds of hero
ism of which the world never hears.
Napoleon was a splendid general, a
brilliant emperor. Nelson was skill
full naval officer, and died in the midst
of great battle with the sound of vic
tory ringing in his ears. Yet, drawer
than either of these, was that noble
Russian serf. who to save the life of a
beloved master, stepped out into the
midst of hungry wolves, Napoleon
sacrificed thousands of lives for his own
glory; the serf gave his own life to save
that of another" There is abundant op-
portunity in the life of every one for
the display of all the courage he may
possess.
Orrin Beardsley spoke of Modern
Science and Modern People" He
dwelt at some length upon the incon-
sistency of that class of persons who
are ever ambitious to be considered
the friends and patrons of science and
yet are in apparent dread lest inyesti-
CATION should develop some facts not
wholly in accord with their preconceiv-
ed theories. The persons who most en-
joy the stale joke regarding Darwin,
Huxley and others as descendants of
the ape, are wholly oblivious to the
fact that the joke may have a wider ap-
plication. 1t Is not always manifes-
tation of the highest wisdom to belittle
a discovery or an invention because it
bears no immediate practical fruits.
"The Freedom of the Press" was dis
cussed by Leila A. Prideaux. The
history of the gradual unshackling of
of the press from the time of the in
vention of the art of printing to the
present was considered. Milton pied
for its enfranchisement in England in
his time. Our own country has wit
messed something of the same struggle
to secure a free press that other of the
civilized nations of the earth have ex-
perienced. Gov. Berkeley of the COL
ony of Virginia, exhibited as much in
tolerance as was ever shown by any of
the opponents of free expression of
opinion. The daily newspaper Of the
century is the triumph of
that principle for which Milton con-
tended in the seventeenth century, and
Hamilton in the eighteenth.
Clara L. Neal wrote of "Humanity's
Debt to the Natural Sciences" The
study of nature has had no small share
in the enlightenment of the nations.
The practical benefits which it has con-
ferred in promoting the comfort OF
people nO Olle u6lll6S. l06 WOTlQ CAN
not pay too high honor to those who
have made the laws of nature subserv-
lent to mans welfare" But valuable
as are the practical results of this study
its best benefits cannot be measured
BY dollars and cents.
aEducation the Key to Success" was
tlle subject chosen by Lena White. The
writer held that the development of our
faculties Is something more than a
is a study. Parents who
neglect to ascertain the mental bias of
their children ignore the most import
ant of all their possibilities. idle
boys, depending upon their parents,
without any profession or means of
will be ill qualified to
make good members of society" "The
time dissipated in idleness by many
if devoted to study, enable
them to attain eminenee and diStinc-
ton in some useful art"
The theme of Will Browning's ora
ion was "The Growth of Civil Liber-
~" Government by the people is
that men have been striving
for since the earliest periods of history.
It is an instinct of humanity that has
been manifested at some period in the
Il 70 Of nafsa,, hl,rI