Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1881-06-18
CRAMMrNG FOR COMMENCEMENT.

Is
CRAMMTNG FOR COMMENCEMENT.
The following picture of a modern
commencement, taken from the Phil
adelphia Times, We are persuaded is
not much overdrawn:
It is commencement season. The
educational institutions, from the
greatest colleges down to the huns
blest boarding schools, are decking
themselves in finest flags and feath-
ers, and marshaling for dress parade.
On tinted paper and in many -colored
ink, or with most lavish display of
the engraver's art, the programmes
for the public exercises are issued
and are scattered far and wide,
among actual and possible patrons
and friends. The aim of the
educators is to show the pubs
lie what the educated can
do. The one thing the educated
are considered capable of is the de~
livering of set speeches. All who
commence life at this time because
of finishing their education might
deliver these speeches but for the
fact that time would fail and the
glut of speeches would be too great
for sympathizing friends to digest,
or even to listen to. AS to digest
ing them at all, perhaps it is out of
the question, for such process
would require mental capacity cor
responding to the physical digestive
apparatus of the ostrich or the
python. But, good or bad, digesti>
bic or indigestble, the specimen
speeches must be prepared and
launched on the community.
AS to who shall speak comes the
first agitation and with it the pre-
paratory examining. A boy or girl
whose average is not up to required
standard has no chance to speak in
public on the stage. In order to
force the average of a backward or
nervous scholar up to this point
examining must be resorted to. Of
the suffering both mental and physi>
cal consequent on the effort to bring
some of the scholars up to the proper
pitch of scholarly attainment horri-
bic tales might be told. It
is not as hard on the boys as
it is on the girls. The boys are
elastic fellows and can stand it
better. If damaged in the course
of examining they can sooner recov-
er from the effects. But it is bad for
the girls. There are many educators
of girls who know great deal about
the various branches of science they
teach, but who know next to nothing
about girls. They have no UNDER
standing of the delicate and complex
character of feminine organization.
They treat the members of their
classes and schools as if these I'M
fortunate young persons were so
many wooden ten pins Or vulcanized
rubber balls. OF the character of
the wondrous structure of brain and
nerve, they have no conception.
Having crammed the poor victim
OF scholarly endeavor up to the
requisite grade of "average at
which she is considered competent to
speak her piece, the next thing is to
have the piece ready. The piece
must be original or appear to be SO
There are young persons who are in
other respects fair scholars who can
not write good speeches. For such
person to be compelled to compose
something fit to utter before an as
sembly is martyrdom. Nevertheless
the martyrdom must be suffered
} The speech is prepared. It is OF
the beauty of the beautiful or the in
effability of the inefable. If it con
tains any bold and startling sen,i-
ments these are carefully culled ou
by the inspecting educators. The
| speech is made to read al
, closely as possible like all tn,
speeches which have been spoke1
before it. The memorizing of it il
accomplished with wearying and ex
hausting labor and the poor girl
dressed in white robes and arraye(
} in a profusion of trimmings, il
thrust, more dead than alive, befor
the audience. Boquets and flora
= ornaments as elaborate as thos
S which are used for the decoration O
l corpses are showered upon the sui
9 ferer and huzzas of applause respon,
to the delivery of the platitudes sh
utters. She is carried home sick an,
fainting, and sees horrible visions a
u she dreams during the uneasy nigh
which follows. If hysteria and tn
whole frightful train of nervous dis
:, orders to which feminine nature
subject follow on this proceeding,
O is not difficult to see whara Eas tb