Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-04-26

dav school
Messrs Lawton & Cunningham. attorneys,
sons have contributed their professional SER
vices free Of charge.
To all who have assisted us, either by their
time labor or money, l here take the opportl
nitv of returning the sincere thanks of the So
ciety.
Respectfully submitted.
]. H. EsTILL, President.
Capt. F. NJ. Hull, chairman OF the com
mittee on securing new members, sent In
the applications of thirtY-seven gentlemen
for membership, all OF whom were duly
elected.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
The election of officers to serve the ensu-
ing wear was next entered into and resulted
as follows. in the unanimous re election Of
the old officers:
President. H EStill.
Vice President. L Warren.
Tressurer-D R. Thomas.
Secretqry-A McNulty.
The President reappointed the following
managers:
A L. Hsrtridge, D. g. Purse,
G. VI. Sorrel T. NJ. Cunningham,
Thos. Ballantyne, Chas. Fl. O'mstead,
T. A. Garden, James B. West,
H. T. Bolts.
Ard also the following honorary mauagerf:
Andrew Low, VIM. NJ. Wadley,
Geo. 8. Owens. A. r. Lawtop,
R. D. Walker.
The stewards for the ensuing year are:
r B Reppard, W. T.. Purse,
j. B Fernandez, B. D. Southcott,
r G. Fetzer, j. W. Fretwell.
The meeting then adjourned.
THE ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS.
At two O'Clock the officers OF the society,
4foor no Of do 7 7.
Holmes, pastor of the Baptist Church, left the
Orphan House and proceeded to the stand.
The front seats, Immediately in front of
the stand. were occupied by the bows of the
House, fifty seven in number, all clearly
and neatly apDareled, and looking healthy
and happy. The other seats, comfOrt ably
arranged in the lovely grove, were all filed
with ladies and gentlemen, forming quite a
large assemblage.
The public exercises were opened with
prayer by Rev. Robert P. Kerr, OF the indie
pendent Presbyterian Church, after which
President Estill briefly introduced the ami
versary orator, Rev. Mr.. Holmes, who was
received with applause.
Mr.. Holmes spoke as follows and kept his
audience thoroughly interested and enter
tanned throughout his remarks:
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Union
Society:
/ find myself relieved of the embarrassment
incident to the position which, by your kind
ness, l occupy. when remember that the oc-
casion is not wholly dependent upon what |
shall say for its interest. The reunion ct
friends on this day, which calls to mind sue
cession of holidays with all their delightful as
socations, on this ground, made sacred by
names which were not born to die" by tbs
history of the noble labors of your society,
the generous and elevated emotions which the
bepeficent enterprise calling us together must
awaken in every breast-these shall give p
significance to our assembling which
shall fail to do. A hasty glance at the
records of your society has developed
the fact that two topics have chiefly occupied
the attention Of the honorable speakers
who have preceded me The history of the
society and the praise OF charity have fur
nished themes for rare and eloquent OratorY.
ASregards the former, there are few here who
have not a more intimate personal acqusint-
ance with that history tn an myself. dare not
select the latter theme, for to attempt to excel
those who have spoken in other days would be
manifest presumption; to follow after them
in their chosen field, would be to follow far he
hind them and to fall far below them. But
have thought that the object of an address on
this occasion might be secured by an humber
effort and BY the presentation of n line of
thought which might, in some degree, make
up in pracucalnesS what it lacked in elo-
quence. believe may confidently anticipate
a sympathetic hearing when | speak of Boys.
We all know something OF boys, OF their diff
culties, their aspirations, their possibilities;
OF the sunshine ana ble SHADOWS OF bQelr uVeS.
What a wonderful being is a boy What a
strange compound of credulity and scepticism.
of ignorance and cleverness, of generous i'm
pulses and boundeSs mischief, Of extraordi-
nary goodness and downright badness But
let me say, in passing that / sympathize with
the bad boy. 1t may be the fellow feeling
which makes one wondrous kind" that moves
me to sympathy; be 1t so. Iwould enter a plea
in their behalf. / do know that often those
very traits which give them the unfortunate
reputation are the promise of crest things
The reputation may be due merely to an excess
of vitality, or to strong individuality, or to a
consciousness of power or force of will which
only need to be guided and rightly directed
not censured and suppressed, and which may
aid in achieving an enviable immortality.
How many trials the boy must encounter
Trials often the result of defective rearing and
perverted education, sometimes to be traced
to the guilt Of others OF present or former
generations He goes about the world with
great unanswered questions in his brain; the
means used to discipline him are risunder-
stood; he comprehends not the value or pur
poses of those things with which he has to do;
the struggle with adverse fortune serves often
as a great weight To crush him. In infancy he
is the most helpless Of all Gods creatures. and
in boyhood the vastness of the scope of his be-
ing and the grandeur of his mission. dawn
upon him along with the conscious feeoene s
OF his powers, and the still more conscious lack
of knowledge Outside of the home which
GU hit TO be his asylum and sanGtuary-the
aerie of the yet unframed eagle, which must de
velop and test his powers before he scars 70
meet the Sun-but which is frequently home
only in name. temptations beset him, temple
tions to positive wrong, which Overwhelms
him in ruin at last. or to anguid
and culpabie Incidence, which sapS his vita ltY
and uekes him the nobody. the waif. the zero
of humanity. II boys have such troubles under
the most favorable circumstances, how great
must be the sorrows, trials, needs of those who
have no home on earth, and no father save the
And there are fhe experiencas OF the school
boy. An, who does not remember the school
DAYS? As look on the boys before me live
over again the labors and anxieties OF those
days. There is the dormitory; there are the
unwelcome authors, there is the struggle. fierce
and long with the weary brain. with the h avy
eyes. How readily did we persuaSe ourselves
of an indisposition. which the prospect OF
DAYS holiday would cOnsgn to instant oblty-
iong Anything but the task ass igned Il
was so much easier to write poetry,
to read Of wars, of scalp hunting much
easier, pleasanter far to extinguish the mid
night and morning lamp and dream
of feasts and picnics. OF vacation; of mother
and sister and somebody elses sister. How
often did the half-entertained wish arise thst
" of those az Babel had never required diver
sity of speech. What privilege y would have
been to call up the spirits Of the departed
methematcians and scientists, and immediate
them, torture them with mathematical instru-
ments and pile about the stake their works
which had been given to the world apparently
sor the sole purpose Of perplexing and annoy
in, innoc.nt onn ,--~efandins youth. Q pity
the sorrOys of a poor little boy
Then there was the class room, where the
teacher, no natter how kindly his neart, be-
came at times judge, and prosecutor and tor
mentor. What unexpected questions! o the
painful. naked individuality OF that room The
long, vacant meaningless stare-that is, mean
ing nothing but misery-at the empty black
board.
And yet this was but the foretaste of woes;
the child Of which the examination room was
the fully developed man. Ia the Latin room
OF the University of Glasgow they have the
most elegantly arranged instrument of torture,
called the Blackstone Chair" that ever
graced an examination room. The chair is
venerable and highly polished and finely
carved, but. for all that, l know it is not COM
Portable The great black stone in the seat of
the chair is suggestive of sorrow and disap-
pointment Above the student, at the top of
the chair, is the hour glass. 1t is turned as he
sits down. and as the last grain of sand drops
to the bottom, the occupant has sunk into
obscurity or gained LINN i%mortanty' os hear
the endowment medal, and has
his name carved in a square reserved for him
on the oak paneling But one turns away
from the list of illustrious names to think
sorrowfully of the generations of the unfortll-
nate, who, ''rashly impoftunate," have there
met their doom
But there is ssanotherl Bside to this pic.
ture for, as l think and listen, hear the
tramp of professions which are neither fu-
nereal nor triumphal, neither quiet nor or
Derby, neither musical, nor yet devoll or
sound; professions which have their origin in
the natural outbursts of pent up. humanity,
youthful humanity. | hear the noise OF wars
Ia which there are no gllttering weapons,
bit wars which resemble rather the
famed battles of the smoke begrimed
Cyclops And hear the sound of
bells. which are neither matin nor vesper bells,