Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1882-06-29

a delighted audience. The choir mu-
sic on this occasion was satisfactory
indeed. The fact that every one de-
liVered themselves so well we deem it
unnecessary to comment or specify.
DR.. G. F. Witter conferred diplomas
on the Misses Olive Teel, Cora Wat
terman. Belle Raymond, Mary Witter.
and Belle Brundage-Miss Aurora
Huntington being absent-afther the
following closing words by Prof
Cooley, who has conducted the school
satisfactorily to the people, he said
Members of the graduating class
Tonight, with you commences a new
era. With these exercises your ca
reer as pupils of this school, closes. A
new field Of labor opens before you
While pursuing your stadies here, your
hopes, your aims and your aspirations,
as class, have been one. Tonight
these relations and associations change
For the classroom is substituted the
activities Of life, and I doubt not that
it is with mingled feelings Of JOY and
sadness that you now hear the com
mand, ssabout face" and front the
world, = the world with its cold greet
ings, with its desirable positions most
ly occupied by those grown rich in
years Of experience, with busy jost-
ling multitude before you, each one
Of which strive to distance the rest.
But be not disheartened. Let none of
these things move you, except it be a
frmer determination not to be sur
passed. Enter the throng earnestly
and zealously, honestly press the bat
tie, and you may be the ones to wave
your banners in triumph over the de-
feated hosts Many are the anxious
hearts that will follow you; many are
the wishes that you may act well the
parts allotted to you, and that you
may all finally be crowned with sue
cess. [ trust that your efforts thus
tar have been comparatively satisfac-
tory to yourselves, as web as to your
friends. But be not content with
past attainments. May | not indulge
! the faint hope that with you the habit
Of study has become fixed, part of
your natures, so much so that you will
not be unwilling to go further? For
remember you are only standing upon
the shore, you have not penetrated
the deep of thought. For who is able
to do this. Can the finite fathom the
Infinite? You have only, as some one
has said, been gathering pebbles upon
the beach, while the great ocean Of
truth lies before you. I trust that
some, if not all Of you, may find your
way to higher Institutions of learning
In this age, when the acquisition Of
knowledge is possible for all, when the
educated are sought in all employ
ments, in such an age too much stress
cannot be placed upon the value Of a
coed, liberal education. One that de
velopes the whole manhood. Not a
one-sided effort, but such as will give
symmetry and strength to all the facil-
tiles of the mind. BY education [ do
not mean a mere compilation of facts
but mind trained by careful and ju-
dicious study, mind SO disciplined as
to be able to grasp the various phases
of subject For he is not necessarily
the best educated, who is able to quote
most from his favorite text books,
but he who, having thoroughly digest
ed the principles therein taught, is
thus enabled to penetrate new fields,
make discoveries for himself, and thus
benefits humanity at large. Let me
urge you once again to give this idea
of higher education careful, candid
consideration. and I shall be satisfied
with your conclusion. School life is
not SO dissimilar to the outside world
as many suppose. You have studied
long enough to know that success in
class work depends unon your own
individual effort In the little world
within these walls, each strives for
himself, so, also, in the world without,
hence the necessity Of cultivating the
habit Of independent thinking It is
the aim of every true teacher to teach
pupils how to think for themselves,
and the only way to learn to think is
to think, and if you have only learned
this much, if there is not half a dozen
important facts remaining on the
tablets of your memories, when you
leave this place tonight. and you have
learned ho0 to think. your work has
not been in vain For those who are
to meet the obstacles of life cannot too
soon learn to think and act fer them
selves. For life is struggle. a con-
tinual conflict We enter the world
! alone. alone we 1oht IFS battles. alone