Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-06-24

brightnessY Surely, it is SO with us on this day
when we lay aside forever the duties of school
life, and enter on the precarious sea of young
ladyhood. fear that it is not with very ssre-
luctant feet" that most Of us hesitate at that
brook where 'womanhood and childhood
meet
Dear schooImates, pardon me if withhold
the usual platitudes of advice Improve each
opportunity" Make hay while the sun Shines
Let no occasion go unimproved." You need
them not, nor are they congruous with the fes-
tivities Of this day. l know that with
the excellent instruction which you
enjoy, and your own admirable good
sense, that from these last years of your school
life you will garner fruits that will be lasting
We can only wish for you school career ss
unclouded by sorrow as ours has been, for the
kindness, encouragement and guidance of cur
teachers have made these paths of knowledge
a delightful and profitable journey to us.
In parting from you, dear associates of years,
who are so soon to fill the places we leave va
cant, we confess to a real sorrow. Our asso-
Citations have always been of the most pleas
ant kind, and have engendered in US a regard
for you which neither time nor separation can
ours, one that will enable you, when you st md
where we now are, to enjoy the same retro
spect OF unalloyed pleasure. / do not forget
our opportunities lost, nor our time wasted; but
these may be considered things of the past.
and we will not allow them to tinge the last
hours Of our school life with sadness or gloom.
We have not done our best as scholars.
Who doesS We have not always
been gentle and pleasant and kind. Who IS
outside of novels and dreams? But now that
the past is absorbed in the present, let its
faults and shortcomings be forgotten, and let
us only remember the halls of our venerable
academy with pleasure and affection.
And now, my classmates, l turn to you with
my last words. After so close an intercourse
as we have shared, is it not needless for me to
express my sorrow at our separation, now so
nearly here9 Those ties of friend ship which
for four years have united US, are about to be
severed, and now, do we not realize more fully
1alsr
school life? Sad though the parting be, let us
to-day look forward to the great future calmly,
trustingly, determined to make the most out of
it. Let us endeavor to enrich our souls and
minds with those qualities and attributes most
BETTING immortals, knowing that in this very
effort we necessarily enrich others - that
''spirits are not finely touched except to fine
issues"
But. dear girls, must not lnger over my
goodbye, much as desire to do so. If kindly
wishes were but wealth, how richly endowed
would you go forth A kind of wealth they
may be surely golden coin for love to spend.
Nav my good wishes bring you each those
qualities most necessary for your hap piness
and enjoyment, so that your life may become
"a perpetual feast of nectar'd sweets,
Where no crude surfeit reigns."
To this, response was made on the part of
B class by Miss Carson, as follows:
For twelve months the panorama of our
school life has been but little varied. Day
after day the same scenes have been enacted
within our halls of learning; the same routine
of study has been pursued. To casual OBJ
server it might appear that the daily round of
the we'll beaten track would become irksome
and monotonous. To those who follow In y,
however, with an earnest purpose and a cheer.
ful heart, it brings the refreshing reward of
labor. Does the sturdy mouutaineer weary
because each day he must descend the narrow
path that leads him to the messy bank OF the
cooling spring whence he must draw the cTys-
tai water to Quf nch his THIRSTY
Do we thirst for knowledge? The school life
which presents but little attraction to some, is
the source where we may derive satisfying
draught Each day brings us nearer to the
consummation of our highest hopes and am
bitions' We must patiently toll; must learn to
labor and to wait; then how sweet the graft
f1cation Of success.
Dear schoolmates to dav you have reached
a period which crowns che efforts of years.
You have looked forward to this date with
pleasant anticipation. Painted on the canvas
of memory are many similar scenes This pic
ture of to-day, like those that have already
gone, will soon fade beneath the misty veil
that falls over the brightest hours, aud will be
photographed upon the inevitable past. The
honor OF making the parting response to the
affectonate words Of my dear sister who has
Just spoken has been conferred upon me-, and,
while appreciate the compliment bestowed,
feel also the sadness which belongs to the
duty.
To-day sewers our connection as sehoolmates.
For the past year we have occupied the same
III.
over by our kind instructor. His keen eyes
have detected our failures, and his en-
couraging voice has directed us alike In
the right Way now you you Wi VIII no longer ger
music Of the roll-call. 1t saddens us to think
of all this, and yet mingled with this sadness is
the glad thought that you have acquitted YOUR
selves we'll and will leave behind you the re-
membrance of success. We the next year
shall occupy the position which you today
vacate; and when we shall be sweet girl
graduates"-if we ripen enough for that-per-
haps our successors will be as proud OF us as
we are of you to-day. So may it bel
It shall be our pleasure to initiate your ex-
ample; to perform eheerfully each duty re
ouired of us, as pupils in the highest class in
the school, Then. when another graduation
day shall have rolled around, and we shall be
the actors in q scene Ike this, we will be ena-
bled to leave as fair record or the history OF
our school days as you have Of yours, Your
career has been one well worthy OF emulation.
With your example to guide US, we will go
forward, remembering that THE end doth
crown the work"
Farewell is q time honored word The depth
of meaning it contains has been discussed again
and again. Nothing new can be said on such
we'll worn subject. And yet, dear sisters, we
have not been brought to fathom its fullnesS
until this parting hour. 1t is sad word
to US, Enthusiastically so. IL is the
severing of ties cemented by the bonds Of af-
lection With you it is bidding adieu to
familiar scenes and the title of school girl to
assume the dignifed position of young lady,
though that may not be an entirely new role to
some-perhaps all OF you.
Were presumptuous enough to give advice,
would say: Let your aims in life be high,
your aspirations noble.
Work for some good, be it ever so slowly;
Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly;
Laborl all labor is noble and holy;
Let thy great deeds be thy prayer to thy God
And now. dear sisters. FAREWELL Think of us
sometimes as you go forth free from school
duties and restraints. Let your presence
cheer and encourage us. as we strive for tho
honor that has crowned you to-day.
May the brightest hopes you nave cherished
be realized. May success attend you in all you
undertake., and nay we meet at last, an I'M
broken band, where farewells are never spoken.
"Farevelll farewell! word that must be and
hath been,
A sound which makes US linger, yet FAREWELL
Principal Bogart here stated that to Miss
Wilbur had specially been assigned the
honor OF presenting history in poetry,
which was entitled "Eheu FuGsees," and
which was read as folloWs'
When evenings blush doth tinge the arch of
heaven,
Meath Natures brilliant touches all grows
bright,
E'es so our schOol-days. when the closing
Do fairest seem as viewed in farewell light.
H.
As twilight's fall doth set the mind at rest,
And call up thoughts and actions of the day,
So at she close of this our schoolgirl life,
OF ell the past we take long survey.
HI.
In open view appears the varied road
Ger which in by-gone days we toiled along
A single road, tut pleasant. fair and broad.
And treading it happy, laughing throng.
~.
As the gleefu band their onward way pursues,
Falls on the ear the prattle OF Childhood's
tongue,
And harkl from out the glad young hearts
there wells,
So sweet and soft, the magic notes of song.
The years fit by: again that band is seen
Times changing hand has touched each sun
ny brow,
In happy groups they walk along the green.
They pause and from the flowers lesson Gull,
And pleasant knowledge gather from the
stream,
Wise thoughts to make the coming hours less
And bright with beauty as a fairy dream.
And here were friendships formed, whose
memory dear,
Sweet as those friendships were will e'er re-
main,
To cheer and gladden. many coming year,
In sweet old age to make hearts young again.
VIII.
But swift on wings of Time the years have
And here a hopefllI happy class we view.