The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-06-19
THE EDUCATED YOUNG MEN.
Their Duty to Society and the Relation
They Bear to the Public.
Address BY Charles Emory Smith to the I'm
der-Graduates of Butler Uniyersity-Do-
iags Of tho Alumni Association.

from all over this and adjoining States were IN
attendance and large numbers Of their friends
were also present The association held a pusi-
ness session in Athenian Hall, at 3 p NJ, and the
class of '85 was elected to membership. The
following officers for the ensuing year were
chosen: President, Miles Clifford t'79G vice
president. Mrs Emma Dryer ESQ.,; secretary,
Hilton u Brown ESQ.,; treasurer Matte Wade
c84l. Resolutions were passed. addressed to the
board, in favor of higher education and oppos-
ing further extension and development of the
preparatory department motion was passed
requesting the stockholders to allow the alumni
association representative on the board of df
rectcrs.
The remainder of the day was spent in social
intercourse, games and in the interchange of co.,
lego experiences. In the evening the undergrad
yates listened to an address by Charles Emory
Smith, editor of the Philadelphia Press. A very
large audience greeted the distinguished speaker,
and received the address with marked and fire.
quently repeated manifestations Of approval
President Everest presided and introduced the
speaker in a few wellchosen remarks. Mr..
Smith spoke substantially as follows:
: The triumphs Of exceptional genius teach the
double lesson that there is no summit OF achieve
ment which may not be scaled by young asplra-
ton, and that there is castiron rule of action
and success in the battle of life. 1t would be- on
the other hand. presumptuous and unwarranted
to discredit the counsels and achievements of
aga and experience, aid shining illustrations OF
eur own day on the great stage OF human action
would rebuke such unthinking folly Yet with
ail respect and generation for the superior WIS
dom of age, is is none the less true that large
proportion of the greatest achievements in the
history of the world have been won by men
hardly beyond their youth. In literature this
fact is attested by the lives and works of Shak-
spears, Spenser Dryden, Pope, Addison Shelley,
Byron and many others. Robert Burns began
TO sing his melodies at fifteen, and gave the
world that sweetest of pastora)s "The Cotters
Saturday Night" at twenty three. Coleridge pro-
dssced 1.-THE Ancient Mariner" and others OF his
best poems at twenty FIVE Goethe was but
twenty-five when he stirred mankind with his
',Sorrows Of Werther." Dickens gave us his
skatehes at twenty two. and the inimitable Pick
wick at twenty-four, and Disraeli dashed into
literature at twenty with his elittering Vivian
Grey Tennyson was famous at thrty-one.
Bryant wrote "Thanatopsis" at eighteen, and
Lorgfellow was but eighteen when his tuneful
numbers began The fields of oratory, art and
war show similar illustrations.
While aiming high, it is the part of practical
wisdom TO aim at an object which is within
reach. The arrow of Acestis was fired at the
stars and though it lett cleaning train of light,
a captain, while on his nightly round, espied
light peering over the neighboring hill Suppos
ing it to be signal light of the enemy, he called
TO the corporal of the guard and ordered him to
put hole in it. The corporal sighted his gun,
and. after a moments observation, looked up
and exclaimed: why, captain, that's the moon" v
Never mind, answered the captain, put hole
through it, anyway" That may be grand, but
1t is not practicaf, as was said OF the charge
of the six hundred at Balaklava, sit is magnif-
cent, butt is rot war" There is no use firing
at the unattainable Every should seek to
measure his own powers. and study how he can
best direct them. owe row in the same boa,
you know" said Pre- antious eorIic writer to
= ~'as Jerrc'f 'lrue.' answeiedJerro'S. III
tfe aere boat. but not With the same scus.'
terrifying all other elements OF success more
important than all other elements, is the valid
foundation of character. Character m cans hon
est and constant purpose, high principle, faithful
and persistent endeavor. fixed and firm resolu-
ton. This quality is more potent in the long
run than mere brilliancy of intellect or lustre of
genius. The great demand of our times is for
the practical in education and in life. We want
the broadcast information and the largest tangible
results Better acre in Middlesex than a
cycle in Cathay; better the practical education.
the strong stimulus and the great opportunities
of our modern civilization than all the imagina-
tive gleres of the elder day; but let them be SO
cultivated as they are being more and more cul-
tivated by our rising generations, that they shall
yield the richest and ripest harvest.
prefer TO think of the age in which we live as
the noblest in the procession of the centuries.
believe that the world grows better it grows
older and that the march of time and of civiliZa
ton is the advance of both material and moral
progress. Much of the halo that crowns and soft
ems the mountain peaks OF the past is the purple
tint Of distances; much of the seam anu scar that
shades the present is the effect of immediate
contact. and will fade as it recedes in time. The
faults and the blemishes of the by-gone heroes
ara forgotten. and only their glories remain; the
frailties and the foies of the living are seen
face to face and in their nearness cloud the vir
tues as the hand covers the SUM- There is not
only q change of perspective, but change of
conditions. The newspaper, the telegraph and
the railroad have brought all the world into a
daily exchange. The Asmodeus of journalism
lifts every roof and leaves no secrets. We live
in the full glare of an electric light which pene
trates every corner and reveals every wrinkle;
our forefathers lived in the shadow and the soli
tude of the taliow-dip and the stage coach. Then
vice and wrong dong travelled slowly and often
concealed themselves; and they seem more rife
now not because they prevail more in proportion
to the growth OF the country, but because the
lights are turned on and the whole life of the
land is flashed before us every morning.
2 The distinguished Secretary Of State, in a re
cent address at sister college, pointed as an
example for our times to a conspicuous case
where personal and party feeling was subordi
mated to a high and patriotic sense of public
duty. He pointed to the Presidential election
%
between Thomas jefferson and Aaron Burr:
when she choice thus devolved on the House Of
Representatives which was still controlled by
the decaying Federal party; when the beaten
md baffied Federasts were tempted To avenge
their defeat by electing Burr over jefferson;
and when Alexander Hamilton, the great Federal
chieftan, successfully exerted his influence to
avert this calamity and advance Jefferson to the
Presidency. Hamilton and Jefferson had been
Jealous rivals and bitter antagonists; they were
the acknowledged leaders of hostile parties; and
Mr.. Bayard is right in citing Hamiltons effort
for his personal toe in that crisis as q splendid
act of elevated patriotism. But the honored
Secretary does not dwell upon the fact that
the great body of the Federal representatives,
enraged and embtte-ed at their loss of
power, were on the point OF making an unholy
bargain, in contempt of the popular will, to
place in the presidential chair bold crafty and
INSCRIPTIONS trickster who had been proposed
even by his own party only as candidate for
Vice-president Nor does he allude to the further
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