The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-06-07

waEELINo, ". ", JuNE !, laSO.
The Uon memo. m.nt ssH'oniS Upon us'

nh. oou msnu, m,nt ssaGon 10 Upon U.s.
June is not only the month oil rosea but
likewise Of college and seminary com
mepcements, The voice Of the college boy
and the "swost girl gradute' is now heard
In the land, and their essays claim pre-
oedepce in public attention. This is as 1t
should be. The flowers Of nature and Of
literature should come on together.
The CommenCementseaso issOmething
like the theatre, something Of which we
may tire, something We know to be 70,
mantle and unreal, but something we will
always patronize and feel Interested in
The fact that we know what these
speeches and essays Of the young scholas'
tics amount to matters nothing. They
NAV DO ever 30 tlorescent and tlorid, or
have ian immense deal OF sack toa hall
penny-worth Of bread'' in them, but have
we not all been there in our salad days,
and do we not live over the past in re-
witnessing these momentous occasions to
the boys and glrlsY
These college youngsters can only grad
uate once, and it ought to be the pleasure
of all OF US who have long since awakened
from the illusion Of Commencement
dreams to give them a good send oil, just
rs we do when we fill the stockings of the
still younger Juveniles the night before
Christmas, Lat them all, big and little
Juveniles, hold on to their Santa CLAUS IL
lusions as long as they can. They will
awaken TO reality loon enough.
What a pleasant picture these young
people who have Finished" their educa.
ton represent. They have been 10 school
for years-how long it has seemed to
them-and have learned ever 80 much, 10
their " estimation, and because they
can puzzle their fathers and mothers with
questions from the books they think they
know It all. This Is a harmless deluslon,
because it will soon disappear. They will
soon realize how big a book 1t takes to
hold all they do not know, and into how
small a compass all they really do know
can be put.
But let US not undervslue the education
which these young people have received
When they have forgotten ever SO much
Of 1t in the shape Of rules and illustrations
and the actual text Of their studies Is
dim in their recolleCtions, still will their
educated powers OF mindremain. This Is
what the education Of youth amount to at
the period Of graduation. 1t is mainly
the indispensable primary discipline by
which the native intellect has had Its
teeth cut. They IRE now prepared to
masticate real knowledge. The quality
and quantity Of after knowledge that they
will take in and digest and assimilatc, and
the extent to which their native capacity
will grow and become great and strong,
10 all connected with this primary teeth
cutting, Just the same as in our physical
development.
With 80 little real knowledge as these
young people possess we should be ready
to make every allowance for the crudities
Of their commencement performances.
Ideas Of q valuable nature do not gener.
ally precede the commencement period.
Hence what we listen to in there oCea.
slons Is mostly mere words, or at best Is
very ''sott food" that the intelletucal sys-
tenn has assimulated up to this period.
But as all great mon chad once to learn
their A, B, O." so 1t is with these some.
what advanced A B o scholars they must
experiment a little on Commencement
days at our expense. Our motto should
be that which overhangs q rancho pulpit
out among the cowboys Of Colorado:
"Don't shoot the organist, he plays as well
he knows how" Let us not shoot tho
youngsters with over criticisms OF unrea.
sonable expectations, but cheer them on
with the hearty clap Of our hands, even
though we do laugh in our sleeves at
some OF their sky.rocketty u%tterances.
They play as we'll as they know how, and
as we'll as the most Of US knew how at
their age.
Some OF these college boys and girls
will yet live to kindle our admiration, and
inasmuch as we do not always discern a
Moses or Miriam In embryo We should be
careful lest we laugh at n "unawares."
But whether Commandments bring forth
q tribune Of the people here and there
matters little as respects the propriety and
utility Of their occurrence. They are tho
ushering in period Of a goodly company
Of educated minds, for whom the world Is
that much better oil.
Whatever the fate or station Of these
young people in life, their education and
intelligence is just that much missionary
leavsn wherewith TO %leayen, however
small, the great mass Of ignorance and
b~rutlshnesa that ~deplorably exists in the
world. Some Of course will make a bad
use Of their education, but as a great and
general rule education tends not only 10
the elevation Of the educated but Of all
who Coine within the sphere Of their In.
t1uence. Therefore we should all extend
hearty welcome 10 these Commencement
occasions and give the young people as
good q send tT as possible.
1hs BssShst Jubilee.
The report Of Mr.. BeeChst's death was
a.. a.