Smyrna times., 1888-07-04
The school Commencement Fxerois

evening of our last publication, and
passed of most creditably and with the
usual marked interest of the people.
The Opera House Orchestra prefaced
the exercises with some good music,
and the school children, who had been
trained by Misses Mcdowell and Storm
and directed on this occasion in har-
mOny with the orchestra by Walter o.
HOffecker, rendered several pieces of
music most admirably. The Board of
Directors and Rev. J. II. Wiley, of
Milford, and Rev. w. S. Robinson had
seats on the stage. After prayer by the
latter, the following programme, with
out loss of time, was gone through
with, as announced by Geo. H. Ray
mond, the President Of the Board:
Chorus" Russian National Hmm "............
SalutatOry-" The DlICRiHg Of the Dqy Alice
v LippincOtt.
@Essay-" Dignity Of Labor" Clarence T. FAIRIES
Essay Progress in Civilization" b.
Chorus" Acagl Awayi our Morning Freshly
Essay" sjS,4g qr9es Tcii W .c;;d;.
Essay. Summer DrytlO0od JDr Winter Fires" "....
Lillian II. Pratt.
Valedctory-" Government" Ralph c. Hoffacker.
Chorus-"Joy! joy! Happy are We r'................
Awarding of Prizes and the
Principal.
Address of the Evening. ,.,..... Rev ] II Wiley
Milford, Del.
"EXcused from speaking
Without stopping at this date to par
tlcularize, it is due the graduates to say
that their essays exhibited thought and
care in preparation, and were deliv-
cred with becoming grace.
w. G. Lake, the principal, at this
point stepped forward and made the
graduating class a brief but appropriate
and feeling address-the pleasurable
association they had had-the sadness
OF separation-the divergent paths of
llie-tendering to each in turn their
certificates of graduation. The fol-
lowing prizes were awarded:
Mr.. Raymond's prize to the valedic-
torlan Of the graduating class, awarded
to Ralph {. Hohecker; for diligence
and department, divided between Sally
w. Cosgriff and Lidie Lord for ex-
cellence in Penmanship, Sally ID. Pratt:
for excellence IN Physiology, J. V.
Smith, Jr.; for excellence in United
States History, J. Harry Cotton; for
excellence in English Grammar, Daisy
DOrman.
REV. j. II. WILLEY'S ADDRESS.
Rev. J. H. Wiley, of Milford. who
had been invited to deliver the address
OF the evening, was then introduced
and for some fifty minutes he had the
closest attention of the entire audience
1t was not from manuscripts. as is Gus
tOmary on Commencement occasions
but few notes on a scrap of paper en-
bOdying in them the thoughts. were
made the vehicle in CONVEYING to his
appreciative audience an address preg-
nant with ideas, served with the can
tivating grace of the orator. His sub
ject was " The Footprints of the God
in the Classroom. ." The following
outline will give an idea of the scope Of
thought as well as the epigramatical
way of putting them:
Everybody has read Robinson
Crusoe, and everybody remembers the
astonishment of the philosophical old
gentleman when he found human foot
prints in the sand of his island home
MY purpose tonight is to 20 around
the text book beach Of this island world
OF ours and see if we can find the print
OF foot in the sand. THE Footprints
OF God in the Classroom" is the subject
of my address, and if we learn nothing
new, perhaps we may see a new mean
ing in an old truth
Remembering the suggestion of the
poet Pope, that the proper study of
mankind is man" we give our first at
tention to History, the records of the
struggles through which our fathers
passed. But those records are stained
with blood. We open the book. and
the battle field rises before us. where
the waves of the mysterious death
river moan"-the hospital, the desc
lated homes, the green fields beaten
into mire by hoof and wheel and
plOwed ball, red rivers and smoking
skies; dire spirits are these called from
the vastly deep when we invoke the
genius of War. The footprints of the
Creator may be found in the midst of
this overwhelm and carnage. He
maketh the wrath of man to praise
Him. War, Gods enemy. has wrought
Gods work. The History of War has
mas eeen history of the world. The
battlefield has been the burial place of
ancient errors, the birth place of diviner
! truths.
= In 400 B. c., where 1.-THE mountains
look on Marathon and Marathon looks
on the sea-" two armies met. The Per-
slams, flushed with victory, the Greek
j with indOmitable hearts. Asia with its
despotism against Europe with its re-
pubicanism, the God of battle spoke
| through the skill of Miltiades and the
! future was to be European. The battle
of the Metaurus 200 B. C.) saved
Europe from Africa, for God had
chosen Rome with her magnificent
laws as the founder of new dispense.
tiOn and with the blood of Numidian
and Carthagenian and Ethiopian he
was writing the red-lettered record of
human progress and stamping the red
seal of his purpose upon the race.
The battle Of ChalOns where the old
Roman and the new German met the
barbaric Huns and Attila, saved the
west from Paganism. The battle of
Tours rescued Europe from Moham-
medism. The battle of Gettysburg
was the greatest battle of the greatest
civil war that ever left its bloody finger
mark upon the pages of history, we'll
! fought, well matched, we'll managed
conflict by which was decided once for
! all, that the American States are to be
one nation. The $4,000 dead bodies
showed in their mute speech how diff
! fcult it is for man to put asunder what
God hath joined together.
'But other books are before us. This
earth is not Topsy. 1t is not an acci.
dent. 1t shows the print of tools
somebody sat down and thought it all
out. Open your physics and YOU learn
the g eat fundamental law that heat
expands and cold contracts. This Dro.
duces the trade winds, sends smoke
out the chimney, allows bubbles to es-
cape from boiling water and thus pre.
vents explosions. Without it the tea.
kettle would be a dynamite bomb. But
there is notable exception, At 99oF
cold begins to expand, at 800 water he
comes solid. This patent back action
is startling. By this ice floats, other.
wise the rivers and lakes would become
solid and the world would become
frozen desert.
The argum ent from design. bor.
rowed by DR.. Paley from Cicero. salts.
fled thinking men for awhile then
failed. Many designs proved many
designers. The greatest gun in the
evangelical battery carried too many
missiles. A pantheon of Deities was
the result of this logical method. R"t
the correlation of force was discovered
which shows that all not,,ro /, -