San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-06-16
THE VALEDICTORY.
Miss Schaefer's Well Written Paper
Read Before the High


School Yesterday.
BY the kind permission of Miss An
ME Schaefer, the LIGHT is enabled to
put before it's readers the excellent
valedlctory, "Cui Bono" read by her
yesterday before the high school:
GU Bono?
Man is by nature a philosopher !!
Man is prone to moralize. The most
careless of the human race is sure at
times toask himself For whose bene-
fit?
We hear it from the child at play
when urged by the careful guardian
to take up some of life's duties; the
student asks it of his books as he pores
over his midnight task; the man in
his prime questions of the world; and
the aged, who have gathered lore
from every field, repeats to himself,
"Cui Bono?" For whose benefit?
For whose benefit is the strife and
work of a life time?
Is the effort put forth, productive of
good, only to the laborer? O, you,
who have read and studied the works
of Shakespeare, Milton and Scott; you,
who have roamed the broad forests
and green groves with the nature low
ing Bryant; you, who cherish the fond
pictures of home and hearth with the
gentle Longfellow can well answer
the question.
You who have travelled the heavens
with the far-seeing Newton or the
stately Herschel;you, who have delved
into the most secret recesses of the hui
man mind with the old philosophers
and their worthy successors, you can
truly tell us, "Does man live for self
alOneN'
Look at our painters! For whose
benefit are those divine creations of
Raphael, Guido, Michael Angelo and
MurillO? What vast workshop
is that of the sculptor? Sure
ly none will say that the graceful
figures and delicate lines which have
pleased the heart and instructed the
mind for ages are monuments for none
but the genius that gave them life.
And for whose benefit have Mozart,
Beethoven, Bach and Gownod la
bored?
You, who have been soothed into
calmness or transported into ecstacy
by their magic influence could well
reply.
1t is not only in the world of artists
that we would have our query an
swered. In the haunts of everyday |
life, at the mechanics table and the |
artisans stOOl-where ever there is |
made human effort, the same question |
arises. What change in our every
day condition of living has been made |
by Edison alone.
There is no doubt that to every |
active mind and body. personal bene- |
fit accrues from che labor performed. |
There il. mo doubt that in the proper
ton each person develops that pecu-
liar talent with which the Creator has
endowed him, there comes to him a |
proportionate good and a great pleas
ure when he reaches his ideal! But |
the benefit to the world is beyond |
count.
Somebody has said that the infiu-
ence eXerted by one human being |
affects every other human being on |
the globe. He reasons in this wise: |
a person that comes in contact with |
another receives from him something |
for good or ill; he in his turn imparts |
that to another, and as no portion of |
mankind is entirely isolated, all the
race of man is by contact influenced.
This perhaps is extreme, but the
thought teaches lesson, "Cui Bono
For whose benefit.
1t is very natural that class of |
girls on the eve Of graduation, should |
have chosen this motto. For whose |
benefit have we worked? Have our |
efforts been purely selfish OnesS Have |
our motives had naught in them but |
thought of self? For whose benefit |
are we to live? Life is still untried. |
The great book is finished only at the
for whose benefit do we
fill the succeeding leaves?
OF late years much has been said of |
wOman's true place in the social scale; |
many have been the theories as to her
proper positiOn-but all have agreed |
that her influence is great, that her
possibilities are grand!
Let every member of the class of 'SS
cherish this thought. Let every men,
Der feel, that no matter how narrow
her sphere, that she owes it to her
own lligence, to leave behind a
that shall endure.
feel that we are greatly indebted
to you, our worthy superintendent for
the deep and sincere interest which
you have always manifested in us,
and in behalf of the class I tender you
our heartfelt thanks.
Honorable Mayor and Members of
the School Board.-Though personally
we have a common interest
in the cause of our dear old High
school. On you her success largely