The Oskaloosa herald., 1892-06-23
ESTABLISHED 1850.
words. and with feeling and sincerity

words, and with feeling and sincerity
he said: .--
NJ. President Class -. Ladies and GenGIemsa:
do not know how to address you as
graduating classes are usually sd
dressed. do not know how, on this
occasion, to put that solemnity into my
periods, nor the pathOs to my accent,
which possibly too often accompanies
farewell addresses. / understand that
to-day you are born into q new life,
into new sphere OF action or rather
that you are emetamorphOSedi into new
state Of the same life. And even yet
my figure fails me; for universally In
the animal kingdom, where metamOr-
Iphoeis is carried TO such high state of
beauty and perfection, 1t is during the
tirst stage that we find the greatest
activity, while with you it is, or should
be. during the second. You are, there
fore, to-day born into, or metamOr-
phosed into, or possibly more correctly
have grown up into new life. It is
the birth Of great men and great events
that we celebrate. not their death, and
it is with the joy and gIadness Of u
bright spring morning that the cere-
monies are conducted. Your life as
undergraduates is past, and the requiem
j was chanted yesterday. Then was the
time for mourning then the time for
tears. But to-day you leave all this
behind you and come forth bright and
freahs joyous in your new life, strong
l and vigorous in your new undertakings.
Neither can agree with the IOft-tOld
tale OF nothing but ease and pleasure
in the past, and or toll, trouble and
1 N fR
then colleges and college education
were worse than failures. Your own
experience bellies the first assertion
and If it is false your faith may well
be shaken in the second. Who is there
outside these walls that for four years
has toiled harder than you? Who has
made the SELF. f.denials of pleasure, OF
recreation. of anything, Of everything
that you hRvep Who but you has
labOred sixteen hours every day only
| to spend the other eight in troubled
dreams Of hard examinations and ignO-
minious failureP Echo answers. For
| the life of an ambitious student is as
closely occupied and his energies as
| nearly exhausted as that of any one |
You should not, therefore, put on the |
garb OF mourning as you enter this new |
life. for 1t opens its doors to you with |
out requiring a mortgage on your
time, your energies, OF your pleasures. |
You may expect that work will be Of |
fered you which you can do or leave |
undone; that responsibilities viii be |
placed before you which you can as |
sumo or not at your pleasure. You |
will not be compelled TO do anything.
You can dwindle away into nothing
ness, or you can rise to honor and re-
noWn. In Olden times with the |
Romans, and in many other instances |
with the less civilized peoples, the am |
bilious young man was put to very |
severe tests of courage and physical |
endurance in order to prove him before |
entrusting great undertakings to him. |
He was tried with fasting to see If he |
would readily yield to the pangs of |
hunger. If so, he was not worthy to |
60 on the chase or into battle, where |
there is so much uncertainty about OBJ. |
tanning food. He was tortured to see |
If he could endure pain, and pushed to |
the greatest extremity to see if he |
could resist fatigue, for the warrior |
must not yield even though death itself |
takes hold of him. And finally he |
was put to all manner of tests to try |
his courage and nerve. Should he fail |
in any OF these he as counted un- |
worthy his inheritance, and unworthy !
the name man. But should ne endure
to the end. with great joy and demon
stratiOn of gladness he was received |
back into his home and circle of asSO.
ciates, but with this difference: He is
now man, ready for the greatest con-
test in battle, or in the chase.
similar trial. For four long years
you have been put to some Of |
the ssverest tests. and having |
endured all, and accomplished all, to.
day We welcome you to our ranks. You
are now ready to 60 out as warriors to |
battle for the right. You are ready
to enter the chase. May you ever pur-
sue nothing but the choicest game. But |
your training has done more than test |
your strength and courage. 1t has cul- |
tivated your intellects so that you have |
grown strong, and are now able to push |
forward alone, and to become masters !
in whatever path you may choose. Let |
me in q word advise you, push out |
where others have not been; penetrate |
the dense forests, and cross the broad |
plains. Go anywhere, everywhere but |
let the stars of Heaven be your guide, |
rather than the paths of men. There |
never was q period in the history OF |
education when young men and young |
women of independent thought and
action were in so great demand. The
world is full Of copying clerks. But
the demand is great for those who can
produce something to be copied. Look !
where you will there Is a permanent |
and growing demand for research after |
new truths. And this demand is not |
confined to what is popularity called
science, but is one broad as the domain
Of knowledge herself. Only few de-
cades ago it was generally thought that |
teacher need know but little more |
than he taught. A teacher in the country |
school needed but little more than |
country school education. But with |
the unprecedented material progress |
which we have made during the last !
half century, progress in educational |
lines has also been great, and the pub |
lie demand has not been far behind. ,,
The country school teacher to day must |
be q graduate of high school or an |
academy, the high school teacher must |
have q college training, and the college |
professOr-well, there is a rapidly in |
creasing demand that he be, not only |
learned and profound, but exceedingly |
skillful and active in the discovery OF |
new truths. The spirit Of discovery |
and invention is abroad in the land. !
Where is there position in college or |
university that has recently been flied |
by an elderly, or even middle aged msn? ? |
Where is there q presidency that has |
been filed by one Of these? You can
not answer me, because there are none. |
It is young men that are wanted, young
men of culture, ability, and above all
of independence In thought and action.
The last three years have witnessed
the opening OF three great universities
In America. One in the extreme east.
one equally distant to the west, and
one In the great Mississippi valley.
For the presiding of one man was
chosen who is a specialist in PsychOl-
ogy, q man whose university education
had been finished not more than ten
years, but who in this short period had
thrown more real light on the hidden
and mysterious workings OF the mind
than all American Psychologists had
done in the half century preceding.
For the presidency Of another great
naturalist has been chosen, 3 man Who
is unsurpassed in vigOr and enthusiasm
In the prosecution OF Investigations
along his chosen line OF work. For the
presidency OF the third one was chosen
| the Youngest Of the three, scarcely thir-
| ty.six, and yet one who had the courage
and the nerve to undertake. and the
enthusiasm and force to successfully
conduct the most difficult educational
task America has ever known, teach
! Ing dead and unpopular language by
/ correspondenCs. Beyond these three