The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1895-06-01

that means the fuller development Of our
own characters and the more eternal good
of the human race. And so ! present IL 10
you today not as suggestive OF that con-
test that involves the devastation OF neius
and the burning OF homes and the making
of widows and orphans, but rather as
suggestive of that contest oil heart ana
mind and soul which must come TO all OF
us when we are brought lace 10 lace with
the worlds problems, ana Wneh we are
called on to defend those principles which
to us stand for all that is best IN the past,
and all that is brightest in the future.
Aud AS YOU have triumphed here today
over YOUR school comrades in kindly
| rivalry and friendly opposition, so may
| YOU be victorious in your life IN It's AFTER
| years, where the rivalry VIII De less
kindly and the opposition more bitter ana
harder to meet. les the mastery OF the
| oppusition we meet in the world, anyway,
that makes men of as. It's the overcom'
ing of the resistance to our plans and our
| hopes and our dreams that makes us
strong and useful to our country, our
comrades and ourselves. All lille is a
struggle toward the ideal, and in this
| struggle the very opposition we meet ana
the very resistance We encounter serves TO
help us build and he better. As another
has said, the bird that trembles ana
quivers on outspread wing in the upper
air draws from the air which resists It's
course INT DOWtI u buS ~ -
the ocean liner, magnificent in its equip
ments, that slips across the ocean In SIX
DAVIS, draws from the water that retaTds
it's progress the power that makes 1t mas
ter. And 50 when the blows that crush
hopes and shatter ambition come upon us
i'm Our after years, We must meet them
with n stout heart and n brave brow, and
must AXE from them their awfulness and
their terror, and use them as strong props
and strong stays in the building of better
and puier lives.
The world needs young men to-day-it
needs strong young men. Never before
i'm it's history has this country demanded
the consecrated patriotism OF it's young
men NJ il demands it to-day. Our land Is
full of unrest and dissatisfaction. We
nave departed from the old principles OF
our fathers, and the old faiths OF this
republic, and the old traditions OF the
people. All is change and restlessness.
The fixed stars in the social, moral and
! political skies have gone ont and in other
places have appeared no answering nor
warming lights. The old guide posts on
the highway of the American people have
been torn down and we are now wander
ing from place To place without leaders
and almost without hope. The arteries oil
trade are stopped, commerce Is baked ana
i'm the political darkness now surrounding
us we bend with eager ear to catch the
first faint sound of the approach OF per-
sonal and national liberty. Questions
great and far reaching in their impor-
tance must be solved, and we must bring
to their solution the purest devotion oil
American craftsmanship and the deepest
solicitude of American citizenship. Be as
earnest, be as faithful, be as competent,
be as true in the years yet to come as you
have been to-day, and be sure pour duty
is well fulfilled. Shirk no responsibility
Ii in this the hour of need of the republic
you prove faithIess to your trust and un
| worthy of the confidence OF your fellows,
you Will find at its end that life Is bitter
and that yours has been in vain.
This century is fast passing away. Put
on it before it shall have passed out OF
existence forever the indelible stamp Of
your work. Be as true to your obliga'
tions hereafter as o have been success
full to-day, and then when the closing
hours of the century shall come you viii
gather round the last uying year with the
others who have helped to make heI
history great, and conscious OF your duty
well performed you will place garlands
dewy with the tears OF remembrance and
fragrant with grateful love upon the cold
and silent tomb that holds her sacred
dust. | congratulate you on your achieve
ment here to-day, and l present you with
this sword as the reward Of your fidelity
and your success.