The herald., 1895-07-30

energies will be directed along new planes
of action. new scenes will meet your eve
new associations will demand your con-
sideration. and new opportunities and re-
sponsl bilities will be yours. Some of you
will go into the bank, the store or the
office. and mingle at once with the hustle
and hurry of the boundless world.
Others will go out to toll in the groves
and fields OF our land of sunshine wrest-
ing from nature some of the good and
beautiful things that lie dormant in the
soil. Others may enter the learned pro-
But whatever line of effort claims your
attention, you will ever roalze that to-
night marks the beginning of new
epoch in your lite's history. Slowly the
curtain falls on the scenes of your child
hood and rises to reveal the great posi-
bilities of your manhood and woman
hood. Tonight you graduate. This is
the elimination of your efforts to which
you have long looked forward with keen
anticipation. and in the accom- plishment
of which you feel a Unstable pride. You
are proud and happy tonight with the
thrilling strains of music and oratory
ringing in your ears; with the smiling
faces CT friends greeting your eyes, and
the beautiful flowers nodding their ap-
plause. But let US not only enjoy the pleas
ures of the houtr Let us remember
what the occasion celebrates-the Com
mencement Day of your lives. Make
this time for the formation of a lofty
purpose, a noble ambition, a grand deter
mination that you will make of your
lives all that is good and true and noble
and beautiful. You owe this duty to
yourselves. You owe it to your friends.
4o owe it to your country.
Your present position has been OBJ
tanned through much continued and per-
sistent labor on your part; but what
tongue can tell how much sacrifice there
has been on the part of your parents that
you might enjoy the advantages that
have been youts. Perhaps the aching
fingers OF a mother, or the weary hands
OF father could tell story of trial and
sacrifice for you. which would bring tears
to your eyes. From your earliest infancy
10 the present, they nave guarded and
protected you. and now, as you stand
about to launch away into the great sea
of lite. you are the center of their fond
est hopes. You owe them debt of love
and gratitude which you can never re-
pay. Make yourselves worthy of their
confidence. Show them that their efforts
in your behalf have not been in vain.
Build for yourselves name and character
which shall be blessing to them and n
honor to you. You are living IN land
of all lands the best. where every man is
a king and every woman queen; where
birth and station count for naught, and
men are measured by what they are and
what they can do.
The perpetuity of this government. the
most salutary in existence, deren ds up-
on the Intelligence and patriotisnf o its
citizens: This priceless boon of free gov
ernment has been transmitted to YOU as
a part OF your Inheritance and 1t is your
duty to cherish and protect it. Is the
government of nation a light and
trifiing matter? Are there any social and
political questions that cannot b. settled
by the ballot and under the law? What
has the freedom of this nation cost. that
whims or avarIce of men? Your ances-
tors braved the dangers of a trackless sea
to plant upon the rugged shores of our
eastern coast the principles of freedom
and equality. \ hundred and fifty years
roll by and Washington, Jefferson aud
Adams say this country shall lie free;
and the Revolution, with Lexington and
the price of liberty But still We are not |
one people. and 1t remained for our
fathers. shoulder to shoulder in the awful |
scenes of civil war. to cement anew the |
bonds OF union. strike the shackles from |
the slave, and make America in truth
the land of the free and the home of the |,
brave" Cherish love ana devotion for
your country. Not for its beautiful valleys, |
teeming with birds and fruits and |
flowers: not for its majestic mountains |
capped with the crystal beauties of ever /
lasting snow; not for it's winding rivers
OF silver or its verdant hills; but for its |
laws. Its institutions. its history, and for |
those grand principles of equality and |
freedom Upon which 1t rests. And If the |
bonnie blue flag should ever again be |
in danger, we trust that you will .ally |
under its starry folds and follow its
destinies to the end.
And now, my young friends, on be- |