Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-22


almost daily in our midst, cheering ana
encouraging us, and lifting up our
thoughts and aspirations to something's
higher and nobler than the mere per-
Torrance of our school duties. In the
future years we may forget the lessons
We may have learned in books. yet let
us ever strive to keep1n our hearts what
our teachers have tried so hard to culti-
vate in us, the loveof the good, the beau
tiful and the true.
And now the last moment has come.
Willing or unwilling, we must now part,
and for the coming years | can wish my
classmates no higher good than that they
may live up faithfully and Loyalty to the
memory of our dear old school.
Then followed a German song, "Maig-
lockchen und die Blumelien," from Men
delssohn, by Misses Elvira and Carlese
Lewis Aileen Cotton and Ethel Sharpe.
This number is worthy of special men
ton, as the young ladies who rendered
the beautiful German song were MEM
! bers of the German class and their rendi-
| ton showed remarkable training. Their
| pronunciation was perfect and creditable
| to any institution of learning in the coun-
/ try fH
Next in order was the annual address
| by Mr.. Frank V. Evans.
He prefaced his remarks by referring
| to the popularity of the request on the
part of the high school class of SO to
| limit his remarks to ten minutes. He
| thanked them for having chosen him to
| deliver the address and appreciated the
| honor. He said:
Mr.. Evans Address.
| Young ladies and Gentlemen OF the
Graduating Class:
Echoing the sentiment of each one of
| this vast assembly, | congratulate you
| all on the success of your efforts or long,
weary days and months in having reacn-
| ed this important milestone in your lifes
| journey. Your diplomas are but visible
| evidences of the conquests of earnest Ia
| Dor and toll against hindering influences,
which for some reason become the ner-
| itage of all rnankind-ever schoolpoys
| and schoolgir1s-the honor OF your tri-
umph is heightened by this fact You
| have won the higher honors of your
| class and have right to all the prlde
| that's worthy. Perhaps this is your first
Olympic; be certain 1t will not be your
| last. At this first Olympiad you have
| won. Shall the emulation these honors
ought to inspire warrant any other facts
| for your futures than that they are the
precursors of many other noble achieve
! ments worthy alike of your promise ana
performance here?
You, young ladies and gentlemen, who
| lost these higher honorS, reflect You
| have done your duty well-thats next to
| doing your duty best Determine to I'M
prove with your years, else years are In
| vain Demosthenes was Kissed from the
| Bema Sheridan was ,ridiculed in parlia-
ment. Take it with you-final defeat is
| the fate of no man or woman but the
| coward; final triumph can be won by any
man or woman of courage. Arise then
| from this arena. There are other strug-
| giles and gres ter honors on the broad
| Olympia of the future. Before you are
| many contests. This is but the apex of
| the triangle of life. AS you proceed your
| spheres will enlarge; as they enlarge your
conflicts will increase; as they increase
| the awards of more important tribunals
| will acclaim who best deserves the hon.
| ors One of these awards will meet you
| as you step from this threshold INTO the
| life you are just beginning, following you
| to every exigency of your futures. Inc
| very epitaph on your tombs will declare
| them, and when the universe is assized In
| heaven then and there this same award
| will be made finally forever There is no
| excellence without labor, and 1t some
| times seems a great pity that the world
| cannot always measure success by the
toll necessary to achieve 1t. The bright
| est man, the most brilliant woman, Is not
| always the most deserving. Honor-Win-
| tiers who bear their trophies by virtue or
| natural gifts deserve not the credit Wh1ch
| would be due them If theirs were con-
| quests by honest, faithful labor. Nature
| is generous patron but you must TIL
/ the fields for harvests, and you must TILL
| the mind for thoughts The solid metal
| of hard thought is the only substance
| that can make the trenchant blade of
| conuuering mind. Yet we do boast or
| genius, we rear 1t shrine higher than
| that of sturdy sense and we have al an
| admiration for the intuitively Dr1lllant
| mind. and exhaust a needless pity on him
| or her whom knowledge rewards for toll
| in the search and sweat of the brain. IL
| Is error! 1t is error! Oh, If the sledge
| hammer Of Omnipotence would drive one
| fatal fallacy, like mile far under the sea
of oblivion, Omniscience could euide II
| no better If it drove fast and forever this
| presumptuous assertion that any genius
| is superior to noble energy, or that any
| thing great or grand should ever be at
tanned without honest pay for IT In the
sound coin of honorable toil-the only
legal tender of true-minded man or
woman.
Toll, therefore, with your hands, your
heads, your hearts. Gather the offspring
Of learning and engraft it on the tree of
your intellect: then that tree will bear you
| the golden pippin apples Of fortune af-
| lection and fame. The world needs each
and every one Of you. You are here for
some purpose, and you have every In
ducement of interest and ambition. Young
women. you are living in land OF liberty,
and upon yousdepends the future of your
country. You have sphere to I'LL, nigh
and lofty. Be sure you fill 1t WELL Young
men, you are living In land of suffrage,
and there Is no position too high for your
hope and no sphere too great for your
ambition. / know not what position you
are to fill in this life, whether 1t be to Ia
Dor with your hands, to sit at the bust
ness desk, to hold the horoscope of the
great after-future from the pulpit to
prosecute human justice and defend hui
man innocence at the bar, or to alleviate
physical suffering of mankind; but one
thing I do beseech you-love your God,
your country next. Be patriotic; this Is
your country. 1t was won by your ia
Tiers; 1t was redeemed by them, anu you
must preserve 1t.
Citizens of Birmingham, behold this
picture! I congratulate each one of you
upon this suspicious occasion, when you
are brought face to face with a full reali-
cation of the result of your encouraging
efforts towards the maintenance of your
splendid public school system, ranking,
| as 1t does, second to none on this conti-
nent.
Napoleon's idea of government was
everything for the people, but nothing
| by the people," but, thank God, in this
free and liberty-loying country OF ours
everything for the people Is by the peo-
pie. These schools. which add SO much
| To the attractiveness, refinement and<