The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-06-01

joice Wealth has increased, railroads
have penetrated into almost every sec
ton, public schools and academies have
multiplied, and the music Of the spindle
and the loom is heard where long reigned
silence and lethargy And our rejoicing
is not only because of the advancement
on many lines, but also because we know
that Wake Forest has done it's full share
in displacing the conditions described by
Mr.. Wiley and ushering in a brighter day.
educational and economical The great
revival of the popular interest in educa-
ton is due to no man more than to my
honored predecessor, Thomas H. Pritch-
ard, who made the whole State ring with
his appeals; nor that Christian Tribune
of the People, Columbus Durham, ten
r-hearted as a woman, and yet able to
WELD the hammer of Thor. And, while
the college has been no insignificant fac
tor in the enlightment and improve
ment of North Carolina, it has also sent
forth into almost every State in the
Union as light bearers, men whose torches
have been lighted at these affairs.
And we can point with pride to three
excellent colleges for women of North
Carolina which probably would never
have existed without the labors of Wake
Forest alumni. They are in true sense
daughters as we'll as sisters of Wake
Forest; and perhaps the day may not be
far distant when as constituent parts
Of a Baptist State University, they may
enter into closer and more endearing
relation.
Thirty-three years from now. young
gentlemen, some of you, crowned with
the rewards of honorable toll, will come
to the centennial of your alma mater.
Nearly all the present board and faculty
will have then passed away. But the
college will be fourshing in the vigor of
youth. Unless the longings Of my heart
mislead my calmer judgment | am sure
that you will find the campus graced
with stately edifces, you will learn that
in the Golfers of the treasury are securi-
ties representing a million of dollars,
you will see in the catalogue the names
Of a thousand students and of half
hundred professors, and you will know
that more than ever Christ is King over
it all. These are the things that some
of us have dimly dscerned from Pisgah
heights and for which we have tried
to lay foundations broad and deep. If
these things seem TO any one to be only
dreams of an idle enthusiast, let him
remind them that the proportionate
growth would not be greater than that OF
the last thirty years These visions can
be transmitted into realities if you and
the other alumni determine that ii shall
be done.
May we not hope that, when you shall
revisit your alma mater and shall recall
to memory your own college days and the
men who sought tc guide and instruct
and help you, a tender thought will be
in your hearts? For unmarried and al
together pleasant have been our relations
during past years. And now they arc
ended. Today, as plumed knights, you
enter the arena. 1t is not for tourna
ment. but for real battle. Kneel at the
altar as you enter the lists. Grid strong
~ your armor. Unsheathe the only sword
which can win you victory. Quit yours elves
like men. And may the presence of theAl-
mighty. the cloud by day. the fire by
night abide with each of you, even unto
eternal life.