The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-27
PHILLIPS MAKES
 NOTABLE ADDRESS Speaks To Young Men of How
 ard College MISSION OF 2OTH CENTURY Draws Parallels From History to Show That Problems Will Be Aes- thetic and Altruistic and Not
 Industrial.
MISSION OF 2OTH ENTURY

The final graduating exercises at Howard college were held yesterday at II a. m. in the college chapel. The ex- ercises consisted of the baccalaureate address delivered by pr. J. H. Phillips superintendent of the Birmingham pub lie sch ools, and the senior oration by Jasper c. Hutto A. B.. of Athens.
 The exercises opened with prayer by the Rev. Y. w. Christenberry of Louis jana. President Montague then gave a short address of welcome to the visitors present and after the bacalaur- ate address and the senior oratfon con ferred the degrees upon the members of the senior class. addressing them in few appropriate remarks in which he urged them to select that vocation in life from which they would derive most pleasure. He further advised them to practice optimism, learning to wear a cheerful smile in the face of defeat and disappointment. The names of the graduates upon whim the various de- grees were conferred are: William Samuel Hendrix, M. A. (B. A. 19OD i; Ava Brown Craddock, M. s. (B. S. 190S); James Bay Hudnall, Jasper Cum ningham Hutto, Edward Dudley Me- Adory, Malcolm Eugene Kettles, Burney Amer Sellers, James Skillman Ward and James Toy Williams, Bachelor of Arts; and Charles Theodore Rogers B. S.
 Another feature of the programme was the music supplied by an orchestra of five pieces.
 The subject of pr. Phillips address was "The Mission of the Twentieth Century" while Mir Hutto spoke on "rhe Kingdom of Life"
 NThe address of Dr. Phillips follows in full:s
 Fortunate indeed Is the young man who with the ardor of courage and the enthusiasm of confidence enters the arena of life during the first decade of the twentieth century. Especially fortunate Is he who by his equipment In college or university has been trained for leadership in the worlds work; whose ears are attuned to catch the keynote of the century, whose judg ment Is trained to interpret alright the signs of the modern age, and whose will Is strong to respond to its call. The college graduate of today, as he faces the pressing problems of the pres ent and the intricate questions of the immediate future, must first of all ask himself What Is the peculiar sgnifl- canoe of this twentieth century in the progress of civilization? What is the trend Of present world movements and ha r. of uVn Gt ? What call does the present century bring to me and what response am l prepared to give as 1 enter upon the serious business of living?
 For the majority of men and women, a century of time has little significance. The stream of time glides silently on passing one century mark after an other, with no series of natural cata- racts to register the stages of its rapid descent Days. months and years are necessary to the business of the bank and of the workshop; centuries are of interest only to the historian and the philosopher.
 As we review the worlds history, we find that each century. is marked by some specific line of progress, some dominant chord of human interest. While we praise the marvellous achieve ments of the nineteenth century, 1t is well to remember that, in some lines of development, every century of the past has been a wonderful era when com pared with it's predecessor. The prog tess of each succeeding century Is made possible by the accumulated achieve ments of it's predecessors.
 The progress of civilization is rhythmic The lines of development are neither continuous nor parallel. The student of history, however, finds that the sum total of human activities in any century, spells human progress, and when history is viewed in large per spective, we find that invariably and unerringly,