Pioneer press. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1882-19??, 1912-12-14

Ereei-2-.- -o0c::--c ;-c:rarks in con
fcrring the degree were as follows:
William Seymour Edwards, lawyer
and statesman, worldwide traveller
and author, friend Of youth and cduca.
t1on, unenVied producer Of wealth, Just
employer of labor eXemplar Of the sec
ond as well as OF the first ommand.
ment, and lover Of God and man, By
virtue Of the authority conferred upon
me by the Board OF Trustees and by
vote Of the faculty. and In accordance
with the laws Of the State Of West
Virginia, I confer upon you the degree
Of Doctor Of Literature, and in tcst!.
mony present to you this diploma,
duly signed and scnled, toEethcr with
oil the honors and erc.urnents per.
tanning thereto, and | direct that YOU.
name shall be inscribed among tho
list Of the honorary alumni Of the
West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Col. Edwards Addreso.
After the degree had been formally
conferred upon Colonel William Sey.
mour Edwards, he addressed the lis
tinguished audience, IS follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
A little less than a century oago
there departed from the beautiful HOO
satonic Valley, in Western Massachu-
sets, a notable company, young men
and women, chiefly sons and daughters
or New England's greatest stock, de
scendants OF the Pilgrims and Puri
tans
These travellers set out az a we'll.
organized colony. They had great
canves-coVered wagons, well provided
hgainst the long journey ahead They
moved With their oxen and their
horses, their cattle and their sheep;
they took with them their axes for
Telling the forests, their anyil3 ana
their tools for working iron, and like
wise their plows and farming implo-
ments; while they carried their trugty
rifos, which they we'll knew how to
use. They fetched with them, also,
sometimes their old folks, always their
children staiwart company they
were, and they turned not toward tho
mighty West, but bent their way
eouthward alo!1g the foothills OF tho
Alleghenies and TO Virginia instead OK
Illinois
After many doya they halted their
wagons and unyoked their oxen upon
the well-watered highlands OF trans
Alleghenian Virginia, end the land
looked good unto them, and they said
TO one another, Here We will abide"
So they surveyed and settled upon a
great tract Of wild land, which they
paid for with the ce8h they brought
In hand. Here they hewed great tim.
bers from tho forest and bullded them
selves therefrom comfortable homes,
substantial houses, barns and OUT
buildings; here they cleared out wide
acres, whereOn the blue grass sprang
up spontaneously; and corn and wheat
and oats and rye ripened joyfully be.
meath the kindly Virginia sun; here
they founded schools and raised up
churches unto the Lord, for they wer g
God-feariDg people, although they
feared not man. Here, as the years
went by, they gathered unto them
selves other men and women Of kin
dTed spirit and equal faith, loving lib
eTty, honor,ng God and pricing above
all else education and true Christian
culture. Year by year they grew into
populous and powerful community,
respected and honorcd throughout tho
Commonwe ealth.
In due time these people became an
integral part Of the political, civil and
social organizations Of Translate.
---2Gicn NirGi-i@- - G~ca.t SECTION