Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1918-05-23
Presentation Address.

~ AUG 4
livered by Rev. G. w. Holmes, ,
at the presentation of the d. I,
plomas to the graduating class
of the Mansfield High School: !
Do you realize what the last
twelve years of the public school
found you and what they leave
you? You came to the public
school q bundle of human in
stincts without training, discip-
line or knowledge, and you leave
it having completed IL years
of careful development under
efficient trainers, IL years OF
submission 10 wise command,
IL years of accu mmulation OF
the basic facts of mans funda
mental knowledge.
Education is the leading out or
developing of capabilities, and in
this sense you are educated. Not
completely, nor perfectly, but
nevertheless educated. You
have undergone II years OF
that process that differentiates
man from the rest of the animal
kingdom. Man alone Is educat'
ed. Barring a few such excep.
tions as Napoleon the Great,
baboon, Jumbo, the baby eleph-
ant and Betsy, the dancing pony.
The brute creation acts solely
from the prompting of instinct
The dog does not teach her
puppy what she knows. The
puppy must learn from his own
experience. Not so with man.
For the past II years you
have been given the advantage
of truth that it has taken the
world nearly 1000 years to learn
Century after century and gen
Grafton after generation before
you have been investigating, ex'
perimenting, thinking and re
cording, and you in the pas
IL years have been given the
foundation facts that 20 centu
ries of men before you have dis
covered.
You have learned to read
you have learned to write
you have learned to calculate
and Notwithstanding SOM
profoundly learned professor
to the contrary, l tell you that il
these old fashioned three RS i
comprehended the progressiv
plan Of human development,
When a man has learned to in
vestigate, to arrange and recor
discovered facts. and to proper
" calculate accurate result
from the facts before him, h
has comprehended the fune
ton of human activity. An
this you have learned to de
You have learned to read, nc
only what is printed on tn
pages of your text books, bu
those wonderful lessonso of divin
nature. You have learned wha
is written on the blade of gras:
the budding flower, the ripeninI
corn, the twinkling star. the set
ting sun, the blazing comet, @
it's field of blue; you have Iearl
ed to understand the songs
the pattering rain drops, tn
murmur of the running broOl
the rushing current of the river
torrent and the ~ceaseless sig
of oceans heaving bosom. 70
have learned to read the stor
that is written in the stone,
the tree trunk, the robin plum
age, or the fox's pelt; the me.
sage of the gentle sunbeam. {
the flash of lightning in tt
sky. You have learned to int.
pref the message of God as it
written in the verdant beauty
the budding spring-time the 50
nygleams of shiningsummer,t I'll
ripening harvest of the golde
fall, and the soft, sweet slumb'
of the white touched winter
rest. You have learned to rea
And. you have learned to writ
not merely to trace the mod
in the copy book, but to syst
matically and intelligently
cord the facts and impression
that have come to you. For tn
is the real purpose of writin
You have learned to register
your memories and thought Il
story that the grain of wheat u