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THE HESPERIAN.
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store or office, or in tlie professions which she graces with her
presence education better qualifies her for the place, making
Iter what she is and what it was intended that she should be,
an equal, a companion in labor and in love a blessing to the
man.
Another reason why I love this institution is'in the fact that
although its doors will be open to the knock alike of Jew or
Gentile, yet it is under the dominant influence of the Christian
religion.
And I feel certain that I voice the sentiment of every lover
of morality, be he Christian, atheist or infidel, when 1 say that
it is right and proper that it Should be so. No man
can be successful who does not live an upright and a moral
life. And nowhere else can such pure precepts of morality be
found as are contained within the pages of the Hook Divine.
Addressing mycclf more directly to those of you who arc
students, I assume that it is your high ambition, in some .vay,
at some time, when equipped and fully prepared for the con
flict, to fulfil the highest purpose of your creation, in the
faithful and conscientious dischaigc of your every duty.
Thus animated, for you there arc wonderful possibilities
in the changing drama of life and human even's. This is
more particularly true of the piescnt than of any preceding
age. You have all of life and human experience to aid you
in the struggle. Buoys and beacons scattcied all along the
shores of time to warn you of the leefs and breakers, upon
which millions full of hope and promise have been wrecked
and ruined. Apply those lessons, profit by their teachings,
and there arc no heights that have been scaled by mortal
man that you cannot attain and occupy. In the advanced
civilization of the nineteenth century the duties and rcspon
sibilities that rest upon each individual have increased and
widened until the language of inspiration comes to us with
tenfold force and power, "no man liveth to himself." Would
this thought could be impressed upon the mind of every stu
dent present. May it not, as in the case of many, go un
heeded until the best pait of your life has passed away, crip
pling your capabilities and impairing your usefulness forever.
Resolve now and here, upon the beginning of this university
year, that no such causes shall interpose as barriers to your
success. Armed and equipped with the sword of truth, clad
in the armor ol a. well-trained intellect, cultivated and thor
oughly disciplined in these halls, go forth, in time, to van
quish and disatm ignorance, superstition and error wherever
it may confiont you in your career in life.
He like the diummcrlioy in Napoleon's army. At a crit
ical time in the battle the commander said, "Boy beat a re
treat." The boy lcplicd, "Sir, I know not how. Dessaix
never taught me that. Hut I can beat a charge that will
make the dead fall into line. I beat that charge at Lodi, I
beat it at the Pyramids, I beat it at Mt. Tabor, may I beat it
here?" And over the dead and wounded, over the cannon
and battery men, over ditches and breastworks, he led them
on to victory.
We live in an age of enlightenment, progression and won
derful discovery. An age in which present existing realities
exceed by far the period of fabled mythology or the marvels
of past romance; an age in which man, not only grapples
with, but solves the most intricate nnd perplexing problems.
An age, when, in the flight of his imagination, the wonders of
his scientific icscarch and hc progress of invention,, man
stands majestically erect, clothed with powers in which we
see reflected the unapproachable attributes of divinity. Those,
then, who enter upon this stage of action, amid the gleaming
sunlight that radiates the world, have important duties to ful
fil, great and might responsibilities resting upon them.
Those of you who would labor for the elevation of your race,
and the amelioration of suffering humanity, must work, must
get down with bared arms into the battle that will be forced
upon you, and wrestle as did the gladiators of old, not like
them with wild beasts, but all the same like them for life.
Turn whichever way we may, in every domain where mind
in triumph reigns over matter, were confronted by new and
rapidly changing problems; problems that ccquirc the bright
est intelligence, the clearest brain, the keenest analytical per
ception and judgment to aid in their solution and proper dis
position. In education, through and by it alone, we find a
solution of every problem that confronts us.
To. attain this you must labor. No maxim contains more
truth than that which affirms "There is no royal road to
learning." It was only by perseverance and the most untir
ing energy, that the (!od-like conceptions of the old masters,
were brought into being, which, in all their loveliness, shine
down upon us through the mists of centuries.
By the most arduous toil, with mallet and chisel, the
sculptor forms the image of a Greek slave or an Apollo.
When, from the mire and clay of a neglected yard in the
city of 1'Iorence, Michael Aneglo rescued n fugitive block of
marble, and cleaned from it the slime and filth with which it
was covered, he was jeered at by his companions, who asked
him, "What he wanted with than useless piece of vock?" He
answered, as you all no doubt have heard, "O, there is an
angel in the stone, and I must get it out." After sleepless
nights and days of ceaseless toil, he let the angel out.
The waves of twenty five centuries roll between us nnd the
days when the citizens ( f Gieeccwcrc charmed by the elo
quence of Demosthenes, but his name and the fame of his
matchless oratory comes "sounding down the ages," an ex
ample of labor worthy the emulation of tha youth of the Nine
teenth century, for Plutarch the historian and philosopher
affirms! "he was not a man of much genius and all his elo
quence was the result of labor. To-day, as then, labor will
win success. There is no other way known among men
whereby it can be obtained.
While nithcrwisc nor prudent tomagnify the difficulties you
will have to contend with it will be equally auel and unjust
to conceal them. Let me then address a few words of admon
ition and in conclusion strive to encourage and stimulate you
to action as well.
Young man, young woman the world is before you, one
vast arena prepared by creative wisdom for the grand struggle
of human life.
If you have not alrea'dy awakened to the fact, have not as
yet heard rumblings of the coming strife, if the turmoil and
din of conflict has not been sounded in your ears, you arc des
tined soon, at least, to learn that life with its stem and uncom
promising realities, is one continued battle, not a drenm.
Like the winding footpath upon the mountain, there are
rugged cliffs to climb, difficulties toencoanter, obstacles appar
ently insurmountable, that Alp like tower above you to impede
your progress, making more severe the toil and more uncertain
the success of your journey.
Before you, also, yawn precipices innumerable over which
you may plunge, while a misstep, a careless word or prema
ture act may bring down upon you the avalanche.
Young friends, the difficulties must be met, the journey
mast be made. Once begun there is no retracing of the foot
steps, no retreating from the conflict. By thoroughly training
and disciplining the powers of the mind, moral and intellectual
the journey may not only be accomplished with safety but with
honor and distinction as well. This will require to be con-
tinued, when, after graduating from this institution vou bid
HM5f
lyu''i'mm
