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thought, and sublime fancy place him high in the ranks of our
English poets.
Shelley lived at a time when conventionalism and ignorance
still retained their hold upon England. His passionate na
ture caused him to exaggerate the corruption in the social and
political life ol England. He saw in the lives of those about
him nothing genuine; all was sham and hypocrisy. At school,
in society, even in the church, fashion ruled; vice and prej
udice abounded everywhere. His individuality of genius lor
bade acquiescence in the customs of his day. The cardinal
characteristic of his nature was antagonism to all shams and
conventions. He loved liberty; he loathed intolerance. His
sincerity made him despise the falsity of the world. But he
had no faculty for compromise; he had no perception of the
blended truths and falsehoods, through which the mind of man
must win its way into clearness and knowledge. All customs
seemed wrong to him: and in his aspiration for an ideal he
would have levelled the present customs with the ground, and
built anew on their ruins. Baneful and beneficial alike must
perish. His audacity hurled defiance at the tyranny and in
justice of the times.
Those who, even today, arc slaves to the petty tyrants
'ashionamTcustom, cannot appreciate the great soul of Shel
ley. He was too true to pretend, too brave to fear. He did
not hesitate to denounce wrong, though all England opposed
him. "Love," he argued, isllfe law of the universe; by it
should men be governed, rather than by enslavement and ty
ranny. He demanded intellectual freedom, and revolted
against the harsh rules that governed the education of youth.
Because he thought there was no truth in society he left it;
because he imagined that the church had forsaken the paths
of purity and justice, he forsook it. Yet his rebellion was -not
agaiast social relations, nor religion. It was the protest of
one true heart against social and national hypocrisy; it was
knowledge against ignorance and superstition; it was liberty
against despotism. Can you say that Shelley was not right?
Shelley's life was indissolubly joined to his poetry, so that
it was impossible to contemplate the one without the other.
Many attempts have been made to write a consistent life of
him, but until recently, in vain. As well might one try to fol
low a wild bird. Hewaslearnedryet an irregular student;
his heart -was full of sympathy, but he abjured society: he was
erratic, yet we constantly find him contradicting hiswild the
ories by his life.
He was no atheist. He opposed the church, but not relig
ion. The church was corrupted with vice, greed, and tyranny
hidden beneath the garb of so-called righteousness. It was
the outgrowth of the mediaeval church, the church that
burnt and tortured saints. Shelley saw its corruption and in
tolerance, and fearlessly attacked its wickedness. But he
could not be an atheist. His mind could not conceive of a
universe without god. All seemed pervaded by that supreme
Being. His religion was love love in all the relations of life,
in friendship and in philanthropy. He breathed this gentle
spirit into his poetry. Amidst bold imagery and profusion of
beautiful language, we see a sublime conception of God.
In delivery Miss White was excellent, the thought being
made distinct by her clear, well-trained voice. After the
withdrawal of the judges, Miss Clara Cramphurn presented
the "Death of Hypatia" with a great deal of feeling and dra
matic power. Strong in every passage, Miss Cramphorn rose
to'thc fullest appreciatioaof the pathos and grandeur in the
real death passage, and gave a reality and power to the nar
ration which even its warmest admirers had as yet, failed to,
see.
After Miss Chamberlain had exquisitely sung "Thou .art
mine all," the decision of the judges, Mrs. H. H. Wilson, and
Messrs. N. Z. Snell and S. D. Cox, was announced, awarding
first priac to Cora E. White and second to Roscoe Pound.
COMPETITIVE 11RIM.S.
The competitive drills ot Tuesday, exhibited better training
than ever before and the large number of spectators testified
to the fact that interest in this department is increasing. The
successful competitors were as follows:
Infantry: Flag, won by company B. Sword and belt,
awarded to Capt. Webber. Gold medal for best individual
drill, F. II. Woods, Co. A; silver medal, second best, Chas.
Newcomer, Co. B.
Artillery: Guidon, awarded to Co. B detachment. GolJ
medal for best individual drill, J. U. Schofield of Co. A; sil
vcr medal next best, Harry Hicks, Co. B.
COMMENCEMENT CONCERT.
The department of music gave its annual concert in the
chapel, Tuesday evening, June 14th. Under the
able direction of Miss Cochran good work has been done dur
ing the past year which was well shown by the excellent pro
gtam presented.
COMMENCEMENT DAY.
At 9:45a. m., Wednesday, June 15th, the cadet band,
headed a procession of students to the Opera House, where
had already assembled a large audience. After the invoca
tion the University Chorus sang the "Soldier's Chorus" from
Faust. The Senior representatives of the different courses
had elected their own representatives as speakers on the pro
gram, as there were too many to permit all to speak. Mr.
Paul Clark, of the Literary course, presented
AMERICAN ARISTOCRACY.
The ink is slowly fading out from the parchment on which
was written the declaration of independence. But long be
fore it becomes illegible-the idea of that document will have
been forgotten; its mighty underlying principles will be no
longer recognized. Men may be created equal, but they do
not continue so one hour after they .are placed in the quicken
ing tide of modern life. We are livjng in the midst of an ar
istocracy more potent than any in aristocratic Europe. The
aristocracy that is now exerting a mighty influence upon Am
erican society is one of wealth. The characteristic of our peo
ple is the love of money. He who possesses it is an auto
crat. It is the only introduction needed into society. It is
true that men are continually rising from poverty to riches,
thus doing away to a certain extent with the danger of a per
petual aristocracy. But is it not true that fewer and fewer are
rising each year? Is not the influence of the man of money
increasing steadily as the years roll on? JThe accumulation of
wealth is becoming hereditary. Can we not find a clue to
the labor troubles in thii system of aristocracy? In Europe
the condition of the laborer is better today than it has ever
been before. In America labor has has not been advanced or
made more respectable than it was a century ago. We hear a
great deal about the conflict hctwecn labor and capital, but
this conflict will never cease so long as wealth is worshipped,
as long as money will buy social standing and political privi
leges. Perhaps no people are free from some class of aristoc
racy. This is to be deplored for it is difficult to conceive of
any claims.that one class of people have over another The
seed has been sown, and has sprung up into a vigorous. plant
which will soon burst into full bloom. It is our duty to use
every endeavor to 'counteract this, If we must live "under a
system of caste, ilet itbe one that has more of a foundation of
right and justice, and is less fraught with danger to thejgov-
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