NORMAL SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT, JANUARY 19, 1886



Cortland Normal School

The Cortland News, Friday, January 22, 1886.

TOO MUCH MARRIED.

   About two years ago a young telegraph operator of Syracuse, Highland Forey, met Miss Josie Corl, a young lady of Homer, and was badly smitten. In February last the couple were married and Forey moved to Homer and entered the employ of Willett Fisher.

   Everything went along smoothly until about two weeks ago, when one Darius Utley made his appearance at Homer and claimed Mrs. Forey as his wife. She confessed that she had been secretly married to Utley four years ago, but had never lived with him. She begged that Utley make no claim to her arid that Forey still continue to care for her as the wife of his bosom, but that the gentleman refused to do, and packed his "grip" and left for Syracuse, where he has commenced proceedings against Mrs. Corl-Utley Forey.

   It is also said that Utley has been living with another woman in Auburn since his marriage with Josie. Forey, since he left Homer, has been arrested for complicity in a criminal operation said to have been performed on Carrie Corl as sister of Mrs. Utley-Corl. This story is said by Forey to have been concocted by the Corl's in order to be revenged on him for refusing to live with Josie after he found out she was another man's wife.

   The girl is of the Corl family in Homer, some member of which is continually before the public in some unsavory scrape or other, and Utely is a son of Al Utley, who was heir to an immense fortune several years ago, but who knew so little about the value of money that it was entirely squandered inside of a year after its receipt.

   The sympathy of the entire community is with Forey in the matter and the story of his connection with the criminal operation on Carrie Corl is not generally believed.

 

COMMENCEMENT.

   The thirty-second commencement of the Cortland Normal school was held in Taylor opera house Tuesday afternoon, January 19.

   Probably never in the history of the school were the public exercises more largely attended than these, the auditorium being filled to overflowing long before two o'clock, the hour set for the exercises to begin. All those who were fortunate enough to secure seats or obtain standing room were well repaid as the different numbers on the programme were excellent and beyond the expectation of all. It is estimated that there were over fifteen hundred people present, although the opera house has a seating capacity of less than a thousand. Following is the programme:

PRAYER, Rev. H. T. Sell.

ANTHEM—Daughter of Zion, H. R. Palmer.

ORATION—The Future of Arbitration, JAMES F. LARUE.

ESSAY—The Goal of Life, MARY BAUDER.

ORATION—Heroes and Martyrs, *MINNIE F. CLEARY.

ORATION—Athens and Jerusalem, *FANNY A. TAYLOR.

ORATION—Dr. Arnold of Rugby, CELIA E. STILLMAN.

ESSAY—Obstacles a Benefit, VIOLA  M. RICE.

ORATION—Triumphs of Mind, ALEA H. ROBINSON.

OVERTURE—Semiramis, Rossini.

ORATION—The Earth Created for Man, FANNIE U. ALLEN.

ESSAY—The Permanence of Early Associations, MARY E. WILLIAMS.

ESSAY—Estimate of the Literature of To-day, *MINNIE M. WOODWARD.

ESSAY—Work and Overwork, *HELEN M. WATERS.

ORATION—The Psychology of the School, CHARLOTTE A. McWHORTER.

CHORUS—"Light and Glory," H. R. Palmer.

Presentation of Diplomas to Graduates.

CLASS SONG, Sung by the Class of January 19, 1886.

BENEDICTION.

*Excused from Reading.

THE FUTURE OF ARBITRATION.

   James F. LaRue, in his oration, took the ground that arbitration was to supersede war in the settlement of differences between nations, parties and persons. Intellectual advancement is the foundation of civilization without which progress is impossible. In primeval times, the mind being inactive and dormant, man must exercise his energies in physical contest; the glory of war was the goal of his highest ambition. For centuries the world was enthralled in fanaticism-wars were waged from personal motives for the purpose of conquest, or for personal gratification; as civilization advances intellectual life begins.

   First comes independence of thought and then the desire to inculcate those beliefs in the minds of others. Slowly but surely the world has been released from bigotry. We have advanced through the age of faith, through the age of doubt to the age of reason. Universal strife is the outcome of barbarism —universal peace the fruit of highest civilization. Because wars have been an important factor in the development of mankind it does not follow that they must continue so, as there has been a change in the social and political structure of the world. To-day there is intellectual freedom which implies independence in thought and speech.

   It will be claimed that international questions will always exist and the sword will be the final arbiter. It is our hope and belief that arbitration and not the sword will be the means of settling disputes. Balance of power must always be preserved and this will be accomplished by arbitration. This theory is strengthened from the fact that international congresses have been and are being held, intellectual advancement leads to antagonism between those who live in peace and they who thrive by war—the former are increasing and will soon outstrip the latter.

   Public opinion, the motive power of the present, is making its influence felt in favor of peace, and the time will soon come when eternal peace will be a glad reality.

THE GOAL OF LIFE.

   Miss Bauder in commencing her essay related a beautiful little legend showing that human sympathy is the supreme good. Philosophers agree, if it can be said that they ever do agree, that the universal aim of mankind is happiness and perfection. Thus having our goal definitely before us we take different paths to reach it. Age, race, sex, character and education influence us. Youth seeks gaiety; old age quietude. One follows law, another medicine. Some go to the lowest depths while others are ever striving to reach the loftiest heights of intellectual and moral worth. All roads may lead to Rome but all do not lead to happiness, if indeed, do any.

   Burns tried to reach happiness by pleasure and his case differs from that of others only in that he has told the result better. DeLeon in seeking the fountain of life found death; all who have sought happiness have been disappointed. Even in paradise there was the serpent. Some theorists go so far as to say that there is no distinction between the so called happiness and wretchedness, but we do not believe it—it is contrary to experience. Could we but know the virtue of a contented heart, then we might truly say we had attained the goal of life.

HEROES AND MARTYRS.

   Heroes and Martyrs are the men of the hour. They are identified with the names that live on the breath of millions. Our memories run backward seeking files of illustrious deeds. But where the hero stands there also we find the martyr dies.

   What an example was that of Emmet when he stood in the presence of his executioners and said,, "when my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written," and still the emigrant ship is sailing with her flag of distress throwing out her dead martyrs to the cause for which Emmet died. Those are the men of the hour who stand upon their own merits, firm, invincible and determined.

   What marble is sufficiently pure to hold sacred the memory of such men as Washington? Wherever oppressed freedom has planted a flag, such men as he have rallied around it—left happy firesides for cheerless camps. There is no mystery or romance about them; their heroic deeds have exerted the greatest influence, and their devotion been tested on the scaffold. Build a monument for such men to the skies you cannot outreach the loftiness of their principles; build it of the eternal rock you cannot make it more lasting than their fame; construct it of the peerless Parian marble, you cannot make it purer than their fives. They have built their own monuments and we are its trusted guardians. Republics may perish but as long as human hearts beat or human tongues plead those hearts and tongues shall enshrine the memory and prolong the name of heroes and martyrs.

OBSTACLES A BENEFIT.

   All triumphs of man are the more glorious for the obstacles we have to surmount in reaching them. To strong beings the obstacles they meet on the road to fortune are positive benefits, as all that are overcome teach us self-reliance. Let no man give up because of opposition, but struggle on and conquer if. It is not good for us to have life's battles too easily conquered. The early lives of nearly all the great men of the nineteenth century were commenced in poverty, but by conquering them they rose above the obstacles and were made the stronger. Every [obstacle] we overcome becomes but a tool in our hands, giving us greater energies and leading us to greater undertakings.

TRIUMPHS OF MIND.

   The history of man is the history of mind. Men's deeds and institutions are manifestations of their minds. Physical laws serve his purpose, yet his good is enhanced in proportion as the principles of truth are embodied in his institutions. The triumphs of mind are his achievements in the conception of truth. Many are the triumphs that mark the progress of the conflict. Often have the forces of error seemed to gain the vantage ground, but wherever mind has established a citadel of truth it has stood as enduring as the mountains.

   Man depended for manufacture in the fifteenth century upon the force of his own hands; Watt perfected the steam engine and a mighty force was brought under man's control. As the mind of man expands, the love of liberty and freedom fills his breast. The demonstration of the fact of the sovereign rights of man is the grandest triumph of mind.

   The whole human character is being transformed—compassion for the oppressed is taking the place of cruelty and tyranny; men have forgotten their love of conquest and the love of home is constant in their thoughts. Civilization is carried forward by irresistible force, and its progress has swollen to the full flow of a mighty current that must sweep into oblivion every trace of error that dwarfs the mind of man.

PERMANENCE OF EARLY ASSOCIATION.

   Early influence makes the man—as the mother, so is the child; as the child, so the man. Influence extended for good or evil in youth is exerted for good or evil in after years.

   Many a boy has been ruined by bad company in youth which no amount of training in after years can eradicate. Many great men owe their success in life to the early surroundings at the cradle. Habits once firmly made cannot be easily broken.

   The reading of good books in early life will generally make the child a thinking man. This principle may be applied to teachers; they should know their pupils thoroughly and teach them that all useful work is honorable. What vocation is more sacred than that of mind-builder? Intellectual as well as physical growth should be trained with a desire to impart strength. Teach the children to love the true—to hate the false—whatever the truth the teacher should earnestly desire to bring it to the surface in the mind of the child.

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE SCHOOL.

   Of the various callings to which the division of labor has caused man to specially devote himself, there is none to be compared for nobility with that of the teacher. All useful work is honorable, yet we cannot avoid considering the higher and nobler labor which produces more noble results. Men graduate the nobility of their calling according to the material upon which they work. Applying this to the teacher's work, how forcibly it shows the nature of his calling to the highest form of labor. The smallest child with the feeblest intellect, who calls you teacher, affords material upon which to work far above the grandest objects of material creation. In intellectual as in physical education, the objects to be attained are intellectual growth and strength. The true teacher aims for these objects.

   When a child first comes to school his mind is not a blank, but is filled with many impulses, which being material already provided, must be worked up. The teacher accomplishes this by placing within reach of the child-mind the food necessary for its growth. Though the nature of the mind's action is peculiar, the process of its development is analogous to the process of physical development. As food is indispensable to physical growth, so is knowledge indispensable to mind growth—but not only must it grow but it must be made strong.

   Teach the pupil to love the true and good and to hate the false; teach him to choose the one and reject the other and much has been done towards making a healthy mind. Instruction is but a small part of the education of the soul, but it derives significance from the fact that the work is done when the mind is sensitive to impression. Knowing what its education should be, the teacher should have a correct idea of what every child ought to be. As Angelo discovered the angel in a block of marble so can the teacher discover the angel in every pupil, and this angel is the human soul which must be brought to light and be taught how it can of itself throw off the rude covering and stand before the world in its maturity, strong and beautiful.

   The graduates other than those whose names appear on the programme are Fannie C. Spalding, Minnie M. Woodward, Minnie F. Mager, Helen A. Carpenter, Minnie J. Vunk and Jennie L. Pope.

   In presenting the diplomas to graduates, Dr. Hoose made the following remarks:

   FELLOW TEACHERS:—These diplomas introduce you formally into the profession of teaching. The school which you are about to leave has given to you a degree of general education and an experience in professional training; it has aroused within you an ambition to excel in the work that you have chosen. You have, earned an honorable record in your preparatory discipline. What will your future record be? In what particulars are you ambitious for distinction? In society for cleverness? In business for economy and prudence? In learned circles for information? In professional life tor wisdom and honor?

   All these ambitions are good, but the ways through which you can attain to them are few. Teachers are like persons who are engaged in other professions. Members of any profession must seek first of all to comprehend the scope and tenor of their calling if they would rise above mediocrity. Teachers misapprehend their privileges when they are ambitious to excel in other lines more than in professional lines; they are deceived if they do not predicate preferment upon professional wisdom.

   Every profession has territory that is ample to satisfy the ambitions of its members, provided they devote themselves unremittingly to surveying it. The profession demands the first and best efforts of its members.

   Daniel Webster, a lawyer, rose to his greatness by mastering law. Mr. Gladstone has risen to his eminence by studying statesmanship. Dr. Thomas Arnold, of Rugby, and Hon. Horace Man, of Massachusetts, rose to fame as teachers and educators by subordinating all their talents to one purpose— to become capable in their profession. Our profession includes several fields that are almost unexplored; they are vast, and they lie at the very foundations of the science that constitutes our field.

   Next to nothing has been done scientifically in the subject of mental science of childhood. The manner in which the mind of a child grows into capabilities and develops into powers is still a matter that is obscured by a liberal amount of conjecture—it is not understood.

   The whole subject of habit remains to be elaborated, so far as it is an educational problem for teachers to deal with. There are other fields that invite the profoundest capabilities of teachers. Let your aspirations rise to positions of usefulness, and honor be founded exclusively upon your professional wisdom, and may eminence reward your labors.

Recommended:
Robert Emmet's Speech Before Execution: http://www.robertemmet.org/speech.htm