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Closing Exercises at the llocfcport Collegiate Institute.The closing exercises of the Uockport Collegiate Institute begun on Sunday, the 9th ult., and ended on Wednesday evening , They were of the most interesting character throughout. On Sunday morn ing at 11 o’clock, the annual sermon was preached in the M. E. Church, by Rev. B. F. Rawlins. The room was crowded to suffocation, and the learned and eloquent minister enchained the attention of all.— It was indeed on admirable discourse. The general line of the argument was this : First, God is a thoughtful being—a being of plans and purposes—in nature and in providence and history; and Secondly that his thoughts are toward ux—toward man, in nature, and in providence and history, and in the Plan of Redemption.In the presentation of these somewhat novel and striking thoughts, the minister was impassioned, earnest and eloquent, and the sermon will be long rcmembored with pleasure by those of his congregation who can appreciate beautiful and effective pulpit oratory.Mr. Rawlins aho delivered the annual leeture in the afternoon, vice Rev. Mr. Naylor who did not arrive. The writer was not able to be present, but the lecture is said to have been very fine.Examinations began at the Institute on Monday morning and ended at noon on Wednesday. The students, almost without exception, acquitted themselves admirably and evinced great thoroughness in all their studies. • The examination was conducted with the.^^uist impartiality, and was rather more^ivere than is usual on such occasions. Iirthe more advanced classes, especially in Mathematics, the visitors examined the pupils with great strictness, giving them some of the most difficult problems that could be found ; but the students conquered every difficulty and came off triumphant. Perhaps in the midst cf such general excellence it would be invid- ' oui to mention any one class as being a shade better than another; but the following may be mentioned as having been especially satisfactory. The class beginning Geography—the class ir. Advanced Gram-mer—the Latin class ( reading Ceasar)— the class in Advanced Algebra and the class beginning in Arithmetic. It is proper to say however, that the writer was not present at the examinations on Monday, and did not witness any of the exercises in the preparatory department. iOn Tuesday evening Rev. C. A. Sims lt;of Evansville, delivered a lecture before ] the Philomathean and Platonean literary 1 societies.It was a beautiful address—good'sense 1 clothed in elegant language. lie portrayed before the young ladies and gentlemen : of the societies his ideal of a True Man 1 , and a royal personage he made of him : 1“A combination and a form indeed,Where every god did seem to set liis seal— Xo give the world assurance of a Man !” ■The lecturer adroitly apologized to the j ladie3 of the Philomathean society (which j is a feminine institution exclusively) J for his choice of a subject by reminding them that the highest possible relation any '■ gentleman could sustain to the subject was ■ expressed by the neuter verb to be : the relation of any lady to the subject was , expressed by the far more active verb to have—a man !The speaker humorously adverted to the foibles and shortcomings of the different classes of professional men, omitting, accidentally no doubt, one which is generally regarded as affording a fine field , of criticism as any other—that one of 1 which the speaker himself is a distinguished representative. 1The joint exhibition of the literary societies on Wednesday evening brought the ‘ exercises to a close. It was worthy of the ( occasion. Most of the exercises were orig- ( inal, and gave evidence of thought and a 1 good degree of culture. Koine of the , young ladies were a little embarrassed and ' did not give free play to then voieos, and , one young gentleman gesticulated rather ] too violently, considering the state of the • atmosphere, but these slight imperfections did not detract materially from ti e general excellence of the performance.The people of Rockport and of Spencer county have great cause to bo proud of the Collegiate Institute. In every possible way it should be fostered and encouraged.It is now too late in the day to speak of the advantages of such ud institution, or the beneficent influence it must inevitably exert over the entiro community. Thse things are “known of all men,” and they have become more delightfully apparent in these closing exercises of the Institute.— Under tho excellent management of Prof. Smith, assisted by a corps of competent instructors, with a course of study as thorough as in any similar institution in tho country—it commends itself to an an- j lightened and liberal patronage from the t people of Southern Indiana. ‘
Newspaper Details
Rockport Weekly Umpire
Rockport, Indiana, US
Thu, Jun 20, 1867
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 22 Aug 2023
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