Commencement

The annuül collegiale exhibition took plnce in this vil'nge on Weclnesday last . The occasion wris grnced Uy the presence of the Governar, and of sundry diítin)i.-hed Honorables ond titlfd gen' lemen frotn different pnrts of the State. Hayjng henrd only a ím;i]l pnrt of what wos snid by the orators we are unnble to exprese un opinión uf the nierits of t-e spenkere. In the Hfternoon we attended to hoar the aridress of Rev. D1". Dnffield of Detroit, to the Literory Societies of the Univereity. His öiibjoct wan, "the True Scholnr," and his object was to show vliat constitutes pcholarship, and how it could be attained. His disouree inculcated system, diligence and pereverence, and wascreditahle to the speaker, nd appropriate to tbo occasion. But we mi!6t sny that we were sorry to hear so stronpd eulogy pon "the classics, and an exhoiation to epend a Inrwe nmount of time and abrir upon them. We consider the study of he foohsh and licentions storiesof the nnient heathens nbout brutal and despicab!e heoes, gnds and goddesses, and their savage vars, fights, and quarrels, ag injunous to the minds of the studente At the same time, we voold not dispule the Doctor's position, that no mnn cn be an occomplished scholar vvith out nn intimite acquaintance with the Greek nd Latin Innguages. Buf afier ail, mere cholarship, in itself, js of üttle practical use n the world, in accomplisliing good orevil.- t hns Us use in the manufacture of books, ut tts influence is lltile feit in practical life. Ienry Cay and Andrew Jnckson weie neiherofthem scholars, in the 6ense in which Dr. Duffield used the word. We doubt whether either of them rould have compre hended the meaning of one half of the tvventy or thirty Latin and Greek quotations made by the Doctor in this single discourse: yet these wo men Inve exerted a mighty influence on beir cotrmporanep, and their opinions and acts will affect the condition of miliions of he next genaration. Mere literary knowledge, however great in amount, apart froin sonie practical applicalion of it, will have very little effect upon the destinies of men.