The Conclusion

tTbe final exercises of the forty-fifth an nual ccmmencement of the University were held last Thursday. At nine o'clock in the morning the graduating classe formedat the variousdepartments, and a 10 o'clock the procession marched to Uni versity Hall where the conimencement ex ercises vere held. The procession was le by President Angelí, Hon. J. L. M. Curry regects, invited guests, and faculty, who look seats upon the 6tage. The 438 mem bers of the graduatihg claeses followed, oc cupying the eeats in the center of the audi ■torium. The large hall was crowded f usual, several hundred being unable to find seatsj The day was warm and the .large crowd who sat through the exercises " cearly melted. After President Angelí had offered prayer, he introduced Hou. J. L. M. Curry ' T. D.j LL. D., of Richmond, Va., as the orator of the occasion. The title of his ad dress was "Causes of the Power an( Prosperity-of theTJnited States." After stating that our system of a free electoral .college was a puzzle to foreign ets, Dr. Curry made a goad point of the fact that the aborigines of America were so inferior in all respects to the immigrants f rom Europé that the latter did no have to overcoae ány oíd customs estatlished by the nativee. They were ttras left free to work out their destiny according to their own conc.eptions and plans without being hindered by tradition The hostilities encountered were largely of their own creation, but they served to compact into. union and fellowship, this enforced combination ultimately 3eveloping into the American Union. " .' -The govörnment had disposed of.lanc " to, settlers, with secure title and fixec boundaries and at .very nominal rates ■ Bat it was of great importance that the congress of confederatiou had, in 1787, re■ served lot No. 10 of every township for the m.aintenance of public schools. In 1848 thia amount of land had been doubled, and to each state admitted to the Union since 1800, with the exception of Maine, ' Texas and West Virginia, and also to New Mexico, Washington and Utah territories, two or more townships had been gracteJ fór the (njowment of universitïes. We have 12,000 petiedical, 200,000 public schools, su8tained at an annual expenditure of $122,455,252, possessing property w'orth $200,000,OUO nd attended by 10,000,000 pupjls, besides 250,000 in seeondary schools and 60,000 in colleges and universities. There are 200 inBtitutions for higher . education of women, 345 for ' men, 450 for science, Iaw, mediciue and ■theology, and 300,000 teacher?. "These are the despair of the Scoffer and the demagogue, and the flrm support of civilization aüdüberty." After paying the University of Michigan a high tribute and tracing the causes wtich liave made this country prosperous, he stated that another cause little appreciated in its potential and far-reachine; influence üpon National power was the separation of tbe state and church. A struggle of centuries, marked by bloodshed and all the atrocities of the Inquiskion, was required to establish what all civilized nations were now beginning to recognize as the very essence of free and just government. The experience of Buropean and Central and South American countries, where the chureh and state were either combined or the one was patronized by the other,had proved the plan to be a very bad one. Asking the seniora to rise, Dr. Curry concluded in the following words: Graduates - To you and such as you is committed a solemn trust. Whatever naay be your vocation you cannot withdraw from the public and decline to take . interest in public affairs. Whatever inay be your attainments you íhould not lift yourselves out of sympathy or intercourse with the people. The relations of the scbolar to this country is close and his patriotism sbould never be relaxed. It is an exalted privilege to labor for the preserS a 'ion of tte constitutionand theUnion and for the increase of the honor and usefulness of the country. Pericles said: "We regard him who takes no interest in public affairs, not sitnply harmless, but utterly useless." At Yersailles one walks throagh the long galleries and sees what France has done to kindie patriotic ardor fey putting on speaking canvas the immortal deeds of Frenchmen. Deeds oí ancestorB kept fresh in your memories will be a noble stimulus to pure lives and to a consecration of best powers to science and frëedom. ■ Motley, on landing in the United States after a long absence, said: " It is a country worth dying for; better still, worth living and working for to make it all it can be." At the conclusión of the address, the diplomas were presented to the gradúate?; amidst great applause. The wildest enthu8iasm took place when Capt. J. W. Mclntyre, of Fort Collins, Col., was led upon the stacre and was presented with his degree of B. L. Mr. Mclntyre is totally blind and by the hardest kind of work during thepast two years, has completed his work in the law department and graduated with his class. The honorary degree of doctor of laws had been conferred by the University on Chief Justice Horton of the supreme court of Kansag, Edward W. McKinstry, a former Detroiter and now a professor n the Hastings school of law in San Francisco, aud Rev. Martin L. D'Ooge, Ph. D., professor of the G-reek language and literature in the University of Michigan. The degree of doctor of medicine was conlerred upon Will'am A. Baker, of Coloma, Mich., as a member of the class of '68. After the exercises were concluded, the alumni formed íd line and msrched to the law lecture room where the alumni dinner was served, 408 sitting down to the tables. After dinner, short speeches were made by President Angelí. Gov. Jerome, Mayor Beakes, Rev. J. F. Dickie and Hon. J. L. M. Curry.