The invitation to deliver an address on this occasion was so great an honor that all other obligations and duties were set aside, and its acceptance seemed imperative. There was an element, also, of genuine pleasure in the thought of revisiting Charleston, so notable for its hospitality, its social and intellectual atmosphere, its beautiful location on the shore of the South Atlantic, and so crowded with historical events of the greatest interest and importance.
It is, indeed, a privilege to address an audience composed of the citizens of this city, the learned faculty of this time honored institution of learning, and this graduating class, now receiving the parchment certificates testifying to their faithful and successful devotion during long years of earnest study, and granting them the right to grapple with human ills, to administer to human suffering.
There is an added interest in the fact that the public service which