Show THE lelh BACCA LAUREM bishop leonards on 02 ite ih and responsibilities ol 01 Ed education antion test the paramo parable of the talents its Ds trib ution of talents all not hued fitted for the same 2 sphere 1 mans lff ans attainments public pallia proper properly y katies of th graduate then le he which had received the tha one talent came and said eaid 1 I was afraid a f raid and went and hid thy talent talf in the earth st matt 21 5 it was with pleasure that I 1 accepted some days ago ago 0 the indita in vita i tion to deliver the a address on this occasion occa sion I 1 count it a privileges vileo legS as well as a pleasure to he be permitted to come thus in contact with young life and to give utterance to some thoughts which corning 0 from one who has bad bome experience in life may in ay be helpful to thosa who are goin going g forth to labor and to duty living wt a we do in a joung ayoung and growing state far far from the great centers of learning and influence it is a great th thing ing to find institutions provided by the state for the mental and physical training of the young officered by experienced instructors and equipped ped with all 11 the improved ampil X oes for study the rising generation will more and more inore be ba prepared pre parelI dut t the e a of these facts feel buhy full v assured that as they take their places in the midst of tho the responsibilities of active life they will credit u upon aou their alma mater and cherish all abiding 0 interest in the fortunes of this 1 institution the theme upon which I 1 shall discourse this morning 0 is the iha danger dangers a sand and responsibilities of culture it is no new theme but one of never ceasing interest and importance the words which I 1 have quoted as a text shall sound the key note of my theme the parable of the talents will readily be recalled and each of its several particulars noted we V e can imagine the scene which it suggests and allow the fancy to present the picture of the throng gathered about the man who had bad returned from his journey ju urney and see the bev wal oral servants giving account of their respective stewardships Steward ships I 1 need hardly make made a spiritual an of the parable for that has hag been dune done and every i one ane who has thought of the matter it at ell has bag no doubt construed its particulars special line of his own personal interest the talents here mentioned have no doubt other mea meanings than those which relate to spiritual good they may signify wealth reputation learning or ability ot at any kind all of which are given met men for the noblest of all purposes to bo be turned finally to their own owa personal and acil private as well as eternal a I 1 good and for the use or abuse of na which each individual ii will ill be called ei to account hero here in this life even eren it at the bar of public ordeal opinion i on as 23 fellas ellas A finally before goatle jude I 1 of al all I 1 very much is ia to be learned from froin the parable of the talents as having a direct bearing upon our theme and applicable to these young people before going forth to lifes duties apt lpt it be ab observed arved is as regards the distribution of the talents to some more and to others lepic we are not to regard the recipients of the one latent talent as less completely furnis bEtl bcd for active duty than they the vho aho lie have been more highly favored any more than we should consider a arnall geometrical figure for example imperfect its as compared with irith a larger one of the same class As a matter of course all men are not nol fitted filled either cither by nature or education for the same sphere of usefulness in life but even the there may be vast difference in their capacities for usefulness one may b be 8 as aa completely forni furnished shed as the other there are diversities of gifts among men the divine word teaches but the he same spirit should pervade all natural capacity may be as the talents committed but it is the faithfulness or unfaithfulness with which this is exercised chuh ii tends to the expansion or contraction of it A few ratios nf increase in the parable are mentioned as typical cases no doubt the men man to whom choai five and two talents respectively had been entrusted reported witt with evident satisfaction that they hid had doubled their employers money while ho he to whom the one talent was committed was a timid and shrinking soul and dreading to be accounted unfaithful to the point of losing what had been given him went aud and bid what had be been en entrusted him that he be mi might h t surely be ba able to return it these fire are riot not however all the ratios of in crease which may be suggested there are as a matter of fact iu in the experiences of life cases exception alno doubt when those who havn have received one talent may report an increase of five or any other num her ber while others to whom five talents have been given have only been able to report small gains there is a slight dif difference frence iu in tile the parable as related by st matthew Matt liew and st luke and as thus related two important import aut truths are made to appear S matt shows that as we have received so shall it be required ot of us and act t luka shows that as aa men differ in fidelity and energy so will they differ in the advances they make in strong contrast with the two nien men in the parable who had been diligent and faithful and who had such an admirable showing to make we note noie the case of him to whom the one single talent was entrusted and who went and hid alsy b h cre aich had been en trust eato him thus typifying the timid shrinking sensitive people who have hae no just confidence in and appreciation of their abilities the people who fail to employ the gifts entrusted to their care better is he be thit that aideth his folly than he that aideth his or fails to exer exercise cibe his powers to the best advantage possible poss iole Il heaven leaven doth with us as ve with torches do not kot light them for themselves for if our car virtues did not go forth of us all alike asif aa if we had them not spirits are arc not finely touched eat bat for fine issues nw nar nature never lends the smallest emal leet scruple ef her excellence bat like a thrifty goddess she determines ITer self the glory of a creditor both thanks and use there is a wonderful amount of philosophy as well as a 3 truth and poetry in these lines they teach us the real secret of life and serve to infuse enthusiasm and boldness into the timid and shin shrinking kino As we fill up for ourselves the outlines of the picture presented to us in this parable we seem to see ee the multitude heaping heading encomiums of highest praise upon the heads beads of the first two servants and maledia eions upon the other and yet 1 am not sure but thit that our sympathies should go out towards this last because his was the harder lot it would seem beena that be had modestly underrated his hia power because he thou thought ht he had been undervalued in that only one talent had been given him it was very little and what could he be expected to gain with that and hence it was that bosait lie said 10 lo then thou hast that is thine the anwer answer was thou ough test therefore to have put my money to the exchangers and then at my coming I 1 should have received mine own with usury the responsibility had been supposed and instead of shrinking from it he should have acknowledged it and exercised the trust the vast majority of nien men are those typified by the man to whom the one talent was committed under any circumstances in any relation of life this largo large class of persons is deserving of the greatest greate st consideration their lives are often monotonous and wearisome their surfaces tur Lur facea faces unbroken by an any great events which might serve to relieve their dreary aspect such persons are not to be undervalued uner valued and there is in all the world if no country like this where a doctrine has a wider beope for operation and influence too one talent carefully and faithfully cultivated will secure its duo due measure of honor and influence os fis well as the greater we are thy thoy who have received tho the one talent trieko young people who fire are here assembled in pursuit of knowledge they who are acquiring a po power cr which will tell in the years soon to C cure anre whit then is the need which these young people as nell jell ag all right thinking persons should consider most urgent in the face of all the stern realities of life is there any nobler or better end than that of becoming better I 1 do not use the tha word in any sentimental sense but in the truest and strongest way that it can bo be employed there is no ot other her phrase which is so comprehensive or expresses my thought more exa atly the rhe outcome of the 0 which is received within these thesa walls I 1 and in similar institutions is not so go much the ability to do some definite thing as ic it is to reach some higher ideal I 1 am aware th that it in a practical age like this our minds are not always alwaes fully set upon this goal but after all this is the true end to be ba reached and it is a ground of encouragement to know that this idea is making progress some years ap ago I 1 had occasion n to note that in a certain popular institution ution of learning the number of students in the college classes was very small as compared with those in the preparatory classes rhe same thing is true now in a larger measure than should be see this only shows how impatient our young people are and how anxious even even to hurl themselves ill all unprepared into the great great surging 0 busy mass of people who who fire are c crowding crow and jostling each other in the mighty struggle for money all unfitted Is fis they a are by discipline of thorough training 9 for fir active business the faculty of accumulation is not by bv any means the noblest to be cultivated i i he love of mone money y is debasing and though the material thing be do de si rable it is only so for the b good ues aes to which it may be put th the e struggle then which is most to lie be commended is not that for money but that towards a higher an and better plane of living than that upon which we stand at any given time tho the con constant gLant longing for 11 orne ching better purer higher 0 1 fornis famishes hes a mighty incentive to positive and well directed effort As a constant stimulus to such exertion the attractive power of some ideal is needed such as has always been felt by men who have distinguished themselves in any ady way in speaking of emerson and carlysle and giving an estimate c cf f their characters as shown in their long and interesting correspondence a certain critic said both of them had the desire the passion for something better the reforming sprit spirit an interest in the destiny of mankind but their variations of feeling were of the widest anti anil the temperament of the one was absolu absolutely toly opposed to that of the other doth both were men of the greatest purity and in the usual sense simplicity of life each bad one high ideal each kept himself in a sense unspotted from the world thus we see that some gorne ultimate object with which to compare ourselves and some grand end for which to thrive must be always kept in view some great inspiration some holy enthusiasm thusia sm for some purpose oi or person must fill us with new life and hope the true ideal of course is the man christ jesus the perfect exemplar in every particular the true purpose to have in view is the tha benefit of our fellow man whom christ came to save and hence the noblest partnership to be formed is that of a coworker co worker with this divine man in elevating 0 and saving in the race and not only do men require an ideal but it must le be ono above themselves baing no ti ace of imperfection or deaki ea that perfect man mai t is the divine son of god his was a perfect ex example of that long list of graces an and virtues which are the crowning glory of a life unselfish sympathetic anil and devoted entirely to others ilia his was an example far above and beyond the reach of any hostile can any ideal more captivating eloquent or persuasive than this be proposed even if we coD consider siler him as a mere man but when in addition his divine nature is considered consid ercil what further can be desired the power ot of mi fin ideal such as ac this beema to lift men up out of any low and selfish aims into a pure atmosphere there are of courte ideals far short of ehst here proposed but they aro are all incomplete great names stand out in bold r relief elof in the lie annals of history all down through the centuries I 1 in in pagan literature as well as christian which give intimations of a perfection which they never reach from socrates cicero and seneca down to men who have passed away within our own borders w within thin the memory of the youngest but in tho the midst of very very many ex cellen cies which ire are to be admired and reverently dwelt upon there is much which is repulsive e even in the best in the cases of all who may be mentioned we find characters incomplete virtues which oftentimes lower fir fa r up u p above a anything 0 y thin I 1 ilsc 1 so ju just 1 t us its son some e lofty peak rears its head above others in a mountain chain but even then this exists to the exclusion clu ionoff of a minimizing ing of other virtues but in the man jesus christ how different dif lerent it is ia the perfect simple beauty of our lords life and character which provokes tho the love of human souls everywhere wh 0 F e indeed beauty always elicits admiration whenever seen whether in charach char act r thought r form beauty Ce auty said emerson is ia the mark abd god sets on virtue every natural action is graceful envery herbic act is also decent and causes the place and the by ot bt anders to shine when a noble act is done perchance in a scene of gibat beauty when is cort aume eume one day in dying and the hun bun and moon come each cich and look at them ones once in the tha also steep defile of when arnold vinke ried died in the mali hiah alps under the shadow of the tha avalanche gathens in his tide side a kheav of austrian spears tu to break the line for his comrades are not theae heroes entitled to add the treaty of the scene to the beauty of the deed it is this love of the beautiful which has haa inspired poets and artists and caused them to set before us the thoughts which stirred in their souls in in such visible or audible form as to give us infinite plea pleasure dure the thou thoughts ats then which I 1 seek to impress upon upon these young people as they go forth front from these halls is the absolute and able responsibility imposed upon them in conie consequence quence of tle thy training in received here and the dangers consequent thereupon it may seem strange to talk of the tha dangers following upon cultivation of mind and yet chere there are dangers arising from a false cultured soul composed as we are of soul mind and body wo we cannot even aside from the teaching of holy scripture shut out the thought of the ultimate destiny which awaits us our highest duty therefore is to prepare ourselves not only for that which awaits us here but also hereafter these physical bodies are the earthly tabernacles of the immortal soul they are designated as temples of the holy GOA ghost and may not therefore be denied defiled this were sufficient to insuik tho the body against sinful and beastly pollution and to keep it in temperance Eo soberness berness and chastity that these minds which are the abodes of retson reason are for use and development to guide us day by day subject to the divine will is id equally certain and our souls which are the representatives and embodiment of our entire selves are they for whom christ died in order that they might forever |