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Show BACCALAUREATE SERMON DELIVERED BY REV. SIMPKIN AT A. C. CHAPEL X 1 Isaiah I 17: Learn To Do Well. It is a rare privllego to speak to you this morning on tho day of your crowning a message that may In a measure interpret the end of that process pro-cess which mind and heart have been undergoing in tho academic training ot thoso happy years ot privilege spent In these, halls of culture. To stand where you do at tho fork of tho two roads that wind through life's day ot servlco, ono leading to tho petty shabby hut of tho heart-miser, heart-miser, tho other to the vino-clad cdt by tho road of llfo from whose open, door and window you may call, your messago of cheer to man, Is an opportunity op-portunity as momentous as it is full of privllego. It is given' to but few human lives to build a palace. For most It Is tho humble cot. Yet as In tho jewel the gem Is most, bo It Is llfo and not its circumstance, the light ot tho npul's star and not Its orbit that Is of Import to you and the world. As one congratulates you upon tho mastery of enough knowledge to make the doing of the day's work possible, tho hope rises that you havo realized the true process of education, edu-cation, the enrichment of your lives In tho psychic unfolding that permits your heart to give Its wealth to the world, it Is for him who sees life with aught ot truo vision a thing- ot little moment in what channel the stream of your llfo shall push on to the tldeless sea. It Is alono of Import, only of value, that you should drlvo somo wheel In tho great purpose of tho Infinite mind making tho perfect to be. Amid tho rich privllego of tho greatest century tho raco has ever known, endowed with freed6m ail opportunity boundless, with n clearer conception of llfo und Its purpose I a vision raoro manifold, a range ot equipment such as mon never before knew, you havo stood wuere the hands of a great free, sovereign peoplo peo-plo have been stretched to lay upon your Hhouldors a robe, not the crimson crim-son ono ot autocracy not tho purple of selfish privilege, but tho white robe of service whoso only enrichment enrich-ment is possible. In tho goldon threads your fingers may work In It as you follow llfo's noblest quest. In this holy hour when you como ' to sweep Into vlow tho trlnat points of bound and relationship which are common to all life, Godmon, your own self, ono has H question to ask, direct compelling, fundamental, as to that which has como to you In your days ot training and privilege. What havo you learned? Just the dry facts of tho world, tho rures and laws and formultto ot tho sclcntltfc page? Havo tho days been simply laying upon your soul a veneer, upon you llfo garments, rich mayhap of substance, sub-stance, broldered maybo In magnlfl-cenco magnlfl-cenco yet but garments laid upon-a lay figure, like the waxen presentments present-ments that amllo Inanely from the costtimers window dead to tho beauty they boar? Or havo they been days In which, with the truo student's car you havo reading history's page heard tho groan of yesterday; tno music of tho sacrlflco that mado today? to-day? i Havo you caught tho vision ot today to-day tho strain and paslonato pain of tho mass struggle discontented, reaching for It knows not what, but If for that It feels will answer its craving? Havo you thought about tomorrow, to-morrow, tho morrow that you aro to ' help mako, for whoso better making you havo been hero? Havo you learned Continued on page flvo. BACCALAUREATE SERMON DELIVERED BY REV. SIMPKIN AT THE U. A. C. CHAPEL Continued from page one. (hat the treasure house ot your fncu -ties la not your own because yesterday yester-day and today have bought It with a great prlco ot blood, love and tears? Do j'ou know .that there is but one way In which you can repay It, is to repeat yestreday's best for the enrichment en-richment of today, tho endowment of tomorrow. Over tho portal of ono of tho Athenian Athe-nian ncademies was written tho words "Lot no ono enter hero who Ib Ignornnt of mathematics " As you inovo out to tho world of .service let mo remind you that there Is no place for you In Its busy spaces whero you may mako life a success save as you go to give the service abiding, tho service altruistic, whose core Is red, sacrificial. N The text sounds a bit old fashioned one of thoso bits of old world wisdom wis-dom that we used to find In the old copybook of our earlier days. But It Is not H priggish word, it Is rather tho last word In the purpose of all education. Tho opening word of this message has been aimed at tho distinction between be-tween culturo and character. The ono Is subjective, tho other objective. In tho writings of Paul mere Is a characterization of a class which Is "over learning, but never able to como to tho truth." That class Is the ono whoso learning Is not swayed and controlled by tho power ot a slble our richer mental service and material achievement, Is tho education educa-tion of man's Intelligence. But as man Is raoro than, and above, the body, so man is more than, and above tho mind, he 1b truly sovereign sover-eign only in the fulfillment of his moral lite. Life's ultimate possession Is tho eternal ethic and Its dynamic and ones possession ot it or lack of It predicates all the worth ot Ub lite and service to tho world and to God. It would bo trite In the measure of1, weariness to Indicate from the biography and history of yesterday It is one. ot tho commonest things on the road of lite to find humbl? men and women who never knew the privilege of the school, the rich opportunity op-portunity of the college, wuo are the moral and spiritual superiors of many uv 1 iant and cultured children of col-legiato col-legiato opportunity. L.fos highest secret Is here, and tho soul has found the ultimate cul ture that has learned tho secret and tho power of doing well. Tremendously Important as Is tho task of realizing h t Intellectual development, de-velopment, for the American broln must bo keened to its finest euge, and because of tho necessity our land pours out Its limitless treasure for educational processes. Yet ot graver necessity Is It that tho spiritual nature na-ture and moral life should find aruuse ment and development. That which breaks through the walls of tho soul releasing tho personal per-sonal quality of our lives, making pos- unknown Now threaten us from star and stono, And sight Is swift hnd faith Is slow Too little or too much wo know." We are so wise about the earthly things, are bo mastered by tho sense of their importance that we have perhaps per-haps unconsciously minimized tho importance im-portance of the eternal task which comes to ub In lifo's school room. Lifo's Prolii ni is an inner tne, the master)' of evil, the possession ot good, tho achievement of such development de-velopment lis will make our lives things of benediction for all we touch-It touch-It Is not so much the agnosticism ot our time, for that MI pass with the rising of tlio soul's need for tho etc nal truths. It is rather that amid tho engrossment and fascination of tho facts of tho universe there Is forgotten forgot-ten by so many he.vastness of thot life of the eternal and the privilege of fellowship it Is glveius to know. The pity of It Is that" moral culture Is not tho necessary corollary of Intellectual In-tellectual culture and power. 'Iho menthl faculties are not the Bupr:me oneg In life, thoso aro of the heart, of scientific knowledge recast and newly discovered forces In the eld universe with an application of their beneflclent powers to human life nnfl the common arts, llfo has been very wonderfully affected and civilization enriched. The commonest We shares luxuries Impossible a generation ago to even the most privileged. Even so, granted the fullest mens-ure mens-ure of material advance, thlls still the world old problem at our feet, but tho larger for the Intricacy intensity and Involution of our modern life. Still abides life's fundamental past of mastery over life's sin nnd selfish ness and tho doing of that whici shall mark our service with that ill-vlnencss ill-vlnencss which nlono hdlds success and satisfaction. Despite all our advanco and knowledge knowl-edge and tho arts ono cannot but be conscious that we have lost in this period of gain something vital, a poise, a peace, a strength, a sanity our fathers knew In the measure wc do not. It is not bo much that "Doubts to the world's child heari great motive, a lofty purpose. Not the limitation of learning, bui the ordering of it by the highest mor al purpose Is the urgency pressed or you today, for that Is tho true educa tlon. Our time la wonder time of history when man tho microcosm moves witl swift feet and keen bra.n to the so lutlon ot nature's mysteries the col latlon ot her secrets and fact, as Bumptlon of that high place deslgnei by tho Creator,, as Master of thi universe. it Is the fashion to live In hn at- mosphero ot self gratulatlon because forsooth, man knows so much. There Is excuso for tho attitude, i'rom the tlmo when tho Whlto Christ walked tho eurth down to this day Is a long span. Tho laBt century or the nineteen nine-teen has witnessed a greater advance In all of tho things that touch Ufa than did all the rest. Ono stands amazed at that which tho patient Ingenuity In-genuity nnd toll of tho time lias added add-ed to tho knowledge nnd power of man. With a new biology, n new chemistry, chem-istry, a new physics, a new psychology, psychol-ogy, In fnct with every department those examples which make overwhelming over-whelming demonstration of this statement. state-ment. It is tho religious spirit that vltl-llzes vltl-llzes the literature and the art, the, economics or politics, the music nud tho oratory, and that saves from stigma stig-ma of brutallzatlon manual work of stressful typo In Held or factory, In mine or home. neiiom me paraoie or tne Angeius for upon Millet's canvass In the fading fad-ing light of day tho Briton peasant hud his wife are lifted Infinitely beyond be-yond tho limit of the rude raiment of poverty, the pitiful narrowness of the potatoe digger, by the folded hands, the bowed head, the reverent spirit that answer tho Eternal, as he walks again in the cool of tJe Ouv In the world's garden. With true moral culturo In the llfo It s 'mposs-Ible 'mposs-Ible that man can be brutalized by any toll In nny environment that duty ' creates. Without that culturo defined In tho homely phrnse of our text, It la Impossible to realize any dream , that holds lofty or abiding hope for j tho race or to be saved from that en- j grossraont In wordly things thnt j chokes at tho last the upward reach- ' !ng .nstlncts of the spirit. It Is this which lends sanction to H t'.'e nobility of your lives as ycu go to I v ri r y of tho grease and ulr' of I no . . that consciousness of your I doing Rod's workmanship, tu i in I Elliott puts into hef "Stradlvarlous." She puts Into his mouth this llv ng j word: j "If my hand slacked, I I should rob God slnco Ho Is fullest good I f Leaving a blank Instead of-violins, ij God could not make Antonio "Strntl 1 1 Ivarlous" Violins Without Antonio Stradlvanous." j Mrs. Hemans points out In speak-Ing speak-Ing of the artiste of Italy that those j painters whoso canvasses today nro priceless were counted but common workmen by their fellows In tho old Italian vice, keyed to the note of the abiding vnlues Is ono of the necessities necessi-ties alike of God and men. That con-Isclousncss con-Isclousncss should be upon us the great high tniBt of living, In the light of that Ideal which Is rooted In tho divine ethic whoso power makes pos-slblo pos-slblo tho best doing. Do you doubt tho assertion I nm pressing? You havo but to know tho Continued on Pago Eight I, , - BACCALAUREATE SERMON DELIVERED BY REV. SIMPKIN AT A. C. CHAPEL : T w H (Cont.nucd from pago flvo) B ago to boo Hint tho llfo that lias creed- P rd the fields mid flailed tho harvests B of tho ago wag that of tho men who H lived ti power nnd consciousness of 1 the highest culture. B England's greatest artists said oft- B en 10 Jil.t pupils ii tho Acadeiny,"ialnt 1 first ycur sfcv!" The note of Uo pic-, turo Is thuro. I.lfo must Includo .tho B art of heaven to have a vnlm. H History nnd biography nro burden- H rd with this truth that the man or tho H people without a .sky perishes. Tho H aoul'a stirrings for tho Immortal Byf must bo trMllsod for tho upward cllml H upon .1 living rel'gloui fnlth, and men H for llfe'j service must And first the H divine ratlonalo of wotl doing oro Ufa Byj finll find either satisfaction for It- H aslf or tho ability to score society H beneficently In tho outflow of Its pow- H cr In tho days. H The vital question of this hour Is H as lo what Is to ho your attitude to ByJ tho tlfo out of which has como to you ftyj to much of honefnctlon. Your years H have not heen, shvo In a most limited H srnso years of acquisition, but rather ftyj of ncccptanco. H Yesterday and today havo been bo- B (owlng tho largest of tho raco-soul'n H gathering through centuries, nnd you H sit this morning dob tors to tho past, B a past whoso glory and power of I Hi creation and achlcvmcnt have heen Hi dominated hy tho men of tho moral HHJ The prophot had In his soul's eye B (ho Ideal or this well doing which l Bh to us historic. Hftj Tho Ideal Is not nu nhstract nnd Impractlcahlo thing a dream of her- mlta a figment of Monastic brooding ! hut rather tho most prnctlcahlo and pervasive Influence tho world knows. , Stands llko a CIossus astried tho 1 stream of tho centuries. Ho whoso teaching and vision havo changed tho ' faco of tho ngo, reconstructed society given a now ethics and a new conscience consci-ence to tho world, tho Christ of God. Apart from that Godhood which tho ' dnvouto christian finds him to pos3- 0 ess, tho power of His example, tho 3 glory of his dream tho entrenching ' beauty of Ills character nnd spirit ' mnko Him In Ills life and teaching 1 tho world's moral Master. Thnt ma3-1 ma3-1 terhood Is not nn ideal apart, but a 1 llfo rich nnd blessed, communicable ' to overy soul that wills to possess It. And I hid you find, If you havo not j'ot, tho secret of well-doing, tut "jlor. of spiritual culture, tho devo opm.-.r.t of tho highest tho dotormlnest powers pow-ers of tho soul I bid you turn tor examplo and dynamic to Him who said "Learn of Mo." Not to tho noble thinkings of oven tho greatsst philosophers; phil-osophers; not to the hypotheses' of Jitiv ntinlotit or mnitnrn ilmnmnr should you turn but to tho perfectness of Him who is on the wny, tho Truth and Life. Aurcllus, Plato, Socrates, ArlRlotlo, none of theso. nor tnoso who followed them, havo a line to add to tho messago of tho Nazarene. Aj yen stand under tho blazo of tho perfect noon sky, Is electricity n necosslty for your vlslon7 Is any ar-tlllclnl ar-tlllclnl nld needed to compliment tho glow of tho Icing of day? Neither to tho porfect personality tho perfect messago or tho perfect dynamic of ! Jesus Christ, can you ndd anything. Across nil tho centuries they rndlnto I still tho only light satisfying upon man. duty, the universe, God, In nn outpouring of light, truth and comfort that two thousand years of thought, struggle, nosd nnd development. huvo left with a content Immcamtrnhlo. Wlint has this teacher of tho law of well doing to Impart to you of tho twentieth century? It Is no nbstrnct and Impalpable thing. He has a law of service, a servlco of love, a 'iovo sacrlllce, a sacrlllco whoso forms nro its divers as talent nnd duty. It nil rests in a. vision of man as a child of tho Infinite, In a program for man which sweeps him Into pait-nershlp pait-nershlp with tho eternal Father. His inspiration of Ufa has brought man to the following of wel. doing for its own sake hecnuso It blesses tho world. I'pon tho slmplo basis of faith thcro rests tho fundament of that llfo which He has mndo glorious and fruitful down tho tlmo. That fundament Is simple spirituality. That is not expressed ex-pressed In raero religious forniB, in cednl expressions, In outward conformity. con-formity. Tho heart of spirituality is tho comprehension of life as (led sees It and tho purposo to answer tho vision. Tho law which tho spiritual llfo expresses Itself ns tho energizing force in ali enduring work is self-effneement. self-effneement. Think not tho oxorclso I of such n law in llfo Is Utopian, that It savors of tho cloister rathor than tho world, of dream rather than deed. J It Is not law for pale hermits but Is the saving Inspiring thing for humanity. human-ity. It has heen tho guidon of nil the world's advance. What is all ecod motnc- cod?, Whot sends her out In n ccr.s -i uj glndncss to "swing on the silver thread In tho valley of shadows In the sacrifice that raakestmithe hooJ glorious? It Is the love o: Ue heart that Is to find its compensation .n the tiny llfo drawing Its strength from tho fountain of her own heart, repaid In fullness by Us trust and lis servico to tho world. Whnt 's a'l good fatherhood? What sends a man to make himself bond-Blavo of the homo and Its needs, working tireless ly nnd uncomplainingly through the burden of the days, content with so llttlo whero ho gives eo much? , It Is but tho slmpls bit of " that Hfo which ho has created, but tho love-light love-light in tho face of her who Is dearest dear-est in tho world, so slmp-.o a thing that answers the sacrifice and devotion devo-tion of good fatherhood. The effneement effnee-ment of lovo Is the power that gives this beauty to tho world. Why, two days ago, did. a hundred million freeman turn with flower and tear to tho cemeteries ot America? Tho answor Is in tho million blue-clad blue-clad figures that left homo and com. fort and peace to pay wars awful prlco upon the battle field of fifty years ago that tho American Ideal and its liberty might not become a memory. It was simply the law of self ertaccment that made patriotic . servlco beautiful. What made Savonarola a torch for , darkened Italy? Self cffacementl What has set Abraham Lincoln on ' tho highest pinnacle of American affection af-fection and mndo his llfo a bened'c- , Hon to humanity? Self efracement! Ono does not call for you to sur- ' render life's dreams and amhltlon3 but only begs thnt you will choose thoso which shnll return to you burdened bur-dened with tho gratitudes or humnri- 1 Ity, blessed by your servlco and followed fol-lowed by tho coronation of God. Which shall your life bo? That of a Lincoln or a Rockefeller? Will you 1 ho a Henu Drummell strutting through life's kilo spaces In vanity or n Shaftsbury with his lordly soul nnd his lordlier motto "I servo" as he 1 went to London's lowest and most pitiful llfo to lend to Its squnlor and1 hopelessness something of common privilege. 1 Tho secret of power Is hero. Tho truo conservation of yourselves and your powers lies In breaking nnd scattering, scat-tering, tho treasuro houso of your soul nnd its contents. Your wheat berries are not for storago In tho garner. Their uso and glory Is In tho brown furrow, tho gol- a den flold, tho winnowed harvest. Your locked library Is only musty store for tho bookworm. Your hoa-d cd gold Is dross. Your retained ier- 1 sonallty Is only llko to the needless manna of tho Israollto In tho wilder- noss which In tho morning was corruption. cor-ruption. As you movo out to life l know that for you there Is strength for life's conflict, wisdom for Its problems, victory In Its strife, the success abiding 'for your efforts as 1 you follow tho law of this high doing whoso secret, whoso Ideal and wMose power arc In Him who has glorlfli.d tho ago. Do assured that ns you walk Into tho world to serve, to love, to give your best, you shall find His crowning within tho spiritual city. . 0 |