The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1866-08-08
COMM ENCEMENT.

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kitchel, ID ID the new President. We
have space but for brief outline.
The text was taken from Prov. 27:l0.
Gas IN water face an,wcreth to face, so
the heart Of man to man"
The subject chosen for the sermon was
-lnflucncc-thc innowi ing of character
from one soul 10 another, the power of
one heart TO impress itself on others.
This thought was elaborated clearly by
repetition and illustration, until every
one was impressed with the speakers
convictions, and had made them his own.
Every one was convinced that this
action and reaction of soul upon soul was
by force of character, by power simply of
its Jejag W,M Is. As we come into
intimacy with any fellow being, the moral
quality of each, 10y a force of It's own,
lays held on the soul of the other. and
seeks to color 10 its own likeness. How
tits Is, can be explained no farther than
that 50 God has made US. Our spirits 90
forth and meet and minglc, and sway
one another far more intimately than any
philosophy explains. Souls ap?rehend
each others quality and power in ways
OF communion quite beyond the senses.
1t Is that mystery Of INSTRUMENTATION
between spiritual beings by which we
impress ourselves on one another and
flow into one anothers souls.
And under this law of Social nature
all human intercourse is carried on. We
meet and impart ourselves, our spirit,
The tone and quality of our being TO
those with whom we associate Friend
is reflected into friend. "As in water
face answereth 10 face, so the heart Of
man TO man." Our power for good or
evil acts mainly in this way, not by ar.
gumcnt or cxhortation. Each man,
character radiates around him inhucnc-
ing others whether he will or no.
Good or evil streams flow from US indie.
pendcntly OF our wills, but simply by
force of what we are.
The badness of a bad man sheds dark
ness around him, upon his circle, his
friends, hi3 family, if he wishes it, and
against his wish. So the goodness of a
good man is an ever operative force for
the propagation of goodness; not by eff
fort but by the simple force of character.
And men come at length to estimate very
accurately each mans character. After
little these estimates are wonderfully
Just. We cannot tell how we know them,
but we know them, beholding them with
a spiritual insight.
From these considerations we are
warned to consider what we are uncon-
sciously ding upon others in this mystery
of Influence. We shall have it to an
swer for. The bad man should never dare
to have a friend. lie commits a crime
when he comes into any Intimate relation.
This influence depends largely upon
the original measure of the soul, on the
attitude and habit of the soul in its rela-
tons to moral good and evil which we
denonlinate character, and especially on
education. This latter quality gives eff
ficiency and direction to the others.
He then addressed the graduating
class, affectionately, and exhorted them
to consider well this power and the res.
possibility which it carries with it re-
minding them that as educated men, as
privileged souls 10 whom Culture had
lent its graccs and refined as well as
developed what nature gave them, they
were to be vital and vitalizing centers of
Spiritual forces influential powers TO
guide and sway mems souls and shape
the world in which they move. lie