Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-06-10
The Raccalaureate Sermon.

l
The following is a synopsis of a few
of the points in the baccalaureate SER
mon preached last Sunday by Rev. S.
ID. Pulford:
the beginning Of wisdom
Psalm 1l9, Verse 14s. "Thy righteousness is
an everlasting righteousness and thy law is the
| TRUTH
"These words indicate certain facts
and principles that lie at the founda-
| ton of what we wish to enforce on this
occasion. There are crises in all lives
when important steps are to be taken.
They call for consideration and prepar-
alton. The wise general, the prudent
builder. the traveller, all make prepar-
alton. So, these graduates, taking a
new and important step in life, should
see to it that they are prepared; shoald
stop and consider what they are DOING,
where we are standing, on what foRn-
dation we are building; times when we
should look over the past and make
provision for the future.
The wise commander sends out his
scouts and his skirmishers to find out
where the enemy is and what his
strength is before he ventures to meet
him. The wise master-builder looks
first to the foundations on which he
proposes to build, and then to the quail
ity of the material he is to use. He
would be a very foolish man who
would fail to make full provision for a
journey he should undertake.
You will observe that am using the
words education and schools in
a very broad sense; and as l hope to
show, before am done, in their better
and proper sense. | am taking for
granted the intense Stiffness of phrase
you may have heard used by graduates,
Finishing ones education. What an
insult and what libel on the laws of
progress in every department of Gods
universe. As well might the tiny leaf
let of the acorn sprouting through the
soil boast itself to be the mighty oak,
monarch of the forest. As well might
the lisping infant claim to have master
ed the songs of the cherubim and SER
aphim around the throne of God; as
well might the school-boy with his little
spy-glass think he had explored the
fathomless abysses of the "blue eter-
nities.n
No man whose mind alone is highly
trained and developed is educated.
The will and affections must be rightly
trained. No man can leave out of the
material for his education, the great
facts and influences of Divine revela-
ton. the great factors in all true calcu-
lations concerning mans destiny, the
fall of man and his redemption-Jesus
Christ, the central figure in the worlds
history, the Great Teacher and model
for man.
Let these young women graduates
draw their inspiration and their strength
from the living waters. Let Christian
heroines, not pagan divinities, be their
model. Not Asphasia. but Monica and
Florence Nightingale. BE like Wads-
worth's noble pattern woman
"A being breathing thoughtful BREATH
a traveller between life and death,
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength and SKILL
perfect woman, nobly planned,
Ts warm, to comfort and command,
And yet spirit still, and bright
With something of an angel light
The intense Stiffness of the idea of
finishing ones education" Let us
60 back to first principles. Let us see
how broad and deep is the foundation
of the law of the perpetuation and pro-
gress of influence, of those things which
make up character, which mold, train,
instruct and educate us, body and soul,
will, intellect and affections, tor this
world and tor the next
The formation of character. In the
young especially character is formed
mainly by the cast of the minds which
surround them.
Education is not all in the books and
the lessons. he manners and morals
of teachers, unconsciously imbibed. in
fluence the pupils. The Importance of
the study of words-words are fossil
history tell how empires rose
and fell, even when those empires have
long vanished. The words ''Atlantic
Gable" tell of Franklins kite, and sue
ceeding developments up to the present
time, the great result in the intercourse
and amity of all nations. Education
is deriyed from and datco-to lead out,
and means drawing out, developing
what is in man, learning him to think,
reflect. Education is not all or mainly
in books, nature, history, reflection,
educate, bring out a mans powers.
The whole man must be educated, men,
tai and moral, intellect, will and affec-
lions