The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1889-05-31
THE ANNUAL SERMON.
Excellent Sermon to the Normal
Graduating Classes by
Rev. Whitney.

The exercises of commencement week
at the Normal were auspiciously opened
by the annual sermon preached to the
graduating classes at the opera house
Sunday forenoon by Rev. w. Whitney,
pastor of the Baptist church. The classes
and the normal faculty occupied re-
served seats in the parquet, and the rest
of the building was we'll filled by the
congregations of the churches that had
united to hear this sermon. The stage
was occupied by the various ministers
and thesCongregational and Presbyteri-
an choirs. A pulpit had been placed on
the stage for use in the services.
The opening exercises consisted of the
singing of the .doxology, invocation by
Rev. Cory, hymn sung by the two
choirs united, Miss Eta Frisbie playing
a piano accompaniment, reading of the
Scripture by Rev. Barbour, prayer by
Rev. Rule, and singing by the Congre-
gational choir.
Rev. Whitney preached a fine sermon.
The discourse was well prepared and
well delivered. The portion devoted
more particularly to the class was given
with much feeling.
The speaker chose for his sermon,
"The power Of a master passion IN hui
man lIfe," founding it upon the words
of David in Psalm 1919, "For the zeal of
thine house hath eaten me up"
Giving Judge Severance credit for
having furnished the theme for the
morning, he said that passion, as he
should consider it, includes the various
ideas of capacity for emotion, sudden
outburst, endurance, the controlling
choice or pursuit in life. The indIvidu-
al looks about him and sees the work TO
be done, he looks within and considers
his own aptitudes, he looks into the fu-
ture and contemplates the possibilities
within his grasp, he drinks deep full in
SEPARATIONS while his heart grows big
with hope: his resolve is taken, bis soul
ID on fire with the passion of his being,
and he throws himself into his work
with an energy that is resistless, cour-
age that is invincible, a perseverance
that is untiring. He knows no rest, no
failure, until he has wrung victory out
of the very jaws of defeat, and stands
proudly on the summit of achievement
"a successful man. AS instances of the
action and results Of this kind of passion
the careers of Alexander the Great, Jul
ius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte were
referred to at length. 1t was shown fur
i,
was no less important in finance, in
craftsmanship, in literature and philos-
ophy, In the sciences, in art, In religion:
in short, in every department of human
activity. 1t is not genius that makes
men great, it is passion: a passion not
momentary and trihing, but enduring
and majestic: passion that endows one
with IAN infinite capacity for taking
palms," that enables one to endure as
seeing him who and that which is invisi-
BILE. To reach the extraordinary, one
must take his staff in hand. and turn his
back on easy going pleasures, and climb
the ragged sleeps of some Matterhorn of
difficulty amidst binding SHOWS and
singing cold, and along the brink of
yawning chasms. Unless one has faith
in the value of the achievement he will
never make the outlay necessary to Sc
cure it.
The speaker next emphasized the
thought that there are two kinds of am
bitiOn, and that in order to satisfactorily
progress the passion which controls us
most be qCOftty, battle in its aim and
spirit. Otherwise we may make our
selves infamous rather than famous.
"Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy
country's, thy Gods, and truths" At
the same time we labor unselfishly, it
was shown that we must put self into
our work, throwing ourselves into our
work with completest abandon. GAN is
conce'ltred in life intense" Ones per-
sonallty must appear in the character of
the work he turns out.
The next step in the discourse was to
show that in order to reach the highest
and truest success in life the passion of
nj has t,of ir,i L.,
ment. We have reached the highest
only when we have subordinated every
selfish interest to the one supreme pur-
pose of clarifying God, and advancing
his kingdom in the world. We must be
able to say with David: "The zeal of
thine house hath eaten me up" To
this end study the life of the Model Man,
of whom the text is really prophecy.
What is enthusiasm but to be full of God?
In applying the principles thus
brought out the class were urged to
such devotion to worthy object, partic-
ularly with reference to their relation to
the next Centennial of our nations his
tory. While they would not be present
upon that occasion they and those of
like age will have the greater responsibility
of putting into that celebration all its essential
features of glory or of shame. Upon the
shoulders Of the young people of to dsy
rest responsibilities such as no genera
ton was ever before called upon to car
ry, and in consequence there are before
them privileges and possibilities before
unknown. During the next fifty years
there will be far-reaching epochs of de-
velopment in the history of our nation,
and some of the young people of to-day
will be the centres round which those
epochs will crystalline. Each member
of the class was thus urged to put forth
his or her best exertions to reach the
extraordinary, by the power of God and
in dependence upon his strength.
At the conclusion the Presbyterian
choir sang, and the congregation was
dismissed after a benediction,