The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-06-12


localities seem to be willing to pay them
more than they have been receiving here.
The question is, will the board cripple the
school by allowing them to depart to other
fields or strengthen 1t by making a reason
able increase OF salaries and thus retain
their services ? And will 1t also make such
other increase OF salaries as merit and faith
full services demand?
For the first time in the history OF the
Washington County Grammar School, a
baccalaureate sermon to its graduating
class was preached last Sunday morning, in
Bethany Church, by Rev. DIR. Norman
Seaver, the pastor. The ten members Of
the graduating class were seated in the
front central pews, with Professor S. j.
Blanpied and his assistants Immediately
behind them. DR.. Seaver preached, with
out notes, q forceful and eloquent discourse,
taking as his text Proverbs xviii: 10,
" The hope of the righteous shall be glad,
but the expectation OF the wicked shall
perish" 1t was clear and practical an.
alysis of the difference between right hopes
that bring gadness and sa isfaction and
wrong hopes that surely end In nothing but
disappointment. Hope" said the speaker
In opening, lis the handspring OF life.
When hope dies out of any life, that life is
a blank. If 1 were asked to day what is
the most CHI eering thing of the times in
which we live, | would say 1t is In the one
word hope. There is, as never before,
running through human civilization this
sentiment of hope, forgetting the old things
of the past and reaching forward to the
things before in the providence OF God, who
moves all things in accordance to his will.
The Bible is pre- eminently the book of
hope. 1t begins with an earthly paradise
and closes with paradise that shall never
end IL enlarges the space OF seventy years
to an endless eternity, aud points from our
brief dwelling here to the measureless uni
verse of God. All systems that lake men
nd ont ha atn nf al tfnr
are contrary to this teaching Of Gods Word.
OF all human beings who should entertain
hope, know of none who should be more
hopeful than the young people of America,
who have had some of the privileges of
modern education. The present welcomes
you, in cert ain sense is waiting for you,
and the future will be just what the young
men and women who graduate from our in.
situations OF learning make it. Will may
you hope for coming good to yourself, for
you have the means and disposition to do
good to others" The speaker then consid.
cred some of the false hopes that end at last
in disappointment. among them the hope Of
life OF enjoyment and pleasure, and the
hope OF a selfish pre-eminence; the hope on
our part OF good worldly success and self.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. In this connection he
said: There Is great distinction between
the highest positions in the nation, within
reach of all, and the highest positions
in the nation, free to all. The glorious
privilege OF us American citizens is not that
the highest positions in the nation are free
to us, but that to all OF us is given the
privilege OF gaining competency, respecta
bility, strength Of character. and that ra.
tional enjoy ment of life may be ours" In
closing, DR.. Seaver considered some Of the
right hopes that bring gladness and make
us better while we cherish them, that shall
fulfill themselves and become blessed real.
tiles. Among these, which were eloquently
elaborated, were the hope of usefulness, and
the hope of progress in knowledge and
virtue until perfection is reached Your
education" he said, lends not here. 1t
will not when you leave college, or the
school OF law or medicine. 1t will never
cease until you come to perfection. This
should be your ambition. God did not
make us to stand still. mol The very
spirit of the age, which is the breath OF God,
refutes such an assertion. Our true gold
of being is found in nearness to our heavenly
Father and to Jesus Christ, his Elder
Brother Such is the ideal our God holds
up before u.s. He who gathered the chill
dren in his arms and blessed them said, be
ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is
perfect Some joys and some sorrows,
some victories and some defeats, will be
your lot, but, by and through and above
them all, march on until you come to the
perfect man and woman, to the measure Of
the fullness OF Christ. And now to you,
young friends, who have come here to re-
ceive some word OF guidance, offer to you
this final thought. Fling from you any
thought of life of Disqualification and
self.indulgence, cherish in your souls the
spirit of true helpfulness to others. In this
hope, go forth with the constant resolve to
be useful to your fellowmen. With this
hope, go forth to labor in usefulness, and so
advancing and so hoping, God who needs
you shall give YOU help and guidance.
You shall be supported and sustained by
that mysterious presence, the deity, until
you shall see him as he is and be trans
formed into his image. Then, and not till
then, shall your education be completed and
everlasting gladness shall be yours"