The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-09-03

l''i vi 'ith.'h SihS JuSeiSS 10 w ~
done.
If this first critical period is safely
passed, the second is now at hand
Your college is about to place the
seal of its approval upon YOU. The
Roman world made much of this pc
riod in Young mans life. He was
impressed with the sacred duties of
citizenship. When the toga virilis fell
upon the shoulders of the Roman
youth, he became a Roman citizen,
and 50 great was the transformation in
his estimation. that he felt that he
would rather be in possession of the
rights and privileges here given than
to be king. How much greater is
your Inheritance to-day. No patrician
rank. made by man. stems the tide OF
your success. No outward seal OF
mans creation gives you the right to
aspire to the highest honors yonr
country can give. In your creation
God stamped you rs an embryonic
man. With this gift every possibility
was given you. You were made the
arbiter of your fate. Men have appre-
ciatcd the fact at last, that there should
be no such ''jailers of the human soul
as obscure birth and iron fortune No
man is born into the world whose
work is not born with him. "No roy
al permission is necessary for you to
launch forth on the broad sea of life
and its attendant possibilities with the
sail Of every capacity unfurled, and
the rudder of Il well-traincd mind steer
ing You among the infinite possibili-
ties awaiting you. Austin Phelps has
well said, Vigilance in watching op-
portunty. Tact and daring in seiziug
upon the sane: force and persistence
in crowding it to its utmost of po ST.
bic achievement These are the mar
tial virtues which must command sue
cess Lord Burleigh, addressing Il
body Of young men in answer to one
who complained of Il want of opportu-
nifty, said,'I y Dung man there has never
been day yet that did not bring its
opportunity that never could have been
before and never can be again" Men
make opportunities, beings called men
neglect them. On the eve of the bat
tie of the Nile, Capt. Berry, address
ing Lord Nelson, with heart beating
with confidence in his commander ut
the same time rcserving word of
caution, said, "If we succeed. what will
the world say His reply was char
actcristic of the man, There is no if
in the case. That we will succeed is
certain. Who will live to tell the
tale is different question. Before
this time tomorrow | shall have gained
a peerage> or Westminster Abbey"
The result, the world knows. \ CRATE
ful country has recorded its apprecia-
ton of the man who could make OPP
portUEities for his progrscs. Emerson,
the sage of Concord, has well said, and
it will serve as good motto for you:
''If anv man can write better book
than has been written--preach better
sermon than has ever been preached.
or even make better mouse-trap than
has ever been made, though he makes
his home in the woods. the world will
make 4 beaten path to his door. Me-
diocrity fills the world in every walk of
life :"
Excellence in any work of man new
er waits for recognition The world is
on the alert for it. Do not condemn
fortune or an unappreciative public, if
your life is failure. Remember that
''it is not in our stars but in our lives
that we are underlings"
These suggestions fill you with hope.
How well | remember, just 90 years
ago, on similar occasion to this, how
my young heart was fired with an ar.
dent ambition to rush to the conflict
The words of the speaker are still ring.
ing in my ears as he said young men
We are breathing, we are living,
In grand aud awful time,
In an age on ages telling,
To be living is subm.."
The martial rhythm of the words fired
Il zeal for the conflict. and gave the
idea of Il contentious and selfish If.
had misintcrprctcd his words. III,
WAS speaking Of the peaceful conquestS
oflife. Those still, small victories over
self i'll all of its abnormal conditions
and of these speak to YOU tonight
would not say to YOU that the victory
Is yours without effort. You do not
Know the many pitfalls in life. You
IL MT know your power to resist
temptation. In the pride OF life YOU
lerl secure against falling into any
form of in pral ohliuuity, and vet, vo,
| are not secure
\ gentleman, in charge of one of th,
largest londing agencies in America
has recently said, that the losses of his
company are not from those known tt
b. dishonest, not from those who al,
| probably SO, but rather from those who
have lived honest lives up to the tim,
| when temptations Of an insidious na
turc Sapped the foundation of tn,
structure of their moral nature. mad,
out Of good resolves, emerging. from :
| mother ) PRAYERS. a father 5 counscls.