The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-06-13

University of Utah was preached BY
Bishop A. Leonard at Assembly hal
last night in the presence of a large
congregation. The senior class attended
in a body. A quartette composed OF
Messrs. Ashworth, Patrick, Best and
Christopherson, furnished music for the
occasion. Prayer was offered by Pro
fessor George r. Mathews.
Bishop Leonard's theme was Ideal
Citizens
The new man, which is renewed unto
knowledge, after the image of him that
created him.-Col. iii, pit. 10 V
He said in part:
deem it a privilege as we'll as pleas
ure to address the class of '9S in this,
our state university, on this occasion.
1t surely is a pleasure to have even a
very small part in influencing the
lives of young people, and if l shall say
anything tonight which will make an
impression on these young hearts, l
shall feel that I have contributed some
thing which may IN the providence of
God be felt in some remote places IN
this great commonwealth. It surely
is as true in the intellectual and moral
as in the physical world that no force
e,terted is by amy means lost. II l
am correctly informed, a large, major
ity of this class of '9S are normal grad
g
themselves for teaching in the common
schools. and this will make themselves
felt for good or i'll in proportion as
right character. has been developed and
pure motives shall actuate them. If,
therefore, I may tonight leave some
impression upon these young minds
which Will not speedily be effaced,
shall feel that I have had the distin-
guished honor of setting in motion
words Of influence for good which snail
not cease so long as time shall last. Our
text gives clear intimation of our
theme The great apostle is speaking
here of the new man in Christ Jesus, of
the man who has laid aside his former
self with all his evil deeds, and having
been Incorporated by the power of the
holy ghost into Christ our Lord has
risen with him new and higher life.
We heart a great deal about the new
woman, as though she were an extra
ordinary order OF being, quite different
from and superior to the mothers of an
age now past and gone. Is it not quite
time that We should talk of the new
man, and raise him to an eminence su-
perior to that which he now knows?
The expression new man as used by the
apostle has a much broader significance
than that applied to the new woman,
for he uses the phrase in its true sense,
regarding humanity without reference
~ sex As III OHIISL JESUS luGIS -
neither male nor female, so also in the
education given in the states schools,
as well as in the political duties de-
VolVing upon US all here in this new
state there is no distinction of sex or
religious utilization. We may tonight
have the theolOgianS to differ as they
may as to the exact thought which the
apostle had in mind when writing to
the ColOssian Christians about the new
man. 1 do not believe that it was any
narrow thought for the Apostle St
Paul was absolutely incapable of mar
rownesS in any direction. After laying
aside his Judaic connections he
rose to a loftier plane of thought than
that which he had hitherto known, and
busted himself in planning for the
emancipation of mankind from every
bond which held him. Broadly speak
ing, the theme to which l invite your
attention tonight, is The Ideal Citi-
zen"
To speak of ideals I know tends to
provoke a smile. It is suggestive of
that which is impractical, and we live
in an exceedingly practical age. They
who talk of ideals are supposed to have
their heads in the clouds, and to be
dwelling upon places which are Wis
ionary and entirely beyond the range
Of the ordinary grasp. l desire at the
very outset to disclaim any such posi-
DuI- on the contrary, 10 class
myself among the practical people who
think. plan and work for the promotion
of every good end. Among enlinently
practical people ideals may seem I'M
attainable, and therefore not to be
mentioned. The ideal of which l am
proposing to speak tonight is not be
yond the reach even of the simplest
mind, but even though it were, it is al
ways wise to propose some lofty aim
as the goal towards which we tend, the
end which we shall use every endeavor
10 reach. / speak tonight to the young
men and women who, having received !
their training in this new school of !
learning supported by taxes levied |
upon all the citizens Of the state, are |
just entering upon a new stage of life !
in this new commonwealth of ours I
Have not the people who have been |
educating these young men and women |
a right to expect great things of them? !
Have not we older people a right to eX- |
pect that the affairs of the common |
wealth may be safely confided to their |
hands? That the trust we have re- I
ceived from others viii be sacredly and !
also wisely administered, and carefully !
handed on to others, so that as the /
years go by Utah shall grow in impor-
lance and influence among the other
states of the federal union? 1 eXhort |
these young people. then, to become
ideal citizens, remembering that the
early years of this our commonwealth.
like the early years Of life of an indi-
vidual, is the critical period in its his
tory, and still further than the impress
made upon the state now is that which
will be lasting. Be not satisfied with
anything short of the best, and strive
as you may to lay foundations for
which your descendants may not in the
future have any reason for which to
blush.
The ideal citizen, then, is under
Responsibilities have
been imposed upon him. Duties are
his from which he may not
Born into the world, and
coming years of dissention, he
finds that his obligations look
out towards God, the state
and human society, and in this
threefold way it is our purpose to CON
slider him. Man is in himself a
trinity Of being, composed of body,
soul and mind, and the new man, the
complete man, the ideal man is he
who is symmetrically developed men
tally, morally and physically. Physi-
ca.lly man seems to be a perfect being.
certainly he has reached his highest
and best development. 1 do not mean
oy this that health is perfect, that
disease has been eliminated, or that
sanitary conditions are what they
should be, but that he has reached the
1nal beyond which there is nothing
more Surely eyes and ears cannot of ]
themselves be made to see or hear
more hands and feet do more. Now '
he effort is to develop appliances by I
which, in accordance with physical
avs the mind can go farther and ac- {
.omplish more. Intellectually we are ]
advancing steadily all the while. But {
/ hasty glance into the past reveals I
he 70 ~ that we are SimnIv beginners I