The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1899-06-21
BACCALAUREATE SERMON.
Two Thousand People turn out
10 hear the Address.
Parable Of tae talents uxsi 80 the
Text he Th.ms ssE Eduration-A
abstract .! ias address sermon az
.sishl 10 ihr ss~Hsbrrs df ts,e I. u.
a. = ri ~. "a az tho ExerciS.s

the Daccaiauieate sermon was
preached to TIE graduating class on
Sunday inof,iag bt Rev Benjamin |
Ferry, Of Chiaago Al! the church
- in town sasl,er ie.i eli services
and the ee.rtaiipns attended the
exercises in ii body The address
was magnificent oae and l,as been
the cause of meay complimentary
DR.. Terry Is one d the most pleas
ing speakers that has ever appeared
in Morgantown and he has more
nearly the idea of what Commence
ment address should be than asy
man who has been here "a recent
years to preach the annual sermon.
Tha text Was the twenty fifth Of
Matthew, the parable OF tie talents.
The theme was education.
The plain interpretion OF this text
is that it is every mans duty to
make the most of himself. To seek
to enter into the possession of all
the powers which may have been
given at birth. We apply these
thoughts to the subject OF education
1t Is the duty Of every Young man
or young w5ri1an To seek the best
possible education as preparation
for LIES work. 1t is pertinent then
in the first place to ask what we
mean by an education? 1t is more
than mental training, Yet the dis
tinction is one of object rather than
method. In training we strive t. III
ject the power Of doing certain
things win accuracy and skill In
education we seek not to learn how
to do something butt to become some
thing.
We seek to place the young man
or young woman in possession OF
powers which at birth are only in
prophecy. To give them what we
call maturity, ripeness of power.
Education is not learning. Learn
ing is the means of education. 1t
is not education. The mind Crews
by coming in contact with facts as
the body grows by coming In con
tact with food. These. facts Are
more than the simple intellectual
furniturlhg Of the mind. 1t becomes
part of every fiber of the intellect
ual being of the man. What we seek
in education is to impart the power
not to go through certain exercises
like trick mule or to recite certain
lessons like parrot, but to teach
the power to think. To gather a fact
here and fact there. And putting
these two together derive third
fact which is our own.
Now in accordance with this dis
tinction we have two classes of in
stitntions; the educational school
which includes Common schools and
High schools. The College and the
School of Training which includes
the profession schools of various
kinds.
Someone has defined College as
the place where nothing useful is
taught accept your definition il
YOU mean merely materialistic use
fulness. That is, something which
as we say may be used for getting q
living. But is that all that we have
to live for9 Simply what we may
eat or what we may put on? Their
the rich fool in the Bible was moi
much of fool after all when he
said, "Come, let us eat and be merry
for tomorrow we may die"
If that is all then we must re
write our poetry and re state oul
philosophy. For the true idea Of
life is not that of the youth with up
ward look and uplifced banner toll
ing ON to the mountain peaks of the
dawn. But that is of the cattle
crossing the prairies heads all down
browsing as they go.
But is it so useless for young
man or young woman to seek frs
to enter into full possession of al
the God given powers before they
face the great problems of lifei
Rather let us define the two classes
of institutions thus the education
al school, the place where the stu
dent become possessed of himself and
the training school of what ever de
scription, medical professional, etc.
The school where he becomes pos
sessed of certain knowledge OF
learns to do certain things, by which
he may become directly helpful and
useful in society.
Now here in lies one great mis-
take. As educators we encourage
young men to begin the second be
fore they have completed the first
And many man to-day finds him
self confronted with the great bur
dens of life and he himself un
able to carry them. And sees him
self out stripped by men who have
not 1.-THE of the original ability h,
has himself. But he is weak ant
they are strong because they hav,
first become possessed of their pow
ers. In other words have learned
to make the most of themselves
And now when it is too late h,
awakes to the fact that his intel
lectual career has been ruined ant
that he is far short of what he nigh
have been.
This is one of the common fads O
the day. To study what is practi
cal or easy and take short cuts
And we forgot that in education a.
in house building the most speed,
result is not the best result.
The speaker then went on t
show what different kinds of sub
Ijeets ought to form part Of sn ed
ucation and to answer the objection,
of the practical man who holds tina
because so many men succeed with
out an education that therefore al
education is Unnecessary.
The speaker. showed that NOR
than one half OF the members o
Congress have never seen the insid
of a college. But the other half VIII,
nave seen the inside of college
have been furnished by three pc
cent of the population. That il
ninty-seven percent representa-,
non college men who have been abl
to furnish only one half
But that is not the point that
want to leave with you. 1t is no
that you can't succeed without
college education. You can. Ther
are thousands Of men in active lif
to day who have thus succeeded
But the chances are that you will
never be anything more than mere