The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-06-26
Baccalaureate Sermon
by DR.. Whitman.
"Heroic Men for Heroic Age,"
SIS a
His Subject.

vesallst church, sunday morning, to
listen to the baccalaureate sermon by the
president Of the seminary, Rev. H. 5.
Whitman. The front of the pulpit was
tastily decorated with flowers, the col5rs
Of which were mostly pink, the school
color. A noticeable feature OF the occa-
sion was the presence OF a number Of the
graduates Of the class of '96. The pastor
of the church, Rev. 5. q. Davis, read the
Scripture lesson and offered prayer. The
sermon was then delivered by Mr.. Whit.
man who announced as his subject
Heroic Men for an Heroic Age The
text was from / Cor. 1913 "Qnit you
like men, be strong"
Mr.. Whitman said in part: These
words of the Apostle Paul were addressed
TO the Christian disciples at Corinth.
1t was new era in the world A new
principle was beginning to hold sway. 1t
was reyolutionizing the thought Of men
and lifting them into q new life power.
But there must of necessity be much
hardship and want and toll and suffering
In the great conflict before them. For
three hundred years Christians were pur-
sued and wenried with persecution, but
through it all they bore themselves like
men and learned even in suffering to. be
s5ronR. A new era, most fervsntly
believe, is about to dawn upon the world;
an era that shall be signalizsd by almost
as great a revolution In thought and life
as that of the nrst century. l cannot
doubt that the goth century will see the
glorious contamination of that great
event which prophets and bards foretold,
the era of peace. The significance and
overestimated. 1t would mean that the
wholesale destruction Of life which has
heretofore characterized evolution ever
since life began would come to an end in
the case of the chief of Gods creatures.
"My young friends. the golden age of
the world is not in the past, but in the
future. The heroic age is yet before us.
And most of all heroic men are needed
for this heroic age. to prepare for the
kingdom of heaven which oil the signs Of
the times proclaim to be near at hand.
1t is the ideal man that is wanted, the
n AN commanding strength and courage.
What is it to be strong9 In early times
1t was physical strength that was most
thought of. The hero of those days was
some Sampson, Goliath or Hercules. who
by the strength OF his right arm was able
to perform wonderful deeds. But gradu-
ally, as man rose insthe scale of being,
and came into a larger knowledge of the
wondsrful scope Of his powers in the
realm Of mind and thought, the idea OF
the strong man was enlarged from that
of mere brute strength to comprehend the
strength that proceeds from within,
strength of mind, strength of will,
strength of purpose. In later years the
world rose to a higher conception still,
and saw clearly that the man Ia only
strong In deepest reality as he is strong
IN character, in faith, in righteousness,
strength. The ideal man is the brave
man The coward Is regarded with just
contempt. The fireman risking his life
amid the rolling flames and the burning
rafters, TO save the lfs of the helpless
child; the engineer upon the burning
steamer, standing at the post of duty,
tin all on board are saved; Hobson,
deliberately going forth to almost certain
death, in the attempt to render his coun-
try signal service.
"Now what is it in these things that
wins our approval? Is 1t simply the
scorn of danger and deathP Is it that
bravery, daring and fearlessness which we
hold in common with many OF the lower
animalsp Or is there some higher ele-
ment that enters into these various in
stances which lifts them above the range
of mere bull dog courage2 l think we
will find that that which touches US
most sensibly In each case is the motive.
There must be some worthy motive lead
ing to the heroic sacrifice, else we do not
recognize in the display OF the courage
the elements of true. manhood or wo-
manhood. With falsehood and disease and
wrong and misery, in q thousand forms,
lying all around us the voice within calls
on us to take our stand as men in the
eternal battle against them. The heroic
man then for the heroic aga that is com
ing on, must be strong and must bs
brave
I'm the new era which firmly believe
is close at hand, the brotherhood of the
race shall have practical disqualification,
and human hearts shall be drawn into
close relations of tenderness and symra-
thy. There Ia work to be done, wrongs
to bs righted. victories to be won that
will tax the strength and test the endur-
ance and courage as thoroughly as those
Of camp and hattleIields
MY dear young friends, you are to go
forth into a grand field Of action in the
new heroic age OF the new century. l