Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1900-07-06
OUR DEBT TO PAST.
THE SUBJECT OF PRES. BRAlNERD'S
BACCALAUREATE SERMON.

Present Wisdom and knowledge, Social
and Civil Institutions. and Free schools
a Part of our Indebtedness to Those
who Have Gone Before.
President Brainerd's baccalaureate SER
mon, delivered on Sunday morning, July
|, at the Congregational church, was on
the subject of "Our Indebtedness to the
Past" He selected for his text John
iv :3S. "Other men labored and We are
)entered into their labors." He said in
part:
The more we know of human life, the
more intimate appears the dependence of
man upon his fellows. Man is by nature
the most gregarious of all animals. The
adult may isolate himself from his kind,
but the hermit is an abnormal creature,
often a relapse to the plane of the beast.
Man can attain to the realization of his
proper selfhood only when he comes into
intimate connection with his fello wmen.
Great achievements ia art or science or
business are possible only when men
work together with a common purpose.
With even more propricty than the
sage of old we may say to-day that as
men we are concerned with whatever
affects the interests Of men the round
world over. Self-protection requires this.
The horrors of the plague are felt in the
distant cities of India, but in another
season through the myriad ships that
cross the ocean, the disease is at
our own doors. But more than self
interest, more even than the needs of
trade. a growing human sympathy in
bringing all members of the human race
together. We hear the cries of the
hungry and the oppressed even in the
remotest parts of the globe; we burn
VIII nun natloh DIT tie CluIIuy u tIc >
rant we are eaSeI W es,aolsn lHc Il
slltutionso vi sclSHcv anu euuoatlon aiionS
less enngn'eneu latsons We are Healous
10 senu the gospel TnIls'i"T peace anu
saltatlom in.o Stea9 @nI on,oinn " in+o
seM.ai uiily 80 u lHoe - So"IHS LILY
iullet recognition hNery man Is learn
NY W lecl tlS heeus VI iIs iGlioN- NM
anu we are advancing ~ d luiieI le"lI""-
tlon ol a INVERSE otieIiloou
but tlls dependence OF ,nah upon man
may oe VleWeu nIstoilcaHy as wei as
geographlcaily' MOI Only tle agSreSate
Oh human oelhgs nov HNlhS on the eaItu
are oouHu tosethel ny tie cIosCsl JUN ~
uhutua' ihteres,, put We are Glso ooun'
WIN equaIly cIose pohus 10 'ue enr,a
tI"is VI iilgn w. nay ftToeCCw - cl ii"
l. lle spccIt' 'IouSnt VI Iiic 'cAO' ms
recognizes 'ne ,act tnat I"g UPPo'leuIsy
I'll ltg uoul II uuc ~ me ,auoIs VI Wy
prophets anu SAINTS WHO iia" Preccueu
NleIl, iHcS Hau .u"H uHo e'Vu' nv
apostles were pINIteEeu W reap .ne
IIPencu '"INeHl u .n"' soNiuS, o,itl
men !anoIeu' anu We are eH'eIec 'h'o
tHelr Iapois' go. "
1t Is enilneHIlI nltIg ou 'nlS cca>loti
tuht we snoulu cousluer our IuuepIeuntS
10 the past me euucaleu your! VI 10
D uAA 70 llIll lIlO III MOIlNs tllIIN lllS Il
hlgler degree OF privilege thah ever zen
10 the lot OF 'helr Predecessors DorA ol
worthy ancestry III as AR d ANU a. ,le
sun SHINES upon, surely tieN can saH
WIN llc Psaiilllst. III me- are iairrl
unto me III piea9ait pIaceS' yea ! nave
a goodly heritage
would speah Hret ~ the pIessluSs
.hat Eolne ~ us lloin II Pc Tp
the chaiIeIs Oh nalurai neIeullI' l"to-
.og!ahs nave hau Ilucli W say VI oui III
herltahce OF native uePraVItN' ENtIH
n1ah i inueeu porh WIN anlnaI uaa'9,
ana abrams 10 proper mahlloou ohly al.er
Il truggle WIN SeIh>h anu sehsuhi IN
stlntts acIu'Ieu no, onlS ny Au"'n AN
but by the hisdeeds OF centuries OF saw
age ancestry. But II the houerh lhuuc-
lohs OF hereuiIy Prov anyt"'hR theN
prove that goou TRAITS OF lhihu Ut ieart
are transmitted 10 oHsprlug as truly ~
oaa traits
ask you 10 notlce secohulY our III
d~eotedness 10 tne past Tor our present
treasures Oh wlsdoin ana knoWleugt' ne
important truths OF science when are
now so pam that tne sclooI o cannot
ran 10 understahu tleln' were at nrSt oGt
slowly ana palhluliN apprenenucu IL
o o Two thousand years TO ma OUT WIN
certainty whether the suh moved uaily
around the earth or the earth reVolVed
daily ABOUT It's AXIS Nhen ine present
; century opened almost nothlhg was
known OF the laws ana possiole uses OF
electriclty' Nheh, however. through
some happy acclaeht, or some insight OF
genus the problem Is solVed, ana the
secrets or nature are discovered All men
share In the knowledge ana transmit II
down to future generations; History
Is replete with the wrecks OF toollsh en-,
terprises, with the failures or unsound