St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-06-20
The BaccaIaurate.


y which 1 shall speak directly, he is boun
I to make himself felt, in his own genera
ton and in those that shall succeed.
s II could have my desire for the yount
J. men and women who are just going ou
n from our schools and colleges, | think tina
=, one OF the first endowments that shoulC
; ask for them would be this of cairvoy
y ance. purposely use this word which
4 we associate with chicanery and quack
cry. Yes, would have you clalrvoyant
clear OF vision to see the difference be.
tween truth and falsehood; to discern
the distinction between the thing that is
only for to day and the things that are
to abide forever. But would interpret
this word "clairvoyant" very broadly.
: l would wish for you the power to hear
clearly as we'll as see clearly. The power
to distinguish amid all the thousand
confusing sounds of this world the voice
that speaks message; the power to dis
Germ the difference between reason and
a mere excuse; between honest speech
and cant phrase, in politics, in religion,
in business, in society.
| would ask this because it is the really
clairvoyant man who finally makes him
self felt. There were thousands of sooth-
savers in Israel in Isaiah's time. They
were getting money out of the public by
toretelling what would come to pass next
week or next year, for their own private
gain. They were peddling what they
called their second-sight to satisfy mems
curiosity about the future. And the pub.
lie came to them. suppose the public
esteemed, or feared, or hated them as the
r11I0ht ha vxynI1a
paid small heed to the oracle of the real
prophet. Yet there Isaiah stood with
his steadfast eyes fixed to be sure
upon the men of his time but
looking through and beyond them into
the future.
There his brave voice spoke out with
its Thus saith the Lord;
Put away the evil of your doings
from before mine eyes; cease to do evil
learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve
the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead
tor the widow. Come now aud let us
reason together saith the Lord though |
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as WOOL"
Those were not the words of sooth-
sayer speaking for tomorrow and its |
petty advantages. They were the words |
OF great prophet, clear-eyed and stout
hearted, speaking for all time And the
sooth-sayers are forgotten, while the
prophet lives.
So the Lord Jesus when He called that
little company OF dozen plain men, dis
cerned their capacity not merely to fish
and to collect taxes-which was all that
1n hat IL
upside down by the truth which they
should preach when once they were pos
sessed bv it.
So some of the plain people of the day
discerned in Christ, one who was worthy
to be Lord and Master, while the general
public saw in Him only the carpenters
son. And those plain people have place
among the worlds leaders to. day, while
the scoffing Jewish public is remembered
only for the perversity of its error and the
completeness Of its humiliation. {
The man who is thus clear-eved does
not claim that he can discern all that his
vision may prompt. What he does see is
usually person or a truth-perhaps a I
truth lncarnate in person. These men {
OF Cad marching to Zlklag could not fore t
see all that would be involved in the adj t
venture upon which they were starting. Il
But they could see that down on the n
Philistine border there was man who a
promised to be every inch king-a man h
who was likely to prove so well worth J
serving that they could afford to ignore a
The detail OF the future and simply trust d
and tie to him. That is still the vision Ii
hat covet for men. 1t is not any such h
a Y1In rNf h. II,
cave no room for faith; for no man can 81
yer be great except by the exercise and il
practice OF faith. 1t is such a vision of p
ZONE great truth embodied in a person b
Is shall make men glad to give them
elves to his service without much cues. I
lon,-w1thout much curiosity even-con- W
ernlng what may be involved. a
And this leads to the second quality er
Which | would have you note in these is
oldiers OF our text. They were not only W
Iear-eyed enough to see king worth fe
CRYING in an outlaw who was vet un. lii
rowned; they were brave enough to W
reak through Jordan in food-time to
ct into his service. They knew better W
han some men would have known what 81
hat meant. Their very clearness of w
ision prevented their Indifference to nc
ordan. But they simply recognized the pc
rossing of Jordan as part of the initia- tn
on INTO the service. | suppose that ra
hey would have been just as brave and tn
'yal to their new king il they could have nj
assed Jordan when it was only sum. mi
Ter rivulet. But fancy that David was GU
ways glad that their courage and de- wi
'rmination had been tested BY the flood. fol
think OF him in some of the great wars la1
his later days when Amalek had burst of
yer the southern border, or the Valley tn,
Rephaim bristed with Phiistine arr
ears; when the battle was Joined and i
issue doubtful; when even brave men bee
avered and meditated possible retreat WI
think of him, say, looking down his the
line of battle to the position as
here the standard of the men of Cad toe
bod like rock against the flood and cor
nemberlng with quiet assurance. the for
Ids of Jordan. "''."9 vol
t is the rule of life that when really mig
ective man is called into large service. wo
is granted a vision of something yor
nth doing, which other men think mu
lie OF; and at the same time he is made can
are OF barriers standing between him pow
q that service which he must burst of t
ough II he is ever to accomplish it, rift
likes to test mems courage. He sire
3 TO test their courage apparently be- fore
Use II is the decision in face of some stol
EQUITY that makes real men of them. v
;tie 'or instance is the young man in attn
IflHS He 81. L NNS~~'