Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1902-06-23
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE, DID,.
Pastor of jefferson Pa Presby-
terrain Church, Chicago

men and women who in these summer
days are graduating from college are
given by Rev. Frank De Witt Talmage
In this discourse on the text Numbers
vi. "a, 1.-The Lord bless thee"
Last week / received an invitation.
1t came from one of the large colleges
of the east, and it read thus: 1.-THE
president. trustees and faculty of
Princeton university request the pleas
ure Of your company at the exercises
to be held during commencement
week." That was all the wording the
square card had on it, yet those
itwenty-three words had for me an
absorbing interest.
That invitation attracted me be-
cause it was sent by one of my old
Sunday school scholars. AS held the
square card in my hand l seemed to
he standing again in the sacred room
of the dear old Second Presbyterian
church in Pittsburg. | could see this
young man, then a little boy in short
trousers, sitting at the feet of his
teacher. l could hear the sweet young
voices singing the old songs we always
loved to sing. AS l read between the
lines of that invitation | soliloQuized:
''How time does slip away, My Sun
lday school scholar is now q grown
man. Willie's name has been changed
TO William. He is no longer a child.
Graduating from one of the greatest
universities of the world, he is about
10 step forth to the battle of life q
fully equipped recruit. He is about to
take his position by my side in the
ranks. We must hereafter look upon
each other as brothers"
Then as ! still read that invitation
my study room changed again.
seemed to be a thousand miles away
II was walking through the long cor
Tfdors of memory. 1t seemed to me as
though | had gone back to the time
when l myself. gowned and capped,
was marching with the senior class to
participate in the scenes attending my
Own graduation. The classmates who
were then seated by my side have all
scattered. Some are ministers. some
lawyers. some doctors, some electri-
clans. some merchants and some sol
diers. They are living in the north
and the south. the east and the west.
Some are dead. That graduation scene
was a sad time for many of us. Col
lege affections are very strong. We
young men knew that we should never
be to each other the same again.
Then. as l sat in the quietude of my
study with the hopes and anXieties of
my own graduation day passing in re-
view before me. l said to myself, Il
wonder if some of the young people
whom I know and love who are grad
uating from school or college this June
month would not like me to come and
sit by their side and tell them what
the commencement exercises truly
mean in their lives" | wondered as |
sat there holding that invitation in my
hand if could not at this critical time
of their lives say something to inspire
them. to nerve them and to encourage
them not only with faith in themselves,
but also with faith in God, and l
bowed my head over that white invita-
ton and made this simple, earnest
prayer: 20 God. help me to say some
thing that may be helpful to the young
people who are graduating this spring
and about to buckle on the armor of
life. o Christ. may be able to bring
my young friends nearer to thee, so
thou shalt bless them. May this plea
be answered in the noble lives of these
young men and women, which shall be
eonsecrated to thee and thy service
For Jesus sake ask it. Amen"
Word of CongratuIatiOn.
! congratulate the young men and
women who are graduating from the
u different higher institutions this June
because now the financial struggle
which many have undergone for the
sake of an education is practically
over. Here and there q young mar
who receives college diploma may b'
the son of rich father. He may have
had during his scholastic career no am
bition: he may have gone through
school and college merely because hi
rich parents compelled him to go; h
may have spent most of his time il
fdleness and only. worked enough t.
Just slip through the different exam
nations by what is known in colleg
rs 'cramming" with the aid of tutor
But such n young man does not repre-
sent the great mass of college gradu
ates. For most young men and womel
the acquiring of higher education
has been n struggle. an awful finan
gcial struggle. Most of the college grad
yates come from humble homes. an
the education of these young men an
women represents intense sacrifice last
ing through many years not only O
their own part. but also on the part @
their loved ones.
Let US study as an illustration tn
past life of that young man who thi
year is graduating at the head of hi
class at Yale or Harvard or the Un
versity of Michigan or the Universit
of Nebraska. In all probability he wa
born in n farmhouse. The family wa
comparatively poor. In raising enoug