The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-06-08
FAREWELL SERMON
'Baccalaureate Preached by Rev. w.
e. J. dratz, Former Pastor
of Methodist Church.
Let no rlan Desplse thy Youth,
for in it Much Good may
be Accomplished.

The Methodist church was filed last
Sunday by those who went to hear the
words of advice given to the 1905
class of the Princeton high school in
the baccalaureate sermon by Rev. W.
E. j. Gratz, and they heard sermon
full of good thoughts and encourag-
: ing words. The high school choir was
present and the singing was excellent.
The sermon was lengthy and the
Union does not print it in full, but
makes many extracts which are given
in the speakers own words. The sub
ject was, "Paul's Advice to a Young
Man." The text was First Timothy,
fourth chapter, twelfth to sixteenth
verses, "Let no man despise thy
youth: but be thou an example of the
believer, in word, in conversation, in
charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Till come, give attendance to read
ing, to exhortation, to doctrine. "
The speaker said:
eff what self made merchant has
to say to his son, or the old soldier
has to say to the young recruit, or the
teacher has to say to his scholar is of
value then the words of this letter
from the wise old soldier of the cross
to the young beginner are of great
value and deserve our earnest consid-
Grafton. They have been of value in
the past and will serve us we'll on this
occasion. Herein we have personal
advice to Timothy, in. spite of his
youth, to be model of Christian
character and to throw his whole
heart into his work. From which I
take occasion to say.
I. ''See to it that you estimate truly
the dignity and meaning of your early
life. Let no man despise thy youth, ,
for it is life's most strategic period.
The poet says, In youth we carry the
world like Atlas; in maturity we
stoop and bend beneath it; in age it
brushes us to the ground Into the
Mississippi there flow four great
streams, the Minnesota, the Ohio, the
Kansas and the Missouri, making it
the grandest and greatest of rivers so
that it we'll deserves the name, the
Father of Waters So the four
great gifts: health, hope, ambition
and enthusiasm, unite in one majestic
current to sweep the enterprises of
the young on to fame and fortune.
This has been called the young man S
age, but every age has been the young
mans age. At seventeen Hamilton
electrified a Boston throng by his
maiden speech on the Port Bill, and
was one Of the strongest statesmen in
America when he was twenty-six.
William Pitt was prime minister of
England, and one Of the foremost men
OF the realm when he was twenty-five.
Let no man despise thy youth is
written on every page of history.
This is the time when you are laying
the foundations of your character
that shall determine whether your life
shall be erect and splendid or like the
leaning Tower Of Pisa, warped and
one-sided. But more than this I
would impress upon you the fact that
you are living now. There is no
magic mantle that will fall upon YOU
some day to indicate that now you be-
gin to live. Let no man despise thy
YOUTH
II. ''This brings me to the apostles
second exhortatiOn. Be a model of
Christian character. BE thou an
example to them that believe, in word,
in manner of life, in love, in faith. in
purity The young man is told to be
an example in all things that are
good and true. Wordsworth in his
Iintimations of Immortality says
Heaven lies about US in our infancy,
Shades OF the prison house begins to close,
Upon the growing boy:
But he holds the light and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy.
The youth who daily farther from the East
Must travel, still is Natures priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended: -.
AT length the man perceives it die away,
AND fade into the light of common day.
$50 while by the vision splendid,
you are still on your way attended, be
natures, nay, be Gods priests of pur-
ity and honesty. You can be an ex-
ample in word for the poison of pro-
family has not yet corrupted or weak
ened your speech. You may be an
example in charity, for the CONNER
cial spirit has not yet gotten such
grip on you that you can see nothing
beyond it. Place dollar before each
eye and it obscures every other inter-
est, but the getting Of gold. God pity
the man for whom the dollar has
grown so large that he cannot get
around it, or over it, or under it, into
the Kingdom of God.