The Republican journal., 1905-06-15
THE BELFAST HIGH SCHOOL.
Sermon to the Graduates. Program of the
Graduation Exercises.

Sermon to the Graduates. Program of the
Graduation Exercises.
The sermon to the graduating class of the
Belfast High school was given at the Con.
gregational church last Sunday by Rev
David L. Wilson. the pastor. The audience
was unusually large and the service i'm
pressive. The music was furnished by the
regular North church choir, with a solo by
Mr.. Hal r. Eaton, principal of the High
school. The floral decorations were effective
combining the class colors, green and gold,
with white. The arch in the rear of the
pulpit was draped with yellow bunting,
caught at the centre sides with large
clusters of lilies, while at the apex was a
large yellow shield, on the upper part OF
which was green triangle with 1905 in
gold and beneath the letters B. H. S. in
green AT the bases of the arch were two
beautiful potted ferns. The pulpit was
draped in yellow bunting, dotted with
green ferns. On the pulpit, tables and
altar were arranged large bouquets of yel-
low tulips, double buttercups and white
lilacs. The sermon was as follows:
THE SPLENDID POSSIBILITIES OF YOUTH.
And it came to pass after three days they
found him in the Temple, sitting in the midst Of
| the teachers, both hearing them, and asking
| them queStlonS.'-Luke 2-46.
! No doubt you are all aware of the event
| in connection with which these words are
recorded. Jesus, mere youth, had gone
up to Jerusalem with his parents to attend
the feast of the passover He failed to start
on the return journey with them, and when
| they were day away from the Holy City,
| his presence was missed in the company
Returning to the city vigorous search was
| instituted, and after three days he was
found in the hottest place in the city, the
| Temple, sitting among the learned men and
drinking in of their wisdom. Jesus may or
| may not have been conscious at that time of
| his great mission to the world, but sitting
| there with the master scholars of the day,
his youthful mind must have caught some
visions of the possibilities before him.
That he was an apt listener there can be no
talking about his Fathers business. To
have an early vision of life's great possibili
ties is rare privilege for any soul But to
have the vision and fail to respond to it is
indeed deadenng to any life. There is no
greater time for seeing visions or dreaming
is always big with possibilities to the youth
full mind. 1t is only in the scar days of old
age that possibilities cease to be IA factor in
life. The aged have had their days of pos
slbllltles and are now reapng the achieve
ment or on-achievement of them. The
progress OF the world must ever rest with
young minds. They who are standing on
the threshold OF young manhood today are
to be the movers OF the world tomorrow.
The possibilities of life are by no means
exhausted The rapidity with which scien-
tlhc revelations have come to us recently
make us realize that we are simply in the
infancy of scientific research. 1t is for the
youth OF the present age to carry it on to
greater ends. The commercial world never
offered such great opportunities of success
as 1t does at the present moment. There
never was greater opportunity for man
to proclaim the religion OF Jesus to the
world. There is mighty ethical move
ment going on in life at present, which
would appear to be but the forerunner of Il
deep religious awakening. All these things
are movements which Will be tranSpiring in
your day. They are simply filled with tre-
mendous possibilities for you. You have
been sitting with the learned men of the past
and OF the present. The finest and nobest
sentiments of life have come to you through
the master minds you have met in litera
ture. IennySon, Browning, Shakespeare,
Longfellow, Holmes, Whittier; all these
have brought to you messages of life's posi-
billtleS If you have listened Alright. Men of
letters have led you through the centuries
OF the worlds history, and out of the past
have come messages for your future life if
you have heard Alright. Your training in
the languages and in mathematics has been
mental stimulus for larger things in the fu-
ture If you have workedaright. Most of you,
presume, are to go on to still larger Sys
tematc mental development. But whether
you continue your student life or orng it to
close in these days, this is true the future
holds forth splendid possibilities to You.
Possibilities is simply another name for
service; they are never found outside the
realm OF service. Obstacles of birth, educa-
tion and fortune were overcome through
Michael 1arradays persistent devotion to
possibilities as he saw them, making him
one of the most distinguished chemists and
natural philosophers of the recent century.
l mig multiply incidents Rob't Give leap
ing from an obscure clerkShlp to the COM
mand OF the British army in Understanding
one of the worlds memorable battles at
PlasSey and laying the foundations for the
mighty empire of British India. Walter
Scott, crippled in infancy by a lameness re-
naming all through life; d poor scholar at
school and university, yet achieving for him
self immortal fame as d novelist and poet
Justus Won Liebig, who was laughed at by
the whole school when he said he would be-
come a chemist, but whose works on chemis-
try have been translated into many Ian
guageS and are among the most valuable
contributions to chemical literature made in
our age. These men saw possibilities early,
and served them. a response to possibilities
self. Every vision of work to be done, left
undOne, is a positive loss to the world and
detriment to the character Of him who sees
and does not To take what We have at our
command and utilize it thoroughly in the
effort to fulfill the vision before us, that is
the demand possibilities make upon us.
That Is what the Preacher meant when he
wrote, "whatSoever thy right hand findeth
to do, do it with thy might No possibili-
ties are fu filed that have not received the
best in u.s. 1t may be that the vision is too
large for the means at our call. We may
fail ; but in the failure We become BETTER
for it is better to have Striven and lost than
not to have striven. But no one was ever
carried to splendid activities in lie who sat
waiting for them to come to him. The
world is full of possibilities for you young
people if you will only look for the visions
and go cut to attempt their fulfillment
Henry Van Dyke, that modern master of
verse, has some sterling words as to the
true man they are these:
s'Four things man must learn tG do,
Ii he would make HIS record true:
To think without confusion clearly;
To love his fellow men sincerely,
To act from honest motives purely,
To trust in God and heaven securely"
The possibilities of life are open in great
est measure to the youth who sees them
through such an exalted standard for him.
self. In such standard is embraced the
preparation for the successful graSping of
is absolutely necessary to the man who
III TO, 1,oi, do