Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-06-01
BACCALAUREATE
Sermon Delivered By Rev John N. Lewis Yesterday HorDiDg.

The baccalaureate sermon for the graduating class of St Margarets school was delivered at St Johns church yesterday morning by the Rev John N. Lewis, Jr, rector of the church. The twenty-five graduates were accompanied by the undergrad- uates who number about forty. All wore white gowns and had the school flower, the marguerite daisy. The graduates alsO wore their class flow | CT, the violet.
 ! The text was: ''I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world but that Thou shouldst keep them from evil"
 MT Lewis spoke in part as follows: | Guided by the great Savior of all the universe, we take His divine words upon our lips and pray for you, as He prayed for His disicples.-not that you should be taken out of the world, but that you should be kept from the evil which is in the world. There is evil in the world. Out there in the busy world, where you are go- ing, there are battles which must be fought, ere victories can be won. There are thorns which will prick you as you pursue your way through life. There are undercurrents and eddies (which will cast your barks upon the rocks if you have no firm hold upon the tiller. Tt is no life of ease and careless indulgence which calls you this day as you have come up to one of these great hilltops of life. There, stretch- ing out before you, lies the land oi promise. If you are true to yourself, l If you are true to the blessed herit- age which is yours, you must, if you are brave, go forward.
 Your career in life will not be made up of experience of mere pleas ure There are some parts of the jour- ney where the road will be hard end painful. The evil from which we pray that you shall be kept does not mean that you may be shielded from strug- gle, but that you may be kept from injury through struggle. We pray that you may be victorious in strug- gle; that you, going forth at the dawn of life, with the warriors spirit, may return in the evening time midst the lengthening shadows, with the laurel wreath upon your brows.
 Girls who have been reared in luxury, with almost no wish un- gratified, have by the force of circum- stances been compelled to earn their own living. After all, things are very uncertain. It is your duty and mine to be ready to go on with life when things drop away from us. Then can We stand on some enduring platform and we need not tremble when the shifting sands crumble away be- meath our feet.
 You are what you are; you have what you have, for a purpose, in or der that you may go into the world and fulfill the great mission of your womanhood, which is to render the service of personal ministration to the world. Do not shrink from the world, but keep yourselves from the evil. To do that We need power. Education, the best kind of education, is just that--power. May what you have gotten here during these years lead you forth strong and courageous into your world.
 Do not go forth into life seeking to be ministered to by the world, but go into your own special sphere of life to serve 1t and to minister to it. Then and only then can we be kept from the evil which is in it.
 There is no more potent factor for good in all the world than a true and pure woman. Her life may not always be as active as mans, hut 1t can always be as true and it ought to be far more inspiring and helpfll.
 ''Monotony is one of the conditions of most lives. It takes great faith and courage to stand true in the face of the daily round, the common tai sks of the ordinary life. One of the grsat evils of the world is the temptation to depend upon the stimulation of ex- citement. May you be kept from that evil. May you realize that often times the most exalted, the most re- warding form of service is to be found doing we'll these things which on the surface appear unimportant, almost insignificant.
 And now. go forth and may Gods richest blessings rest upon you. One important period in your life :s over. The best and the richest is yet to come. Be not afraid. Take that bless ed spirit of life and hope and cour- age with you this morning. Fight life's battles and win them. You can do 1t, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do."
 After the singing of the class hymn, Soldiers. of Christ Arise" William Hall Minor. the organist, rendered Song to the Evening Star" by Wolfram.