Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-14
SAYS EXTRAvAGANCE
LEADS TO FAILURE
REV. A. S. PHELPS breaches
BACCALAUREATE SERMON
Declares Ostrich Feathers and Ice
Cream sodas, Together with Poor
Financial Management Respon-
slble for Reverses

"Men roll up their eyes piousiy to
heaven and say: The Lord has dealt
strangely with us by his providences.'
Nonsense. Providence had nothing TO
do with it. 1t was poor financial man
agement on the one hand and ostrich
feathers and ice cream soda on the
other. You say, Thank God. I'm hold
ing my ownl' So is the cemetery" IS
the way Rev. Arthur S. Phelps in his
baccalaureate address to the gradual
ing class in the chapel at Occidental
college yesterday afternoon in charac-
terizing some of the failures OF man
kind Many of the relatives and
friends of the students were present
and listened attentively to the Words
of the speaker.
"Pitching Your Tent Toward tho
Sunrise" is the topic selected by Rev.
Mr. Phelps. Taking as his text Mum,
ii:S, "Those that encamp toward the
sunrising.' he said: 1.-The sunrise!
What charms are in that word! The
hope of the weak, the refuge Of the in
dolent, the inspiration of every great
soul. Guido Reni's Aurora is fitting
picture of the dawn of new career
the free, bold hand of the driver. the
goddess scattering roses over the earth,
the swift hours.
1--WE are not to look for good luck in
the new day. The man waiting for
something to turn up will find himself
turned down. Nothing is more sad
than a possibility unimproved. do not
mean by death nor by disease; life is
often switched to the main line by the
Jerking and tugging of these repul-
sive forces; but by misused life:
Keats said There is no fiercer hell
than the failure in a great object
And by simple neglect. Darwin illus
trates that wonderful law known as
reversion to type. Fanciers, by skill
full selection, have developed the vari-
Gus kinds of pigeons-fantaifs, pouters,
tumblers, carriers; II they We're 10 Do
neglected they would all revert to the
original type, the bluerock pigeon,
from whence they sprang.
How Failure Happenes
"This law is true of mankind physi-
cally, mentally. financially, spiritually.
Men roll UP their eyes piously to
heaven and say: The Lord has dealt
strangely with us by his providences.'
Nonsense. Providence had nothing to
do with it. 1t was poor financial man
agement on the one hand and ostrich
feathers and ice cream sodas on the
other. You say, Thank God, I'm hold-
ing my own!' So is the cemetery.
Nothing is more inspiring than the
sunrise of a new day. An empty slate
is often discouraging to a man in mid
die life; it is fascinating to the young.
This thought has all the glow of the
ideal. A block of marble will ballast
the farm road for one man; 1t will fur
nish Michel Angelo with the material
for a Moses One man will light a
cigarette with a blank sheet of paper.
another write a Paradise Lost Al
fresh young soul may be made a gall
lery for the choirs of Paradise or a
den for the kissing fiends of the pit
1.-The prospects of the new day rouse
the lion in a man. The mountain
height fills the enthusiastic climber
with a holy joy. The young man with
Excelsior on his banner presses his
way through the night, never needing
the pelting ice and the wintry blast,
turning not aside for the siren voices
that call to him to stay; on, on, up the
sleeps through the darkness, till he
plants his banner amid the eternal ice
and snow of the mountain top.
what is impossible to the sunset
may be made possible to the sunrise.
1t is your privilege to change prophecy
into history, TO change your enemies
into friends and hew victory out of
defeat l like the sign in the waiting
room at a local railway station: This
room is for the use of the travelling
public only; habitual loafing therein is
prohibited The classroom. the church,
the world itself, is a waiting room,
and of use only to those who are go-
ing somewhere"