The Dickinson press., 1911-06-03
Baccalaureate Sermon is Held in
High School Auditorium. All
Churches Unite. Special
Music and Address.

Z. l.. WATKINS anu NeV. "A. ~. E1dChc,
all other church services being give up
for this union one.
The service opened with a piano
selection by Miss Elizabeth Wilson.
followed by prayer by Rev. J. ST.
Brayfield of the Episcopal church. A
mixed quartet. composed of Mrs.
Duncan Christensen, Mrs. J. L. Hughes,
J. v. Jessen and j. W. Reed. rendered
''Sanctus. their voices blending per-
fectly. Miss Elizabeth Mum then
sang the sweet ''Lile's Lullaby"
Rev. F. L. Watkins of the Methodist
church read selection from the Psalms
and was followed by pleasing song
by Mrs. Hughes. He Knows the
Way
Father Dignam preiaced his address
by congratulating the graduates upon
attaining the goal of their ambition
and being about to receive the seal of
their scholarship, the stamp of credit.
Father Dignam held the closest at
tention of his audience and many be-
sides the graduating class found in
his fine address the rule of their future
conduct He said in part:
This is an important occasion in
your lives. Hitherto you have depended
upon your parents and guardians in the
home and your teachers in the schools
for guidance as to your line Of conduct
and for advice in matters of choice.
Now you are entering wider field. The
world beckons you, calls you, to come
and enjoy its pleasures, and it is fitting
that you take with you d few words Of
advice.
with graduation, school acquaintances
and friendships are often severed.
Some 60 to college, some enter the pur-
suits of life and the old ties are broken.
new acquaintances are formed and new
companions replace the old.
1T is natural to initiate. We become
good and virtuous if we initiate that
which is good and we lose moral ground
when we copy that which is evil and
pernicious. We copy most that with
which we are most intimately associated
and few influences in our earlier years
are more potent than our friendships.
How necessary then, that we choose our
friends for their true worth and because
their influence will help us to raise the
moral standard of our own characters.
In youth we are like potter's clay
yielding easily to the moulding of a
master hand. But youth is equally
susceptible to evil. One cannot touch
pitch without being defled and the evil
gradually becomes fixed habit. The
thief. the convict and those who have
fallen by the way are the victims of bad
companions.
lone must study carefully what COM
panions to avoid and whom to choose as
allies. Shakespeare says:
The friends thou hast and their adop-
tion tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hooks OF
steel.
But do not dull thy palm
With entertainment of each, new
Matched unf1ede'd comrade.
''Self control is an essential to all
who would succeed in life. Man is
Gods greatest creation. endowed with
intellect, memory and will; but without
power to control them, with passions
uncurbed. these gifts bring only unhap-
piness and ruin and crimes deface one s
fair fame. Self control and self disci-
pline must become habit if one is to
gain self respect and become master Of
himself, assured that whatever happens
he has complete control of all his facul-
ties. Self control is learned first in the
home and then in the school by persua-
sion and argument but in the world by
the hard master. experience.
"A good name is to be sought. 8
name made valuable by ones own acts.
1t is the exponent Of a good life, of good
deeds. high thoughts and strict integ.
rity. It is not an inheritance but each
one must earn it for himself. Names
most fragrant and men most honored are
those whose lives are not all spent fol
self but devoted to rescuing and helping
others. We have notable examples and
must follow them as best we can.
Again quoting from Shakespeare:
Good name in man or woman,
Is the immediate jewel of their soul.
.sIn onnc1us; on Chnnae gvOnr M cnm,
panions we'll remember what self
lSs44S s y ~