The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-03
COMMENCEMENT AT
 AUBURN BEGINS Rev. Edgar Young Mullins
 Breaches Sermon ON MANS DOMINION" Louisville Divine Tells Young Grad uates What Makes Greatness.
 Exercises Will Be in Full
 Swing Today
ON MANS DOMINION"


 are mountains made for but for men to climb? What are oceans made for but for men to cross? Within man are the clements of greatness which should give him dominion over the universe" This was the essence of the inspiring sermon preached by the Rev. Edgar Young Mullins of Louisville, Ky, at the opening of the fortieth commence ment of the Alabama Polytechnic insti- ute today Commencement, already under way in spirit, with three days of preliminary functions, found it's of- ficial opening In the service in Lang don hall today.
 Rev. Es Y. Mullins. the preacher of the commencement sermon, is president of the Southern Baptist Theological seminary of Louisville, Ky. According to custom he delivered before the Au- burn Young Mems Christian association the annual address tonight.
 "Man's Dominion
 Mans Dominion or The Kingdom That Is Promised to Us" was, the sub- ject of the sermon this morning. The text was taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter II. verse 8: Thou hast put all things in subjection un- der His feet"
 ''The psa1mist was surprised at the vastness of the universe and the littIe- ness of man." began the preacher. And it is true that man Is the smallest thing in the universe, considered as mere matter. But life is greater than bigness; intelligence is greater than life; power is greater than intelligence. Man is great; he is worthy of dominion over all things"
 Some of the intimations of greatness in the human spirit, according to Dr. Mullins, are a dauntless spirit, the quality of imaginative fancy. and mans irrepressible love of experiment.
 Man has a dauntless, fearless spirit" he said. Mystery, danger and power have threatened him forever Man has solved the one. confronted the other, and dared the third Man has sought the north pole and the south pole. For what reason? Merely in the exuberance of his dauntless spirit in the face of obstacles. What are mountains made for but for men to climb? What are oceans made for but for men to cross?
 "The quality of imaginative fancy is another, intimation of greatness This is not the poetic or dreamy fancy, necessarily but 1t is that power which makes him conceive things, and then construct them.
 Mans irrepressible love for experi- ment is another element of greatness. What distinguishes man from the lower animals? Not speech, not sense of humor, not reason, necessarily, But it is conscious growth, and the love of ex- pertinent Man is never content with what he has done, nor with what he has. The eagle has better sight than man, but the eagle Is content with its possession. Man goes farther, and sup plements his sight with telescopes and microscopes. The deer surpasses man in the power of hearing. but man sup plements his power The animals are satisfied man never is."
 Here Dr. Mullins reached a height of his vision of mankind and mans power.
 This planet Is nothing more than craig out In Gods great universe" he said We are the little eaglets rest ing in our nests. God is the great fos- ternig eagle who hovers protectingly over us. tempting us to try our wings in flight into the realm of greatness and infinity.
 These are the intimations of mans dominion. We have not dominion over all things. And why? Because we have failed to master the lower nature of ourselves. We have failed to master ;. our baser animal natures. Man, after all, is an animal; 1t is his duty to be good animal.
 But man, beiag an animal, has something above animal nature, in his soul The soul Is that which naturally rises above the weakness of the flesh, and which makes for greatness. The soul is a rare jewel; the mind is gold en casket which holds 1t; the body is a larger silver casket enveloping all. The cases are made for the jewel. not the jewel for the cases. And when a mans body or mind detracts from the purity of his soul then it Is that we see in operation the foolish task of marring the jewel that 1t may fit the casket
 Failures are. first of all. men whose body runs away with them. They are men who want to dispense with ethics and morality and religion The man without these is doomed.
 Another man who falls short is the man who says he is indifferent to the problem of death. The man who is not affected by the thought of death Is ab- normal: the man who is insensible to thought of the beyond lacks something of the essential of divinity
 That life is best whose possessor has the attributes of a kingly man. The kingiy man is not the shirker, not the selfish sman, not the weakling. Do- minion and power lies in character. The man who permits Christ and His spirit to enter his life and to dominate it Is the kingly man, the man of power and of dominion"
 On the stage with pr. Mullins were