The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-19
bACCALAUREATE SERMONS FOR
MARION INSTITUTE AND FE-
MALE SEMINARY PREACHED
AT MARION - LARGE AUDI
ENCES IN ATTENDANCE

Marion, May 1s.--t Special THE bac-
calaureate sermons for Marion institute
ana the Marion Female seminary were
oeilVered this morning and evening.
similar to all commencement Sundays
at Marion the town was we'll flied with
people from the county and nearby VIII
| iages, who were attracted largely by
the local patronage given to these two
schools. The day was ideal and the
capacity of the churches was taxed to
accommodate those who wished to hear
| the sermons
The institute sermon was delivered by
the Rev. Raimundo De OWES of Green's
ooro at Sloan Baptist church at IL
O'Clock. He used as a text Proverbs.
2o;2o, The glory of young men is their
strength" DIR. De OWES said in part:
rev college men would care to dis
pute that statement of the wise king"
and every man who has taught young
manhood knows how sure road to
popularity, both for the boy and for
his alma mater lies in physical prowess.
Ii were stockholder in boys
school and had any solicitude about
dividends had rather see Latin and
| creek banished from the curriculum
than baseball or football from the cam
pus. For a boys school without ath-
letics would soon cease to be a boys
| school
| Nor does the man renounce the ideal
OF the boy, for there Is never an age
| when the male human being forgets the
crowning virtue of manhood, which is
strength,
Has Many Meanings
but strength has come to have
many meanings with the DEVELOPMENT
OF the race as it does with the indI-
Viaual man during his lifetime. When
we were children the strong man was
any man bigger than ourselves. AS we
grew Older we recognized the part thai
'"usoie mas 10 play in mans physical
strength, and we doubled up our own
arms and longed to feel the bunchine
plceps To be personal for a momant
l snail never forget the Swede. hired
man. VINO won my boyish admiration
ana almost my worship because he could
lang ihoennltely by his strong, white
teeth' and double his arm and displav
muscle somewhat larger than a lea ete
| baseballl "e oe
| Al later period We begin to see
'hat there is another element in
strength, which is even more imnor-
edhl thah fofce or muscular power Nv
experience We learn that the battle is
no. Always to the big, for We have seen
iit.ie Fellows conquer great. hulkinp
aeioWs by that subtle thing. skill
rms Is particularly true in boxing and
we all Know that 1t makes little differ
| ehce whether man be five feet five m.
SIX rect two, so long as he can mitch
the right kind Of ball
sun later, we recognize the value of
Judgment strategy or whatever we care
| 10 call that quality that plans ahead.
| reckons the cost and prepares to make
payment, and snatches victory from SEEM
| ing defeat The captain of the team is a
| very necessary asset, for even skill must
be directed.
| And finally, we pay homage to the
| quality called character, withouk which no
victory can possibly become permanent.
Character serves.
| The history of the race shows the same
modification of the conception of
strength. This is clearly seen when we
study the legends, ballads and epics of a
nation. The chief of a clan or tribe was
the man physically strongest Saul stood
head taller than his fellows and the
people cried out enthusias astically, Long
live the kingi' And even the gods of
the nation were. after ALL their first he
| roes their men of valor and might.
And just as the boy delights in reading
stories of knights or pirates, indiscrimi-
nately, so did the primitive men glory in
their courageous forebears, and their
hero might be a Bayard of a robber
baron, but he must not be weakling.
Youth is like prospeetor, viewing from
far the mountains of promise. Out of
| ~ - E. -
golden SUBMITS that hold the treasure of
youths hope and ambition. But there
must be the journey to the base, the
weary climb upward and when the top is
attained the toll with pick and spade and
the separating of the dross from the gold
before one can count success. few sue
ceed, many falter along the way and find
no strength for labor when the goal is
reached; many more give up at the very
base; but all see the prize more or less
clearly. and the victory is for all who
can be strong.
And schooling has always impressed me
as the road to the base of the rich
mountains 1t is not the end of the jour-
ney. but the beginning. A school a man
learns not things, but how to think and
marshal the forces of the mind; and
every school. even the college or univer-
sity, is merely prep" school leading to
is scarcely possible to overestimate the
value of scholastic training; but it is a
fatal error to look upon anything as be-
ing finished with the tying up of a
diploma in silk ribbon! And when the
graduate from the school enters the lists
of life ne will need the selfsame great
virtue of a man-strength-that was de-
manded of him as a schoolboy.
But no man can he truly strong With
out a deep conviction. This day has no
room for the theorizer who cannot make
his theories fact. All young men dream
di cams: and possibly no mans dream is
unworthy; but the world waits the man
who believes in his dream Ihat hellef
which gives results is convction-faith!
So must youth offer its sacrifice OF high
and beautiful ideals upon the crude alter
of YOUTHS sincerity. And when fgnor-
ance and selfishness and sin pour the
cold water of criticism or envy or OPP
position upon the offering unto the Lord,
bid them do it again. and yet again. Be
strong Stand straight and wour faith will
call down the Tightening of Gods vindi-
cation and the fire OF a noble purpose
will lick up the water of scorn; and the
scoffers shall see with your eyes of
faith. and bow down with the worship
that fills your breasts, and cry aloud
the truth that you have made yours:
"The Lord. He is the God; the Lord,
He is the God.'
The glory of young men Is their
strength
DIR. Planke's Sermon
The sermon for the seminary was de-
livered by the Rev. D. H. Planke, D. D.,