Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-06-25

c4nce. It is purple glass that is some-
times put in our political platforms. We
have had enough of this: we need plate
glass political platforms.
II also think of an observatory that I
have seen. ] was as much interested in
the observatory as in the stars. 1t had
slit which was opened to the sky, and
the scientist would set his telescope upon
the planet which he wished and the ma
chinery with it's ball bearings would keep
pace with the movements Of the worlds.
Some people have Sits in their minds
through which they look out at the
world; and they have not the ball bear
ings. They will admit scientific truth but
not religious truth They will admit re-
publican truth, which takes two Sits
nowadays; or they will admit democratic
truth, whatever that is.
at is the function of the modern
scholar to get all the truth that God
has to give as a reward for service, and
from all portions of heaven. No truth
can harm; all truth must help. The
function of the scholar Is to do his think
ing in a straight way, without passion.
malice, or coWardice. Nations depend
upon their scholars to think straight.
THE second part of scholar is to be
a human being, with a downright love
Of humanity, not simply a lover of truth.
a philosopher, but a lover of man,
phanthropist. In the past these two
have been separated. Now We have come
to the day when there is no chasm. when
the scholar loves the truth for what it
will do to mankind We have come to
! that fine hour when the scholar is ex-
| pected not only to push back the boun-
! daries of the unknown, but to push back
! the boundaries of the uncomfortable.
: - fair graduate came ont from her
commencement exercises. holding her die
ploma in her lily-white hand. She said
referring to the address: 4 hate all this
| talk about the masses I hate it too,
| because 1t assumes that the man with
a diploma is a different man from the
man in the ditch The scholar shows
! that they are the ame. The street of
the city runs straight through the cam
| pus. The modern scholar, if he be true.
comes fresh from his studies and goes
down to help the outcast, that there
may be no outcasts any longer but all
may he brothers
world selfshness, you are not needed.
We have selhshness enough. You are
| trained for service, not for patronizing
| service, but for loving service, which will
make the world better. This sounds,
common, but this sort of service is so un-
common
The third mark Of a scholar is that
his motives should he right. What you
are speaks more loudly than what you
say. Your motives must be pure. Very
few motives are black or white most OF
them are gray. I ASSUME the purity of
Your motives. but I am concerned with
the size of your motives It takes a tre-
| mendous motive to carry a life In a COM
| manding position President Tucker
once said to me: Next to the tragedy v
Of sin is the tragedy of early loss of
power in mems lives I am concerned
about YOU to-day hut I am more con-
ccrned about what you are going to be
% years from now, when your early en-
thusiasm has burned out. Too many
men have lost the spring of life and are
going about simply wearing out their
shoes, to use Emerson's words again.
1t takes a motive big enough to move in
In order to float the simple business of
doing good and being good. IT takes a
lot of water to float a navy. 1t takes a
great motive to float a life.
my fourth and final point: A schola r
must have a firm and unshaken faith in
the God Of righteousness, of truth of
kindness and of love 7 know it is the
tendency on such days as this to preach
a little. Perhaps preaching is not de-
eli at }, 7 1, .
faith that Gods in his heaven Is neces-
cary every moment We shall pass
through the times when many will doubt
as many have doubted. The end of all
criticism is to put the human life into
an attitude of assurance not of skepti-
cism Thomas Arnold was said to have
arisen every morning feeling that every
thing was an open question. There is the
attitude that faith Is believing what you
know is not true. 1t is represented as a
blind-foded figure, In a college window
stepping out into the world. All this IS
travesty Of faith Faith is the most
open-eyed thing in the universe. 1t con-
, sists In trusting, In obeying. in follow
M In giving your life to the thousand
things that life has proved true 1t lies
IN opening one's eyes and following the
great white Captain.
! Know that the times are stormy
lhey VIII be more stormy before they arr
quiet' But there is sunshine through Il
! all Following out the little poem of tn
,, plrd on the twig, the strength of th'
scholar lies In the faith that he can fS
through any kind of storm
so the essentials of the modern scholar
hre these four things: A clear inind. a
..tseal humanity, Z, .the T1shr rSu6tiYsk Anasy