Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-06-24
commencement
WEEK BEGINS At
MIDDLE RY
resident John NJ. Thomas De.
livers Baccalaureatc Sermon
to Observation-Disclosures
of the Week.

fiddlebury June Commencement
elk began Saturday morning with the
| game with the University of Vermont
Porter Athletic Field. The campus
brilliantly lighted Saturday evening
h hundreds of incandescent lights and
he thus lighted every evening during
Enhancement week.
Despite the fact that rain prevented the
sentation of Twelfth Night by the
h Greet players on the campus Satur-
afternoon large audience enjoyed
play in the Mccullough gymnasium.
the evening another large audience at
ded "A Midsummer Nights Dream.
his morning the baccalaureate service
5 held in the CONGREGATIONAL Church.
sident John NJ. Thomas preaching the
mon Music was by a chorus Of col
students led by Professor Cunning
h. The evening was given up to the
iversarY of the Christian associations.
Charles l.. Leonard, principal Of the
y Conference Academy, made the ad-
SIS.
resident Thomas, in his baccalaureate
mon to-day. said:
EXCEPTIONAL MANHOOD.
And when his friends heard IT, they
bit out to lay hold on him: for they
He Is beside himself" Mark 1921.
)ur master is not the only benefactor
has undergone suspicion as to per-
sanity and balance of judgment
~ of the worlds most gifted men
been thought insane, and some Of
n have gone through life without gain
their friends confidence as to their
ect control Of mind.
indeed It has been the common reward
the worlds prophets, the great in
tors and the discoveries, the mighty
ers I'm thought and action, to be sus-
ed as unbalanced, to be called be
themselves by their friends. and
sessed of a devil by their enemies.
ct it is true that the best men must
Exceptional men. The highest noblest
is not ordinary and common. Far.
hg wisdom, deep insight into the in
realities of life, Is n trife rare, and
possessor of 1t lifts himself by his
y position. Insight and the power
iscovery, utter devotion to noble be-
Hence, are not SO frequent but they
rate men from their fellows
Fhen God has open free field in a
S heart. He develops his individual
his idiosyncratic tendencies. so as
AXE him most highly effective in some
work. Development isolates. There
but one soul in all the world for
Re. A bestial man can find a COM
pm to his liking on any street
E your best, be what you ought to
nd may he, be what God wants YOU
e, and you will be thought queer:
lie Will hold you a little aloof and
ime may come when your own broth
will stand without desiring to speak
you.
doubt not but that the call of duty
be young men and women of to-day
call TO get little bit beside them
s. to do something that will make
thought peculiar, and make others
athize with them as victims Of a de
p. God wants exceptional men, ex-
pnal not only in ability but in the
~ Of their ambitions. and In the
herOism Of their ideals. In their
hquerable perseverance toward aims
full. unbelieving world calls impos-
of achievement Every advance the
world has made has come through
who; dared to be unique, almost If
uite fanatic. II was by a man be-
himself that the fishers of Galilee
no nd rtrl,
il was by man beside himself
the religion of the Nazarene chal-
the empire of the Caesars, il was
man beside himself that in the 18th
ry freedom was born for the mod
world; it was by men beside them
that commonwealth founded on
Far of God was planted in the for
pr New England; ii was again hv
beside themselves that a nation con-
in liberty was made free from sea
a. The history Of progress is the
lphy of the fools and fanatics of
contemporaries.
e world of our own day fingers in
me vices, and poverty and hopeless
plight fair portions of the earth. and
Fnallest fraction of elrth's millions
true manhood, cleanness and
Eth of body. clearness and vigor of
and purity and largeness of spirit
pod is the noble and the great
demonstrated it may be-the small
action of our brothers attain it for
f leaders and masters to show them
ay The problems of humanity are
e. Diseases can he conquered and
WAY. Ignorance may be taught the
and any child can learn sufficient
orthy and joyous life. Communities
bot abide in soddenness and iniquty.
forests of Africa, in the frozen
beside the Arctic seas men have
who have changed bartarism to
ian civilization in generation
nth that sets free has been spoken
lethod that solves every last prob
# humanity has been discovered !
FoVernment and law that insure a
state have been specified and
principles made clear. The labora-
Tor the conquest of every secret of
ana the mastery Of all her forces
tilt and equipped and the methods |
earch for the discovery Of the last
of the earth are in use every day. |
we need is the men, the eXceDtion- |
to work out the problems with The !
nents and by the methods by which |
roblems Of the past have been |
Give us the men to exempllfy |
erh ting truth, and the truth will |
humanity free, The world has but |
oblem, the finding Of sufficient men |
PIE heart and Of the mind and spirit |
sters.
the mission of our Vermont coll |
send out into the communities Of |
ate men and women qualified for |
imbued with the passion Of lead
and the spirit Of mastery. who |
70 he besida themselves in their |
n the possibilities Of opportunity |
fogress in our commonwealth, and |
+ devotion to the particular tasks |
hay undertake for the public well