The Washington herald., 1915-07-18
Recalls Phillips Brooks.

neCdsis GhIiiips 'oohs.
1t is your deepest need and mine
today There is not a person in this
chapel this afternoon who is not sur
prised to find himself here. who finds
it possible to realize that twenty-five
years have passed since that soft sum-
mer afternoon when we met together
here to listen to our baCCalaureate
sermon preached by Phillips Brooks,
who summoned us to apply our human
energy to its highest tasks, character
and service. Then we went forth.
as he said we would. in the bright
morning of our life in every direc-
ton. East. West. North. South, until
we meet again in the place where we
parted. each to tell over to himself
the story of the years and to lay
their lesson to heart before we go for
ward again in the quest of that goal
which we have not yet reached but
to which we all aspire.
What is now the equipment which.
at this stage in our life. we most
want? What is the virtue which is
indspensab BILE If We are to obtain that
incorruptible crown which is the end
and reward of every true life? 1t is
precisely the gift Of faith in the sense
that have defined it. The years have
brought us experience. wisdom and
knowledge of the world. of men, of
ourselves, which, when we began our
lives, we did not possess. The ques-
ton is. have they robbed us of our
enthusiasms. our confidence. our ever
lasting faith in God and man and
ourselves? They have given US con-
troll and caution and prudence that
spring from a wide acquaintance with
those forces that make up the world
in which we live: but have they robbed
us of our confident expectations. of
what we are able to be and to have
and to do? If, to the added knowl-
edge and skill and discipline that the
years have brought, We can preserve
an untarnished faith, unclouded
outlook. an undimmed desire and eN-
pectation for ourselves and for the
world in which we live. What is
there which We cannot do? If just
where we find ourselves today. we
can preserve the romantic temper. the
faith in moral adventure. thea conf
dence in what real and live persons
can do playing upon the apparently
inexorable and fixed forces of the uni
verse, then there can be no danger
that we shall fail in our quest or fall
short of the glory OF God.
But just there is where the danger
lies: that what is not only the glory
of our youth but the glory of any
lie, always ana any WHtIt- Will St-
part from us; that we shall lose our
hold upon the one key that can I'M
lock for us not only the gates of
Heaven but the gates of life. that we
shall cease to have any great ana
glowing expectations. that we shall
feel that this world is not the place
of romance that we dreamed; that
we shall become. if not actually cynr-
cal, at least without buoyancy, with
out what We may call moral elan or
confidence. We live in an age when
enthusiasm is at a discount and when
emotion is discarded in the interests
Of poise and control The one thing
to be guarded against. we are told. is
that we shall ever let ourselves go
or let our feelings get the better OF
us The romanticist and the poet that
Turk at the bottom of every mans
soul are suppressed in the interests
of the logician and the calculator.
There is a common philosophy. I have
read, with which all of US are more
or less familiar which. under the dis
guise Of prudence. or. as it likes to
be known and spoken of, common
sense, tends to discard idealism of any
kind and to look down in serene con-
tempt upon the less cultured enthusi-
asm of well-meaning but inexperi-
enced men; which critically challenges
every generous impulse and chival-
rous experiment: which sometimes
recognizes the beauty of high aims
but always questions the possibility
of realizing them. 1t sees the long
line Of apparent failures. infelicities.
disappointments and rather prides it
self upon that larger outlook ana
broader wisdom which keeps one from
upon seemingly impossible
enterprises"
Terms II "Fata: Mistake.'
As a matter Of fact. the man who
believes like that, talks like that. lives
like that. is not wise, but has made
the supreme and fatal mistake of his |