Middletown transcript., 1922-06-10
COMMENCEMENT DAY ADDRESS

Inc Hon, Fletcher W. Sites, of
rhlladelphia, gave the address at the
Mlddletown High School Commence
ihent exercises, held Friday evening,
June "a, at the Club House. His wise
ana most Interesting words to the
graduating class were equally enter
tanning to the large audience present.
his address was considered one of the
most eloquent and pleasing ever deliv-
cred here on such an occasion.
lhe speaker first referred to the
friendships made in our school days as
being not only delightful but of great
usefulness in moulding character. Such
friendships should be priced above
runies because of their lasting effects
ana sacred memories. Mr.. Sites
quoted the words of Thomas Jefferson
gwen in the closing hours of his life
lor his epitaph. He said, write
thomas Jefferson the author of the
Declaration of Independence, Senator
from Virginia and the founder of the
University of Virginia. He made no
reference to his twice occupancy of the
Presidency of the nation. His educa-
tlonal achievements evidently stood
higher in his estimation.
Our next aim should be that we
should become masters of self, con-
trolling our wills, conquering any evil
Inclination, maintaining self-respect
and becoming captains of our souls.
lie mentioned Abraham Lincoln as one
VINO was true to the training in his
Christian home and to his early convic-
tons.
Our great gain is not what we get
out OF life but what we put into it; SER
vice saves. Living for others being the
best Way to live for self. The outgo is
better than the income. An instance
of heroism was given of young man
in the navy. After a great battle,
with one arm shot off at the shoulder
and piece of shell in his hip, as one
OF the officers came up the hatchway
to the deck, the wounded boy with his
one arm raised in salute, exclaimed, -
ANY orders, Lieutenant ?' and fell
dead. He was thinking of victory, not
of self.
The world will remember longer and
more gloriously Edith Cavell than the
Kaiser who ordered her execution. One
was true and the other false to human
ity. Miss Cavell's last moments were
occupied in repeating,
abide with me ! Fast falls the even
tide,
Lord, with me abide "
When we use the word evolution, we
mean God; when we speak of the plen-
titul harvest or the beauty of autumn,
we mean God. When ships are coming
in on the tides, we mean God is moving
the ocean our way. We should not
make God out of money, politics or
the wonders of nature, but look upward
from His works to Himself. If we
should ask Roosevelt or Bryan where
they acquired their ideas of liberty,
justice and equality between man and i.
man, they would refer to Lincoln,
Jefferson and Washington. If we
could ask Washington that question, he
would refer to Miles Standish and the
Pilgrim Fathers, and they would refer
to Cromwell, Luther and Savonarola,
and these noble men would take you
back to Calvary, to Paul and the Apos-
ties. These all died for their fellow
men. They were like the drummer boy
who, when asked to play retreat, re-
piled, Il have never learned to beat a
retreat, | can only play a charge"
Seventeen years ago, Henry Ford and
his wife had not money enough to buy
their Thanksgiving dinner in Detroit;
only little while ago, they paid to our
government an income tax of seventy
six million dollars. Therefore, let
faithfulness and devotion
to duty be our purpose in life, that we
may listen gladly to the words, "Inas-
much as you have done it unto one of
the least of these, ye did it unto Me-