A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY

President Lowell delivered the Baccalaureate Sermon before a large audience of Seniors and their guests in Appleton Chapel yesterday. In part it was as follows:

"My text is taken from the First Book of Samuel, 17th Chapter, 55th Verse: "When Saul saw David go forth against the Phillistines he said to Abner, the Captain of the Army: Abner, whose son is this? And Abner said: As thy soul liveth, O, King, I cannot tell."

"This was a fatal moment in the history of Israel, the nation which was bound to influence more deeply than any other the religious opinion of modern Europe, which was in sore stress, and, in fact, in danger of extinction.

"Until David appeared to go out against Goliath nobody else dared to, and it looked as though their armies would be hopelessly defeated and driven back. Just then there appeared this young shepherd. Now, David had three qualifications for going forth against Goliath. One of them was that he had the heroism to expose himself to what was believed to be absolutely certain death, and, secondly, he had the faith that he would succeed, and the third quality that he had was the good sense, the intelligence, the wisdom, call it what you please,--in short, the imagination to understand that there was no use to oppose a giant by brute force, and that his only chance lay in the use of a missile.

"Without going into the question of predestination we may fairly say that Christianity is ruled entirely by faith. It requires men having authority in the government of the world, so as to make it possible for man to help and not hinder the plan of God. Men can regulate the future of mankind on this plan. But if we do not believe in fatalism imposed on mankind as a whole, we are, nevertheless, in very serious danger of falling into a belief on another kind,--the fatalism which is called the fatalism of the multitude. We are a little too much inclined to think that the individual is carried along by the spirit of his age, and that he has all he can do to go along with that spirit.

"Now, that is not true. Men are not necessarily sheep. Men do not have to behave like sheep. James Russell Lowell in the later years of his life remarked that he had seen many spirits of the age and some of them never came on, and that is unquestionably true. It is very much in the hands of any man, who chooses to do so, to have a very perceptible influence on the spirit of the age in which he lives and on the destiny of the age which is to follow. There has never been any time in the history of the world when the opportunity for the individual man has been so great as it is in the years that lie immediately before us today. The world is more plastic than it has ever been before; the world is less held by its fixed traditions. It is more ready to adopt new ideas; it is more ready to turn into new paths. It is less content with the conditions it has reached, the results already achieved, than it has been in any period of history. The world is ready to follow."

President Lowell then mentioned the three professions of Law, Business, and Medicine, applying to each the idea of the opportunity to work benefit and change.

"I have said nothing, as you observe, as yet of politics, because in this country politics can hardly be said to be a profession in a desirable sense. Nevertheless, politics is the business of every single man. If democracy means the right of every one to take an interest and a part in public affairs, it means, also, that he should do so. In the past, democracy meant the opportunity of every man to put forth his utmost effort. Now, in politics we need you more than we ever needed those before. What we need is not a larger number of itinerant vendors of patent remedies. What we need is men who will make a scientific diagnosis of the disease from which the public suffers. We want to have men who will think out the questions which we shall encounter,--who will think them out scientifically and earnestly,--who will face them fearlessly, because, remember this, the men who have rarely stood in the forefront of the advance of civilization have not usually found themselves shouting with the largest crowd. We require, above all, courage, and the courage we require is not only the courage of action; it is the courage of thought, the courage of thinking right. If the men in the country who have this feeling would think right, the getting right would follow almost as a matter of course.

"Now, the return to my text for a moment. In days like those of Saul and Israel, it was almost impossible for a young man without influence, without position, without family, without wealth, without standing in the community, to go forth as a leader. But it is an everyday fact today that any man go forth as a leader, if he has qualities which make him fit to do it.

"Now, let us note this one thing about that. Just as in David's case the victory is not to the strong. David, as I have said, had the wit to see that there was no use facing a giant by brute force. He could bring no brute force to compare with that of the giant. It was the intelligent use of the means that lay within his reach.

"We are to accomplish results in the world by knowing how to do it, and, therefore, it is that we speak with more confidence to educated men, for it is the educated man to whom we look forward to solve all the problems that we have.

"Moreover, let me point out to you another thing. The achievement is not only for those who are abnormally gifted.

"William James, I remember when I was in College, pointed out to me how many young men there were who never succeeded in accomplishing anything. He said, "Ability is very well, but many men of ability fall by the wayside and never reach any particular goal for lack of enterprise, lack of industry, lack of those things which we sum up under the general heading of force of character. And William James was in the habit of saying to his classes, and elsewhere, that any man who would devote his whole strength for a sufficient number of years to mastering any subject would wake up some day to find he was an authority on that subject, and an authority means a leader in thought. Any man who has the force of character can accomplish much. But without force of character, which means earnestness, determination, persistence and industry, talent is of little value of any kind, and any man who has those moral qualities will accomplish more than he or his friends ever dreamed was within his reach.

"Now, let me point out one other thing to you, and that is what we mean by accomplishing something. Are you thinking of reputation? If your idea is reputation, you will get your reward. Reputation is a fairly easy thing to get. A little judicious advertising and a little putting forth of one's self will bring a great deal of reputation. Reward is not necessarily of real value to a man who has a deep, earnest conviction of what he wants to do in life. It is the act which is the life itself, and not the fame of it which is precious. If that is what your object is, remember that any man with force of character who will