/ 
 
 
 dfhri.'it the Mail the iTnith, and the jL'ife, 
 
 iit;iN(; TiiK 
 
 BACCALAlIUvVTi: SERMON 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE THE 
 
 COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, 
 
 JVJ^E 27, 1S69. 
 
 By JAMES McCOSH, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE. 
 
 PRINCETON, N. .1. : 
 
 STELLE A SMITH. PinLlSHEUS AND llOOKSELLERS. 
 180'.>. 
 
 V^J ^oo- 
 
 cC-^6^ 
 
o4/ JhiJ^hu^ <CUHii CCv^C^t/lc. 
 
 dihrifit the oulai), ihe ^nitli and the X\\t. 
 
 « 
 
 HKINC 'IHK 
 
 lUCCA LAUREATE SERMON 
 
 I'KKAi IIKI) »i:r«»KK THE 
 
 C()lli:gk of ni:w jersey, 
 
 JVJfE 27, 1869. 
 By .JAMES McOOSIl, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 PUESIDKNT OF TIIK (■()I,1,E(;K. 
 
 PRINCETON, N. .1. : 
 
 STEI.I.K k SMITH, ITBLISnERS AM) HOOKSEl.l.KRS. 
 
Pkinckton, .Iii.y 1, IHC)'.). 
 Rev. Dr. McCosh, 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 In accordance with a resolution of the Class of *(V.t, passed unanimously 
 at a meeting held on Coinniencenient day, Wednesday, J^ne -W, IHO'.J, we 
 would earnestly and respectfully request a copy of the Baccalaureat<> Sermon 
 delivered by you in the First Presbyterian Church, Princeton, on Sunday, 
 June 27th, for publication. 
 
 On behalf of graduating class, 
 
 N. EWIN<;, Ju., 
 F. BALTZELL, 
 H. BERGNER, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 PlUXCKTON, AlG., 1800. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I comply with your request, not because I look on the discourse as pos- 
 sessing any special excellence in itself, but because it winds up a course of 
 instruction delivered during the year, and in the hope that it may be blessed 
 to those who heard it in circumstances iitted to awaken thought and feeling. 
 
 JAMES McCOSH. 
 
SERMON 
 
 John XIV. *>. .Iksi s saiiii inui iiim. i am iiik uav, ami tmi: TiUTn, 
 
 AND THE LIKK. 
 
 Every one nmst have folt tliat lliore is a [)eealiar tender- 
 ness of sentiment, and at the same time, elevation of view in 
 those discourses which our Lord a(hh'essed to his disciples 
 ere he parted from them. It has often been remarked, that 
 the love of friends never seems so great as when tliey are 
 about to be separated : and it certainly looks as if the pros- 
 pect of parting with his disciples, who had companied with 
 him for years, had imparted a special patlios to these heart 
 utterances of our Lord. That sun looks large and glows 
 upon us with a greater splendor ere lie sets. In particular 
 how large does He appear as he presents himself under these 
 aspects, the Way, the Trutli, and the Life. Let us look to 
 Him first under these aspects separately, and secondly, as 
 combining them. 
 
 L Let u.s view ('iikist in thhsk thkek aspects sepa- 
 rately. 
 
 (1). I am /III- 11"///. One of the <leepest feelings in man's 
 nature is a sense of want, a want of something, of some- 
 thing which his own nature, which this world are found 
 incapalde of supplying. Vou, self-righteous man, are made 
 to feel on occasions, that it may not be altogether safe to 
 stand on your])ast conduct oi- pi-esent character. Ah world- 
 
liiiic! you are scnsi])le that tliere is something unsatisfying 
 in these very eonit'orts and enjoyments of yours : the eye 
 is not satistied witli seeing, nor the ear with hearing, nor 
 the amhition witli suceess, nor the lust with gratification, 
 ay there is something wanting, and you know it, you feel 
 it at times, though you may not yet know, or be ready to 
 acknowledge, what it is that would fill the void. 
 
 It arises from sin — no doubt of that — from the terrible 
 disruptions with the intervening chasms which sin has pro- 
 duced. But it can scarcely be called a sense of sin, except 
 indeed at tempestuous times when the conscience arouses 
 us, as the heathen mariners did Jonah, "Arise thou sleeper 
 and call u[)on tliy God." And this awakening is apt to be 
 only t^^mporary, and we demand a little more sleep, a little 
 more slumber; but it is not the sleep which God gives his 
 beloved, but a broken sleep witli troubled dreams, and 
 wakings up, with sudden starts ever and anon, which make 
 us long for unbroken rest without finding it. 
 
 What man especially needs to know is a way — a way of 
 access to the Father. " Show us the Father," said Philip. 
 For it is natural to man to have some apprehension of God. 
 Man, ahis, is naturally sinful, naturally ungodly, but he is 
 not naturally an atheist. I enter not here upon the dis- 
 l)uted speculative question, as to whether the idea of God 
 is or is not innate: what I maintain is that despite his 
 downward tendencies, man is led, by what he sees without 
 him, by what he feels within to look up to a supernatural pow- 
 er. The conscience within telling us of a law and point- 
 ing to a lawgiver ; the nuirks of order, beauty, and design in 
 earth and sky, in plant and animal ; the traces of care and 
 government ; the encouragements to good and the penalties 
 attached to evil in the providence of God ; all these lead 
 and constrain us to entertain some idea, some hope, or fear, 
 or faith, in regard to an agency above the elements and other 
 natural agents. That Being he would fondly claim as a Father. 
 But where is tliat Father? How can he know the way? 
 
Shew us till' FatliiM- and it snfHcclli ns. Tin- Iclict' iii;iy lie 
 vague, the longing indelinite : " an infant crying in the 
 night," when its mother is gone, hecanso it wants it knows 
 not what ; the want is [lositive, tlie ohject it cries for ia 
 unknown, ])iit tlicre is a ten-il>U' crv for it wlicn at any time 
 it awakes. 
 
 The feeling is for sonK'tliiiig wanting, soinetliiiig which 
 has heen lost. Man feels as if lie had wandcrtMl, '' F have 
 gone astray like a lost sheep.'' There must be a way, no 
 doubt of it, to the Father, but how can we know the way? 
 There is a way hut by some mistake or nnsfortune we liave 
 lost it, and the ditticulty is to discover it ; and when at 
 any time we tind a promising track on this world's 
 surface, and set out on it we are soon made to feel that it 
 is not the right one, as it conducts us to no satisfactory 
 termination. " They wandered in the wilderness in a soli- 
 tary way ; they found no city to dwell in ; hungry and 
 thirsty their soul fainted in them." Conceive a revolving 
 planet or a shining sun wandering from its sphere up there 
 where "order is heaven's first law." Xow it is hindered and 
 stayed by bodies attracting it or attracted by it, and forth- 
 with it dashes through space threatening to strike and break 
 in fragments, or kindle into a conflagration all the other 
 planets and suns it meets with. It is a picture of a wander- 
 ing angel, it is a picture of a wandering man, loosened from 
 the central power that stays him, and away fi-om the cen- 
 tral light that should illuminate him ; now in-strained slug- 
 gish and slothful, and anon dancing along in i)eril )us or 
 destructive paths ; now in darkness, and again in light that 
 blimls or among fires that consume. That wamlering body 
 up in the heavens, will not right itself till brought back to 
 its old position, and made to move in its old path. That 
 wandering sinner on earth will not be iu his right state and 
 position, till brought back to his old relation to God, and 
 moving round him as a centre illuminated bv his beams. 
 
I>iit liow can wr knowtlie way ? lluiiian reason can give 
 no intclliux'iit or satistactoi'v answer to tliis question. All 
 its iiivostii^ations only conduct into ever thickening dark- 
 ness, in wliicli tears and doubts have their appropriate dwell- 
 ing jdace. Who is wortliy to open this sealed book and 
 unfold this mystery? When this (juestion is put all crea- 
 tion continues silent and abaslied. The depth saith it is not 
 in me, and the sea saith it is not in me. The thoughtful mind 
 would weep like John, till sucli time as it sees the lion of 
 tlie tribe of Juchili taking the book and breaking the seals. 
 The mind feels that it has nothing to rest on, no truth on 
 which the understanding can settle, and the heart repose 
 till it sees Christ standing, and liears him proclaiming *^I 
 am the way." 
 
 (•2). " / <nit the Ti'iifh." l>y truth in this passage we are not 
 to understand abstract general (h)ctrine, such as we have 
 in our creeds and excellent catecliisms. Such systematized 
 truth being a comprehensive summary of the scattered 
 statements of God's Word, may serve some good purposes 
 in exhil>iti!ig the unity of the trutli, in guiding the thoughts 
 of tlie young and of impiirers generally, and in testing 
 soundness in the faith. But it is not to such that our Lord 
 refers, when lie says '' I am the truth." Truth is defined 
 by philosophers as the agreement of our ideas Avith things. 
 When in regard to any particular object or event, our views 
 correspond to realities in that matter w^e have truth. When 
 we know God as he really is, and the relation in which we 
 stand to liim, then hav(^ we truth in religion. But how can 
 we know (lod as he really is? When apart from Christ 
 we set out in the search, how difficult to find llim! Do we 
 not feel as if lie were at an awfnl distance and beyond our 
 reach, as if he were at an infinite height above us, and as if 
 we could no moi'c i-istj to him with our spirits, than our 
 frail bodies eould mount from earth to heaven ? Who will 
 give us wings that we may ascend to llim? Alas! the 
 attraction of earth is too powerful to allow of our ascending 
 
to Him. Who then will «;•() up to heaven to l)rinu: ''im <lo\vii 
 to us? As we make these searches and etibrts the conscience 
 of sin unrepented and unforgiven makes us feel that they 
 are all in vain. 'I'lie ai>pr()ach must he on his ]»art. TIic 
 grandest thinker of all heathen antitiuity (Plato), was 
 obliged to say "the Father of the woild is hard to discover, 
 and when discovered cannot he eoniniunicatc*!." '' Show^ us 
 the Father and it sulHeeth us," said a linmhlcr man. ]31essed 
 be his eternal love and grace, the Father hath shown him- 
 self to us. Jesus said to him who put the (piestion, ''Have 
 I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not seen 
 me, Phili[) ; he that hath seen meliath seen the Father, and 
 how sayest thou then shew us the Father." When we go in 
 by Christ the way he introduces to the Father, and we have 
 the truth. Here is the bridge that spans the chasm. Here 
 is the link that jbins the sundered parts. 
 
 " What is truth," was the question put by Pilate to our 
 Lord. It is usually said that he did not give a reply. He 
 may not have answered him in words, but he answered him 
 in tact. lie had said " To this end was I born, and for this 
 cause came I unto the world, that I should bear witness 
 unto the truth." The truth was before him, if he had but 
 known the gift of God, and who it was that was^sj^eaking 
 to him. For when we know Christ we know God. " He 
 that hath seen me hath seen the Father," and henceforth 
 we have no need to say " shew us the Father." 
 
 Pained with the contemplation, man lias ever been afraid 
 to look upon an infinitely holy God. Man has ever been 
 carnalizing God in order to bring him down to his own 
 level, and in carnalizing has been degrading him. But 
 here in the Eternal Word become iiesh, is a God incarnate 
 without beino: dci^raded. The briu'litness of the Father's 
 glory without being shorn of a single ray, shines upon us 
 with a milder lustre as it comes from the lace of his 8on. 
 All coldness and distrust are banished, when we feel that 
 in drawing near to Jesus it is man coming to man. I'n- 
 
10 
 
 * 
 
 belief is dispolk'il wlion we ronlizc tliat we have a bi'otber's 
 lieart beatiniz; tor us on tlie tlirone of glorv. This is the 
 truth, and tlie soul tliat has found Clirist, lias found the 
 trutli, and ferls tliat it has found the truth, and need 2:0 no 
 farther. With the trutli there is iissuranee, and assurance 
 yields peace. People often wonder how faith should be 
 tlie source of peace. And certainly faith will not give 
 peace, unless it be a faith in truth, a faith in the reality of 
 things. The faith of the heathen in their gods does not give 
 peace. Tt is faith in Christ as the truth, as known to be the 
 ti'uth, as felt to he the truth, which gives peace. The eye 
 brought out of darkness unto marvellous light, does not 
 need to be told that this is the light, it knows that is the 
 light, and the light is j)leasant to the e3'es as in every way 
 suited to it. The ear does not need to be informed that this 
 is music, it feels it to be so as it listens to it and rejoices in 
 it. This, this is the reality of things. " I have found," " I 
 have found,"' is tlie expression of the soul, as if it feels tliat 
 it has o^ot what it was seekins; and is satistied. 
 
 (3). " I am the IJfe.''^ It is of vast moment that we know 
 the way ; essential that we reach the truth; but we must 
 liave more. The well formed statue is an interesting object, 
 but none of us wouhl exchanc^e our livincr condition, for 
 that of tlie chiselle(l maibh' which stands so stiff and cold 
 on its pedestal. (Jod's work was not half finished, when he 
 fashioned that goodly frame of ours out of the dust of the 
 gi-<»inid : it was not completed till In- bi'eathed into man the 
 breath of life, and he became a living soul. Along with 
 the truth we must have life. 
 
 A living poet describes one ol'his chai-actcrs as dead and 
 buried under the streets of a great city, and yet — inconsist- 
 ent enough I grant — hearingabovehim the clattering sounds 
 of the moving men and horses and chariots, so that he can 
 not have the rest, which the dead ai'c expected to enjoy. 
 It is a picture of not a few sinners, perhaj)S of all sinners, 
 in heathen and in Christian lands at certain times. They 
 
11 
 
 would liavt', and yet they cannot liave, tlic insi-nsihility of 
 the (k'acL And so since they eannot haxc ahsolute uncon- 
 sciousness, tliey would liavc lilV-. ^'(•s, there are tew or 
 none so dead that ihcy do not wi-li at times to have life. 
 And yet when they would cxcitt' and stiinuhite it, they find 
 that they have only the clainiuiness of death. It is evident 
 that the heathens ai-c seeking a life. \'ou sci- it iti their 
 meaningless prayers uttered so vehemently ; in their sacri- 
 fices often so i)ainful ; in their processions, in their shouts, 
 in their dances, in their revelries, in their licentiousness 
 without shame. But after they have done it all, they do 
 not feel tluit they have life to warm and sustain the soul. 
 Instead of living aileetion, they lind in their inner heart 
 only a hlank and a telt void. They would at times sti'ug- 
 gle, like a strong swimmer thrown on the wide waves, only 
 to find themselves hopelessly sinking. All their convulsive 
 efforts are merely like those of the priests of Baal on Mount 
 Carmel, when they beat their bodies, and cut their breasts, 
 only to find their sacrifice lying cold upon the altar. 
 
 Feeling will never be excited in the bosom by a mere 
 command, by a mere determination to raise it. There must 
 be something to call it forth, there nmst be an object to 
 call it forth; there nmst be an object presented, believed in, 
 to call it forth. There must be a living, a lovely, and a 
 loving object to call it forth. This is a great defect of our 
 systems of natural religion; while they contain a body of 
 important truths, they present nothing to raise atiection. 
 This is the defect of the moral system of Confucius, so ex- 
 tensively adopted in Chiiui; addressing moral beings it lias 
 no provided pardon for immorality, and no object to evoke 
 sentiment. The Brahmins profess to find life in abstraction, 
 in meditation, in union with Brahma. But it is all in vain. 
 Their theology in its highest meaning is vague, objectless, 
 inane — like the thin air up high in the atmosphere, in 
 which when we mount up into it, there is nothing to sus- 
 tain us, and unsu[)ported and in dull we feel that we must 
 
12 
 
 speedily come down, if we would avoid a collapse and a 
 fall. If love i.-^ ever called forth in these bosoms of ours, 
 it must l>e i»y a person, an individual person, and not an 
 abstraction, by a livini,^ person, lovely and lovinc:. There 
 is such an object presented to us to call forth feeling in 
 Christ. Apprehended as the truth he becomes the life ; his 
 spirit is given to us and is dwelling in us, and he becomes 
 the life in the soul, the life of the soul. 
 
 11. Let rs view Christ as combining these aspects. 
 
 The full truth is to be found in the union of these sepa- 
 rate truths, each having its proper place. 
 
 "When each has its due place, Christ must have the 
 supreme place as the head, all other things being the mem- 
 bers. He must be in the building not only as a stone, he 
 must be the corner stone, in order to have a sure founda- 
 tion. He must not only be in the arch, he must be the key- 
 stone, to kcc}) all tlio p:irts fitly joined together, and thus 
 bear up the weight, the weight of our sins and the weight 
 of our sorrows, which has to be laid upon it. 
 
 There are some who would have us, first to find the way, 
 and then as we walk in that way to find Christ. But Jesus 
 is himself the way. "I am the way," " verily I say unto 
 you I am the door of the sheep." Some put the Church 
 before Christ, and would have inquirers first to find the 
 church, and then through it to find Christ. But this is to 
 reverse the proper and the scriptural order. Let us first 
 seek Christ, and when we have found hini we are in the 
 true church invisible, and in this pure light we shall be 
 better able to discover the proper church visible. That 
 is tlie true church which makes Christ the head, " from 
 which all the body l)y joints a!id bands having nourishment 
 ministered and knit together, increaseth with the increase 
 of God." 
 
 There are some who would have us first to seek the truth, 
 and then seek Christ. And by all means let those who 
 have not yet found Christ, be exhorted to seek the truth. 
 
18 
 
 Yes, seeker.^ of tiMitli desiM-vo nil the honor that has been 
 paid to thoni. Sincori' and pravort'iil scokcrs of truth, will 
 sooner or latiT lind what th.-y ai-c lo.^kiiiir for: not it may 
 be in the place which they cxixHttiul, or in the lordly form 
 which their iina«rinations painted ; but they will tind it, in 
 lowly o-nise it may he, hut yet the very truth of God, wliich 
 they have been seel<in<;\ Hut seekers of truth will never 
 lind truth or relio:ion till thev tind Christ. Let us not <ro 
 out with the tapers of earth to seek the sun, the sun is 
 shinini!: in the heavens and is seen in his own lis^lit. Any 
 other liii'ht can at best be merely like the stars raised in the 
 heavens to <i:uide the wise men of the east, servin": a c^ood 
 end only so far as it guides us to where Christ is to be found. 
 
 Some would tind life without Christ There is a general 
 feeling in the present day in all the churches, Protestant and 
 Catholic, and among sonn^ aroused heathen nations, that 
 they must by all means have life, have religious life. But 
 there are some seeking for it apart from Christ. Their appeal 
 is to inward feeling, and intuition. But what I ask is to 
 call forth other sentiments from the cold and sinful hearts. 
 There must be an object to call them forth, there must be 
 a living being to draw them towards himself. That living 
 being is the Son of God, who is also the Son of Man, 
 presenting himself to us in all his grace and attractiveness. 
 But they tell us with an imposing air, that this affection may 
 be drawn forth by such grand and glorious ideas, as those 
 of the infinite and the eternal. Now I admit that man is 
 capable of forming such ideas, and I am opposed to that 
 philosophy which would make them mere negations. But 
 tbese ideas call forth love, only when the (pialities they look 
 at are regarded as attributes of a living being, whose love is 
 infinite, whose love is eternal. 
 
 Again, tbere are persons who would take Christ under 
 one of these aspects or in one of these characters, but who 
 do not care for the others. Thus there are some who would 
 cheerfully accept Christ as the way, but who stop at the 
 
14 
 
 entrance, instead of going on the path which has been 
 opened. This is a temptation to which numbers are ex- 
 posed in seasons of revival. They are most anxious to liave 
 Christ for salvation, but having found forgiveness, as they 
 think, and peace and assurance, they do not go on to stab- 
 lish themselves in the trutli. Some of these are apt to be- 
 come teachers, when they should still be scholars. How 
 wise the warning of the Apostle, who in describing the 
 qualitications of ministers of the Word, says they should 
 not be " novices,'' that is newly born, lest being puffed up 
 with pride they tall into the condemnation of the devil. 
 AVhat they who are born from above need, is training and 
 a settling in the truth, that being taught themselves they 
 may be able to teach others. 
 
 There are some contented with the truth without the 
 life. They are satisfied with their orthodox creed, with 
 their reverence for the Bible, and their attendance at the 
 house of God and meetings for prayer, and care nothing for 
 a consistent course of honor, honesty, humility, temperance 
 and kindness and the Christian graces. Ah this it is that 
 furnishes a pretext to the enemies of evangelical religion, 
 when they declare that your religious professors are no bet- 
 ter than others, and that if Christ were to come among us 
 suddenly and unexpectedly, he would address ministers and 
 l»eople, ''Scribes and pharisees, hypocrites." Such a formal 
 i-('ligion is offensive above all things to man, even as it is 
 displeasing to God. " Ye are the salt of the earth, but if 
 the salt have lost its savor wherewith shall it be salted. It 
 is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trod- 
 den undci" the foot of man/' 
 
 ()nce more, tliere is a very diti'erent class, who seek the 
 lift' without the truth. Some may have been led into this 
 by a reaction against a stifl* formalism, or iVigid orthodoxy. 
 In other cases I fear it proceeds from an unwillingness to 
 submit to any wholesome restraints. \V v have an atteijipt 
 to realize such an idea all over the three kinu'doms in the 
 
1.-) 
 
 present dnv. Porsniis nrr cnllinr]: for :i life, which is to be 
 iiHlcpoii(](Mit of nil tlu' old tniMiis of nfi 1 k m 1 ( . .\ y , aiid of the 
 letter of tlic Word of ( lod. And I f<>i- one do not fe(d tliat 
 r am cnlled on to fii;"lit for ilie additions, wliidi men liave 
 made to divine ti-ntli or to the forms \\hi(di they havr im- 
 pnsi'd upon it. There is a cnr^e ]H"ononn('ed at the dose 
 of the P>ook of Revelation, ujion those who \vould adtl to 
 it. '^ For I testify to every man that heareth tlie word of 
 tiie prophecy of tliis hook. If any man sliall add unto 
 these thiuii^s, (iod shall add unto him the plairues that ai'c 
 written in tliis hook." liut tliere is also a curse ready to 
 aliii'ht on tliose wlio wouhl diminisli (^u«^lit from tliat word. 
 "If any man sliall take away tVom the words of tlie ho(dv of 
 this propheey, God shall take away liis jtart out of tlie l)(>ok 
 of life, a!id out of the lioly city, and from the thini]cs which 
 are written in this hook." Of tliis I am sure that the life 
 which is not supported by scriptural truth, will he of a very 
 powerless, wavering, and transient character; and we have 
 not a few examples in the present da}-, of persons begin- 
 ning to slide on the scale, only t<^ find themselves speedily 
 falling at its base. By all means let us have the tire and 
 the Hame too ; but no fire can be kept u\) without a solid 
 material to feed on, and the nutriment on which the spirit- 
 ual life feeds on is the truth of God's word. 
 
 We may now^ consider these truths especially in their 
 practical connection. And here as in regard to doctrinal 
 belief let us not put asunder, what the Lord hath indisso- 
 lubly joined together. The garment wdiich falls to our lot 
 is woven throughout and without seam, and cannot be 
 divided. Thatgarmentis Christ's, and hecomesours through 
 his sufferings and death. 
 
 Jesus w^as so called from his birth, because he saves his 
 people from their sins. The w^oi-k is his throughout. Let 
 us consider how much is involved in this salvation. Let 
 us look to him for pardon, by all means pardon, for it is to 
 be found nowhere else. But this is not all that i< involved 
 
IG 
 
 in salvation, lie is Jesus so called not only because he saves 
 from the consequences of sin, but because he saves from 
 the sins tlicnisclves. 
 
 If I am to have the love of the world and of the things 
 that arc in the world broug'ht down, it must be by having 
 my heart fixed on a new object which I love more dearly, 
 it must be by Clirist becoming the supreme object of affec- 
 tion. No man was ever yet saved from his sins by merely- 
 striving with them. Alas I many brave men have been de- 
 feated in the fight, and have been merely exasperated by 
 the struggle, as the prisoner is chafed in beating upon the 
 walls of his prison from wdiich there is no escape, as the 
 eagle is irritated by its dashing upon its cage, as the sea is 
 lashed into foam by its being driven upon the rocks. " Sin 
 taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all 
 manner of concupiscence." "When the commandment came 
 sin revived and I died." " Sin taking occasion by the com- 
 mandment deceived me and by it slew me." It is when I 
 am led to love Christ that I am delivered from that selfish- 
 ness, which is so deepl}^ seated in the soul, and which so 
 cleaves to me. It was when the ark of the covenant was 
 put into the temple of Dagon, that the idol fell down, and 
 it was as it continued there, that all attempts to raise him 
 up failed, and he became more crushed and broken. And 
 it is thus that these idols of ours are cast down before the 
 presence and power of Jesus as he condescends to enter our 
 liearts. This is the pearl of great price, which when a man 
 hears of he sells all that he has, all wordly lusts and pas- 
 sions, that lie niiy have it, and I'eel that he is rich when he 
 has such a possession. Swayed l>y this new and higher 
 and more potent afiection, he is ready to part with the lusts 
 which have been dearest to him, when he discovers them to be 
 offensive to him whom his soul loveth. If his right hand 
 offends he cuts it off and casts it from him, if his right eye 
 offends he plucks it out and casts it from him. And when at 
 any time the believer is led into sin, and is tein[)ted to go 
 
17 
 
 on lieadstrong' in his cdinsi', lie is hroiiirlit toVopoiitiincc as 
 Peter was, l>y a vii'w of .lesus as lie turns round and looks 
 upon liiiii ; it is that look of desus that makes him '' i^^o 
 out and weep hittei'lv." 
 
 It is as we look up to that star in the >ky, that this down- 
 ward look of ours is upliftcil, and our frame becomes erect 
 and our path hecomes a foi-ward oni'. It is tliis li^dit sliin- 
 inii; above us, as the sun which shows us the path and cheers 
 us as we walk in it. it is by lookiuu; into the face of 
 Jesus that we are ehani^ed into the same imaije, as we liavv 
 seen the imai^e of lu»aven rellected on the bosom of a tran- 
 quil lake spread out beneath. " We all with open face 
 beholding as in a glass the glory of tlie Lord, are changed 
 into the same image as by the spii'it of the Lord." 
 
 It is part of my duty as Tresidtuit to give Bililieal In- 
 struction to the students of this College. In fulfilment of 
 tliis I have (bii-ing the year, taken as my theme the Life of 
 Jesus as detailed in the four (iospels. Xext year I may 
 direct the students to the planting of the Churcli as re- 
 corded in the book of Acts, and in portions of the Epistles. 
 In a third year I nniy go back to the preparations for tlie 
 comins: of Christ, in the Old Testament. And in a fourtli 
 year I may expound Christian Doctrine. This plan, if I 
 am spared to execute it, enables us to go round a full course 
 of Bible instruction in four years. I liave begun at the 
 foundation: " For othei- foundation can no man lay, than 
 that is laid which is Jesus Christ." It is a most interesting 
 fact and significant that religious tlionglit and discussion for 
 some years past in Euro[»e, and now in AnuM'ica, are gather- 
 insr round the works, the teachinir, the life of desus: these 
 are felt to furnish the first and the final evidence in belialf ot 
 the religion whicli Jesus established. I^ersons disposed to 
 turn away from everything «'lse, have felt th:it they cannot 
 cast off Christ himseif and his lovely character. In a course 
 of twenty-eight lectures I liave g')ne over the events of his 
 
18 
 
 life, and his sayings and discourses, from -liis i)irtli in Bothle- 
 licni to his last words on the cross, ''Fatlier forgive them for 
 tliey know not wliat they do,'' and " into tliy hand I com- 
 mend my s[)irit." T have not tiied to speak for Jesus, but 
 I have endeavored to lot Jesus speak for himself. I have 
 not sought to come between you and the light to obstruct 
 any portion of it, but standing by I have pointed to it, that 
 you may see how pleasant it is, and be led to walk and re- 
 joice in it. It now only remains that T ap})ly the whole 
 subject to the position o^' those, who after having been 
 years with us, are finally leaving us to go forth to their 
 various professional studies and works. 
 
 Gentlemen of the graduating class, you have left behind 
 a very pleasant remembrance of yourselves and your 
 behaviour. I trust you will on the other hand retain and 
 cherish a pleasant remembrance of this place and this Col- 
 lege, of your instructors and your fellow^ students. We look 
 forward with some anxiety, but with far greater liope to 
 your future lives. We wish that success may attend you 
 in your various callings ; but in this house of God we pray 
 for higher blessings, " For our brethren and companions' 
 sakes, we will now say peace be within you."' It has been 
 said of a mother, that if ever she is tempted to show more 
 love to one than to the others of her sons, it will be to that 
 son who is in sickness, in pain, in ditHculty — the mother's 
 affection clings around him the closer the ruder the assaults 
 made upon him. So it will be with your Alma Mater. She 
 will rejoice to hear of you in health and with the blessings 
 of earth showered upon you; but she will rejoice still more 
 to liear of you pursuing the path of honor and integrity, 
 and this wliether it brings the world's favor or tlie world's 
 frown. He is to be regarded as the great man, he I trust 
 will ever be the favourite with us, who walking in the midst 
 of tcm])tation and defalcation and pollution, holds liimself 
 high above it and refuses to be contaminated by it. Jesus 
 our exemplar was not a successful man in this ^vorld's esti- 
 
10 
 
 nuitioii ; l.iit he :((M'..iiij.li>lM ., ;, um,k <>ii our carili, in com- 
 parisoii of wliidi no othn- i-, worthy of hoin^r nanu'il ; and 
 I believe tliat \\i< iiiotlit-r, as -lie stoi.d at tlio foot of tin- 
 cross, loved him with a depth of atn-ction which rthe never 
 cherished before. We send y(»u forth witli «,^o(hI wishes for 
 all; hut il' there is one. >f you who is seekin«;t() rise al)ove the 
 meanness of the world, ahove the ai;e, it may he a!)ove liim- 
 self, ever ready to sa.riliee his own interest to the good of 
 others, and who aims at iioihin*^ less than making Ids fellow 
 men wiser and hetter, that son of ours will he followed hy 
 us in his career with intense interest, and when he returns 
 to us he will ever h' welcome to us, jus the sou is to the 
 bosom of his mothei". 
 
 To go over the points of the text and apply them. 
 
 1. ^4"? to fhr tciui In fore ijoa. Here you have received soumi 
 instruction by painstaking teachers, in valuable branches of 
 learning, fitted to prepare you for the work before you. 1 
 believe that in your future lives, as you discover the benefit 
 you are deriving from it, you will value that instructiou 
 more than you do to-day. Here you have ac(juired habits 
 of api)lication, which will turn out to be of more advantage 
 to you, than all the kiiowK'«lgt' ,.r aecoinpli-hmeuts you 
 have i^ained. In vour future lives, in whatever position vou 
 may b<i placed, you will tind that by well trained and highly 
 cultivated minds you can accomplish work, which cannot 
 be done by others who have not been so educated. 
 
 But then you are travellers set out in a journey, which 
 no doubt goes through this world, hut terminates in another. 
 It is of tln' utmost im[K)rtance that you now set out on the 
 rii::ht wav. I have ><}ii\\ a stream issuing from a fountain 
 on a mountain ridge, hesitating as it were for a time, on 
 whicli side to tlow ; and by a little trouble you could have 
 made it taki' /A/> direction, where it would have emptie«l 
 itself into the sea at one side of the country, or take thai 
 direction where it would run into the ocean at the very op- 
 posite shores of a conlin<nt. < >f a like natun- are the criti- 
 
20 
 
 cal cinerii"(.Mi('ios wliicli risi' in oiir liist(»rv : it" \vv tiike this 
 wav our lot tor timt' or otornity is (k'trrnrnKMl in one (liroc- 
 tion ; if we turn this otlicr way, it is lieiu'ct'ortli in a totally 
 (lirtorent (lirection. You, my young friends, have reached 
 sueh a jxVmt. Take the one road, and it may lead down to 
 sin, to ruin, t(^ hell: take the othei-, through Christ as 
 the wav standiu'^' hefore you and open to you, and it will 
 eonduet into the }>atli of faith, of holiness, of honiM', and 
 integrity, towards God and lieaven and glory. 
 
 2. A^ fo the frufh. " ^Tan," says Aristotle, '' is organized 
 for truth." Knowledge, truth is the nutriment on which 
 the intellectual part of our nature feeds, and it is strength- 
 ened hy it. I Fere in this College you have had knowledge 
 imparted to you, knowledge solid rather than show}', and 
 you have learned much truth, tlnit is of the reality of things, 
 in the heavens and in the earth, in the world within and the 
 world without us. Science has a })lace in this College, and 
 will have a growing place, growing with tlie growth of 
 science. 
 
 We do not wish in this institution to check the spirit of 
 in(piiry. All that we desire is to see it rightly directed. 
 And what I ask for first of all, and mainly on your part, is a 
 sincere wish and anxiety to discover the truth ; to find, not 
 what pleases, not what gratifies, not what allows us to con- 
 tinue uudisturhc(l in sin, hut truth )»urc and sim}»le. Setting 
 out in this s[>irit 1 have no fears of you. You may he in 
 darkness and difficulties for a time, l)ut sooner or later a 
 lighi will arise to guide you, a^ the star did to the seekers 
 of wisdom fi-om the lOast, and it will conduct you to the 
 very place whei'c truth is to he found, not it nniy ])e in the 
 form which you expected, hut the very truth of (iod revealed 
 to man, and i)efore which you pom- out the incense of a 
 tru<* heart, more precious than the gold, the frankincense 
 and the myrrh, presented by the wise men of the P]ast to the 
 infant ifedeemer. 
 
21 
 
 IFaviii^ reaclicd a (-(M-fain jiinoiuit yn\\ will sook to hold 
 by wliat yon liavt' attained. mikI lu'war.' of (lie spirit airaiiint 
 wliicli wc arc w.u-ikmI, " cvn- I«'aniinLC !>'»<l n«'Vi'r ahk* to 
 conio to a knowK'di^^c ,»f tl,,. tnitli." And with all <h'tV'ronce 
 to certain livinu; men oT li-cnins, who hold that correct views 
 of rolio'ions trntli .annot he had, I maintain that <-h'ar views 
 of truth arc to he |>r<'t"crrcd lo contnsiMl oiif-. I am n<»t to 
 disparage a warm heart; hut a warm hiMrt at tin- scat of 
 life, is all the hcttci* of a dear head ahove it to instruct and 
 guide it. Takinu- I he sun as the type n\' all ^-reatness, we 
 find that he i::ives li^-lit aloiiLf with the heal, and I helieve 
 our reliii'ion does the same. 
 
 Xot that yon will expect to rise to a full «*omprehension 
 of all the truths, which have heen so tar revealed to us ahout 
 God and rcilcniption. "• We kn<»w,"' >/r\ //v lnio}i\ l)ut we 
 know in part only. We who dwell in a woi-ld "where (hiv 
 and nin'ht alternate," wc who ^o evei'ywln'i*e acenmpanied 
 by our own shaihiw — a shadow jirodnced by our dark body, 
 but pro(bieed because there is liirht — cannot expect to be 
 absolutely delivered tVoni the darkness. Man's faculties, 
 exquisitely adapted to the sphei'e in which he moves, were 
 never intended to enable him to comju'chend all truth. The 
 mind is in this res]»eci like the eye. The eye is s«) constituted 
 as to [)erceivi' the thiuLT^^ within a ci'rtain raui^e, but as oljjeets 
 are removed farther and farther from us, they luM'ome more 
 indistinct, and at Icn^-th are lost siijfht «)f altoLTcthei*. It is 
 tlie same with the human mind. It can understand certain 
 8ul)jects and to a cci-tain distance, but as tln'y reach away 
 farther they look more and more confused, and at Icnixth 
 they disappear from the view. And if tiie human spirit 
 attempts to mount higher than its proper elevation it will 
 find all its flights fruitless. The dovi', to use an illustration 
 of Kant's, may mount to a certain (devation in the heavens, 
 but as slie rises the air bei-omcs lighter, an<l at length slie 
 finds that she can no longer float upon its ]»osom, and sliould 
 she attempt to soar higher, her pinions flutter in emptiness 
 
ami she t'altrrs and tails. So it is with the .s})irit of man, it 
 can winic its way a certain distance into the expanse above 
 it, hut there is a limit, which if it endeavors to pass, it will 
 find all its concei)tions void and its ratiocinations uncon- 
 nected. 
 
 Placed as we are in the centre of boundless space, and in 
 the middle ot^ eternal aii^es, we can see only a few objects 
 immediately around us, an<l all others fade in outline, as 
 they are removed from us, by distance, till at length they 
 be altogether beyond our vision. And this remark holds 
 true not only of the more ignorant of those whose eye can 
 penetrate the least distance, it is true also of the learned ; 
 it is perhaps true of all created beings, that there is a bound- 
 ing sphere of darkness surrounding the space rendered clear 
 by the torch of science. Nay it almost looks as if the wider 
 the boundaries of science are pushed, and the greater the 
 space illuminated by it, the greater in proportion the bound- 
 ing sphere into which no rays i)enetrate, just as (to use a 
 very old comparison) when we strike up a light in the midst 
 of darkness, in proijortion as the light becomes stronger, so 
 does also that surface black and dark which is rendered 
 visible. 
 
 Still God has given us light in the midst of darkness, let 
 us open our eyes to it, let us walk in it, let us rejoice in it. 
 As you do so you will find, as you follow that light, through 
 what may be at first a dim ]>assage, that you reach more 
 light. In that light we shall dearly see light. The view 
 which you at last i'ea<'li, may be like that which we have 
 had iVoin a m(»untain to}) on a sunshiny and bracing day, 
 not indeed an unlimitt'(l \iew, forthis would leave us nothing 
 more to disco\'ei' and behold, but still a clear \iew between 
 us and a distant horizon, u hich w hen we reach in our ex- 
 [dorations in tliis world or the next, we hope to discover 
 moi*e without limit and without end, as we know more of 
 (lod and ol" a boundless universe. 
 
23 
 
 8. Asfo the life, r trust VDu liavc roccivcd smuc life jiiid im- 
 pul^o ill tliis Colloii-c. TluMT is M cry in tli«' prcsfiit dav to 
 have education altoi»;otlic'i' and exclusively scientific, and in 
 science these persons include oidy pliysical science. N<k\v 
 by all means let us eive science a place and a InLrli jdac«', 
 hut ill science let us iindude the study of tlie liuinan mind, 
 that in knowiuij: other thiiie-s wc may know oui--el\c-. I'ut 
 then the intellectual powers which are led hy -^cientitic tnitli, 
 are not the only i'aculties which (Jod has li'iven; hesides the 
 intellectual powers, (Jod has L'■i^'«'n us motive and moi'al 
 powers ol' no less inn)ortance. With the lii^ht we must also 
 have warmth. We may discover a heauty even in the win- 
 ter, with its clear nii^iitsand shinin</ s! ir- ; hut were it only 
 for variety's sake we wish to have summer also, with its leaves 
 and flowers as well as winter. And so alonir with science 
 let us have history, and let us have literature, and let us 
 give an evei- i^rowinjx place to these, hy a(Mini( modern to 
 ancient learnini^, to stimulate and ri]>en tlie mind hy stirrins: 
 narratives, hy ]»oetrv and hy ehxiuence. 
 
 l>ut in seekini;^ life, let us si'ck to ha\-e relie;ious life. 
 Without this, other life nuiy only lead to misdirected eneriT}-, 
 and is certain to end in exhaustion and disappointment ; 
 and we shall have to say even of scientitic knowledge, 
 though we should give our liearts to seek and search out 
 by wisdom all things that arc done in heaven and earth, 
 and give ourselves to books and hook making, that they are a 
 weariness, and that they cannot after all satisfy the deeper 
 wants of the soul. The eye is not satisfied witli seeing, nor 
 the ear with hearing, and if we have nothing else, we are 
 made to feel that all is vanity and vexation of spirit; that 
 after the howl is quaffed thedivgs are hitter; that when the 
 iiame has died down nothing hut ashes remain ; that the 
 tlower is blown away, while the thorn is left. " I'ut where 
 is wisdom to be found? " The restless sea says it is not in 
 me. The air ever agitated says it is not in me. The mov- 
 ing sun, moon and stars sav it is not in nie. Kverv season 
 
24 
 
 as it rolls on wlu'tluT >i»rini:,or suiiiiiici-, orautuinii, or winter 
 says it is not in niv. Kvcrv \ivv\) of the Held, every beast of the 
 field says I must die, it is not in me. Every fellow man says I 
 am no better than yourself, it is not in me. Where then 
 can that which the soul is seeking be found? It is found 
 only in him who is the truth and the life to the soul. He 
 who has taken Christ, as his portion, ean never })roperly 
 speaking he disapjjointed. How distressing the condition 
 of a man who hiis lived for a mere earthly pur[)ose, and finds, 
 after the toil of a lifetime, that this has failed, and with this 
 the very end of his existence. AVhat is left him but to say, 
 tliey have taken away my gods and what have they left me. 
 It is different with the Christian. He nuiy fail of some 
 particular end, but he cannot fail of his grand end ; he may 
 not be able owing to the storms which drive him back, to 
 touch at particular i)oints, but he reaches sooner or later his 
 final haven. Such a faith with its motive and end, will o;ive 
 a consistency to his character and lite amid every change of 
 scene. The vessel on the ocean is an ever moving object 
 out there among the agitated elements. The winds of heaven 
 may ])e raging around it, the sea may be working tempestu- 
 ous and threatening to overwhelm it, and the ship is not 
 for one instant at rest. But meanwhile there is a unity and 
 steadfastness in all its movements, foi- its course is towards a 
 particular haven, and it is taking advantage of the very 
 troubled elements to hasten its destination. A similar 
 unity an<l consistency of action aiv inijiarted to the soul, 
 setting out on the ti'ouble(l sea of life, when it is enabled to 
 aim at nothing else than the promotion of the glory of God 
 and obedience to his will. This high motive jjower will raise 
 the youth abo\'c the oi'flinary ti'ials and temptations of life. 
 Temptation will no longer l)e felt to i)e temjttation by those 
 who are eni^a<'"e(l in the strui^i::le. It is recoi'ded of a Konnm 
 army, that when cai-nestly engage(l in battle with the ene- 
 mies of their country, the soldiers were unciniscious of an 
 earth(piake which made the ground to trendjle beneath their 
 
feet. Jt IS thus Ww Cl.rislinn tocls wl.c. .arnoHtly voulvml- 
 in<r iov tlio l.onor of Lis Uv^lrvuwv. He is wuiovvi] ahovc 
 tlir iiillueiicc of the onlii.arv hmptaticMis of life ; and in 
 answer to vwvy {.ropos:,! lo «|,aw l,in. down Iron, his 
 elevation, hv. sajs with NrlHinial., - I am doin- a ^nvat work 
 and cannot coihc down to tlu'e."