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 Subjection k^ Cam, tl)c OloiuTtitutiDn nf 
 illaifii ^fattivc: 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 GRADUATING CLASS- 
 
 OP 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE 
 
 GETTYSBURG, SEPTEMBER IfiTH, 1852 
 
 BY H. L. BAUGHER. 
 
 Publisliod hy tlie Class. 
 
 GETTYSBURG : 
 PRINTED BY H. C. NEINS T E U T 
 
 1852. 
 
 ^****^*******^***^*«***i*^^ 
 

 In Exchange 
 
 Peabody Inst, of Balto, 
 
 June 14 1927 
 
DISCOUllSE. 
 
 nature. 
 
 • 
 
 Gen. 1 ; 27 ; "/Sb God created man in his own image." 
 
 God is perfect. The image of God then, in which man was 
 created, was perfect. If we inquire in what the perfection of 
 God consists, we can reply only in words to which no definite 
 signification can be attached, viz: He is perfect in all his at- 
 tributes, natural and moral. Of the perfection of man, we 
 know more, because we are men, and have experience and 
 observation and revelation to guide us. If God is perfect, as 
 to his nature, then the perfection of his character, as made 
 known to us, is a course of action conformed to his nature. 
 Hence we say that God is holy, just and true, from the, 
 tution of his nature, and, for the same reason, whatever 
 is right, because from the constitution of his nature he 
 do wrong. 
 
 The perfection of man consists in conformity with the con- 
 stitution of the nature which God has given him. 
 
 We inquire then, what is the constitution of the nature 
 which God has given to man, and the reply proceeds sponta- 
 neously from our lips, " it is subjection to laio.'" I propose 
 then, to illustrate and enforce the theme " subjection to law, 
 the constitution of inan''s nature.^'' 
 
 It is not my purpose to enter into a metaphysical discussion 
 of the nature of law in general; nor to weary you with nice 
 definitions which might convey but little instruction. But, as 
 man is the subject of discussion in his relations to law, I define 
 "law to be a rule of action prescribed for the government of 
 rational beings or moral agents, (o which they are bound to 
 yield obedience, in default of which lljey are exposed to pun 
 ishnient." (Webster) 
 
I have been led to select this theme, because of the neces- 
 sity of subjection to law to the social, civil and religious hap- 
 piness of man, for time and eternity, and because of the pre- 
 vailing inclination, especially of the young, to throw aside the 
 restraints of law, and follow simply the impulses of passion. 
 
 Man is ^physical, intellectual^ and moral or religious being, 
 and his creator has given him laws for the government of every 
 part of his nature. A certain degree of exercise, cleanliness, 
 nourishment and repose, have been found necessary to his 
 physical well-being. These are called the laws which con- 
 trol his health and life, under ordinary circumstances, and 
 upon the proper observance of which his health and life are 
 suspended. The knowledge of these laws is obtained from 
 experience and observation. It is treasured up in books, and 
 transmitted from one generation to another, and becomes so 
 widely diffused throughout the community, that even children 
 become acquainted with it. God has so constituted us, that 
 tli^iolation of these laws is attended with pain, and the pro- 
 ll^^^ervance of them with pleasure, so that, in this respect, 
 ^^Hiian becomes a law to himself, carrying with him the 
 I^^^ritten in his body in living characters. It, is true, the 
 ultimate and full effects of transgression are not experienced 
 at once. The warning power is given, and a voice is heard 
 proceeding both from the body and the conscience of the trans- 
 gressor, from his physical and moral nature, crying out in 
 tones of distress, beware! The young man who violates the 
 law of temperance in drinking, does not at once realize the full 
 extent of the physical suffering which is the final earthly pun- 
 ishment of intemperance; neither does he at once lose the 
 good opinion of society. The world is inclined to be lenient 
 in her judgments, and to make apologies for ilie indiscretions 
 of youth and the force of circumstances. Yet there is suffi- 
 cient in (he censures and sufi''erings inflicted by both, to con- 
 stitute a powerful admonition, an unmistakable warning to 
 the culprit to abstain from similar excesses. If this warning is 
 heeded, the youth may recover all the good opinion of socie- 
 ty which was endangered, and may restore, to a great degree, 
 
if not entirely, to his physical nature, the evil which he had 
 inflicted. To restore his body entirely to the condition in 
 which it was before his transgression, is perhaps impossible. 
 Such appears to be the law of our physical nature; for a limb 
 sprained, fractured or broken, never regains its original vigor, 
 and if injury to a part is permanent, for the same reason is vio- 
 lence done to the whole syslem by excess permanent. The 
 limit of life is shortened, and the pains of life are multiplied. 
 But if the warning be unheeded ; if reason and experience are 
 disregarded, amidst the clamor of passion and the uproar of 
 revelry, then the evil increases, until habit, another law of our 
 nature, is introduced, which fastens the evil upon the. system 
 never to be removed. Intemperance, wilh all its miseries, be- 
 comes a habit, a new nature, so that all the force of the origi- 
 nal nature becomes auxiliary to the evil which is rapidly work- 
 ing her own ruin. Thus a beautiful and vigorous body be- 
 comes deformed and bloated, and its energies enfeebled, until 
 it sinks amidst the agonies of dissolution, into a putrid mass. 
 
 In addition, it is an ascertained law of our physical bdj^p', 
 that excesses in youth, violations of the laws of health, iKn 
 if the transgressor recover himself and reform, lay the founda- 
 tion for future evils. Very often these make their appearance 
 suddenly and unexpectedly, and without any known cause. 
 Thus occur many of what are called mysterious dispensations 
 of Providence. But if the early history of these victims of a 
 mysterious Providence were known, there would be no myste- 
 ry to solve ; all would be clearly traceable to early vices which 
 late in life developed themselves in fearful consequences. 
 " Whatsoever a man soweth that also shall he reap." The 
 harvest is returned to the sower in frequency and fullness, as 
 well as in kind, according to that which has been sown. 
 
 We may be satisfied then, of the truth of the position that, 
 so far as his physical nature is involved in tlie discussion, man 
 is by his constitution made subject to law. Indeed, we might 
 infer from the character of God, as wise, that where there is to 
 be succession and continuance, where there is a particular end 
 to be accomplished, there, in every thing connected with that 
 
6 
 
 ■end, there must be law. Hence we find laws governing all 
 animate and inanimate existences, the impress of that Almigh- 
 ty power and infinite wisdom which created and controls the 
 universe. Hence those forces, resistless in their influence, ex- 
 cept by him who created them, hold the material universe 
 together, and move the mighty masses of planets and satellites 
 through the immensity of space, fulfilling the will of theircre- 
 ator; so that, from the atom which floats in the sunbeam, to 
 the sun which illumines and animates our system, all are 
 bound by the constraining influences of the laws of their Al- 
 mighty creator. 
 
 2. Man, as intellectual^ is by his constitution subject to law. 
 The intellect has its own system of laws, its rewards and pen- 
 alties, its joys and sorrows. These laws may be called exer- 
 cise, progress, development, success, enjoyment. Ail the 
 powers of the mind gain strength and facility of action by ex- 
 ercise. So that the man who will exercise his memory or im- 
 agination, or reason, will soon discover thatthese faculties have 
 incieased in power and facility of action. On the contrary, if 
 ^^v are neglected and uncultivated, they will lose their pow- 
 ^f and become more and more feeble, until (hey are lost in 
 vacuity. The same law holds with every other power of the 
 human mind, so that the highest intellectual endowments, 
 when neglected, gradually lose their (one, become sickly in 
 their action, and finally terminate in melancholy, derangement 
 or idiocy. Exercise must always precede progress, and pro- 
 gress development, and development success, and success en- 
 joyment. On the other hand, when the mind is overworked, 
 its action becomes morbid, its power over the body becomes 
 omnipotent, it taxes the energies of its house of clay until it 
 has consumed it by its unwonted fires. Such cases are not 
 common among us. Here and there a genius arises, in the 
 midst of us, to whom God has given unusual intellectual gifts, 
 all whose tastes are intellectual, all whose enjoyments are those 
 of the intellect, to whom the acquisition of knowledge is 
 amusement, who was born an intellectual giant, and wlio can 
 not be dwarfed, either by (he obstiuctiuus of poverty or ill 
 
7 
 
 health, or the allurements of the world. In such men, the 
 laws governing mind are strikingly illustrated. 
 
 Another law is, that mind is as its ideas, both as to quality 
 and quantity. And as is the mind, so is the man. The mind 
 makes the man. The man, who from boyhood has been 
 reared and trained in an English factory, conversant with bu£ 
 few ideas, running the same round of spindles, and wires and 
 threads, from year to year, with nothing to interest or awaken 
 energy, or apply stimulus, can, from the nature of the mind, 
 make no progress. The factory and the boarding-house con- 
 stitute the boundary of his ideas. The mind stagnates amidst 
 the monotonous routine of such a life. In the manufacture 
 of pins there are ten operations, every one of which requires 
 the attention of mind. The pin, when formed, is of so little 
 value, that its loss or gain elicits neither joy nor sarrow, yet an 
 immortal mind is tied down day by day, during a life time, to 
 the point of a pin. What is there in the point of a pin to 
 stimulate or elevate the mind, or fill it with lofty ideas. The 
 raindisasthe number of its ideas. On the other hand, the 
 master workman or superintendent, with a mind by natureno 
 more refined or elevated than that of the operative, by the va- 
 riety of interests which he has to consult, the responsibility 
 which presses upon him, the multiplicity and variety of minds 
 with which he must come into contact, is in the way of be- 
 coming a man of enlarged capacity, far-seeing, comprehen- 
 sive in his views, and sound in judgment. Under the variety, 
 multiplicity and activity of his ideas, the mind becomes en- 
 larged and invigorated, so that he becomes a man of decided 
 ability. The naind requires a large number of ideas, in order 
 to develop its energies, and raise it to the position which God 
 intended it should occupy. Hence, it is of the utmost impor- 
 tance for those Vi?ho are either on the farm or in the workshop, 
 or in any other avocation unfriendly to intellectual improve- 
 ment, to remedy the defects of their situation by means of 
 books, which are the great store-houses of ideas, and which 
 present a delightful remedy for the evils to which they are ex- 
 posed. 
 
8 
 
 But, the mind is also as the character of its ideas. The 
 scenery with which we are conversant, gives character to the 
 mind. The beautiful landscape, the lofty mountain, the 
 foaming cataract, and the mighty ocean, in calm or storm, fill 
 the imagination with images, and store the memory with ideas 
 and the heart with sentiments which will exert a powerful and 
 permanent influence upon the mind. They will enlarge its 
 capacity, determine its character and iSx its destiny. Much 
 more, the ordinary trains of thought which flow from our every 
 day pursuits, the society with which we mingle in business 
 and recreation, and the books, which constitute the staple of 
 our reading and study, leave upon the mind durable impres- 
 sions, and influence its growth and development. It was cus- 
 tomary for the ancient Romans to place their sons under the 
 guardianship and in the society of their most distinguished 
 statesmen, jurists and generals, that they might be conversant 
 daily with the loftiest minds, the purest sentirpents, and the 
 noblest actions. That they might not only learn the science 
 of war, politics and law, but that they might witness them 
 ei|||t)odied and brought out under the most attractive circum- 
 stances. Thus were formed the heroes, orators, statesmen and 
 patriots of old Rome, whose glory has reached to our day, and 
 whose influence is yet powerful for good. 
 
 I think we are now prepared to understand that the powers 
 of the mind acquire strength and activity by exercise, and lose 
 their natural power by neglect. The intellectually indolent 
 man, therefore, from the law of his mind, will not improve, 
 but deteriorate. He will become a drone in society, and a 
 burden to his friends. His passions and appetites will gain 
 strength at the expense of his intellect. His lower nature will 
 be cultivated at the expense of the higher, and he will be pre- 
 paring himself to become a moral monster, and an intellectual 
 dwarf. 
 
 In like manner is the mind influenced by the number and 
 kind of its ideas. Development and progress will be as the 
 number of its ideas, and that development and progress will be 
 right or wrong, good or bad, favorable or unfavorable, accord- 
 
9 
 
 ing to the character of the ideas with which it is conversant 
 He who is daily conversant with the loftiest ideas, the noblest 
 characters, whether living or dead, the purest and most eleva- 
 ted sentiments, will become the loftiest, noblest, purest of man- 
 kind. He, who like Milton, deprived of the light furnished 
 by the natural eye, will turn the eye of faith to the effulgent 
 brightness of a better world and converse with angels and pure 
 spirits there; like Milton, will be elevated in character above 
 the world, though he be not like him, one of the greatest po- 
 ets of his age. Washington lived in the sentitnents of patri- 
 otism, justice, truth, chastity, piety, and he will ever stand at 
 the head of statesmen, generals, and patriots. Howard lived 
 in the sentiment of compassion for the unfortunate, and he de- 
 veloped character so lowly in its labors, yet so lofty in its as- 
 pirations, that angels might wonder and admire. The love of 
 Christ constrainedthe apostle Paul. It was a quenchless flame. 
 It burned undimmed and with increasing effulgence, amidst 
 labors and trials, and sufferings, and death itself. He dwelt 
 with Christ, conversed with him by day and by night, was 
 filled with his spirit and clothed himself with his character. 
 Moses, the loftiest of mankind in privileges, was the lowliest 
 and meekest in spirit. He beheld the glory of God, as no 
 mortal before had seen it. He conversed with God face to 
 face, and that daily. 
 
 I have cited these cases to show how the character and num- 
 ber of ideas exert an influence upon the mind where they 
 dwell, and how they transform it into their own character. 
 
 On the other hand, he who is familiar with low characters, 
 ideas and sentiments, who swims in the putrid pool of sensu- 
 ality, or gives his mind up to the control of covetousness, or 
 makes all his menial and physical energies subservient to the 
 one thought of pecuniary gain, whether his ideas be fewer 
 many, degrades instead of elevates, and brings himself down 
 to the lowest form of man. The youth who, througli indo- 
 lence, or a mistaken notion that he is a genius, throws aside 
 the solid text book unmastered, and the learning of the wise 
 as dry stuff, and gives himself up to the yellow covered liter- 
 2 
 
10 
 
 ature of the day, the silly novel and the senseless tale, who 
 struts largely on the streets, in embroidered vest and moustach- 
 ed mouth, and mistakes his crude jests for wit, pays the penal- 
 ty of his folly in never rising above the level of the point from 
 which he started. He will receive the trifler and idler's reward. 
 Hence we may conclude that the intellectual differences per- 
 ceptible in men are to be referred, not so much to natural en- 
 dowments, as to subjection to the laws of mind ; and that they 
 who will aspire af(er a mind strengthened and developed by 
 exercise, and filled with the loftiest and noblest sentiments at- 
 tainable, urged forward, not by low ambition, but the love of 
 knowledge and the yet higher motive of christian principle, 
 will realize their fondest aspirations in the rewards of time and 
 eternity. 
 
 This leads me to consider man as a religious being subject 
 to law. 
 
 3. The law under which man, as a religious being, is placed, 
 is derived both from nature and revelation. The defects of the 
 one are supplied by the more complete teachings of the other. 
 This law is divided for the sake of convenience into natural 
 and moral, whilst the duties taught in both are moral in their 
 character. Conscience, which is our only and constant moni- 
 tor, is enlightened by the law. The relations which we sus- 
 tain to one another and to God, are made known by the law, 
 and when these are made known, a sense of duty necessarily 
 follows. Conscience approves when we do right, and the 
 purest earthly enjoyment ensues. When we do wrong, con- 
 science condemns, fearful forebodings for the future accompany 
 the stings of conscience, and the guilty soul endures the most 
 poignant sufferings to which man on earth can be exposed. 
 The law then, under which we as moral beings are placed, is 
 obedience, present enjoyment, increased power of obedience, 
 with increased capacity for enjoyment forever. Disobedience, 
 suffering, strengthened tendency and facility to sin, with eter- 
 nal misery in reversion. Yirtue and vice follow the same laws. 
 ThBy are both strengthened by exercise and weakened by 
 neglect. He who has made it the rule of his life, to do no- 
 
11 
 
 thing but that which he knows to be right, and will not per- 
 mit himself to do wrong, rapidly acquires a quick perception 
 and appreciation of right, a promptness of judgment and read- 
 iness of action which, without the rule, he would never acquire. 
 Let the virtue be what it may, it acquires additional strength 
 by exercise, and the faculty, on which it depends for exercise, 
 acquires additional sensibility. Is it temperance, in its rudest 
 signification? Is it truth, chastity, industry, love to God and 
 man, or is it the opposite vices? they all gather strength by 
 use, until man becomes a saint or a devil. 
 
 The satTie law is manifested in what are called principles or 
 governing virtues. Honesty in business, or the principle of the 
 best bargain. To do to others as you would have them to do 
 to you, or as you would not have them do to you. To think 
 before you speak. Never to speak evil of a man when absent. 
 To cultivate a kind, gentle, forgiving spirit. To act from 
 principle, not from impulse and passion. To be still and nei- 
 ther speak nor act until passion has subsided. 
 
 Now when the moral law, by which we must be governed, 
 is violated either by neglected duty or overt acts of transgres- 
 sion, suffering ensues. This suffering may seem to be much 
 greater than the extent of the injury committed. A small sum 
 of money is stolen; the imrnediate effect upon the culprit is 
 loss of character, and the ultimate effect may be the loss of 
 the soul. The sum taken was no appreciable loss to him who 
 was robbed. Thus also is it with violations of law which ter- 
 minate in the transgressor and extend no farther. Secret sins, 
 impurity, infidelity, (fcc, like a hidden disease, gather strength 
 and spread themselves until the whole mass is corrupt. If this 
 melancholy result were not to follow, yet such is the nature 
 of the law of God, that he who is guilty of one point is guilty 
 of all, and he who has taken the name of God in vain, though 
 he be not a thief or an adulterer, incurs the penalty of the 
 whole law. 
 
 The truth of our position is illustrated not only in the con- 
 dition of man, as individual, but also as social. God is the au- 
 thor of society, and has impressed upon man the desire of so- 
 
12 
 
 ciety,ancl has defined the rights and privileges of the individu- 
 al and the society, and has annexed the appropriate rewards 
 and punishments to obedience and disobedience. The law, 
 constituting and estabUshing civil society, is ascertained, like 
 every other law of God, from nature and revelation. The du- 
 ties which belong to the individual and to society, are as read- 
 ily ascertained as the laws which bind thefamily together, and 
 the reciprocal duties of children and parents. The conse- 
 quences of disobedience, of the violation of social laws, con- 
 stitute, to a great degree, the history of nations. The history 
 of the world is the history of transgression, individual and so- 
 cial, and each individual and each generation, as it passes 
 away, leaves in its own history instruction, admonition, reproof 
 and warning for all time, to those who come after. The vio- 
 lence of the individual and the violence of the mob, are but 
 illustrations of that lawlessness which spurns all restraint, and 
 which, in its supreme selfishness, claims for itself the right of 
 doing or not doing what caprice or passion may dictate. The 
 spirit of the mob is the same spirit, modified by circumstances, 
 which enters our college hails, and holds at defiance all the 
 laws which experience and wisdom and goodness have framed 
 for the highest welfare of the community. There is really no 
 hope for a young man who is thus governed by no sense of 
 duty. He has, deeply seated in his vitals, a moral disease 
 which no medical skill can eradicate. A disease which is 
 continually gathering strength, which is in the highest degree 
 contagious, and which leaves its poisonous influence after its 
 victim has been destroyed. A young man, thus influenced, is 
 acting against the very constitution of his nature. He is de- 
 stroying his own moral nature, and is acting as palpably wrong 
 as if he were disobeying the intimations of his senses. Better 
 far, that such a youth entered none of our colleges. Better far, 
 that he were not educated, and that he might not go forth into 
 society armed with the influence of knowledge to corrupt and 
 destroy society, a lawless monster in a world of law. 
 
 The penalty which is paid by the violation of the laws of 
 society, is the loss of the privileges belonging to society. The 
 
 * • 
 
13 
 
 transgressor is apprehended, tried and punished, according to 
 his offences. If the number of offenders becomes too great 
 for the control of society, and the laws are broken with impu- 
 nity, then the necessary consequence will be, the destruction 
 of the society itself, and a relapse into a condition fearful in 
 the extreme, in which man is arrayed against his fellow-man, 
 in which friendship and faith, and honesty and truth, and all 
 social virtues are destroyed, and the race of man is brought to 
 the last generation of his kind. 
 
 Thus, extending our view of the subject, and contemplat- 
 ing the works of God every where, we find them bound to- 
 gether and controlled by laws few indeed in number, but irre- 
 sistible in influence. It is thus that the harmony of the uni- 
 verse is preserved. It is thus that in inanimate matter and 
 among irrational animals, from the tender blade of grass v/hich 
 springs under our feet, to the vast worlds that move in space, 
 and from the insect imperceptible to the naked eye, to the huge 
 monsters of the earth, and air and sea, all are subject to the 
 laws of their creator. All fulfil the end for which they were 
 made. God himself subjects himself to law, and thus all are 
 obedient, all are happy, save the angels who lost their first es- 
 tate, and man who, choosing to act in opposition to the will of 
 God, and throwing off the restraints of natural and revealed 
 law, exposes himself to constant misery here, and eternal suf- 
 ferings hereafter. 
 
 Reflections, 
 
 1. The first lesson of wisdom which you may learn from 
 this subject, my young friends, is to submit to law. This is 
 duty and interest. It is obedience and happiness. Study the 
 physical, intellectual and moral laws under which God has 
 placed you. Consider the object of your existence, and seek 
 to fulfil it. The great question for every one to settle, in be- 
 ginning life, is whether or not he will be law-abiding. He 
 should carefully consider the subject in its length and breadth. 
 In its relations to his body and soul, to time and eternity, to 
 himself and society. All the vast interests which cluster around 
 him, as intellectual and immortal, should be carefully contem- 
 plated. If the choice be not made deliberately, with all the 
 
14 
 
 facts and reasonings before hiin, it will be made rashly. If it 
 be not made by the young man himself, it will be made /or 
 him. If it be not made by reason and common sense and 
 conscience, it will be made by passion, ignorance and folly. 
 It is a question of infinite importance. It is settling a princi- 
 ple of action which will exert a constant influence upon the 
 character. It is opening a fountain whose waters, whether of 
 bitterness or delight, will never cease to flow. It is imparting 
 an impulse which will never cease to act. It is, in one word, 
 bringing to a formal decision the question whether or not the 
 laws of God shall be obeyed. 
 
 To aid in arriving at a correct conclusion, if such aid were ne- 
 cessary, it were well for every one to ask himself, " shall I, in 
 the future, act upon such principles, and pursue such a course 
 of conduct as will ininister to my body debility, disease and 
 death; to my mind ignorance, imbecility, and idiocy; to my 
 soul pollution, alienation from God, crime and eternal misery, 
 or shall I cast off the shackles with which vice and the world 
 vi'ould enslave me; assist my independence, unite all holy in- 
 fluences into my soul, and choose God and his law as my por- 
 tion forever ?" Let me urge you most affectionately to adopt 
 this course. For he who has made a correct choice, has taken 
 the first step in the way to duty and eternal glory. 
 
 2. Having resolved to be subject to law, in all the relations 
 of life, the next step is to carry this resolution into effect. 
 Much has been gained by adopting a rule of life, something 
 to live for. You will find in our literary institutions and out 
 of thein, young men who seem to be aimless and useless. 
 Effort of every sort is a drudgery. Study is a weariness to 
 the flesh. There are no lofty aspirations of soul. No love of 
 knowledge, no desire to be distinguished or useful. " Crea- 
 tion's blank, creation's blot." They spend a miserable youth, 
 the precursorto a miserable manhood and old age. Better were 
 it that the elements of existence were moved and agitated, 
 even by unholy motives, than to stagnate and exhale from their 
 putrid surface miasm and death. Determine to do what is 
 right. Follow the rule of life which you have adopted, and 
 let nothing induce you to swerve from it. This will keep you 
 
15 
 
 in safefy and peace. In the beautiful language of another 
 (Dr. Olin) " it shall be your charmed talisman, before which 
 evil spirits will cry out in despair, or be smitten dumb with 
 terror. It shall be your passport to excellence and reputation 
 and power and honest fame, at the presentation of which bar- 
 red gates will open before you to all choice and precious things. 
 A conscientious, early and absolute surrender of the life to the 
 guidance of duty brings into the mind a power far more valu- 
 able than would be the acquisition of new faculties; it quad- 
 ruples the efficiency of the old. It is better than genius and 
 eloquence, and is often a good substitute for them. It simpli- 
 fies all the movements of life. It cuts short a thousand strug- 
 gles with temptation and passion. It is a thread of gold in 
 the hand of inexperienced youth and care-worn manhood, to 
 conduct the willing and obedient, through the dark, pathless 
 labyrinth of this world." 
 
 It is to be regretted that so many, not only of those who 
 make no profession of piety, but also nominally christian stu- 
 dents, do not make subjection to law the rule of life. They 
 are neither industrious, nor law-abiding; and after they have 
 passed through, in an imperfect way, the curriculum of studies 
 prescribed in our college, and have launched fairly upon the 
 voyage of life, they cease to be students. They bid adieu to 
 literature and science, as though they were the most unpleas- 
 ant companions upon whose society they had ever stumbled 
 in the journey of life. The penalty is paid for this violation 
 of the law of intellect and conscience. The mind becomes 
 dwarfed. It dwindles away through want of the supplies of 
 its natural food. As physicians, lawyers, preachers, they run 
 through the same beaten track from year to year, until the 
 mind becomes weary of its own ideas and images so often re- 
 peated. Thus passing the vigor of youth in intellectual indo- 
 lence, in the prime of manhood ihey are physically strong and 
 intellectually weak, and incapable of doing much that is pleas- 
 ing or profitable either to God or man. 
 
 3. Let me urge you to keep your principles constantly be- 
 fore your minds; make them your companions. Converse 
 with them freely. You will need the stimulus and strength 
 
16 
 
 which they impart. Let the laws which God has impreseefl 
 upon your physical, intellectual and moral natures be always 
 fresh in your consciousness. They will assist each other. Es- 
 pecially let the pure fountains of living waters, which are 
 opened in the word of God, fill you with their refreshing in- 
 fluences. 
 
 Be bold to avow your principles on all proper occasions. 
 Let the world know what you are. You may be sure thai 
 lliere is no concealment from God. Nothing is more contempt- 
 ible, whether in the christian or infidel, than the concealment 
 of his principles. It is a double crime. It is both falsehood 
 and cowardice. If principles are worth adopting, they are 
 worth avowing. Be committed for the right, and stand there 
 in the hour of (rial and peril. How often do you find good 
 men, anxious to be distinguished, conceal their principles for 
 the sake of advantage, so that they may evade, retreat, or go 
 forward as the breeze of favor lulls or blows. How often do 
 you find professors of religion at home and in college, undis- 
 tinguished by principle or practice from the avowedly irreli- 
 gious. 
 
 Finally : Learn from this subject, my young friends, thai 
 the secret of (rue happiness is to be law-abiding. This is (he 
 true elixir of life, the power which transmutes every thing it 
 touches into gold. This explains to us the reason, (o so many 
 a profound mystery, why some men become so highly distin- 
 guished for intellectual and moral attainments. Why some 
 students, in their preparatory training, and professional men, 
 in their various professions, rise above the level of (he o-reat 
 mass. This furnishes the reason why some men are enabled 
 to perform so much physical and intellectual labor, and be- 
 come instrumental in accomplishing so much good. This 
 teaches us why some are cheered in the pilgrimage of life by 
 the hope of eternal glory, -and die in the triumphs of faith. 
 They have followed the law of their moral nature. They have 
 sought to relieve its necessities by applying to the great physi- 
 cian of souls. They have satisfied its cravings with the bread 
 and water of life, and cheered and refreshed, they have gone 
 on their way rejoicing. Go, my young friends and do like- 
 wise ; and may the blessing of the Highest attend you. 
 
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