A DISCOURSE 
 
 PREACHED AT THE 
 
 
 DEDICATION OF THE CHAPEL 
 
 AT 
 
 LAFAYETTE COLLEGE, 
 
 MARCH 12, 1873, 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. S, A. GAY LEY, 
 
 President of the Alumni Association of Lafayette College. 
 
 PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 EASTON, PENN'A. 
 1873. 
 
A DISCOURSE 
 
 PREACHED AX THE 
 
 DEDICATION OF THE CHAPEL 
 
 AT 
 
 LAFAYETTE COLLEGE 
 
 MARCH 12, 1873, 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. S. A. GAY LEY, 
 
 President of the Alumni Association of Lafayette College. 
 
 PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, 
 
 EASTQN, PENN'A. 
 1873. 
 
c 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 w Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vine- 
 yard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. And he 
 fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the 
 choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine- 
 press therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it 
 brought forth wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men 
 of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could 
 have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Where- 
 fore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild 
 grapes ?" — Isaiah v. 1 — 4. 
 
 The prophet, by this parable of a vineyard, in selecting for it 
 a favorable site, "on a fruitful hill," in the thorough prepara- 
 tion of the soil, gathering out the stones thereof, in fencing it 
 in, planting it with the choicest vine, building a tower in its 
 midst, and in making a wine-press in it, presents the complete- 
 ness of the Divine provision made for Israel. 
 
 As the husbandman who has exercised so much care and 
 attention, and bestowed so much labor upon his vineyard, has 
 reason, in the natural course of things, to expect suitable 
 returns as the reward of his expenditure, so the prophet teaches 
 that God, w T ho had made such provision for Israel, having 
 omitted nothing, in the arrangements of his grace, calculated 
 to promote their spiritual fruitfulness, in fidelity to himself and 
 obedience to his will, had reason to expect corresponding fruits. 
 Nothing had been left undone that divine wisdom could devise 
 and divine goodness provide; but when he looked for his vine- 
 yard to bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes. With 
 propriety he asks, "What could I have done more for my vine- 
 yard that I have not done to it?" 
 
 The application of the passage is obvious, and needs no 
 lengthy exposition. The truth inculcated is that when God 
 has furnished means and opportunities for moral and spiritual 
 improvement, he justly looks for corresponding fruits. To 
 whom much is given, from them much is required. 
 
 Leaving this obvious application of the passage, my object 
 
will be to point out the adaptation of the system of truth 
 revealed iri the Bible, and of the instituted means of grace to 
 the nature and wants of man, or the completeness and suita- 
 bleness of the arrangements of divine grace for the accom- 
 plishment of the divine purpose in his salvation. 
 
 The salvation of fallen man is the clearly expressed purpose 
 which God designs to accomplish by the gospel. As he is 
 infinitely wise, the means selected to accomplish this end must 
 have a wise adaptation to human nature, which they are 
 designed to influence. This is simply to ascribe to him the 
 attribute of intelligence which we must accord to a being who 
 possesses in himself the sum of absolute perfection. It is but 
 reasonable to suppose that the contents of the revelation he 
 has given us as the appointed means of our salvation, have a 
 special adaptation to our nature, which they are designed to 
 purify, ennoble, and exalt to communion with himself. 
 
 The examination of this revelation cannot fail to convince 
 every unbiassed mind of its eminent suitableness to meet man's 
 intellectual and moral wants, and to influence him to the love 
 and service of God. 
 
 1. The character of God, as revealed in the Bible, meets 
 the demands of our nature for a supreme being to worship and 
 serve. 
 
 The being of God is the primary truth in morals and reli- 
 gion. The demand for such a being is the imperative and 
 most controlling instinct of our nature. 
 
 The history of the race conclusively proves that man must 
 have a God to worship, fear, and serve, and to whom he 
 can resort for assistance in times of pressing need. In the 
 absence of the clear revelation of the true God, he makes one 
 for himself, by a deification of the forces manifest in nature, 
 to which he ascribes personality and perfection, whom he 
 makes lord of his conscience, and to whom he renders the 
 supreme homage of his heart. The universality of this fact, 
 that man, wherever found, and in whatever state of civilization 
 and enlightenment, has some being or beings whom he wor- 
 ships, fears, and serves, and which controls his life, evinces the 
 imperativeness of this demand of human nature for a God. 
 But whilst these false deities of the heathen in a measure meet 
 and satisfy the demands of the conscience and the'heart, they 
 do not fully satisfy the urgent moral wants of man. The 
 
enlightened and inquiring of the heathen, in every age, felt 
 and expressed their dissatisfaction with the popular systems of 
 religion, and their unbelief in the gods. Earnest and thought- 
 ful minds ever realized their insufficiency to satisfy the deep 
 yearnings of their souls. 
 
 But the God of the Bible, as self-existent and eternal, as 
 embodying in himself the sum of absolute perfection, the 
 Creator of all things, the supreme Governor of the universe, 
 and the final Judge, dispensing retributive justice to the bad 
 and rewarding the good, clothed with the attributes of omnipo- 
 tence, majesty, justice, and holiness, meets in the fullest sense 
 the demand of our nature for a being who will inspire us with 
 feelings of reverence and fear, and as an object worthy of our 
 worship and obedience. Moreover, his love, mercy, sympathy 
 with mankind, considered not as a mere physical force, nor as 
 the vital principle in nature, nor as an unconscious and unin- 
 telligent absolute Being, inseparable from the universe, but as 
 an extramundane, personal God, standing in intimate relations 
 to man and to all human affairs, upholding all things, and gov- 
 erning all his creatures and all their actions, and, moreove r 
 revealed in the character of a Father, and especially as mar 
 fested in the person of Jesus Christ, — able to sympathize w* 
 us in affliction, to succor lis in need, to provide for our neces- 
 sities, to guide us in perplexity, and as the hearer of prayer, 
 the demand of the affections and our sense of absolute depen- 
 dence are fully met. The God of the Bible, in his sterner 
 attributes of power, majesty, justice, and holiness, meets the 
 demands of the conscience and of those moral instincts that 
 demand an object of worship and reverence, whilst the milder 
 features of his character satisfy the demand of the affections 
 for a being worthy of supreme love. ,His revealed character, 
 when apprehended by the enlightened mind, is felt to corres- 
 pond to the conscious instincts of our nature, and to him the 
 supreme homage of the soul and the affections of the heart are 
 cheerfully and voluntarily rendered. In him the soul finds its 
 counterpart, its centre, and its rest. Its language is, u He is 
 all my desire. " 
 
 2. The Bible, as a revealed system of positive and infallible 
 truth, is suited to the nature of the human mind. 
 
 The religious history of the race clearly demonstrates that 
 systems of morals and religion have never been embraced as 
 
the deductions of the reason. True, there have been instances 
 of attempts to construct philosophic systems based on purely 
 rational principles ; but these speculative systems have ever failed 
 to take any extensive hold upon the human mind. The masses 
 never embraced them. The various religious systems of hea- 
 thenism have been received as positive and infallible revelations 
 of the gods. All heathen sects have their sacred books or 
 traditions, which are ' regarded as embodying the doctrines, 
 precepts and rites given by special revelation, and as such, are 
 they received as authoritative and infallible as a rule of faith 
 and practice. Thus the Vedas of the Hindoo, the Zencl-avesta 
 of the Parsees, the sacred books of the Buddhists, the Koran 
 of the Mohammedans, and the unwritten traditions of the 
 unlettered African, are received as positive divine revelations, 
 and not because they have been tested and approved of by 
 human reason. This fact which is everywhere observed, evinces 
 the tendency of the human mind and its imperative demand 
 for a positive and infallible system of revealed truth, for an 
 authority that is divine, as a foundation of its faith. 
 
 Religion and morals have respect to a being superior to our- 
 selves; hence the religious element of our nature instinctively 
 leads us to look to a superior being as the authoritative source 
 of a system of religion and morals. < The human mind cannot 
 give its homage to any system that is regarded as of human 
 origin, without doing violence to its instincts and the laws of 
 its operation. It imperatively demands a revelation that is 
 divine, on which, without doubt and uncertainty, faith may 
 steadfastly rest, and the anxious and agitated soul may find 
 repose. Rationalism, by its indefiniteness and uncertainty, 
 offers no secure refuge to the weary spirit. It is like the broad 
 and agitated deep on which the dove of Noah could find no 
 resting-place, but had to return again to the ark; so the wearied 
 soul of man has ever turned away from its unsatisfying specula- 
 tions, and sought refuge in the ark of what was regarded as 
 divine revelation. 
 
 But moreover, religious truth necessarily, from its very 
 nature, involves the supernatural, and contains mysteries trans- 
 cending the comprehension of the human mind, and which 
 cannot be tested at the bar of reason, but which can only be 
 received by simple faith. Thus every consideration of the 
 nature of the subject, of the mind, its most intense instincts 
 
and its clearly developed tendency, demonstrate that nothing 
 but a divinely revealed positive system of truth can satisfy its 
 demands. The truth embodied in the Scriptures, revealed by 
 Jehovah, who is infinite, eternal and unchangeable, meets and 
 satisfies the demands of our nature. There is in its author 
 the highest authority and most consummate wisdom, spotless 
 purity and undoubted veracity, which answer the requirements 
 of faith. That supreme authority as the foundation of religious 
 faith, which the unenlightened ascribe to their divinities, is 
 here found in the fullest sense, in the author of the Bible. 
 
 The contents of this revelation, too, are wisely adapted to 
 the human mind, in that they instruct man in those things 
 which satisfy his earnest inquiries, and meet the felt necessities 
 of his religious nature. The character of God, man's relation 
 to Him and his fellow-men, the duties springing therefrom, how 
 he may serve God acceptably and secure his favor; and above 
 all, it opens to him the future, unfolds the life of happiness and 
 glory that remains for those who acceptably serve God here, 
 and the darkness, misery and eternal wretchedness that await 
 those who serve Him not. 
 
 It covers the whole field of moral and religious thought and 
 inquiry, and furnishes positive, definite, and satisfactory 
 answers to the deepest and most urgent yearnings of the soul. 
 Whilst human speculation leaves man's anxious and agitated 
 spirit tossed upon a shoreless sea of uncertainty, and overhung 
 with dark and gloomy clouds, that exclude the light of day, 
 the Bible opens to it a haven of peace and security, light, and 
 joy, and rest forever. 
 
 3. The duties it inculcates and enforces commend themselves 
 to the enlightened conscience. Conscience is that faculty which 
 judges of the moral quality of actions. It spontaneously gives 
 its approbation to what it perceives to be right, and its disap- 
 probation to what it perceives to be wrong. In its decisions it 
 is not arbitrary, but has respect to a law as a standard of moral 
 action, which it simply executes. This law is regarded as the 
 enactment of an authoritative and competent Lawgiver; one 
 that is not human, but divine. Man, from the moral instincts 
 of his nature, cannot accord to a fellow-mortal supreme lord- 
 ship over his conscience, and receive from him a law to regulate 
 his moral conduct. 
 
 Conscience, in a special sense, is that principle or faculty 
 
which binds man to a superior being, and produces in him the 
 feeling of moral dependence upon a higher power. It demands 
 a divine being to whom it cheerfully accords the prerogative of 
 lordship, and the right to prescribe a rule of moral action, and 
 which it spontaneously enforces. Its dictates harmonize with 
 accepted moral law. 
 
 The conscience of the heathen enforces the law conceived as 
 given by the gods, to whom, in their ignorance of the true God, 
 they have given their allegiance. If conscience enforces a 
 false morality, it is because of its blindness and ignorance of 
 a purer law, as its dictates are in accordance with its light. 
 The God of the Bible, who is infinite in perfection, and is 
 revealed as moral governor and final judge, meets the demand 
 of the conscience as Lord and Lawgiver. The moral code 
 revealed in the Scriptures commends itself to the enlightened 
 conscience, and its duties accord with its innate or intuitive 
 perceptions of justice and of right. It is perceived to be a 
 comprehensive and perfect rule of moral action, and however 
 much the heart, in its attachment to sin, may be opposed to the 
 law of God, yet the conscience regards it as holy, just, and 
 good, and lifts its voice in testimony in its behalf. The con- 
 science of even the most abandoned profligate, and of the most 
 decided sceptic, gives its approbation to the purity of the 
 morality inculcated in the Bible. However widely their con- 
 duct may be at variance with its precepts, there is still within 
 them the voice of conscience, bearing witness in its favor, w T hose 
 utterances cannot be altogether silenced. The seal is no more 
 perfectly adapted to the wax upon which it leaves its impress, 
 than are the precepts of this divine law to man's moral nature. 
 Nor more certainly does the musical instrument respond to the 
 skilful touch of the accomplished performer, than the enlight- 
 ened conscience, in feelings of approbation to the duties it 
 enjoins. It is seen to be authoritative as the law of the great 
 King with w T hom we have to do, and to be perfect, holy, just, 
 and good. 
 
 4. The revelation contained in the Bible is adapted to the 
 affections. Whilst the intellect has respect to the true, the 
 conscience to the right, the heart or affections have respect to 
 what is good. The affections demand something to admire and 
 love, something to embrace. A revelation whose design is to 
 meet human wants, and to effectually influence man for good, 
 
to bring him in character and life into harmony with the divine 
 nature and will, and that would overlook the claim of the 
 affections, would necessarily be incomplete, inasmuch as the 
 most important part of man's nature would be unprovided for. 
 The affections are in a more special sense the seat of character 
 and of power. There reside the forces that determine volition, 
 and are the spring of human action. " Out of the heart are the 
 issues of life." " As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." 
 
 In this respect the truths contained in the Bible, and espe- 
 cially the gospel of the grace of God, are wisely suited to our 
 nature. In the God of the Bible, not inaccessible to us, dwell- 
 ing in eternal solitude, as a mere spectator of his works, but in 
 intimate relations to us, as He in whom we live, and move, 
 and have our being, — as our Father, possessing in an infinite 
 degree the characteristics of an earthly parent; a God of 
 love, mercy, compassion, goodness; of tender sympathy, and 
 interest in our welfare, there is not only everything to admire, 
 but everything to expel distrust, and to engage the choicest 
 affections of the heart. But it is as He is revealed to us 
 in Christ Jesus, and as manifested in his perfect life of 
 righteousness, in his self-sacrificing love for our sake, in his 
 . tender and large sympathies with us in our alienation, weak- 
 ness, sorrows, and diversified trials, that He specially com- 
 mends himself to man, not only as worthy of his deepest grati- 
 tude, but of his fervent love. In the gospel there is revealed 
 the most ample provision for our spiritual need. It furnishes a 
 satisfactory answer to the pressing inquiry of the soul, "How 
 shall man be just with God?" in a way that satisfies the 
 enlightened mind, and the demands of the conscience, and 
 brings peace and satisfaction to the heart. There is an anti- 
 dote for 'every ill, a balm for every wound, and a cordial for 
 every fear; light in darkness, strength in weakness, joy in 
 sorrow, deliverance from temptation, and every form of evil; 
 protection from every danger, and victory in every conflict. In 
 a word, all the good that man can possibly desire, and which 
 can fill the soul with the highest joy and fullest satisfaction, is 
 revealed and promised in the gospel. It spreads before man, 
 not the dry and innutritious husks of human systems, but a rich 
 and satisfying feast — a feast of fat things, full of marrow; of 
 w T ines on the lees well refined. 
 
 5. Bat further, the Scriptures contain every motive that is 
 
10 
 
 adapted to influence man to right action. Man is generally 
 influenced in his conduct by conviction of duty, fear of evil, or 
 the hope of reward. Would we influence human action? we 
 appeal to some or all of these principles. So God in dealing 
 with man has not overlooked the constitution he has given him 
 as a free agent, nor the laws of the human mind. He aims to 
 influence him in a rational way, by bringing motives to bear 
 upon him, and thereby sway the principles of human action. 
 In the Bible there is everything in the explicit revelation of 
 the divine law to convince man of duty, and to enforce the 
 obl : gation of a virtuous and holy life; and in the character 
 of God, as clothed with omnipotence, rigid justice and spotless 
 holiness, who cannot abide iniquity, and will by no means spare 
 the guilty, in his dread threatenings against all ungodliness, 
 and in disclosing a judgment to come, and the doom of the 
 wicked to the endless torments of hell, there is everything to 
 operate upon his fears, to deter him from perseverance in the 
 ways of sin. 
 
 So also in the mercy and compassion of God, the free offer 
 of forgiveness and reconciliation through the Redeemer, the 
 promise of divine grace in every time of need, and in drawing 
 aside the veil, and giving a glimpse of the perfect bliss and 
 joy and glory of heaven, as the reward of a life of godliness, 
 there is every motive to allure him into the paths of true holi- 
 ness. In a word, there is every motive addressed to man in 
 the gospel, that in a rational way is calculated to sway the 
 conscience and the heart, to detach him from sin, and influence 
 him to the love and practice of true holiness. 
 
 6. Man is not left to the mere influence of truth and the 
 force of motives, for so strong is the reigning power of sin in 
 his heart, that no force of argument or of motive could avail to 
 effect a change in his character and life. There is, in addition 
 to all this, the gift of the Holy Spirit, whose office is to inter- 
 pret the truth, and to make it bear with greater power than 
 the mere force of argument upon the understanding and the 
 heart. The Spirit, with an energy that is divine, brings home 
 the truth with convincing power to the mind, and wields the 
 appeals with impressive effect upon the conscience and the 
 heart, to influence man to turn away from sin ; and to allure 
 him to a life of piety and virtue. The truth in itself, however 
 perfect in its adaptation to man's intellectual and moral nature, 
 
11 
 
 and however well suited to influence him for good, yet through 
 the darkness of his mind and the deadness of his- heart, is 
 inefficacious to salvation. But in the hand of the divine Spirit, 
 it is light, and life, and power. 
 
 Lastly. We would notice the adaptation of the. means 
 whereby the truth is brought into contact with the mind, which 
 we have in the sanctuary and its ordinances, and a living 
 ministry. 
 
 I. The house of God. 
 
 (1.) This, in connection with the Sabbath, furnishes the 
 opportunity for religious culture. In the pressing engagements 
 of worldly business and occupations of daily life, engrossing 
 his attention, man thinks but little and reflects^ less upon his 
 spiritual destiny. But within the sacred precincts of the courts 
 of the house of the Lord, withdrawn from the whirl of business, 
 the engrossing cares, the agitations and conflicts of life, the 
 sacredness of the associations, the solemn services of divine 
 worship, and the messages of God's truth, are calculated to 
 recall him from his forgetfulness of his moral accountability, 
 to force upon him calm and serious reflection, and to arouse 
 him to a sense of duty to his God and to his own soul. With- 
 out stated times and a place for worship, and religious instruc- 
 tion, the truth, however w T ell adapted to man's spiritual nature, 
 would be almost powerless for good. The end for which it is 
 given would be defeated. There is in the human heart such 
 an-obstinate disinclination to give attention to spiritual things, 
 that only by frequently bringing to bear upon him the power 
 of divine truth, is he led to the consideration of his spiritual 
 condition. The sanctuary is the complement of the truth; it 
 gives completeness to the system of means for effecting man's 
 spiritual regeneration. 
 
 (2.) It is adapted to man's social nature. Man is a social 
 being; his sphere of action is in association with his fellows. 
 His social nature in a great measure moulds and shapes his 
 whole being. Through it is he most effectually influenced for 
 either good or evil. His associations leave their indelible 
 impress upon his character. Companionship with the immoral 
 and depraved brings him to their own level, whilst association 
 with the good, tends to lift him up to the same plane of virtue 
 and morality. It is also a matter of observation and expe- 
 rience, that mankind in masses are more easily and more 
 
12 
 
 effectually impressed and influenced than in isolation, which 
 demonstrate the power of the social feelings, and of that electric 
 and subtle power of sympathy communicated from heart to 
 heart by association. To make no provision for man's social 
 nature, would be to overlook the most effectual means to influ- 
 ence him for his spiritual good. This is provided for in the 
 institution of the sanctuary, a place of public assemblage, 
 wherein the services of prayer and praise, and under the dis- 
 pensation of the truth, heart in contact with other hearts, the 
 social feelings have the fullest play, and are influenced for the 
 highest spiritual ends. 
 
 (3.) But further, the sanctuary is the depository of spiritual 
 power. This not merely from its sacred associations and ordi- 
 nances of worship, which of themselves have a moral influence, 
 but because it is the residence of the Great King. Not in the 
 cloud as in the temple, but in the presence and power of the 
 Holy Spirit. Zion is his seat. This renders the ordinances 
 of worship not a mere empty ceremonial, but vehicles of 
 spiritual power to the soul, and makes the truth the rod of 
 divine strength for subjugating the heart to the supreme love 
 and service of Jehovah. It is the chosen instrumentality for 
 awakening the dead soul, and producing repentance and cul- 
 turing it for the heavenly world. 
 
 II. In connection with the house of God, is the living 
 ministry. Divine truth must not only be revealed through 
 the medium of the human mind — be cast in the forms of human 
 thought and embodied in human language, that man may 
 apprehend it ; but the living teacher is God's special ordinance, 
 to bring the truth to bear with the greatest power upon his 
 mind and heart. This was his ordinance in the old as well as it 
 is in the new dispensation. In the old, the religious instruction 
 of Israel was not left exclusively or chiefly to the priests and 
 Levites, who were mainly occupied with the performance of the 
 rites of worship. It was chiefly entrusted to the prophetical 
 order. A few of these possessed the extraordinary gift of 
 inspiration for the communication of new truth, but the ordi- 
 nary function of even these, as well as of the great body of the 
 prophets, was that of teaching, inculcating and enforcing upon 
 the people the moral and religious truths delivered by Moses. 
 It was by their ministry that the truth was kept before the 
 people, that their minds were leavened by its influence, and 
 
13 
 
 that Israel fulfilled her high mission, which was to maintain 
 and to give the true religion to the world. The method of 
 their teaching was by oratory, free and direct addresses to the 
 people, bringing the truth in fresh and living contact with 
 their minds. 
 
 In the new dispensation, God's ordinance for making his truth 
 most effective to accomplish its great end — man's moral and 
 religious elevation — is the living ministry, whose prototype is 
 not the priesthood, but the prophetic order of the old dispensa- 
 tion. Their great function is not to perform ceremonies— it is 
 higher and more spiritual — it is to preach the gospel. They 
 are stewards of the mysteries of God, ambassadors for Christ. 
 Their office, like that of the prophets of old, is to expound, 
 inculcate, and enforce the truths contained in the Scriptures ; 
 to bring them in living contact with the human mind. 
 
 In the selection and ordination of this instrumentality for 
 making divine truth effective in influencing mankind, divine 
 wisdom had respect to human nature. There is in man such a 
 disinclination to spiritual things, that left to himself, though 
 possessed of the sacred Scriptures, they would remain unpe- 
 rused. Their truths must be repeatedly brought before him, to 
 secure and enlist his attention. He must have line upon line, 
 and precept upon precept, which can only be done by an order 
 of men set apart for this purpose. Israel, notwithstanding the 
 ordinances of the temple, and though possessed of the law given 
 by Moses, would have lapsed into idolatry, but for the ministry 
 of the prophets. And so, still, the Bible would be compara- 
 tively powerless, but for the labors of the ministry. In those 
 portions of our land where there is not the living spiritual 
 teacher, ignorance and moral darkness reign, and there is moral 
 and spiritual degradation. 
 
 But the living voice is the most effective means of bringing 
 the truth to bear with the greatest power upon the soul in pro- 
 ducing conviction, exciting feeling, and in arousing men to 
 action. The truth on the printed page, like the light of the 
 stars, may be clear, but it is cold, w 7 hilst as uttered by the 
 living man, it is like the light of the sun, not only clear, but 
 warm and life-giving. There is in the eye, the voice, and the 
 expression of feeling and passion in the living teacher, that 
 which imparts a persuasive and impressive power to the truth 
 uttered, which no other means possesses. All experience proves 
 
14 
 
 the superior efficacy of this means to influence and sway the 
 mind and heart of man. The demagogue employs it as the 
 most effective instrument for accomplishing his selfish ends, 
 and the errorist as the most successful means of propagating his 
 faith; so it is God's chosen instrumentality for man's salvation. 
 
 We have thus endeavored to point out the completeness of 
 the adaptation of divine revelation to man's intellectual, moral, 
 and religious nature, and of the means whereby the truth may 
 be brought the most effectively to bear upon him, to detach him 
 from sin, and influence him to the service of God; to lift him 
 from his moral degradation and wretchedness, and raise him to 
 fellowship with his God, in endless happiness and joy. Through- 
 out the whole there may be traced a wisdom that is infinite, a 
 hand that is divine. In view of this subject, we may well ask 
 with the prophet, What could God do more for man that He 
 has not done? If unsaved, he is without excuse. 
 
 In conclusion, as suggested by the occasion, we w T ould notice 
 the importance of the chapel in its relation to the college. 
 
 The college, however complete its appointments in other 
 respects, yet if there be no provision for divine worship and 
 religious instruction, is incomplete in its agencies to give to 
 youth the highest culture. The halls for secular instruction 
 and the chapel for spiritual, are complements of each other, — 
 are necessary parts of a complete system of means for training 
 youth for the greatest usefulness. The influences that go forth 
 from the chapel are advantageous in various ways. The daily 
 devotional exercises and the exposition of divine truth are 
 favorable to intellectual activity and progress. By their silent 
 influence upon the conscience, developing the sense of moral 
 obligation, and by repressing the evil impulses of the heart and 
 calming the agitations of the soul, the mind is brought into a 
 frame better fitted for patient thought and earnest investiga- 
 tion. But divine truth, by its purity and the sublime themes 
 it presents for consideration, furnishes a healthy stimulus to 
 thought, which tends to invigorate the mental powers. It pro-' 
 vides the purest and most wholesome pabulum for the mind, 
 which is conducive to its health and vigorous activity. 
 
 But not only as the handmaid of intellectual development is 
 the influence of religious worship and instruction valuable, but 
 in a higher sense, as the direct means of spiritual culture. 
 Man is not merely an intellectual, but a moral and religious 
 
15 
 
 being. A system of education that does not recognize the 
 latter must be defective. Mere intellectual development and 
 acquirements are not the highest desiderata, but rather these 
 conjoined with high moral and religious culture. The highest 
 type of scholarship is Christisn scholarship. Mere secular 
 learning, divorced from religion, is not only defective, but its 
 tendencies are atheistic. Not only the immortal interests of 
 the youth are immediately and directly concerned, but indi- 
 rectly the interests and the welfare of society, in the religious 
 instruction of the college. The educated classes hold the posts 
 of influence in the community; they impress upon society their 
 own sentiments and their own character. The colleges where 
 their characters are formed are the great fountains of influence, 
 and how important that they be leavened with divine truth and 
 evangelical piety. 
 
 The college and the university have ever been mighty 
 instruments for the propagation of either truth or error. 
 Through the universities in Germany, rationalism spread its 
 baleful influence over the land, sapping the foundation of true 
 religion. In France, through the influence of the materialistic 
 philosophy in the universities, there resulted social disorganiza- 
 tion and atheism. In the Reformation they were the most 
 potent agencies for the diffusing of its principles. They wer$ 
 centres of light and power. 
 
 Let our colleges be leavened with infidelity, be seats of error, 
 and in time the land will be flooded with impiety and irreligion. 
 The influence of the college is not even second to that of the 
 Christian church, as from the college the ranks of the ministry 
 are filled, who bear the impress of its teachings, and reproduce 
 it in the sentiments and character of the people. The influ- 
 ence of the college is far-reaching; it is felt in every hamlet 
 and cottage of the land. Every social and religious interest 
 is deeply concerned in the religious character of our colleges. 
 
 This Institution from its foundation has been distinguished 
 for the prominence given to God's holy word and the religious 
 influence exerted upon its students. It was founded in the 
 interests of true religion, and was consecrated with prayer. 
 Dr. Hodge has said, "The character of an institution is deter- 
 mined by the character of its first teachers, who infuse into it 
 their ow T n spirit, and impress their own character indelibly 
 upon it." The first President of this College was a man whose 
 
16 
 
 piety was deep, ardent, and evangelical, who ever magnified 
 the word of God in his instructions, and who, as much as any 
 man, left his impress upon his students. Few left these halls, 
 under his administration, if not truly pious, without at least a 
 reverence for the word of God and a respect for true religion. 
 
 The Institution still retains the same character. Men of 
 like spirit, of deep and ardent piety, and sound in the faith, 
 have succeeded to its administration, men who ever exalt God's 
 truth, and seek the highest spiritual interests of her students. 
 She has the preeminence of being the first, in our land, to 
 elevate the Bible to be a text-book in her curriculum. She 
 has honored God, and God has honored her, in giving her 
 almost unprecedented success, and above all, in the copious 
 effusion of his Spirit upon her students. 
 
 And this chapel, which we this day set apart to its holy 
 mission, evinces the determination of her friends, Trustees, and 
 Faculty to maintain her Christian character and her high 
 standard of sound Christian culture. Long may she enjoy 
 this preeminence, and .ever prove a fountain of blessing to our 
 country, to the Church, and to the world. 
 
 But I would simply add, that this edifice, though like Zion 
 of old beautiful for situation, with its chaste architecture, the 
 beauty of its adornments, and the completeness of its appoint- 
 ments for comfort and convenience, and even with a learned, 
 able, and eloquent ministry occupying its desk, will be nothing 
 unless it be the residence of the Great King. This will be its 
 greatest glory. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit 
 can only make it in the truest sense a place of prayer, and 
 impart to the truth here dispensed a saving power. No 
 external appliances can compensate for lack of this. But with 
 His presence, the ordinances here administered will be instinct 
 with light, life, and power. 
 
 And may we not in this auspicious hour breathe the prayer, 
 "Come, Lord, take possession of this house and fill it with 
 thy glory." 
 
!S»! " OF '^'no's-urbJ™ 
 
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