Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1865-08-10
commencement at Huntington.

On Tuesday afternoon occurred the
celebration of the Phi Beta Kappa So
cietv. Hon, &, w. Benedict presided,
and after prayer by the Chaplain, Rev.
E. Cutler Of Worcester, Mass, intro
duced the orator Of the occasion, Rev.
Asa D. Smith, ID, President Of Dart
mouth College. DIR. Smiths theme was
"self Possession. He spoke Of the re-
quisites to q true and complete selfpos-
session, viz: acknowledge, self-cul-
ture, self-renunciation, self-reliance and
selfdevotlon. Upon the subject OF self
remuneration, he made the following In
teresting remarks,
"The third law OF elf-possession
might seem somewhat paradoxical. 1t
was self-renunciation. We make the
most of ourselves we have the COM
pletest mastery Of our own being, as we
learn the lesson Of selfrepudiation. In
order to the highest culture and the no.
blest achievement, self must be re-
nounced as an end. Self-seeking, on the
contrary, narrows the range of thought,
and impairs q mans mastery of his best
powers. To insure the highest selfim-
provement it is necessary to guard
against the habit of undue self-intro-
spection. We must endeavOr to think Of
ourselves as little as possible. In liter
airy matters this was especially neces-
sary. To be most successful the literary
man must be self ObliviOus. Men write
too much, looking over their own should
ers, as it were. They are thinking too
constantly how the critics will regard
| their efforts Hence the best compost
| lions often are those which are written
| only for the authors themselves. Hence
some mems private letters are more vi
vacious than their public dispositions,
| Mrs. Slows "UnCle Toms Cabin" writ
ten with no thought Of the fame which
awaited it, was instanCed as illustrating
this principle. The essays Of Ella the
early English writers Milton; moved
only by his ardent love Of jeremy
| Taylor, seeming to soar toward Heaven,
caroling unconsCiously in his flight /;
Shakespeare, who, as he writes, Is no lon
! ger Shakespeare, bnt the character he de-
| picts, were also illustrations Of the rule
referred to. Self oblivion was also neces-
sary to the highest OratOry. The whole
soul must be wrapped in the theme,
Even the audience must be ignored, or
! apprehended only in relation to the truth
involved. Il Is notorious truth that
speakers are generally more at ease be
fore large than a small audience. This
is the case with students in their public
exercises. 1t is the case with the preach
er also, who often speaks better at his
weekly meeting than on the Sabbath.
Let the kind hearted parisliOner think
Of this and remember that his absence
from church is real injury TO his pas
tor.
The fourth and CroWning clement OF
self possession he said, was self-devo-
tion-the consecration of the being to
Him who is the end of all being. This
was the complement Of selfrenuncia-
ton. In no other way are we free from
the bondage of abnormal affection, and
have proper use Of our own powers.
To meet the wants of our being we
need something more of the omnipotent
than hero worship. We must see with
the eye of faith the glory Of God in the
Office of Jesus Christ.
The address, the Burlington Times
says, was something more than an hour
in the delivery, and was o most schcL
arly and thoughtful production, worthy
tbs wide reputation Of the speaker.